tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7442428675621473492024-03-18T22:49:02.917-07:00Orion SkiesOrion Skies is an under-development Total Conversion plug-in for Cosmic Frontier: Override.Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-77403235804075344952023-07-28T14:43:00.002-07:002023-07-28T18:19:51.283-07:00All About rEV: Expanded<p><i><b><u>TL;DR:</u></b> I'm working on a major plug-in for EVC-on-Nova.</i><br /></p><p> </p><h1 style="text-align: center;"><u>rEV: Expanded</u> <br /></h1><p> Hi, all. I've done a lot of modding since my last blog post, and wanted to share a bit about what I've been doing.<br /></p><p> For those who haven't played it, <a href="https://andrews05.github.io/evstuff/" target="_blank"><i>rEV</i></a> is a fantastic plug-in for <i><a href="https://andrews05.github.io/evstuff/" target="_blank">EVC-on-Nova</a></i>. In addition to wonderful updated graphics, it also adds a variety of neat outfits, ship variants, and gameplay features. It is very worth checking out! It was initiated by Kris Quistorff, who created the graphics, and features many innovative gameplay and technical updates from <a href="https://andrews05.github.io/evstuff/" target="_blank">andrews05</a>.<br /></p><p> I am currently building a new plug-in that uses <a href="https://andrews05.github.io/evstuff/" target="_blank"><i>rEV</i></a> as its basis. <i>rEV: Expanded</i> is intended to update many aspects of EVC, <i>expanding</i> on EVC's strengths (hence the name). <i>rEV: Expanded</i> has four main focus areas:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Quality of Life Features</li><li>The Combat Experience</li><li>Strategic Balance and Depth</li><li>Story</li></ol><p> I'll discuss each of those areas below, but first here's a quick video I recently recorded in rEV:E of a large-scale battle I set up to test various weapons and features: </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y-E6BH5BrNE" width="320" youtube-src-id="y-E6BH5BrNE"></iframe></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>In addition to elements from </i>rEV<i> like the gorgeous graphics or the Rebel-variant Frigates, this video also shows some new </i>rEV: Expanded<i> content including capital-ship Yamato cannons, a Rebel Cruiser with spinal railguns, and updated flight patterns on Missiles and Torpedoes (which are meant to encourage dodging).</i><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;"><u>1. Quality of Life</u></h2><p> This category includes any general updates to the way the game runs that are meant to enhance the overall experience of playing. Here are some of the main updates I've made so far on this front in <i>rEV: Expanded</i>:<br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>All outfits can now be sold anywhere.</li><li>All ships have built-in RCS braking systems.</li><li>Ships can perform hyperspace jumps much more quickly, saving time when traveling.</li><li>The player's ship always has a repair system.</li><li>The player can select their pilot's gender, and the default pilot names are not gender specific.</li><li>The player can select a "character background" for their pilot, a previous career the character had prior to becoming a space captain; different backgrounds have different starting ships, and different in-game bonuses.</li><li>New pilots are placed in a random location within the galaxy, either in Independent space, Rebel space, Confederation space, or at a Pirate base; your starting location determines your starting alignment in the galaxy.</li><ul><li>Yes, this means you can play the game as a Pirate from the beginning! š“āā ļø<br /></li><li>You will be able to change your alignment through your in-game actions as desired.</li></ul><li>An RPG-like skills and leveling system in which your pilot gains skill points over time with combat experience; the skill points are assigned through a combination of randomness and player choice.</li><ul><li><b><u>Flying Skill:</u></b> Each point of Flying Skill enables you to accelerate and turn faster when flying any ship type.</li><li><b><u>Technical Skill:</u></b> Each point of Technical Skill enables you to fine-tune your ship's computer systems, achieving faster shield recharge and the ability to enter hyperspace from closer to a system's center.</li><li><b><u>Combat Skill:</u></b> Each point of Combat Skill enables you to continually make small adjustments to your shield bubble in order to absorb incoming fire on its strongest points, increasing your effective level of shielding.</li></ul></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMOKhSpVZsfri5z7FvirsxQIxs3CRguYtWverXSoYltxAK0mgTcxYY3Mba7_jvXcSYoJmExkZUHIDfFsbu0wj8Ftb08JtqYlj4NKumfdNGlObd4lSawaOHP4FQQAeAX9omdsDxzQv7SOZCm08A-RqVV8vw2UOb7D3PIxRNSQpT_zNNXA4nUAYCcyWiVKuI/s1440/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-28%20at%201.24.42%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1440" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMOKhSpVZsfri5z7FvirsxQIxs3CRguYtWverXSoYltxAK0mgTcxYY3Mba7_jvXcSYoJmExkZUHIDfFsbu0wj8Ftb08JtqYlj4NKumfdNGlObd4lSawaOHP4FQQAeAX9omdsDxzQv7SOZCm08A-RqVV8vw2UOb7D3PIxRNSQpT_zNNXA4nUAYCcyWiVKuI/w640-h400/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-28%20at%201.24.42%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The list of new pilot background options.</i><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><u>2. Combat</u></h2><p> My goal here is to encourage fast-paced combat and a diverse range of intricate maneuvers ā for example, by trying to reduce reliance on the infamous Monty Python maneuver. Here are some of the main updates I've made so far on this front:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Carefully adjusting primary weapon ranges to reduce the tendency towards Monty Pythonning.</li><li>Mildly increasing typical DPS for primary weapons.</li><li>Redesigning Missiles and Torpedoes to be too fast to outrun, but limited-enough in their turn rates that they can be dodged instead ā this keeps the player engaged in close combat while defending against Missiles and Torpedoes, rather than having to run away and/or fly in big distant circles.</li><li>Implementing carefully balanced Point Defense systems to defend against Missiles and Torpedoes, again with the goal of enabling the player to stay engaged at close range rather than always having to move away defensively. <br /></li><li>Implementing Dr5's "negative submunitions" rocket technique to help the AI employ its Heavy Rockets and Javelins from more effective ranges.</li><li>Making weapons with mild knockback common enough to complicate matchups that ordinarily would consist of repetitive jousting.</li><li>Tweaking some of the projectile graphics to make it more clear at a glance what weapons are being fired or might need to be dodged.</li><li>Adding some short-range, high-DPS options akin to the Thunderhead Lance.</li><li>Adding some infrequently-firing, high-damage-burst options akin to the Burst Phase Cannons in <i>EVO: Expanded</i>.</li><li>Putting infrequently-firing or burst-reload weapons on AI ships, to reward the player for carefully timing their attacking maneuvers vs defensive maneuvers.</li><li><b><u>IN FUTURE:</u></b> Once I have more outfits and weapons finished (see below), I'll create a
variety of AI ship variants that you'll encounter when flying around the
galaxy; they'll be designed to have unique and interesting combat dynamics when you fight them. <br /></li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoA1sihdcy2n9lYepMBRpsQpmPOeonoCrTQ9XckzfRznvGi5rOoNMmH3le5hv1WiNRdP-c_pDW41jzNm2_IsqShrS9VfXV0ISkNr-ihyl0pFuzgCeelj9_XUxNrF4D_91Abl8JflJsjlfnaxnrlE48kge5diFCRp46TGqX2NxzrrGDOpgQnncKEyYu_Zxo/s776/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-28%20at%201.45.41%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="362" data-original-width="776" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoA1sihdcy2n9lYepMBRpsQpmPOeonoCrTQ9XckzfRznvGi5rOoNMmH3le5hv1WiNRdP-c_pDW41jzNm2_IsqShrS9VfXV0ISkNr-ihyl0pFuzgCeelj9_XUxNrF4D_91Abl8JflJsjlfnaxnrlE48kge5diFCRp46TGqX2NxzrrGDOpgQnncKEyYu_Zxo/w640-h298/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-28%20at%201.45.41%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>As a nod to </i>The Expanse<i>, I opted to call the Point-Defense systems "PDCs".</i><br /></div></div><div><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;"><u>3. Strategy / Balance</u><br /></h2><p> The goal here is to ensure that the player has lots of freedom of choice, numerous strategic decisions to make, plentiful meaningful options to choose from, and a wide variety of overall pathways and strategies to try on repeated playthroughs. Of particular note, one of the deepest strategic games I have ever played is <i>Magic: the Gathering</i>, and I am trying to implement some principles and dynamics from that game in an EV context. Here are some of the main updates I've made so far on this front:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Carefully adjusting primary weapons' DPS-versus-mass to ensure meaningful tradeoffs between them all.</li><li>Making unlocked Rebellion and Confederation technologies available at more of their worlds.</li><li>Ensuring all fighters can be disabled (and therefore captured).</li><li>Adding stat listings to all outfits and weapons.</li><li>Ensuring almost all ships are viable as player ships.</li><li>Creating "bulk cargo delivery" missions that reward flying a freighter.</li><li>Creating a Pirate economy for players who begin the game as a Pirate.</li><li>Revamping the system of fuel tanks, fuel scoops, and safe stopovers to increase the viability of operating from Pirate bases.</li><li>Creating a system of alternate power generator types that many outfits rely on, each of which has a wide variety of outfits available, and unique strengths and tradeoffs compared to other power basesā akin to the "colors" system in <i>Magic: the Gathering.</i></li><li>Ensuring varied balance tradeoffs between Missiles vs Torpedoes, and PDCs vs Flares vs Dodging.</li><li>Creating a system of "stock" outfits vs "modified" outfits, akin to finding "regular" vs "magical" items in RPGs.</li><li>Creating a variety of very large weapon systems, e.g. Heavy Neutron Cannons, Yamato Cannons, Spinal Railguns, Laser Multiturrets.<br /></li><li>Ensuring all fighters in the game have a corresponding fighter bay.</li><li>Ensuring missions, outfits, and escort availability to make freighters a fully viable player ship option.</li><li>Creating alternate versions of any "must-have" outfits, e.g. Afterburners, to create more strategic choice.</li><li>Creating alternate launchers, with unique firing properties, for each main ammunition type.</li><li><b><u>CURRENTLY UNDERWAY:</u></b> Creating a large number (~360) of outfits and weapons, with meaningful strategic tradeoffs and synergies between them, and randomized availability, to promote innovative strategy-making on the fly whilst playing, akin to cube-drafting in <i>Magic: the Gathering</i>. Currently I'm at 135 outfits, so I have a ways to go, and I'm looking forward to the work ahead! :)<i><br /></i></li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpZbwO3wdZkbtuPaPZOwjHG2aoe3lI2R5gzHTKh_GEqwvUUY3AGtG2llXNRCg4-llr8tY9UnrcpgIqXf5o22h2uU-O1Yow_6I9YP54AFQiSf__9IRRn6z3qeLDAmcr6bfhf7qphOGuk5mHPDtLxAzboV2cTv8S-2QJ6RRCkIirleSQEcRgRyKPa-BeglZ2/s739/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-28%20at%202.17.25%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="739" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpZbwO3wdZkbtuPaPZOwjHG2aoe3lI2R5gzHTKh_GEqwvUUY3AGtG2llXNRCg4-llr8tY9UnrcpgIqXf5o22h2uU-O1Yow_6I9YP54AFQiSf__9IRRn6z3qeLDAmcr6bfhf7qphOGuk5mHPDtLxAzboV2cTv8S-2QJ6RRCkIirleSQEcRgRyKPa-BeglZ2/w640-h310/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-28%20at%202.17.25%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Some of the missions you may see available when playing as a Pirate.</i><br /></div></div><div><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;"><u>4. Story</u></h2><p> To me, this is the biggest area that <i>EVO</i> and <i>EVN</i> expanded upon. I haven't done much story work yet in <i>rEV: Expanded</i>, but I have many ideas noted down, and I'm looking forward to getting to work on this area once I've finished with the Combat and Strategy / Balance work noted above. With that said, some of the new Pirate missions have required a bit of story-writingā here's an example below:<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluZsqXuxLmyVkUZ-Rc9CIXpArk0BHUq8PE5_Oh1sdfsFOckBLEnxlSqdAv8QHAZcz7hxgYLdyr9qiWgQqF4gmyZHAzeFS7mpZCi_MUhBI7agkeWURbyv43aI-sgH4MdTnpJieUQRwhAwprKHIx1vIM0RFZ50ECZiPkw7uf7iJr0kag4olbsIhixtDzr_M/s746/Screen_Shot_2023-04-01_at_10.10.49_PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="746" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluZsqXuxLmyVkUZ-Rc9CIXpArk0BHUq8PE5_Oh1sdfsFOckBLEnxlSqdAv8QHAZcz7hxgYLdyr9qiWgQqF4gmyZHAzeFS7mpZCi_MUhBI7agkeWURbyv43aI-sgH4MdTnpJieUQRwhAwprKHIx1vIM0RFZ50ECZiPkw7uf7iJr0kag4olbsIhixtDzr_M/w640-h314/Screen_Shot_2023-04-01_at_10.10.49_PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Pirate characters can get up to all sorts of wild shenanigans.</i><br /></div></div><div><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;"><u>Final Note</u><br /></h2><p></p><p> That's all the info I've got for this update. But I did want to add one final thought: as I work on <i>rEV: Expanded</i>, I'm more than happy to get community input and feedback. If you have any thoughts about what you've seen in this post, or ideas for things that would be good for me to add to the plug-in as I continue this work, I'd be happy to hear from you -- feel free to message me on the <a href="https://discord.gg/tG7qd4jv" target="_blank">EVN Discord server</a>, where my handle is "Mag Steelglass".</p><p> Thanks all, and happy modding!<br /></p></div>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-6456919288769589662022-12-20T21:56:00.003-08:002022-12-20T21:56:34.443-08:002022 Review, and a Look Forward<p><i><u><b>TL;DR:</b></u> Lots of accomplishments this year, with many more planned for the future. :)<br /></i></p><p><br /></p><h1 style="text-align: center;">Progress in 2022</h1><p> This year, a number of major milestones were hit, and a lot of technical progress was accomplished "behind the scenes" to enable Orion Skies to live up to my vision of its ideal form.<br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Full Design</h2><p> In 2022 I was able to finish a complete design of Orion Skiesās <a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-world-of-orion-skies.html" target="_blank">world</a> & <a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2022/04/history-lore-in-song-form.html" target="_blank">history</a>, and an outline of the major story elements that will unfold in-game.</p><p> I also finished the technical/gameplay design, and even created a specific plan to release Orion Skies in parts (first a small-but-meaningful initial release, and then adding expansions to fill it out).</p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Tech Generator</h2><p> The <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=share_link" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> implements user-guided procedural techniques to produce data for weapons and outfits for an EV scenario, while ensuring they all fit specific balance targets.</p><p> This year, the Tech Generator reached Version 1.0, giving the user control over all of the data fields that go into the outf and weap resources in Nova.</p><p> After achieving Version 1.0, I added capability for its output to be directly imported into a plug-in file using either <a href="https://andrews05.github.io/evstuff/#utilities" target="_blank">ResForge</a> or EVNEW. Testing this capability led to a number of ideas for major design improvements to give the user more flexibility and control over the generated output, leading to a number of upgrades that are still in-progress; once they are complete, it will be at Version 1.1.</p><h2 style="text-align: center;">World Vision Gallery</h2><p> I also completed a ā<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-EUFDCJQCB9534anBK658tUyPJnUkMef/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">world vision gallery</a>ā, consisting of dozens of pieces of artwork found online that, when put together, visually convey what Orion Skiesās world looks and feels like.</p><p> I have this gallery set up to automatically display in randomized combinations on my computer as a screen saver, to keep this vision clearly in my mind; I also recorded a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-EUFDCJQCB9534anBK658tUyPJnUkMef/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">video version</a> to share.</p><p style="text-align: right;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-EUFDCJQCB9534anBK658tUyPJnUkMef/view?usp=sharing" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="656" data-original-width="1170" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhodtXTik7YRQy--7ZrQCLhdz48q2hbTXYSTZuaulCU0eZJ4sawC5vfWAgV4dalEVg6DJMczsg6y9tkXrWGXqKLZ2wbeWxGN2khpEMj4mK9xunQ0_87FIZioRyfyPSMv2MzUrNL9JMh9mioJOWXuyS7Lkc1yC4-G2tp7L74abyO9Kqtl4-8kq0eZ1d6Eg/w640-h358/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-20%20at%208.10.00%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Welcome to the twenty-fifth century Orion Nebula.</i></div><p></p><p> <br /></p><h1 style="text-align: center;">Next Steps</h1><p> Orion Skies is a large project (compared to the amount of gaming time I have), and there are a number of steps ahead of me on the road to completion. As much as possible, I have arranged this work around worthwhile standalone projects that can be individually released as they are finished.</p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Foundational Projects<br /></h2><p> Orion Skies is meant to be a plug-in for <a href="https://www.patreon.com/EvocationGames" target="_blank">Cosmic Frontier: Override</a>, which itself has not yet been released. However, there are some major steps that can be accomplished now, without CFO available yet:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><u><b><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=share_link" target="_blank">Tech Generator v. 1.1</a>:</b></u> Iām in the process of making some major updates to the Tech Generator, giving it a lot more power and flexibility. Once these updates are done, Iāll consider it āfinalizedā at Version 1.1.</li><li><u><b>Expanded Outfits Plug-Ins:</b></u> This is envisioned as a collection of 3 plug-insā one each for EVC/rEV, EVO/EVOE, and EVN/BNV, all on the Nova engine. They'll be built using the Tech Generator and are meant to enhance the gameplay experience. As their name implies, they will be designed with similar goals and philosophy to <a href="https://www.nexusmods.com/escapevelocitynova/mods/2" target="_blank">EVO: Expanded</a>. They also will attempt to introduce some gameplay concepts from classic RPGs and from <a href="https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Booster_Draft" target="_blank">Magic: the Gathering</a>.</li><li><u><b><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kCABkT-AC6aOZoyEoub8jLrZgH8hXkeSQSwmnIXwMX8/edit?usp=share_link" target="_blank">Galaxy Generator v. 1.1</a>:</b></u> I would like at some point to revisit the Galaxy Generator, for two main purposes: 1) introduce the capability for its output to be loaded directly into a plug-in file via <a href="https://andrews05.github.io/evstuff/#utilities" target="_blank">ResForge</a> or EVNEW; 2) make a few miscellaneous flexibility improvements based on my experience with the Tech Generator. <i>(As it turns out, procedurally generating an interesting galaxy is far less complex than procedurally generating meaningful weapons and outfits, so my hope is that this upgrade will be relatively straightforward and quick compared to my Tech Generator work.)</i></li><li><u><b>Space Graphics Generator:</b></u> I am off-and-on in the process of learning to use <a href="https://www.blender.org/" target="_blank">Blender</a> to create 3D graphics for Orion Skies. When I next return to my 3D studies, my focus will be on landscape art, and on procedural techniques. Ultimately my goal will be to create a procedural Blender tool to create a full graphics set for the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kCABkT-AC6aOZoyEoub8jLrZgH8hXkeSQSwmnIXwMX8/edit?usp=share_link" target="_blank">Galaxy Generator</a> in one go.</li></ul><h2 style="text-align: center;">Plug-Ins for Cosmic Frontier<br /></h2><p> Once <a href="https://www.patreon.com/EvocationGames" target="_blank">Cosmic Frontier</a> comes out, Iāll be able to get into some hands-on work on the engine itself, creating plug-ins for itā initially to lay a technical foundation for Orion Skies, and then building Orion Skies itself.</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><u><b>The Expanded Suite:</b></u> This will be a collection of Lua game feature mods designed to enhance the game experience when playing any scenario ā whether that be the default CFO scenario, or Orion Skies, or a different TC, etcā¦</li><li><u><b><a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank">Ares Forever</a>:</b></u> This will be an adaptation of the classic Ambrosia 2D space combat game <a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank">Ares</a> onto the CFO engine. The bulk of the work will be creating Lua gameplay features to support Ares-like behavior, such as semi-inertial ships, transferring control to an escort ship mid-flight, landing troop transports on planets to capture them, and true dogfighting AI.</li><li><u><b>Orion Skies:</b></u> Once all of the previously mentioned projects are complete, Iāll have everything I need to efficiently build Orion Skies itself. Itāll use the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kCABkT-AC6aOZoyEoub8jLrZgH8hXkeSQSwmnIXwMX8/edit?usp=share_link" target="_blank">Galaxy Generator</a> to procedurally build its galaxy environment; the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=share_link" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> to incorporate dozens and dozens of outfits to choose from; and a number of Lua gameplay features from The Expanded Suite and from <a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank">Ares Forever</a> to enable the sort of gameplay I'm envisioning.<br /></li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDQ07IW79bpmBcSRJlxwipVjwp26tbjsqjUNDFxUDQj9VCDH9TGZDLKc3TL32LS7vGGaeVXv-zX43T9vuOf9lne-rsbnd6x4LxiaYJhyWfqII0kldsYv6Ij28bYAbrt-oRpBG6cSK7MKxHfZhmExWlwruIMIP9Jt0CzI7EPETl_dOBS4AhVM0Uu-bmMg/s1000/ares%20splash.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="1000" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDQ07IW79bpmBcSRJlxwipVjwp26tbjsqjUNDFxUDQj9VCDH9TGZDLKc3TL32LS7vGGaeVXv-zX43T9vuOf9lne-rsbnd6x4LxiaYJhyWfqII0kldsYv6Ij28bYAbrt-oRpBG6cSK7MKxHfZhmExWlwruIMIP9Jt0CzI7EPETl_dOBS4AhVM0Uu-bmMg/w640-h308/ares%20splash.png" width="640" /></a></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Of all the sub-projects building towards Orion Skies, the </i><a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank">Ares</a><i> adaptation is definitely the one I'm most excited about. In my opinion it's a shame how few EVx players have experienced this game.</i></div><p><br /></p><h1 style="text-align: center;">Overall Status</h1><p> Here's a quick listing of where the overall project stands:<br /><br />š¢ <u><b>Game Design:</b></u> Done! :)</p><p>š¢ <u><b>Worldbuilding:</b></u> Done! :)</p><p>š” <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><u><b>Tech Generator:</b></u></a> Version 1.0 is complete. Beyond that, it now auto-imports with ResForge and EVNEW, and a heavily improved version 1.1 is in progress.</p><p>š” <u><b>Expanded Outfits:</b></u> This will be a collection of plug-ins featuring a number of new weapons and outfits, produced by the Tech Generator and meant to enhance EVC/rEV, EVO/EVOE, and EVN/BNV.</p><p>š” <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kCABkT-AC6aOZoyEoub8jLrZgH8hXkeSQSwmnIXwMX8/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><u><b>Galaxy Generator:</b></u></a> Version 1.0 is complete and released. I plan to develop version 1.1 with improvements such as auto-import compatibility with ResForge and EVNEW.</p><p>āŖ <u><b>3D Spacescape Generator:</b></u> When I return to 3D graphics study, Iāll focus on learning to make landscapes and to use procedural techniques, building toward a generator tool in Blender that can make a full graphics set for the Galaxy Generator in one go.</p><p>āŖ <a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2021/12/2021-review-and-look-forward.html" target="_blank"><u><b>The Expanded Suite:</b></u></a> A set of Lua gameplay features meant to enhance Cosmic Frontier gameplay regardless of what scenario is used; the Lua gameplay features I create here will be used in Orion Skies.</p><p>āŖ <a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2021/12/2021-review-and-look-forward.html" target="_blank"><u><b>Ares Forever:</b></u></a> An adaptation of <a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank">Ares</a> on the Cosmic Frontier engine. The bulk of this work will be creating a number of Ares-inspired Lua gameplay features, which will be added to The Expanded Suite and also used in Orion Skies.</p><p>āŖ <u><b>Orion Skies:</b></u> This TC is the ultimate goal of this entire process. After a small-but-worthwhile initial release, there will be a long-term process of adding incremental updates & expansions, building it over time into a large TC. As this work progresses, any new Lua gameplay features I build for Orion Skies will also be added to The Expanded Suite.</p><p> </p><p>Thanks as always for reading, and best wishes to all for 2023. :) <br /></p></div>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-73666649436314853882022-11-06T13:02:00.002-08:002022-11-06T13:09:10.902-08:00The World of Orion Skies<p><i><u><b>TL;DR:</b></u> An explanation of Orion Skies's world, and an animated "world vision gallery".<br /></i></p><p><br /></p><p> In last month's blog post, I had been working on "visual worldbuilding" ā similar to creating a "vision board", I'd been collecting artwork online that gives a strong impression of Orion Skies's universe. The goal was to create an animated image gallery that dynamically shows what the world of Orion Skies looks like & feels like. I find this sort of thing incredibly helpful to visualize the world and, as I build the plug-in, bring that world to life in-game.<br /></p><p> I have now completed that world vision gallery! For this month's blog post, I wanted to share a video recording I made of the gallery, and to describe some key elements of what it shows.</p><p><br /></p><h1 style="text-align: center;">WORLD VISION GALLERY</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-EUFDCJQCB9534anBK658tUyPJnUkMef/view?usp=share_link" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="1221" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmNO-tr3mdjmTj0Hf4Ihla6Pf_SrMEz5N09HFqKgxM0wWMvbcK7jdBvRojhttPxdjZ4OenLF06nBqo63v-A5jePgkRpb4FhUoXCV4Sn4wIrg_PFsrwk5H4T-ZYvlxiXvmxCKqZ1gXSGsbM-33iDWB3N2hFwLf2tCw4eWZNOZMBpyS7ItNJ9UHSccdTsQ/w640-h358/Screen%20Shot%202022-11-05%20at%209.05.16%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Here's <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-EUFDCJQCB9534anBK658tUyPJnUkMef/view?usp=share_link" target="_blank">a link to the world vision gallery video</a>. Please note that most of the artwork in this gallery is not mineā though some of it is photos I took while I was living in Tanzania!</i><br /></div><div><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Semi-Hard Sci-Fi</u></h2><p> One question that has to be asked when creating science fiction is, "How realistic should it be?". Or even better: "In what ways should it be realistic, and in what ways should it be unrealistic?".</p><p> Personally, I think there are no wrong answers to the above questionsā <i>Star Wars</i> and <i>The Expanse</i> are at opposite ends of the realism spectrum, yet both are undeniably great sci-fi. I think your decisions regarding realism have to be guided by your interests as a creator, and your goals with the work you are creating.</p><p> In the case of Orion Skies, I want to capture some of the spirit of excitement, and engage with some of the questions, of thinking about humanity's future in spaceā and that, I think, implies some focus on realism.</p><p> At the same time, I think there is a lot of opportunity to use "artistic license" to create amazing experiences, especially in a video game where fun gameplay is highly desireable and often conflicts with realism.<br /></p><p> So, ultimately, I think of Orion Skies as "semi-hard sci-fi"; I'm trying to inject a lot of real-world science into this project, while also being open to taking license as needed to enhance the plug-in. You can see that balance in the gallery, where for example many of the spacecraft are realistic designs, yet there are unrealistic indulgences such as the rocketbikes or the dense nebula fog. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzhguHCqComU2IY5iDnYcz5aE3_IOXrEnp0VsCWaBA2B6a21OPylvwMfxzTO7GCRYNtvJn08Go59TmAppaiI_DOy0Mc6gQtxGx87eR6eeSU99Us2P2DgqwjvVbCKojnef-tTr75Erz5Dj6b6_nWoarA1DqgBn8-b4CMsmsKUAP9Y9squmn0Ogv8vqIbQ/s1920/POE%20NE%20vadim-sadovski-b10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1920" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzhguHCqComU2IY5iDnYcz5aE3_IOXrEnp0VsCWaBA2B6a21OPylvwMfxzTO7GCRYNtvJn08Go59TmAppaiI_DOy0Mc6gQtxGx87eR6eeSU99Us2P2DgqwjvVbCKojnef-tTr75Erz5Dj6b6_nWoarA1DqgBn8-b4CMsmsKUAP9Y9squmn0Ogv8vqIbQ/w400-h250/POE%20NE%20vadim-sadovski-b10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>An example of the combination of realism and imaginationā probably real-life nebulas don't have many dramatic electrical discharges such as is pictured here; but the spacecraft design is, as far as contemporary science is aware, quite plausible. <a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/xYr0yW" target="_blank">Image source link.</a><br /></i></div><p></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Africanfuturism</u></h2><p> Orion Skies is, ultimately, a love letter to Tanzania, and inspired by my experiences there in the Peace Corps. Science fiction focused on Africa, and on African themes, is pretty rare ā which is unfortunate for myriad reasons. There is a growing field of <a href="https://brittlepaper.com/2020/10/free-download-of-africanfuturism-an-anthology-stories-by-nnedi-okorafor-tl-huchu-dilman-dila-rafeeat-aliyu-tlotlo-tsamaase-mame-bougouma-diene-mazi-nwonwu-and-derek-lubangakene/" target="_blank">excellent African science fiction</a>, however, and I'm hoping Orion Skies can make its own contribution.<br /></p><p> Orion Skies portrays a future East African society settled on planets in the Orion Nebula. In this universe's history, the initial impetus was to establish some far-away settlements beyond the direct influence of the galaxy's two corporate superpowers; to this end, the massive TUMAINI Program was created to survey the nebula, terraform habitable worlds, and resettle people from Earth. However, this process was suddenly interrupted when one of those superpowers attempted to invade the nebula, and Orion Skies is about the nebula society in the aftermath of that war.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4_BbigFOvY-oK99bY3bpBX2LNZkmO95WWL0wqbwvOlE0dL70yrWKZLJzEmk30Etd5VjhDFr5PaD4xzWpqdnvdqtvvYIT0bEvNjG6TUlry-pGMkpE9XwFi9NNndZ-xz9p-Z53Lg-JNBMKJETu1Ys7Qj7jL76_CZQKQqibC-6afHmbit2cQZlwMsSQkYg/s1920/BL%20R2%20aqaSpXpzQWntse-o99xplc_veoOoz82DTkNY8Qpf2g0.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1081" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4_BbigFOvY-oK99bY3bpBX2LNZkmO95WWL0wqbwvOlE0dL70yrWKZLJzEmk30Etd5VjhDFr5PaD4xzWpqdnvdqtvvYIT0bEvNjG6TUlry-pGMkpE9XwFi9NNndZ-xz9p-Z53Lg-JNBMKJETu1Ys7Qj7jL76_CZQKQqibC-6afHmbit2cQZlwMsSQkYg/w400-h225/BL%20R2%20aqaSpXpzQWntse-o99xplc_veoOoz82DTkNY8Qpf2g0.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>African-focused sci-fi artwork is pretty challenging to find. This piece is one of the few I was able to come across when scouring the internet. <a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Yd1oK" target="_blank">Image source link.</a><br /></i></div><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>TUMAINI</u></h2><p> TUMAINI (Taasisi ya Utafiti na Mwendelezo wa Ardhi, Injini, na Njia Imara / "Institute for Exploration and Development of Land, Engines, and Stable Routes") was a massive program with hundreds of spacecraft whose purpose was to explore and survey the Orion Nebula, terraform habitable worlds, and facilitate the resettlement of people from Earth onto those new worldsā helping to create cities, infrastructure, governmental institutions, training programs for farmers to adapt to the unique climate & ecological properties of each world, etc.</p><p> Although TUMAINI itself is long gone, its legacy, and artifacts from its active period, can be found throughout the nebula.<br /></p><p> As far as terraforming goes, in this universe it has two phases:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The
deployment of bio-engineered bacteria to alter a planet's chemistry
and produce a breathable atmosphere with the right composition of
greenhouse gases to regulate the planet's temperature at a livable
level. This stage involves massive, automated, industrial plants that
produce the engineered bacteria and pump it into the atmosphere to be
carried by the wind across huge swathes of the planet's surface.<br /></li><li>The
careful fostering of an ecosystem of Terran plants and animals,
introduced one species at a time, ultimately creating a healthy environment
for humans to live. Much of this work is done by rangers who monitor
