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

The good news is that I got the files correctly. The bad news is that I'm having to struggle once again with the different map channels because I can't get the ship editor to understand that many sub-meshes have different textures at once. I'm pretty sure I'll find again how to do it, though. As for the ships themselves, I might add them to the WC3/4 era as additional Confederation ships of the line given that their texture style is fitting the rest of the ships there while the versions from Klavs would be the featured in the WC 1/2 era (the next update will allow you to select before starting a game in which era you want to play, restricting the build and research trees to the stuff of that time, so no Excalibur VS Drakhri).
 
Progress update: all ships are working now with their weaponry, though I messed up with the scales, so I am recompiling many of them with their proper dimensions. All icons are done too in the same style as before. The next step will be to update the tech trees and the AI scripts to ensure compatibility with the new crafts. Of course, a big thing to do will be the balance as I'm making things up as I go there and it would be better if each ship had a proper role in-game. Some of the ships will have moving turrets, others will have their non-damageable weapons directly on the hull.

The next update will contain a new option for the skirmishes, allowing the players to switch from WC 3/4 (current mod) to WC 1/2, adding the following ships:

Terran Confederation:

Bengal-class Strike Carrier (Klavs' model)
Broadsword Torpedo Bomber (Klavs' model)
Confederation-class Dreadnought (Klavs' model)
Crossbow Torpedo Bomber (Hostile Frontier model)
Drayman-class Transport, with one and three containers (Klavs' models)
Exeter-class Destroyer (Klavs' model)
Ferret Light Fighter (Klavs' model)
Gettysburg-class Cruiser (Hostile Frontier model, first generation one)
Hornet Medium Fighter (Klavs' model)
Lexington-class Heavy Carrier (Wing Commander Saga model)
Morningstar Heavy Fighter (Klavs' model)
Rapier A Medium Fighter (Klavs' model)
Rapier C Medium Fighter (Klavs' model)
Rapier G Medium Fighter (Klavs' model)
Sabre Heavy Fighter (Klavs' model)
Scimitar Medium Fighter (Klavs' model)
Wake-class Escort Carrier (Klavs' model)
Venture-class Corvette (Klavs' model)


Kilrathi Empire:

Asteroid Base (Wing Commander Saga model)
Dorkir-class Transport (Klavs' model)
Drakhri Medium Fighter (Klavs' model)
Dralthi Medium Fighter (Klavs' pancake)
Fralthi-class Cruiser (Klavs' model)
Fralthra-class Cruiser (Klavs' model)
Gratha Heavy Fighter (Klavs' model)
Grikath Torpedo Bomber (Klavs' model)
Hhriss Heavy Fighter (Klavs' model)
Jalthi Heavy Fighter (Klavs' model)
Krant Medium Fighter (Klavs' model)
Ralari-class Destroyer (Klavs' model)
Salthi Light Fighter (Klavs' model)
Sivar-class Dreadnought (Klavs' model)
Snakeir-class Carrier (Klavs' model)

The capital ships' order of battle can be seen here:

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As you can notice, the scales are a tad wrong, and many of the ships will be doubled in dimensions.
 
Looks like we have a new guest to the party. @Deathsnake has offered his Tolmaty light cruiser to the mod. In the current iteration, it would be the detroyer equivalent of the battlecruiser of the first half of the 20th century: heavily armed but particularly fragile. The ancestor to the Cerberus strike cruiser, the Prowler Special Operations corvette and the Black Lance ships, it appears to be an advanced modification to the Venture, designed to be a dangerous raider by itself. It carries a single AMG turret capable of dealing massive damage to smaller ships all the while keeping the tactical flexibility Kilrathi destroyers of the era lack as their AMG guns are fixed. In addition to this, its armament is absolutely incredible, with two missile turrets, twelve laser turrets, two flak turrets and four pod-mounted frontal torpedo tubes. The entire front of the ship was turned into a hangar capable of supporting a handful of fighters and shuttles for support.

The problem of the ship is that to fit all of these amazing offensive capabilities, its protection is almost non-existent despite its extreme cost, close to a Gettysburg heavy cruiser's. If a single torpedo gets through its defences, the ship will not come home.

