68 replies to this topic

[Ghostrider]

You guys have really out done yourselves with these campaigns i have to say ....they are unique in every way and give a whole new level to EAW...the only thing that is horrible about them is completely not your fault. I think eveyone would agree with me when i say that the only problem -and it is shown greatly- is that the engine for EAW is outdated and limiting ....and you guys have pressed it to its limits so congrats on your masterpiece of this limited game

And there is more to come yet...

[feld]

Ghost,

A minor point on the Core Campaign. There seem to be a number of Nebulon-B's across the Core in the independent fleets. This ship was historically designed for the Empire in response to Rebel starfighter raids (well...according to WEG sources...however canon you consider them). Now I'm not saying that they couldn't be built 18 BBY...technology in the GFFA seems just about stagnant: they can pretty much build anything that they've a mind to. But I'm thinking that this particular design shouldn't be so common. I can see Kuat having some for local defense...but perhaps you would consider replacing them in the independent fleets with more Marauders or Corellian Corvettes?

R/
feld

Edited by feld, 16 January 2009 - 08:11 PM.

[Phoenix Rising]

A minor point on the Core Campaign. There seem to be a number of Nebulon-B's across the Core in the independent fleets. This ship was historically designed for the Empire in response to Rebel starfighter raids (well...according to WEG sources...however canon you consider them).

I did the roster, so I'll field this part. That's what I always thought too. I would've placed it at 2 BBY or so, but it seems newer prequel material has pushed it back to 19 BBY, or at least so Wookieepedia claims (it isn't cited yet for a specific source, but I have no reason to disbelieve it). I imagine it would be a fairly simple retcon to take the aforementioned "Rebels" from WEG and claim they were actually referring to Separatists. This solved a problem in our tech tree with the Alliance getting the Nebulon-B so early, so we went with it for GFFA too.

As to its abundance, it's supposed to be just about as new as the Imperial-class, but we are somewhat shorthanded on proper frigates (which is either my fault or the EU's), so I told Ghostrider to just use what we had available if he needed a frigate. I even added the MC30 basically for the benefit of this campaign.

[feld]

I did the roster, so I'll field this part. That's what I always thought too. I would've placed it at 2 BBY or so, but it seems newer prequel material has pushed it back to 19 BBY, or at least so Wookieepedia claims (it isn't cited yet for a specific source, but I have no reason to disbelieve it). I imagine it would be a fairly simple retcon to take the aforementioned "Rebels" from WEG and claim they were actually referring to Separatists. This solved a problem in our tech tree with the Alliance getting the Nebulon-B so early, so we went with it for GFFA too.

Roger all. Makes sense. I never noticed that bit on Wookie. Thanks!

[Pred the Penguin]

EU always focuses on the bigger picture and never on the little guys...

Then again, the Nebulon looks very nice, and it's supposedly cannon for it to appear early. I like it.

[Berethin]

Hey guys! First of all, great mod - the detail is both astounding and outstanding!

I had a question, though; is there any way you can get GC maps for LAN battles? I can access skirmish maps for both space and land, but there are no available GC maps to play on. Is there any way this can be resolved? (My main time I play the game is battling my younger brother over an LAN connection.)

Well, keep up the great work!

[Tropical Bob]

The GCs in PR are, unfortunately, not multiplayer compatible. Something to do with scripting not allowed in multiplayer, or something of that matter.

At least, that's what I think I remember seeing?

[Berethin]

Ah, I see. Since I posted I also downloaded the starfighters mini-mod, which did not have the multi player campaigns disabled. I had some interesting experiences with the techs while testing them! In fact, I had technologies flying around with my fleets on the galactic map!

I have a suggestion for the campaign, considering the considerable lag. Maybe if you cut out a large portion of the new planets, and just kept those you have new maps for - and maybe a few others of importance - it would work a little more smoothly. It’s sad to see such efforts on your parts go to such waste, but even with the slim pack the GFFA campaign just runs too slowly. Its just that one; the others seem to run fine on my computer, and I have no problems in the battles themselves.

