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Author Topic: Battlestar Galactica Total Conversion (WIP w/ 0.65a demo)  (Read 27971 times)

Rushyo

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Battlestar Galactica Total Conversion (WIP w/ 0.65a demo)
« on: October 20, 2014, 05:14:58 AM »

Welcome!

https://youtu.be/lWMwvG3jn1E

I'd like to announce this mod which I've been working on for quite a long time in and around other projects since about a year ago. It has no relationship to the other (seemingly defunct) Battlestar Galactica mod and is based upon very different design principles.

The primary intent is to provide a total conversion that offers a new, unique playing experience: a strong focus on survival over power building.

The player will control a small fleet of military and civilian vehicles. They will make tough choices about what happens to the people and ships in their fleet in order to maximise their chances of surviving until they reach their objective (creating a new human colony). The fleet will be under constant pressure from the Cylon threat. That fleet will contain human factions, each with their own agendas and requirements that will need to be considered during the journey.

There will be a constant looming threat posed by the Cylons. There will be no right decisions and every choice will have a consequence. Every decision will incorporate some aspect of peril. There will be Cylon agents working within the fleet to destablise the player's authority, in addition to the clear and present danger posed by the Cylon fleets. In addition, the human factions within the fleet will act on their own if they are given too much berth and undermine the player's ability to control the destiny of the fleet.

There will be three distinct phases to the campaign:

    The Invasion. Accrue resources by meeting up with other survivors whilst dodging significant unknown threats. Survive just long enough to get what you need and then escape from the core systems.
    The Chase. Make your way between star systems performing (somewhat randomly chosen) events to maintain enough fuel and morale to continue your journey. Search for edges that might get you farther whilst dealing with the friction between the fleet's various factions. Survive just long enough to find a viable colony.
    The Goal. Based on the decisions made previously, you have to overcome the final hurdles on your way to a colony. Utilising every resource you have managed to retain through the previous stages you must overcome the consequences of your previous actions to finish the game. Survive just long enough to see your fleet disband and receive a score based on the viability of your colony.


Would you like to know more?: The full High Level Design Document: http://rushyo.com/#bsgmodhld

Screenshots: Alpha 2: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/56y5uupppwkdsk9/AACVTkTQ9KRfNFIJaO6Tw30Aa?dl=0

Project Status: Closed alpha. 75% of way towards open beta.

Downloads: Demo Alpha Build for 0.65a RC1 (Contains single missions + simulation ships)
« Last Edit: December 11, 2015, 02:28:31 PM by Rushyo »
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joe130794

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Re: Battlestar Galactica Total Conversion (WIP)
« Reply #1 on: October 20, 2014, 05:32:58 AM »

looks good. the screenshots are good too.
just wondering if the phase skimmer in the standard game could be used to simulate a ftl jump. but over a bit longer range.
also the base stars could do with being a bit bigger too.
are you using standard ingame weapons or specially designed weapons because one screenshot looked like it had reaper torpedoes i think it was in it.
looks great though and i think it has great promise.

also what is the hidden content at the top. theres nothing there.
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Rushyo

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Re: Battlestar Galactica Total Conversion (WIP)
« Reply #2 on: October 20, 2014, 05:51:02 AM »

looks good. the screenshots are good too.
just wondering if the phase skimmer in the standard game could be used to simulate a ftl jump. but over a bit longer range.

Possibly, although short (tactical) FTL hops were a very rare event in the series. Generally speaking the series makes the point that an FTL jump is a big deal, not something you can quickly perform on the fly during battle to gain a tactical advantage in a fight. The first version of the beta will probably use the existing hyperspace mechanics for strategic travel, before writing something bespoke in a later build. There's no plan to have tactical FTL jumps in the short-term.

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also the base stars could do with being a bit bigger too.

Per principle 16 of the HLD: "Realistic scale is not a requirement. It is undesirable to force the Starsector engine to render individual cannon shots from a Viper whilst having a Battlestar that is bigger than the screen. The game engine is simply not designed to handle that whilst also providing stable and enjoyable gameplay."

It's also related to principle 4, the idea that the BSG ships should be able to transfer directly back in to SS rather than being internally consistent to only the mod.

