Ashes of Cardassia Mod

posted on January 18th, 2015, 10:00 pm

Gommorha, there have been a number of attempts to create a Cardassian race mod. I was working with some guys to create one a while ago, but we didn't have the manpower. if you're interested hit me up and I'll share our progress with you.

posted on March 18th, 2016, 1:22 pm

Is Ashes of Cardassia Mod still being worked on or is it done and can be download?

posted on March 18th, 2016, 10:10 pm

Is Ashes of Cardassia Mod still being worked on or is it done and can be download?

I stopped working on the mod quite awhile ago, a bit after support for Fleet Ops stopped for NX. I've just had no time to work on it seeing as there's a few other projects all my time goes to.

posted on March 18th, 2016, 10:33 pm

O ok just looked so good well i hope one day maybe we see it or a smaller version of it.

Well i guess that all down to if you have the time or how far you got be for you stoped/move on from working on this mod or even if you wanna but i hope one day you may but if not me still have the pic to look at

posted on March 19th, 2016, 11:36 am

Is Ashes of Cardassia Mod still being worked on or is it done and can be download?

I stopped working on the mod quite awhile ago, a bit after support for Fleet Ops stopped for NX. I've just had no time to work on it seeing as there's a few other projects all my time goes to.

So what about all the work you've already done on the mod? Do you plan to get back to working on the mod eventually, after you're "done" with the other stuff you're working on, or is Ashes of Cardassia being abandoned? We wouldn't want all those models to go to waste, after all. They're really good.

posted on March 19th, 2016, 7:34 pm

Is Ashes of Cardassia Mod still being worked on or is it done and can be download?

I stopped working on the mod quite awhile ago, a bit after support for Fleet Ops stopped for NX. I've just had no time to work on it seeing as there's a few other projects all my time goes to.

So what about all the work you've already done on the mod? Do you plan to get back to working on the mod eventually, after you're "done" with the other stuff you're working on, or is Ashes of Cardassia being abandoned? We wouldn't want all those models to go to waste, after all. They're really good.

If I ever have time I'd really like to go back and finish it up. I suppose I can upload all the models and textures I did manage to complete just in case I don't finish though.

EDIT: If someone is willing to do all of the .odf work to implement my ideas, I might spend a few weeks finishing up all the models I had in mind.

posted on March 19th, 2016, 9:44 pm

If I ever have time I'd really like to go back and finish it up. I suppose I can upload all the models and textures I did manage to complete just in case I don't finish though.

EDIT: If someone is willing to do all of the .odf work to implement my ideas, I might spend a few weeks finishing up all the models I had in mind.

While I have been busy with modding of my own, I would be willing to do the .odf work myself, but there's a problem with actually doing that. Namely: passives.

Getting all the passives and such to work properly with the new races' units would be an issue, regardless of whether or not the Cardassian and Breen units even had passives of their own, since each and every weapon odf in the game is manually instructed to do altered damage to various units depending on both the attacker and defender's various passives. I'd use the profile robbing method, but even then, there's simply too many Cardassian and Breen units for that to work, even if one of the 2 factions were dropped, so that's not exactly an option. The alternative is manually editing nearly 5079 .odfs, but that's just not realistic. Never mind actually typing up all the odfs for the Cardassians and Breen themselves, which would take long enough as it is. So unless the passives (and the avoidance increasing specials you've described for certain vessels) are all ignored, or if someone can find a way to edit and create large numbers of odfs in a much shorter time, there's just no way I'd have the time.

Edit: I'd also be curious to know what other ships, stations, etc. you were planning on including. That may change things... somehow.

posted on March 19th, 2016, 10:38 pm

I guess I can put up the intro video I made for the mod 2 years ago, this is a blast from my past I had forgotten: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vvgpl9zkf3ip0 ... 1.mp4?dl=0

While I have been busy with modding of my own, I would be willing to do the .odf work myself, but there's a problem with actually doing that. Namely: passives.

Getting all the passives and such to work properly with the new races' units would be an issue, regardless of whether or not the Cardassian and Breen units even had passives of their own, since each and every weapon odf in the game is manually instructed to do altered damage to various units depending on both the attacker and defender's various passives. I'd use the profile robbing method, but even then, there's simply too many Cardassian and Breen units for that to work, even if one of the 2 factions were dropped, so that's not exactly an option. The alternative is manually editing nearly 5079 .odfs, but that's just not realistic. Never mind actually typing up all the odfs for the Cardassians and Breen themselves, which would take long enough as it is. So unless the passives (and the avoidance increasing specials you've described for certain vessels) are all ignored, or if someone can find a way to edit and create large numbers of odfs in a much shorter time, there's just no way I'd have the time.

