More on Q-ships:

Frequently, what you'll find in EVN:UGF is Q-ships owned and operated by Galactic privateers. Privateers are what I disparagingly refer to as "pirates with papers." They get a license from a given government that says they can hunt down ships of opposing factions. The UGF is well known for using every tool and tactic at its disposal in wartime (short of deliberately attacking civilians, biological warfare, destroying planets and environments, and the like), and regularly licenses privateers to go after enemy shipping (which the UGF terms "economic warfare").

Galactic privateers receive auxiliary ranks in the UGN, a decent paycheck, and the right to supplement their income by selling off captured starships and cargoes, tax-free. There are limitations on them, however. First, while not direct members of the UGN, their Navy rank means they are required to obey lawful orders from superior officers. Second, privateers may not attack allied vessels. Ever. Privately owned ships are off-limits too: only government cargoes and vessels may be attacked, except in defense of oneself or of innocents (a primary function of the privateering program is to assist the UGN in combating piracy). Failure to abide by these rules means the loss of one's license, no second chances, and frequently court martial as well. Also, one man's privateer is another's pirate: treatment of captured Galactic privateers varies from government to government, and while the Axe-tails accord them POW rights, the Balcrusians are not shy about spacing them.

One of the most notorious cases of privateers going bad is Yapeel, a Paz/kanran. He was stripped of his license and court-martialed for robbing a pharmaceutical shipment within Galactic space. (The Navy Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) investigation threw suspicion on a Republic Group subsidiary for hiring Yapeel to do their dirty work to a competitor, but nothing ever stuck.) Yapeel broke out before sentencing, stole a Foxfire and fled Galactic space. He now heads a full-fledged pirate faction, the Vibroaxe Death Knights; the UGF has a bounty of 400,000 credits for him, dead or alive.

In case you're wondering, I'm trying to go for a hopeful, but gritty feel with EVN:UGF. I don't know if I'm going to make "Galactic privateer" a career path (might not have enough room in the TC, and privateers can't get Navy ships), but it's one of the elements of the story.

QUOTE (StarSword @ Dec 8 2010, 08:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yapeel broke out before sentencing, stole a Foxfire and fled Galactic space. He now heads a full-fledged pirate faction, the Vibroaxe Death Knights; the UGF has a bounty of 400,000 credits for him, dead or alive.

Do I detect hints of a side mission where the pilot can capture/kill Yapeel? Assuming he still flies that stolen Foxfire (though heavily upgraded by now, obviously) I think it'd be fun to get into a starfight with him.

QUOTE (DarthKev @ Dec 8 2010, 11:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do I detect hints of a side mission where the pilot can capture/kill Yapeel? Assuming he still flies that stolen Foxfire (though heavily upgraded by now, obviously) I think it'd be fun to get into a starfight with him.

Maybe, maybe not (I honestly haven't decided, though it's a good idea). He won't be flying the Foxfire, though: he's upgraded to a Pirate Saladin (the Rosenberg Famiglia version of the Terran Engineering Corporation Saladin -class destroyer).

One other interesting thing, not about Yapeel specifically, but about the Vibroaxe Death Knights: there's another pirate group, Rico's Revenants, that has a long-standing blood feud with the Vibroaxes. Yapeel humiliated their leader, the Portuguese human Affonso Rico, when he was a privateer, and Rico has never forgotten it. You don't want to get between the Revenants and the Vibroaxes under any circumstances. I specifically coded the GOVT resources so that they are both xenophobic AND enemies. My hope is that while each individually will shoot anything, if you get the two factions in the same system, they'll prefer to attack each other rather than bystanders.

This post has been edited by StarSword : 09 December 2010 - 12:16 AM

It's been a little while, but as of 1900 hours I'm finally done with school for the semester. :laugh: :hector_bird:

(That darn Captain Hector always seems to pop up when you least expect him. He even made it into EVN:UGF, albeit as an "unemployed" PERS.)

I made a major mistake the other day, and forgot to save the finished Orion Frigate to my Box.net account, so I'm having to repaint it.

Speaking of frigates, here's the Galactic version.

