Mosoto Design Studios General Purpose Gunship

Though smaller than most gunships, MDS' own model is a good deal faster than most gunships. The Merchant Marines tend to use this vessel as a patrol vessel to catch smugglers since it can catch them before they leave the system rather easily. Its simple and user-friendly design makes it an excellent craft for 'lone-wolves' and independant bounty hunters. A few 'Marines have even left in order to pursue that avenue of profit after purchasing their first gunship.

For those of you who prefer the 'Boba Fett' experience (one small, lone ship against dozens of larger enemies and coming out alive) this ship is about a close as you're going to get in HOTS. You won't be able to take on entire fleets with it, and you probably won't even be able to take on destroyers by yourself, but it is versatile and can take on almost any of the ships the indy pirates or the Shipwreck Rogues have.

This post has been edited by DarthKev : 19 January 2011 - 08:24 PM

Minor update here. I've finished all the human ship designs, all of which can be viewed in the gallery. I'll be back with more Mosoto ships once I've fully developed them. Currently they're just models with rough stats.

Clicked the link in your siggy out of curiosity and I find an awesome-looking mod, haha. This all looks pretty amazing. I can't wait to see you finish it.

At some point, I need to start messing around with Nova modding, it sounds like a lot of fun.

Thanks for the interest! Yes, building plug-ins is a lot of fun. It's probably my favorite part of the EV Series. How many other games let you completely overhaul the included scenario with one of your own design? Or even just tweak a few things here and there?

(I'm sure there are a few games out there that let you do this, I just haven't heard of them. ;))

Lol, honestly, two of my favorite games do exactly that. EV: Nova and Mount & Blade. Two amazing games that let you mod from the tiny little tweaks to completely revamping things, and both are amazing games made by small developers.

More companies really need to see the value in a game that people can make their own. Blizzard and Valve have both realized this and have made some of the most memorable games in history because of it.

But anyway, back on subject, your mod does look really awesome. If I do happen to get deep enough into all this modding stuff before you finish, I'd be willing to help out, if you ever need it.

Not really sure if I'll be any good before you finish, though. ^.^;;

EDIT: Oh, on that note, you wouldn't happen to have any suggestions for tools to mod for ev in windows, would you?

This post has been edited by Zephyr8965 : 10 January 2011 - 09:06 PM

The only EV editor I know of for Windows is EVNEW. You can find it on ASW's Add-Ons page, or search for it with this page. Keep in mind, searching with that page can take a while, so be patient.

Edit: As for helping out, there's still a lot of work left for HOTS, so we'll see.

This post has been edited by DarthKev : 10 January 2011 - 10:28 PM

o.o That page is awesome! Thanks for the link. That'll definitely make finding ev stuff easier when I have a particular download in mind and want the newest version. The add-ons page on this site is kinda poorly put together.

Another update here. Thanks to StarSword's tips I've managed to crank out the Space Squids. Take a look.

Now, this isn't textured, and I may change it in the future, but it's my current look for them. The tentacles point forward. Also, the 'Squids play a major role in the story of HOTS, so this is all you get for now. Though I will tell you there are other kinds of 'Squids out there. This one is a male 'Squid, 50 meters in length. That's as big as he'll get, but he's still dangerous even to ships five times his size if not handled with caution.

This post has been edited by DarthKev : 21 January 2011 - 10:37 PM

Mosoto Design Studios Upgraded Multipurpose Gunship

The standard MDS Gunship is indeed an efficient vessel, but it lacks a certain 'oomph' against capital ships. Mosoto went back to the Gunship design and produced the Mk.II. Stronger shields, better armour, and powerful, long-range weaponry allow it to take pop-shots and—when in groups—eliminate larger hostile warships. However, with the improved systems the Mk.II requires a third crewman to operate at peak efficiency. Naturally this can make things somewhat cramped inside the craft, but its a sacrifice many mercenaries are willing to put up with.

In reality, the Mk.II wasn't built to improve upon an aging design; in fact, it's only 2 years younger than the Mk.I. The Mk.II Gunship was designed in response to increasing numbers of mercenaries leaving the Merchant Marines after purchasing a Mk.I Gunship, in the hope more mercenaries would buy the Mk.II instead of the Mk.I. Additionally, the Mk.II isn't anywhere near as user-friendly as the Mk.I, causing crews to require a steadier source of income for parts and ammunition. The attempt has been somewhat successful, but some mercenaries do still leave upon a Mk.I purchase. The 'Marine chiefs and MDS have taken this as a necessary risk as using contracts to keep mercenaries with the 'Marines or removing the Mk.I from the market would cause an uproar that no one wants to deal with.