There's some room for budge there, but unless there's a particularly pressing rationale it's not something I'm going to lose sleep over.

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are you using standard ingame weapons or specially designed weapons because one screenshot looked like it had reaper torpedoes i think it was in it.
looks great though and i think it has great promise.

Presently it's using graphics from Starsector with game data specific to the mod for almost all weapon systems; per the art design rules: "This mod is not going to be generating new art assets except where this no alternative. Where possible weapons and effects should be recycled from Starsector."

Why is that? This mod has already taken a gigantic number of person-hours to get to this stage. Doing lots of work that isn't relevant to shipping a good gameplay experience is very low priority!

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also what is the hidden content at the top. theres nothing there.

Just an inline version of one of the screenshots from Dropbox. The URI might not be valid for other people...  :-\ When I get home I'll link to my own server rather than Dropbox. [EDIT: Done.]
« Last Edit: October 20, 2014, 05:59:47 AM by Rushyo »
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joe130794

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Re: Battlestar Galactica Total Conversion (WIP)
« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2014, 06:30:10 AM »

ah yeah your right about the ftl jumps.

the base stars are alright. i take it they are weaker than battlestars since they outnumber them a bit.

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Rushyo

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Re: Battlestar Galactica Total Conversion (WIP)
« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2014, 06:41:36 AM »

ah yeah your right about the ftl jumps.

the base stars are alright. i take it they are weaker than battlestars since they outnumber them a bit.

Yup. They are roughly equivalent to the implied strength of Basestars in the TV series. That is to say they're somewhat weaker than Battlestars and a relative pushover without their raiders. Still, taking on 3/4 Basestars directly, with escorts (as I do in some of those screenshots), is nigh-on-suicidal; but does make for pretty screenshots ;D Even if you survive such a head-on fight (which really demands at least two Battlestars), your fleet's posture is going to suffer for it. Most of the battles in those screenshots can be considered 'Pyrrhic victories' at best.

Generally speaking if you're not running away you better a) have a mighty fine plan and b) have a mighty fine reason for fighting in the first place. Fleeing whilst minimising casualties to the fleet is the bread-and-butter of the campaign mode.
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joe130794

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Re: Battlestar Galactica Total Conversion (WIP)
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2014, 07:54:02 AM »

yeah because i noticed playing it normally that when your retreating or the enemy is retreating then you can send ships in from the sides of the map which would make retreats more difficult. since civilian ships would have light armaments at best they wouldnt be able to defend themselves against lots of raiders and you would ideally want the battlestars to hang back to take on the base stars.

will only 2 battlestars be available or will we be able to have more in our fleets?
and are there only 2 types so far?
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Rushyo

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Re: Battlestar Galactica Total Conversion (WIP)
« Reply #6 on: October 20, 2014, 08:47:27 AM »

yeah because i noticed playing it normally that when your retreating or the enemy is retreating then you can send ships in from the sides of the map which would make retreats more difficult. since civilian ships would have light armaments at best they wouldnt be able to defend themselves against lots of raiders and you would ideally want the battlestars to hang back to take on the base stars.

will only 2 battlestars be available or will we be able to have more in our fleets?
and are there only 2 types so far?

I'll post some more details later but for now I can state comfortably the Mercury (i.e. Pegasus), Galactica, and Valkyrie (Alpha 1 pic) classes are all realised as playable ships. There are Viper Mk IIs, Mk VIIs, and assault raptors. The Cylons presently have basestars, raiders, 'advanced' raiders (i.e. nuclear-armed raiders), and heavy raiders (also equipped with nuclear armaments). There are a variety of civilian ships each with different characteristics.

Sustaining two or more Battlestars in your fleet is difficult. They drain crew, supplies, and fuel, as well as contributing to destablising the political status of the fleet. To compensate, there are heavy cruisers available (Loki and Berzerk class) which allow to spread out your defensive perimeter across the civilian fleet without completely gobbling resources like a Battlestar does. That said; cruisers don't stand a chance in proximity to a Basestar, so must be very carefully managed.

