Ascendency (Beta 3 Released)

[Psiyon]

(Formerly Thiiei's Ascendency)

Beta 3 Released!
Full version:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/71512473/ascendency-Beta_3-full.zip

Lite Version (No music):
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/71512473/ascendency-Beta_3-lite.zip

Warning: if you have an old or integrated graphics card and get a startup crash, please download the following fix:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/71512473/smallplanettextures.zip

(Rough) Patch notes:

B.3 Changes:

Major:

-New ship systems:

   -Magnetic plating:
      -Trades weapon power for increased armor.
      -Niathus, Luxara, Telanitan.
      -Note: Flux management on these ships is now important.

   -Assault Mode:
      -Trades speed and armor for significant weapon power.
      -Scug, Theiper
      -Note: Flux management on these ships is now important.

   -Auxiliary Thrust:
      -Trades armor power for increased speed.
      -Sikiraa, Ulnatan

   -Fire Control Array:
      -Projects a field around the ship that provides an accuracy and range bonus to friendly ships.
      -Cerija

All systems have full AI support.

-New sounds for heavy weapon impacts.
-Probably some other things I can't remember.


B.2.2 Changes:

Major:

-.54.1a compatibility.
-New logistics skill - "Command" - increases max command points.
-A significant number of new sound effects, mainly UI.
-Heavily damaged ships will now have EMP arcs shoot across their hull (purely visual).

Minor:

-Fixed a bug that caused sekrit items to be placed in your dockyard if you were a teamkiller.
-Removed all the unused skills.
-Removed Herobrine.


B.2.1 Changes:

Major Changes:

-Faction data is now properly saved.
-Most corvettes now provide their own hangar space.
-The moons orbit at a slower rate.
-Fixed a typo that said the Ceni Six paycheck was 1000 credits more than it was actually worth.


B.2 Changes:

Major Changes:

-Added new skill tree.
-You may now choose which faction to play as.
   -Ceni Six is considered "easy" mode. All other factions are significantly more difficult.
   -Ceni Six and Okouth have the mercenary system available to them. (Okouth players can fight for the KTA)
   -You receive a paycheck from your faction. Amount varies.
   -You will have a personal dockyard that you can store items in for free, and it will get deliveries of free resources and ships from time to time
   -Added an easy start option allows you to start the game with multiple ships. Ideal for new players, or those who hate starting out with nothing.
   -You may now choose your portrait, as Tysia is no longer the mod's main character.
   -You will spawn by your faction's homeworld.
   -Your dockyard will spawn around a world your faction controls
-Elite fleets. In response to the player's increased power via the skill system, some AI controlled fleets (Identified by an "(E)" in their fleet name) will use elite ship variants--they will wreck you.
-One new combat track.
-Three new hullmods.
   -Positronic Ammunition - Increases damage to enemy shields by 35%. Ideal for anyone playing a faction with Ceni Six as their enemy.
   -Redundant Systems - Increases the health of weapons and engines by 75%
   -Targeting computer - Increases autofire accuracy by 15%

Lesser changes:

-Four new portraits. Two for Ceni Six, two for Okouth.
-Pretty new splash screen and cursor.
-Some UI sounds.
-One new combat background.
-Added Lyseti ships to the random battle.

Balance Changes:

-Calthiiker bombers are now equipped with a forward-firing Tarna CIWS.
-OAC-78 bombers are now equipped with a forward-firing RFL.
-Fighters and corvettes are now more maneuverable.
-Most ships have slightly increased flux capacities.
-Most ballistic weapons no longer have ammo.
-Probably a lot of other minor edits I cannot remember.



B.1.1 Changes:


-Fixed a bug that prevented heavy anion pulse cannons from being delivered.
-Reduced mercenary service paychecks back to 12,000 per month.
-Miscellaneous campaign-related tweaks.



B.1 Changes:


-Added the Lyseti Trading Corporation. Includes 6 ships: AC-03 interceptor, Light Shuttle, Kalion Frigate, Shield Defense Platform, Emite Transport, Daratok Destroyer. Also includes 6 weapons: Light Flak, L+H Anion Pulse Cannons, Light Machine Gun, Short Range Missile, Anti-Ship Missile.
   -Lyseti doesn't have their own station. Instead, their goods are shipped all across the system--except for Thiiei's station, as the two are enemies.