This post has been edited by DarthKev : 19 January 2011 - 06:17 AM

Mosoto Design Studios Stealth Corvette

As rarely as it happens, the Merchant Marines do engage in covert operations from time to time. Mosoto wanted to aid them in those ventures through the release of a stealth craft, namely the MDS Corvette. This almost didn't happen, however, as the Onli Conglomerate is hesitant to release their Stealth Field technology to commercial organizations and stealing cloaking technology from the pirate gangs is nigh impossible. The Sapphire Dragons made a risky move by selling the designs to MDS, which they had gained lawfully from the Onli. The 'Marines in turn have performed several successful operations against various criminals via the Corvette and the Onli have forgiven the SD Mercs.

Stealth technology is widely used in HOTS. The Onli have it, the SD Mercs have it, the Merchant Marines have it, and the pirate gangs* have it. In the case of the pirate gangs their tech is a bona fide cloaking device which bends radiation (the visible spectrum of light being a form of radiation) around the parent ship via a cloak shield. You disappear from radar, you can cloak escorts, and you don't de-cloak when shot. Great for escapes, though not so much for combat since it sucks energy even when inactive, sucks even more when active, uses up a jump of energy just to install, and drops your shields in order to activate the cloak shield. The Onli use 'Stealth Fields', an outer skin along a ship's hull that can change color to camouflage a ship with its background. However, you will still be picked up on radar, it will deactivate if you're shot, both shields and energy will slowly deplete while active, and the incorporated sensors take a moment to figure out what color the skin should change to. That said, shields don't drop and it uses much less energy overall, making it great for combat maneuvers.

The other pirate factions and the Earth Empire have no form of stealth technology, however. They make up for it with advanced research into the effects stealth tech has on a ship's own sensor net. When a cloaking device is activated, it has a subtle effect on the emanation and reception of radiation by a ship. Stealth Fields have a similar effect, though it's more of a feedback loop from the field's own sensors interfering with the parent ship's sensors. The Empire, Samurai, Mafia, and Shipwreck Rogues have developed sensors capable of tracking these effects, though only at close range.

*There are three main pirate factions in HOTS; the Shojen Samurai, the Mafia, and the Shipwreck Rogues. Then there are the various minor pirate gangs. Think of these are the regular pirates and marauders in EVN, but separated into more factions. It's not uncommon to see indy pirate ships duke it out because they're from different gangs. I haven't decided for sure yet, but I may even color-code the gangs, so you can specifically pick on one gang if you feel like it. Other than the color-coding, there won't be any noticeable difference between the gangs beyond possible unique ship variants, though that's less likely.

This post has been edited by DarthKev : 19 January 2011 - 06:16 AM

Mosoto Design Studios Escort Destroyer

MDS has really outdone themselves with this one. Built with the tasks of escorting convoys, dueling pirates, and guarding borders in mind, the Destroyer even carries a pair of Attack Fighters tucked away in it engine support pylons. One 'Marine famously proclaimed it to be, "one tough puppy." As a testament to its strength, Moso Mosoto himself owned and captained a modified MDS Destroyer—the Morsuno, named after his father. It survived the pirate attack that claimed Mosoto's life and has been handed down to each successive MDS CEO.

As with all other MDS ships, purchase of a Destroyer is limited to Merchant Marine personnel. In fact, MDS is only a quasi-civilian company because of this. They don't sell to civilians directly, only through DCD. The player will get access to MDS ships, however. You just need to do some work for them and the 'Marines, first. You won't get them all at once, either, rather you'll unlock them as you go, starting with the smallest model.

That brings me to another topic. In HOTS I plan to introduce the player's crew as part of the cast of characters. Not the entire crew, mind you, just the senior officers. Understandably, this poses a problem if the player decides to pilot a fighter. Not to mention the fact fighters are absolutely useless against most ships in HOTS on their own, even freighters. They have some use in groups and if they have support fire from larger ships, but otherwise are easy prey for anything bigger than them (which is pretty much everything except shuttles).

As such, I'm considering prohibiting the player from purchasing smaller craft. Say, fighters, shuttles, and maybe cruisers and gunships. There are other complications that arise from doing this, but the primary concern to me is how this goes against EV's nature of letting the player decide everything. On one hand I don't want to interfere with this nature, but on the other I want to stay within the boundaries of realism. The player sharing a fighter's cockpit with 7 other people doesn't fall into these boundaries. A 40-meter-long cruiser would be cramped, but you might be able to fit 8 people in there.