_ Terran Engineering Corporation LC-772A Naloth -class Frigate_
Heavy Patrol and Fire Support Vessel, United Galactic Navy

The LC-772A Naloth -class Frigate is a fast, agile light capital ship built by the Terran Engineering Corporation to scout for UGN battle groups. It has enough armament to slug it out with pirate vessels and light cruisers, and enough speed to get out if it finds itself in a tight spot. Cheap and easy to build because of heavy use of standardized parts, the Naloth -class is frequently the first command for a mid-ranked UGN officer.

Like the hypergate tender, the Naloth -class frigate is built by the Terran Engineering Corporation. There tends to be little similarity between one TEC ship and another; they subscribe heavily to the design philosophy "form follows function."

The UGN uses the Naloth -class in two main roles. First off, it performs patrol duty alongside gunboats and fighters. Secondly, it provides fire support to Galactic cruisers, helping to keep small capital ships at bay while the larger warships fight enemies of similar size.

According to UGN naming conventions, frigates are named for planets and moons. Naloth is the largest moon of the planet Dorn, located in the Mathros System.

This ship's design was meant to look fast, so I basically crossed a sports car with a fighter jet and ballooned it to 300 meters. Unlike the larger Galactic capital ships (destroyer, battlecruiser, and command ship), its primary armament consists of six quad laser turrets instead of turbolasers. (The quad laser turret has slightly less firepower per shot than the heavy laser turret, but it fires twice as fast.)

The UGN also uses a modified version of the Naloth -class frigate as a hospital ship. The LC-772B Kymonthia -class Medical Frigate, which mainly operates on humanitarian and search-and-rescue missions, can be distinguished from the standard frigate by way of the red-cross markings on the aft wings where the UGN insignia is in the standard version.

This post has been edited by StarSword : 04 January 2011 - 11:55 PM

QUOTE (StarSword @ Nov 26 2010, 08:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In other words, no more ships built entirely from Delphi parts.

QUOTE (StarSword @ Dec 14 2010, 01:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

_ Terran Engineering Corporation LC-772A Naloth -class Frigate_
Heavy Patrol and Fire Support Vessel, United Galactic Navy

Hehe, couldn't stay away from those parts, could you? Not that I'm complaining, the Naloth is brilliant.

QUOTE

This ship's design was meant to look fast, so I basically crossed a sports car with a fighter jet and ballooned it to 300 meters.

Fast? It looks like it could achieve warp 10 through pure intimidation. I'd say you've definitely succeeded in making it look fast.

QUOTE (DarthKev @ Dec 14 2010, 09:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hehe, couldn't stay away from those parts, could you? Not that I'm complaining, the Naloth is brilliant.

Well, it's not ALL Delphi parts; the weaponry is mostly me. I guess what I really meant was, no more ships that follow any particular pattern (long hull with wings amidships, for instance).

QUOTE (DarthKev @ Dec 14 2010, 09:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Fast? It looks like it could achieve warp 10 through pure intimidation. I'd say you've definitely succeeded in making it look fast.

Why thank you! I'm quite pleased with it. The original design concept looked a little too much like a jet plane, so I scrapped it and started from scratch.

I've found a pretty solid method of making the insignia sit flush with the hull on non-level surfaces, e.g. archon fins: draw a right triangle from the hull to the horizontal axis, measure the angle of depression, and rotate the insignia component until it matches.

One further note:

QUOTE (StarSword @ Dec 14 2010, 04:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Cheap and easy to build because of heavy use of standardized parts, the Naloth -class is frequently the first command for a mid-ranked UGN officer.

In-game, the frigate only costs 750k, compared to 7 million credits for the Anaconda -class destroyer, 12 million for the O'Brien -class battlecruiser, and 30 million for the Apache -class command ship.

And a further addendum on UGN naming conventions: Battlecruisers are named for historical figures, like Admiral O'Brien of the Milky Way Union Navy (for whom the O'Brien -class is named), the Orion warrior Varen Harsimili Yalandas ("KarHallarn" to the Aurorans), and a certain pre-space Terran statesman by the name of Abraham Lincoln.

