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Re: [MOD, WIP] Foundation of the Federation

Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 8:45 pm
by Whale Cancer
Jequirity wrote:The Federation flagship looks really good; I love the fact that it resembles the Osprey! You could imagine that the flagship was the forerunner of the Osprey Class whereby the ship designers scaled the flagship design down to produce the Osprey cruiser.

WIll advanced weapons be limited in the Foundation of the Federation (FotF)? i.e. There won't be any Burst Laser mk 3s, no Glaive beams etc to represent the fact that FotF takes place earlier in time.

As an aside, depending on how FotF proceeds and how much spare time you have Whale Cancer, would you be tempted to make a similar style mod covering the period of time after vanilla FTL? It just strikes me that such a mod would be similar to FotF in that the Federation would presumably be on the offensive again, having destroyed the rebel flagship in vannila FTL.


The flagship is a bit of a placeholder sprite. The idea is very much that it is a 'prototype' Osprey (I figure there is only one in the fleet, and it is the flagship). I am going to fiddle with the sprite more when I get more coding done (1,200 lines of code, atm; although that includes commenting, debug menus, etc.,). Oh, and you know how the Kestral is described as a defunct/old ship? I figure it is the main ship-of-the-line of the federation at this point.

I will be messing with the weapons. Partly for balance, and partly to show off the fact this is an earlier time period. I've been toying with the idea of adding ballistic weapons (autocannons), probably as a form of artillery (i.e. unaimable) with limited (probably 1) shield penetration. I love the idea of many shells flying across space ala Battlestar Galactica. This stuff will come after I finish the 2 sector demo (the demo will _probably_ use the default 'balance' of weapons and ship armaments, for simplicity).

As for your mod suggestion, that certainly sounds fun (FTL: The Next Generation? Haha), but I'm not sure FTL has enough depth to keep me interested enough to write a second large scale mod. Let's see what options the devs give us in a hopeful "modder's update"!

Re: [MOD, WIP] Foundation of the Federation

Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 9:56 pm
by JonasIV
It makes you think why the Federation didn't use it flagship at the end :P, the rebels would be beaten easily.

Re: [MOD, WIP] Foundation of the Federation

Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 10:27 pm
by Jequirity
Whale Cancer wrote:The flagship is a bit of a placeholder sprite. The idea is very much that it is a 'prototype' Osprey (I figure there is only one in the fleet, and it is the flagship). I am going to fiddle with the sprite more when I get more coding done (1,200 lines of code, atm; although that includes commenting, debug menus, etc.,). Oh, and you know how the Kestral is described as a defunct/old ship? I figure it is the main ship-of-the-line of the federation at this point.

I will be messing with the weapons. Partly for balance, and partly to show off the fact this is an earlier time period. I've been toying with the idea of adding ballistic weapons (autocannons), probably as a form of artillery (i.e. unaimable) with limited (probably 1) shield penetration. I love the idea of many shells flying across space ala Battlestar Galactica. This stuff will come after I finish the 2 sector demo (the demo will _probably_ use the default 'balance' of weapons and ship armaments, for simplicity).

As for your mod suggestion, that certainly sounds fun (FTL: The Next Generation? Haha), but I'm not sure FTL has enough depth to keep me interested enough to write a second large scale mod. Let's see what options the devs give us in a hopeful "modder's update"!


Autocannons sound good! :twisted:

Although I do like star trek and the phasers they use throughout those series, the idea of solid-shot bombardment cannons is just a wee bit cooler! Having the Kestral as the main class of fighting ship fits nicely with what lore exists just now and is a nice thoughtful touch. In the vanilla FTL description it mentions the Kestral as being fit for duty, having been fitted with upgraded weapons and systems: will you be modifying the weapons and systems for your Kestrals or will you retain the same layouts as seen in vanilla FTL for the sake of simplicity?

JonasIV wrote:It makes you think why the Federation didn't use it flagship at the end :P, the rebels would be beaten easily.


Just throwing some possibilities out - it's possible that having united the FTL galaxy, the federation de-commisioned any large ships they had because, with no major enemies to fight, there was no need for them anymore.

Alternatively, the rebels might have ambushed and destroyed the federation flagship at the start of the rebellion putting them at a great advantage but who knows? It's anyone's guess ;)

I think there are lots of awesome possibilities for modders and story writers out there when dealing with the FTL universe. I'm looking forward to see what the developers of FTL and the modders have in store for us next. :)

Re: [MOD, WIP] Foundation of the Federation

Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 5:29 am
by ApSciMorgs
This actually looks seriously awesome. I'll be keeping my eye on this!
Pssssst that means work faster.
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That is a joke.

Re: [MOD, WIP] Foundation of the Federation

Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 10:18 am
by xdiesp
I dont find the idea of the advancing "peace fleet" in the place of the rebels, that hot... I would definitely remove the rebels as time limit, but to me there has to be resource-scavenging for this to be a game. The "Enterprise" here could just be exploring all new territory with reliable friendly repair stations, is all. In the very least, I would like the peace fleet to never ever catch up with you.

Re: [MOD, WIP] Foundation of the Federation

Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 10:28 am
by Whale Cancer
xdiesp wrote:I dont find the idea of the advancing "peace fleet" in the place of the rebels, that hot... I would definitely remove the rebels as time limit, but to me there has to be resource-scavenging for this to be a game. The "Enterprise" here could just be exploring all new territory with reliable friendly repair stations, is all. In the very least, I would like the peace fleet to never ever catch up with you.


This doesn't mesh with my design philosophy. That would be far too easy.

There is resource scavenging, it is just not unlimited.

If it is any consolation, the peace fleet doesn't advance in hostile sectors.

Re: [MOD, WIP] Foundation of the Federation

Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 5:42 pm
by Whale Cancer
I hope no one minds me bumping this thread, as it seems there is a fair bit of interest.

Introducing... The Federation Rigger! Historians of the Foundation era remember the rigger best as the inspiration for the Rebel Rigger class which would cause a series headache for Federal forces during the rebellion; however, the Federation Rigger was a workhorse design that started as a mining vessel (pictured) and was eventually re-purposed as a military vessel (forthcoming). The mining variant, known as the "Prospector" class, featured anti-asteroid drone defense systems (which could be used against outcast missiles in a pinch), a repair drone for patching up asteroid impacts, a scrap recovery arm for mining, and a single very slow mining laser (halberd laser pictured, will be replaced with a custom weapon).

rigger-preview.png


Anyone have any ideas for a military variants? I was thinking a repair ship with a repair arm.

Edit: It doesn't have the stripes on it because I imagine that civilian ships don't have those markings, the military variant will have them.

Re: [MOD, WIP] Foundation of the Federation

Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 5:54 pm
by Icehawk78
Wow. I have to say, I'll likely end up downloading and playing this mod purely due to the fact that you seem to have an excellent talent for coming up with new designs on existing systems which fit very well into the original style. Excellent work!

Re: [MOD, WIP] Foundation of the Federation

Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 7:07 pm
by Cswartz9
I'd say the militarized version of the Rigger should focus highly on augmentations and drones - For example, a scrap recovery arm, the hull repair augmentation, and hull repair + defense drones, with the special beam weapon for use in offense.

Re: [MOD, WIP] Foundation of the Federation

Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 9:16 pm
by hobo0077
This is brilliant! i can see you doing one for rebels retreating from the original end zone after the flagship is destroyed. Anyway i can't wait for this.