the environment's progress up-close and help manage its growth.<br /></li></ol><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrDsmZQQ2HyPPM-ryhn2a9nn68QJ6LxrkVHuAO2SlO_xvhBehaAQ0es-Cn0QiJkyu_vQLSFwQjpsYQyTSHXUQ1o5rLk9lLM_gJ8MF_f9KO_UawNSN4ktuWs70cf0WU4ej7msZBMmpXV6-Szyues3iQBvz4bVt-ccbXF8fBS6zXFg6N9sdWht-leLqJg/s1920/POE%20TE%20markus-brackelmann-industrial-plant.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="1920" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrDsmZQQ2HyPPM-ryhn2a9nn68QJ6LxrkVHuAO2SlO_xvhBehaAQ0es-Cn0QiJkyu_vQLSFwQjpsYQyTSHXUQ1o5rLk9lLM_gJ8MF_f9KO_UawNSN4ktuWs70cf0WU4ej7msZBMmpXV6-Szyues3iQBvz4bVt-ccbXF8fBS6zXFg6N9sdWht-leLqJg/w400-h181/POE%20TE%20markus-brackelmann-industrial-plant.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>A terraforming facility, seeding engineered bacteria into its planet's atmosphere. <a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/leOo" target="_blank">Image source link.</a><br /></i></div><p></p><p> </p><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Nyerere</u></h2><p> Shortly after the first TUMAINI expedition arrived at the Orion Nebula, they discovered a highly habitable world on the nebula's rim. They set up a base of operations on this world, and soon thereafter established the first civilian settlements on it.</p><p> It was named <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Nyerere" target="_blank">"Nyerere", for Tanzania's first president</a> after gaining independence from the British Empire in 1961, and became the most highly populated and most industrialized world in the nebula. It was not only the location of TUMAINI headquarters, but also the seat of the Orion Regional Government.</p><p> Although Nyerere's influence in the nebula has greatly diminished after the Armstrong War, it still plays a significant role in safeguarding and supporting the nebula civilization.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdd5cw8W9LLQlWzMi32NPoF315H1Ujf8cDdoTC2UEO6xnSkvtzJXrXaKmhI1g382Wac-ZKP9qcBQF5qm6ZsoCPLLEr8I1WWkseQwj1CCVG9NQGH5RCP4eq1O6L_AMhZOEZIaMUJ34y5SHRmuypV_E120d3oQ2q8kxnoo2cqls5FoRjfCNx1TOZwAE8XA/s1920/BL%20W2%20mike-ruiz-xuliban-shot-2-overpaint.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1074" data-original-width="1920" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdd5cw8W9LLQlWzMi32NPoF315H1Ujf8cDdoTC2UEO6xnSkvtzJXrXaKmhI1g382Wac-ZKP9qcBQF5qm6ZsoCPLLEr8I1WWkseQwj1CCVG9NQGH5RCP4eq1O6L_AMhZOEZIaMUJ34y5SHRmuypV_E120d3oQ2q8kxnoo2cqls5FoRjfCNx1TOZwAE8XA/w400-h224/BL%20W2%20mike-ruiz-xuliban-shot-2-overpaint.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Nyerere's population was originally housed in several arcologies, before the world was fully terraformed; since then, a number of more traditional cities, towns, and villages have sprung up around the planet. <a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/OyYqzb" target="_blank">Image source link.</a></i><br /></div><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Villages</u></h2><p> Aside from the major, high-tech cities like Nyerere, there are many traditional villages throughout the Orion Nebula. In these villages, people mostly live off the land self-sufficiently, using comparatively limited technology to grow their own food, build their own homes, etc.</p><p> With that said, these villages are not totally cut off from the wider nebula community. Some villagers, and some village governments, have their own spacecraftā and even the ones that don't are visited by offworld spacecraft on a regular basis. There is a two-way flow of people, materials, and supplies between these villages and regional towns and cities on other planets.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZKDN1Vs8ybjCkTVKmZQqhu1A6ptNaMxEuZCwMP084sEawV4A6NHf-atC35_8pYFmfS1Z1gIpBxbaEl9UGeyFGFlLIB5q7l5NFrRCNLaPsgE_mClOxfxxR_7pt0mLXJbFryyLP6Srvbmne-I0XMfb_M9ezombYm70L3VBWP3FYoPKTY3Dkt9WUrWSmsg/s3648/POE%20AF%20IMG_0608.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZKDN1Vs8ybjCkTVKmZQqhu1A6ptNaMxEuZCwMP084sEawV4A6NHf-atC35_8pYFmfS1Z1gIpBxbaEl9UGeyFGFlLIB5q7l5NFrRCNLaPsgE_mClOxfxxR_7pt0mLXJbFryyLP6Srvbmne-I0XMfb_M9ezombYm70L3VBWP3FYoPKTY3Dkt9WUrWSmsg/w400-h300/POE%20AF%20IMG_0608.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>The yellow-and-red buildings in the center are the school where I lived and taught for my first two years in Tanzania. Village communities like this will feature prominently in Orion Skies. (This photo is one I took.)<br /></i></div><div><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Aftermath of War</u></h2><p> The galaxy as a whole is dominated by two corporate superpowersā Armstrong Ltd. and Proxima Corp. These two megacorporations are locked in intense competition with each other as they vie for control over territories, resources, populations, and local governments.</p><p> Programs like TUMAINI were often created by governmental coalitions to establish settlements far from Earth, beyond the influence of the megacorporations ā but that freedom was short-lived, as the corporations' area of influence quickly caught up.</p><p> Several decades ago, when TUMAINI was at the height of its resettlement activity, Armstrong Ltd. launched a full-scale invasion of the Orion Nebula. The Nyerere government was forced to scrap TUMAINI altogether as it pivoted to defense activities.</p><p> The war was relatively brief, and the nebula was able to maintain its independence, but it experienced great disruption. Many settlements had their infrastructure destroyed; many others were left in a partially-terraformed state; and yet others became cut off from the wider nebula community. In all of these areas, people have had to adapt to harsh conditions, and create new ways of living with limited resources.</p><p> Long-lost TUMAINI facilities and artifacts, as well as numerous old combat craft and weapons from the war period, can readily be found throughout the nebula.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWL1BEGoL9YVGJE4HdxpfltxEblGwwRdqls1hiMAdQkvDfGRVTNjmRt-wGLXMAEikBwa-M_mv_z9CoArjAajav_BbJO-ALK0XHW7IVWiIYBPECKwaCbJQkGWRD4BfHMIEDNBBTawzaLu18-fo-JJo1TqrLtqSebi0qslUcb-sHV3HcOJsRGv4L9f-ZmQ/s1920/BL%20R2%20victor-santos-seaofdunes.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="837" data-original-width="1920" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWL1BEGoL9YVGJE4HdxpfltxEblGwwRdqls1hiMAdQkvDfGRVTNjmRt-wGLXMAEikBwa-M_mv_z9CoArjAajav_BbJO-ALK0XHW7IVWiIYBPECKwaCbJQkGWRD4BfHMIEDNBBTawzaLu18-fo-JJo1TqrLtqSebi0qslUcb-sHV3HcOJsRGv4L9f-ZmQ/w400-h175/BL%20R2%20victor-santos-seaofdunes.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>A planet whose terraforming process was never completed amid the chaos of the Armstrong War. <a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/AqwQ2X" target="_blank">Image source link.</a></i><br /></div><br /></div><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Proxima Corp</u></h2></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div> In more recent times, Proxima Corp. has been making its own advances into the nebula, though with different methodology than Armstrong Ltd. ā instead of an overt military invasion, Proxima has entered the nebula via a combination of trade agreements, smaller-scale "security operations", and "partnerships" with various local governments.<p> Proxima Corp. now owns an extensive network of mines, drilling rigs, refineries, and other resource-extraction operations throughout the nebula, with an active system of transportation routes to ferry these commodities to the edge of the nebula, to be transported from there to distant regions of the galaxy.</p><p> Many of their facilities exist far beyond the now-limited influence of the Nyerere government, making Proxima the de-facto governing body of major nebula territories.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYz0cJ8gf-3msMUM7yrXZCuVOZFMvq1UuR7uymAzuCQEktfDtS9GyKlSXAnQyNWQgmRzGFkQFM-YJz3a18kX8E5WhjMb5SDHeKAD9dfhyYqlqq9NuAxQqtiQ44nl19EwU_bDfxIp04mGHFuwabuNP3i071LHNNGFICuExpyLaqSrCJ_JszOAvWB_KnA/s3500/BL%20B2%20x3joatn2h6h71.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1489" data-original-width="3500" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYz0cJ8gf-3msMUM7yrXZCuVOZFMvq1UuR7uymAzuCQEktfDtS9GyKlSXAnQyNWQgmRzGFkQFM-YJz3a18kX8E5WhjMb5SDHeKAD9dfhyYqlqq9NuAxQqtiQ44nl19EwU_bDfxIp04mGHFuwabuNP3i071LHNNGFICuExpyLaqSrCJ_JszOAvWB_KnA/w400-h170/BL%20B2%20x3joatn2h6h71.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>A Proxima Corp. industrial facility on a remote world. <a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/PoPYJy" target="_blank">Image source link.</a><br /></i></div><br /><h1 style="text-align: center;">NEXT STEPS<br /></h1><p> Now that I have this gallery in place, I'm going back to working on the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> for a while. The goal is to add a few miscellaneous helpful features, then the major "modifier" system, and then finish using it to produce outfit expansion plug-ins for EVC, EVO, and EVN.</p><p> Once that's done, I want to make a few upgrades to the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kCABkT-AC6aOZoyEoub8jLrZgH8hXkeSQSwmnIXwMX8/edit?usp=share_link" target="_blank">Galaxy Generator</a> based on this Tech Generator work, and then I'll focus my time on learning to make 3D graphics for Orion Skies, hoping to acquire the skills to make artwork even 10% as good as what's showcased in this blog post!</p><p> As always, thanks for reading, and happy modding!<br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-77003199340539622532022-10-15T18:01:00.005-07:002022-10-15T18:01:30.492-07:00Spacecraft of Orion Skies<p><i> <u><b>TL;DR:</b></u> A rundown of spacecraft types in Orion Skies, and incredible found artwork to help imagine them.</i><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> Over the past couple of weeks I've been taking a break from Tech Generator work do some "visual worldbuilding"ā I'm a very visual thinker, but simultaneously am not very good at
picturing things clearly in my head! So, I've been scouring the internet for sci-fi artwork that looks like it could fit into my imagined vision for Orion Skies's universe, and then using that imagery to strengthen my imagined vision, and to conceptually explore design details that I hadn't considered before.</p><p> Based on this work, I feel like I have a much more solid plan now of what types of spacecraft will be featured in Orion Skies and how they all fit in to that universe. So I wanted to make a blog post about them, featuring some of the artwork I've found. Please note that none of this art is mine and none of it was created for Orion Skies; when I get to the phase of creating ship graphics, I'll consider myself successful if I can make graphics even 10% as good as these.</p><p> In any case, here are some spacecraft!</p><p> </p><h1 style="text-align: center;">TRANSPORT CRAFT</h1><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Rocket Bikes & Microcraft</u><br /></h2><p> Oftentimes a spacecraft is needed just to take one or two people on a short-distance trip, such as transferring between two larger spacecraft, or visiting a planet's surface on personal business, etc. In such cases, "microcraft" such as rocket bikes are the most economical option. Easily carried by larger spacecraft, and meant to be flown in space only while wearing a vacuum suit, their simplicity makes them surprisingly versatile. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nVfWC0X2g2uUoeL4--CVzohH6NkhYuzmixMF6p4AnNGnfVeuzcudQPAzdVEY3wos9PxgKnaEspTRzu76MZHJIEDbWRVIe3wBkmVWoMgsorjv6GMR3PC0vHEp7z4G_dCIWJ3Z6Vafq2DXT5XOMrSWiSdSJxr6j6l_uGE5_iJpZjDi-F_nRFx5RGkr0g/s1400/slunsreyv5x71.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1060" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nVfWC0X2g2uUoeL4--CVzohH6NkhYuzmixMF6p4AnNGnfVeuzcudQPAzdVEY3wos9PxgKnaEspTRzu76MZHJIEDbWRVIe3wBkmVWoMgsorjv6GMR3PC0vHEp7z4G_dCIWJ3Z6Vafq2DXT5XOMrSWiSdSJxr6j6l_uGE5_iJpZjDi-F_nRFx5RGkr0g/w485-h640/slunsreyv5x71.jpg" width="485" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Artwork by JunNing Chen. <a href="https://www.iamag.co/the-art-of-junning-chen/">https://www.iamag.co/the-art-of-junning-chen</a></i></div><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><br /></div><div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Spaceplanes & Landers</u><br /></h2><p> Spaceplanes and tail-sitting landers are the primary means of shuttling people and goods up and down from planetary surfaces. They are generally capable of interplanetary flights and even hyperspace jumps to other star systems, but are not as fast nor as efficient for such tasks as dedicated zero-g transports.</p><p> Within the unique gaseous environment of the Orion Nebula, however, their aerodynamic capabilities are hugely beneficial, enabling them to fly faster and more efficiently than most other spacecraft.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSGkb_MvGNHGiaMuWIWtFlc2O3P9cBVfVX88kayTD4IYOuGQ0vOWsAPCVeogsSSjacmIztNdVOTvbnUo7UCpAdzCwJjOB0d7fTLOlwOmCa57a56Fg_4FkYjqq67pD4VPs4QeN7-FYE8GsQDaIB3tt8kLwxHQqv-PEzUxH0lND02sqGm9FY3YKZ1ocnw/s1920/joan-pique-llorens-shuttletakeoff02.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="813" data-original-width="1920" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSGkb_MvGNHGiaMuWIWtFlc2O3P9cBVfVX88kayTD4IYOuGQ0vOWsAPCVeogsSSjacmIztNdVOTvbnUo7UCpAdzCwJjOB0d7fTLOlwOmCa57a56Fg_4FkYjqq67pD4VPs4QeN7-FYE8GsQDaIB3tt8kLwxHQqv-PEzUxH0lND02sqGm9FY3YKZ1ocnw/w640-h272/joan-pique-llorens-shuttletakeoff02.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Artwork by Joan PiquĆ© Llorens. <a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/8edAX6">https://www.artstation.com/artwork/8edAX6</a></i></div><p></p><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Cargo Lifters</u></h2><p> These craft are designed to transport heavy bulk cargoes between planetary surfaces and space. They are designed for propulsive "belly landing" using ventral engine thrust to support their weight.</p><p> Similarly to the spaceplanes described above, they are fully capable of interplanetary and even interstellar flight, and are often used for such tripsā but dedicated zero-g spacecraft are preferred when available.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGfUA-2LC3FSrFLvRDuVs5fJy8jDLKZZ_1dqvFp-icIQTH768igLUF7fyqwt7cqk1p80nljl9TbHB30fGyP6JnDFhB7UVHtPQJ6IGNJWcl0m752uR2bG87mcKbqXXukT4YO6fdCiBx6AdEtgm7mvm5BuSGPyg4ZL9vVr4SljH8F2JHwEGLbtR6CVWA7A/s2800/_bPHNvUIkkyu7avkR9lEMWP-N-31OkHWkna-GcbCef8.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1191" data-original-width="2800" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGfUA-2LC3FSrFLvRDuVs5fJy8jDLKZZ_1dqvFp-icIQTH768igLUF7fyqwt7cqk1p80nljl9TbHB30fGyP6JnDFhB7UVHtPQJ6IGNJWcl0m752uR2bG87mcKbqXXukT4YO6fdCiBx6AdEtgm7mvm5BuSGPyg4ZL9vVr4SljH8F2JHwEGLbtR6CVWA7A/w640-h272/_bPHNvUIkkyu7avkR9lEMWP-N-31OkHWkna-GcbCef8.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Artwork by Pengzhen Zhang. <a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/bK3mao">https://www.artstation.com/artwork/bK3mao</a></i></div><p style="text-align: center;"></p><br /></div><div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Deep-Space Cruisers</u></h2><p> Designed purely for zero-g flight, these are the largest and fastest spacecraft in general-purpose usage. They are incapable of atmospheric entry, nor are they structurally able to withstand the gravitic forces of non-atmospheric worlds like Mercury, but they are capable of carrying or rendesvousing with landing craft when such operations are necessary, and they are unmatched in their ability to transport large and diverse cargoes over vast distances of space at high speed or for an extended period of time.</p><p> However, the aerodynamic resistances and weather impacts of the Orion Nebula's ambient plasma are extremely problematic for these craft, as they are not at all designed for such an environment. They require major aero-refit alterations and dramatically reduced maximum speed in order to operate within the nebula.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiErDyc_h5nmXkJ_GYNTJuOAM3SPItVmsR__8l0ZPK5JUoW5r00O8xUANGdxVHMMOlDcEazt3iWfQQpcgN-dEQdbu0JXTWuSGhQImAOOaCCjVMVvQbrMpxI6y_Mn1PVMO7T5fOYcyYaO20cAFXw8kzk_ihlGJlzKIMh9U8yMhpMVqsLy4EanmYr0Ae9ug/s2240/kronos_1_over_saturn_s_rings__1_4__by_macrebisz_d9mw1s5-full.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2240" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiErDyc_h5nmXkJ_GYNTJuOAM3SPItVmsR__8l0ZPK5JUoW5r00O8xUANGdxVHMMOlDcEazt3iWfQQpcgN-dEQdbu0JXTWuSGhQImAOOaCCjVMVvQbrMpxI6y_Mn1PVMO7T5fOYcyYaO20cAFXw8kzk_ihlGJlzKIMh9U8yMhpMVqsLy4EanmYr0Ae9ug/w458-h640/kronos_1_over_saturn_s_rings__1_4__by_macrebisz_d9mw1s5-full.jpg" width="458" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Artwork by MacRebisz. <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/macrebisz/art/Kronos-1-over-Saturn-s-Rings-1-4-582642437">https://www.deviantart.com/macrebisz/art/Kronos-1-over-Saturn-s-Rings-1-4-582642437</a></i></div><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Arks</u></h2><p> These were the first-ever interstellar spacecraft, utilizing massive Einstein-Rosen bridge (ERB) generators before the invention of hyperdrives. The extreme scale and mass required of the "ark drive" implied the need for a similarly massive carrying capacity to make the spacecraft economical, hence the several-kilometer-radius spherical habitat and cargo module.</p><p> Although challenged in more recent times by smaller spacecraft equipped with hyperdrives, the great arks of yore still find their use for extremely long-distance insterstellar travel, as the interstellar distances they can bridge in a single flight are far greater than a maximized hyperjump.</p><p> Similar to the cruisers described above, arks are built purely for zero-g, non-atmospheric operation. They can visit the very edge of the Orion Nebula, but can never enter the nebula's interior; hyperdrive-equipped, aerodynamically survivable spacecraft are used for space operations within the nebula.<br /></p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRzBx9gabELR8GFyotoF60hUBhn5dqMjB7OdjvZOD2-zftb65ubE0tktXLcpRpmTFI857Mzg7C0VI5cOjQl4wo-_XPLZAEdH-LKmdleyV5zStHQksG_Tx_P3pI-1zY54cmnLvPIyV3b9tbRma28x29ShMBUUN-wh86Iw_eP7ZGJWAGROnqr0tiYUcV4A/s1182/Screen%20Shot%202022-10-10%20at%208.50.39%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="1182" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRzBx9gabELR8GFyotoF60hUBhn5dqMjB7OdjvZOD2-zftb65ubE0tktXLcpRpmTFI857Mzg7C0VI5cOjQl4wo-_XPLZAEdH-LKmdleyV5zStHQksG_Tx_P3pI-1zY54cmnLvPIyV3b9tbRma28x29ShMBUUN-wh86Iw_eP7ZGJWAGROnqr0tiYUcV4A/w640-h278/Screen%20Shot%202022-10-10%20at%208.50.39%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><i>Artwork by AtomicGenjin. <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/atomicgenjin/art/Kalle-Linnaeus-ASV-01-333450892">https://www.deviantart.com/atomicgenjin/art/Kalle-Linnaeus-ASV-01-333450892</a></i><br /></div><div><p><br /></p><h1 style="text-align: center;">COMBAT CRAFT <br /></h1><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Dropships & Gunships</u></b><br /></h2><p> Equipped with jet-assisted rocket engines on mountings that can rotate from fully horizontal to fully vertical, these spacecraft have largely replaced helicopters in military usage. Much like the military helicopters of old Earth, they can be found in a range of designs and intended roles from pure troop transports ("dropships") to pure close-air-support weapons platforms ("gunships"), and multirole designs in-between; however, they are all intended to support troop operations in planetary and orbital combat.</p><p> Although they tend to lack the sort of long-range weapons that would allow them to excel in open space combat, limited visibility within the Orion Nebula's ambient fog often restricts combat to shorter distances; in this specific context, gunships are quite capable of attacking and destroying other spacecraft.<br /></p><p> They are also capable of making interplanetary and interstellar flights on their own power, though they often operate alongside "tender" craft that carry supplies and ammunition.</p></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIpM5wNjLz7ExL7fleVxS7CcKuIovlcnXUA_WJzu4DB-45AoulJLfOw1W9_K4rIu_VBUPj9D7suOffom69m_RF0zg4hAjq7_9GslMukxOiPTc6QGJZ5t8SibzD0z2dExytFa4SIEQE70icHsJL_gOkDGzV2kRMvvkl8a6DpUoqWd54jXkHJiC2ksJG3w/s1920/luc-fontanelli-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIpM5wNjLz7ExL7fleVxS7CcKuIovlcnXUA_WJzu4DB-45AoulJLfOw1W9_K4rIu_VBUPj9D7suOffom69m_RF0zg4hAjq7_9GslMukxOiPTc6QGJZ5t8SibzD0z2dExytFa4SIEQE70icHsJL_gOkDGzV2kRMvvkl8a6DpUoqWd54jXkHJiC2ksJG3w/w640-h360/luc-fontanelli-4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Artwork by Luc Fontanelli. <a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/3qxqwA">https://www.artstation.com/artwork/3qxqwA</a></div><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Aerofighters</b></u></h2><p> The ancient military concept of "air superiority" is just as viable as ever; aerofighters are designed to take control of planetary skies and leverage that control to attack enemy ground and space targets. Their aerodynamic design gives them unmatched speed and maneuverability within an atmosphere, yet they are also fully capable of flight and operations within a vacuum, including interstellar hyperjumps.</p><p> Optimized for combat within atmospheres and up to orbital distances, aerofighters typically are not very effective at long-range space combat. However, within the plasma environment of the Orion Nebula, their optimization for atmospheric combat makes them the dominant form of combat craft.</p></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Zd28IhLBVyKGE4uyNnRvb6X2qEexVeKO78Hc_PWFKymKE1tjag_P5eUWs2mB8SLYke64197rv467mDz_j-hxnqzJjw-A_lgOnFIi5B_DVd1TqNliv6wXTIyARtokaq3GeQvF1hib-owwAS474PwfBSui8_nHRzWhjmGiztEKCm8SOHSND17fEi6LMA/s1600/colonial_aerospace_sf_11c_avenger_by_shoguneagle_d7ylzbm-fullview.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="1600" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Zd28IhLBVyKGE4uyNnRvb6X2qEexVeKO78Hc_PWFKymKE1tjag_P5eUWs2mB8SLYke64197rv467mDz_j-hxnqzJjw-A_lgOnFIi5B_DVd1TqNliv6wXTIyARtokaq3GeQvF1hib-owwAS474PwfBSui8_nHRzWhjmGiztEKCm8SOHSND17fEi6LMA/w640-h348/colonial_aerospace_sf_11c_avenger_by_shoguneagle_d7ylzbm-fullview.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Artwork by Shoguneagle. <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/shoguneagle/art/Colonial-Aerospace-SF-11C-Avenger-481395730">https://www.deviantart.com/shoguneagle/art/Colonial-Aerospace-SF-11C-Avenger-481395730</a></div><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Destroyers</b></u></h2><p> These spacecraft are optimized for intra-system space combat, armed with interplanetary-range missiles, as well as point-defense systems to protect themselves from enemy missiles. For somewhat closer open-space fighting, they are also armed with heavy frontal laser cannon. At orbital ranges, they are also typically armed with a spinally-mounted railgun or coilgunā this has a shorter effective range than a laser cannon, but greater destructive capability.</p><p> Their armored hulls are long and narrow, in part to optimize the structure
for high-g acceleration, but also to reduce their cross-sectional
profile to the enemy.<br /></p><p> Within the Orion Nebula, the effective range of their weaponry is greatly reduced, and limited visibility through the nebula fog also makes it more difficult to track enemies and maintain a correct orientation towards them; for these reasons, although destroyers are still quite powerful within the nebula, they are much less so than they are in open space.<br /></p></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghw-RX-7Zy1E42IKEDJ8u7YAdXhaoQSaGS9buJZC5xgo95yTxF9ZH3knoyFPOj-JaJLA53e81e23di6RPnrrbqIIa5rcXDjbjhCb2MEwSmmUtl-7niSlrmMsT5YqT7p1DHqynDt9aAebigQQqeFIU6EL13R6EeAjNYDU9EjvU9KthuBjqihXrzEfvUOA/s960/abraham-katase-11836628-871965729519886-5270718324073656393-n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="583" data-original-width="960" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghw-RX-7Zy1E42IKEDJ8u7YAdXhaoQSaGS9buJZC5xgo95yTxF9ZH3knoyFPOj-JaJLA53e81e23di6RPnrrbqIIa5rcXDjbjhCb2MEwSmmUtl-7niSlrmMsT5YqT7p1DHqynDt9aAebigQQqeFIU6EL13R6EeAjNYDU9EjvU9KthuBjqihXrzEfvUOA/w640-h388/abraham-katase-11836628-871965729519886-5270718324073656393-n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Artwork by Abraham Katase. <a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/a4XkR">https://www.artstation.com/artwork/a4XkR</a></i></div></div><div> </div><div> ...and that's all. There will certainly be some spacecraft that don't fit neatly into any of these 8 categories, but these are the "primary" types, so to speak. As always, thanks for reading, and happy modding!<br /></div>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-91699016973810110182022-09-17T17:10:00.000-07:002022-09-17T17:10:09.685-07:00Tech Generator Workflow Improvements<p> <i><b>TL;DR:</b> Major features are improving the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a>'s workflow in significant ways.<br /></i></p><p> </p><p> This will be a relatively short post, as life is crazy busy these days and I'd like to maximize what little free time I have for working on the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a>, rather than writing about it. (I'm a teacher, and it's the start of the school year -- exciting, but a lot of work!)</p><p> Since last month's blog post, the work I've done on the Tech Generator has been focused on two main areas: Randomness, and Manual Adjustments.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Randomness Control<br /></h2><p> The random number generator functions in Google Sheets work well for producing random numbers, but they re-generate their numbers constantly. Any time you re-open a spreadsheet, or make any change to any value anywhere in the sheet, all of the random number fields reroll and come up with new numbers.</p><p> This was causing problems for the Generator's usefulness, as it was difficult to keep a certain outfit you liked while making adjustments elsewhere, for example. And as the scale of the Generator has increased, it has also started imposing significant performance problems, as all generated items were constantly re-generating even when they weren't being changed in any way.</p><p> Long story short, I came up with my own mathematical pseudorandom number generating algorithm based on a user-provided seed, and replaced the default Google Sheets random number generators with my own. Now the output of the generator remains stable unless and until the user wants to reroll the dice, which is huge from a practicality standpoint and also from a performance standpoint. The user can also reroll the dice on an item-by-item basis ā so you can keep some items while rerolling others, as desired.</p><p> Overall, this is a massive improvement, and I'm really happy to see it in action. :)<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrSoe8c_y0wMGBKmOHA62ZhLTkaFdnew-qG2ZMPDw_SUwRP13Q36rfm6X3dX1_ungQRlFzOjmdSGo3L9oeknmbpQ4_QgDg-JDFX30MYvCsNdBczmq4Bv6-3u1DRuCccg46N2SDelN9_GDbI9nCiClL5qFSbZeqYTMz3YSmBb90swDPcpD5a-_4drT8oQ/s718/Screen%20Shot%202022-09-17%20at%204.39.55%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="718" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrSoe8c_y0wMGBKmOHA62ZhLTkaFdnew-qG2ZMPDw_SUwRP13Q36rfm6X3dX1_ungQRlFzOjmdSGo3L9oeknmbpQ4_QgDg-JDFX30MYvCsNdBczmq4Bv6-3u1DRuCccg46N2SDelN9_GDbI9nCiClL5qFSbZeqYTMz3YSmBb90swDPcpD5a-_4drT8oQ/w400-h178/Screen%20Shot%202022-09-17%20at%204.39.55%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>It's honestly really surprising to me that there's no option for these to take random seed values!</i><br /></div><div><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Manual Adjustments</h2><p> There is now an intermediate step added to the Tech Generator's process, whereby the outfits and weapons it has generated are displayed in a human-oriented way, along with calculated balance stats like DPS etc, and the user can make manual adjustments right there within the Generator, before the final output is generated for automated import into ResForge or EVNEW.</p><p> This is helpful because: A) you can make manual tweaks to get exactly what you want; B) you can adjust just one item of a given "type" at a time to further differentiate it from the other items of its "type".</p><p> Basically it gives the user a lot more control over the Generator's output, and should really enhance the overall process of using the Generator to make the exact plug-in you want to make with it.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Xgp23bpFGk5kGclNkGrGDxEg4Vxrr9S7CXKRvCP8U_I3upaqVmcPiDwR91NIA6iuGgPE8z-agEbYT9bVgwLJEtbg_zyyApPiLixBXScP8Rl9e6zy22O4z--b1EcNw9HL-5OE0u9sxcfjs108rs-gIhPeSrEn44B7MDymbTaNI7bLTzGEuWRJRoACaA/s364/Screen%20Shot%202022-09-17%20at%204.42.40%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="364" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Xgp23bpFGk5kGclNkGrGDxEg4Vxrr9S7CXKRvCP8U_I3upaqVmcPiDwR91NIA6iuGgPE8z-agEbYT9bVgwLJEtbg_zyyApPiLixBXScP8Rl9e6zy22O4z--b1EcNw9HL-5OE0u9sxcfjs108rs-gIhPeSrEn44B7MDymbTaNI7bLTzGEuWRJRoACaA/w400-h295/Screen%20Shot%202022-09-17%20at%204.42.40%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The two yellow-highlighed cells in this example were set manually rather than taking auto-generated values.</i><br /></div></div><div><p><br /></p><p> ...and that's all I wanted to talk about for now. Happy modding, all!<br /></p></div>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-15165385695493957012022-08-20T10:28:00.002-07:002022-08-20T10:30:56.547-07:00Using & Improving the Tech Generator<p><i><b>TL;DR:</b> Exciting progress is happening on the "expanded outfits" plug-ins! The upcoming "modifiers" feature will open up a lot of great options.<br /></i></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">"Expanded Outfits" Plug-Ins<br /></h2><p> Now that the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> is producing output that can be directly imported into ResForge or EVNEW, the process of using it to create plug-ins feels very different than the "traditional" plug-in development approach. It is a repeating process of defining what the Generator should produce, having it generate a plug-in based on those definitions, testing that plug-in, and then going back to revise the definitions for the next generation of the plug-in.</p><p> In the time since last month's blog post, I've been working on three outfit expansion plug-insā one each for EVC, EVO, and EVN. These plug-ins are currently on their 26th generation, with each generation incorporating new updates and improvements.<br /></p><p> These plug-ins have the same goals as the outfit changes I made in <i>EVO: Expanded</i>:<br /></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li> Add new weapons and outfits that fit into the game's balance environment, with unique tradeoffs and niches with respect to the stock game's outfits.</li><li>Enhance the combat experience in each game by encouraging fast-paced, complex combat.</li><li>Boost the viability of a greater range of ship types in each game.<br /></li></ol><p> These plug-ins are making great progress, and increasingly achieving these goals. However, there is more work to be done before they'll be ready for public release, which I'll describe below.<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf9NLjtoEYGVs0_XYrnbLstJKqanghNQLzxVD9YQLsbUyH8exRe0_wxj-vrXjzkbB1QqM3OA-wwHWtrBIGgeoJdWI_JCF2UBGL_9hhDaGIV0sH2AM7dqaHsn5yJ7d-uHdzJ7v9HupOsFYRipfovaDThFe95F71uXk6KUBTFsYYoVpfdU8EkDH3bqqicg/s604/EVO%20Expanded%20Info%20copy.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="604" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf9NLjtoEYGVs0_XYrnbLstJKqanghNQLzxVD9YQLsbUyH8exRe0_wxj-vrXjzkbB1QqM3OA-wwHWtrBIGgeoJdWI_JCF2UBGL_9hhDaGIV0sH2AM7dqaHsn5yJ7d-uHdzJ7v9HupOsFYRipfovaDThFe95F71uXk6KUBTFsYYoVpfdU8EkDH3bqqicg/w400-h210/EVO%20Expanded%20Info%20copy.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>EVOE's Auxiliary Shield System was created to give freighters some much-needed survivability and make them more viable as player ships. The Expanded Outfits plug-ins are also fundamentally trying to give players more options in the game.</i><br /></div><div><p></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Generator Feature Update<br /></h2><p> Creating these plug-ins is the perfect way to test the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a>ā not only checking for bugs, but also getting a hands-on feel for the Generator's workflow and practical capabilities, and thereby finding ways to enhance its usefulness. Ultimately I will be using the Tech Generator to facilitate the process of creating <i>Orion Skies</i>, and I also want it to be as useful as possible for other plug-in authors.</p><p> Right now, the Generator has two generative processes at work:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><u><b>Heaviness</b></u>, where the user defines a "Light" version of something, a "Heavy" version of something, and then the Generator can create any intermediate-sized version.</li><li><u><b>Managed Stat Randomness</b></u>, where the user can specify how much random variation should be put into each stat of an item, and then the Generator will adjust the item's other stats accordingly to keep it in line with whatever balance targets the user provided.</li></ol><p> These two processes together can create an endless number of unique items, and gives the user a lot of control over what those items should be like. I'm confident that these are enough to finish developing these outfit expansion plug-ins to the point that they nicely enhance the experience of playing each of the EV games (at least, for people who have the same gameplay preferences as I do!).</p><p> However, there are some limitations to these systems:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><u><i><b>Tech bases</b></i></u> have to be implemented manually. If one were generating a set of Cannons for Override, right now the user would have to specify at least four separate Cannon sets: Human Cannons, Voinian Cannons, Emalgha Cannons, and Crescent Cannonsā and more if you're including subfactions like the three Strands!</li><li><u><i><b>Unique traits or bonuses</b></i></u> that you want only a single item to have, have to be created manually. RPGs often use these to make their items more interesting, and <i>Magic: the Gathering</i> makes heavy use of them to create a richly textured, complex strategy environment with its cards; I'd like <i>Orion Skies</i> to use them too, and that'd be a lot of manual work!<br /></li></ul><p> To address these needs, I'll be adding a new feature to the Generator: <u><b>Modifiers</b></u>. These will be user-specified stat adjustments that can be automatically applied to individual items, and should open up a lot of flexibility and power.