This post has been edited by StarSword : 04 January 2011 - 11:56 PM

Minor update: I finished re-finishing the Orion Frigate.

Boeing Company HB-808C and HB-808D Prominence -class Gunboats
Close Support Vessel, United Galactic Fighter Corps

The Boeing Company's main claim to fame has always been its passenger vessels, but the company's 800 series of combat gunships has been popular with the United Galactic Armed Forces for years. The HB-808C Prominence -class gunboat is heavily armed, fast, and has good range. Common mission roles include airstrikes, patrol, and defense of larger warships.

The "heavy weapons" version of the Prominence -class gunboat has swapped some speed for a more devastating armament. Though slower than the C model due to a heavier munitions load, the HB-808D is actually more maneuverable. They're typically seen guarding high-value targets such as space stations, and frequently make appearances on the Galactic/Axe-tail border.

Named for a form of solar storm, the Prominence -class gunboat is crewed by the United Galactic Fighter Corps. Operated mainly in space, its chief role is to protect warships and installations from starfighter attack. It also enforces blockades, and does patrol duty (it carries enough fuel for six hyperjumps). It features a cramped cabin for six crewmen, but can run with three (enabling the other three to sleep). It carries cheek-mounted heavy laser cannons, a pair of defensive laser turrets, and secondary armament that can be swapped out. The C-model carries 30 Striker missiles, and the D-model carries 40 Corona missiles and 20 EMP missiles.

I spent the better part of a week wrestling with this thing: my concept art was not exactly Sketchup-friendly.

This post has been edited by StarSword : 18 December 2010 - 08:21 PM

:blink: Cannons, turrets, missiles, oh my! And... do I see a chaingun at the base of the left wing? You even put in a door! As Will Smith said in Independence Day, "I gotta get me one of these!"

What sort of methods does it use to protect itself should shields fail? I imagine all the pretty windows would be primary targets once shields are down, seeing as they're most likely weaker than the rest of the hull. Though, I'm guessing they're actually transparisteel, allowing the crew to see while not being as vulnerable.

Either way, I'm definitely flying one of these, just for the looks alone. Even if I have to steal one.

QUOTE (DarthKev @ Dec 18 2010, 08:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

:blink: Cannons, turrets, missiles, oh my! And... do I see a chaingun at the base of the left wing? You even put in a door! As Will Smith said in Independence Day, "I gotta get me one of these!"

What sort of methods does it use to protect itself should shields fail? I imagine all the pretty windows would be primary targets once shields are down, seeing as they're most likely weaker than the rest of the hull. Though, I'm guessing they're actually transparisteel, allowing the crew to see while not being as vulnerable.

Either way, I'm definitely flying one of these, just for the looks alone. Even if I have to steal one.

Actually, no, that's not a chaingun: that's a Corona missile launcher. I based it off the launcher for the Hellhound missile.

Galactic military ships go for a good balance of performance, defense, and armament, and the Prominence -class gunboat is no different. The C-model has 500 each shields and armor, which is on the high side of average for small ships.

The windows are indeed transparisteel; that actually goes for any starship in EVN:UGF. It acts just like glass but is much stronger. In combat, of course, the crew also wears vacuum-capable flight suits as backup.

This post has been edited by StarSword : 19 December 2010 - 11:01 AM

Finally, the last United Galactic Navy ship. Two major factions done, four to go.

_ New Netherlands Spaceworks Carrack -class Light Freighter -- Military Retool_
Multirole Supply Ship, United Galactic Navy

The NNS Carrack has spawned several variants, one of which, the Carrack-B, or "Heavy Carrack," serves UGN battle groups as fleet tenders. A well-armed long-range freighter that carries supplies and ammunition for long campaigns, it combines the modular construction of the Carrack-A with the lethal jammers, weapons, and shields that are common to all Navy ships.

Napoleon Bonaparte famously said, "An army marches on its stomach." The same applies to the armies of the future, even in space. Fighters need fuel and ammunition, warships need reaction mass and (in the case of battlecruisers and command ships) antimatter, and crews, of course, need food. United Galactic Navy battle groups frequently find themselves far from ports that have the capacity to resupply them, so the UGN makes supply lines with fleet tenders.

