WC4 Mod For Homeworld 2 In The Works (June 5, 2006)

[L.I.F.]

Two good news: the version uploaded today is pretty much final as far as multiplayer goes, with all icons working and fixed, but I also found the code for fuel management in the new engine.

Which means that for the next version, the Wing Commander fighters and bombers will all (except for the antimatter-powered Excalibur and Dragon, of course) have limited amount of fuel, making carriers critical for more than simple production.

For those who do not have the game, a video made by someone on another forum:

Edit: it works! Now, strike crafts have a limited amount of fuel, and if they move too much, they will get bingo fuel, crawling back to the nearest carrier at such a low speed they'll be sitting ducks for anything.

Edit 2: aaaaand done. The fuel management is now ready for download, with testing being done by another player. I'm going to release a mod for fuel management with the vanilla game.


Edit 3: I added new units, the Elite Pilots. Currently Blair, Maniac and Seether for the Border Worlds, Confed and Black Lance. Each is a unique plane with a one-plane squadron, quite buffed and more expensive. I plan to add several planes for each of them (and possibly other pilots), with a limitation so that you can only have one Blair, one Catscratch, that kind of thing, but choosing their plane, just like in the original games.

 

[L.I.F.]

Update for the upload of the version 1.0 of the mod.

The AI is now working, allowing you to play against any of the seven factions of the modded game, some fuel issues have been fixed (though the code is highly experimental) and added a new feature for the Elite Pilots. Our favourite farmer colonel can fly either a Banshee or a Hellcat from the Intrepid, but if you manage to capture a Black Lance carrier, you unlock the mightiest fighter of the game: a special Dragon with better stats than Seether's. I guess it will make BW players be a bit more aggressive...

I'll try to update the mod with more Elite crafts too, and add more capture functionality to unlock variants and additional fighters.

Version 1.0 available here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=403171608

BTW, if anyone owns the rights to some Kilrathi 3D models or feels they can make some, I would be forever grateful for some material to build a Kilrathi faction in this mod.

 

[Dundradal]

I started playing Homeworld a bit last week. I'm going to wait until I beat both games before jumping into this mod. In the meantime, keep up the great work! I'm really excited to try this once I fully get the hang of the game!

 

[L.I.F.]

I started playing Homeworld a bit last week. I'm going to wait until I beat both games before jumping into this mod. In the meantime, keep up the great work! I'm really excited to try this once I fully get the hang of the game!

Glad you like it! By the way, if you can find other wingnuts with the mod, there is a quite interesting mode now: the carrier battle, where I set up the starting fleets as a carrier battlegroup similar to the Victory's, without the possibility to build new capships. The whole game is then to hunt the other battlegroup and strike it before they do the same to you. I also advise to play it with the fuel option on, for deeper planning and gameplay.

This is also why I would be so grateful if someone could provide me with Kilrathhi models so I could get them ingame and recreate Wing Commander III... and maybe actually recreate Wing Commander III and IV as Homeworld campaigns. Honestly, I think it should be possible, though a s**tload of work to recreate every mission faithfully.

 

[Dundradal]

This is also why I would be so grateful if someone could provide me with Kilrathhi models so I could get them ingame and recreate Wing Commander III... and maybe actually recreate Wing Commander III and IV as Homeworld campaigns. Honestly, I think it should be possible, though a s**tload of work to recreate every mission faithfully.

That sounds like a great idea!

What about the Battles of Sirius and Terra? I'd LOVE to be able to fight with those ships! That would be amazing!

 

[L.I.F.]

That sounds like a great idea!

What about the Battles of Sirius and Terra? I'd LOVE to be able to fight with those ships! That would be amazing!

Doable, as long as I have the models.

 

[Deathsnake]

I know this from somewhere.....

Great work !

 

[L.I.F.]

I know this from somewhere.....

Brings back memories, doesn't it?

@Dundradal @Deathsnake: look at what I just got the authorization to add and which is the 1.1 version, courtesy of the Blue Planet FreeSpace mod:

And I've seen one or two things around that could even improve on that special effect.

 

[ChrisReid]

This is also why I would be so grateful if someone could provide me with Kilrathhi models so I could get them ingame and recreate Wing Commander III... and maybe actually recreate Wing Commander III and IV as Homeworld campaigns. Honestly, I think it should be possible, though a s**tload of work to recreate every mission faithfully.

You should check out Klavs' model archive https://www.wcnews.com/news/2014/11/30/extensive-new-model-archive-now-available-to-fans He's got a ton of pretty slick Kilrathi ships out there http://p3d.in/u/HangarC

 

[L.I.F.]

You should check out Klavs' model archive https://www.wcnews.com/news/2014/11/30/extensive-new-model-archive-now-available-to-fans He's got a ton of pretty slick Kilrathi ships out there http://p3d.in/u/HangarC

Yep, I got his authorization for it. Now, the thing is to learn how to use them and to get them ingame. ^_^

 

[NinjaLA]

I'm not commander shepard, but this IS my favorite thing on the citadel.

 

[Lt.Overload]

This looks super awesome and I just may get Homeworld Remastered to play this!

I have a question though, regarding mods and Homeworld. Do they replace existing assets or add to the ones in the vanilla game? This mod replaces factions/sounds/etc, or adds the Confed/BL/BW factions?

I ask because a while ago I saw a Mass Effect mod as well, and I'd love to mix them any way I see fit, maybe even make Confed duke it out with the Reapers.