Basically I'm looking for feedback on what potential players would prefer. Realism or freedom to choose?

Also, this is the last ship I'll be posting a review of until further notice. I'll still give updates on how the TC is coming, I just won't be reviewing the rest of the ships unless I decide otherwise. I might be willing to provide a short review of some ships upon request, though...

@darthkev, on 19 January 2011 - 06:13 AM, said in Legacy TC Status Thread:

That brings me to another topic. In HOTS I plan to introduce the player's crew as part of the cast of characters. Not the entire crew, mind you, just the senior officers. Understandably, this poses a problem if the player decides to pilot a fighter. Not to mention the fact fighters are absolutely useless against most ships in HOTS on their own, even freighters. They have some use in groups and if they have support fire from larger ships, but otherwise are easy prey for anything bigger than them (which is pretty much everything except shuttles).

As such, I'm considering prohibiting the player from purchasing smaller craft. Say, fighters, shuttles, and maybe cruisers and gunships. There are other complications that arise from doing this, but the primary concern to me is how this goes against EV's nature of letting the player decide everything. On one hand I don't want to interfere with this nature, but on the other I want to stay within the boundaries of realism. The player sharing a fighter's cockpit with 7 other people doesn't fall into these boundaries. A 40-meter-long cruiser would be cramped, but you might be able to fit 8 people in there.

Basically I'm looking for feedback on what potential players would prefer. Realism or freedom to choose?

The ship's crew showing up as NPCs reminds me of Heart of Darkness, at least the Weave string (I haven't played the Terran string). Your Weave ship's command crew makes appearances in DESCs, you have conversations, some even wind up dying in battle.

Two things: First, will command crew show up as outfits a la SFA, or are they just featured in DESCs?

Secondly, there's another option that would solve the problem of cramming a command crew into a fighter cockpit, albeit a time-consuming one. You can use the SHIP resources' bit fields to turn on and off parts of DESC resources based on what ship the player is flying (bit-controlled expressions are detailed in the bible).

A line of dialogue while flying a capital ship:

Quote

"Captain, we've detected a small flotilla of Onli warships dropping out of hyperspace 5,000 klicks off our starboard bow."

"Huh. Wonder what they're doing this deep in Terran space. Comms, open a hailing channel."

The same line while flying a fighter:

Quote

Out of the blue your sensors detect a small group of Onli warships coming out of hyperspace about 5,000 klicks ahead. You wonder what they're doing this deep in Terran space, and decide to ask and find out.

Basically, you've got two sets of lines within mission DESCs, and the line that is picked is determined by what ship you're in. Of course, this is a time-consuming solution, and not one I'm implementing in EVN:UGF; I'm basically going to assume that the player owns a given class of vessel by a certain point in a mission string.

Spoiler

(Near the end of the UGF string, your immediate superior in the Eighth Fleet is killed in action, and you are promoted into his place, which automatically grants you command of the Eighth Fleet's command ship UGNS Voyager.)

But I am using this trick to change some lines of the fake ID OUTFs based on if a player is partaking of a given mission string:

Quote

Every Galactic citizen older than age five (or whatever racial age is equivalent to a five-year-old human) carries a personal identification card containing almost a hundred security features ranging from holograms to encrypted circuitry to quantum particle systems, making them close to impossible to counterfeit. Stealing them is also useless, because they're indelibly keyed to that person's biometrics. Nevertheless, through bribery, subterfuge, and outright theft, a few hundred blank cards every year make their illicit way into skilled hands. If you can manage to pay their exorbitant fee, {Bxxx "the Scimitars' face artists" "a skilled counterfeiter"} can give you a new identity valid in Galactic space.

I haven't determined which bit to use yet, but the bit xxx is a placeholder for one activated in the Balcrusian mission string. If it's turned on by the string, the fake ID is provided by Balcrusian intelligence; otherwise, it's bought on the black market.

By the way, what the hell happened to the forums' appearance? Did the webmaster have a stroke or something?

This post has been edited by StarSword : 24 January 2011 - 02:19 PM

@starsword, on 24 January 2011 - 02:17 PM, said in Legacy TC Status Thread:

The ship's crew showing up as NPCs reminds me of Heart of Darkness, at least the Weave string (I haven't played the Terran string). Your Weave ship's command crew makes appearances in DESCs, you have conversations, some even wind up dying in battle.