In short, Quartermasters' Corps isn't glamorous, like flying a fighter or a battleship, but it's a crucial part of warfare.

As should be obvious to anyone who was paying attention, the UGN fleet tender is a variant of the Carrack. I took the existing model, repainted it and added four quad laser turrets.

This post has been edited by StarSword : 21 December 2010 - 12:49 AM

New Aussie Design C-39 Kangaroo -class Transport
Light Freighter, Civilian Market

New Aussie Design is a very young company that as yet has only brought one craft to market. Their C-39 Kangaroo -class Transport is slightly faster than New Netherlands Spaceworks' bestselling Carrack, but can't carry nearly as much cargo and, due to budget constraints, is practically a sitting duck in combat. Still, they've become quite popular in the Core Worlds, where pirates rarely appear.

The ship from which the Orion Haladar-class frigate originated, the Kangaroo is lightly armed and poorly defended relative to its competitors. Really, its only redeeming features are that A, it's faster and more maneuverable than the Carrack, and B, it's cheaper (a Kangaroo costs 350k, whereas a Carrack will run you 500,000).

Having saved a copy of the frigate's hull before I started turning it into a warship, I was able to finish the Kangaroo in about fifteen minutes.

This post has been edited by StarSword : 21 December 2010 - 12:51 AM

QUOTE (StarSword @ Dec 20 2010, 09:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Finally, the last United Galactic Navy ship. Two major factions done, four to go.

That was fast. The only UGN fighters I remember seeing were the Black Knight and the Prominence. Did I miss anything?

No, you're forgetting the Scallopshell. The fleet tender, Black Knight stealth fighter, Scallopshell bomber, Prominence -class gunboat, Naloth -class frigate, Anaconda -class destroyer, O'Brien -class battlecruiser, and Apache - and Aegis -class command ships make a total of nine ship designs for the UGN, which I think is more than enough. It's certainly more ship classes than any other major faction (with the possible exception of the Axe-tails; I haven't actually counted how many ships the Axe-tail Imperial Starfleet ended up with).

This post has been edited by StarSword : 21 December 2010 - 06:39 PM

QUOTE (StarSword @ Dec 21 2010, 06:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

... I haven't actually counted how many ships the Axe-tail Imperial Starfleet ended up with.

Okay, so the Axe-tails have seven military and three civilian ship types (not including variant classes).

With my second Axe-tail vessel, I've reached a total of thirty Sketchup ships.

_ Imperial Martial Engineering Fleet Carrier, 'Greatsword' and 'Ra'kor' Types_
Starfighter Launch Platform and Command and Control Vessel, Axe-tail Imperial Starfleet

The Imperial Martial Engineering 'Greatsword' Type fleet carrier is by far the most dangerous warship in the Axe-tail arsenal. Capable of taking on Apache -class command ships, it carries squadrons of A5 interceptors and 'Warhammer' fighter-bombers and possesses enough firepower all by itself to turn worlds to slag. Though slow and unmaneuverable, and extremely expensive to build and maintain, its strong defenses, integrated cloaking device, and multiple photon beams and quantum disruptors make the 'Greatsword' fleet carrier the cornerstone of the Axe-tail Imperial Starfleet.

Republic Naval Systems' release of the Aegis -class command ship spurred the development of an even more powerful carrier to match the UGN's increasing firepower. Named for one of the twin priest-queens who united the Empire over a thousand years ago, the Imperial Martial Engineering 'Ra'kor' type fleet carrier is designed along similar lines to its Galactic counterparts: a heavily armored long range force projection platform and command and control starship, with multi-mission capability. In order to accommodate this, the 'Ra'kor' type is a full three hundred meters longer and fifty meters broader than the 'Greatsword,' and features additional power generation capacity to ease the strain on the gravatic drives.