Note: this is the current interpretation of the ship, if @Deathsnake has other suggestions, it will most likely change accordingly (it just needs to fit within the gameplay and not be too OP, for example). :-)

The Tolmaty alongside an Exeter and a Gettysburg:

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Flying with supply transports:

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The hangar deck and the external weapon pods (two laser turrets and two torpedo tubes on each):

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The AMG turret on the bottom of the ship:

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A hangar configuration reminiscing of a certain Black Lance station:

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On a game design standpoint, it allows me to continue on the gameplay choice from the Wing Commander III/IV era mode, where the Kilrathi have better ships of the line than the Confederation but the latter's top-of-the-line ships kick ass really hard if controlled properly while being hard-countered if the opponent is competent enough. The Prowler had an AMG turret on a corvette, a cloaking system and mines, which made for a hilarious harassment ship that would still get wrecked by a couple squadrons of bombers if they caught up to it. This ship? Well, it will definitely have enough firepower to demolish any destroyer it finds, without even speaking of corvettes or frigates. However, this applies only if it controls the tactical situation. A Kilrathi destroyer managing to gets its sight on the Tolmaty from medium range will absolutely own the sh** out of it with its main AMG guns, because the Tolmaty is a glass cannon with heavy short-range anti-ship armament, absolutely monstrous anti-air firepower, but it will die in a couple of shots. And if it gets caught on its top hemisphere, it will die without even firing back. Bombers attacking it can also whack it out of action as long as the offensive involves some sacrificial pawns to keep the turrets and the escort fighters busy. This ship does not tolerate any mistake from any side. Whoever fails to take its strengths and weaknesses into consideration will die, be it the ship itself or its target.
 
The Tolmacs is from @NinjaLA, @Howard Day build a awesome model. I want that in my old Enigma 2666 and Cybot078 build the model for me. Kevin make it ready for Wing Commander Saga Prologue ;) I can't use it the release of Saga because it does not fit to the others :( ScoobyDoo is missing from Building more Freespace ships :(
It is a light cruiser (we have no light cruiser in WC1+2) but from the Novel some light cruisers are at the Battle of Vukar Targ or destroy Kilrathi Supply Convoys together with CVE. In fact the Tolmacs have a Hangar up and a much larger down. So it could carry easy the same complement of fighters like a Wake but with more Firepower - 3 AMG (those bigs on the side are AMG too) and a lot of laser turrets and 4 anti fighter Missile launcher. Size is about 480m - smaller and Shorter then a Waterloo heavy cruiser. The Counterpart to a Fralthi 1 while the Exeter was it for the Ralari. The Problem of the Tolmacs - it can Launch up to medium fighters only - Hornet, Scimitar, Rapier, Epee, Ferrets - no Broadswords, Sabre or even Raptors.
ninja-comic7.jpg
tolmacs26-jpg.2318
tolmacs28-jpg.2320
 
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I want to use it as a WC1+2 light cruiser while in WC Saga for the WC3+4 timeline (Last Line of Defence and Operation Serpent) the light cruiser is the Savannah. Near the same armament - minus the Anti Capship Missile launcher and the fighter complement. The Talahassee has also less fighters then a Waterloo.
2011020407.jpg

Here the pic of the old Saga Prologue models i used for Enigma 2666.
screen0029anbqn.jpg
 
I make a few pics LIF if you don't see the lower deck.

Upper and lower deck of the Tolmacs. 2. Pic is the lower deck. 3 Elevators can carry fighter up or down. Each deck has its own Launch bay
2017-10-09 (1).png 2017-10-09 (2).png 2017-10-09.png
Comparison to the Wake Deck
2017-10-09 (3).png
 
@Deathsnake

That's quite the info, alright! First of all, I kinda wonder where does the high-resolution render you had in your first post come from, because I would possibly be able to get it ingame if you have the model and texture files. As for the cruiser itself, it looks like I might have to increase its size a bit. Still, that's one hell of a strong armament there, definitely stronger than the Fralthi's, so I will have to take it into consideration when working out the final configuration of the ship. For example, the Savannah, in the mod, has less anti-ship firepower but better sensors than the Talahassee, allowing it to be useful against cloaked opponents as a fleet escort. I mean, here, it does sound a bit OP. ^_^;
 
Aaaaand it's online! I tried to squash as many bugs as possible, but there are probably some that escaped me, so bug reports are welcome. :-)
 
Well, sad update: the files I want to upload are working properly, but the uploader is making one hell of a mess and whatever is on Steam currently causes an immediate CTD when you try to start the mod. ARGH!

Trying to squash that problem.
 
FekLeyrTarg said:
Is there any chance that an upload on ModDB could work?
Click to expand...
Well, It could, but that would not be a .big file, so you would have to use the -overridebigfile command, but... yeah, I guess so. I'll do it today while waiting for my dad to try and upload the file on Steam from his end back in France tomorrow.

EDIT: uploading on ModDB now, should be online within the hour.
 
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FekLeyrTarg said:
Is there any chance that an upload on ModDB could work?
Click to expand...
The ModDB version is online here: http://www.moddb.com/mods/flag-comm...commander-end-run-early-release#downloadsform

Keep in mind that there will probably need some modifications and corrections since I did not have the opportunity for a feedback cycle from Steam. The good news is that since it's uncompiled, patching it will be easier.

Instructions for use: unpack the .rar file in your Data folder, use a shortcut with -overridebigfile as the command rather than the -mod one.
 
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