<br /></p><p> In the example above, you could create a single definition for Cannons in your scenario, then create Modifiers to represent your tech bases, and then have the generator assign each Cannon to a tech base and modify its stats accordinglyā e.g. the Crescent Tech modifier would boost shield damage and reduce armor damage, while the Emalgha Tech modifier would do the opposite. Additionally, you could create numerous "unique bonus" modifiers, like <i>"+3 damage"</i> or <i>"also gives +50 shields"</i>, and have those assigned at random to individual items, to create an RPG-like or MtG-like item environment.<br /></p><p> Modifiers will take a little time to implement, but they'll be incredibly useful for <i>Orion Skies</i>, and they'll enable me to do a lot more with these "Expanded Outfits" plug-ins, so it's definitely worth taking the time to build the modifiers system now. I'm looking forward to getting them in place and then leveraging them to create some really interesting new outfits for EVC, EVO, and EVN. :)</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://electriccartilage.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/diablo-six-guardians.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://electriccartilage.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/diablo-six-guardians.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>An example of a bow in Diablo that has a "special bonus" modifier; I envision the Tech Generator's modifiers being somewhat similar in implementation.</i><br /></div></div><div><p></p><p> </p><p> As always thanks for reading, and happy modding!</p></div>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-51284852289588049352022-07-13T12:47:00.001-07:002022-07-13T12:47:04.928-07:00Coming Soon: Generated Outfits Plug-In Pack<p></p><p><i><u><b>TL;DR</b><b>:</b></u> I'm stress-testing the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> by making a generated weapons plug-in pack for use with EVC, rEV, EVO, EVOE, EVN, and/or BNV. Also, the auto-import features are working!<br /></i></p><p> </p><h2><u>Auto-Import Is Working!<br /></u></h2><p> The Tech Generator is now successfully producing output that can be loaded directly into a plug-in via <a href="https://github.com/andrews05/ResForge" target="_blank">ResForge</a> or EVNEW! This makes it vastly more efficient to use than before!</p><p> This is a highly complex feature, which means that a great deal of testing is required to prove that it's working <u><i>perfectly</i></u> ā so it'll be a while before I'll give it the official stamp of approval and "release" the Tech Generator v. 1.1... However, in the meantime, <u><b>feel free to try this feature in the current <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator, v. 1.0+</a></b></u>!<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://github.com/andrews05/ResForge/raw/master/ResForge/Assets.xcassets/ResForge.appiconset/ResForge_128.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="128" data-original-width="128" height="128" src="https://github.com/andrews05/ResForge/raw/master/ResForge/Assets.xcassets/ResForge.appiconset/ResForge_128.png" width="128" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://github.com/andrews05/ResForge" target="_blank">ResForge</a> is a great new plug-in editor, and its spreadsheet import/export capability is extremely powerful.</i><br /></div><div><br /><h2><u>Generated Weapons Plug-Ins<br /></u></h2> The whole point of the Tech Generator is to facilitate the process of creating large numbers of weapons and outfits, so that's precisely what I'm doing to test it: I'm creating <u><b>3 large weapons-and-outfits plug-ins</b></u>, aiming to make each of them a quality product that adds new avenues of fun and ship-equipping strategy to its respective game:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>One plug-in will be for EVC, and will be compatible with <a href="https://andrews05.github.io/evstuff/#evo" target="_blank">rEV</a>.</li><li>One plug-in will be for EVO, and will be compatible with <a href="https://www.nexusmods.com/escapevelocitynova/mods/2" target="_blank">EVO: Expanded</a>.</li><li>One plug-in will be for EVN, and will be compatible with <a href="https://www.nexusmods.com/escapevelocitynova/mods/9" target="_blank">Brave New Void</a>.<br /></li></ul></div><div> As I build these plug-ins, I'm sure to find bugs and missing capabilities in the Tech Generator, which I'll fix... but I'll also get a better understanding of the overall workflow when using this tool, and what additional features can streamline or improve the process of using it in a practical sense.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoxHidJsoO1WvCHcHYajQe_rMfqI94ImWHeVWi337LAMxNCqiV1ffNVG6wAL3EP37EVwbIJP9Geylki4O7BSppGsKWmgM3gDkaNqgZiM1Q4yifIGvvMOUSsnp12dN03v0c06cQR8AFmVjxbblDuwesd1aoOuLth1p_otIj6JVl3hTmQtI-jyAQHy-o7w/s476/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-13%20at%2012.39.54%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="476" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoxHidJsoO1WvCHcHYajQe_rMfqI94ImWHeVWi337LAMxNCqiV1ffNVG6wAL3EP37EVwbIJP9Geylki4O7BSppGsKWmgM3gDkaNqgZiM1Q4yifIGvvMOUSsnp12dN03v0c06cQR8AFmVjxbblDuwesd1aoOuLth1p_otIj6JVl3hTmQtI-jyAQHy-o7w/s320/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-13%20at%2012.39.54%20PM.png" width="320" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>The current test version of the EVC plug-in, as viewed in ResForge.</i> <br /></div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /><p></p><h2><u>Current Status<br /></u></h2> At the moment, I've gone through a few very rough initial versions of these plug-ins, aided in my testing by DarthKev and DrFiveMinusMinus (many thanks to them!). This playtesting has already led to several improvements in the Generator. I have a few more small Generator improvements in mind, as well as some tweaking of the specifications it's using to generate outfits for each game, and then I'll start another round of playtesting.</div><div> If you would like to help test the next improved versions of these plug-ins, that would be wonderful! You can either message me on Discord (look for "Mag Steelglass" in the EV Nova or Evocation Games servers), or fill out this Google Form: <a href="https://forms.gle/WaZ8kpVb6bDezP1b9">https://forms.gle/WaZ8kpVb6bDezP1b9</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMspYoVGOXlbp5a8C5aDFfrZGFtySUbbon0LpgChhEujpKOCLMWDNiHKjUvnw4z0p4j_Ps-8doFePnxvs6s5gn5juwW1zKdVjPZyV0mTdj_VN_XmHkXMwYzLMl2pewPZe8H-UoTeMJ7NkjezQ_LAoTbPr9pV8qWOA9Um_cjfcawyHMujS04yZg869JLw/s671/6mok3v.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMspYoVGOXlbp5a8C5aDFfrZGFtySUbbon0LpgChhEujpKOCLMWDNiHKjUvnw4z0p4j_Ps-8doFePnxvs6s5gn5juwW1zKdVjPZyV0mTdj_VN_XmHkXMwYzLMl2pewPZe8H-UoTeMJ7NkjezQ_LAoTbPr9pV8qWOA9Um_cjfcawyHMujS04yZg869JLw/w298-h400/6mok3v.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> Thanks, all!<br /></div>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-11518153191774998762022-06-26T09:50:00.002-07:002022-06-26T09:57:09.655-07:00Tech Generator v. 1.0 Release<p><i><u><b>TL;DR</b><b>:</b></u> The <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> has reached version 1.0 and is ready for public use! By default it generates weaps and outfs for EVN, EVO, EVC, and Ares, but can be configured to create entirely new types for Total Conversion plug-ins.<br /></i></p><br /><div><p> The <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> is finally ready for general use (if anyone out there currently has a use for it)! This is a big milestone, as with <i>Orion Skies</i> I'm hoping to (eventually) have a very large number of weapons and outfits, and a procedural generator like this should considerably facilitate the process of creating them all.</p><p> Based on detailed user specifications, the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> procedurally creates the stats for weapons and outfits in bulk. It doesn't create output specifically for <a href="https://andrews05.github.io/evstuff/#utilities" target="_blank">ResForge</a> or <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EZBGFCiiwJsSTSlYX2j5IyjwVLh5tB1h/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">EVNEW</a>'s spreadsheet-import functions yet; that is my next goal and will be the core feature of version 1.1. <br /></p><p> Here is a link to the Tech Generator: <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing">https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing</a></p><p> And here is a video describing what it does: <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sfsRQtWkMyMm4xjvxyrasF4NH07pgMY6/view?usp=sharing" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="1178" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0EvdNp4ru-jv_yHbw8aeCPM1VwaiSNPBOnmyLhJq6A3kzjxpytUvmek6SbxcmxN1DM45Ti6w4_0EF8iZIlS6b8CRNfT4jgaSwZywVPwg_8W41hRMs1Q-Od1XsXV9xtPov6ugqaQZL3ZbbB4M0qWp-XdppVcD4TA3yiapW_svD2GKCZUt_iaBZhF0Y3w/s320/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-26%20at%209.20.55%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sfsRQtWkMyMm4xjvxyrasF4NH07pgMY6/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><i>About the Tech Generator</i></a><br /></div><div><br /></div>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-5258119541130884062022-06-16T16:42:00.002-07:002022-06-16T16:42:56.263-07:00Fully Designed!<p><i><u><b>TL;DR</b><b>:</b></u> Orion Skies's design is as complete as it can be without actually getting my hands on the CFO engine. Now I'll work on</i><i> the procedural generators and 3D graphics systems, to lay the foundation for building Orion Skies.</i></p><p><br /></p><p> Life has continued to be quite busy this month. You may recall that my wife and I bought a home in April, and getting it all set up is taking up a lot of our time. We also have a puppy who needs a lot of attention, and meanwhile work has been particularly heavy. On top of that we've gone through a mix of home emergencies and family emergencies, so it's been an exhausting whirlwind.<br /></p><p> However, I've continued to think about Orion Skies's design during my commutes, and have actually made tremendous progress on that front. Work should ease off soon, at which point I'll resume regular progress on the foundational projects that will build into Orion Skies itself. I'll explain all of this below.</p><p> </p><h2><u>Full Design<br /></u></h2><p> At last month's blog post, a series of paradigm breakthroughs had allowed the following pieces to fall into place:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2022/04/history-lore-in-song-form.html" target="_blank">History of Orion Skies's universe.</a></li><li><a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2022/05/major-design-breakthrough.html" target="_blank">Worldbuilding & map of Orion Skies's setting.</a></li><li>Full gameplay design, harmoniously aligned with the above.</li></ul><p> This month, those new pieces laid the groundwork for rapidly finishing the rest of the design:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Story outlining & mission structure design.</li><li>"Module 1" design, for the first-stage release of Orion Skies.</li><li>Full aligned production plan for Orion Skies and subsidiary projects (e.g. <a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2021/12/tech-generator-progress-plus-expanded.html" target="_blank">The Expanded Suite</a>, <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kCABkT-AC6aOZoyEoub8jLrZgH8hXkeSQSwmnIXwMX8/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Galaxy Generator</a>, etc).</li></ul><p> With that work done, Orion Skies is fully designed! I can't think of any other aspects of this TC that I'll need to plan out before construction begins. (Though I may, of course, think of something between now and then.)</p><p> All of these pieces are outlines, rather than specific game items, thereby leaving room for adapting the design to <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/evocation_games" target="_blank">CFO's game engine</a> specifics and to allow for playtesting-based adjustments as I build.</p><p> In this blog post, I wanted to talk briefly about each of these final design elements, as well as some next steps for this project:<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Story<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3c1h8v2ZQ&t=21s" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="741" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNV2c-w6tdrPAG-LiDAvrP-ZiQxrb7qh3MEmR8Jt8fnuuxWTbusSTed8vujig0Zz1EBI7nUlltA_jOCOtEcgSFse45LpV6X2RIQ1IsdYE6omKy86hqelc97TGZ_zPMYDkwFOhfAYvVsoFcTgL9gF6vQpFA2mhxYaYz_9ah625VJWsOIfaWRzzy8RpfqA/w200-h167/vonnegut.png" width="200" /></a></div></u></h3><p> When it comes to storytelling in the EV series, I am personally a huge fan of: 1) <i><a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fi4aCtnRzeqRWmUn-Q-WKKSXi1lN5Oj8?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Override</a>'s</i> open-ended, player-driven storytelling that allows for a unique story experience every time you play; and 2) <i><a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1n31VvHQ2emYvSao3XIN69KuhWlIckGaI?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Frozen Heart</a>'s</i> highly developed characters, themes, and engaging story plots. In some ways, these two scenarios' stories are set up in polar opposite waysā quite unlike <i>Override</i>, <i>Frozen Heart</i> has only 1 storyline that plays out the same way every time you play, and it explicitly defines your character's thoughts, actions, and personality.</p><p> With <i>Orion Skies</i>, my hope is to structure the story mission lines similarly to <i>Override</i>, to capture that open-endedness and let the player's own imagination control their characterā while also, to the degree possible, bringing in some of <i>Frozen Heart's</i> writing prowess to make the individual stories as engaging and meaningful as possible. I have a system worked out to structure the stories/missions in a way that I believe will accomplish this goal pretty well, although we'll have to see it in action to find out how well it actually works!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Module 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/ISS-assembly-animation.gif" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="400" height="113" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/ISS-assembly-animation.gif" width="200" /></a></div></u></h3><p> Ages ago on this blog, I talked about how I want to <a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2021/02/anvils-landscapes-and-modules.html" target="_blank">release Orion Skies in modules</a>. It'll have a small initial release, and then periodic expansion updates. The idea is it will begin life as a small TC, then grow over time to hopefully become a large one. The reasoning is that doing this will allow a quicker first release, without sacrificing quality and without losing the potential to reach a large scale.</p><p> Each module will cover several systems, a few ships, 1-2 pilot types, a couple dozen outfits, and a handful of stories.</p><p> With the worldbuilding, story, and gameplay fully designed, this month I was able to pick out what parts of the full TC design would be best for a "Module 1", and to design that module in a bit more detail. Now I know exactly what I'll start building first when I'm ready to begin the construction of Orion Skies itself.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Production Plan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGBdf7g3VUisfnoLN_CZuHs-KCxg0f9Mzw92-mW7Lf2t98Fbk_gHBhOaYE9rkVwW8YEkrUTOT5T0bquLyZKLiLxBTTWQ5EZxquUI7YX5fzon_DFqblQzdov-SaAwmXLpe3R_RAwLYIVZpE6j6UhFOiMzlApN1YayTjZbWiAGY3ifEbfMde2ouMZwJbyA/s1364/release%20stages.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="1364" height="99" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGBdf7g3VUisfnoLN_CZuHs-KCxg0f9Mzw92-mW7Lf2t98Fbk_gHBhOaYE9rkVwW8YEkrUTOT5T0bquLyZKLiLxBTTWQ5EZxquUI7YX5fzon_DFqblQzdov-SaAwmXLpe3R_RAwLYIVZpE6j6UhFOiMzlApN1YayTjZbWiAGY3ifEbfMde2ouMZwJbyA/w200-h99/release%20stages.png" width="200" /></a></div></u></h3><p> In the interest of getting releases to the community as quickly as possible, while simultaneously building towards my full vision for Orion Skies, I'm building several smaller, foundational projects that are helping me build Orion Skies but also can (I hope) be of benefit to others. These include:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Galaxy Generator <i>(v.1.0 already released)</i></li><li><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> <i>(very close to release-ready)</i></li><li>Spob graphics pack, designed to work with the Galaxy Generator. <i>(planned)</i><br /></li><li>TC map pack, created by the Galaxy Generator and intended be useful for other peoples' TC projects. <i>(planned)</i></li><li>The Expanded Suite, a collection of Lua game feature mods. <i>(planned)</i></li><li><a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2021/12/2021-review-and-look-forward.html" target="_blank">Ares Forever</a>, an adaptation of the Ambrosia game <i>Ares</i> on the CFO engine. <i>(planned)</i></li></ul><p> These projects are all designed to have a small/simple initial release version, followed by expanded/improved followup versions. Now that Orion Skies is fully designed, I was able to plot out how the various versions/stages of these different projects can all fit together, and I have a well-charted pathway forward with it all. :)<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Next Steps<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfIFDyJW5068eNKu2uzfP4x4gHE9G92o5P7v6rp7TOFZCvKq_MPB_-FJhhtQ-8ugvGGarQFZtJ0TkUoI2p4OW5e_aS87x20rQ_aU2dwjgMxTlRVTTPg-2sX3QuDnrxZreCO2VD5nq7Z-tIpsvp71lLTcB4KfntfvzxzlHaQCK2zjeHg_tHsuUYycgeJg/s797/galaxygenerator.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="651" data-original-width="797" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfIFDyJW5068eNKu2uzfP4x4gHE9G92o5P7v6rp7TOFZCvKq_MPB_-FJhhtQ-8ugvGGarQFZtJ0TkUoI2p4OW5e_aS87x20rQ_aU2dwjgMxTlRVTTPg-2sX3QuDnrxZreCO2VD5nq7Z-tIpsvp71lLTcB4KfntfvzxzlHaQCK2zjeHg_tHsuUYycgeJg/w200-h163/galaxygenerator.png" width="200" /></a></div></u></h3><p> At this point, I believe I can set Orion Skies's design aside until it's time for construction to begin. Until then, I'll be working on some of the foundational projects described above:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Finishing & releasing the Tech Generator v.1.0.</li><li>Updating the Tech Generator and the Galaxy Generator to produce output compatible with the automated spreadsheet import functions in EVNEW and <a href="https://andrews05.github.io/evstuff/#utilities" target="_blank">ResForge</a>. (In the future, I hope to add KDL output also.)</li><li>Creating an automated, procedural 3D graphics generation system to spit out spob graphics sets to go along with the Galaxy Generator; this will start off quite rudimentary but, once the core automation is in place, can be updated over time to whatever level of sophistication is desired/feasible.</li></ol><p> I think that'll give me plenty to do until CFO comes out! I'm looking forward to this next phase. :)</p><p><br /></p><p> As always, thanks for reading, and happy modding!</p>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-4832889854847513172022-05-14T21:51:00.006-07:002022-05-15T16:56:01.874-07:00Major Design Breakthrough!<p></p><p><i><u><b>TL;DR</b><b>:</b></u> Many pieces of the design have fallen into place ā in particular, an overall design framework and an outline of Orion Skies's world, both of which leave lots of design room for the details.<br /></i></p><p><br /></p><p>
Life continues to be extra busy lately! You may recall that my wife and I bought a home recently, and getting it all set up is taking a lot of time. Additionally, work has really ramped up, and in the midst of all this we decided to adopt a puppy? (He is adorable but also is a handful!)<br /></p><p> I haven't had a lot of time to sit down at a computer and work on Orion Skies, so instead my work has been happening mostly during my commutes, during which I often think about Orion Skies and come up with new ideas etc...</p><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Massive Breakthrough<br /></u></h2><p> Building on last month's worldbuilding breakthrough with creating <a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2022/04/history-lore-in-song-form.html" target="_blank">a complete history of OS's setting</a>, as well as game-design breakthroughs based on my work on the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator,</a> I've finally gotten a "complete" framework for Orion Skies! This includes a full & complete world outline, as well as a full & complete gameplay design, which fit seamlessly together and facilitate, rather than restricting, the flexible creation and integration of specific elements of the game.</p><p> It's a very abstract step, but I can't overstate how huge of a milestone this is. I'm now free to readily come up with ideas that fluidly fit into the greater whole. Previously I'd come up with different ideas for different aspects of this plug-in, and then wonder about how/if I was going to make them fit together; now they just work, and I can freely create. :)</p><p> There are a lot of things that I don't want to share yet, because I want first-time players of Orion Skies to go on a compelling journey of discovery; and I'm working hard to make sure there will be lots of exciting things waiting in the nebula fog to be discovered!</p><p> With that said, here's a map of publicly known territories of the Orion Nebula!:</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisWL1J7YTR1ifTkk8-hfgtQ7BwnIbijWUsavh9HWAq-6EFaoc2IeSEzNOx5Du2yh4Ss0_S_sB2JbGgKgjJKXLXZPxqHu50hyV_Qm434nGvEeb-WxuIZUI2NwlPXUqYTH2VgAsEvEWa4pEzkWZ1xyE4hcMMQt8AaoyPvwlyQWsNrx53oTCPtG2FiNMk5Q/s1435/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-14%20at%207.20.32%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="1435" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisWL1J7YTR1ifTkk8-hfgtQ7BwnIbijWUsavh9HWAq-6EFaoc2IeSEzNOx5Du2yh4Ss0_S_sB2JbGgKgjJKXLXZPxqHu50hyV_Qm434nGvEeb-WxuIZUI2NwlPXUqYTH2VgAsEvEWa4pEzkWZ1xyE4hcMMQt8AaoyPvwlyQWsNrx53oTCPtG2FiNMk5Q/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-14%20at%207.20.32%20PM.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>(Click to enlarge.)</i><br /></div><div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>About the Map</u><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b></b></u></h2><p style="text-align: left;"> First of all, two notes about scale:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>This is clearly just a fraction of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula" target="_blank">entire Orion Nebula</a>, the northeast corner, centered around a sub-nebula known as "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_43" target="_blank">De Mairan's Nebula</a>". <b>No one has ever explored the entire nebula ā perhaps you can be the first??</b></li><li>This map is actually <b>very zoomed out</b> from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula#/media/File:Orion_Nebula_-_Hubble_2006_mosaic_18000.jpg" target="_blank">Hubble image</a> it is based on, and there's a lot of detail missing. I don't yet know how large of a nebula background image I'll be able to use in Cosmic Frontier; my hope is to be fully zoomed in!</li></ol><p> I also want to note that everything here is potentially subject to change between now and the release of Orion Skiesā but it's unlikely to radically change.</p><p> And, for folks worried about spoilers: the locations of these territories of the nebula are generally pretty well-known amongst spacers, including the player, at the start of the game; however, there are many details of what specifically lies within each territory or at each location, which this map doesn't show, and which will need to be discovered by visiting those places in your ship.</p><p> Here's a quick "key" to the map; most of the specific places, people, nations, and organizations it mentions are described in my <a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2022/04/history-lore-in-song-form.html" target="_blank">previous blog post about lore</a>:<br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><u><b>Solid gray line</b></u>: An old TUMAINI route for exploration further into the nebula. Although TUMAINI is long gone, their navigation posts along this route have all been refurbished or replaced, and it now serves as a trade highway.</li><li><u><b>Dashed gray lines</b></u>: Old TUMAINI routes that are not as maintained nor used as much as the main "highway".<br /></li><li><u><b>Circles</b></u>: Selected systems. There are many other accessible and/or settled systems, but these ones help illustrate the map's structure.</li><li><u><b>Ark Ship Landing</b></u>: The massive "ark ships" are able to travel great interstellar distances, but are not well-suited to travel within nebulae; this location on the edge serves as a loading-and-unloading dock for visiting arks.<br /></li><li><u><b>Nyerere</b></u>: A highly habitable world discovered long ago by the East African Survey Corps, which is now the most populated planet in the Orion Nebula.<br /></li><li><u><b>Villages</b></u>: A number of small settlements on partly-terraformed worlds, where the majority of people live off the land via subsistence farming.<br /></li><li><u><b>Towns</b></u>: Slightly larger settlements, to which people travel for commerce and trade.<br /></li><li><u><b>Research Posts</b></u>: Recently established stations whose scientists are trying to re-learn some of TUMAINI's old knowledge, and re-establish travel to areas of the nebula that have been cut off for decades.<br /></li><li><u><b>Former TUMAINI Development Territory</b></u>: Regions of the nebula where the TUMAINI program had previously been conducting exploration and terraforming operations, but have been cut off ever since TUMAINI's collapse.<br /></li><li><u><b>Proxima Corp Mining</b></u>: Systems where Proxima Corp (one of the galaxy's two corporate superpowers) is conducting lucrative mining operations. They use the main "highway" to transport the collected resources to the ark ship landing, and thence take it out into the wider galaxy.<br /></li><li><u><b>Restricted Area</b></u>: A region controlled by Proxima Corp. Special corporate access is required to enter.<br /></li><li><u><b>Banditry</b></u>: The cargo-laden transports along the highway are excellent targets for bandits in the dusty bridge across De Mairan's Nebula...<br /></li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"> "But what about the color-coding?" you might ask. The color system goes far beyond this map and is worth a section unto itself! I'll explain it down below.</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8GFJ6F4t-XWVK5e0aqMZTpR64bpUXL9azgYDy2Cdv1lnYxm7unUOl6-huUeVgJUjoIgftEa73SFK1hCoNQ4U7bc_YUpQlMOh5lF-n9DyqCwS5ARPwQjdhGLr6uBBg21VHeeWA9xZV4DG-TkPBx3-_rzwyiD3-my5RBIlKWsBpB_bR4J-MMX99mCbTFQ/s500/Color_Wheel.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="498" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8GFJ6F4t-XWVK5e0aqMZTpR64bpUXL9azgYDy2Cdv1lnYxm7unUOl6-huUeVgJUjoIgftEa73SFK1hCoNQ4U7bc_YUpQlMOh5lF-n9DyqCwS5ARPwQjdhGLr6uBBg21VHeeWA9xZV4DG-TkPBx3-_rzwyiD3-my5RBIlKWsBpB_bR4J-MMX99mCbTFQ/w399-h400/Color_Wheel.webp" width="399" /></a></div><i>Credit to Richard Garfield for inventing this, and the staff at Wizards of the Coast for continuing to develop it over time; the "color wheel" from Magic: the Gathering is a brilliant and powerful tool for designing game worlds.</i><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Color Wheel<br /></u></h2><p style="text-align: left;"> Backstory, trying to make a long story short: I play <i>Magic: the Gathering</i>. It's a fantastic game, worth checking out if you're into tabletop gaming or fantasy games. In <i>Magic</i>, some players like to create "cubes", which are basically standalone play sets, in many ways analogous to a Total Conversion plug-in for EVx. I've created a few "cubes" and developed a lot of ideas and techniques for doing so, which I was hoping to find a way to use with Orion Skies. Part of why I created the Tech Generator was to get a firm-enough grasp of EV's mechanics and strategies to be able to translate concepts from <i>Magic: the Gathering</i> cubes into EVx and thereby use them with Orion Skies.</p><p style="text-align: left;"> One of the core design elements of <i>Magic: the Gathering</i> is the "color wheel". Magic is divided into five colors ā White, Blue, Black, Red, and Green ā each with its own unique properties in terms of magical capabilities, philosophies and mindsets, elements they comprise of a society or world, etc. This color wheel is used as a guide for all aspects of creating new worlds and sets for <i>Magic: the Gathering</i>. It smoothly integrates worldbuilding with gameplay, while facilitating variety and complexity in both, and is flexible enough to accommodate a wide variety of approaches when creating multiple/numerous unique worlds. It is at the core of everything in <i>Magic</i>.<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"> One of the things the color wheel does for <i>Magic</i> is to define what game mechanics each color has access to, "how" each color approaches its goals in-game, and what each color is "good" at vs "bad" at. A discussion outlining what that means in <i>Magic</i> for each of the colors would be prolonged and isn't really necessary here. <a href="https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Color" target="_blank">Here's an MTG Wiki article that goes into it, for those interested.</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"> Mechanically, EVx is very different from <i>Magic</i>, so translating those ideas into a form that Orion Skies could use took some intensive exploration, which was part of the point of creating the Tech Generator. I believe I have managed to create a working system for such translation, and it is now guiding my work on Orion Skies. This system will certainly evolve and improve once I am able to start creating actual game content on the <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cosmicfrontier/cosmic-frontier-override/https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cosmicfrontier/cosmic-frontier-override/" target="_blank">Cosmic Frontier</a> engine, but it is already extremely useful for my design work.<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"> In any case, here is a basic summary of how the five colors of <i>Magic</i> can be found in Orion Skies:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><u><b>White</b></u>: The color of governments, soldiers, and the pursuit of order. This is embodied by Nyerere, which is the de facto central governing power of the Orion Nebula, and maintains a Defence Force to combat any attempted invasions from outside the nebula. Technologically, they have a tendency to focus on smaller combat vessels, and, in combat, they look to strike a balance between defensive maneuvering & finding opportunities to maneuver in and sustain high-DPS fire.<br /></li><li><u><b>Blue</b></u>: The color of exploration, research, long-distance mercantilism, mystery, and trickery. This is embodied by researchers, explorers, and traders who do business along the old TUMAINI travel routes. Technologically, they lean towards non-combat vessels, and focus on ionization and similar nonlethal disruptive capabilities when they must act in self-defense.<br /></li><li><u><b>Black</b></u>: The color of expansionist business, profiteering, and the ambitious pursuit of power. This is embodied by the galaxy's two corporate superpowers, Proxima Corp and Armstrong Ltd, ever in competition with each other, and each with its own robust "security force". Technologically, they lean towards armed transports and escort gunships, focusing on heavy weaponry.<br /></li><li><u><b>Red</b></u>: The color of passion, resilience, and people who live lives of conflict in harsh areas. This is embodied by bandits, and by post-TUMAINI survivors living off of limited resources. Technologically, they lean towards small armed craft, creating opportunities for quick devastating strikes when combat is needed; the best defense is a good offense!<br /></li><li><u><b>Green</b></u>: The color of agriculture, balance, and nature. This is embodied by villagers who live off the land, as well as by terraforming and eco-engineering projects. Technologically, these all lean towards transport craft. Their "weaponry" is often repurposed old equipment that was originally meant for non-combat purposes such as astromining, climate adjustments, or launching raw materials.<br /></li><li><u><b>Artifacts</b></u>: Not actually a color! This entry represents technologies and equipment that are available for use to all five of the colors. Decades ago, TUMAINI was a major project aimed at exploring the nebula and terraforming habitable worlds; in the aftermath of its collapse, many of its old spacecraft, stations, bases, technologies, etc are still in use by myriad factions.<br /></li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"> <br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Overall Development Status</u></h2></div><div> The development work is broken up into several different projects that, in the end, will culminate in Orion Skies itself. Here's where this is all at:<br /><br />š¢ <u><b>Concept Design:</b></u> Done! :)<br />š¢ <u><b>Worldbuilding:</b></u> Done! :)<br />š¢ <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kCABkT-AC6aOZoyEoub8jLrZgH8hXkeSQSwmnIXwMX8/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><u><b>Galaxy Generator:</b></u></a> Version 1.0 is complete and released. At some point soon Iād like to add compatibility with ResForge and/or EVNEWās auto-import functions.<br />š” <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><u><b>Tech Generator:</b></u></a> Mostly complete, getting very close to Version 1.0 release. Will probably want to make improvements down the road, including auto-import capability.