In short, Axe-tail fleet carriers are consummate battleships. The fighter bays are located on the ship's "cheekbones": they're the long boxes up and to the side of the beginning of the primary hull. Like all Axe-tail military ships (apart from the fighters), it comes with an integrated cloaking device. It must be deactivated before you can shoot, of course (apart from launching fighters), but it's one of the few serious advantages the Axe-tails have over the UGF. (Apart from this, they're close to evenly matched.)

Originally it was going to be the Protoss Carrier, before I went back and ripped out all the copyright-infringing thingies.

As with the A5 interceptor, I went with mostly yellow tile textures. I'm not quite as pleased with the result this time; it needs work.

This one was a bitch and a half to render: as has happened before, my computer proved underpowered and I eventually resorted to manually upping Sketchup.exe's priority setting in the Task Manager. :mad: Note to self: save up for new computer. :hector_bird:

ZOMGZOMGZOMG THIS IS AW-

<faints, falls out of chair from awesomeness>

:blink::blink: I have no words right now...

QUOTE (StarSword @ Dec 21 2010, 10:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Like all Axe-tail military ships (apart from the fighters), it comes with an integrated cloaking device. It must be deactivated before you can shoot, of course (apart from launching fighters), but it's one of the few serious advantages the Axe-tails have over the UGF. (Apart from this, they're close to evenly matched.)

Yes, finally! I've never understood what about a cloaking device prevented fighters from flying out a gaping hole in the side of a starship. I once even threw together a plug-in allowing all fighter bays in EVN to fire while cloaked. Among other fun incidents, Scarabs and Ravens became absolutely deadly since I made them fly around cloaked and not de-cloak until close to their target. Their Mantas would show up out of nowhere and swarm you, and then they would show up out of nowhere and blow you away if their Mantas hadn't already. Now I'm even more excited to play this TC when it's finished.

Back to the Axe-tail carrier... how'd you think this monster up?! I really want to fly it (I really do), but at the same time I'm afraid to go near it. It could be painted plain white and would still be scary as hell. I mean... how do you come up with stuff like this?

QUOTE (DarthKev @ Dec 22 2010, 02:40 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ZOMGZOMGZOMG THIS IS AW-

<faints, falls out of chair from awesomeness>

:blink::blink: I have no words right now...

Yes, finally! I've never understood what about a cloaking device prevented fighters from flying out a gaping hole in the side of a starship. I once even threw together a plug-in allowing all fighter bays in EVN to fire while cloaked. Among other fun incidents, Scarabs and Ravens became absolutely deadly since I made them fly around cloaked and not de-cloak until close to their target. Their Mantas would show up out of nowhere and swarm you, and then they would show up out of nowhere and blow you away if their Mantas hadn't already. Now I'm even more excited to play this TC when it's finished.

Back to the Axe-tail carrier... how'd you think this monster up?! I really want to fly it (I really do), but at the same time I'm afraid to go near it. It could be painted plain white and would still be scary as hell. I mean... how do you come up with stuff like this?

Yeah, the no-launch-while-cloaking thing didn't make any sense to me either. Sure, cloaking devices burn power like mad, but that doesn't affect something that doesn't have any connection to the starship's power supply.

The carrier was originally going to have some resemblance to Protoss ships (the Ribbed Hull Block would be the engine section, and it would have curving arms sweeping forward from that), but I didn't like how it was coming out so I scrapped the design early and just started experimenting. In the words of the supervillain Octopus (played hilariously by Samuel L. Jackson) in The Spirit , "I was trying to make us a smart (henchman) and this thing just sort of popped out." (The thing that popped out in that instance, however, was a foot with a head.)

Anyway, the experiments evolved towards a blocky ... thing that had two Equipment Blocks (one at the bow with insignia attached, and one amidships with the antennae chopped off). I made the main hull from a pair of Forks end to end; the fighter bays are Quad Cannons mated to a pair Vector Thrust Engine Modules.

Imperial Martial Engineering 'Scimitar' Type Cruiser
Close Support Warship, Axe-tail Imperial Starfleet

Though it lacks the sheer firepower of the fleet carrier, the Imperial Martial Engineering 'Scimitar' Type Cruiser is a good match for Galactic destroyers, and great minds think alike: the Axe-tail cruiser was designed for similar duties. A pair of photon beams, point defense, and a quantum disruptor give it the firepower to bring similar vessels to their knees, and speed, agility and an integrated cloaking device let it evade larger ships. The biggest drawback is its hefty price tag, though price breaks are possible with the right connections.

