Introduction:Hi all,
Ever since I started playing with mods in 0.50, I felt that the Tri-Tachyons didn't get all the love they deserved. I personally love the Tri-Tachyons, because I'm a sucker for energy weapons and all that other high-tech stuff that the Tris like to tout. The problem is that a lot of modded factions seem to have them as an enemy as well, which makes seeing a Tri fleet on a well-modded game a fairly rare sight. So I started thinking up ways to help the Tris out a bit. I used to do PAWN scripting which is actually quite similar to the way Java is used in Starfarer mods, so I figured... Why not start work on my own mod?
The Positron faction mod is the result, and the version that's up for download below has been the result of 30-40 hours of modding. This is an early test version, but it aims at giving a good impression never-the-less. However, because it is a test version balance issues and the like may arise. PLEASE REPORT THEM IF YOU SEE THEM. This mod is supposed to become a very much balanced addition to the core campaign over time, but that can only happen with your feedback.
Downloads:The current version is v0.1, which is the first public release. It contains the new Positron faction, a matching orbital station (which deploys after ~7 days of game time), and 21 different ships. Once again, if you find any issues, please report them!
*click me to download*The story:The date is April 24th, cycle 189. The increasing amount of dismay within the Tri-Tachyon high command has come to an end - a split is to occur, breaking up the Tri-Tachyons into two parts. The Tri-Tachyons have had an unstable command structure for several cycles now, with a few members exerting more and more radical ideas onto the others. "We cannot hope to survive against the Hegemony warmongers without radical changes.", they argued. "If we keep living this way, our technological advantages will be lost to those Hegemony bastards forever and we'll be enslaved!".
And so, the split came to pass. The ones that wanted change went out and started building an orbital station of their own on the other side of Corvus V, growing explosively in the cycles following the split. While still dependent on the Tri-Tachyon mainstay for protection, a new faction was born, their goal being full independence and enough staying power to keep that so. This new faction called themselves the Positrons.
Pioneering many new technologies and creating many new blueprints from scratch in the coming cycles, independence came closer and closer, and almost all of the old Tri-Tachyon designs were trashed in favor of in-house technologies. Production was going well, recycling the many ships fallen in battle to gain remarkable amounts of resources. Things were going so well, in fact, that the power the Positron faction carries now rivaled the Tri-Tachyons themselves. Engine technology especially became a Positron forte, with almost all of their ships being comparably very fast - a requirement for not being caught by the Hegemony, bent on destroying this new and dangerous faction above all else.
...
The date is now the 5th of December, cycle 205. The Positron people are ready to fight. They're ready to claim their freedom, to crush the Hegemony forces for their persistence. They have faith in their capabilities, having massed significant fleets and power in only a short amount of time. Their Orbital Station is ready to be uncloaked, showing the world that the Positron faction exists and will continue to exist. Independence is closer than ever.
The ships:Below are pictures of the ships included - lore can be found in the Codex in-game.
Amy:
Arachae:
Ares:
Artifact:
Crate:
Cyclic:
Dronart:
Epitaph:
Frontier:
Hauler:
Launcher:
Mended:
Nipper:
Onna Stick:
Quartz:
Rang Rang:
Scorpion:
Spade:
Speartip:
Stinger:
Swarmer:
Credits:Most of the ships in this mod were made by Medikohl, taken from his
ship sprite thread. The Cross, Dronart and Swarmer designs were made by arcibalde for the same thread. The Speartip and Quartz were kitbashed by me, using Medikohl's worksheet. Without the spriting work of Medikohl and arcibalde, this mod would not have been possible. Some of the internal campaign coding was taken from the TimCORP mod by Upgradecap.
In closing:Comments are always welcome, and suggestions and ideas will be highly needed to get the campaign sorted. If you have anything to share, please do!
EDIT #1: Changed "Wingman" to "Scythe" because apparently it had a name.
EDIT #2: Removed the Everest destroyer because it's already in use.
EDIT #3: Lore fail. Originally the lore was set to be in a period of about half a year, so the text was written with "months" referring to time. I moved that to cycles later on to make the Positron community's growth more believable, as in: children being born and raised, expanding the very small community by a lot. Should've totally updated the text when I did that, too.
EDIT #4: Removed the Scythe as it is in use. We'll get a new capital ship, no worries.
EDIT #5: Removed the Sensor bombers because they are in use as well. Also renamed Land Here > Frontier.
EDIT #6: Added the Arachae capital ship. Thanks, Medikohl!
EDIT #7: Updated the lore on several ships, added sections for credits and progress, and generally tidied things up.
EDIT #8: Added the Crate, Cross and Swarmer ships, along with matching lore. Also updated the credits.
EDIT #9: Added the Dronart by Arcibalde, and the Ares by Medikohl. Also updated several pieces of ship lore and their roles. Oh, and I added a new teaser picture.
EDIT #10: Took out the Launcher due to the style differing a bit too much. I already have some really good fitting carriers right now.
EDIT #11: Added a new description for both the Ares and the Arachae. The Ares is now a leviathan, which is to be very rare and costly (both in buying price and upkeep) once the mod gets a campaign.
EDIT #12: Took a good look at ship classifications, and changed a few descriptions and ship types based on that. That Hauler is hard to classify, though...
EDIT #13: Added my first "own" design, made with parts from one of Medikohl's worksheets - the Speartip frigate!
EDIT #14: Did a few color shifts on the Stinger and Swarmer to make them much more theme-coherent. I didn't notice the Stinger was that green before. O.o"
EDIT #15: Also recolored the Rang Rang, Spade and Hauler. Especially the Hauler looks much more gritty now, a very serious look that fits its role in this mod well.
EDIT #16: Turns out I came out a bit short on carriers, even though I expected to have enough. The Launcher is back in action, and with a fitting recolor! Also, updated progress.
EDIT #17: Added the Quartz heavy tanker along with matching lore, to fill a gap in the Positron ship line-up. It's a custom version of the already-custom Buffalo Broadside from the sprite thread.
EDIT #18: Major updates. Campaign is nearly ready for release (I skipped the mission), lore got updated, and the ships got sorted and lore'd properly according to mod files.
EDIT #19: First release! Woo! Also, massive post update to make it a lot shorter, as all of the ship info can just be found in the Codex.
EDIT #20: Likely stopping work on this mod, so a thread title update. No actual content updates as of yet.