Two things: First, will command crew show up as outfits a la SFA, or are they just featured in DESCs?

They do show up in dëscs as actual characters and will play a role in the storyline. They also show up as outfits, though not ones you can buy or sell. You see, each member of the player's command crew offers a small boost to one system or another, and at certain points in the storyline some members of your crew might be somewhere else doing other things. This causes a noticeable effect on your ship's performance because that person truly isn't there anymore. They come back later, though.

Basically, they're more like the player's crew in HoD but they also have effects on your ship like SFA. You just can't pick when any of them are with you or not. Think the player's crew in Arpia, but each one is a separate outfit instead of all lumped into one.

Quote

Secondly, there's another option that would solve the problem of cramming a command crew into a fighter cockpit, albeit a time-consuming one. You can use the SHIP resources' bit fields to turn on and off parts of DESC resources based on what ship the player is flying (bit-controlled expressions are detailed in the bible).

I know that can be done, but it's not an option here. The player's command crew are true characters in HOTS, they will do things the player can't, such as leaving the ship for some covert operation or were kidnaped and the player must rescue them (those two examples are not guaranteed to show up in HOTS, but it is likely). I cannot cut them out at any moment in the story. At this point I'm just hoping I can make fighters just useful enough players won't automatically sell them off when they buy a ship that carries them, but not so useful any player will try playing in one.

Quote

By the way, what the hell happened to the forums' appearance? Did the webmaster have a stroke or something?

They upgraded the IPB and decided to change the themes because the folks over in the BnB (Banter n' Brawl) complained at some point in the past that they wanted a new theme. They ended up getting a black background with pink text (though the white borders remained) and all hell broke loose as a result. The pink has been replaced somewhat with a pale white now, though. As I recall, though, they're still working out some bugs with the new theme, like quote boxes being broken in all posts before the update.

Edit: One other thing I hope they fix is all images in posts before the update are no longer resized if they were too big to fit. For example, you can go back a ways in this thread and find several images are at full size now. Some of the more recent images in this thread are at regular size again, but that's only because I went back and fixed them manually. I planned to fix all of them, but got bored eventually. I might try again later...

This post has been edited by DarthKev : 24 January 2011 - 07:13 PM

@darthkev, on 20 May 2010 - 12:00 PM, said in Legacy TC Status Thread:

<!--quoteo(post=2044131:date=May 20 2010, 03:43 AM:name=LordInsane)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (LordInsane @ May 20 2010, 03:43 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2044131"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You changed the history when you changed the name. Exactly how much would change if the geosync angle was just dropped? It isn't like geosync is necessary to get a US base on the Moon. Heck, given the described technologies and historical progression, it seems infeasible that there <i>isn't</i> a base on the moon. If it is the need to keep the US safe in the war, why the need for a Luna base? Why not simply launch a station into geosync orbit?
As the timeline stands, the US apparently remained a not-major player despite 1) having given everyone else (well, everyone, really) a reason to hate them (handwaved away, depending on how far one is willing to stretch 'handwave') and 2) given themselves, as described in the timeline, a massive advantage.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

A name is just a name. If I were to remove the moon base, however, that would be removing a major event in history. Additionally, if the US didn't take the moon, someone else would have eventually, giving them an advantage. Another factor is that if no one forces it into geosync, anyone placing a base would have a mobile strike base far enough away that any attack on it could be foreseen and planned for. If any other nation did this, they would have won the war, thus changing history. The only way to prevent that is to do the impossible, putting the moon into a geosynchronous orbit. The only other two options I see—not placing a base there or leaving the moon in its standard orbit—are improbable and history-changing respectively.

Honestly if you wanted to shut everyone up, i havent scrolled threw to the last page but the incessant corrections of people not making the tc over how to realistically lock an already hypothetical scenario moon into place is to simply say, they built a massive anti-grav field generator slapped it on the moon, moved the moon, locked it down, end of story.
To compensate for tidal forces and overall general destruction well humanity created an artificial environmental system (maybe by using a vast network of satellites all positioned facing down which simulated gravitational pull and affected weather patterns... more technobabble needed but the farther away from realism you go the easier the technobabble becomes)

@darthkev, on 24 January 2011 - 07:08 PM, said in Legacy TC Status Thread:

. . . the folks over in the BnB (Banter n' Brawl) complained at some point in the past that they wanted a new theme.

Strictly speaking, they complained that they wanted the old theme back, which is roughly what they now have.

