[Released] Star Wars Fleet Operations Beta 2.0

posted on March 2nd, 2013, 1:24 am

I'm having a crash issue with your mod. I've tried two different maps but i get the same crash to desktop. I'm sure I installed it just fine in my MODS folder. The crash happens right after the loading bar completes. Here's the bug report.

Attachments

exceptArmada2.txt

(26.18 KiB) Downloaded 338 times

[miklosgo]

posted on March 2nd, 2013, 7:28 am

Last edited by miklosgo on March 3rd, 2013, 3:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

@Adm. Zaxxon: Thank you so much. I just downloaded your Star Wars Mod. Congratulations. If I know well, your mod must be installed in the MOD directory from the fleet Operations. Thank you. 'll try it next days.

If anyone has played my Star Wars Mod made for Fleet Ops (viewtopic.php?f=43&t=11965&view=unread#unread ), please explain to SPARTAN078, how to install my mods. I tried to explain, but still fails to launch the game. I have Win 7 and it works very nice on my computer. Thank you.

posted on March 3rd, 2013, 6:26 am

About ships not firing on the move:

This is largely an Armada issue, but it can be reduced a bit by hardpoint alterations as well.

Essentially the problem is that ships get the weapon radius multiplied by their owner's size, yet it doesn't let the AI know to fire at that range. That's why your star wars ships (which are huge) have much larger weapon ranges than they should have, yet don't always fire at max range.

In addition, I haven't taken a super close look at your hardpoints, but I am not sure that they are on the surface of the ship. As a result, these big ships try to seek out the hardpoints interior to the enemy ship, and find it difficult to target them.

Furthermore, the weapon hardpoints of the owner ships are quite centralized, making it hard for them to target another ship.

For these reasons, that's why the tiny cruisers can be targeted fine on the move, yet the big ships cannot.




For fighter button locations being wrong, that will be a simple matter of adjusting the buttonslots of the weapons.

posted on March 3rd, 2013, 7:14 am

Hey!

I really enjoyed the mod. At first it takes a little getting used to, but after I figured out that ships don't fire while moving I was able to have a good battle with some Imperials.


Here are my favorite parts of the mod:

-Centralized outposts are a convenient and fast way to warp in cruisers.
-Credit system works well!
-Fleet battles capture a Star Wars style of combat, with fighters and capital ships both playing important roles.
-Unique types of fighters
-The capital ships balance very nicely since there are different pros to each capital ship/
-Large fleet battles are epic!

Here are things that irked me slightly:

-Ships move slowly, which can make early gameplay slow.
-In a similar vein, it is hard to consolidate a late game fleet on a large map because it takes newly purchased ships quite a while to reach their brethren at the battle scene.
-AI's have LOTS of ships at the beginning of a match- I know how to deal with this now, but it is always kind of scary to engage an enemy fleet for the first time for this reason.

Here are a few things I would love to see in a future version:

GENERAL
-Capital ship abilities
-A few pros and cons for playing as Imperials vs Republic (like perhaps Republic is more defensive while the Imperials are more aggressive).
-Some fighter selection buttons!
- A 'transwarp' style option that drains special energy.

UNITS
- A blockade style unit (similar to the trade federation battleships)
- Victory Star Destroyer (between Alcamator and Venerator)
- Interdictor Star Destroyer (a support vessel)
- Imperial themed fighters for Imperials

TECHTREE
-I would love to use some credits to purchase 'fighter' upgrades - ARC170 to X-Wing or Tie Interceptor, V-Wing to Tie Fighter or E-Wing, Y-Wing to Tie Bomber or K-Wing
-Interdictors could be upgraded or refitted to serve different roles in combat.

ECONOMY
-The credit system is great! For longer games, I wish that there was some other way I could get credits too, like mining, or conquering planets, or something. This would make gameplay a little more varied.

