Puh, we are looking back on a really busy month. We had many things to fix, some nasty bugs to hunt (one large ugly one we are still searching for ) and some redos of really old stuff. So lets start our tour through Fleet Operations 3.0 with a good old friend:

[color=66CCFF]Federation Canaveral Class[/color]



Macromedia Shockwave required

The Canaveral Class is a Fleet Operations oldie being present since the very first release. Of course it's realy old design and model can not match the newer models like the new Avalon class or the whole Dominion race. Therefore it got a complete facelift and a new design as well. Note here that there was a poll ad a discussion on the forums during the development of the new Canaveral. The fans were able to influence the development of this unit. You may consider it as the first "Fleet Operations Community Design". Cause we are really happy with the result you can expect more polls like this in the future. So stay tuned and visit the forums!  
But now back to topic. Not only the shape of the Canaveral has changed but also it's weaponry and role in the Fleet. The Canaveral is one of the three Support Vessels for the Federation (remember, Support Vessels are the ones with 3 Levels and 3 abilities). It is now also equipped with a "Light Quantum Pulse". The Quantum Pulse (or better called "Quantum enhanced Photon Impulse Weapon") is one of the newer weapon systems that were developed by Starfleet. Combining the effectivness of both Quantum Torpedos and Pulse Phasers it became one of the most powerful weapon systems in the Star Fleet arsenal. Also the Canaveral Class is only equipped with a light version of this weapon you can expect larger Quantum Pulse cannons on avatar vessels in future Fleet Operations releases.
By the way you might also note that the Quantum Pulse is the only Pulse-Weapon the Federation can access in the early stages of the game (besides the weaponry on turrets and starbases).
But now let's have a look at the 3 abilities the Canaveral will get by upgrading it:


[color=66CCFF]Level 1 - Probe[/color]
The probe, as you already now it from Beta 2 hasn't changed that much, also its operation range increased and it's special energy costs decreased. It's the ideal weapon for early scans in hot areas like Borg bases


[color=66CCFF]Level 2 - Tachyon Detection Grid (passive)[/color]
Yep, this ability should also sound familiar. And yep, you are right. On level 2 the Canaveral gains the ability to immediately detect any cloaked vessels within it's sensor range. That makes the Canaveral extreme powerful if playing against nasty romulans or klingons, cause it can act like a mobile sensor station.


[color=66CCFF]Level 3 - Sensor Blackout[/color]
The last and most powerful special ability of the Canaveral Class also underlines its character as a sensor specialist. With a special modification of the primary deflector dish it is capable of overloading the targetting systems on all hostile units in a large area. Cause the tactical officers do now have to aim manually the reload time on affected vessels is increased significantly. That may turn the scales in a battle.

And now, last but not least, some ingame screenshots of the Canaveral Class:




Don't forget to visit the page in the next weeks as we will release more top secret Fleet Operations 3.0 information  

Neat!

It`s a beatiful ship    

It looks like an Avalon, or are they different sizes?

how will one select one's avatar in v3 are they seperate races?

thats quite a realy amasing ship, now if only the armada 2 engine could handel higher resolution textures/higher polly models, mby bump maping and better glow efects and dynaic lighiting... now im just dreaming

That's one sweet ship!  Nice pictures of it, too!

dont wanna sound like im annoyied or somthin, but: stop makin reviews of ships n avatars n concentrate on finishin the next version of the mod


.oO( but yea, indeed, it looks nice )