<br />š” <u><b>3D Skill Development:</b></u> After the generator work, I hope to resume daily 3D practice. I'll probably focus first on landscapes, and then will work towards creating a system that will procedurally generate full graphics sets for the Galaxy Generator in one go; these can start out ābasicā and be updated over time. After that, I'll get back into developing air- & space-craft.<br />āŖ <a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2021/12/2021-review-and-look-forward.html" target="_blank"><u><b>The Expanded Suite:</b></u></a> I have a plan for this, and will start building it once Cosmic Frontier is released. The Lua gameplay features I create here will be used in Orion Skies.<br />āŖ <a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2021/12/2021-review-and-look-forward.html" target="_blank"><u><b>Ares Forever:</b></u></a> This is mapped out. I'll start building this once I have access to Cosmic Frontier, probably after an initial version of The Expanded Suite. The bulk of this work will be creating <a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank">Ares</a>-inspired Lua gameplay features, which will be added to The Expanded Suite and used in Orion Skies.<br />āŖ <u><b>Orion Skies:</b></u> The first release will most likely be fairly small-scale; then there will be a long-term process of adding incremental updates & expansions, developing it from a small TC into a large TC. As this work progresses, any new Lua gameplay features I build for Orion Skies will also be added to The Expanded Suite.<br /></div>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-45581691349580185462022-04-21T19:33:00.000-07:002022-04-21T19:33:36.420-07:00History & Lore... in Song Form!<p><i><u><b>TL;DR</b><b>:</b></u> A big lore dump. Also, I sing (sorry) an Orion Skies version of Billy Joel's song "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g" target="_blank">We Didn't Start the Fire</a>".</i></p><p><br /></p><p> Life has been extra busy for me lately: my wife and I bought a home, which is tremendously exciting, but it's also time-consuming to move, make repairs, get services set up, repaint some rooms, unpack everything and decide where it all should go, buy additional furniture, etc etc...</p><p> What that means is, I haven't had many open blocks of time to finish up the Tech Generator this monthā however, I still have a rather long commute to and from work each day, and I usually spend it thinking about Orion Skies! This month, I've been thinking about worldbuilding & lore, and have actually made some great headway on that front. :)<br /></p><p> To celebrate this progress, I created an Orion Skies version of the history-laden rock song <i>"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g" target="_blank">We Didn't Start the Fire</a>"</i>, describing the history behind OS's setting. Then I went ahead and recorded a karaoke-style version of this song, linked here -- though I will warn you in advance that my singing is <i>*bad*</i>: <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xPoWunHKL8LB-Xh63JwJg5RgLGhSmQ8i/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">audio link</a><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgflip.com/6d9fne.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="763" height="171" src="https://i.imgflip.com/6d9fne.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Lyrics Reference</u><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b> </b></u></h2><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Lyrics are <b><u>bold and underlined</u></b>.</li><li>Information about the lyrics' meaning is <i>italicized</i>.</li></ul><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Section 1 - Settling the Solar System</h3><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX" target="_blank">SpaceX</a>, </b></u><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_Lab" target="_blank">Rocket Lab</a></b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>These two real-life companies are creating incredibly innovative new rockets and spacecraft, and opening up better access to space in a dramatic way. They're bringing us considerably closer to a sci-fi spacefaring future.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Mars is lookinā pretty fab</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>There is a lot of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Mars_program" target="_blank">impetus in real life to try to establish a self-sustaining colony on Mars in the 21st century</a>; I suspect it may take longer than that to find success, but in Orion Skies I'm optimistically assuming that it will ultimately happen.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Shield tech</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>Two major limits on spacecraft and space activity are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray#Significance_to_aerospace_travel" target="_blank">cosmic radiation</a>, and <a href="http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/heatrad.php" target="_blank">engine heat dissipation</a>. The shields in Orion Skies's setting not only protect a spacecraft from weaponry, but also act as radiation shielding and are capable of dissipating heat away from the spacecraft at a prodigious and controlled rate.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>fusion ships, we can really go</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_engine" target="_blank">Modern rocket engines</a> are very limited in how fast they can move a ship, in comparison to the distances involved in flying around a solar system. If we are ever able to have <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_rocket" target="_blank">fusion-based engine systems</a>, it'll dramatically boost our ability to get around in space.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Lucrative enterprise, space-based corporations thrive / </b></u><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining" target="_blank">Astromines</a>, factories</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i><a href="https://www.space.com/elon-musk-spacex-valued-100-billion" target="_blank">Space launch is already an incredibly lucrative industry</a>, and I imagine that the opportunities for making profit will dramatically expand as access to the solar system improves over time.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>homes on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callisto_(moon)" target="_blank">Callisto</a></b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>Many of Jupiter's moons are actually quite large, nearly as large as rocky planets; if people find reasons and means to live there, they could be home to many many people.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Ice stations, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn" target="_blank">Saturn rings</a></b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>Saturn's rings are, in some ways, like a small ice-asteroid belt, and mining them would be similar to asteroid-mining.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>system warās a brand new thing / </b></u><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Governments lose their rights, megacorporations rise</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>In Orion Skies's history, as space corporations grow in wealth and power, they start to have more and more political influence over the trajectories of nations -- especially in space. Ultimately the competition around this escalates into the System War, which results in a treaty that further limits governmental rights in space and grants space corporations more power, paving the way for further dramatic growth.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Takahashi, Armstrong, Proxima Corp.</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>The big three megacorporations that arise in the aftermath of the System War.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>ās view is long / </b></u><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Builds a ship, invents a drive, </b></u><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>dreaming of Centauri skies</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>Proxima Corp. was named after our nearest star, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxima_Centauri" target="_blank">Proxima Centauri</a>, and was founded with the explicit goal of developing interstellar travel and exploring whatever resources may be available in our nearest neighbor system. They spent an extraordinary effort to invent the Ark Drive, a faster-than-light ship drive that requires an enormous mass to create the necessary spacetime warping; ships using this drive are truly colossal, hence the name "ark ship".</i></li></ol><h3 style="text-align: left;">Chorus<i></i></h3><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>We didnāt start Orion</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>Just a lyrical tie-in to "We didn't start the fire". :)</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Thereās been <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_(physics)" target="_blank">plasma</a> storming </b></u><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>since the cloud was forming</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_II_region" target="_blank">Nebulae</a> such as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula" target="_blank">Orion Nebula</a> are clouds of plasma, the fourth phase of matter in addition to solids, liquids, and gasses. Plasma is often very misportrayed in science fiction. In real life, it shares many properties with gasses, but its electrons are disassociated with its atomic nuclei; amongst other things, this gives it complex electromagnetic behaviors. It also glows in pretty colors!</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Ni mahali kali, lakini usijali</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>Orion Skies is focused on a future <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Africa" target="_blank">East African</a> society, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swahili_language" target="_blank">Swahili</a> is one of the main languages. This line translates to English as "It's a harsh place, but don't worry."</i></li></ol><h3>Section 2 - Settling Local Star Systems</h3><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Ark ships</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>Proxima Corp is ultimately successful in developing these colossal ships that use the ark drive-- humanity's first interstellar spacecraft.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Centauri, race to set up colonies</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>Proxima Corp. uses its first ark ships to explore Centauri; Takahashi and Armstrong, not wanting to be left behind, immediately set out to develop their own ark ships and a new space race begins, vying for access and control in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Centauri" target="_blank">Centauri system</a>.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Land grabs, skirmishes, </b></u><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>private armed ships</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>There is no legal authority capable of enforcing order in Centauri, and conflict is rife.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Too crowded, branch out more</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>Competition for Centauri is so fierce, it soon becomes more optimal to seek profit-opportunities in other nearby star systems instead.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius" target="_blank">Sirius</a> mine a starās core</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>The Sirius system has two stars; Sirius B is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_dwarf" target="_blank">white dwarf</a>. White dwarves' interiors are comprised of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degenerate_matter" target="_blank">electron degenerate matter</a>, an exotic state of matter that is so crushed down by gravity that the empty space between atoms is lost and the atoms' electrons are the only force preventing them from all collapsing into each other. It is far denser than any substance on Earth or in our solar system, and in Orion Skies's universe, it is a very valuable resource.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Hyperdrives, all can fly, on local star trips</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>Electron degenerate matter, mined from Sirius B, is the key to creating hyperdrives, which work in all the ways we are familiar with from the Escape Velocity series. They are much smaller and less prohibitively expensive than ark drives, and open up interstellar access to the masses of ordinary independent people, who could not afford their own ark ships.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnard%27s_Star" target="_blank">Barnardās Star</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_359" target="_blank">Wolf 359</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalande_21185" target="_blank">Lalande</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procyon" target="_blank">Procyon</a> shine</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>A mass settling event occurs in nearby star systems, including these four.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Takahashi and Armstrong struggling to get along / </b></u><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Opposition, competition, economic strangleholds</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>All three of the major megacorporations are in competition, but these two, having gotten a late interstellar start after Proxima Corp., have to compete particularly fiercely to try to keep up; their conflict with each other grows more and more belligerent over time until...</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Who shot first? No-one knows; interstellar war unfolds!</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>The Interstellar War is a major conflict between forces aligned with Takahashi Inc. vs those aligned with Armstrong Ltd. It is a proving grounds for many interstellar-war tactics and technologies. Ultimately Armstrong Ltd. comes out on top and buys out a defeated Takahashi Inc. The combined company is better able to compete with Proxima Corp. than its two constituents could previously do independently.</i></li></ol><h3 style="text-align: left;">Section 3 - Reaching Out Farther<i><br /></i></h3><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Better navs, travel far, ark ships visit distant stars</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>A major difference between hyperdrives vs ark drives is range. Hyperdrives inherently can only jump a few light-years at a time, whereas ark drives can theoretically jump much greater distances if a viable route can be plotted. Over time, as navigational technology improves, ark ships gain greater and greater effective jump range, and people begin to branch out far beyond our local stellar neighborhood.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>East African survey, looking for a home away</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>The two galactic megacorporations (Armstrong Ltd. and Proxima Corp.) have firm control over nearby stars -- but with ark ship ranges increasing and so many new star systems becoming accessible, there's more room for myriad factions to find spaces for themselves out in the galaxy. An East African coalition is one such entity, and searches for an unclaimed settle-able world.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Orion, settle a, planet in the nebula / New home, here to stay</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>The East African Survey Corps finds a promising Earth-like planet on the edge of the Orion Nebula, and their government decides to settle it.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>name it after <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Nyerere" target="_blank">Nyerere</a></b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>Julius Nyerere was Tanzania's first president; he did a lot of nationbuilding work and is highly regarded for it. The East African coalition names their new world in Orion after him.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>New program, TUMAINI, goal to prep for settling</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>A large project called TUMAINI ("HOPE") is created to support settling on Nyerere and other nearby worlds in the Orion Nebula. This is a massive program with numerous ships and tremendous resources.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Make maps</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>One of TUMAINI's major activities is exploring the nebula and making hyperspace maps to facilitate local travel.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>terraform</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>Another major activity is terraforming -- primarily of Nyerere itself, but also to some degree of other nearby planets in the nebula. This process varies from world to world, but often starts with creating genetically-engineered bacteria and other microorganisms that can reproduce across the planet's surface, consuming toxic or unwanted materials and producing desired ones like oxygen, water, greenhouse gases on cold planets, etc.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>eco-engineering swarms</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>Once the basic chemistry of a planet is balanced out, the next phase is "ecological engineering", introducing a stable and human-friendly biome of Earth species. Drone swarms that can do things like distribute seeds and monitor environments are very helpful in this sort of planet-wide, human-directed activity.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Research the plasma zone</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>The Orion Nebula is the first nebula to be explored in-person by humans, and one of TUMAINI's major directives is to learn about the nebula and its properties.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>learn to navigate this home</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>The ambient plasma in the nebula obstructs sensors, disrupts hyperspace jump-links, and even introduces some aerodynamic drag on spacecraft; these make it much trickier to travel within the nebula than out in open space. TUMAINI does a lot of research and development work to make intra-nebula travel more viable.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Finally the rockās reformed, come on down the climateās warm</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>After time, Nyerere is ready to be settled; as that process begins, TUMAINI shifts the focus of its operations to other nearby worlds in the nebula.</i></li></ol><h3 style="text-align: left;">Section 4 - The Great Evacuation<u><br /></u></h3><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Hypermining tunnelās wrong / </b></u><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>matter falls, begins to throng</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>Mining the interior of a white dwarf star is done by creating a hypertunnel between the star's core and an external point where the outfalling matter can be collected; in the binary Sirius system, an incorrect hypertunnel forms that instead dumps matter from the main sequence star (Sirius A) onto the surface of the white dwarf (Sirius B). It's unkown if this was an act of sabotage, or an accident, or the result of an unknown emergent effect of this sort of hyperspace manipulation. In any case, it's very bad...</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Sirius B boils over, suddenly a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_Ia_supernova" target="_blank">supernova</a>!</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>If enough additional material accumulates on a white dwarf, it can grow hot enough for the carbon it is made of to achieve fusion; this causes the entire star to detonate in a supernova. Unfortunately, that happens to Sirius B. The supernova is powerful enough to destroy everything in the Sirius system, and to burn off all life in any nearby star systems -- including on Earth. The supernova's blast travels at the speed of light, giving people in other systems time to flee based on how many light-years away they are.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Great flight, evacuate / </b></u><u><b>refugees from every state</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold;">:</u> <i>Faster-than-light news of Sirius B's detonation provokes a mass evacuation from Earth and every other nearby settled world. Everyone must leave within the several-years' timeframe before the supernova blast arrives.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Ark ship rides to distant worlds</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>For the most part, people escape on ark ships, which are able to take them far away out of the supernova's danger zone.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>chaos and disorder swirls</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>People are desperate to escape, no infrastructure is in place to coordinate such an evacuation, and many people do not have dedicated worlds to escape to. Oftentimes, seats on ark ships are only available to the highest bidder, or those who are able to take them by force. Meanwhile, opportunistic piracy increases dramatically, with so many vulnerable targets now available.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Corporate sponsors run it all</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>Almost all of the ark ships, and a majority of distant planets, are owned and operated by the two megacorporations -- Armstrong Ltd. and Proxima Corp. These two companies "sponsor" many of the evacuations...</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>keeping refugees in thrall, Overlords, taking more</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>...</i><i>in exchange for promises of long-term subservience and tribute on the new worlds, in a neo-feudal system. The politics of gaining influence over as many evacuation worlds as possible becomes a new arena of cutthroat competition between the two megacorporations, and tensions rise...</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Second Interstellar War!</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>...ultimately resulting in a new, massive interstellar war, waged across vast distances of interstellar space.</i></li></ol><h3 style="text-align: left;">Section 5 - Second Interstellar War<i><br /></i></h3><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Evac arks all sent to fight / </b></u><u><b>carriers with range and might</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold;">:</u> <i>The ark ships are ideal carrier craft for interstellar strike forces. Armstrong Ltd. and Proxima Corp. own most of the ark ships, and press most of them into service in this military capacity, ending their evacuation operations.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Armstrong and Proxima brawl / </b></u><u><b>superpowers want it all</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold;">:</u> <i>The war escalates into a "total war", each corporation seeking to end the other and gain a monopoly on power in the settled galaxy.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Novaās blast hits Earth / </b></u><u><b>destroyed</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold;">:</u> <i>Eight and a half years after Sirius B goes supernova, the blast reaches our solar system, destroying all life there-- including on Earth, our birthplace.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>war continues in the void / Battles raging on all sides</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>For Armstrong Ltd. and Proxima Corp., control of the new worlds is critical, and their vast war continues without pause even as Earth is burned out.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>even in Orion skies</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>Armstrong Ltd. sends an invasion force to the Orion Nebula, seeking to establish control there.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>TUMAINI dropped, need defense / fighting for independence</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>The Nyerere planetary government, now managing all governmental operations in the nebula, must suddenly abandon the TUMAINI project and pivot to military defense operations to survive the invasion. TUMAINI's sudden collapse leaves many planets partway terraformed, abandons many stations and partially-built complexes, and strands a lot of people in remote areas without support.</i></li><li><u><b>Aerofighters mass-produced / head off the attacking troops</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold;">:</u> <i>Given the unique features of the nebula, with ambient plasma and limited sensor range, the Nyerere government had previously developed a basic aerodynamic space fighter; in the face of Armstrong Ltd.'s invasion, these "Orion Fighters" are mass-produced and former TUMAINI pilots take them to war.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Warships built for open space / fall to fighters in this place</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>Within the unique nebula environment, the locally-built Orion Fighters prove to be highly effective against the more traditional open-space warships sent by Armstrong Ltd. to invade; battle after battle goes in the Nyerere military's favor, shocking leaders on both sides.</i></li><li><u><b>Invaders driven out and gone</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold;">:</u> <i>After an unexpectedly quick campaign by the Nyerere military, Armstrong Ltd.'s forces are driven back out of the nebula.</i></li><li><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>pick up the pieces, we move on</b></u><u style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">:</u> <i>The peoples of the Orion Nebula maintain a defensive military force at the nebula's edge, while looking to re-establish travel and contact with remote settlements within the nebula. Over the years to come, the Nyerere government will have many tough decisions to make, including lines of negotiation initiated by Proxima Corp...</i></li></ol><div><br /></div>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-23160607444485468212022-03-11T10:28:00.003-08:002022-03-16T15:41:48.155-07:00Depth, Ship Loadouts, and Tech Generators<p><u><b>TL;DR:</b></u> To maximize replayability of an EVx scenario, designing "layers" of ship loadout choices can help; this requires lots of outfits, which the Tech Generator can help create.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Quick Progress Update</u></h2><p> This month, I've continued working on the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a>, and relatedly on the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tdEhg1a3D_yGgEMBfSqRNxm5iVoIFG5oOQh6me6JdP4/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">spreadsheet listing of weapon & outfit stats in EV scenarios</a>. The work has become grindier than anticipated, and life has been very busy, so progress is slower than I'd hopedā however, progress is happening, and the Tech Generator is getting very close to version 1.0!</p><p> I also had a major conceptual breakthrough this month, related to using design concepts from <a href="http://magic.wizards.com/" target="_blank">Magic: the Gathering</a> in an EVx context, and specifically for Orion Skies. I think a lot of these ideas could work for any TC, and wanted to write a blog post about them.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>"Depth"</u><br /></h2><p> One trait that I always find really valuable in games is "depth" ā the idea that someone can play that game repeatedly, many times over an extended time period, and still encounter new discoveries, new challenges, and new things to explore or try.</p><p> When designing <a href="https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Cube_Draft" target="_blank">"cubes"</a> for drafting in Magic: the Gathering, I always try to design them to have as much depth as possible. I want each person to end up creating a brand-new deck every time they play the cube (except when they intentionally want to re-create a deck they previously built and liked).</p><p> This month, I had a breakthrough for adapting some of the concepts I use to maximize deck possibilities, and therefore depth, into an EVx context. Instead of building decks, in EVx a player builds "ship loadouts", arming and equipping their ship in a specific way; I've been hoping to design Orion Skies to maximize the variety of different ship loadouts the player will naturally be drawn into, so that someone can play it over and over again with a different ship loadout each time.</p><p> As of this month, I have a theoretical framework for how to do that, which I'll describe below.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1inx-HNFqiioExBWeDx8MET7Lz2GLcq3_TokOBuMxqlPABpgkvlSDv385CQ0uMj5nQQGbrrNvcBZPQlyyPtp65cp8j5t6GkfGGVPzKIuz8_SfgQGof13idFWPDN0RWMJLdCIHFGxtngDbW7ULGMsBSMKXvB7Ez4ug4OyPCSemkfeQxxDzLw_sYRVMhw=s912" style="font-style: italic; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="912" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1inx-HNFqiioExBWeDx8MET7Lz2GLcq3_TokOBuMxqlPABpgkvlSDv385CQ0uMj5nQQGbrrNvcBZPQlyyPtp65cp8j5t6GkfGGVPzKIuz8_SfgQGof13idFWPDN0RWMJLdCIHFGxtngDbW7ULGMsBSMKXvB7Ez4ug4OyPCSemkfeQxxDzLw_sYRVMhw=w400-h292" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://liquipedia.net/smash/Major_Tournaments/Melee" target="_blank">Super Smash Bros. Melee</a> is one example of a game with extreme depth. Another, more famous, example is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_strategy" target="_blank">chess</a>.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Ship Loadout Layers</u></h2><p> When thinking about a "ship loadout", it's essentially a combination of what ship the player is flying, and what outfits and weapons the player puts on that ship. So for example a UE Destroyer with anti-shield weaponry (so it can fight well in the Crescent) is a different "loadout" than the same UE Destroyer with anti-armor weaponry (so it can fight well against Voinians).</p><p> A huge part of the EV gameplay experience is trying to set up the best loadout for your ship, and experimenting with different ships and different ways to equip them. By maximizing the number of different meaningful ship loadouts, a TC can maximize the amount of experimentation and learning a player can experience related to equipping their ship.</p><p> Translating some of the "cube" design concepts I use into EVx concepts, I think it should be possible for ship loadouts to be driven by player selections at several different "layers", and the combination of the different layered choices result in a unique ship. The more open-ended each layer can be, and the more you can find a balance where each layer affects the others without overly restricting them, the better.</p><p> My current thinking is that there are 4 primary layers that one could design this way in a TCā Ship Classes, Strategies, Synergies, and Factions, described below.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cosmicfrontier/cosmic-frontier-override/posts/3395399" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="700" height="225" src="https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/035/942/232/c3f8f2f0a64bc86483c82a3a3a95cabf_original.png?ixlib=rb-4.0.2&w=700&fit=max&v=1640752657&gif-q=50&lossless=true&s=5317d9b665afb8b483351104f2c28ef7" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Buying your ship is just the starting point. How you equip it is the bigger challenge. (<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cosmicfrontier/cosmic-frontier-override/posts/3395399" target="_blank">Image source.</a>)<br /></i></p><p></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Layer 1: Ship Classes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cosmicfrontier/cosmic-frontier-override/posts/3354761" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/035/517/121/cb382261bf7a1939149bcea2ea878ec5_original.png?ixlib=rb-4.0.2&w=700&fit=max&v=1636431926&gif-q=50&lossless=true&s=58e97f9da390f26ca6bf2dc42c467073" width="200" /></a></div></u></h3><p> The starting point for setting up your ship is picking a ship! And each ship tends to fall into one of several different <i>classes</i>ā for example, Fighters vs Heavy Warships. Many ship classes are the same across all 3 EV games, and players will be looking for them. It should also be possible, if desired, for a TC to use a completely different set of ship types; for example, <a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank">Ares</a> has its own unique classification system, which makes perfect sense within Ares's universe.</p><p> Ideally, as many ship types as possible should be viable, especially in the late game, to give the player the maximum number of viable choices of playthrough-ships. Generally speaking, EVC and EVO focused primarily on Heavy Warships as the one truly viable ship type to complete the game; EVN added the Starbridge/Valkyrie as a compelling alternative. In <a href="https://www.nexusmods.com/escapevelocitynova/mods/2" target="_blank"><i>EVO: Expanded</i></a>, the purpose of the new outfits and weapons I added was to increase the viability of Fighters, Freighters, Aradas, and Scoutships as potential endgame ships, with mixed success.</p><p> It's also worth noting that there's room for ship variety <i>within</i> a given type. For example, an Igazra and a Voinian Cruiser are both Heavy Warships, but have many differences (and great <a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2022/02/mtg-cube-design-in-evx-context.html" target="_blank">tradeoffs!</a>) in comparison to each other.</p><p> In any case, to maximize ship loadouts, a starting layer is to maximize ship classes, and to design the TC in such a way that choosing a ship class leaves the other layers wide open.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Layer 2: Strategy Types<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVk9vg51JVSL66VPRk7Q3ovgors3ipT9nkA7UtC-v4boactg-Q__cGau6d3LVMuUXWhbIfp1XEwDpz7W4NDSSBve8ujWzT9OgCvxJPANCQPTs9XaB8ZFugVqqzrwniXxbGekKW7mBhj2UYnIzJOQxC_42D-X_OOF7uiJwVrlB2pVnGP7UwrIUbW8WFHA=s200" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVk9vg51JVSL66VPRk7Q3ovgors3ipT9nkA7UtC-v4boactg-Q__cGau6d3LVMuUXWhbIfp1XEwDpz7W4NDSSBve8ujWzT9OgCvxJPANCQPTs9XaB8ZFugVqqzrwniXxbGekKW7mBhj2UYnIzJOQxC_42D-X_OOF7uiJwVrlB2pVnGP7UwrIUbW8WFHA=w200-h200" width="200" /></a></div></u></h3><p> Famously, the Starbridge in Nova can be armed to fight at long range with Railguns; or else it can be armed to fight at short range with things like Thunderhead Lances. This is an example of two different "strategy types" being viable for a single shipā i.e. the Starbridge has (at least) two different effective ways to try to win fights.<br /></p><p> It's tough to precisely pin down what constitutes an EVx "strategy" ā the very idea is inherently subjective/constructed, and I also don't think many people have tried to do a comprehensive exploration of what different strategy types are theoretically possible in an EVx context.</p><p> With that said, my work on the Tech Generator has forced me give some serious thought to the balance of weapons and outfits, and to look for traits that might make a weapon "more powerful" than others in different ways. I think that, by looking at these traits, we can get a sense of some "core avenues" by which a given ship could try to win a fight ā these could be the basis for some fundamental EVx strategy types.</p><p> This is by no means a final or definitive classification of EVx strategies; this topic definitely warrants a <i>lot</i> of further exploration; and I'm sure my personal ideas will continue to shift and develop over timeā but I think these five general strategy types are a good starting point for trying to design a TC with strategy options:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><u><b>š„ Damage Per Second:</b></u> Similar to the close-range Starbridge example above, this idea is to set up your ship to pump out damage as quickly as possible, with the goal of destroying your target before it can hit you back as much as you hit it.<br /></li><li><u><b>š¹ Range:</b></u> Just like the long-range Starbridge example, and also infamously embodied by the Monty Python Maneuver, this idea is to arm your ship with long-ranged weapons and to stay far-enough away from your target that it can't meaningfully hit you back. Many players can find this boring, so I think it'd be wise for a TC to either limit how much this happens, or look for ways to spice it up.</li><li><u><b>š Floating Damage:</b></u> This idea is perhaps best explained with an example: In Override, Neutron shots travel very slowly and linger in the air for a long period of time; by continuously firing, you can actually suspend a lot of damage's worth of Neutron shots midair at one time, much more damage than you can suspend with any other cannon type. If you line up your floating Neutron shots with your target and close the distance quickly, you can ensure that all of your shots hit and do significant damage, while your target doesn't get much time to hit you back as you quickly pass over. There are other weapons that also work well with this concept, like heavy rockets, bombs, and EVOE's Burst Phase Cannons.</li><li><u><b>ā” Disruption:</b></u> This idea is that, instead of being directly powerful, your ship is able to disrupt your target's ability to fight back meaningfully. This isn't particularly viable in any EVx scenario that I know of so far, but in Ares the Cantharan Gateship uses it to dramatic effect (and it's also one of the primary strategies in <i>Magic</i>). This is also something that I could see many players finding boring, or even frustrating when they're on the receiving end of it, so I think it'd be good for TC authors to try to limit it and/or spice it up somehow.</li><li><u><b>āÆļø Hybrids:</b></u> Once you have a few different viable Strategies in your TC, hybrid approaches should naturally occur ā <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic:_The_Gathering_deck_types#Hybrid_strategies" target="_blank">that's how it works in <i>Magic</i>, anyway</a>.</li></ul><div><p> A starting point to ensure these strategy types have support in a TC is to