 

[L.I.F.]

This looks super awesome and I just may get Homeworld Remastered to play this!

I have a question though, regarding mods and Homeworld. Do they replace existing assets or add to the ones in the vanilla game? This mod replaces factions/sounds/etc, or adds the Confed/BL/BW factions?

I ask because a while ago I saw a Mass Effect mod as well, and I'd love to mix them any way I see fit, maybe even make Confed duke it out with the Reapers.

It adds the WC factions to the vanilla game, though it will not work at the same time as the other mods. You would need to make a special mod to combine both. It would take quite the work and it would require a custom job for each combination of mods.

 

[ravelin]

I think you may have more luck with the wc3 Kilrathi models here: http:// wcmdf. solsector. net/ meshes. htm

Klav's models are stunning, but I think they may be too complex for HW (I actually hope I'm wrong about this).

 

[L.I.F.]

I think you may have more luck with the wc3 Kilrathi models here: http:// wcmdf. solsector. net/ meshes. htm

Klav's models are stunning, but I think they may be too complex for HW (I actually hope I'm wrong about this).

Ooooooooooh, nice!

Thanks!

 

[L.I.F.]

Double post (quick integration while I was working onto remastering a B5 mod):

The Kilrathi might be coming earlier than expected!

Thanks a fething lot, ravelin!

Edit:

Some problems here and there, but it's looking good altogether!

If anyone can provide me with models of the Kilrathi corvette, destroyers and carrier, I would be able to set up a proper WC III era Kilrathi faction.

 

[Deathsnake]

I have Starmans old Wing Commander Saga Models (look at my Wing Commander Enigma 2666 and Last Line of Defence Thread)

Also I have from Scooby several newer models I don't share yet but I would give you my Baby Its the old model for the Gettysburg battle cruiser. The concept model was overworking to my Vision ( Kevin help me to finish it) I not use the old prologue of WC Saga anymore so if you want

5 x tripple heavy AMG turrets
1 anti-starfighter Missile launcher
1 anti-capitalship Missile launcher
About 10 Laser turrets
rear landing Hangar
2 x 2 launcher for the 32 fighters
850m Long is that model

As I say : my Little Baby

 

[L.I.F.]

I have Starmans old Wing Commander Saga Models (look at my Wing Commander Enigma 2666 and Last Line of Defence Thread)

Also I have from Scooby several newer models I don't share yet but I would give you my Baby Its the old model for the Gettysburg battle cruiser. The concept model was overworking to my Vision ( Kevin help me to finish it) I not use the old prologue of WC Saga anymore so if you want

5 x tripple heavy AMG turrets
1 anti-starfighter Missile launcher
1 anti-capitalship Missile launcher
About 10 Laser turrets
rear landing Hangar
2 x 2 launcher for the 32 fighters
850m Long is that model

As I say : my Little Baby
View attachment 7518 View attachment 7519

Nice "baby".

Oh, just a point if anyone wants to help me get models in the game: the texture files needs to be in a power of 2 dimension, like 256 x 256, or 512 x 512. I'm having problems otherwise.

Edit: damn it, I'm learning so much right now, it's glorious... Getting the files ready for a Paktahn right now.

 

[c0mc0]

I think you may have more luck with the wc3 Kilrathi models here: http:// wcmdf. solsector. net/ meshes. htm

Klav's models are stunning, but I think they may be too complex for HW (I actually hope I'm wrong about this).

That's true, but they'd be the perfect starting point to 'bake' detailed normal maps and then use them as the basis to build lower poly versions to use in game. A significant part of the Remastered's improved graphical punch is from normal maps, giving the illusion of greater detail than is actually modelled. I wish I had some time to experiment - I suspect, given improvements to the engine, it would be possible to simply delete some of the higher poly detailing from Klav's models - and where necessary, replace with lower poly detailing - and bake the higher detailed version onto this lower poly model.

In the example below, there's definitely an 'upres' of polys in the newer model, but a lot of that enhanced look comes down to some very nice high res textures and the additon of normal (and specular) maps.

 

[L.I.F.]

That's true, but they'd be the perfect starting point to 'bake' detailed normal maps and then use them as the basis to build lower poly versions to use in game. A significant part of the Remastered's improved graphical punch is from normal maps, giving the illusion of greater detail than is actually modelled. I wish I had some time to experiment - I suspect, given improvements to the engine, it would be possible to simply delete some of the higher poly detailing from Klav's models - and where necessary, replace with lower poly detailing - and bake the higher detailed version onto this lower poly model.

In the example below, there's definitely an 'upres' of polys in the newer model, but a lot of that enhanced look comes down to some very nice high res textures and the additon of normal (and specular) maps.

Indeed, HWR could quite easily welcome high-resolution files for pretty much everything, though right now, I'm working towards implementing the smaller files, if only to learn the trade.

Here's this morning's work:

The thing is, I can now integrate pretty much anything, but I'm still lacking some models. If someone could get me models and textures of the following stuff, I would be more than happy:

https://www.wcnews.com/wcpedia/Ralarrad-class_light_destroyer
https://www.wcnews.com/wcpedia/Ralaxath-class_heavy_destroyer
https://www.wcnews.com/wcpedia/Kamrani-class_corvette
https://www.wcnews.com/wcpedia/Bhantkara-class_carrier
https://www.wcnews.com/wcpedia/Sha'Kar-class_transport

I need these to get a working Kilrathi faction, gents.