Oh. That still barely makes sense. Thirded, if that's even a word...

Oh. That still barely makes sense. Thirded, if that's even a word...

Oh. That still barely makes sense. Thirded, if that's even a word...

Oh. That still barely makes sense. Thirded, if that's even a word...

@delphi, on Oct 14 2010, 10:16 PM, said in EVN - Delphi:

Dibs on being in the Beta. I called it first.

This post has been edited by Insomniac : 17 October 2010 - 03:38 AM

@spartan-jai, on Oct 16 2010, 09:07 PM, said in EVN - Delphi:

Oh. That still barely makes sense. Thirded, if that's even a word...

Well, maybe it doesn't make much sense to you, but it makes plenty of sense to those of us who know it and understand it. Think of it as the secret language of the internet.

Delphi, I have a question regarding your use of the word 'artillery'. Will artillery weapons basically be what railguns were in EVN, or will they have shorter ranges? I remember you mentioning how most (if not all) energy weapons will use energy from the parent ship to fire each shot, with more energy used per shot for bigger, stronger weapons. I also remember you talking about how ships will still be limited by what weapons they can use by the amount of energy they have in addition to available space. But I don't remember anything about range, and I find myself wondering about it now.

Part of why I ask is if artillery weapons are basically energy-using railguns, you're going to have to give missiles some special ability artillery doesn't have or no one will use missiles if they can use artillery... unless, of course, you plan for missiles to be a primarily small ship weapon.

Edit: Hmm, I guess I can't actually say for certain no one would use missiles, but I do see it as a strong possibility.

This post has been edited by DarthKev : 17 October 2010 - 10:22 AM

Is it showing everyone else that I posted the exact same thing three times? It shouldn't... Also, when I hear artillery, I think of mortars, which aren't practical in space, so he might mean something slower and unguided. Just a thought.

@darthkev, on Oct 17 2010, 11:19 AM, said in EVN - Delphi:

Part of why I ask is if artillery weapons are basically energy-using railguns, you're going to have to give missiles some special ability artillery doesn't have or no one will use missiles if they can use artillery... unless, of course, you plan for missiles to be a primarily small ship weapon.

Yeah, like guidance.

Regarding the reversed Gammadon: based on this image ...

... it seems like a cool idea. One possibility: move the guns/engines further forward (i.e. primary hull moves aft) to make them shorter, and have them stick out the front somewhat.

Or the Missile Quad Tubes on the front could be intakes for the engine for some reason unbeknownst to the rest of us.

@spartan-jai, on Oct 17 2010, 09:20 AM, said in EVN - Delphi:

Is it showing everyone else that I posted the exact same thing three times? It shouldn't... Also, when I hear artillery, I think of mortars, which aren't practical in space, so he might mean something slower and unguided. Just a thought.

Actually, I see four identical posts from you. As for artillery, railguns could count as artillery, IMO. Artillery just means a large caliber gun or a unit that uses large caliber guns. The ammo/rounds they use could be anything. You could make a giant gun that fires water balloons, it would still be artillery.

@starsword, on Oct 17 2010, 09:26 AM, said in EVN - Delphi:

Yeah, like guidance.

I'll take regenerating ammo over guided missiles any day.

I too, am not a fan of ammo requirements, but what you could do, is make missiles that guide, and just not have them require ammo? Yeah?

Also, I love both of those beautiful ships! They are just great looking! I cannot wait to play them! Seriously, extremely dangerous!

Also, artillery is generally something that is longer range and can affect the battle while remaining outside of it. In the space age, I wouldn't call anything in the system artillery. Even if the rail guns are far away, I'd say something that is fired from one stellar and affects another is artillery when considering the extreme distances of space.

Finally, to Mr. Beta-dibs-caller, Insomniac, get in line, we've got a line for beta that wraps around the world....... twice...... yeah! (We actually have been waiting a long time, because delphi puts lots of effort into his work, and won't just release any thing that isn't well done! Heh, remember when the estimate was about a year and a half? Exciting times!)

This post has been edited by EKHawkman : 17 October 2010 - 10:42 PM

The strength of the missiles is their homing capability over long distances, something that the artillery guns don't have. Also, the artillery is extraordinarily powerful but slow to reload, meaning that its use against medium to small-sized ships is fairly limited, unless it's a point-blank shot. The missiles do use ammunition, unlike the gradually regenerating energy supply for the Nichron cannons, but the missiles are more like conventional ICBMs, not the piddly little IR and Radar missiles from Nova. The missiles also have fairly uncomfortable reload times, but their striking power is tremendous, and they actively track their target. Jamming devices are also clunky and impractical in most situations, so it won't be the massive ECM/ECCM warfare you experienced in Nova. There are, of course, smaller missiles that are carried by fighters and light cruisers and fired in rapid succession, but the capital ships get some seriously terrifying tubes of their own.