-Added ship systems to some ships.
   -Systems:

      -Thiian:
      Falshiiker/Ipelak: Light Flares
      Vicerus: Fast Missile Systems (Increases missile ROF)
      Viktra: Ammunition Belt Overdrive (Increases ballistic ROF)
      Seteth: Teriat Escort (A wing of Teriats protects the ship)
      Ithia: Maneuvering Jets

      -Coalition:
      Adjutrus: Engine Burn (Massive forward speed boost until flux levels top off)
      Ajliot: Maneuvering Jets
      Pialtu: Fast Missile Systems
      Velithan: Overcharge (Increased energy ROF + Damage, in exchange for more armor damage taken)
      Luxara: Disruptors (Similar to seeker flares)
      Kaeomdus: F-01 Escort (A wing of 7 F-01s protects the ship)

      -Kraskae Treaty Alliance:
      Makalan: Overcharge
      Karitka: Fast Missile Systems
      Ulnatan: Maneuvering Jets
      Kartuaa: Engine Burn

      Ceni Six:
      -No systems. Technically, shields could be thought of as their primary ship system.

      -Okouth:
      Savil: Fast Missile Systems
      Saldara: VES-1330 Escort (A wing of VES-1330s protects the ship.)
      Kresh-44: Engine Burn

      -Lyseti:
      Light Shuttle: Light Flares
      Emite: Engine Burn
      Shield Defense Platform: Shield Drones (Projects a weak shield that friendly ships can hide under)
      Daratok: Hyperstream Drive (Teleports the ship from one place to another)

-Added Thiiei's Ithia-class battleship + the Heavy Rapid Magnetic Coil Gun.
-Added combat music, + 1 new campaign track.
-Added Warp Node orbiting Ujionla that allows you to warp to any corner of the map.
-Added rare pirate spawns. You are rewarded with credits for defeating them.
-Added the Shield Generator hullmod--Very expensive, but equips a ship with shielding. Do note, this doesn't work well on all ships. Ships with high flux capacities are a good candidate.
-Added new, re-mastered backgrounds.
-Cleaned up the paycheck system. Your paycheck is now now deposited directly into your account, instead of having to cash it.
-New portrait of Tysia.
-New engine flare colors for the Coalition, Okouth, and Ceni Six.
-Ceni Six will now show up as friendly instead of neutral. Additionally, Thiiei or the Coalition will appear is friendly if you are employed by them.
-Went over ship names to make many of them sound less stupid.
-Added relevant tips to the main menu to help new players.
-Increased the strength of fighters. Most have more HP/Armor and slightly larger weapon arcs.
-Vasir Assaultcraft now come in wings of 5.
-New explosion sounds.
-The hyperon beam on the Makalan and Ulnatan is now built-in.
-Adjusted spawn rates/fleet sizes for all factions.
-Weapons, like everything else, are now occasionally removed from stations, though this is rare.
-Misc balancing:
   -The Kaeomdus is now considered a captial ship. It is now slightly more powerful, and the Luxara received a buff to help fill the gap.
   -Ships now have lower maximum crew and cargo capacities.
-As usual, loads of other small edits I can't remember.



A.5.1 Changes:

-Campaign balancing, factions are more even.
-Increased crew requirements for destroyers slightly, decreased crew requirements of Saldara.
-Reverted to an older version of the rank icons.
-Fiddled with the PIC 880's accuracy, gave it more spread.
-Gave the two new long-range weapons role descriptions in descriptions.csv.
-Fixed a bug with the Makalan's variant that caused both of its guns to be in the same weapon group.

Note: Ascendency is a total conversion. This will not work in conjunction with other mods.

