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Author Topic: The Shadow Order (v.60, .54a) New Hullmod. .54a  (Read 35145 times)

Verrius

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The Shadow Order (v.60, .54a) New Hullmod. .54a
« on: August 07, 2012, 04:05:06 AM »

Download Link (Current Version)

Video Overview

Hello everyone, remember me? Made the Scrappers mod? Well, here's a new one.

My plan for this one is different, however. The Scrappers was a very lazy mod. I could throw together a ship in less than 10 minutes flat. Even the name was a play off the fact I was literally just scrapping pieces of ships together and throwing them up. There's nothing wrong with that, no, many people do it.

But I wanna do more! This new mod will contain graphical assets almost entirely drawn by my own hand. The only pieces I'll be taking from existing ships will be weapon slots, because those should look consistent. As a result, it will take far more effort to put out content. I won't be able to update this like, every single day as I did when I started Scrappers.

4 Fighters
Wisp

Moth

Leech

Darkness


5 Frigates
Wight

Wraith

Venom

Pawn

Mirage


3 Destroyers
Cabal

Warlock

Shadowstriker


1 Cruiser
Demon


1 Capital Ship
Abaddon


13 Weapons:
Light Shadow Blaster: A light energy weapon designed primarily for fighters and PD. Deals decent EMP Damage as well.
Shadow Blaster: More powerful, Assault type version of the Light Shadow Blaster.
Shadow Cannon: Medium sized version of the Shadow Blaster. Fires smaller bursts of more powerful shots.
Shadow Mega Cannon: A bigger version of the Shadow Cannon. Fires one, powerful blast.
Small Vortex Launcher: Fires a missile that splits into 3 smaller missiles that deal decent Energy and EMP damage.
Vortex Launcher: Standard Vortex Launcher, contains more missiles than it's small counterpart.
Burst Lance: Burst PD weapon. More charges, slower regen.
Shadowscythe: A well-rounded medium laser.
Small Energy Core: Rapidly fires small orbs of energy that home in on targets.
Energy Core: Fires orbs of energy that home in on targets.
Dark Claw: An extremely close range, but powerful kinetic weapon.
Sapper: A small laser that deals low damage, but high EMP Damage.
Heavy Dread Cannon: Fires an instantaneous explosive shot. Powerful, but slow reload.

Missions:
A demo mission, that's all right now.

Campaign:
The Shadow Order has a base in the top right corner. It doesn't sell anything but a contract, which when bought, will cause the Shadow Order to become neutral to you and the other factions become hostile. This will also cause all the Shadow Order tech to appear, as well as a basic ship to appear in the Abandoned Shipyard.

Any help would be appreciated for variants, balance, and ideas. Thanks!

Version 0.1: Added the initial wave of ships and weapons.
Version 0.2: Added more ships and weapons.
Version 0.3: Added more ships and weapons, as well as an orbital station.
Version 0.4: Added the Darkness fighters and the Mirage Ship.

Trylobot

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Your mod has been added to the Master List of mods.
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Verrius

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Re: The Shadow Order (v.2, .53a) 4 Ships, 7 Weapons Total. High tech fun!
« Reply #2 on: August 07, 2012, 10:19:41 PM »

Thank you sir!

Added a few more ships, along with a bunch of new, intriguing energy weapons.

Verrius

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Re: The Shadow Order (v.3, .53a) 9 Ships, 11 Weapons Total +Station
« Reply #3 on: August 09, 2012, 12:15:59 AM »

Added a few more ships, and an Orbital Station.

The Orbital Station initially sells nothing, until you purchase the contract. Once you purchase the contract, merchandise will appear at the Shadow Order HQ, the Shadow Order will become neutral to you, and the other vanilla factions will become hostile to you. You will also be gifted a "Pawn" frigate with it's standard loadout to the abandoned shipyard.

The contract can be repurchased to create more merchandise and more Pawns.

Heavy Weapons Pony

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Re: The Shadow Order (v.3, .53a) 9 Ships, 11 Weapons Total +Station
« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2012, 02:54:34 AM »

Downloading Now.