Maybe you could even cut some of the old planets and keep their maps for some of the newer ones you'd rather have instead.

[Tropical Bob]

Scripting is what causes the research and upgrade units to be removed from the Galactic Map, as well as removing of the build bar unit and adding of the actual unit, and so on and so forth. No scripting means none of the tech tree works.

You could create a campaign that used only the first-tier versions of all ships, or final-tier versions, etc., but then you might as well play Skirmish mode for the lack of PR flavor in that GC mode.

[Berethin]

I agree - it was just funny having those techs show up with my ships! I've done a little more on the campaigns, and I have a brief account of my experience.

I love the Core Worlds campaign! I was busy just tackling smaller pirate fleets, and had managed to secure the little pocket of planets around Dolomar – except for a large pirate fleet at Pantolomin. I was just thinking “boy, the imperials don’t seem to be doing much” when I was hit by a series of invasions, which left the orbit of several planets in their hands and my local fleet in tatters! (I even had to run the gauntlet with a star destroyer in one map, to destroy a couple CC-7700s before I could retreat!)

Excellent work; it’s just like Empire at War should have been from the start! The variety of ships tends to make each fleet truly unique – its incredible!

The only thing I had any trouble with was the management of the space stations – I had trouble keeping track of what all I had in orbit, save for the two little boxes there with the colony. Is there any way to enlarge that, or do you just have to pay more attention to what you build?

The ground combat was frustrating to me at first, but I’ve begun to like the extra range that units have, and the different other changes you’ve made. The only thing I’d complaign about are pod-walkers and at-st’s – they just seem to barrage you and cut you to shreds no matter where you try to shelter, and there’s so many of them in each group! Also, they seem to move a little too quickly. But, also, I know that the mod is not finished, and I don't know what you have in mind for your full vision of ground combat.

All I can say is that I love this mod! Keep up the great work!

[Tropical Bob]

I love the Core Worlds campaign! I was busy just tackling smaller pirate fleets, and had managed to secure the little pocket of planets around Dolomar – except for a large pirate fleet at Pantolomin. I was just thinking “boy, the imperials don’t seem to be doing much” when I was hit by a series of invasions, which left the orbit of several planets in their hands and my local fleet in tatters! (I even had to run the gauntlet with a star destroyer in one map, to destroy a couple CC-7700s before I could retreat!)

The AI as of right now is acting odd and being on the opposite side of useful. Half of the reason it doesn't do much is because it has decided, for whatever reason, to not build Space Colonies on its new worlds, which leaves it with the original planets for production only. The other half is a general incompatibility with the mod. PR mentioned a possibility of scrapping the current AI in the future and rebuilding it.

The only thing I had any trouble with was the management of the space stations – I had trouble keeping track of what all I had in orbit, save for the two little boxes there with the colony. Is there any way to enlarge that, or do you just have to pay more attention to what you build?

The latter, unfortunately. From what I've heard, the UI is next to impossible to mess around with successfully, otherwise I think PR would have already implemented it.

The ground combat was frustrating to me at first, but I’ve begun to like the extra range that units have, and the different other changes you’ve made. The only thing I’d complaign about are pod-walkers and at-st’s – they just seem to barrage you and cut you to shreds no matter where you try to shelter, and there’s so many of them in each group! Also, they seem to move a little too quickly. But, also, I know that the mod is not finished, and I don't know what you have in mind for your full vision of ground combat.

As you already said, ground is unfinished. In fact, the changes that PR made were, if I remember correctly, kind of an afterthought when was finishing v1.1. As of now, it's on a relative standstill because of the lack of a full-time modeler. But I personally can't wait for PR to work his magic on Land, because I really couldn't stand vanilla Land ever since I first played it.