create compatible primary weapons for each one ā such as a high-DPS cannon, a long-range
cannon, a slow-floaty-shots cannon, and a cannon that has a secondary ionizing effect. However, the ship loadouts and
battle tactics will be more interesting if there are also relevant
secondary weapons (e.g. javelin rockets, guided missiles, heavy
rockets, and EMP missiles) and supporting tools (like tractor beams, repulsor beams,
detonators that suddenly push another ship away from up close, and awkwardly short-duration "bomb" weapons that are best used on an already-ionized target).</p><p> Additionally, it's good to actually have multiple different weapons in each strategy-related role, so that the player gets to decide, for example, <i>which</i> high-DPS cannons to use in a DPS-based ship build.</p><p> The ideal here is for every ship class to be able to
support multiple strategy types. So perhaps the Starbridge, in addition to multiple different DPS and Range builds, could also be effectively used in Floating
Damage and/or Disruption -oriented builds.</p></div><div> And finally, with the maximization-of-loadouts goal in mind, a player with a given
ship class and pursuing a particular strategy type should <i>also</i> have plenty of
options open in the remaining two layers, described below:</div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Layer 3: Synergies</u><u><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5Dg-aF3YhZOclJxAdSDzywFqtZxXIQUqX9JXxu_Fxz4G_nE-HqAyxYzzZQjTXCH3BzUk06PO2Yy9kcZl2Z6K-XWJrWoU90K9g-im2tQinOca7BGOz-SM-BjYX6qkBuq3VRL6AOyyOhsoUI8vUcCrTl_gFPMo9KSDEmCHS9w6DNdr0dqCBl3U9X4e23g=s203" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="203" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5Dg-aF3YhZOclJxAdSDzywFqtZxXIQUqX9JXxu_Fxz4G_nE-HqAyxYzzZQjTXCH3BzUk06PO2Yy9kcZl2Z6K-XWJrWoU90K9g-im2tQinOca7BGOz-SM-BjYX6qkBuq3VRL6AOyyOhsoUI8vUcCrTl_gFPMo9KSDEmCHS9w6DNdr0dqCBl3U9X4e23g=w200-h197" width="200" /></a></div></u></h3><p> In <a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2022/02/mtg-cube-design-in-evx-context.html" target="_blank">last month's blog post</a>, I talked about the idea of "MSCTT", which is actually an expanded version of this "Synergies" concept. You might want to go back and read about the full "MSCTT" concept; in this blog post today, I'll be talking mostly about how Synergies fit as a layer into the "Ship Loadout Layers" concept.</p><p> Based on the layers above, we have a ship and we have a plan for what strategy type to use with it, and we have a variety of weapons and outfits to choose from to make that strategy work. Hopefully, those weapons and outfits have interesting tradeoffs compared to each other, and hopefully some of them have Synergies.</p><p> Synergy is when two different items benefit each other, such that together they are greater than the sum of their parts. Probably the best example of a Synergy I can think of in the EV games is Afterburners + Fuel Scoops... the Fuel Scoop means you can use your Afterburner much more liberally and for an indefinite time period; while the Afterburner means your Fuel Scoop is useful not just for long-distance exploration but also for combat.</p><p> If you can find items with Synergy that fit the overall Strategy you're using, you can leverage that Synergy for higher performance. For example, if you're going for a DPS build on your Starbridge, maybe you have a choice between a conventional high-DPS cannon, or an even higher-DPS cannon that uses fuel when it shoots; if you go with the fuel-using cannon along with enough Fuel Scoops to support it, you can get a higher total DPS output than you would have with the conventional cannon.</p><p> You could apply that same example with each of the different Strategies ā perhaps there are fuel-using cannons with even greater range, even greater floating-damage potential, or even greater ionization.</p><p> And there can be different Synergies as well ā maybe you have some weapons that push your target away from you and make it difficult to sustain continuous fire for your DPS strategy, but other weapons that apply a counterbalancing pull effect, similar to a tractor beam; or maybe you have some extra-powerful weapons that also hit your own ship with a little bit of area damage, along with enough shield regeneration to protect yourself from these weapons. Etc.</p><p> This is another area where I don't think anyone has ever done a comprehensive exploration of what different types of Synergies are theoretically possible in an EVx game, and I'll have to do some brainstorming, experimenting, and exploring as I build Orion Skies. But ultimately, the more Synergies are available for a player to leverage in their Strategy, the better.</p><p> Now that we're thinking about different Ship Classes, and different Strategy Types to use on a given ship, and different Synergies to leverage to maximize the effectiveness of those Strategies, the last layer in this concept is to think about how the Factions' unique technologies factor in.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Layer 4: Factions</u></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRFhuiQhTYJCOqoF7Z6rsGTdJODZHzq4qm8aLjT4SgwFDLYy957D55OIxz8gjfU_ZYUmKJHAkBZK9X83wZe32qbykyfmj751MgbKCaBiF5sg9Z9-LPyco4oK5BEIOZxzdfL98_e7NIKCPvdg8mkCAkLrno9xiMRUSfVqoKZRRkAlyY8uivb2xOgL5CIQ=s198" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="198" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRFhuiQhTYJCOqoF7Z6rsGTdJODZHzq4qm8aLjT4SgwFDLYy957D55OIxz8gjfU_ZYUmKJHAkBZK9X83wZe32qbykyfmj751MgbKCaBiF5sg9Z9-LPyco4oK5BEIOZxzdfL98_e7NIKCPvdg8mkCAkLrno9xiMRUSfVqoKZRRkAlyY8uivb2xOgL5CIQ" width="198" /></a></div><p> In all three EV games, the vast majority of weapons and outfits are universally accessible, and working with a faction grants you access to a few "bonus" technologies. This means that, each time you play, you mostly have the same outfit and weapon options available as you did on any previous pilot.<br /></p><p> The one major exception is the Polaris, who have a full suite of unique technologies if you align with them, which revolutionizes what you are able to do with your ship.</p><p> If we were to do things in the style of <i>Magic</i>, every faction would be like the Polaris: whichever faction you align with, you would get an entire full set of unique outfits and weaponry that you wouldn't have had access to otherwise, with unique strengths and weaknesses compared to the outfit sets of the other factions. Each faction would be better than the others at certain Strategies and Synergies, or would pursue them in a somewhat different wayā think of how different the Igazra and the Voinian Cruiser are in their "Heavy Warship" functionality, purely from their different factions' styles.</p><p> If we gave <i>every</i> faction a full unique set of weapons and outfits like this, and if we used Override's open-ended setup for letting the player choose which combination of factions to work with and in what order, it would add an entire additional layer to the "ship loadout" puzzle, in which the player would be exploring all of the other layers via the unique, faction-aligned technology set(s) they have access to on each playthrough, which would dramatically increase the variety of experiences to be had on repeated playthroughs, and create a scenario with tremendous Depth.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://c.tenor.com/TXJmqbUeyO8AAAAC/shrek-ogres-have-layers.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="498" height="226" src="https://c.tenor.com/TXJmqbUeyO8AAAAC/shrek-ogres-have-layers.gif" width="400" /></a></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>TCs are basically just ogres I guess.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Usefulness of a Tech Generator</u></h2><p> Now that we're talking about every faction having a full set of technologies, with multiple primary and secondary weapons to support a variety of Strategies and Synergies across a range of Ship types, this is adding up to quite a lot of weapons and outfits ā hundreds of them. This is where a procedural technology generator becomes very useful.<br /></p><p> I aim to implement these concepts in Orion Skies, and I foresee the Tech Generator being quite helpful in facilitating that process. I still need to figure out the graphics side, though I have some ideas for that which I'm eager to explore further.</p><p> If I'm successful, and if my theories are correct, it'll mean that players have a <i>lot</i> of fun ship-equipping dynamics to explore in Orion Skies. Hopefully it'll all work out! :)</p> As always, thanks for reading, and take care.Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-10683666738973095592022-02-13T10:47:00.001-08:002022-02-13T10:47:43.351-08:00MtG "Cube" Design in an EVx Context<div><p> <b><u>tl;dr:</u></b> Some concepts from <i>Magic: the Gathering</i> to be used in <i>Orion Skies</i>.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span><u>What Is This About?</u></span></h2><p> Over the past several months, my focus has been on building the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a>. The initial impetus for that was a desire to adapt design concepts from <a href="http://magic.wizards.com/" target="_blank"><i>Magic: the Gathering</i></a> "cubes" to an <i>Escape Velocity</i> contextā I've built a few cubes, and was hoping to use some of my familiar systems & methods in <i>Orion Skies</i>. Building the Tech Generator has forced me to deeply explore the weapon and outfit mechanics, and their balance considerations, in the EV series, which has helped me think about the ways <i>Magic</i> concepts might translate. Additionally, "cubes" in <i>Magic</i> have hundreds of unique cards, and if I am to make that many distinct technologies in <i>Orion Skies</i>, a procedural generator will facilitate that process greatly.</p><p> At this point, I think I have a paradigm pretty well worked out for how to design a lot of gameplay elements in <i>Orion Skies</i> using my "cube design" framework. Very exciting! :)</p><p> I wanted to use this blog post to talk a bit about these ideas. Please be aware that cube design is quite complex, so this post will by no means be comprehensive ā but it will go into a lot of ideas that I think have a lot of potential for Total Conversion plug-ins, that I haven't seen much discussion of before.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0g7kvgXVML-EEp9ND_6iqoqMtPaquPxxe4vmjCQ05UQbueCNvXx0vW58mAmsnv9nJLzdAYh_RPm4VRqlhS6voAmv0lsFo3TJjtD_5BUMjtC5ZN181WS23uju_vyI4odP64n3iTWP17mW-bOYDndjd4ZXV5hTo2Mw-fYG86quWOnaFKm3FH4Pm_iThcg=s1440" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="877" data-original-width="1440" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0g7kvgXVML-EEp9ND_6iqoqMtPaquPxxe4vmjCQ05UQbueCNvXx0vW58mAmsnv9nJLzdAYh_RPm4VRqlhS6voAmv0lsFo3TJjtD_5BUMjtC5ZN181WS23uju_vyI4odP64n3iTWP17mW-bOYDndjd4ZXV5hTo2Mw-fYG86quWOnaFKm3FH4Pm_iThcg=w640-h390" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i>The current work-in-progress version of the Tech Generator. These are the configurations I have set up to generate Nova-style weapons.</i></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>What is a Cube?</u></h2><p> There are a few different popular ways to play <i>Magic: the Gathering</i>. One of my favorite ways is called "drafting".</p><p> In a draft, several players sit in a circle, and each player opens a pack of 15 random cards. You look at your pack, choose one card to keep, then pass the rest of the cards to the next player. You receive another pack (minus the card the previous player picked), from which you choose one card to keep and pass the rest on again. The packs keep going around the circle, with cards being picked until there are no cards left. Then, you repeat the process with two more packs, and by the end everyone has picked 45 cards.</p><p> Once the packs are done, each player takes their 45 chosen cards and uses ~23 of them, plus ~17 free "basic land" cards, to build a 40-card deck. Finally, everyone plays a mini tournament using these improvised decks they just built.</p><p> I quite enjoy drafting because of the challenge of designing a deck on the fly, using limited resources and being unsure of what will come my way next. It's not about always picking the "best" cards, but trying to gather a collection of cards that will work together synergistically to support a coherent strategyā and making that happen in an improvised manner can be quite tricky!</p><p> Most of the time when people draft, they use official sets of <i>Magic</i> cards produced by the company that makes <i>Magic</i>. However, some <i>Magic</i> players like to make their own sets of cards for drafting; these sets are called "cubes", and there is a lot of design work that goes into making a cube as interesting, fun, and balanced as possible.</p><p> Finally, one more element I love about drafting is how the randomized availability of cards naturally leads your deck design in an unexpected direction each time you draft, and you end up with an endless variety of unique decksā even when you draft from the exact same card set each time!<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9395CP6CI-05Js8uwpMuSIwqHL_Yms1-MH6eAleo--JNZWf00mJ6hxcfmwqLOOjY7QdEE50u6fgi8bl9ZCKd2yuOsjh28GXPFSZa3UsTV5lYRyoUvgUvNbikWpUpmIPdBvtFmzS-IEJJR2NEYziFlqoolWJtnaHfWWGkUNNQ0DIr96bIwdv4s3Wn1XA=s4032" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9395CP6CI-05Js8uwpMuSIwqHL_Yms1-MH6eAleo--JNZWf00mJ6hxcfmwqLOOjY7QdEE50u6fgi8bl9ZCKd2yuOsjh28GXPFSZa3UsTV5lYRyoUvgUvNbikWpUpmIPdBvtFmzS-IEJJR2NEYziFlqoolWJtnaHfWWGkUNNQ0DIr96bIwdv4s3Wn1XA=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i>One of my cubes, with the cards taken out of their packs so I can go through them and make some adjustments. (For any Magic players reading: this is a "Phyrexian Apocalypse" themed cube inspired by Invasion Block's lore.)</i><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>"Cube" Dynamics in Orion Skies</u></h2><p> With <i>Orion Skies</i>, I would like to try to recreate this improvising-a-strategy experience, except instead of picking cards that will work together synergistically to support a coherent strategy for your <i>Magic</i> deck, you are instead trying to pick weapons and outfits that work together synergistically to support a coherent strategy for your shipā improvising as you go based on random availability/unavailability of hundreds of different possible items.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Mass Production of Outfits<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzQ5FJkxFA7OlzNnkzkf3XNvnBmPMN9zwqlIYio1p8cIm_w5rPAW1YXcX7LgHcg_QC0nJpml4oBh0m_3EQjFMJjW81sXRo_5ns-SB41zjxT9jDQjcn00qzaRsFxazL7106uvNQ9y1Rp6SeVCq9dijnwsTX_J-pVHsLbUmOxSSKm7vs1kz4nEWq5xxvQA=s1920" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzQ5FJkxFA7OlzNnkzkf3XNvnBmPMN9zwqlIYio1p8cIm_w5rPAW1YXcX7LgHcg_QC0nJpml4oBh0m_3EQjFMJjW81sXRo_5ns-SB41zjxT9jDQjcn00qzaRsFxazL7106uvNQ9y1Rp6SeVCq9dijnwsTX_J-pVHsLbUmOxSSKm7vs1kz4nEWq5xxvQA=w200-h113" width="200" /></a></div></u></h3><p> The obvious challenge with this idea is the feasibility of creating hundreds of outfits!</p><p> The Tech Generator covers the design side of that challenge: once I configure it to create stats for the sorts of outfits that would make for an interesting "drafting environment", I'll be able to let it create a near-endless variety of them.</p><p> The other side of this challenge is graphics. I'll have to explore the possibilities for producing graphics efficiently for a large quantity of outfits. One idea I have is to re-use a smaller subset of graphics on a larger number of related weapon systems ā for example, many fantasy RPGs have one graphic for "longswords", but each longsword you find in the game has unique stats and magical properties. Another possible option would be procedural graphics: Blender seems to have some powerful procedural capabilities, which I will continue to explore.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Strategic Depth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuQZe1sOsk1-Ure5W6u0mir8zBRO3M1kf3Kx-kq0gbgSMxP9XS2bSufGkM1iAe39yXPd73iR6One9wa0_6WAo2envLY6gtY2KyNakyS1SkxFyOUOluY0t2ZFpaKutD6K4MZobetaZE1nxnoapnSr92LXCdKWcpSRLJvAFUjVpDo1hYBo0OCV3SAzufDA=s2117" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1496" data-original-width="2117" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuQZe1sOsk1-Ure5W6u0mir8zBRO3M1kf3Kx-kq0gbgSMxP9XS2bSufGkM1iAe39yXPd73iR6One9wa0_6WAo2envLY6gtY2KyNakyS1SkxFyOUOluY0t2ZFpaKutD6K4MZobetaZE1nxnoapnSr92LXCdKWcpSRLJvAFUjVpDo1hYBo0OCV3SAzufDA=w200-h141" width="200" /></a></div></u></h3><p> Another challenge with this "drafting in EV" concept is designing weapons and outfits that have rich strategic interactions with each other, so that equipping your ship isn't just about finding the "best" and "most powerful" weapons, but instead is about looking for ones that, when put together, become greater than the sum of their parts.</p><p> There are a number of "design preview" articles online about how the company that makes <i>Magic</i> designs their official card sets; there are also many player-written articles about the art of cube design. I've read a number of those, and, with those ideas as a starting point, I've come up with an approach I like for my own cubes. I'll talk a little about that below.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEil8sNiWZ3I3eU85la8MW7LIAOPzUD8DzJarfOdf6eSJi1ogbRgFX9KeNWAElgXHhTNibbDP2mWerHVaD1FyAIGbmfVsEx2haQmVzCjBgbmZylVyhQx9dRQY4BNlPJVyCKVPMKZNokHe9ro0f52kZcgfyvC4XbwpIajWm2Y00v4vsxKJY0YVt2yWVU1-A=s1367" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="891" data-original-width="1367" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEil8sNiWZ3I3eU85la8MW7LIAOPzUD8DzJarfOdf6eSJi1ogbRgFX9KeNWAElgXHhTNibbDP2mWerHVaD1FyAIGbmfVsEx2haQmVzCjBgbmZylVyhQx9dRQY4BNlPJVyCKVPMKZNokHe9ro0f52kZcgfyvC4XbwpIajWm2Y00v4vsxKJY0YVt2yWVU1-A=w640-h418" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"> <i>Imagine spending an Override playthrough roaming the galaxy in your Freight-Courier, encountering dozens of unique outfits and weapons along the way, exploring different loadouts & trying to devise the most strategically perfect combination to use on your shipā and then doing that again with several new pilots, ending up with a completely different Freight-Courier loadout each time!<br /></i></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>MSCTT</u></h2><p> "MSCTT" is an acronym I use to remember 5 concepts that help to create interesting strategic dynamics between the cards in a <i>Magic</i> cube ā Mechanics, Synergies, Counters, Tradeoffs, Tension.</p><p> (These 5 concepts are not, in and of themselves, a comprehensive framework for cube design, but they make a significant contribution.)<br /></p><p> When I build a cube, one of the early steps is to create a diagram of different gameplay elements within the cube and how they interact with each other in terms of these different concepts. I typically start with a few core elements that fit the theme of the cube, and then try to find ones to add that have these 5 types of interactions with that core.</p><p> Below are short discussions of each of these 5 concepts, followed by an "MSCTT diagram" for <i>Orion Skies</i>. <br /></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Mechanics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrvmUJQFTM7_me-xQDIHomHrYrTGOdW0keuBl7F7Zb-P6NMy87_6646MfFfVestaCDPCaRKz5-wLCb-McBG86twLCqzTUxkn2WCgCAZoRSkr87ekkmr_GqSBnHvjCmEAONLgg5AIuFs2wZxivuTGDajmdF8hpFWulk5NWRbdtTHK2e_wm2H3GO7R_kaA=s201" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="196" data-original-width="201" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrvmUJQFTM7_me-xQDIHomHrYrTGOdW0keuBl7F7Zb-P6NMy87_6646MfFfVestaCDPCaRKz5-wLCb-McBG86twLCqzTUxkn2WCgCAZoRSkr87ekkmr_GqSBnHvjCmEAONLgg5AIuFs2wZxivuTGDajmdF8hpFWulk5NWRbdtTHK2e_wm2H3GO7R_kaA=w200-h195" width="200" /></a></div></u></h3><p> This ultimately is a bit of an abstract term, referencing the types of abilities or ways-of-working a <i>Magic</i> card might have. It's the foundation of the whole "MSCTT" concept.</p><p> In EVx, a "mechanic" would really be a unique capability or unique feature of an outfit or weapon. For example, I would consider some examples of "Mechanics" from the EV series to be:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Basic Weapon Category (e.g. Cannon vs Turret vs Beam vs Missile) <br /></li><li>Fuel-Using Weapons</li><li>Impact / Knockback</li><li>Ionization</li><li>Long vs Short Range Weapons<br /></li></ul><p> For <i>Orion Skies</i>, I've identified a few core Mechanics to use as a starting point for a design:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>High-Damage Forward-Firing Weapons</li><li>Fuel Capacity & Regen</li><li>Stealth / Hiding in the nebula fog</li></ol><p> <i>(Please bear in mind that all of this is subject to change at this point!)</i></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Synergies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi86gFPJ-kTDi3wf4ZSpOQGwQ2o8pXNIQLRfQNfBKdMUP3s4R25M_eNnusF_coWxhumzcAJGBVYrLRbCPrMiEY1aQYy0HUWB-LK2f8ECoMGMm-3m480JpjZnNQ117Yn2Qy0izhy89uOpIxciH8nxdPIXfeweR8AH0xnC712KdrYbOgNg_hcSNP46LSPSQ=s203" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="203" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi86gFPJ-kTDi3wf4ZSpOQGwQ2o8pXNIQLRfQNfBKdMUP3s4R25M_eNnusF_coWxhumzcAJGBVYrLRbCPrMiEY1aQYy0HUWB-LK2f8ECoMGMm-3m480JpjZnNQ117Yn2Qy0izhy89uOpIxciH8nxdPIXfeweR8AH0xnC712KdrYbOgNg_hcSNP46LSPSQ=w200-h197" width="200" /></a></div></u></h3><p> In <i>Magic</i>, some Mechanics work together in a way where they become greater than the sum of their parts. Often (though not always) it's helpful to design your deck to leverage these mechanical Synergies to boost your power and capabilities.</p><p> There are, I think, some Synergies in the existing EV series games, though they tend not to be as strong as Synergies often are in <i>Magic</i>. Here are a couple that I can think of:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Fuel Scoop + Afterburner ā once you get both of these, you can use your Afterburner over an extended time & without worrying about running out of fuel; and your Fuel Scoop actively helps you even when you're not going on long-distance journeys</li><li>Armor Bonuses + Cloaking Devices ā the downside of most Cloaks is they drop your shields; by adding more Armor, you can use the Cloak more safely, while the Cloak gives you more options (hiding, running, repositioning) to manage your health during a fight<br /></li></ul> Here are some Synergies I've thought about that involve the Mechanical concepts noted above for Orion Skies:<ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Tractor Beams + Ionization to temporarily immobilize a target while you use your high-damage weaponry<br /></li><li>Fuel-reducing outfits and fuel-using weapons, fed by boosters of your fuel capacity & fuel regeneration</li><li>Keeping in line with the existing EV games, armor boosters helping protect you when you drop your shields to use stealth</li></ol><p> <i>(Again, please note that these ideas are not set in stone.)</i></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Counters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSZQxVdhk7qotvejEM8iyj9s9Yvy6Z-qTrTK8uC0_iUEPI4j0zPLIUiCxBIGiUx4wjP2hXqW8uGqo2zoVsapzTRKYii4zHe3dngyxoOTyswLAVjWMJ1HrRrHnYLRLgLDofS9Av5eda4ObFYx1ZlOyab6lTlQewuTwB1QXlAHW8tyi0ReDXuuINhJ8Ktg=s198" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="191" data-original-width="198" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSZQxVdhk7qotvejEM8iyj9s9Yvy6Z-qTrTK8uC0_iUEPI4j0zPLIUiCxBIGiUx4wjP2hXqW8uGqo2zoVsapzTRKYii4zHe3dngyxoOTyswLAVjWMJ1HrRrHnYLRLgLDofS9Av5eda4ObFYx1ZlOyab6lTlQewuTwB1QXlAHW8tyi0ReDXuuINhJ8Ktg=w200-h193" width="200" /></a></div></u></h3><p> This is the idea that some Mechanics readily defeat others, in the style of Rock-Paper-Scissors.</p><p> The EV series definitely has some Counters already; here are some examples:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>EVO's whole interaction of Shields & anti-Shield weapons, vs Armor and anti-Armor weapons</li><li>In EVO, Dispersal Rockets are perfect for taking out Azdaras before they can regenerate their shields</li><li>In EVC and Nova, flares and point-defense weapons are Counters for missiles<br /></li></ul><p> Here are some Counters I'm thinking of for <i>Orion Skies</i>, involving those same core Mechanics mentioned previously:<br /></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Some of the high-damage weaponry will be missiles, which will be dodgeable (not outrunnable!) by ships with high maneuverability<br /></li><li>Small ships with afterburners can have those advantages negated when attacked by tractor beams<br /></li><li>Detection technologies and "depth charge" style mines will be usable to counteract stealth/hiding tactics<br /></li></ol><p> <i>(Once again, these ideas are tentative at this point; I'll have to try them & finalize them on the CFO engine.)</i> <br /></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Tradeoffs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjndB1n_LEI39UGQMEW-D-1KrJI8Kwtfv07DFb16lbk5pP6qRyvRQIlI_FBgyiJNqZqP3_3rq1UzT9xXeDE_cjpAO68aCuAAqs8cvjTbp8L0BFtB6gBzSs1RWlmtiCsyZ782F4ShywZc5g-9hMOAEcSy1-uJMgcsSfQOtHmu4CwJaJBKXQBQscR_nV6LQ=s197" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="197" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjndB1n_LEI39UGQMEW-D-1KrJI8Kwtfv07DFb16lbk5pP6qRyvRQIlI_FBgyiJNqZqP3_3rq1UzT9xXeDE_cjpAO68aCuAAqs8cvjTbp8L0BFtB6gBzSs1RWlmtiCsyZ782F4ShywZc5g-9hMOAEcSy1-uJMgcsSfQOtHmu4CwJaJBKXQBQscR_nV6LQ=w200-h198" width="200" /></a></div></u></h3><p> In a cube, there are hundreds of cards. Inevitably, there will be some niches that need to be filled by multiple cards. In such cases, it's generally best to have several different cards that are similar in power level, but where each has specialized capabilities that make it better than the others in some circumstances, and worse in others ā Tradeoffs. This generally leads to more interesting deck design and cardpicking decisions than, say, having multiple copies of the same card, or having several similar-but-different cards where some are strictly better than others.</p><p> One thing the EV series has consistently done well in terms of Tradeoffs is the different types of primary weapons ā Laser vs Proton in EVC; Phase vs Neutron in EVO; Blasters vs FPCs vs Chainguns in Nova. There is also often a good set of tradeoffs for missile weapons ā some that are smaller and more accurate but deal less damage, vs others that deal more damage but struggle to hit smaller faster ships.<br /></p><p> In <i>Orion Skies</i>, I'll aim to take a similar approach with different weapon categories, where for example different cannons will have unique properties that give them Tradeoffs in comparison to each other. I'd also like to do similar for Outfits ā for example, perhaps there are multiple different Afterburners, with some being more fuel-efficient but others taking up less room on your ship.</p><p> This is one area that can't be fully planned out in advance; I'll have to experiment with different options while building & playtesting <i>Orion Skies</i> to ensure there are tradeoffs throughout.<br /></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Tension<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5FxqWaEXYewWPoNPS77rsXi9wehzUerTiTFlivtV1KYrQBpeiwQUA6xDwzcZlS63zkIL3HPqV4jsTY-yQKHF71dQ_bUUrls6KXPNfkLdAnEayVh5xAvGQ01enXD4p5teQVbXS07NizeXFUZ_dlWgDBEN6E_Wb2ZXiQFcCK2R_kYKazfjxCydVheEtDw=s200" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5FxqWaEXYewWPoNPS77rsXi9wehzUerTiTFlivtV1KYrQBpeiwQUA6xDwzcZlS63zkIL3HPqV4jsTY-yQKHF71dQ_bUUrls6KXPNfkLdAnEayVh5xAvGQ01enXD4p5teQVbXS07NizeXFUZ_dlWgDBEN6E_Wb2ZXiQFcCK2R_kYKazfjxCydVheEtDw=w200-h200" width="200" /></a></div></u></h3><p> This is pretty abstract. It's the idea of having certain elements of the game that can be pushed in two directions, with there being reasons why a player would want/need them to be at one extreme or the other. If there are conflicting incentives, that creates Tension along the scale.</p><p> Tension can be purely internal, as a sort of tradeoff between different cards / strategies, so that you choose one way to focus your efforts. It can also be interactional, if you want things at a certain end of the spectrum but your opponent wants them at the other end, so you end up in a tug-of-war to decide the state of the game and thereby who has an advantage in that field.</p><p> Probably the clearest example of Tension I can think of from the EV series is Nova's focus on weapons with different rangesā do you build your ship with Railguns and try to fight from long range, or do you get Thunderhead Lances and try to fight up close? This not only determines what other weapons and outfits you want to get, but also it's interactional: if your enemy has a different range preference than you, you have to use maneuvering and push/pull/ion weapons to fight over the range to fight at!</p><p> EVO's focus on shields vs armor is also a form of tension. Do you form your ship's hitpoints primarily out of shields, or primarily out of armor, or from a mix of both? For your weapons' damage output, do you configure them to do mostly shield damage, mostly armor damage, or a mix of both? In this case, the Tension is mostly internal to your own ship loadout, but as noted above there is also a Counters situation happening that is more interactional.</p><p> For <i>Orion Skies</i>, I would want to keep and enhance the different types of Tension we see throughout the EV series. One thought I'm working on is the idea of having Push weapons with heavy impact/knockback effects, vs Pull weapons such as (but not limited to) tractor beams.<i></i></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Diagram</u></h3><p> With all of that explanation out of the way, I wanted to share an "MSCTT diagram" for Orion Skies.</p><p> <i>(It too is very much subject to change!)</i></p><p> Here's a key to the diagram:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Boxes = Mechanics</li><li>Black Lines = Synergies</li><li>Gray Arrows = Counters</li><li>(Tradeoffs will simply mean creating outfits with similar overall power, but different Mechanical strengths & weaknesses based on the diagram.)</li><li>Red Dashed Lines = Tension</li></ul><p> And here's the diagram itself:<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlVQtKaFBwQHvQ8P-W2F6WgzC30Vxw3FTMUQjdfgzYxYKQAMl8QImRKgBiTZJjG_ahCPOI0RaPG5j_B7SJ21YwRKkz0DhonyTK1sXxi731bJFv7nKkKIHHHWRggkwPyBDuEwcmT6MGZUhoyu7t7movX8n-c5y7h0fVbMSoyJE9T4h7YA9__gmDLNikjA=s960" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlVQtKaFBwQHvQ8P-W2F6WgzC30Vxw3FTMUQjdfgzYxYKQAMl8QImRKgBiTZJjG_ahCPOI0RaPG5j_B7SJ21YwRKkz0DhonyTK1sXxi731bJFv7nKkKIHHHWRggkwPyBDuEwcmT6MGZUhoyu7t7movX8n-c5y7h0fVbMSoyJE9T4h7YA9__gmDLNikjA=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A tentative "MSCTT diagram" for Orion Skies, mapping out the sorts of strategic interactions I'm hoping to build into its technology options.</i><br /></div><p></p><p> As always, thanks for reading this far. It's still a long road ahead, but I'm very excited to try out these concepts once <i>Cosmic Frontier</i> is available! Have a great day, all. :)<br /></p>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-40858767005991547462022-02-01T17:27:00.000-08:002022-02-01T17:27:28.513-08:00Designing Procedural Nova Weapons<p></p><p> <i><u><b>TL;DR:</b></u> The <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> is now generating all of </i><i><a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1g3Z6gMdT6ezksNF0-zsIfrSzV70ibdJT?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><i>Nova</i></a>'s weapons, and myriad variations thereof. Next steps will be generating Nova's outfits, then I'll polish it up for version 1.0.<br /></i></p><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Progress Update<br /></u></h2><p> Since the last blog post, two major milestones have been achieved:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>A lot of "cleanup" work has been done to make the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> more intuitive and user-friendly.</li><li>It is now actually generating all of the weapons in <i><a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1g3Z6gMdT6ezksNF0-zsIfrSzV70ibdJT?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><i>Nova</i></a></i> (and many variations on them!).</li></ol><p> Next steps will include the following:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Adding Nova's outfits.</li><li>Adding a few fields that are supported by the Nova engine but unused in the Nova scenario.</li><li>Cleaning up the generator some more to make it as intuitive & user-friendly as possible.</li><li>Adding how-to-use documentation.<br /></li><li>"Releasing" the Generator at Version 1.0. :)</li></ol><p> <br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Weapon-by-Weapon Commentary</u> <br /></h2><p> I'd like to spend the rest of this blog post commenting on