Not much else to say. It doesn't carry fighters or any conventional form of missile weapon, but it does have a quantum disruptor, which is a guided energy weapon.

As far as design is concerned, I started out trying to design something along similar lines to the carrier, minus the Ribbed Hull Block "outriggers". As I worked, the hull gained some resemblance to the UGN command ships (without the wings or tailfin). Not really knowing what to do, I threw a pair of Thin Plate Detail pieces on the bow and mated them to a Quad Cannon. That's when it really began to take the final shape.

The textures turned out better this time than with the carrier. The biggest problem I faced (apart from computer slowdowns, and Task Manager helped with that) was finding suitably flat surfaces on which to place the insignia. I finally settled on four locations and was able to size the Axe-tail flags appropriately.

I'm also going to post one of the Axe-tail primary weapons, partly because I have a technical question.

_ Imperial Martial Engineering R14 Photon Beam_
Heavy Directed Energy Weapon, Axe-tail Imperial Starfleet

The mother of all directed-energy weapons, the Imperial Martial Engineering R14 photon beam is carried exclusively by Axe-tail cruisers and fleet carriers (mainly because they're the only craft in the Axe-tail Imperial Starfleet that can handle the power requirements). Comparable to several heavy turbolaser batteries firing simultaneously, even Galactic command ships have trouble fending it off for long. It can also be used for bombarding planets and space stations.

The Sketchup component for this weapon debuted on the Axe-tail cruiser. I placed two amidships on the dorsal hull, just aft of the bridge and above the black ribs. I constructed it almost entirely from Delphi parts (with the exception of the basic frame, which you can't see) from a Panel Chunk, two Angle-Cut Light Struts, a Fork, and a Massive Curved Hull with Substructure.

Here's my question: The photon beam OUTF (#258) has two weapon IDs, the anti-ship photon beam (WEAP 183, fired with the primary trigger), and the anti-SPOB photon beam (WEAP 254, fired with the secondary trigger). How do I rig the SHIP, WEAP, and OUTF resources so that ships armed with photon beams will come with one OUTF, but both WEAPs? (As it stands, I set the ships' WEAP slot to 183.)

QUOTE (StarSword @ Dec 23 2010, 02:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here's my question: The photon beam OUTF (#258) has two weapon IDs, the anti-ship photon beam (WEAP 183, fired with the primary trigger), and the anti-SPOB photon beam (WEAP 254, fired with the secondary trigger). How do I rig the SHIP, WEAP, and OUTF resources so that ships armed with photon beams will come with one OUTF, but both WEAPs? (As it stands, I set the ships' WEAP slot to 183.)

Do you mean to say WinNova supports outfits pointing to multiple weapons? MacNova does not support this, and I find it odd (to say the least) that WinNova might.

The only way I know of to have one outfit grant the player multiple weapons is to have one outfit for each weapon, but only one outfit is visible and it grants the invisible outfits with itself when purchased. As far as arming ships with both, putting both in the weapon fields would make both show up in the shipyard info box. Instead I'd place one in the weapons and for the other list its outfit in the ship's outfit fields. That way only the one in the weapon fields shows up in the info box.

QUOTE (DarthKev @ Dec 23 2010, 08:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do you mean to say WinNova supports outfits pointing to multiple weapons? MacNova does not support this, and I find it odd (to say the least) that WinNova might.

The only way I know of to have one outfit grant the player multiple weapons is to have one outfit for each weapon, but only one outfit is visible and it grants the invisible outfits with itself when purchased. As far as arming ships with both, putting both in the weapon fields would make both show up in the shipyard info box. Instead I'd place one in the weapons and for the other list its outfit in the ship's outfit fields. That way only the one in the weapon fields shows up in the info box.

In answer to your first part, I don't know; I haven't tested it. Your solution makes more sense anyway.