[Ghostrider]

The ground combat was frustrating to me at first, but I’ve begun to like the extra range that units have, and the different other changes you’ve made. The only thing I’d complaign about are pod-walkers and at-st’s – they just seem to barrage you and cut you to shreds no matter where you try to shelter, and there’s so many of them in each group! Also, they seem to move a little too quickly. But, also, I know that the mod is not finished, and I don't know what you have in mind for your full vision of ground combat.

As you already said, ground is unfinished. In fact, the changes that PR made were, if I remember correctly, kind of an afterthought when was finishing v1.1. As of now, it's on a relative standstill because of the lack of a full-time modeler. But I personally can't wait for PR to work his magic on Land, because I really couldn't stand vanilla Land ever since I first played it.

I'm doing something interesting on Land. Keep you posted.
Ghost

[Digz]

Can't wait, keep us posted Ghost, I'll make a news post about it.

[Berethin]

Hey, I was wondering: you said that there was no way you could manage your various space stations once their built. Would it be possible for you guys to use the "sabotage" menu to access something like that? I saw it the other day, (while playing a different version, obviously! ) and I wondered if that could be tweaked to allow players to view their various stations over a planet, and possibly sell ones that are no longer wanted. Would this be any good?

[Phoenix Rising]

I don't believe FoC lets you sabotage space structures (something almost certainly hardcoded), so it's kind of a moot point unfortunately.

[Berethin]

Ah well, I guess it can't be helped. Still a great mod, though.

I know this was discussed more or less above, but could you guys add in a multiplayer campaign in? I know you wouldn't be able to use your tech system in it, but it wouldn't be all that different from doing a skirmish map, in a way, and would just let you experience a little more of the mod in a multiplayer experience. This isn't important, of course, just a suggestion.

[Phoenix Rising]

I know this was discussed more or less above, but could you guys add in a multiplayer campaign in?

I don't foresee that happening, but you can mod it back in rather easily; it's just a matter of copying the single player campaigns and adding a few tags.

[Berethin]

If you wouldn't mind, could you please direct me to a guide as to how to go about the above mentioned process? In addition to my lack of any modding skills whatsoever, I don't have any XML editor either, so I would believe that I can't do this till I get one.

On another note, I saw in the mod Return of the Clones that it was possible to sabotage the long-range scanners and such in space. (You couldn't do so to the stations themselves.) Is there a way, after all, that such could be done in PR? Maybe you could construct some kind of engineer unit that could sabotage your own space structures. But, as I said, I have no modding skill whatsoever, so I'm just reporting what I saw that might be useful.

[Kaleb Graff]

I was looking through the XML for core worlds (cutting starting forces in half, my computer runs really slowly otherwise), and saw that N'Zoth had a very powerful defense fleet. That seemed strange, as the Yevetha didn't even have hyperdrives until after the Empire showed up. I thought that they were conquered fairly easially, which is at odds with it's defenses.

[Phoenix Rising]

If you wouldn't mind, could you please direct me to a guide as to how to go about the above mentioned process? In addition to my lack of any modding skills whatsoever, I don't have any XML editor either, so I would believe that I can't do this till I get one.

Just compare what's in Campaigns_Singleplayer.xml with what's in Campaigns_Multiplayer.xml in the source (with the FoC SDK); only a few tags are different, and that's all you need to change for our campaigns.

As for an XML "editor", all you really need is WordPad.

On another note, I saw in the mod Return of the Clones that it was possible to sabotage the long-range scanners and such in space.

Yeah, I suppose that makes sense; I really haven't tried Sabotage since I used the Defilers in vanilla, heh. In terms of PR, you should then be able to sabotage everything except the space colonies. It's just a matter of giving a unit that ability.

I was looking through the XML for core worlds (cutting starting forces in half, my computer runs really slowly otherwise), and saw that N'Zoth had a very powerful defense fleet. That seemed strange, as the Yevetha didn't even have hyperdrives until after the Empire showed up. I thought that they were conquered fairly easially, which is at odds with it's defenses.

That makes sense. I'll point it out to Ghost.