each type of weapon in Nova, and how the Tech Generator is currently set
up to handle them.</p><p> Please note that I set these up primarily as a way to stress-test the generator and prove that it works, without any plans to actually <i>use</i> them... so a lot of my decisions were a bit arbitrary.</p><p> Additionally, it's worth noting that the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> is designed to be flexible and easy to adjust, so any changes that someone might be interested in making, should be readily doable when actually using the Tech Generator to make a Nova expansion plug-in:</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Blasters:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjo7WOpE9sZDTSYZzYlQMokfqP-Ue_bx1QS3eqUNWl8dOHFqi069O0oU1NGfh-Nwnv9Hz6Nbsrsk1IybSGR9OXCw9SUS6o2Js6D3wThu4soD-JGBPlY9SJdwe_L39Oj9Zzn0laBBsCpQTraGnFOAyBuFav3lKADBDV8iZ5ZFeKcOq7do0u6XD_gWJfyew=s203" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="203" data-original-width="197" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjo7WOpE9sZDTSYZzYlQMokfqP-Ue_bx1QS3eqUNWl8dOHFqi069O0oU1NGfh-Nwnv9Hz6Nbsrsk1IybSGR9OXCw9SUS6o2Js6D3wThu4soD-JGBPlY9SJdwe_L39Oj9Zzn0laBBsCpQTraGnFOAyBuFav3lKADBDV8iZ5ZFeKcOq7do0u6XD_gWJfyew=w194-h200" width="194" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p><i> These are what I started with, as there are enough of them in Nova to establish strong patterns. However, based on their progressions and lore, they don't always fit neatly into their own pattern! Fortunately the Tech Generator is able to introduce truly random variance, which I made considerable use of here to enable Blasters to, overall, follow the expected pattern, while allowing each individual Blaster weapon to have enough random deviation that all of Nova's actual blaster weapon stats are possible. I included fixed-cannon Blasters, swivel-mounted Blasters, Blaster turrets, and Point-Defense Blaster Turrets. Each of those ranges in caliber from being equivalent to a Light Blaster to somewhat above a Heavy Blaster, and everywhere in-between.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Basic Missiles</b></u><u><b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjgiL49R_K03A5j17-eaLjfV-MAckBG8cLCmCbYbEtR8nC_q5kZvF9OruEyAZix4azgQ4jJG9YwFtabY3kkHodp93bgJN_To-NB1V48126VsZY-KpflYOWel2GZ_YpL_lCrxrYjsl13anTkK72cpurdIk1PLYkdtCoIprtw2rr2z17ASmB2YYW7HV1Now=s204" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="201" data-original-width="204" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjgiL49R_K03A5j17-eaLjfV-MAckBG8cLCmCbYbEtR8nC_q5kZvF9OruEyAZix4azgQ4jJG9YwFtabY3kkHodp93bgJN_To-NB1V48126VsZY-KpflYOWel2GZ_YpL_lCrxrYjsl13anTkK72cpurdIk1PLYkdtCoIprtw2rr2z17ASmB2YYW7HV1Now=w200-h197" width="200" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p><i> I decided to lump IR Missiles, Radar Missiles, Gravimetric Missiles, and Etheric Wake Missiles into one category, as their stats are pretty consistent with a linear size & power progression, and their guidance/jam type is the biggest feature difference between them. So now there is a whole family of missiles within each guidance type, with the size, cost, damage, and speed/turn stats building up from those of IR Missiles to those of Etheric Wake Missiles, within each guidance family.</i></p><p><i> </i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i></i></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><i></i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Fusion Pulse Weapons</b></u><u><b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjRYcd3pXarqwto_aCBo-0Kn9jGSzL0wdViInhoigH_x10_b7yS3p8kkVS0SA1gWQ6XQvw8K_HnsY2qZuTD4CCZuqFsLxb8pscgdYFreTHhtaOQMIC2a5ENxMpVWs4wRBajM4q_eG63XobQwCpi1NHI4g5BeFiXbvZ2FLx0RGvX8gsvUelDC_Rix0LYpg=s197" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="197" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjRYcd3pXarqwto_aCBo-0Kn9jGSzL0wdViInhoigH_x10_b7yS3p8kkVS0SA1gWQ6XQvw8K_HnsY2qZuTD4CCZuqFsLxb8pscgdYFreTHhtaOQMIC2a5ENxMpVWs4wRBajM4q_eG63XobQwCpi1NHI4g5BeFiXbvZ2FLx0RGvX8gsvUelDC_Rix0LYpg=w200-h200" width="200" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p> <i>There are three types of these in Nova: Cannons, Turrets, and Batteries. Additionally, they vary from each other in two ways: slight differences in caliber, and dramatic differences in Damage Per Second. For the Tech Generator's setup, I kept the three basic "types" of Fusion Pulse weapons, and each one comes in the full range of calibers and damage outputs.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Chainguns</b></u><u><b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgENDxoGTZDdKjTh7SJllVPxvukh2pEcUGaFB12TOm_xJSIntQHTVe1XTXJR_NEIlIvM_0kXw_wonxZLEsTV6UBaEjNfcCf7OC0oxARSAKFoiaFhsk0FzPErrAoHjYVNrzFGunW2PMnsDt6AAbYLq69zwBxduPVwA3QJ1mNywc38xMrqX1A8mziPDbdpg=s197" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="197" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgENDxoGTZDdKjTh7SJllVPxvukh2pEcUGaFB12TOm_xJSIntQHTVe1XTXJR_NEIlIvM_0kXw_wonxZLEsTV6UBaEjNfcCf7OC0oxARSAKFoiaFhsk0FzPErrAoHjYVNrzFGunW2PMnsDt6AAbYLq69zwBxduPVwA3QJ1mNywc38xMrqX1A8mziPDbdpg=w200-h198" width="200" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p> <i>Similarly to Blasters, I decided to create a few different types of Chainguns: Fixed, Swivel, Turreted, and Point-Defense. For each, I wanted to have a progression of power, so I set them up with a "caliber" of sorts ā they all use the same ammunition, but the more powerful variants fire it at a higher velocity, causing more damage upon impact; also, they simultaneously increase their overall Rate of Fire somewhat for a significantly increased Damage Per Second compared to the base versions we see in Nova. As I mentioned in the <a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2022/01/procedurally-generating-nova-weapons.html" target="_blank">last blog post</a>, it was a challenge to get the balance elements working right while factoring in the Burst Fire system, but it's all working smoothly now. :)<br /></i></p><p><i> </i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Railguns:</b></u></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxN1v9DIByz3Gd7aegZbA-Z22SQhLkN4sBWNr6bt_7jcYrPuz-5iBclvwWthmbN6zQfnqLSzFUn4cFUYAOJjvHaedNczspbmaafKzo5jpM8nP3N5pcERZoMSxggi7BA9fZxOWY5A8Angd9XLm6zSIrsUYozYKePiuvIRwe4m4anyCiruh1L5Fsjgkk9g=s200" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxN1v9DIByz3Gd7aegZbA-Z22SQhLkN4sBWNr6bt_7jcYrPuz-5iBclvwWthmbN6zQfnqLSzFUn4cFUYAOJjvHaedNczspbmaafKzo5jpM8nP3N5pcERZoMSxggi7BA9fZxOWY5A8Angd9XLm6zSIrsUYozYKePiuvIRwe4m4anyCiruh1L5Fsjgkk9g=w200-h200" width="200" /></a></div><p> <i>I also treated these similarly to Blasters ā there are Fixed*, Swivel, and Turreted versions, each ranging in caliber. (The railguns in Nova are called "fixed" but they swivel; I set up some truly-fixed versions in the Tech Generator.) Infamously, in Nova the 200mm railgun actually deals the least DPS of the three! I made sure to include enough random variation that that can still happen in the Tech Generator's output, but also sometimes the highest-caliber railguns will truly outperform their smaller counterparts.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Raven Rockets</b></u><u><b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3UyKBgrsWsozeZ8pna2fLTsF90lPrr4CIpL2nKc_q2DIpojw-DR851Omu3-5n6xGhCT33h6s3dvNPhLgLd_Sa79945sGoRv-mpHJEn0zIKR3U4TLQKMfXwyw9OgLlAZFEI8z830RBbWIMxKkiO8KlDMIh7L46uLpQAKKH3pXbj7PW2BaXI-hb49KdLQ=s200" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="200" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3UyKBgrsWsozeZ8pna2fLTsF90lPrr4CIpL2nKc_q2DIpojw-DR851Omu3-5n6xGhCT33h6s3dvNPhLgLd_Sa79945sGoRv-mpHJEn0zIKR3U4TLQKMfXwyw9OgLlAZFEI8z830RBbWIMxKkiO8KlDMIh7L46uLpQAKKH3pXbj7PW2BaXI-hb49KdLQ=w200-h198" width="200" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p> <i>These are an interesting case in Nova because there are two different launchers ā the Raven Pod and the Raven Turret ā that clearly use the same ammo, yet the projectile speed, range, and damage per rocket is different! For the Tech Generator, I kept that difference in per-rocket performance, and added more powerful versions of the launchers that fire the exact same rockets but with higher Rate of Fire & Damage Per Second. As with all the other variations from the Generator, those power differences exist along a spectrum with an element of randomness, so you can get endless variations of possible Raven Pods.<br /></i></p><p><i> </i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Polaron Cannon</b></u><u><b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7zKubgnpT-mxmo3e6p7bFbky6Q76KFP0c-zgVjOwXDw4DUxbHqn1xZPro41YKBXepMAw_RhlBuC635IvMtfWkYEWWnJMDLocUUD596dUOAdj_PgqdIq9-2tTb4WfcMPuqowOO0zx7SroIfN11QA0vo-JDOzlHcagZ0cVbYWa9597wetMKVCk9na5HCQ=s198" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="198" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7zKubgnpT-mxmo3e6p7bFbky6Q76KFP0c-zgVjOwXDw4DUxbHqn1xZPro41YKBXepMAw_RhlBuC635IvMtfWkYEWWnJMDLocUUD596dUOAdj_PgqdIq9-2tTb4WfcMPuqowOO0zx7SroIfN11QA0vo-JDOzlHcagZ0cVbYWa9597wetMKVCk9na5HCQ=w200-h200" width="200" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p> <i>In Nova's lore, the Polaron Cannon is an experimental weapon. So rather than giving it a progression into larger calibers, I instead gave it a progression of increasing developmental refinement. The more "developed" versions of the Polaron Cannon are improved in almost every way: damage output, fuel efficiency, range, reduced Burst Reload time, and miniaturization.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Polaron Torpedoes</b></u><u><b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilLNlapgIni-tiLThJL4ysKl5twwl0upazCXDQPIa3BjV7GgFeZ9mmXKyoonXGiaDIp3u7VT-_heG7dxGbiRWklKJqAgAYPEpRx_d0Zz2ZcO442Xe0axsMB0JeMV9vWGG-2D93xp9P61IVRmGpBlVpU1rmR7DBSMGsDdjjfRnZVPCEvf329ZBaNFzSOA=s201" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="201" data-original-width="201" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilLNlapgIni-tiLThJL4ysKl5twwl0upazCXDQPIa3BjV7GgFeZ9mmXKyoonXGiaDIp3u7VT-_heG7dxGbiRWklKJqAgAYPEpRx_d0Zz2ZcO442Xe0axsMB0JeMV9vWGG-2D93xp9P61IVRmGpBlVpU1rmR7DBSMGsDdjjfRnZVPCEvf329ZBaNFzSOA=w200-h200" width="200" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p> <i>In base Nova, there are two versions of this: a one-shot-at-a-time launcher, and a five-shots-at-a-time launcher. For the Tech Generator, I created a progression from 1 to 5 shots at a time, and everywhere in between. There's some variation to the Rate of Fire (and thereby the Damage Per Second), but for the most part it's just a progression of how many submunitions it creates.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Biorelay Lasers</b></u><u><b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiv3NROUnDRF5hZEWk3V2evlQ8DEbMRRm7PoVkWAfZJvnONcXmmfkKdTER0-Op9SWWKa6WFYN0g1P9JGX8GswpXTuI_T6vYsfWoqfacZRj4rOXsUAMYu6C54Hu7I8VLv7iH5sE1oYqflr_Q0z4A_fPPwccjVdCqE86-KDHDV9XYJpp64l07ZGZX_VLvlg=s201" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="199" data-original-width="201" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiv3NROUnDRF5hZEWk3V2evlQ8DEbMRRm7PoVkWAfZJvnONcXmmfkKdTER0-Op9SWWKa6WFYN0g1P9JGX8GswpXTuI_T6vYsfWoqfacZRj4rOXsUAMYu6C54Hu7I8VLv7iH5sE1oYqflr_Q0z4A_fPPwccjVdCqE86-KDHDV9XYJpp64l07ZGZX_VLvlg=w200-h198" width="200" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p> <i>These come in Cannon and Turret forms. I added "calibers" here, ranging from much smaller, to moderately larger, than the ones in base Nova. Their mass, damage output, and range all increase proportionally with higher calibers.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Space Bombs</b></u><u><b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvqb-uv4SVzchtqV4fsH21fdOpioKj4k-rzbqpr_34Xk-Px4ZPMbQgh5xZk9xFmFsTjKn5MkOvEDZLC6PAtyuXeIdqVGB5IdmBq1bs0M-Z2YyRc38nKhJOHsUziXdDB-lMNjkcL1fc0Cy8yhm6Ov7YcyBl50SlXP0TW6GVBk5KUXQfybAneiRgYDwwFg=s201" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="201" data-original-width="198" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvqb-uv4SVzchtqV4fsH21fdOpioKj4k-rzbqpr_34Xk-Px4ZPMbQgh5xZk9xFmFsTjKn5MkOvEDZLC6PAtyuXeIdqVGB5IdmBq1bs0M-Z2YyRc38nKhJOHsUziXdDB-lMNjkcL1fc0Cy8yhm6Ov7YcyBl50SlXP0TW6GVBk5KUXQfybAneiRgYDwwFg=w197-h200" width="197" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p> <i>Personally, I've never actually used the "Stellar Grenades" in Nova ā perhaps I'm missing out! ā so I wanted to include some that are bigger & more powerful to incentivize their use. Similar to other weapons, I set up a progression of bomb sizes, with the biggest ones being 5 times the size and damage of the base "Stellar Grenade", and with a moderately increased Area Of Effect.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Ion Cannon</b></u><u><b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXF_IXjfnnu0inABYwn7_0bnuvb2syoEpKOSee2ta5A74mLK7OXvTdiD0S3t-Fm_Kdp6Qr2dD7rFugIPf_AMkR40W3CDAXgn1RgR9rcqpk3ktfH_7SS7eEIBinMAu-1_1waHuG2Q6QtPnpUY5W1jfuf3gwGRRMZXLIq0XpiJmpzEJ3rdQSpdnqRFY3lA=s201" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="196" data-original-width="201" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXF_IXjfnnu0inABYwn7_0bnuvb2syoEpKOSee2ta5A74mLK7OXvTdiD0S3t-Fm_Kdp6Qr2dD7rFugIPf_AMkR40W3CDAXgn1RgR9rcqpk3ktfH_7SS7eEIBinMAu-1_1waHuG2Q6QtPnpUY5W1jfuf3gwGRRMZXLIq0XpiJmpzEJ3rdQSpdnqRFY3lA=w200-h195" width="200" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p> <i>Digging around in Nova's data files, I discovered that the Ion Cannon actually has Burst Fire, but its Burst Reload time is 0, so it fires continuously anyway. I decided to embrace that as I created "calibers" of the Ion Cannon, with the one we all know and love from base Nova being the highest caliber in the range. My thinking was that smaller versions could be used by smaller ships, even fighters, to partially ionize other ships in battle. In the progression I created, the smallest Ion Cannons take 4 tons, deal one-sixth the overall DPS of the full-sized Ion Cannon, have roughly half the range, and fire in short bursts with long Burst Reload times. They exist in a smooth progression of size & power from that small version up to the continuous-fire full-sized Ion Cannon from base Nova, with some randomness applied to all of the stats along the way.<br /></i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Wraith Cannon</b></u><u><b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhiBe82e7iv1HeBWuqLIxKkXv4zZ0JK7wcojNd-8aBcFrUpHsCLDon7aDs5kqwJFFYKzTTHxx3ZYQ-Zz7jyE86YvfG6ko5C8l5KX1fxU_EMuD8jS4FoxQhWMxU8qBJWOTKfjFrH2lvMMQuNBTohM6eDPxSNdU69y1MNV8AGqMa_YkFWqpMrYnAUtKSjw=s201" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="201" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhiBe82e7iv1HeBWuqLIxKkXv4zZ0JK7wcojNd-8aBcFrUpHsCLDon7aDs5kqwJFFYKzTTHxx3ZYQ-Zz7jyE86YvfG6ko5C8l5KX1fxU_EMuD8jS4FoxQhWMxU8qBJWOTKfjFrH2lvMMQuNBTohM6eDPxSNdU69y1MNV8AGqMa_YkFWqpMrYnAUtKSjw=w200-h196" width="200" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p> <i>The Wraithii are a very distinctive projectile, so I wanted to keep the projectiles consistent between different versions of the Wraith Cannon. Doing that, I set up a range of Wraith Cannons that vary only in price and Rate of Fire, with the most powerful versions firing four times as fast as the original, doing roughly 280 Damage Per Second, which is quite highā but, they cost 2 million credits per launcher! As with the other weapons here, the Generator produces Wraith Cannons along the full spectrum from the original version to the rapid-fire version, with some amount of actual randomness applied to the size, price, and Rate of Fire along the way.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Capacitor Pulse Laser</b></u><u><b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgiEx-IDPcWjFSSVMSq-YnlBL056ksn9JtHUA5FhaIMAyCGlZnt4ovKigfKJROJiAptsR6DvIQBknefHQpbeTDIY0K0-OhsLIJbRwjRJP1E46NbPLU8hh2VCugPrvv1UDzHEroPzIXdSxngKZKmGIF2Cm3R16F4evRi0aGY2vzRW9kFgPZQXBvkCTeURw=s198" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="197" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgiEx-IDPcWjFSSVMSq-YnlBL056ksn9JtHUA5FhaIMAyCGlZnt4ovKigfKJROJiAptsR6DvIQBknefHQpbeTDIY0K0-OhsLIJbRwjRJP1E46NbPLU8hh2VCugPrvv1UDzHEroPzIXdSxngKZKmGIF2Cm3R16F4evRi0aGY2vzRW9kFgPZQXBvkCTeURw=w199-h200" width="199" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p> <i>Implemented "calibers" again here, using the base Nova version as the "basic" version and getting moderately more powerful from there. I didn't want to make smaller wimpier versions because this weapon's power is so iconic, and I didn't want to push the power too far beyond what it already has.<br /></i></p><p><i> </i></p><p><i> </i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>EMP Torpedoes</b></u><u><b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiw-hz2nNd2Lepp7TrWUsZymYDjGZvZoUvXmjtawhlokzUMbV5NIM_idgC56a2L5_SFK6UGrTGpg2VZdexS8gy6UxXBe6fQxl-2SzQ36HMXiLt0R5Dkhs0aCeU4-YKrvZ3_ugCziNJSQ0E_SztwSGZBf86Tcbj5gIZhUGYq4VcXn1oFpzRljxyuDCfxdA=s202" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="196" data-original-width="202" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiw-hz2nNd2Lepp7TrWUsZymYDjGZvZoUvXmjtawhlokzUMbV5NIM_idgC56a2L5_SFK6UGrTGpg2VZdexS8gy6UxXBe6fQxl-2SzQ36HMXiLt0R5Dkhs0aCeU4-YKrvZ3_ugCziNJSQ0E_SztwSGZBf86Tcbj5gIZhUGYq4VcXn1oFpzRljxyuDCfxdA=w200-h194" width="200" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p> <i>For these, I thought it would be really neat if there were smaller ones available, with enough speed & accuracy to be a little better at hitting the target, and with reduced ionization but still enough to briefly incapacitate a target. You could fire one off to "stun" a ship while you come in with guns blazing, or use it to buy time to escape from an attacking ship, etc. In any case, I set the Generator up to create these on a range of sizes, with the smaller ones being more accurate and the larger ones being more powerful, with the biggest ones being the ones we see in stock Nova.</i></p><p><i> <br /></i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Thunderhead Lance</b></u><u><b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj4RyA1ga5B_f_QG-cUS6vy_izhd-0BLDxeHwcKZxnncXgC9xTCRu7Ta35KbNua7mZscz8loTzQI7UWA96-OYCWUH4yz_nvjsNdFYVegYvicBNL6v-tCXCxlUBpeAocinpigPJ5xQrJHfX1SFFFglwuCrOoiAUznOoDHcsvIJ4awQlZeP_WGd9kKxkvKQ=s202" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="202" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj4RyA1ga5B_f_QG-cUS6vy_izhd-0BLDxeHwcKZxnncXgC9xTCRu7Ta35KbNua7mZscz8loTzQI7UWA96-OYCWUH4yz_nvjsNdFYVegYvicBNL6v-tCXCxlUBpeAocinpigPJ5xQrJHfX1SFFFglwuCrOoiAUznOoDHcsvIJ4awQlZeP_WGd9kKxkvKQ=w200-h196" width="200" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p> <i>The base version of this deals a lot of Damage Per Second, especially for its size; I set up a progression where the size and DPS both increase, with "diminishing returns" ā the biggest version of the Thunderhead Lance deals double the DPS, but it's quadruple the size. Even with that disproportionate size increase, it's super powerful, actually dealing slightly more DPS than the Capacitor Pulse Laser! I set those to cost roughly 500,000 credits each, making it a relatively affordable way to achieve massive DPS values on your shipā although the range is still very short, only slightly longer than the base Thunderhead Lance. As with the other weapons, this is generated as a progression with the basic version, the "heavy" version, and everything in between, along with some random variance for good measure.</i></p><p><i> </i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Mining Lasers</b></u><u><b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1kqWom-EZn5LDG3oZZteasMkFNaDnU9hr0yYSzLR4b-_umgZR6t7X3nkNTTYGyaJj8guy2gl_GQLxaJILtMhUaenUcV0ERJpCePYDqs1JqokI53fRaTZCc30130uwYY7pkdw2xK3Lnk60hbXC986f74iBodpRug47qBXg_gMMT6WrMhhOJjqlM0xotA=s265" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="265" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1kqWom-EZn5LDG3oZZteasMkFNaDnU9hr0yYSzLR4b-_umgZR6t7X3nkNTTYGyaJj8guy2gl_GQLxaJILtMhUaenUcV0ERJpCePYDqs1JqokI53fRaTZCc30130uwYY7pkdw2xK3Lnk60hbXC986f74iBodpRug47qBXg_gMMT6WrMhhOJjqlM0xotA=w200-h194" width="200" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p> <i>I set up a whole range of these in size and damage output, some much smaller than the base Mining Laser in Nova, and some much larger. They scale from 1 ton to ~7 tons, with a bit of random variance. They all fire the same laser projectile, just with different Rates of Fire and thereby different Damage Per Second. They're all really terrible at damaging other ships, but deal 10x the damage to asteroids.</i></p><p><i> </i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Special Missiles</b></u><u><b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHgfT1uC58QtkxqN9ZSeglnmLcsTUmbwRs50w3Wpukg07OeucyVAoFfGTqUfPBBjk2iKtwKD1vKTqnOC5c9YfuKf6Kc1liys0t1gQbwI8f9WL1vYB1e7yEEmI8TgG1A-GJK-IdyOcefBOXau9IXWy7R3zD9JjuoLqmN9t2EpkRZWBu37AYS2d6iTMAhw=s201" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="201" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHgfT1uC58QtkxqN9ZSeglnmLcsTUmbwRs50w3Wpukg07OeucyVAoFfGTqUfPBBjk2iKtwKD1vKTqnOC5c9YfuKf6Kc1liys0t1gQbwI8f9WL1vYB1e7yEEmI8TgG1A-GJK-IdyOcefBOXau9IXWy7R3zD9JjuoLqmN9t2EpkRZWBu37AYS2d6iTMAhw=w200-h197" width="200" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p> <i>I decided to treat the Hellhound Missile as one example of "unique missiles" that could exist in Nova's universe, and set the Generator up to try to produce a variety of them. The launchers all take roughly 10 tons, and the missiles themselves may be either 0 tons or 1 ton each. They make heavy use of random variation in their stats, with wildly varying: 1) damage per missile; 2) Damage Per Second; 3) missile speed; 4) maximum range; 5) Area of Effect size; 6) impact/knockback of the target; 7) ionization; 8) missile turn rate; 9) durability vs point-defense; and 10) vulnerability vs jamming. Each of those stats varies independently of the others, so you can get a massive number of truly unique combinations. The larger missiles have the potential to achieve greater power per missile, if the randomness permits.</i></p><p><i> </i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Light Cannons</b></u><u><b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixBypYnbS5CnCZhKD7ARR48oY6GAWL_XuGJ-tdENVyhZzkh61Z7n6DNcQ2-2Lo2x6y2vK6yx5dSiqrmtvfXQYEeNXDSlSaMHqurz9jbGk45hSUQjw0aENGP0KcTrWtiI3r76iXwczy_o5MB6T4hGe2lCM8uIl9YGxObfQ-ud45xXy4EFNtTc2VAOqhDQ=s266" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="266" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixBypYnbS5CnCZhKD7ARR48oY6GAWL_XuGJ-tdENVyhZzkh61Z7n6DNcQ2-2Lo2x6y2vK6yx5dSiqrmtvfXQYEeNXDSlSaMHqurz9jbGk45hSUQjw0aENGP0KcTrWtiI3r76iXwczy_o5MB6T4hGe2lCM8uIl9YGxObfQ-ud45xXy4EFNtTc2VAOqhDQ=w200-h192" width="200" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p> <i>I wanted to do a power range for these, but felt it was important to the essence of being a "light cannon" for their projectiles to stay the same, and for their mass to stay extremely lowā so I set some up that are the same size, but simply have a higher Rate of Fire and therefore a higher Damage Per Second. These rapid-fire ones also have slightly longer range, a higher projectile speed, and better accuracy. The more powerful ones cost more than the basic versions we have in the base Nova scenario. As with the other weapons, the Generator will create more powerful ones, less powerful ones, and everything in between, with some random variance thrown in. Additionally, I decided to create 3 base forms: Light Cannons, Swivel Light Cannons, and Turreted Light Cannons, with the same range of firing properties across all three types.</i></p><p><i> </i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Triphammer</b></u><u><b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh3VcKvJhmXrid67_KeFYU1b5lAMD1ezimMPF_PTDKBdOmp2EDb5zxBWlyLQxrqhWzv9413zYffIs3G9FKviu3ciuWJ5Wbc6Ay8g_cdEujumxkfJ2bLkCihUbol-0c8yYBh3S1OWow3MkIhG9qE9LZnxP4hyq7D7TOYjh20ljQpTHxUSuDQ5-8FRbSW8w=s265" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="217" data-original-width="265" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh3VcKvJhmXrid67_KeFYU1b5lAMD1ezimMPF_PTDKBdOmp2EDb5zxBWlyLQxrqhWzv9413zYffIs3G9FKviu3ciuWJ5Wbc6Ay8g_cdEujumxkfJ2bLkCihUbol-0c8yYBh3S1OWow3MkIhG9qE9LZnxP4hyq7D7TOYjh20ljQpTHxUSuDQ5-8FRbSW8w=w200-h164" width="200" /></a></div></b></u></h3><p> <i>Given that this is a special weapon installed on a unique ship, my approach for it was to consider the idea of having your Thunderforge's Triphammers "modified" to operate differently. I set the Tech Generator up so that some Triphammer variants do lots of extra damage with greatly reduced ionization, whereas others cause lots of extra ionization with greatly reduced damage output, and they can fall anywhere on that Damage-vs-Ionization spectrum; the Triphammer we see in the base Nova scenario falls right in the middle. As with everything else, random variation is thrown into the mixā including some random variation to the bonuses the Triphammers give you for Armor, Acceleration, and Turn Rate.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><h2><u>Conclusion<br /></u></h2><p> ...and, that's it! If anyone has any thoughts on a better system for any of the weapons above, I'd definitely be interested in hearing about it; I really enjoy thinking about this kind of thing. :)</p><p> And if anyone is interested in using the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> to actually make a plug-in for any of the EV games, I'd certainly love to hear about it!</p><p> For myself, I plan to get Version 1.0 finished, then set it aside until I'm ready to use it for <i>Orion Skies</i>.</p><p> Have a great day, all, and happy modding!</p>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-55059174230720106752022-01-17T08:55:00.000-08:002022-01-17T08:55:25.047-08:00Procedurally Generating Nova Weapons<p> <i><u><b>TL;DR:</b></u> The <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> is now capable of generating </i><i><a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1g3Z6gMdT6ezksNF0-zsIfrSzV70ibdJT?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><i>Nova</i></a>-style weapons, and I am in the process of adding specifications for them.</i></p><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Nova Features Complete! </u></h2><p> At the time of last month's post, I was setting up the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> to produce weapons in the style of different EVx games, and adding the features necessary for each game as I went. At that time I was adding features to support submunitions, as several <a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank"><i>Ares</i></a> weapons require them.</p><p> As I write, the submunitions system is working, the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> is correctly producing <a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank"><i>Ares</i></a>-style weapons, and I've also added all features necessary to produce <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1g3Z6gMdT6ezksNF0-zsIfrSzV70ibdJT?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><i>Nova</i></a>-style weapons! <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1g3Z6gMdT6ezksNF0-zsIfrSzV70ibdJT?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><i>Nova</i></a> requires a number of features not seen in previous EVx games, so it's been a lot of work, but everything seems to be working smoothly and correctly so far. :)</p><p> Now that the features are in place, I'm in the process of adding definitions to actually generate <i>Nova</i> weapons<i>.</i>
It's currently producing Blasters, Fusion Pulse weapons, Chainguns,
Railguns, and basic Missiles. These weapons all have some established
patterns within the <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1g3Z6gMdT6ezksNF0-zsIfrSzV70ibdJT?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><i>Nova</i></a> scenario, so they were a comparatively easy starting point; many of <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1g3Z6gMdT6ezksNF0-zsIfrSzV70ibdJT?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><i>Nova</i></a>'s other weapons are one-of-a-kind, so it'll be a bit more challenging to create novel patterns for them.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmi6cur12nOg67xmkAo1811HSEuA8vcHKDxmkq22UukgMC-8eWyaWuiHfOiNFBecplrdDU0WfsfZsXQmLmzWOP6S_9-LKzDVdV-9w9d3McBRDWpUTjfidHSy1oGjXi6tu9PndTcKzBXXnxwiEKfSp2gK2yjfJu6ZwouD4RU5eQn43BIfLUrm5FXejuxw=s201" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="196" data-original-width="201" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmi6cur12nOg67xmkAo1811HSEuA8vcHKDxmkq22UukgMC-8eWyaWuiHfOiNFBecplrdDU0WfsfZsXQmLmzWOP6S_9-LKzDVdV-9w9d3McBRDWpUTjfidHSy1oGjXi6tu9PndTcKzBXXnxwiEKfSp2gK2yjfJu6ZwouD4RU5eQn43BIfLUrm5FXejuxw=w320-h312" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>I'm looking forward to creating new types of Ion Cannons... </i>š<br /></p><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Burst Fire is Complicated</u> <br /></h2><p> The most complex feature to implement was Burst Fireā in <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1g3Z6gMdT6ezksNF0-zsIfrSzV70ibdJT?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><i>Nova</i></a>, some weapons (such as the Chainguns) fire several shots in rapid succession, then pause for a moment before firing again.</p><p> On the surface, it's simple, but it requires the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> to procedurally define all of the following in a balance-conscious way, while giving the user maximum flexibility to guide it:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>how much damage the weapon should deal</li><li>how many shots the weapon can fire before pausing</li><li>how rapidly the weapon should fire before pausing</li><li>how long the weapon should pause</li><li>whether each shot uses ammunition, versus using ammunition for each burst</li><li>how much ammunition you can store</li><li>how large that ammunition is<br /></li></ul><p> These values, guided by the user's preferences, have to be coordinated to obtain the correct user-defined Damage-Per-Second and Damage-Per-Ton for the weapon. In some cases, one of these balance targets may be unattainable ā for example, if the user specifies low damage values and a long pause time that make it impossible to attain the desired Damage Per Second ā in which case the user should have control over whether and how the weapon can be adjusted to attain those targets.</p><p> It took a bit of time to figure it all out, but it's working now. :)<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgE_Um_esLqWj95mysDSANKc6bvRaEb8lR7z1klj_4Tk1ujXP0qxgLeHInGCr4JcK0EjjZq9gJi6pPX2-BKDXYuDELb8TTJEBk51qjwjnS_0M8mbagxHHwBJo5qhmTA6_NAcwZbFFoJRl2g4CcU2Lnc1FwP2a_3rOHlyqoDvI2XUpu25xbAG9Lzc1kncA=s197" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="197" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgE_Um_esLqWj95mysDSANKc6bvRaEb8lR7z1klj_4Tk1ujXP0qxgLeHInGCr4JcK0EjjZq9gJi6pPX2-BKDXYuDELb8TTJEBk51qjwjnS_0M8mbagxHHwBJo5qhmTA6_NAcwZbFFoJRl2g4CcU2Lnc1FwP2a_3rOHlyqoDvI2XUpu25xbAG9Lzc1kncA=w320-h317" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>This thing was harder to implement than I expected, but it resulted in a lot of good learning!</i><br /></p><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Overall Tech Generator Status</u></h2><p> Here is a