Again, thank you for the mod, I enjoyed it!

posted on March 3rd, 2013, 10:36 pm

I'm a little confused about one thing in this mod. I don't see any race AI files for the ships and stations to be built. Is it that they aren't there or are they not in the AI folder?

One other thing, I found a lag well playing, it might just be related to my laptop because FleetOps itself lags as well. Only thing that doesn't lag is the STA2_Classic Mod.

Other than that its a good Star Wars mod.

posted on March 4th, 2013, 6:52 am

Thank you so much guys, I really needed this input.

So, to make this readable, I"ll just address the points brought up first and then maybe each person specifically after.

Movement - I think it is clear that the ship physics are a bit of a pain. YWD noticed something I was experiencing myself in that ships can take too long to get to a battle making them almost useless when it counts. Here are a few solutions I could have for these problems besides simply adjusting the physics themselves.

1) An idea I have been working allowing ships to retreat.(needs a good name) I think it is an important skill in the game to know when to leave a battle, but the current physics and targeting bugs make that nearly impossible. This ability would allow you, at any time, to remove your ship from battle. When doing so, it could do one of two things. A, it could remove your ship entirely and give you some money back for the ship. B, it could return your ship to your outpost in the same condition it was in. The problem with A is that this ability could be abused to make quick money and just discard ships when they are no longer useful. B isn't super helpful imo because it could produce turtling and guarding. in a pvp match I think it would be a bad idea. I am personally in favor of simply removing the ship completely from the map and getting like 1/3-1/2 of its worth back for saving the ship rather than letting it be destroyed.

2) A hyperspace jump ability with a significant cool-down that will allow ships to jump from one location to another. on the map. This one has obvious drawbacks in terms of abuse, as I don't like people just throwing ships at eachother and letting them die. I would prefer to let people actually try to save their ships. Also, my unreleased BSG mod already uses a very similar FTL system and I don't want them to be too similar.

3) A range increase on the outpost purchase. I will probably add this no matter what, but being able to purchase an unlimited, or maybe tiered, upgrade to increase the range at which you can buy ships might solve at least half the problem. Again, I don't want people to simply throw away their ships, I really think being able to save a ship is a key factor to a game like this.


Fighter selection - Though it isn't as much an issue for me(I have been playing much longer. ) I definitely see there is an issue with fighter selection. Here are two solutions, however a button to simply select all the fighters isn't possible in A2.

1) I can switch the selection priority for fighters and capital ships, that way, when you drag-select you will ignore capital-ships and only select fighters. This will make selecting them really easy, but capitalships harder. Capital ships will have to be selected individually, but I don't think it will really cause problems because they are so big. This will not, however, help with targeting enemy fighters if you had problems doing that. I usually just hit 'K' with my fighters though, so they kill anything they see.

2) I can make the selection bubble around fighters be as big as their indicator overlay. The problem with this,is that selecting capital ships will, again, be harder, but in a different way. It will be very difficult to micromanage capital-ships if you have a bunch of fighters flying around them. This selection bubble will also apply when you are really close so they will have a large area around them that could get in the way if you are trying to click somewhere else.

Gameplay - As I saw in earlier pvp tests, gameplay is still too short. I think mining is a necessary feature I need to add. What will happen is that you will be given maybe two mining freighters to start with, and they will be set to mine moons. They won't do it at a very fast rate, but it will be constant if I can make it, like the planet mining stations from stock a2. These will be simply be sent around the map and will mine raw materials that can be used to fuel fighters, and can be sold at your outpost for credits. I might find more uses for the material later on, but for now that would be it. They will obviously have to be protected, especially from support ships and fighters. I think it might add another small boost to gameplay making it last a bit longer and feel a little more full.

Additions - I will probably be adding some purchasable items to the outpost like upgrades and maybe ships in the future, however, I would like to get the base mechanics working first. That being said, give me all the ideas you have. I will use what I can.