Edit: I'd also be curious to know what other ships, stations, etc. you were planning on including. That may change things... somehow.

Yeah, introducing new ships and passives is an insane amount of work, it's part of the reason I didn't have passives in most of my mods.
I had not planned on making any new passives for this one, just using the ones already existing in FO. Worse case scenario I can add in all the passive damage values myself after everything is in the game.... which would probably take longer than making all the models.

These were some of the plans I had:

Cardassian:
Units:
- Nerok Scout
- Hideki Destroyer
- Galor Cruiser
- Telok Cruiser
- Keldon Strike Cruiser
- Vasad Assault Cruiser
- Hutet Dreadnaught

Stations:
- Mining Headquaters ( Small Terok starbase that can also serve as a dock, giving a cardassian player a tiny resource edge in the early game)
The Cardassian tech tree would end up being tiered, similar to Age of Empires. The Terok Station could be upgraded up to four times to become progressively larger and unlock more stations and units. In this way the Cardassians would start out with a significantly weaker starting defense but slightly better resource income.

- Mining Outpost
- Shipyard Mainframe
----- Yard Dock 1
----- Yard Dock 2
----- Yard Dock 3
- Defense Network Mainframe (needed to control turrets in its radius)
- Turret Platform
----- Beam Weaponry
----- Torpedo Weaponry
- Supply Network Mainframe (resources are dropped off from out of sector, like the Sov Financial Authority from my Sigma mod)
----- Supply Dock 1
----- Supply Dock 2
- Military Development Headquaters (the research center)

Ocett units/Stations:
- Damar Destroyer
- Tongo Cruiser

Evek Units/Stations:
- Mark II Nerok Scout
- Netel Destroyer

Makbar Units/Stations:
- Norin Light Cruiser
- Zhoden Strike Cruiser

Breen:
Units:
- Bython Surveyor
- Silos Interceptor
- Gar Destroyer
- Chel Lok Destroyer
- Sekron Cruiser
- Chel Grett Warship
- Aywon Battleship

Stations:
- Forward Operation Base
- Resource Processing
- Small Shipyard
- Turret Platform
- Deep Space Testing Facility (the research center)
- Large Shipyard
- Subspace Research Facility
- Deep Space Railgun (long range stationary turret)

Thot Seyv Units/Stations:
- Aidron Support Carrier
- Suvart Battleship

Thot Pran Units/Stations:
- Sekron Cruiser
- Val Bombardier

Thot Gor Units/Stations:
- Harkon Siege Ship
- Deep Space Fortress

posted on March 20th, 2016, 12:17 am

Definitely would take a while to add all the passive damage changes to each and every weapon in the game, and I look forward to the day that the mod is finally released, whenever that day comes.

That said, I've been doing some looking around in the masses of odfs and such, and discovered that if enough mixed-tech yards and ships could be removed, I might, just might be able to scrape up enough unused and readily removable (mixed-tech) units for the Cardassians. Just without one of the Cardassian avatars (thinking Judge Makbar at the moment) or the Breen faction, and adding passives and/or changing weapon ranges of most, if not all non-medium ranged Cardassian vessels (the medium ranged ones can stay passiveless, since the medium ranged units themselves don't require too many odf edits). To figure out how well it'd all work out, there are a few things I'd like to know:
1. The Reconstruction Center and Ziyakar Yard weren't listed in the list of units you've stated. Are they extensions of the Supply and Shipyard Mainframes?
2. What Cardassian yard (extension) builds which vessel? More specifically, what ships (avatar exclusives included) does the Ziyakar Yard build?
3. You had been putting out renders, stats, etc. for all the different vessels, but were the avatar exclusive units' stats before or after the bonuses from the avatar granting said unit?
4. How well do you think your various Breen units could fit into a revamped Dominion Breen avatar, and which units do you think the Dominion would get from the Breen?

Speaking of the Dominion's Breen avatar, if and when you finally finish the mod, do you have any plans for the Dominion's Breen avatar?

posted on March 20th, 2016, 12:33 am

Definitely would take a while to add all the passive damage changes to each and every weapon in the game, and I look forward to the day that the mod is finally released, whenever that day comes.