rough outline of the stages/milestones the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> will need to go through:</p><p><span><span> </span>š¢ <u><b>Generate <a href="https://www.nexusmods.com/escapevelocitynova/mods/2" target="_blank"><i>EVO</i></a>-Style Weaponry:</b></u> I had to figure out <i>how</i> to do this as I was building it.</span><br /><span><span><span> </span>š¢ <u><b>Generate Weaponry Per User Specifications</b></u></span></span><span><u><b>:</b></u> Now it can produce a TC's weapons! Sort of.</span><br /><span> </span><span><span>š¢</span></span> <u><b>Streamline & Improve Flexibility</b></u><span><u><b>:</b></u> Giving the user more power.</span><span><br /><span><span> </span>š¢ <u><b>Generate </b></u></span></span><span><span><u><b><a href="https://andrews05.github.io/evstuff/" target="_blank"><u><b><i>Frozen Heart/EVC</i></b></u></a>-Style Weaponry:</b></u> </span></span><span>A few updates for some unique <i>FH</i> designs.<br /><span><span> </span></span></span><span><span><span><span>š¢</span></span> <u><b>Generate </b></u></span></span><span><span><u><b><a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank"><u><b><i>Ares</i></b></u></a>-Style Weaponry:</b></u> The biggest development here was adding submunitions.</span></span><span><br /><span><span> </span></span></span><span><span><span><span>š”</span></span> <u><b>Generate </b></u></span></span><span><span><u><b><a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1g3Z6gMdT6ezksNF0-zsIfrSzV70ibdJT?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><u><b><i>EVN</i></b></u></a>-Style Weaponry:</b></u> All <i>Nova</i> features are in place and I'm adding weapons now.</span></span><br /><span> </span><span><span><span><span>š”</span></span></span></span> <u><b>Generate Outfits</b></u><span><u><b>:</b></u> Many <i>EVN</i> Weapons actually are Outfits also, </span><span>so I've done a lot of work here.<br /><span><span> </span></span></span><span><span>āŖ <u><b>Generate <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en" target="_blank"><i>MtG</i></a>-Inspired Weaponry:</b></u> One big thing will be weapons with alternate firing modes.</span></span><br /><span> </span>āŖ <u><b>Add a "Specials" System</b></u><span><u><b>:</b></u>
Inspired by classic RPGs, this would be a system whereby the player can
find modified or upgraded copies of a given weapon type ā for example,
discovering a one-of-a-kind customized Blaze Cannon that deals extra
damage with each shot.</span><span><br /><span> </span>āŖ <u><b>Streamline, Reflect, Miscellaneous Updates, add Documentation, Etc</b></u><span><u><b>:</b></u> Basically the nuts & bolts of making it a fully-developed, user friendly, helpful tool.</span> </span></p><br />Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-57708248456263126442021-12-24T07:42:00.001-08:002021-12-24T07:58:41.918-08:002021 Review, and a Look Forward<p></p><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i> <u><b>TL;DR:</b></u> Lots of progress in 2021! Especially on graphics and weaponry. Plans are in place to build 3 connected plug-ins for Cosmic Frontier, culminating in Orion Skies itself.</i><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Progress in 2021</u><br /></h2><p> <i>Orion Skies</i>, and its affiliate projects, have come a long way in 2021. The design and planning work has made great progress, a new weapons-and-outfits generator is functional enough to be useful, and I also learned how to create 3D graphics in <a href="https://www.blender.org/" target="_blank">Blender</a>.<br /></p><p> Looking back, the year started as I was working my way through 3D tutorials, trying to learn Blender from scratch. I already had a number of aspects of <i>Orion Skies</i> planned out, and wanted to develop some of my own technical skills so that I'd be ready to build a TC when <a href="https://www.patreon.com/EvocationGames/posts" target="_blank"><i>Cosmic Frontier</i></a> was ready.</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8b5NFStPBXN4X-afljNrNibGRSSDCsZ2088ZcK5P5RO8LPSpSM2npW-9CaPEkX4hzq55ko37b_xpRgHMgEX-HZcOCh-0WtvkkGUaSc4QdGHHM0yX0p-qZQ-uW2brUKj8a9npF765wQVeaGgRX0QbMDj8Wt1rkXuwn9PLSJwIYBOIjCeyZw89znaEgSw=s1920" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8b5NFStPBXN4X-afljNrNibGRSSDCsZ2088ZcK5P5RO8LPSpSM2npW-9CaPEkX4hzq55ko37b_xpRgHMgEX-HZcOCh-0WtvkkGUaSc4QdGHHM0yX0p-qZQ-uW2brUKj8a9npF765wQVeaGgRX0QbMDj8Wt1rkXuwn9PLSJwIYBOIjCeyZw89znaEgSw=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>An underway version of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_F-86_Sabre" target="_blank">F-86 Sabre</a> I built as a practice project.</i><br /></div><div><p style="text-align: left;"> For the first half of the year, 3D remained my focus. I learned how to make 3D <a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2021/04/first-draft-of-3d-practice-aircraft.html" target="_blank">jet aircraft</a>, <a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2021/05/all-about-oceans.html" target="_blank">oceans</a>,
and skies, and learned many foundational technical skills. Other,
non-3D work happened on the side ā planning a structure for releasing <i>Orion Skies</i> in parts, and building smaller releases that will build up to the final TC.</p><p></p><p> In the second half the year, my focus shifted to planning & design work, aided by my work on the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a>, which amongst other things has allowed me to explore balance concepts for the weapons in <i>EVx</i> games, and to work on a possible paradigm to relate concepts from <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en" target="_blank"><i>Magic: the Gathering</i></a> "cubes" to <i>EVx</i> scenario design. During this time, work continued in other areas, such as more worldbuilding and planning of small releases.</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJQKQHhfudGTul5kbTsq0kLzJHX_S-pAImGxzG3Qa5ouDBcxPXzt0yqixwe8FAxvTuNEM5ZXkLuzuiAhGmESKyKo4pwo7zTLeh3WJDCYBSK6roYnLHMpuKibnnuiHIoOMi-KTtMSDs5AbJezOs7SkB7beTZufH7uacezEhUmrRe9XuP2I-IB8TBucx9A=s2117" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1496" data-original-width="2117" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJQKQHhfudGTul5kbTsq0kLzJHX_S-pAImGxzG3Qa5ouDBcxPXzt0yqixwe8FAxvTuNEM5ZXkLuzuiAhGmESKyKo4pwo7zTLeh3WJDCYBSK6roYnLHMpuKibnnuiHIoOMi-KTtMSDs5AbJezOs7SkB7beTZufH7uacezEhUmrRe9XuP2I-IB8TBucx9A=w400-h283" width="400" /></a></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> When building "cubes" for Magic: the Gathering, I like to map out the interactions between different gameplay mechanics and abilities within the cube; I'd like to use a similar approach with Orion Skies, so I'm trying to get a solid sense of what that would precisely mean in an EVx context.</i><br /></div></div><div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Three Plug-Ins</u><br /></h2><p> In trying to develop a plan to start with smaller plug-in releases and build up to <i>Orion Skies</i> itself, I've settled on 3 related plug-in projects to build once <i>Cosmic Frontier</i> is out:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><u><b><i>The Expanded Suite</i></b></u>, which will bring elements from <a href="https://www.nexusmods.com/escapevelocitynova/mods/2" target="_blank"><i>EVO: Expanded</i></a> into the new <i>Cosmic Frontier</i> era.</li><li><u><b>An adaptation of <a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank"><i>Ares</i></a>,</b></u> bringing this classic Ambrosia space game to Windows and Linux for the first time, and bringing a number of its fantastic gameplay features to <i>Cosmic Frontier</i> via the exciting new Lua-modding system.<br /></li><li><u><b><i>Orion Skies</i></b></u>, a Total Conversion plug-in that aims to make use of the Lua game features developed for <i>The Expanded Suite</i> and the <i>Ares</i> adaptation.<br /></li></ol><p> Looking ahead to 2022, I wanted to write a bit about each of these plug-ins, their current status, and next steps.</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://virginiatech.sportswar.com/post_images/vtlounge/00/00/00/13/50/65/63/13506563_0.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://virginiatech.sportswar.com/post_images/vtlounge/00/00/00/13/50/65/63/13506563_0.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Who would have guessed that the Book of Armaments' wisdom would be applicable to plug-in development??</i><br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>1. The Expanded Suite</u></h2><p> This will be the <a href="https://www.patreon.com/EvocationGames/posts" target="_blank"><i>Cosmic Frontier</i></a>-focused successor to an older plug-in of mine, <a href="https://www.nexusmods.com/escapevelocitynova/mods/2" target="_blank"><i>EVO: Expanded</i></a>. <i>EVOE</i> was a wide-ranging update to <i>EVO-on-Nova</i>, aiming to expand on the game's strengths. Likewise, <i>The Expanded Suite</i> will attempt to expand on <i>Cosmic Frontier</i>'s strengths.</p><p> Unlike <i>EVOE</i>, <i>The Expanded Suite</i> will be focused on the Lua game-feature modding system. This means that it should be directly applicable to <i>any</i> game scenario on the <i>Cosmic Frontier</i> engine ā whether that be <i>Cosmic Frontier</i> itself, or <i>Orion Skies</i>, or another Total Conversion plug-in, or even a port of one of the other <i>Escape Velocity</i> games.</p><p> It will start small, as a package of just a few Lua-based features. Over time, it will grow and develop, as I add more content specifically designed for it, as well as eventually adding the new Lua features I'll build for the <i>Ares</i> adaptation and for <i>Orion Skies</i> itself.</p><p> At this point, I have an outline / brainstorm of features to include, with some notes regarding which ones may be best to start off with and which may be best to add over time. Once <i>Cosmic Frontier</i> is available, I will begin construction. :)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVNTM1sEzwD5y9NroYOU7jCeEjMQszuD1FaV9ZAAknELVp1fwy2sqqZCC7dNFtJjWDXZstARYz_dOQCezj4OuG6ZdRqX69Ihyi8GSn5iHFPqSKPa9fioDNf1ouQDyh2P_1DBdffn7wmFFZnr0h1nK5q93MXHette3QC_NBnSb02Lo28amw9jDxCWhXug=s617" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="617" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVNTM1sEzwD5y9NroYOU7jCeEjMQszuD1FaV9ZAAknELVp1fwy2sqqZCC7dNFtJjWDXZstARYz_dOQCezj4OuG6ZdRqX69Ihyi8GSn5iHFPqSKPa9fioDNf1ouQDyh2P_1DBdffn7wmFFZnr0h1nK5q93MXHette3QC_NBnSb02Lo28amw9jDxCWhXug=w400-h214" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>EVO: Expanded added a display of weapons' damage stats to the Outfitter screen, and also made it possible to sell your outfits anywhere in the galaxy; I'll aim to implement these features via Lua in The Expanded Suite.</i><br /></div><div><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>2. Ares Adaptation</u></h2><p> For those unfamiliar, <a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank"><i>Ares</i></a> is a 2D space game that was released by Ambrosia during the same era as the <i>Escape Velocity</i> series. I personally played <i>EVx</i> and <i>Ares</i> coequally, as their flight and combat physics were nearly identical, and each brought a different gameplay focus, with different elements to explore and challenge oneself with. Later versions of <i>Ares</i> also shipped with an incredibly powerful plug-in editor, with which I created several scenario plug-ins during its heydey. <br /></p><p> <i>Ares</i> had a number of amazing features that never cross-pollinated to the <i>EV</i> series ā an AI that will "dogfight" and try to circle around behind you; a dynamic zoom feature that lets you easily see enemies up close and far away; large systems with multiple key locations to battle over; and complex missions with multiple objectives and scripted events.</p><p> With <i>Cosmic Frontier</i>'s new Lua-based game-feature modding capability, I hope to re-build many of these features as part of a plug-in meant to adapt the original <i>Ares</i> scenario to the <i>Cosmic Frontier</i> engine. Due to technical limitations, it likely won't be a 1-for-1 exact match of the original <i>Ares</i> game, but it will attempt to capture the essence and core gameplay of it. It'll bring some form of <i>Ares</i> to Windows and Linux for the first time, as well as making a number of exciting features available to players and modders of <i>Cosmic Frontier</i> (including myself, for <i>Orion Skies</i>).<br /></p><p> Two additional quick notes:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>All of the new Lua game features I develop for <i>Ares</i> will also be added to <i>The Expanded Suite</i>.<br /></li><li>For Mac users, <a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank"><u><b>there is already a fantastic free port of <i>Ares</i> to modern Mac operating systems</b></u></a>. The port is called <i>Antares</i>, and if you've never played this game, I highly recommend you go give it a try: <b><a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank">https://arescentral.org/</a></b></li></ol><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhUWCIIAPfx0YeAv6fQujPNBe37dbhO2tQdjdldBWvfsx3NeehXqK-g91ayXGFb57IBAicr7Vnxar-CTPjJMx1pwymJGBPDfx7am2NsIGXUc7v6YA0Fbc3WI7dUfBpteFHqxAoFGUR9oluvM0bgbcLrG8cmbrHMF_CP65JTjNpxmsApKH0gXH6cS3N3YQ=s1000" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="1000" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhUWCIIAPfx0YeAv6fQujPNBe37dbhO2tQdjdldBWvfsx3NeehXqK-g91ayXGFb57IBAicr7Vnxar-CTPjJMx1pwymJGBPDfx7am2NsIGXUc7v6YA0Fbc3WI7dUfBpteFHqxAoFGUR9oluvM0bgbcLrG8cmbrHMF_CP65JTjNpxmsApKH0gXH6cS3N3YQ=w400-h193" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Ares is truly an outstanding game, and adapting it to the Cosmic Frontier engine is a worthwhile project in and of itself.</i></div><p></p><p> I've done outlining and brainstorming work for this project, thinking about what Lua-based game features will need to be developed and trying to establish a general sense of what might be involved in each one. I also have saved and organized the graphics and other media from the original game, and have given some thought to build & release targets for this project, aiming to release it in 3 stages:<br /></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><u><b>Moons for Goons:</b></u> The original training level from early versions of <i>Ares</i>. This was actually what really got me interested in <i>Ares</i>, as I thought the combat practice in this level would help my <i>EVO</i> piloting skills (I think it worked?). Although this is only a single level with limited content, a number of foundational Lua features will need to be developed to make it work correctly. It's a good small, structured target to focus on as I get started, and would make for a good small-scale independent release.</li><li><u><b>Changeling Demo:</b></u> Before <i>Ares</i> was associated with Ambrosia, a demo version was released by another company called Changeling. This demo included the "<i>Moons for Goons</i>" training level along with 3 actual combat missions. For myself and many others, this demo, distributed on a MacAddict CD, was our first introduction to the game. Building this would be a good extension-test of the features developed for <i>Moons for Goons</i>, and would also be a structured opportunity to add to them, particularly in terms of implementing <i>Ares</i>'s asteroid physics & interactions.</li><li><u><b>Ares:</b></u> The full mission campaign from the Ambrosia release. In theory, by the time I get to this stage I <i>should</i> have most of the required Lua features already in place, and will be able to focus primarily on using those features to build the actual levels. I'll see if I'm right about that when I get there!</li></ol><p style="text-align: center;"></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQ30yEQ_b2j4I7g6kDLcNOimpF45LdZTuj13g-Pcnt-VOdcRm6UGEgv0pY24OTNvuHzKhRsIzQUMaZKNokTXb-AgxltzRTDdaNNFSGaRSiQ4ckrxyfzkFdr5hhV5VDkT5gPXy3Xo2FL8oJxAKfnKNOhCnmCuN_WHmY0Ifb9qxpYe6CVTiofwQT0KK72g=s1440" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1440" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQ30yEQ_b2j4I7g6kDLcNOimpF45LdZTuj13g-Pcnt-VOdcRm6UGEgv0pY24OTNvuHzKhRsIzQUMaZKNokTXb-AgxltzRTDdaNNFSGaRSiQ4ckrxyfzkFdr5hhV5VDkT5gPXy3Xo2FL8oJxAKfnKNOhCnmCuN_WHmY0Ifb9qxpYe6CVTiofwQT0KK72g=w400-h250" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A training battle between Ishiman Cruisers vs Target Drones. This never-ending practice battle from the original "Moons for Goons" training level is what first really drew me into Ares.</i><br /></div><div><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>3. Orion Skies</u></h2><p> <i>Orion Skies</i> is a Total Conversion plug-in concept that I've been thinking about for several years. At one point I was developing it for the <i>EV Nova</i> engine, but as that became less and less supported I decided to look at other potential platforms ā and that's when Peter Cartwright announced the development of <i>Cosmic Frontier</i>!</p><p> <i>Orion Skies</i>'s basic gameplay concept is that it takes place <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula" target="_blank">entirely within a nebula</a>. Every system will make use of the nebula fog mechanics that were introduced in <i>EV Nova</i>; combat tactics will involve submarine-like ambushes and hunting; and stormy nebula weather will be a common hazard. Gameplay will include (but not be limited to) a significant focus on exploration and navigation.</p><p> Not only will <i>Orion Skies</i> be making use of the Lua game features from <i>The Expanded Suite</i> and the <i>Ares</i> adaptation, but I'll likely end up building some additional Lua for it as wellā and these new Lua features will also be added to <i>The Expanded Suite</i>.</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilfcEbwm4UOa3pZk-YAHD_1BpCYBQtD7_23LRhrDDFkCmmXzZ8fveJW8FMhyob0jVeTBw9SR5_avWlfPmrkjl7Lcpc3raHiC2S1LqnO3xyOaJ2K-gnMi9DXuRL4-oEBSAFJR_DdGmEd4bcCw-ba_5nQEE2L2AO63PXKHNc0GnQipQOKKS_InKM-u89WA=s2000" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilfcEbwm4UOa3pZk-YAHD_1BpCYBQtD7_23LRhrDDFkCmmXzZ8fveJW8FMhyob0jVeTBw9SR5_avWlfPmrkjl7Lcpc3raHiC2S1LqnO3xyOaJ2K-gnMi9DXuRL4-oEBSAFJR_DdGmEd4bcCw-ba_5nQEE2L2AO63PXKHNc0GnQipQOKKS_InKM-u89WA=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The Orion Nebula, as captured by Hubble; the entire plug-in will take place within this nebula.</i><br /></div><div><p></p><p> I've made a lot of progress on this TC: designing the
essence of what it will be like in all aspects; establishing the basics
of its worldbuilding; learning many of the technical skills required;
and outlining the steps that will be needed to complete it. I also built
the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kCABkT-AC6aOZoyEoub8jLrZgH8hXkeSQSwmnIXwMX8/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">EV Galaxy Generator</a> as a tool to help me rapidly produce the types of systems I'll be using in <i>Orion Skies</i>, and am well underway on the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a>, which will similarly aid in the process of making weapons and outfits.</p><p> Overall, here is a rough estimate of my progress in developing <i>Orion Skies</i>:</p><p>š¢ <u><b>Concept Design:</b></u> Mostly complete; new insights from the Tech Generator will help me make the final push on designing the weapons and outfits.<br />š¢ <u><b>Galaxy Generator:</b></u> Version 1.0 is complete and released. I may improve a few things about it down the road.<br />š” <u><b>3D Skill Development:</b></u> I've made good progress developing ocean scenes, but I need to learn a good & robust way to include clouds. I made a decent jet aircraft, but need to get better at some technical aspects of vehicle construction. I also need to learn how to do landscapes, stellar objects, and effects like rocket engine exhaust, explosions, etc.<br />š” <u><b>Tech Generator:</b></u> Partially complete. It's able to take user-provided definitions to procedurally create balanced weapons in the style of <i>EVO(E)</i>, <i>Frozen Heart/EVC</i>, and <i>Ares</i>. With the definitions it currently has, it can generate hundreds of weapons at the click of a button. However, for it to be truly complete I need to add more features to support <i>Nova</i>-style weapons, as well as some features inspired by <i>Magic: the Gathering</i> and by classic RPGs. I also need to add outfit-generation capabilities, but they should be much easier than weapons.<br />š” <u><b>Worldbuilding:</b></u> Partially complete. I don't want to give too much away here, as A) many details change regularly; and B) I want this part of the TC to be discovered and explored by the player, rather than known in advance. I have a rough concept in place, but need to develop my ideas in greater depth and detail.<br />š <u><b><i>The Expanded Suite</i>:</b></u> I have a plan for this, and will start building it once <i>Cosmic Frontier</i> is released. The Lua gameplay features I create here will be used in <i>Orion Skies</i>.<br />āŖ <u><b><i>Ares</i> Adaptation:</b></u> This is mapped out. After <i>The Expanded Suite v. 1.0</i> is done, I'll start building this. The focus of my work will be on new Lua gameplay features, which will be used in <i>Orion Skies</i> and also will be added to <i>The Expanded Suite.</i><br />āŖ <u><b>Build Orion Skies:</b></u> The first release will most likely be fairly small-scaleā for many reasons I'd rather build and release something smaller early, and then add to it over time; as opposed to taking longer to release something bigger. After the small initial release will come a long-term process of adding incremental updates & expansions, developing it from a small TC into a large TC. As this work progresses, any new Lua gameplay features I build for <i>Orion Skies</i> will also be added to <i>The Expanded Suite</i>.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjF9PThmLw9WCzpHeO0ByDVLfuoMC8SX7LyW1DYs4hv2bgGu8yFj-zgx2fpAzj3CvAyGn3TzSRDFA6WI17rMrbujvKNQ_q9WKoYSbdARGGj2RJiHR0Yt5-zPgOm1tF3pfJrGWuqoiKobjnE_LoMsh9rT9Qa3kkDPbP5DXDvvFhMYDyL8gVHJci1y_Q-bQ=s1627" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1627" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjF9PThmLw9WCzpHeO0ByDVLfuoMC8SX7LyW1DYs4hv2bgGu8yFj-zgx2fpAzj3CvAyGn3TzSRDFA6WI17rMrbujvKNQ_q9WKoYSbdARGGj2RJiHR0Yt5-zPgOm1tF3pfJrGWuqoiKobjnE_LoMsh9rT9Qa3kkDPbP5DXDvvFhMYDyL8gVHJci1y_Q-bQ=w400-h199" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>An old concept sketch for one of Orion Skies's ships, the "Pikipiki" class rocket-bike. Don't forget to wear your spacesuit!</i><br /></div></div><div><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Closing Thoughts</u></h2><p> What will 2022 hold? Will this be the year <i>Cosmic Frontier</i> releases and I start building <i>The Expanded Suite</i>? Will I finish the Tech Generator, and will it be as beneficial to my development process as I'm hoping? Maybe I'll have time to get back into 3D learning, and finish that Blender curriculum; or maybe I'll get a procedural landscape-graphics system up and running?</p><p> While I can't say <i>which</i> specific things I'll accomplish in this coming year, I do have a strong roadmap of the projects I'll be working on, and I'm excited to get some more tangible steps accomplished on the road to <i>Orion Skies</i>.</p><p> Thanks as always for reading; I'm looking forward to sharing more in future updates!<br /></p></div></div>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-23271575010585939072021-12-19T08:33:00.004-08:002021-12-19T08:49:56.098-08:00Tech Generator Progress, plus "The Expanded Suite"<p> <i><u><b>TL;DR:</b></u> The Tech Generator is making progress, focused on generating weapons in the style of different EVx games as a way to test its abilities. Meanwhile, "The Expanded Suite" will carry on the legacy of EVO: Expanded in the new Cosmic Frontier era.<br /></i></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Tech Generator Recent Progress</u><br /></h2><p> At last month's posting, the Tech Generator was producing weapons in the style of <a href="https://www.nexusmods.com/escapevelocitynova/mods/2" target="_blank"><i>EVO(E)</i></a>, based on user-provided specifications, and I was in the process of updating the way it worked to give the user more control and flexibility in specifying a wider variety of weapon styles. That's done now. :)</p><p> The next phase of work on this is testing-by-doing: adding specifications to generate weapons in the style of <a href="https://andrews05.github.io/evstuff/" target="_blank"><i>Frozen Heart/EVC</i></a>*, <a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank"><i>Ares</i></a>, <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1g3Z6gMdT6ezksNF0-zsIfrSzV70ibdJT?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><i>EV Nova</i></a>, and some <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en" target="_blank"><i>Magic: the Gathering</i></a>-derived concepts that I've been pondering for <i>Orion Skies</i>. Each stage inevitably identifies bugs and limitations in the tech generator, and prompts me to improve its capabilities.<br /></p><p><i> (*Much of Frozen Heart's contents are a re-skin of EVC; I believe Martin Turner used EVC as a basis and then added new content from there.)</i></p><p> In any case, the Tech Generator is now producing <i>Frozen Heart/EVC</i> style weapons in addition to <i>EVO(E)</i> style weapons, all based on highly configurable user specifications. Woohoo!</p><p> I'm currently working on implementing <i>Ares</i>-style weapons. Most of them are currently working, but some of them (such as the infamous Flak Cannon) require use of <i>EVN</i>'s "submunitions" feature, in which a projectile can create different projectiles when it detonatesā and those projectiles can potentially create more projectiles, and so on. These can get a bit complex, especially if the Tech Generator is trying to be balance-conscious when creating them, so I'm focused right now on building systems to keep track of the submunitions and generate them sensibly.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDRMe27hP8tZtbEaNV9uFPTtWp8Ar6GrxBEYKGK7LRSqQsu3CiRPddZy623y2prDHOnEQKKbInPaEPuEom9YSDOfrLt3JT4LWPlto0DdDa_zt2aqX8a-4w8ksc5eESO_h0S9KRwQHw25wOJqkYOKf5Jb51152aympQpJLU2Rzhs0YbSNmMER8ZIJnzRg=s710" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="710" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDRMe27hP8tZtbEaNV9uFPTtWp8Ar6GrxBEYKGK7LRSqQsu3CiRPddZy623y2prDHOnEQKKbInPaEPuEom9YSDOfrLt3JT4LWPlto0DdDa_zt2aqX8a-4w8ksc5eESO_h0S9KRwQHw25wOJqkYOKf5Jb51152aympQpJLU2Rzhs0YbSNmMER8ZIJnzRg=w400-h297" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Ares's
infamous Flak Drones (right) use a weapon that will require
submunitions to implement. Note the little blue flak shells across the middle
of the screen, which are fired by the Flak Drone, and detonate to create the explosions + bursts of gray flak you see just up-and-left of center. My
poor little Ishiman Cruiser is in trouble!</i><br /></p><p></p><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Overall Tech Generator Status</u></h2><p> Here is a
rough outline of the stages/milestones the Tech Generator will need to go through:</p><p><span><span> </span>š¢ <u><b>Generate <a href="https://www.nexusmods.com/escapevelocitynova/mods/2" target="_blank"><i>EVO</i></a>-Style Weaponry:</b></u> I had to figure out <i>how</i> to do this as I was building it.</span><br /><span><span><span> </span>š¢ <u><b>Generate Weaponry Per User Specifications</b></u></span></span><span><u><b>:</b></u> Now it can produce a TC's weapons! Sort of.</span><br /><span> </span><span><span>š¢</span></span> <u><b>Streamline & Improve Flexibility</b></u><span><u><b>:</b></u> Giving the user more power.</span><span><br /><span><span> </span>š¢ <u><b>Generate </b></u></span></span><span><span><u><b><a href="https://andrews05.github.io/evstuff/" target="_blank"><u><b><i>Frozen Heart/EVC</i></b></u></a>-Style Weaponry:</b></u> </span></span><span>A few updates for some unique <i>FH</i> designs.<br /><span><span> </span></span></span><span><span>š” <u><b>Generate </b></u></span></span><span><span><u><b><a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank"><u><b><i>Ares</i></b></u></a>-Style Weaponry:</b></u> Needs submunition functionality; working on that now.</span></span><span><br /><span><span> </span></span></span><span><span>āŖ <u><b>Generate </b></u></span></span><span><span><u><b><a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1g3Z6gMdT6ezksNF0-zsIfrSzV70ibdJT?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><u><b><i>EVN</i></b></u></a>-Style Weaponry:</b></u> Will need many new capabilities I think.</span></span><span><br /><span><span> </span></span></span><span><span>āŖ <u><b>Generate <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en" target="_blank"><i>MtG</i></a>-Inspired Weaponry:</b></u> One big thing will be weapons with alternate firing modes.</span></span><br /><span> </span>āŖ <u><b>Generate Outfits</b></u><span><u><b>:</b></u> These <i>should</i> be comparatively simple compared to weapons. š¤</span><br /><span> </span>āŖ <u><b>Add a "Specials" System</b></u><span><u><b>:</b></u>
Inspired by classic RPGs, this would be a system whereby the player can
find modified or upgraded copies of a given weapon type ā for example,
discovering a one-of-a-kind customized Blaze Cannon that deals extra
damage with each shot.</span><br /><span> </span>āŖ <u><b>Explore Strategy Concepts from <i>Magic: the Gathering</i> Using the Generator</b></u><span><u><b>:</b></u> In theory, the "Specials" system will enable a lot of strategy-design concepts from <i>Magic</i>; I'll have to test that out once the "Specials" are ready.</span><br /><span> </span>āŖ <u><b>Streamline, Reflect, Miscellaneous Updates, add Documentation, Etc</b></u><span><u><b>:</b></u> Basically the nuts & bolts of making it a fully-developed, user friendly, helpful tool.</span></p><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>"The Expanded Suite"</u></h2><p> A few years ago, the EV series appeared extremely dead. Ambrosia's web site was still up, but was unmaintained and increasingly broken. Matt Burch, Peter Cartwright, and the ATMOS crew, at that time, were not in active contact with the player/modder community. There were no signs of any kind of sequel or update ever happening.</p><p> In the hope of helping the series continue to grow and advance, I created a large-scale plugin for <i>EVO</i>, called <i>EVO: Expanded</i>. The goal was to "expand" on <i>EVO</i>'s strengths while keeping the core of the game as close as possible to the original. I designed the new content and writing to match the style of <i>EVO</i> as closely as possible; my hope was that folks who hadn't played <i>EVO</i> in a while wouldn't always be able to tell which content was new, and which had always been there. The vision was a new version of <i>EVO</i> with its balance, combat, and storytelling taken to the next level (building on the already-very-high levels achieved in the original version).</p><p> Now, of course, <i>EVO</i>'s creator Peter Cartwright is working on his own <a href="https://www.patreon.com/EvocationGames/posts" target="_blank">updated version of the <i>Override</i> scenario</a> in the form of <i>Cosmic Frontier</i>, which will be vastly superior to <i>EVO Expanded</i>.</p><p> I've thought before of creating an <i>EVOE</i>-like plug-in for <i>Cosmic Frontier</i> ā a <i>"CFO: Expanded"</i> ā but there are two major problems with that idea:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Peter will (I assume) be actively supporting and updating <i>Cosmic Frontier</i>, and I want to let him steer its development over timeā both because the actual creator deserves to have that control, and because he's done such a brilliant job with <i>EVO</i> that I know <i>Cosmic Frontier</i> will be in extremely capable hands.</li><li><i>EVO: Expanded</i> was only possible because of having many years of experience playing the original game; I wouldn't be able to create a similar work for <i>Cosmic Frontier</i> until I have played it for a similar multi-year length of time.</li></ol><p> However, I've recently realized that <i>EVOE</i> was really a collection of many different updates, focused on different things. Many of those are essentially just "game features" that wouldn't disrupt Peter's vision, and also would be "safe" to add without first spending years gaining deep familiarity with the base scenario. Moreover, the "feature" type elements could be implemented as Lua mods that would work equally well with the base <i>Cosmic Frontier</i> scenario, or with <i>Orion Skies</i>, or with any other TC or scenario.</p><p> <b>With that realization, I'm now planning to work on something called "<i>The Expanded Suite</i>" shortly after <i>Cosmic Frontier</i>'s release.</b></p><p> I plan to start with a few <i>EVOE</i>-inspired features, implemented as separate Lua mods and released together as a package, and I'll aim to release that fairly early on. Over time, I'll be adding more features to it, some of which weren't included in <i>EVOE</i> as they will only be possible on the <i>Cosmic Frontier</i> engineā for example, when I create an <a href="https://orion-skies.blogspot.com/2021/09/ares-on-cfo-lua-mods.html" target="_blank"><i>Ares</i> adaptation</a>, that will involve a number of its own new Lua features for things like an improved dogfighting AI, which I'll add to <i>The Expanded Suite</i> when I build them. Ditto for any new Lua features I build with <i>Orion Skies</i>.</p><p> In any case, I'm excited for this project, and glad to have a clear pathway forward to ensure <i>EVOE</i> lives on in some manner in the new <i>Cosmic Frontier</i> era. :)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhU97qljf1lY7yywZxuhQYHtc7vQIX486iKbCpl0GdS0xscv9-H8qCzK8B6q32cjzngnc_0Juh5XRLO83O-sAwOkVSp189Yyi8WSl8sydYXa8Ec9-MasRPRJi0iJQq0KEtmD6KzsMP0zPJrUy01czR-z4x3cO-pE7xQulCN4iXlDbkNSsSBXrStHBEhZQ=s617" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="617" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhU97qljf1lY7yywZxuhQYHtc7vQIX486iKbCpl0GdS0xscv9-H8qCzK8B6q32cjzngnc_0Juh5XRLO83O-sAwOkVSp189Yyi8WSl8sydYXa8Ec9-MasRPRJi0iJQq0KEtmD6KzsMP0zPJrUy01czR-z4x3cO-pE7xQulCN4iXlDbkNSsSBXrStHBEhZQ=w400-h214" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>This screenshot from EVO: Expanded shows two features that could be implemented via Lua: 1) </i><i><i>An Outfitter-screen listing of weapons' damage values and rate of fire as part of their basic stats display; and</i> 2) </i><i>The ability to sell your outfits on any inhabited planet, curtailing the need to fly across the galaxy whenever you run out of ammo.