Hopefully that covers most of the major issues. To address each person individually:

@Rattufa
Rebels and separtists would be interesting for sure, even though I dislike both their ship styles but for now, like I said before, I want to get the baseline mechanics solid before I change too much. Hopefully I will be able to fix the other problems you are having, and yes I really was happy to have feedback. I released the 1.0 and didn't get much, so this is really valuable to me.

@SPARTAN
Thanks for the link, and I"m sorry you are crashing. Are you by chance trying to load maps with NPC's on them? I am not quite sure how that would work out with the other races being removed and all. Your crash seems to be tech tree related, so unless it is a problem with your map, I have no idea what the problem is considering nobody else has it. The only other thing I can suggest is completely re-installing FO.

@miklosgo
Thanks and you're welcome!

@dominus
I will have to experiment with the physics... If what you say is true then I might be causing my own problem by trying to fix it..... Also, thats interesting about the hardpoints. I know my ships weapons are generally centralized, but I will have to take a look at the others placement to be sure they arent. Also, I am aware the buttons need to have the slot numbers correct, but for some reason, no matter what I set them to, they always wanted to stay the way they are now... I will just have to keep trying I guess. Thanks for the help!

@YWD
Thanks for your constructive criticism man! I'm glad you like the Credit system, It was a pain to work out, and still has flaws, but it definitely works better than it used to. Hopefully the movement issues will go away with the solutions I have mentioned, and the AI might get a little tweak here or there, but for now I"m pretty happy that they are a challenge.

For your ideas, I would like to, at some point, add some kind of minor pro/con blanket passive for each faction, but at this point, again, I want to make sure everything is perfect first. Also, could you elaborate on "capital ship abilities"? I usually like to stay away from special weapons, but I am definitely open to suggestions.

As for the units, you are not the first to request the Victory, so she may be making an appearance at some point, but the others probably not. This mod, in its current state, is the late republic vs the new empire, and as such, they have nearly identical ships besides their hull markings. Again, this could change if I add other factions, but probably not any time soon.

@ Je mezu
I"m glad you like the mod man! You are not mistaken as there are no AI files for my mod. The AI runs off of automatic Replace weapons and is controlled by the basic A2 AI functions, not buildlists. Also, FO is inherently laggy. It lags on my fairly new laptop, but not on my brand new desktop(which it shouldn't). It is a little intensive, but that is just where it shows its age.


Again, thanks for the input guys!

posted on March 4th, 2013, 6:33 pm

To add to what has been mentioned the V-Wings can't be controlled once launched and they don't have the icons like the other fighters. Starting with double resources gives me the same amount of credits, havn't tried unlimited yet. The ai always seems to pick the Empire and never the Republic so, its confusing when you and three ai are all Empire. Its short and simple as expected but its still kinda fun it just needs more variety(Z-95, Dreadnought and Victory) as the others have mentioned like repair ships and boarding ships. As for the way the ships look the Venators shape is a bit odd, the forward section is too wide and the tail is too short. The textures on the three main capital ships are too much the same and the hull lines are way too thick and noticeable. Also, you said that the ships rank up but I havn't seen any of my or any ai controlled ships do so yet. Probably just a case of the balltes being to short and small. That being said I definitely am looking forward to the next version.

posted on March 4th, 2013, 8:56 pm

To add to what has been mentioned the V-Wings can't be controlled once launched and they don't have the icons like the other fighters.

This was intentional. Read the tooltip.

Starting with double resources gives me the same amount of credits, havn't tried unlimited yet.

This is because the AI can't use Credits, but I'll look at fixing it for the next patch.

The ai always seems to pick the Empire and never the Republic so, its confusing when you and three ai are all Empire.

Yeah, I have it set that way so you can always go against empire, but maybe I'll add AI races for each faction.

Its short and simple as expected but its still kinda fun it just needs more variety(Z-95, Dreadnought and Victory) as the others have mentioned like repair ships and boarding ships.

Yeah, not a fan at all of the Dreadnought, and I don't really see a need for more fighters, but the Victory will probably find its way in. You are the first one to suggest boarding and repair though, so I"ll probably hold off on that until I get more feedback.