That said, I've been doing some looking around in the masses of odfs and such, and discovered that if enough mixed-tech yards and ships could be removed, I might, just might be able to scrape up enough unused and readily removable (mixed-tech) units for the Cardassians. Just without one of the Cardassian avatars (thinking Judge Makbar at the moment) or the Breen faction, and adding passives and/or changing weapon ranges of most, if not all non-medium ranged Cardassian vessels (the medium ranged ones can stay passiveless, since the medium ranged units themselves don't require too many odf edits). To figure out how well it'd all work out, there are a few things I'd like to know:
1. The Reconstruction Center and Ziyakar Yard weren't listed in the list of units you've stated. Are they extensions of the Supply and Shipyard Mainframes?
2. What Cardassian yard (extension) builds which vessel? More specifically, what ships (avatar exclusives included) does the Ziyakar Yard build?
3. You had been putting out renders, stats, etc. for all the different vessels, but were the avatar exclusive units' stats before or after the bonuses from the avatar granting said unit?
4. How well do you think your various Breen units could fit into a revamped Dominion Breen avatar, and which units do you think the Dominion would get from the Breen?

Speaking of the Dominion's Breen avatar, if and when you finally finish the mod, do you have any plans for the Dominion's Breen avatar?

It's been a really long time since I looked at this mod, I'm trying to remember everything I had planned and my brain is still a bit fuzzy.

1. The Reconstruction center was what I originally called the Supply Network Mainframe, likewise with the Ziyakar Yard, it's just the official name of the shipyard.

2. At the moment I liked the idea of the Cardassians just having one yard that can build all of their units rather than having them spread across a small and large yard like the other races. I suppose as a small counterbalance the yard is larger and therefore a bit more expensive (as it also needs to add on the docks to do anything)

3. That's actually a really good question and I didnt even think of it at the time. The stats I put up for the avatar units do not have their bonuses applied to them, I'd need to fix that.

4. At the time I had two ideas for the Dominion's Breen avatar: just keep it as is and replace the FO models with mine, or remove both the Puretech and Breen avatars and replace them with actual named Dominion leaders like the other races (Weyoun and the head Founder come to mind, even though by the time of this mod Weyoun can't be cloned anymore and the Dominion are cut off from the Founders )

posted on March 20th, 2016, 12:40 pm

Ok then. Still looking into the sort of unused and/or readily removed ships/stations that would be available, and I think it may actually be easier to just edit all the weapon odfs manually, especially since I've figured out a pretty easy way to determine the altered damage values to the new units for everyone's weapons. Still, I've run into a few more questions:
1. The Aidron Support Carrier. Would it be classified as a support vessel, a battleship, or a cruiser?
2. I've noticed that some of the special weapons you've shown seem like they could be trouble to implement. The Galor and Bython Surveyor in particular. Any idea how their specials would work?
3. What will be the weapon ranges of the Keldon Strike Cruiser, Hutet Dreadnought, Cardassian Turrets, Zhoden Strike Cruiser, Chel Lok Destroyer, Breen Turrets, Deep Space Railgun, and Harkon Siege Ship?
4. You've got the Sekron Cruiser listed under the regular Breen units, and under Thot Pran's units. I take it the Sekron Cruiser is in fact a Thot Pran exclusive?
5. What exactly are the differences between the Nerok Scout and Mark II Nerok Scout?
6. What exactly is Thot Gor's Deep Space Fortress?

Just curious, because if I can discover the solutions to these various questions, get some details on other units stats, costs, etc., I'd probably be able to write up all the odfs for the Cardassians and Breen. Would take a long time, but I'm pretty determined to have fully playable Cardassian and Breen factions in Fleet Ops.

posted on March 20th, 2016, 6:33 pm

Ok then. Still looking into the sort of unused and/or readily removed ships/stations that would be available, and I think it may actually be easier to just edit all the weapon odfs manually, especially since I've figured out a pretty easy way to determine the altered damage values to the new units for everyone's weapons. Still, I've run into a few more questions:
1. The Aidron Support Carrier. Would it be classified as a support vessel, a battleship, or a cruiser?
2. I've noticed that some of the special weapons you've shown seem like they could be trouble to implement. The Galor and Bython Surveyor in particular. Any idea how their specials would work?
3. What will be the weapon ranges of the Keldon Strike Cruiser, Hutet Dreadnought, Cardassian Turrets, Zhoden Strike Cruiser, Chel Lok Destroyer, Breen Turrets, Deep Space Railgun, and Harkon Siege Ship?
4. You've got the Sekron Cruiser listed under the regular Breen units, and under Thot Pran's units. I take it the Sekron Cruiser is in fact a Thot Pran exclusive?
5. What exactly are the differences between the Nerok Scout and Mark II Nerok Scout?
6. What exactly is Thot Gor's Deep Space Fortress?

Just curious, because if I can discover the solutions to these various questions, get some details on other units stats, costs, etc., I'd probably be able to write up all the odfs for the Cardassians and Breen. Would take a long time, but I'm pretty determined to have fully playable Cardassian and Breen factions in Fleet Ops.