Will edit this post with feedback.

FEEDBACK AND STUFF:
Great Mod, love the sprites and what the Phase Generators look like while you're in Phase.
The Pawns right facing hardpoint isn't even one, its classified as a turret, which is screwing with the auto assign.
The small Core Launcher could use a damage buff, right now its awesome, but does basically no damage. Increase it to 30 damage per shot maybe?
The Burst PD thing that comes with the Pawn could have its flux generation reduced, it uses up the Pawns flux like nobody's business.
The Shadow Step Ship System could use a range buff, right now its almost useless for getting behind anything bigger than a frigate.
« Last Edit: August 09, 2012, 04:02:38 AM by Heavy Weapons Pony »
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I am Admiral Luna and this is my favorite game on the Internets.
"Captain! Pilum Missile's detected at 18 degrees starboard!"
"Thank you ensign, but I'm quite sure our Burst PD array can handle that"
(Chuckles around the bridge)
"It seems to be a volley of thirty-two, sir"
(Dead silence) ~ Zaga

Verrius

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Re: The Shadow Order (v.3, .53a) 9 Ships, 11 Weapons Total +Station
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2012, 11:44:49 AM »

Thank you sir! I greatly appreciate the feedback, glad you enjoyed it. A few notes on the Pawn.

The Pawns right facing hardpoint isn't even one, its classified as a turret, which is screwing with the auto assign.
Ah HAH! Y'know, that slipped me. I noticed the problem, but had no clue why it was like that. BIG THANKS for this one, it'll be fixed next update.
The small Core Launcher could use a damage buff, right now its awesome, but does basically no damage. Increase it to 30 damage per shot maybe?
Your probably right on this one, I think I'll up it a bit. My only qualm is that it has the benefit of basically ALWAYS hitting, royally screwing up PDs, and blocking shots easily as the "missiles" are basically unkillable.
The Burst PD thing that comes with the Pawn could have its flux generation reduced, it uses up the Pawns flux like nobody's business.
The Shadow Step Ship System could use a range buff, right now its almost useless for getting behind anything bigger than a frigate.
I'll consider buffing the Pawn a lil bit, but it's intended to be a very weak and cheap ship. I'm a little nervous about the Dark Lance, as it's actually VERY powerful. I'm thinking about maybe adding a weaker version for use with a new fighter and the Pawn that isn't so flux intensive.

Darloth

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Re: The Shadow Order (v.3, .53a) 9 Ships, 11 Weapons Total +Station
« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2012, 12:39:09 PM »

I like the new aesthetic you have going on (and I'm going to have to download it to see what they look like phased) but the Wraith looks a bit -too- fragile to me. 

Like one good HE shell to the nose should just break it into three or four bits.  I'm unsure how you can get around this (and perhaps you don't even want to!), but maybe duplicating the lateral connectors so there are two linking to each weapon arm, and another pair further back linking the main body?  Looking at it more intensely, I also see a very vague resemblance to the Starcraft Terran Wraith - same wide-spread forward wings and split tail, though the proportions are different.

Anyway... that teeny criticism aside, they look great and I'm looking forward to trying them out!
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Verrius

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Re: The Shadow Order (v.3, .53a) 9 Ships, 11 Weapons Total +Station
« Reply #7 on: August 09, 2012, 06:28:32 PM »

A good thought, seeing as how the Wraith is actually suppose to be a durable, "in your face" ship. I'll keep that in mind when I do another pass over the graphics at some point. (I'm looking at YOU Cabal.)

Verrius

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Re: The Shadow Order (v.4, .53.1a) Touched up graphics, added 2 ships
« Reply #8 on: August 16, 2012, 09:48:41 PM »

Update! Taking a break from Fleet Control (Whew)
This is mostly for the .53.1a update, although there are new ships, they're in the demo mission only. I hope to add a cruiser soon, mentally preparing myself for the drawing nightmare that it will be. (But if I get lazy you'll know. I got lazy with the Cabal...)