Watch the introduction:

Videos (oldest first, newest last):
1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roFR8LiWmG8
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lvXZ5v9StY
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo95RjqrJsA
4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsSnKJgtXgY
5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59cdmWePkM8
6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttkFpRGpi0w
7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWNh6kkfSx4 (Courtesy of IAmSogard87)

Heliotrix's Playthrough:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb5EO7dl4Sg
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aQ9jnIw2TI
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll3w5tZc2Hc

Original Music:
Main Theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4b1tDMzCUk
Combat 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psXIoG2-Dg8

Screenshots (Old to new =>)

The Universe:
In the Orbit of God

Deep within the Large Magellanic Cloud sat a massive, sky-blue concentration of hydrogen, helium, methane and various other gasses. A gas giant planet—192,628 kilometers in diameter. Silently suspended in its gravitational web lay innumerable satellites—hundreds upon hundreds of small, slowly spinning islands of rock and metal. But not all were small.  And not all were of just rock and metal. Four worlds pierced the blackness of space with their brilliance: rock; metal; water; sand; soil; oxygen; nitrogen; and life composed these worlds. Humanity, the scourge of the cosmos, infested them. As their isolated societies evolved in separate corners of the gas giant system, they all developed one commonality: they knew God. The blue sphere that dominated the sky watched over them night and day, and cradled their civilizations in its orbit. Humanity was at peace, as it always was in its early stages of development.

And then the machines came. With the power of the electron unlocked, humanity, in four separate locations, sprang forward blindly in a crazed attempt to meet their neighbors—and to ultimately destroy them.

There was peace at first. Peace was always a precursor to conflict. It took a great many years before they began to split apart. Three factions formed: The Esk Coalition, a unification of the various nation-states entrenched on the moon Esk; the Kraskae Treaty Alliance, spanning nations across the moons Bli and Nara; and finally the nation of Thiiei, the juggernaut dominating the entirety of the moon Thtiu.

With the Eskel people divided, the stage was set for a massive three-way war, and inevitably, every man, woman and hellish weapon of war was brought to bear to create an inferno so fierce, not even God could quell the flames.

Ascendency can be considered a sequel to the original In the Orbit of God, a conversion for the game Homeworld 2: http://www.moddb.com/mods/in-the-orbit-of-god

Ascendency is a total conversion for Starfarer that will feature three full, distinct factions to play as:
(Note: not all completed sprites will be listed here, only a few to give you an idea of what each faction looks like. Otherwise, this page would be loaded with sprites.)


Thiiei: Based on the moon Thtiu, Thiian ships are armed mostly with missiles and massdriver weapons. While their vessels are clunky and low-tech compared to KTA and EC ships, they can still hold their own without issue.

Ritiak-class BattlecruiserViktra-class Anti-strikecraft Frigate

Seteth-class Light CarrierScug-class Assault Frigate

Esk Coalition: Based on the moon Esk, Coalition ships are state-of-the-art, boasting the most advanced hulls, weapons, and engines. The only problem is that it is incredibly expensive to produce such advanced ships—meaning there aren’t many to go around, and each vessel lost is a serious blow.

Niathus-class Assault Frigate Ajliot-class Anti-strikecraft Frigate

Velithan-class DestroyerPialtu-class Missile Artillery Frigate

Kraskae Treaty Alliance: Based on the moons Bli and Nara, their ships lie between the worlds of the EC and Thiiei, being reliable and easy to control. Their weapon of choice is the hyperon beam: a finely focused pulsed or sustained beam of hyperon particles that proves to be highly accurate.

Sikiraa-class Assault FrigateTalpanaan-class Corvette

Ulnatan Support DestroyerCerija Assaultship

In addition to the main three, there are three more minor factions:


Ershiian Sovereignty (Ceni Six Corporation): A minor faction based on the barren, uninhabitable moon Ujionla. They offer ships and their military’s services for money to the three warring factions.

Ikara-class Light Frigate Olora-class Experimental Destroyer

Okouth: A small corporation that operates similarly to Ceni Six. However, this means that Ceni Six is a competitor--one that must be dealt with.

Savil-class Missile FrigateSaldara-class Destroyer

Lyseti Trading Corporation: Lyseti primarily deals with the trading of all kinds of ships and weapons with the Kraskae Treaty Alliance and the Esk Coalition. They also run a reputable shuttling service, transporting people and goods throughout the entire star system.

Daratok-class Missile DestroyerEmite-class Transport

More Info:

How do the mercenary system and paychecks work?