1. I'd probably consider it a support ship at moment.
2. The Bython's ability was also used in my Sigma mod, it can be done via a replaceweapon. The sensor ghost ships would have their own odfs, and would be given a 100% miss chance on all weapons used against them. They'd be given fighter craft physics to give the illusion of them moving around on their own. I can't remember off the top of my head, but there's also a function in replaceweapons where you can set a timer for a ship to disappear.

The Galor's ability can also be done via a replaceweapon, I have several similar special abilities in my Sigma mod (I should just post the odfs for those on here as a reference...). The Galor would be replaced with a different odf that has beams with a higher rate of fire. I can't remember the command of the top of my head, but there's a line in each ship's odf that makes it higher or lower priority for the AI to target the ship without player interference.

3. At the moment I feel the Harkon Siege ship would be similar to the Dominion c-17 in terms of function and weapon range. The Deep Space Railgun would be have a longer range than most weapons in the game. The other ships and stations you've listen I don't have any particular range in mind, I'd probably test them out after putting them in to a get a feel on what ranges would be best.

4. It's a Pran exclusive ship, I goofed up putting it there. The cruiser available to all Breen Avatars is supposed to be the one already in Fleet Ops, the torpedo ship with low damage against stations.

5. The Mark II would have a larger sensor radius, it would likely move faster, and I'd like to classify it as a Support Ship so it has three special abilities.

6. For all intents and purposes it's basically a giant turret that can build various small yard Breen ships.

For units costs and details, what I've put down are mostly rough estimates. I expected that during gameplay stats and details would change as I discovered which ships felt too powerful or too underpowered, etc. If you plan on making odfs feel free to have some freedom if it helps things turn out better.

posted on March 20th, 2016, 8:52 pm

Actually, I was running some searches, and discovered a Notepad++ plugin, which paired with some well placed use of Notepad++'s regular expressions, would let me edit all the weapon odfs pretty much automatically, adding the new damage values for whatever new units we need to add, in a much shorter time than editing all the weapons manually. The catch, however, is that each new unit would have to end up taking the same damage from different weapons as an already existing unit, but I'm already figuring out what units would match up with which original units. Been testing just how many odfs I can have Notepad++ edit at once, but regardless, it'll save us all a lot of time better used for other things.

Of course, whoever is making the odfs would still have to create the Cardassian and Breen's odfs (weapons likely included) manually, but it's a time saver none the less.

As for my possibly making the odfs, having a little freedom with the stats to make things work out better, that would be helpful. Having the actual graphics to work with would probably be a help as well, given the fact that I'd need the models' hardpoint maps for hardpoint placements, and that it'd probably be easier for me to add in all the build buttons, special weapon buttons, sod files, etc. already knowing all the odf names and such, rather than somebody else trying to sort them all out themselves. It's up to you either way, but feel free to send me a PM if you want to discuss this further.

Also, you've been showing off all these ship renders, various buttons, etc., but I haven't seen anything regarding Cardassian and Breen UIs. Won't they need those?

posted on March 22nd, 2016, 7:59 pm

As for my possibly making the odfs, having a little freedom with the stats to make things work out better, that would be helpful. Having the actual graphics to work with would probably be a help as well, given the fact that I'd need the models' hardpoint maps for hardpoint placements, and that it'd probably be easier for me to add in all the build buttons, special weapon buttons, sod files, etc. already knowing all the odf names and such, rather than somebody else trying to sort them all out themselves. It's up to you either way, but feel free to send me a PM if you want to discuss this further.

The next few weeks of my schedule are pretty much nuked and wiped out, so I suppose I'll follow up on this all when I have a chance.

Also, you've been showing off all these ship renders, various buttons, etc., but I haven't seen anything regarding Cardassian and Breen UIs. Won't they need those?

Yeah they'd need UI's. I'd just make those myself when time permitted.

posted on March 22nd, 2016, 9:28 pm

As for my possibly making the odfs, having a little freedom with the stats to make things work out better, that would be helpful. Having the actual graphics to work with would probably be a help as well, given the fact that I'd need the models' hardpoint maps for hardpoint placements, and that it'd probably be easier for me to add in all the build buttons, special weapon buttons, sod files, etc. already knowing all the odf names and such, rather than somebody else trying to sort them all out themselves. It's up to you either way, but feel free to send me a PM if you want to discuss this further.

The next few weeks of my schedule are pretty much nuked and wiped out, so I suppose I'll follow up on this all when I have a chance.

Also, you've been showing off all these ship renders, various buttons, etc., but I haven't seen anything regarding Cardassian and Breen UIs. Won't they need those?

Yeah they'd need UI's. I'd just make those myself when time permitted.

Whenever works for you. I'll keep busy adding new avatars to the existing factions, as you had mentioned that Ashes of Cardassia would eventually add a new avatar to each faction, so I might as well work on those in the meanwhile.