As for the way the ships look the Venators shape is a bit odd, the forward section is too wide and the tail is too short. The textures on the three main capital ships are too much the same and the hull lines are way too thick and noticeable.

I did not model or texture the main ships, and as such they are done in a specific style. I also have free reign to use them, mod them, etc, which is a very rare situation. If you would like to find me three "better" ships to use go right ahead, otherwise I will be sticking with the models I have. I am quite happy with Amateur's work.

Also, you said that the ships rank up but I havn't seen any of my or any ai controlled ships do so yet. Probably just a case of the balltes being to short and small.

They rank up to give you credits, but they do not have ranks. I don't plan to add them either because it is a gigantic hassle.

That being said I definitely am looking forward to the next version.

Thanks, so am I.

posted on March 5th, 2013, 5:48 am

I actually did get it to work and I just updated to 3.2.7, that must have been the problem. I wasn't trying to load any map with NPCs, just the one you suggested for testing purposes. I enjoyed the mod. I guess victory comes when the last ship on the other side is destroyed, I kept trying to destroy the outposts but the weapons weren't doing that much damage. I'm working on my own star wars mod which is probably going to be a straight conversion of the original Star Wars Fleet Command. With a few differences. However, I'd like some help in making build buttons. Is there any chance of a more comprehensive tutorial other than the one in the guide which only helps if your making the entry itself and not the build button. I'm trying to make the button for the medium transport used as a construction ship for the Rebels and I have the build button template from the guide....I just don't know how to merge the original button with the template. Perhaps someone could put out a tutorial for converting Stock build buttons to Fleet Ops.

(Also it's a real pain trying to find all the textures for the different ships) I don't have Milkshape 3d so I don't know what texture to use. Right now I'm looking for the texture for the Xiyatar-class transport used as a repair ship, but I can't find it.)

posted on March 5th, 2013, 6:25 am

I can definitely help with buttons and the like. First of all though, you need gimp to make the buttons.

As for the textures, if you don't have milkshape, try opening the .sod with a text editor like notepad. It will all be gibberish, but you should be able to find the texture names floating around in the top 1/3 of the file.

Hope that helps!

Oh, and your comment about shooting the outpost gave me a good laugh. Thanks, and I'm really glad you enjoy the mod.

posted on March 5th, 2013, 5:58 pm

i downloaded gimp so im going to try it tonight. and i have been looking in the sods as text files but i cant seem to find anything thay sticks out as a texture file name. i also noticed in the rgb file for star wars fleet command there appeared to be some textures for babylon five ships, i thought that was kinda weird

posted on March 5th, 2013, 8:33 pm

i downloaded gimp so im going to try it tonight. and i have been looking in the sods as text files but i cant seem to find anything thay sticks out as a texture file name. i also noticed in the rgb file for star wars fleet command there appeared to be some textures for babylon five ships, i thought that was kinda weird

Yeah, that mod is quite messy. With gimp, the easiest way to make buttons is to use the fuzzy select tool to select everything in a screenshot except the ship, delete it, and then copy the ship alone to the button template. You are just cutting out the ship and pasting it onto the button a little smaller.

posted on March 5th, 2013, 8:47 pm

the easiest screenshot to use would be the admiral's log picture. wouldn't it?
And do i use the same technique for background images? i looked real hard for the textures to the repair ship but every time i opened one up i had this thought 'these aren't the textures im looking for'......

posted on March 6th, 2013, 12:35 am

Yeah, the log pic would be easy, though not always. A good contrast between the ship and its background makes it easier isolate. I usually use Storm3D to make my buttons.

As for the textures, when you open them, they may have alpha-channels making most of the texture itself invisible. you could copy the text from the opened .sod and I could probably tell you what its texture(s) is.

posted on March 10th, 2013, 1:25 am

If anyone is interested, or possibly having trouble winning, here is a video. I'm trying out some different software, but it doesn't support very high resolution.

Watch Here!