A:

The mercenary system allows you to fight under the banner of either Thiiei or the Coalition. In order to sign a contract, go to the station of the entity you wish to fight for. Pick up the contract, and put it in your cargo--after the in-game day changes, the contract will be signed, and the opposing faction will become hostile to you. (Meaning if you work for Thiiei, the Coalition will become hostile once the contract is signed.) As long as you are working for them, you will receive a paycheck about once a month. You are able to terminate the contract at any time--just go back to that station, and put the "Terminate Contract" item in your cargo. After one in-game day, you will no longer work for your faction, and you will no longer receive paychecks. The opposing faction will still remain hostile to you for a bit of time, but they will eventually call off the hunt for you (You're a mercenary--why kill you when they can hire you to kill your former employers?). Once the opposing faction has returned to neutral status with you, you may choose to work for them if you wish. In addition to paychecks from working for a faction, you will always receive a somewhat smaller paycheck from Ceni Six once every little-less-than-a-month, so long as you do not betray them.

Be warned: if you attack either Thiiei or the Coalition without a contract with their opposing faction, you will be labeled as permanently hostile, and no contracts will be able to be signed with them. If you choose to work for the other faction, also be aware that after you terminate a contract with them, the faction you attacked originally will NOT regain neutrality with you.

Misc:

Besides being able to command three+ factions worth of ships, you'll also find the mod complemented with an entirely new set of sound effects--it's one thing to make a game look and play different, but it's another to make it sound different.

Music is done by the artists Aes Dana and H.U.V.A. Network, from Ultimae Records. You can listen to all of the label's music for free at their bandcamp page: http://ultimae.bandcamp.com/

The thread will be continually updated with progress as elements of the mod are completed, so stay tuned.

[mendonca]

Looks, and sounds, very promising

I love the sprites ... definitely watching this.

[aerandir]

Looks pretty good. love the detailing on the ships.

[Psiyon]

Got some more sprites done, as well as two ships ingame:

Coalition Ajliot Class Anti-strikecraft Frigate:


Coalition F-01 Interceptor:


Coalition Telanitan Class Heavy Frigate:


Thiian Teriat Class Light Interceptor:


Thiian Vicerus and Coalition Niathus ingame:

[megal00t]

hehehe looks fimiliar.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1QmFLBpkTA&feature=related

[Psiyon]

hehehe looks fimiliar.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1QmFLBpkTA&feature=related

Holy crap, proof that somebody actually played ITOG. /astonishment

[Psiyon]

First video, showing the first four ships ingame: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roFR8LiWmG8

The two new ships added:

Coalition Pialtu Class Missile Artillery Frigate: (The ship I pilot in the video)




Thiian Scug Class Assault Frigate:

[tinsoldier]

Did you mod in new sounds too?  Between the weapon changes and new sounds, the combat feels totally different.

Pretty wicked dude 

[Psiyon]

Yep, new sounds are present for all the new weapons and some of the explosions.

Kio Class Experimental Weapons Frigate ingame:





While equipped with shields, be warned: those shields are truly only useful in deflecting missiles. They are not capable of taking repeated hits from massdrivers or pulse cannons. Be sure to drop them if you enter such an engagement, otherwise you will overload, and probably die.

[Psiyon]

Time to take a step up from frigates.

Coalition Kaeomdus Class Heavy Support Cruiser

A support ship loaded with light to medium weapons that also doubles as a carrier, though its capacity is limited. Fighters are the only thing that can be docked--corvettes will not be dockable (this applies for all other carriers as well).


Thiian Ritiak Class Battlecruiser

Though it has less guns than the Kaeomdus, the Ritiak is a hard-hitter, capable of dispatching enemy frigates with ease. However, keep it out of the center of battles--its hull integrity leaves something to be desired.



With any luck I'll be able to get these guys ingame over the course of the next couple of days.

[Belhoriann]

Wow, the ships and the background look stunning. Can't wait to play this mod 

[Psiyon]

Here's a look into the deep space layer of the backgrounds that will be included with the mod:




And here's the Ritiak ingame, as well as the new nebulae graphics:

[icepick37]

Daaaaaaaaang. Look nice!

[Alex]

Yeah, *very* nice. The dust clouds look amazing.

[Psiyon]

Thanks

Got the basic background up (Right now it's just a 2048x2048 section of the 5200x5200 space scape I made).





The milky way turned out to look better ingame than it did in Photoshop.

Still need to add in all the moons and stuff. Sadly that will require me to redo all of them, because the original textures are only 2048x1024, which, is kind of small for this purpose. They'll need to be at least 4096x2048 for them to look decent.