"Artillery" by definition in the NDC universe is any weapon that meets all three of the following requirements:
- Destructive force above 1 megaton
- Integrated as a primary element of a ship's structure
- Cruiser-grade power requirements

Comparatively, "Direct Combat" weaponry is a general category that mostly covers the Electromag series of weapons, as well as a few other defensive systems and projectile cannons, including particle-based mining lasers. These devices usually don't require any additional power systems or reservoirs, operating off of the vessel's main power grid.

Rockets are also featured in the game, but they are in no way considered to be "modern" technology. They are, however, useful against capital ships when fired from small fighters, as they cut directly through any present shielding, and their lack of a guidance system means that point-defense systems cannot target them. Their fuel range is limited, though, so they aren't much use to a medium or large-sized ship, which would make far better use of artillery cannonry.

In other news, I took heed to the split of opinion between the Gammadon versions, and now I've created both an "Early NDC" Gammadon and a "Modern NDC" variant. The modern version is technically a backward version of the other with some parts added and others moved around, but they both look like related vessels. The modern version makes more use of strategic devices, turrets, and stronger shielding, while the older one is more heavily armored and carries more fixed guns, while only holding a maximum of two turrets. Some players will enjoy using the old model for intense artillery exchanges, and others will probably have fun diving headfirst into a battle and engaging the enemy with decimating point-blank weaponry on the modern Gammadon.

Just always remember, the triangle points forward.

Oh, I'll also have a new laptop arriving sometime within the next 2 days. It'll be a big bump up from my little 2006 MacBook Pro @ 2.0 GHz. With 2.66 GHz of speed, 4 GB of RAM, and 512 MB of VRAM, it'll absolutely tear through render times, like a chainsword through a heretic. Of course, it'll also mean that now I can take Fallout 3 with me on the road.

Close-up of a 2010 MacBook Pro's main board

So, which is which? I'm guessing this one...

is the modern Gammadon and this one...

is the old Gammadon. Correct?

That's correct. The exposed cannon housings are a feature unique to older NDC vessels, in which less-refined radiative surfaces prevented the full weapon body from being housed within the vessel's primary hull. The Alexander is a prime example of a completely modern ship, with almost no exposed mechanisms. The Monolith is also fairly new, but several elements of the weapon assembly are still held close to the outside of the hull, making it something of a transient design. The Cyphus and the Imperator are both older models, featuring entirely external weapon systems, though this is not so obvious on the Cyphus, which is suited more for planetary bombardment and thus features ventral-mounted artillery. One of the oldest designs is that of the Guardian, which is a leftover almost a hundred years old.

You'll also find the old-era Gammadon among the ranks of the Enclave fleet, appropriated in the early days of the Enclave-NDC War, when the vessel was still a modern, staple technology.

@delphi, on Oct 18 2010, 11:45 AM, said in EVN - Delphi:

Oh, I'll also have a new laptop arriving sometime within the next 2 days. It'll be a big bump up from my little 2006 MacBook Pro @ 2.0 GHz. With 2.66 GHz of speed, 4 GB of RAM, and 512 MB of VRAM, it'll absolutely tear through render times, like a chainsword through a heretic. Of course, it'll also mean that now I can take Fallout 3 with me on the road.

Close-up of a 2010 MacBook Pro's main board

............ Awesome.
That is really all that can be said.

I like the way you are demonstrating the evolution of NDC craft, I think that will be cool to see. Do you think you will do other ships with similar older and modern designs?

Sorry, I would post a meaningful reply, but I'm busy cleaning my brains off the computer screen.

Anyway; great work! Again, the quality is amazing. It looks incredible and I really really want to hear what you make for the main screen music.

-K

This post has been edited by Kasofa1 : 18 October 2010 - 04:28 PM

The newer Gammadon strikes me as very odd, I'm afraid. I liked the exposed cannon housings because it gave the ship more of an aggressive stance and appearance--the hull connecting the two engines makes the Gammadon look like a Monolith with two big weapon pods on the side.

@king_of_manticores, on Oct 18 2010, 04:57 PM, said in EVN - Delphi:

The newer Gammadon strikes me as very odd, I'm afraid. I liked the exposed cannon housings because it gave the ship more of an aggressive stance and appearance--the hull connecting the two engines makes the Gammadon look like a Monolith with two big weapon pods on the side.

Don't worry, both versions are in the same game, and not at different eras. Just like the Honda Civic, you can see one from 1992 on the road right next to one from 2010.

I know the added meat between the engine struts changes the look somewhat, but it was necessary unless I wanted it to look exactly like the old Gammadon but turned backward. It genuinely does look and behave like a completely different ship.

Agreed. I'm also not seeing the Monolith look-alike bit. So they both have somewhat rectangular shapes, the patterning and placement of the NDC emblem is still very different. Even if the emblem goes away along with the rest of the running lights when the ship is disabled, there's still the ship's own hull patterning.