Don't expect to be fielding a battle fleet consistently. Even if you start the game with the setup that gives you the largest fleet size (there's a little RPG character creation thing at the start) and go around collecting as many ships as possible during the first phase you'll probably only finish the first phase with 2-3 Battlestars and 3-5 heavy cruisers at absolute maximum. You won't have the supplies to keep their systems working and you'll probably have to mothball half the fleet whilst the rest will be running on skeleton crews. Even with all that firepower, turning and fighting a decent-sized Cylon fleet will probably cost you dearly and set you right back down to 'normal' size.

I can tell you from experience that protecting the civilian fleet in a retreat is always a constant challenge!
« Last Edit: October 20, 2014, 08:57:06 AM by Rushyo »
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joe130794

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Re: Battlestar Galactica Total Conversion (WIP)
« Reply #7 on: October 20, 2014, 09:47:35 AM »

cool, cant wait to have a go.

so in some cases, it might be better to face them head on with battlestars and cruisers than have your civilian ships at risk?
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Rushyo

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Re: Battlestar Galactica Total Conversion (WIP)
« Reply #8 on: October 20, 2014, 10:14:20 AM »

Yes; but that option is only open to you if your military has sufficient political power to make that happen. Civilians don't like being left unattended and sitting ducks! It'll probably un-nerve them even if the military have enough standing to force the issue, which isn't generally a good thing. And if you have some Cylon spies you haven't uncovered in the fleet, you're really asking for trouble...
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joe130794

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Re: Battlestar Galactica Total Conversion (WIP)
« Reply #9 on: October 20, 2014, 12:40:37 PM »

ah i werent sure if it would take into account if you faced them instead of retreating, then you wouldnt necessarily have to call your civilian ships into battle. just keep them in reserve.
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MesoTroniK

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Re: Battlestar Galactica Total Conversion (WIP)
« Reply #10 on: October 20, 2014, 05:04:07 PM »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWt2m1xtJbw


If your goal is to mimic that in Starsector, that can potentially be very cool but. You are going to need custom weapons and scripts, things like: Variable flak fuzes, custom weapon autofire AI, custom missile AI, ship systems etc.

I wish you luck in this project as it has potential to be quite entertaining :)

Rushyo

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Re: Battlestar Galactica Total Conversion (WIP)
« Reply #11 on: October 21, 2014, 01:41:40 AM »

If your goal is to mimic that in Starsector, that can potentially be very cool but. You are going to need custom weapons and scripts, things like: Variable flak fuzes, custom weapon autofire AI, custom missile AI, ship systems etc.

...and custom shaders, and custom physics... basically gutting Starsector entirely. It would be easier to write a whole new engine. Whilst I am certainly capable of doing that (and I may well do at some point), it's not compatible with the goals of this project.

This mod will have depth and authenticity to BSG in its own way; I'm not looking to create Yet Another BSG Fan Masturbation Project (i.e. 'Diaspora 2D')  :) The focus of this mod is (at least initially) on a completely unique campaign experience. That means re-using as much of Starsector as possible and not trying to write an entirely new game from the ground up.

(For the record: I think Diaspora is a great game. It's just not this game.)
« Last Edit: October 21, 2014, 03:43:37 AM by Rushyo »
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joe130794

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Re: Battlestar Galactica Total Conversion (WIP)
« Reply #12 on: October 21, 2014, 05:19:58 AM »

i dont play many games where you actually fly a fighter or similar small ship.
i prefer games with capital ships, much more fun.
so cant wait for this to be playable.

is there an estimated date yet?
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Rushyo

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Re: Battlestar Galactica Total Conversion (WIP)
« Reply #13 on: October 21, 2014, 05:43:45 AM »

i dont play many games where you actually fly a fighter or similar small ship.
i prefer games with capital ships, much more fun.
so cant wait for this to be playable.

is there an estimated date yet?

Demo: Possibly tonight. Just need to separate out the campaign from the rest of the content.
Open Beta: There's probably about 30 hours work to go. At optimal pace it might be ready by the end of the month, but I think end of year is a more achievable target.
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joe130794

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Re: Battlestar Galactica Total Conversion (WIP)
« Reply #14 on: October 21, 2014, 05:55:08 AM »

cool cant wait.
i might get into modding but adding factions and ships. i have never done modding before so ill start small because i dont think i would be able to ever do what your doing.
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