The Darkness Fighters are durable crafts that come in packs of 3. They sport a powerful Shadow Cannon, vortex missiles, and an energy core with a hullmod to allow for PD. All around dangerous foes, they're main drawback is their speed.

The Mirage frigate is actually pretty weak, although it carries around 3 clones of itself that can do minor damage and never run out. They don't, however, block shots. I think I've seen lasers work on them though, but eh, they just come back anyway.

I also touched up the graphics a little, I do hope it's enjoyed!

BTW: Scrappers is also updated for .53.1a, although there is no new content.

Strifen

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Re: The Shadow Order (v.4, .53.1a) Touched up graphics, added 2 ships.
« Reply #9 on: August 16, 2012, 10:21:15 PM »

  I get the old v.35 from the new download;

also, energy cores are quite fun to use en masse.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2012, 10:23:41 PM by Strifen »
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Verrius

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Re: The Shadow Order (v.4, .53.1a) Touched up graphics, added 2 ships.
« Reply #10 on: August 16, 2012, 10:25:09 PM »

Fixed! Sorry :p

 I get the old v.35 from the new download;

also, energy cores are quite fun to use en masse.
Yeah, I have a lot of fun with them.  They're not too powerful obviously, but they really mess up PD and practically never miss.

Agalyon

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Hey there, you don't seem to be getting much feedback over this mod, and I just wanted to say that I really, REALLY like it. There hasn't been much stuff released mod wise that isn't a kit bash lately, (and don't get me wrong, its like you said, nothing wrong with minor changes, all content is good) and this a very unique mod with a distinct feel to it, and its a lot of fun. Both your ships and weapons are very unique, and I love the cohesive style they all have.

Just wanted to make sure you know your appreciated, :P
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Kaitol

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Due to being rather burned out on Starfarer recently, I haven't had the opportunity to try your mod yet. Given that this is only one page and it seems not a lot of people are talking I thought I should still offer my appreciation for the unique look and theme of the mod.

The primarily Phase Cloak defense is a unique (for now anyway) niche to build a faction around, and the dark, vaguely insectile look further adds to the villainous feel of the ships. It was also a nice touch to deny buying their tech unless you "join" them.

This will definitely be on my short "do add" list of mods to grab whenever I get the urge to get a new version of Starfarer and stick mods in it.
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harrumph

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I like it too! You've got some really great ideas in here, ships that play differently from anything in the vanilla game or anything any other modder has come up with. My favorite is definitely the Wraith, which is a ton of fun—maybe a little overpowered, but it does take skill and it's pretty easily countered by the right ships/weapons. Zipping in and hugging some destroyer to death is hilarious. I think you managed to balance the range and power of the weapon and of the teleport just about perfectly. The Mirage is also a really clever, distinct, fun design, and the Demon, without doing anything wild and crazy and different, is totally fun, a nicely balanced ship that's fun to pilot. The Warlock and Shadowstriker are really well done too.

Negative (but hopefully constructive) stuff: the emphasis on phase ships sometimes seems like it wasn't completely thought out. None of the new weapons, for instance, is bursty enough for a phase frigate; I found the Pawn, Mirage, etc. much, much more effective armed with AM blasters. The Pawn has two PD-oriented mounts which are basically just a waste of OP on a ship that has few—it's very fast, and it's a phase ship; it doesn't need PD. The Wight is basically just an overpowered Afflictor, with very similar armament, but faster and tougher, with more OP and a much more efficient phase cloak. The Cabal is, uh, kind of an odd idea. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but it seems like a phase carrier is a bad combination.

I think the art might be a little too consistent, also—several of the frigates are hard to tell apart, and the weapons kind of all look the same (plus they're hard to see against the similar-colored armor of the ships). I'm not sure the faction really needed all new weapons—some of them feel redundant, others are a little unbalanced (flux costs tend to be awfully low for the bigger ones). It might be better to mix in some vanilla weapons (AM blasters for sure) and focus more on the really unique Shadow Order weapons (energy cores are super cool).

Anyway, sorry the negative bits were twice as long as the positive ones. I do like the mod a lot!
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