@sleipnir, on 25 January 2011 - 02:33 PM, said in Legacy TC Status Thread:

Honestly if you wanted to shut everyone up, i havent scrolled threw to the last page but the incessant corrections of people not making the tc over how to realistically lock an already hypothetical scenario moon into place is to simply say, they built a massive anti-grav field generator slapped it on the moon, moved the moon, locked it down, end of story.
To compensate for tidal forces and overall general destruction well humanity created an artificial environmental system (maybe by using a vast network of satellites all positioned facing down which simulated gravitational pull and affected weather patterns... more technobabble needed but the farther away from realism you go the easier the technobabble becomes)

No no no, I never wanted to just shut everyone up. I was trying to explain how they (the people of Earth in HOTS) did it. However, when I came up with the idea, I wasn't fully educated on how drastic of an effect the moon has on our planet, nor how strong its gravity really is. As for an anti-gravity field, that's a little advanced for that time period in HOTS' history. Sure, they had artificial-gravity generators for ships, but nothing close to an anti-gravity field generator that could counteract the moon's force. Even in present day HOTS, they can't counteract gravitational forces. To my understanding, artificial gravity is much easier to create than anti-gravity.

@david-arthur, on 25 January 2011 - 05:05 PM, said in Legacy TC Status Thread:

Strictly speaking, they complained that they wanted the old theme back, which is roughly what they now have.

Ah. Thanks for the correction.

Okay, two updates here. First, I've been working on the timeline some, filling out the gap right before the player comes in, and fixing some other things, namely the moon base. It's not quite finished, yet, but I'll post a link to see it relatively soon. By that I mean anytime from tomorrow to a month.

The second update is I really want to have a theme for HOTS now, and since my brother who offered to make one using loops in Garage Band is taking too long (slacker :p) I decided to try and make one myself. After a good amount of work, I finally have a first draft I feel comfortable sharing. You can get it here. This took me about a week, maybe two to put together. Not a long time, I know, but it's only a first draft. I might change it, I might not. I haven't decided yet.

Edit: By 'might change' I mean I might completely change it and go in a different direction. Edits will most likely happen once in a while. I mean, come on, I only worked on it for a week or two.

This post has been edited by DarthKev : 28 January 2011 - 02:25 AM

Okay, so 3 days. Not bad. Here is the revised (again) HOTS Timeline. The moon base problem has been fixed and I've added a few more events in what used to be an 800 year gap before the player enters the game. There are also a few other new events elsewhere in the timeline, and some other events that were previously present, but are now slightly altered.

And now the Space Mantas are done. At least, for now. I might change them at some point, but I do like their current appearance, so probably not.

This is a young one, 36 meters long. Like the Space Squids, there are bigger ones out there. The Mantas, however, don't show up till late in the game. They're also a major plot element, so I'm not giving out any more detail than that.

Also, I'm going to change the 'Squid's and 'Manta's names. Right now I feel they sound much too similar to the army a villain would have in a 50's sci-fi flick. In which case I'm going to look around a bit through Latin and find some good root words for their behavior and appearance and then go from there. Or just pull random names from thin air. Either way.

@darthkev, on 31 January 2011 - 06:48 AM, said in Legacy TC Status Thread:

Also, I'm going to change the 'Squid's and 'Manta's names. Right now I feel they sound much too similar to the army a villain would have in a 50's sci-fi flick. In which case I'm going to look around a bit through Latin and find some good root words for their behavior and appearance and then go from there. Or just pull random names from thin air. Either way.

I wouldn't change their names, personally. Unless the squids and mantas are sentient (I'm assuming they aren't), they were probably just named space squids and space mantas by the first spacers to encounter them. I wouldn't capitalize the names either (at least, not in dialogue). I mean, you don't capitalize "red-tailed hawk," for instance.

EVN:UGF features a couple of spacefaring nonsentients in the Andromeda Galaxy, in addition to the Milky Way's hyperioids (copied and pasted from the stock scenario). What I did was name the SHIP resource "Space Slug" or whatever, and put "Silicon-Based Nonsentient" in the SHIP's Subtitle line. I figure that's basically what you should do with the squids and mantas. Maybe put their Latin name (e.g. Loligo aer , "Loligo" being a genus of Terran squid -- yay for Wikipedia, "aer" referring to the fictional ether of space*) in the Subtitle field.

• By the way, I never studied Latin. I just found an online English/Latin translator by way of Google. Here's the link.