</i></div><div><br /><p> As always, thanks for reading everyone. I hope you find your holidays full of rest, love, and joy.<br /></p></div>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-42659157012515320712021-11-13T06:13:00.004-08:002021-11-13T06:22:56.981-08:00Flexibility and Tonnage Curves<p><u><b>TL;DR:</b></u> <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tech Generator</a> can now be configured to generate weapons that are <i>different</i> from EVO. It's currently a little clunky, so I'm improving its flexibility, particularly enabling users to create a "mana curve" / "tonnage curve" for their TC, and also enabling really unique weapons like the Plasma Siphon.<br /></p><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Most Recent Progress</u></h2><p> At the last blog post, the Tech Generator was successfully creating EVO-style weaponry. At that time, all of the values were hardcoded ā EVO-style weapons were the <i>only</i> types of weapons it could ever produce.</p><p> This month, I hit another big milestone: the values used to generate weapons are no longer hardcoded, instead being provided by the user in a "Weapons Configuration" table. This means it can now produce weapons for a TC, based on the user's specifications! Woohoo!</p><p> With that said, it's currently a bit clunky and restrictive in <i>how</i> it generates weapons. I'm currently in the middle of making some revisions to streamline it and improve its flexibility. I'll talk about one of the big concepts I'm trying to support below.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Overall Status</u></h2><p> When I started working on the Tech Generator, I really wasn't sure what exactly it would involve or where the project was going; part of the point of building it was to figure all of that out!</p><p> This month, I've identified a lot of what this generator will need to do, and I now have a rough outline of the stages/milestones it will need to go through:</p><p><span><span> </span>š¢ <u><b>Generate EVO-Style Weaponry:</b></u> I had to figure out <i>how</i> to do this as I was building it.</span><br /><span><span><span> </span>š¢ <u><b>Generate Weaponry Per User Specifications</b></u></span></span><span><u><b>:</b></u> Now it can produce a TC's weapons! Sort of.</span><br /><span> </span>š” <u><b>Streamline & Improve Flexibility</b></u><span><u><b>:</b></u> Giving the user a lot of power to define what their TC's weapons should be like.</span><br /><span> </span>āŖ <u><b>Test Flexibility by Generating Weapons in the Style of Frozen Heart, <a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank">Ares</a>, Nova</b></u><span><u><b>:</b></u> I anticipate I'll have to add some miscellaneous features as I do this, especially for Nova, whose weapons are often complex.</span><br /><span> </span>āŖ <u><b>Generate Outfits</b></u><span><u><b>:</b></u> These <i>should</i> be comparatively simple compared to weapons. š¤</span><br /><span> </span>āŖ <u><b>Add a "Specials" System</b></u><span><u><b>:</b></u> Inspired by classic RPGs, this would be a system whereby the player can find modified or upgraded copies of a given weapon type ā for example, discovering a one-of-a-kind customized Blaze Cannon that deals extra damage with each shot.</span><br /><span> </span>āŖ <u><b>Explore Design Concepts from <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en" target="_blank"><i>Magic: the Gathering</i></a> Using the Generator</b></u><span><u><b>:</b></u> In theory, the "Specials" system will enable a lot of strategy-design concepts from <i>Magic</i>; I'll have to test that out once the "Specials" are ready.</span><br /><span> </span>āŖ <u><b>Streamline, Reflect, Miscellaneous Updates, add Documentation, Etc</b></u><span><u><b>:</b></u> Basically the nuts & bolts of making it a fully-developed, user friendly, helpful tool.<br /></span></p><p> </p><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Balance Concept ā "Tonnage Curve"</u></h2><p> I play <i>Magic: the Gathering</i>, and I like to build themed "cubes". A cube is essentially like a <i>Magic</i> mini-game, a customized play environment that a group of players can use for a play session. Each cube has a unique gameplay feel, and unique card interactions, compared to playing the game normally. In some ways, a cube is the <i>Magic</i> equivalent of a small-scale Total Conversion plug-in, so I was wondering if I could transfer my cube-design approach to my work on Orion Skies.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>What is Mana Curve?</u> <br /></h3><p> One of the foundational concepts to designing a cube with an interesting strategic environment is called "Mana Curve". In <i>Magic</i>, each card is a spell, and each spell costs a certain amount of mana to cast. The player only has so much mana available at any given time, and part of the game's strategy is managing your spell costs to make maximum use of your mana supply.</p><p> To make it possible & interesting for players to maximize their mana usage while also pursuing all of their other strategic goals, cubes are designed with a "mana curve", which is essentially a plan for how many cards of any given cost will exist in the cube. When you take an ideal distribution of mana cost numbers and plot it on a graph, it makes a curve:<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/p0jCml5.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="800" height="245" src="https://i.imgur.com/p0jCml5.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>An ideal mana curve for a cube, as described <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/mtgcube/comments/6bm52c/why_curve_matters_almost_more_than_anything_else/" target="_blank">here</a>.</i><br /></p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Likely EVx Equivalent: Tonnage</u><br /></h3><p> I think weapons and outfits in EVx can be roughly analogous to cards in <i>Magic</i>. In <i>Magic</i>, you try to build the best deck possible by choosing what cards to put in it; in EVx, you try to make your ship as good as possible by choosing what weapons and outfits to put on it. It's not a perfect analogy, but I think there are enough parallels there to do some interesting design work.<br /></p><p> If we're equating outfits to cards, I think the <i>closest</i> equivalent in EVx to mana cost is the outfit's tonnage. In <i>Magic</i>, you are trying to always make maximum use of your available mana supply; in EVx, you are trying to always make maximum use of your ship's available weapons space. (Mana supply and weapons space work a bit differently, but again, I think there are enough parallels that it's worth exploring.)</p><p> Based on these ideas, <b>Tonnage Curve</b> would be the distribution of outfit tonnages and quantities within an EVx scenario. It's something worth thinking about when designing a TC, although different TCs would likely want their "Tonnage Curve" to look different:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>EVC, EVO, and EVN</i> all generally limit their outfits to about 40 tons or below, with a few exceptions.</li><li><i>Ares</i>, if it were used as the setting for an EVx scenario, would feature numerous weapons over 100 tons that smaller ships simply couldn't fit.</li><li>In your TC, do you want to have lots of larger weapons like Ares, or do you want to keep the weapons smaller like the base EV series?<br /></li><li>Within the range you choose, do you want to have more smaller weapons, or more larger ones?<br /></li><li>Do you want the player to gain exponentially more power by mounting larger weapons, or should there be "diminishing returns" as weapon size increases?</li><li>Maybe you want to have a few <i>really</i> big weapons, which take up a majority of a ship's weapon space, along with some smaller weapons that players can use to fill in the gaps?</li><li>Etc...</li></ul><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Tech Generator Updates</u> <br /></h3><p> I've done some pondering of these questions for Orion Skies specifically, and I don't have any final answers yet, but I do know that I want the Tech Generator to be able to support whatever I decide on. As such, some of the flexibility improvements I'm making to it now are focused on giving the user more options to control the distribution of weapons tonnages.<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2j2Px5F2wedrZ-iEP6MBo8ngUjuEqxGWFzKHAgN9i1nCNEH0nR6F-5qlPt-uKKQ-GU6BIWK0WNyY_w8O-zO8qfALo-E8vwbACIgwVGqY7I7EnI8NjdpYSlpH7qMCpEK_2lRwnxDiBwO_T-wRRCco2pAhIRNx9G9C9sQ0Cwx0wLsnC1KmlIcA9g9chZQ=s832" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="832" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2j2Px5F2wedrZ-iEP6MBo8ngUjuEqxGWFzKHAgN9i1nCNEH0nR6F-5qlPt-uKKQ-GU6BIWK0WNyY_w8O-zO8qfALo-E8vwbACIgwVGqY7I7EnI8NjdpYSlpH7qMCpEK_2lRwnxDiBwO_T-wRRCco2pAhIRNx9G9C9sQ0Cwx0wLsnC1KmlIcA9g9chZQ=w400-h208" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Some experimentation with possible Tonnage Curve ideas for Orion Skies.</i><br /></p><p></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Wrapping Things Up</u><br /></h2><p> That's it for this month's blog post, folks! For those who read all the way through, thanks for indulging my wild ideas. I'm looking forward to continuing the work and seeing where all of this leads. :)<br /></p>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-64691945226688704672021-10-17T07:34:00.001-07:002022-01-17T10:15:11.841-08:00Tech Generator Progress<p> <u><b>TL;DR:</b></u> The <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">EV Tech Generator</a> is now producing a full range of weapons in the style of EV Override! I need to do final checks to confirm that they're all working correctly, then I'll move on to generating outfits. :)</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>EV Tech Generator</u></h2><p> A few weeks ago I went down a conceptual rabbit-hole in which I thought about using design concepts from Magic: the Gathering to guide the creation of weapons and outfits in Orion Skies. In this paradigm, each outfit would be roughly analogous being its own Magic card.</p><p> Magic cards have two properties that I felt were worth exploring further in connection to this idea:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>There are <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=cmc%3E%3D0&unique=cards&as=grid&order=name" target="_blank">a <i><u>lot</u></i> of unique cards</a>.</li><li>Although each card is unique, they also follow well-defined rules governing how much each card costs & what it can do.</li></ol><p> To pursue those properties in an EVx context, I began working on the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">EV Tech Generator</a>:<br /></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>A procedural generator will be very helpful if I decide to include large quantities of weapons and outfits in Orion Skies.</li><li>The process of creating the generator is forcing me to decide what "rules" should govern what each weapon or outfit should be able to do in Orion Skies, to keep everything balanced. <br /></li></ol><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Current Status</u> <br /></h2><p> Right now, the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">EV Tech Generator</a> is at "first draft" status for generating EVO-style weaponry. It has Settings to configure whether its weapons should more strictly match classic EVO, versus generating weapons using the principles of EVO: Expanded.</p><p> Here are the weapon types it currently generates:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Basic Cannons</li><li>Rapidfire Cannons (e.g. Gatling Blaze Cannon)</li><li>Burst Cannons (e.g. Burst Phase Cannon)</li><li>Forward-Only Turrets (e.g. Forward Phase Turret)</li><li>360<span class="font3" id="degree-symbol">Ā°</span> Turrets</li><li>Beams</li><li>Beam Turrets</li><li>Basic Rocket Launchers</li><li>Turreted Rocket Launchers</li><li>Long-Range Forward-Swivel Rocket Launchers</li><li>Guided Missiles</li><li>Homing Pulses (e.g. SAD Modules)</li><li>Bomb Pods (e.g. Defence Pods)</li></ol><p> For these generated weapons, they vary from each other in the following ways:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>How much space they require</li><li>How much Shield vs Armor damage they do</li><li>How much damage they do per shot, versus their rate of fire</li><li>Accurracy</li><li>Speed at which the projectile moves</li><li>Maximum range (configurable in Settings)</li></ol><p> With this said, there are some "oddball" weapons in EVO, such as the Plasma Siphon or the Mine Layer, that fall outside of the weapons this tool will generate. Oddball weapons are inherently difficult to procedurally generate and, I think, are best left to plug-in authors to create manually.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj--e2DW4hlfSDbnq-CE6MFwFlB45CkAbVrWESq_X9FJ1C8eiU5Q-OHWtVJjrlhmoGiEWzTfCdzji-w_GRn1np9QJTBq9aD9MdRiHPb8XlKrS_snuYTW8Lh8nM4T5h9BrJi-Sj-EKUdjp-ZtXCeDL_9KhSZ7ra7uRG7_FXpW4UjRjF272Durpx04B5egQ=s617" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="617" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj--e2DW4hlfSDbnq-CE6MFwFlB45CkAbVrWESq_X9FJ1C8eiU5Q-OHWtVJjrlhmoGiEWzTfCdzji-w_GRn1np9QJTBq9aD9MdRiHPb8XlKrS_snuYTW8Lh8nM4T5h9BrJi-Sj-EKUdjp-ZtXCeDL_9KhSZ7ra7uRG7_FXpW4UjRjF272Durpx04B5egQ=w400-h214" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>EVO: Expanded made some additions and adjustments to the weapons compared with base EVO.</i><br /></div><div><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Balance Concepts</u><br /></h2><p> To ensure the weapons are balanced against each other and thus would make for an interesting game scenario, there are a few concepts that guide their creation:</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Heaviness</u></h3><p> A Blaze Cannon takes up 5 tons; a Neutron Cannon takes up 15 tons and does correspondingly more damage. In this generator, that dynamic is called "Heaviness", where a Blaze Cannon is treated as a lightweight cannon and a Neutron Cannon as a heavy cannon. You see a similar trend in EVO around the sizes of rockets and missiles, with Needles being lightest and Hunters being heaviest.</p><p> In this generator, Heaviness is one of the first stats calculated for a given weapon. It's configurable in the Settings to either: A) exactly match the heavinesses we see in EVO (i.e. every Basic Cannon takes either 5 tons or 15 tons); or B) to be more fluid and dynamic (i.e. Basic Cannons can also exist at 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 or 14 tons).</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Average Damage</u><br /></h3><p> One of the really neat dynamics in EVO is the differentiation of Shields vs Armor; some ships' health is primarily Shields and others' is primarily Armor; and some weapons do primarily Shield Damage and others do more Armor Damage.</p><p> To accommodate weapons that deal different sorts of damage while balancing them in comparison to each other, this generator focuses primarily on their <i>Average</i> damage output when calculating stats and balancing things, but then randomly determines how much that damage should focus on Shields vs Armor.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Damage Per Second</u></h3><p> This is incredibly important for balance. If you have a Crescent Warship, and you are slugging it out with an AI Crescent Warship, the winner will tend to be determined by who is doing more damage faster. This Generator keeps close track of how much Damage Per Second, or "DPS", each weapon is doing.</p><p> Generally speaking, Heavier weapons deal more DPS. Additionally, weapons with targeting/guidance options tend to have lesser DPS (i.e. a Missile will do less DPS than an otherwise equivalent Rocket).<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Damage Per Ton</u></h3><p> This also is incredibly important, for secondary weapons like Rockets and Missiles. Because your ship can only carry so much ammunition, there is a limit to how much total damage you will be able to dish out with a given weapon system. To ensure that weapons' total damage outputs would tend to be balanced relative to each other regardless of how big the player's ship is, this generator keeps track of "Damage Per Ton", or "DPT".</p><p> This is calculated by assuming the player purchases a launcher and maxes out the ammo for it; by comparing the total damage output to the total tonnage, we can find how much damage is being dealt for each ton of space.</p><p> DPT follows similar trends to DPS: Heavier weapons deal more DPT, and guided weapons deal less. By arming your ship with bigger, heavier, clunkier, more-difficult-to-aim weapons, you can get more total damage output out of your ship. <br /></p><p> There is a downside to doing this: In order to balance DPT, the Generator needs to impose maximum-ammo limits on each launcher type. This was done in EVO: Expanded, but <i>not</i> in classic EV Override. I put an option in the Settings tab to let the user choose whether to impose this type of balancing or not. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>Future Concepts?</u><br /></h3><p></p><p> As I continue to add new capabilities and layers to this generator, I'll be keeping an eye out for balance, and that may mean discovering & encoding new balance concepts.<br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Future Plans</u> <br /></h2><p> Right now I
need to take some time to confirm that everything it's currently generating is
perfect, and to make any needed corrections. After that, I'll work on
the following:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Generating EVO-style outfits (fuel scoops, armor upgrades, afterburners, etc).</li><li>A second "generation mode" that produces <i><a href="https://arescentral.org/" target="_blank">Ares</a></i>-style weaponry.</li><li>Possibly
some kind of "combined"/"other" mode that could mix-and-match weaponry
from both EVO and Ares, and possibly include entirely new types as well.<br /></li><li>Adding
additional optional layers, configurable in the Settings, that don't
exist in EVO/Ares ā for some examples: "shotgun" weapons; point-defense
weapons; lateral thrusters; point-blank weapons; faction-based stat effects; outfits that affect multiple different stats; weapons that affect your ship's stats.</li></ol><p> </p><p> ...and that's all for this update. I wish everyone in the community well and I look forward to updating everyone about new progress in the future. :) </p></div>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-53971730759613374132021-09-26T14:45:00.012-07:002022-01-17T10:11:47.377-08:00Ares-on-CFO and Lua Mods<p> <u><b>TL;DR:</b></u> Iām planning to make Lua mods to bring a number of Ares features onto CFO. These mods will be usable with the Override scenario and will take on a life of their own beyond Ares.<br /><br /> With the new āModboxā channel on the <a href="https://discord.gg/VnsPyKJA" target="_blank">Evocation Games Discord server</a>, discussion looks to start really heating up around modding for <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cosmicfrontier/cosmic-frontier-override/" target="_blank">Cosmic Frontier</a>. And although Iām intentionally keeping my plans for Orion Skies very flexible at this point, I do have specific plans to first create an adaptation of Ares for CFO, along with accompanying Lua-feature mods. I figured this is a good time to share more details of what the Ares adaptation and its Lua mods will entail.<br /><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Ares</b></u></h2><p> <a href="https://arescentral.org/about" target="_blank">Ares</a> is a 2D space action game, released by Ambrosia back when the EV series was current, with very similar overall physics to the EV series. The biggest gameplay difference is that, instead of making your way as a private citizen in the galaxy, you are leading military forces in a structured campaign to liberate the Earth from evil aliens. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDynjXVj79U" target="_blank">Hereās a āLetās Play Aresā video</a> on YouTube that shows how a few different types of missions work in Ares.</p><p>Because of its similarities, many of the unique concepts and features in Ares should translate directly to CFO and enhance the Override gameplay experience, as well as providing additional capabilities to modders. I would love to make use of a number of Ares features for Orion Skies, so I am hoping to actually create a full adaptation of Ares on the Cosmic Frontier engine prior to actually starting to build OS.</p><p> This Ares adaptation will have two components:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Scenario data in conventional plug-in/KDL form for the Ares campaign.</li><li>Several Lua mods adding Ares features to CFO.</li></ol><p> (For those unaware: one of the most exciting features of Cosmic Frontier: Override is that a large portion of its game code will be implemented as moddable scripts in the Lua language; this opens up the possibility for modders to change the way the game actually works, including by adding entirely new features to the game!)</p><p> Iām planning to build the Lua-feature mods initially to support the Ares adaptation, but once that is done they will take on a life of their own and continue to grow in functionality for use with Override, Orion Skies, and any other mods folks want to make with them.</p><p> I wanted to write this blog post in order to outline roughly what these planned Lua mods will do:<br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJZFUfZCLGhdZFQu6-crbCZTNYvsxG2He-SrwsWxm_MeHBWYpi7ysg6GSO0-zJWuGd8_ZfYpoP9OFHMavwln2Y5p14TG4lt5fWP1CFL4dIT0fyhpbMR_Q5O8wvDBep_s045_8oijQb-Sptp6yRDRx-HjGgKeKofX9LjNO6vtG8Pn3N1g1zLHwZeiR9EA=s1000" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="1000" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJZFUfZCLGhdZFQu6-crbCZTNYvsxG2He-SrwsWxm_MeHBWYpi7ysg6GSO0-zJWuGd8_ZfYpoP9OFHMavwln2Y5p14TG4lt5fWP1CFL4dIT0fyhpbMR_Q5O8wvDBep_s045_8oijQb-Sptp6yRDRx-HjGgKeKofX9LjNO6vtG8Pn3N1g1zLHwZeiR9EA=w640-h309" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>If you have a Mac, <a href="https://arescentral.org/antares" target="_blank">there is already an excellent free port of Ares to modern Mac operating systems</a>, called Antares. I highly recommend giving it a try.</i><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Lua mod: āApollo Displaysā</b></u></h2><p> Ares is a very media-rich game, with soundtrack music playing throughout the game, multiple ācutsceneā-type videos appearing at different points in the game, a background image on its galactic map, etc. This mod will initially be built to enable that sort of media playback.</p><p> Moving beyond Ares and towards Orion Skies, I hope to alter the way systems in a nebula appear on the map so that you can still see the nebula background inside the little circle icon for the system; this is because in Orion Skies Iāll be using an actual Hubble image of the Orion Nebula as a background, and will place the systems over actual stars; Iād like for the stars to remain visible on the map and not be covered up by the system icons.<br /><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Lua mod: āAudemedon AIā</b></u></h2><p> One of the top features I always think about with Ares is its AI. It doesnāt joust with you, EVx-style. It doesnāt sit there and slug it out with you until someone blows up, RTS-style.</p><p> <b><i>It <u>dogfights</u>.</i></b></p><p> It literally tries to circle around and get behind you so that it can shoot you without getting hit back. And if it does end up in a head-on position with you? It calculates health & DPS, determines who would die first if you slug it out, and either presses its advantage or peels away to work around behind you. If youāre in a fast ship and try to Monty Python it? Itāll dodge your fire while trying to work its way closer or buy time for its allies to do so. And if you shoot a missile at it, itāll try to dodge the missile...</p><p> Aside from that, the Ares warship AI has sophisticated military objectives, like protecting a specific allied ship or attacking a specific enemy location, with a ācommandā AI that manages which ships take which objectives.</p><p> As I build the Ares adaptation, Iāll be aiming to implement all of the above. Looking beyond that, I hope to expand on the AIās skill-set with CFO specifically in mind, looking into things like circle-strafing, staying at optimal combat ranges (the AI could Monty-Python <i>you</i>!) strategic spraying to try to find & hit cloaked ships, etc. Probably all of this being configurable via AI difficulty / skill settings.<br /><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Lua mod: āDemeter Commandā</b></u></h2><p> Ares is based on flying a ship in combat while simultaneously building & commanding a fleet of other ships. Iām hoping to be able to use Lua to update the āescortā system in CFO to replicate this functionality:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Ability to swap ships with an escort mid-flight.</li><li>(And automatically swap ships when your current ship blows up!)</li><li>Updating the āhire escortā concept into a ābuild warshipā concept.</li><li>Increase maximum number of escorts well beyond six.</li><li>Ability to give commands to one individual escort of your choice at a time.</li><li>Additionally, āescort missionsā work differently in Ares -- you have to protect the ship youāre escorting until it makes it to the planet/jumpgate/whatever. (Whereas, in EVx you can usually abandon the convoy youāre āescortingā and rush to the destination, ignoring anything happening in the system.) Ares-style escorting opens up a lot of interesting and challenging gameplay, so Iām hoping to get it working in CFO.</li></ul><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Lua mod: āIshiman Outfitsā</b></u></h2><p> Ares ships have some features & capabilities, and weapons, that simply canāt exist currently on the Nova engine. Here are some Ares-style outfit and weapon types Iām hoping to get working on CFO:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><u><b>Radar Screen Highlights:</b></u> This would just highlight the part of your radar map that you can actually see on-screen. Ideally Iāll be able to implement this as a new type of radar-enhancement outfit similar to an IFF Decoder or a Density Scanner.</li><li><u><b>Radar Symbols:</b></u> Different ships would appear on your radar screen not as dots, but as symbols. For example, Cruisers would be big diamonds, Fighters would be small triangles, and Freighters would be plusāes. Missiles and rockets would appear as small dots. Again, ideally this would be tied to an outfit.</li><li><u><b>Corrective Thrust:</b></u> In Ares, whenever youāre holding down the thrust key, your ship moves in a way that is <i>nearly</i> āinertialessā. I say <i>nearly</i> because although your ship tries to always move the direction youāre facing, it does actually slide around a little; the lower your acceleration, the more sliding it does. Iād like for make this behavior happen in CFO, tied to an outfit.</li><li><u><b>Light Drive:</b></u> In Ares, many ships have intra-system warp drives, allowing you to travel to distant locations within a system in a short amount of time. This would open up some neat possibilities for CFO mods involving very large systems. :)</li><li><u><b>Ares Beams:</b></u> Beam weapons work a bit differently in Ares; the beam will always be created at just the right angle & length to hit the nearest hostile; after being created, it will maintain that length & distance to keep hitting that same spot (and any ships that remain, or wander into, that spot), until it expires. The Audemedon Carrier can get a fearsome array of several beams going at once, surrounding itself with deadly purple rays. Itās a very distinctive feature of that ship, so hopefully I can get it working on CFO.</li><li><u><b>Directional Indicator:</b></u> In Ares, thereās a little triangle on the screen that shows you what direction your ship is facing. Itās very handy for aiming! As with the other things in this list, Iād like to make this an outfit that adds this feature to your screen.</li><li><u><b>Brakes:</b></u> Ships in Ares can brake to a stop. Itās handy, especially for new players, and it also allows you to take up specific positions in combat.</li></ul><p>All of these outfits will be available for modders to add to the Override scenario or to any TC projects.<br /><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Lua mod: āPalyos Physicsā</b></u></h2><p> A big part of this planned Lua mod focuses on asteroids:</p><p> The asteroids in Ares are very interactive. They block cannon fire & missiles, and you can even bump into them with your ship! When dogfighting amongst asteroids, you have to be very aware & intentional about how you maneuver to use the asteroids to your advantage rather than getting messed up by them. Some asteroids deal immense damage when they collide with a ship, so avoiding them & trying to lure your enemies into them is a big part of the strategy.</p><p> Systems can also have their asteroids configured in specific ways, like having actual asteroid belts.</p><p> Lastly for asteroids, in Ares any ships that are located within an asteroid field or belt are hidden from long-distance radar, enabling some neat guerilla/ambush tactics.</p><p> Another neat feature of Ares I hope to implement in this Lua mod: ships visibly land on planets, flying down to the surface.</p><p> Looking beyond Ares, there are some other physics-related features Iād like to include in this Lua mod:<br /></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><u><b>True Speed:</b></u> In Nova, when youāre not playing on Strict Play your ship gets a generous boost to its top speed compared with AI ships of the same type; Iād like to make it possible to play the game at your shipās true top speed, even when not on Strict Play.</li><li><u><b>Planetside Spawning:</b></u> AI ships to sometimes appear via launching from a friendly planet in the system, instead of always jumping in from hyperpsace.</li><li><u><b>Sensor Murk:</b></u> Murkiness in nebula systems to be able to shroud ships from long-distance radar.</li><li><u><b>System Jump Distance:</b></u> Modders to be able to set how far from a systemās center a ship has to be before it can jump to hyperspace, setting this on a system-by-system basis.</li></ol><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Lua mod: āSecorem Scriptingā</b></u></h2> Missions in Ares tend to be more complex than in the EV series. For example, one mission includes the following components:<br /><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Pirates have disabled a passenger liner; you must destroy the pirates while simultaneously ensuring that the passenger liner does not get destroyed by stray fire.</li><li>Then you must rescue the linerās escape pods, which are floating about the system.</li><li>After you do that, a friendly tractor tug jumps into the system to pull the liner to safety; you must now protect both the tug and the liner while the tug flies over to the liner. There are also two friendly light warships with a dedicated mission of protecting the tug.</li><li>Once the tractor tug reaches the liner, it locks on with a tractor beam and begins pulling the liner to the systemās jump-gate, where it will be pulled to a safe system. You must continue to protect both the tug and the liner until they are safely through the jumpgate.</li><li>Shortly after the tug locks on, a hostile force jumps into the system and attacks; you must fend them off.</li><li>When the liner safely exits the system through the jump gate, if the tug is also still alive, the mission is completed.</li></ol><p> All of the above elements occur in ONE mission. There is quite a lot of complexity in terms of waiting for certain events to happen, collecting multiple items from throughout a system, AI ships having dedicated goals, triggered events happening at multiple points, and having to simultaneously protect certain ships and destroy others. Some of those things would be difficult to make happen on the Nova engine; others would be impossible.</p><p> The major focus of this Lua mod would be to enable missions, and scripted systems, of this complexity to exist in CFO.</p><p> In addition, there are some other āscriptingā and āscenarioā type elements Iād like to get working, for Ares and beyond it looking at Orion Skies:<br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b><u>Button Names:</u></b> Each spob to be able to override the names of its buttons; e.g. a small ranger outpost on a planet being terraformed could have a āKitchenā instead of a āSpaceport Barā; a military base could have an āArmoryā instead of an āOutfittersā; etc. Similarly, outfits would be able to override their button names, with titles like āInstallā or āActivateā instead of āBuyā.</li><li><u><b>Dude Extensions:</b></u> In EVx, ship spawns are controlled via the ādudeā resource, where for example a Renegade ship spawn has a certain % chance to be a Krait, a % chance to be a Helian, and a % chance to be a Turncoat. This works well in the basic case, but when ship variants start to get involved a single Dude resource can potentially need numerous ship entries, and it can be a lot of work to keep track of and update all relevant āDudesā when a new ship variant is introduced. So Iām hoping to be able to set up āDudes within Dudesā, where for example there could be one Dude resource could have all variants of a single ship class, and other Dude resources could then reference that variants-Dude.</li><li><u><b>Render Aid:</b></u> This would be simple: when boarding a disabled ship, youād have the option to render aid to the ship & its crew, instead of plundering it. So if you really like the UE, and you see one of their Destroyers get disabled in a battle with the Voinians, you would be able to try and help get it working again so it could live to fight another day.</li><li><u><b>Auto-Variants:</b></u> Ship variants can take a lot of work to set up and coordinate across all of the relevant resources, especially when tonnage changes are made to ships or outfits, or when new outfits are added that would logically find their way onto multiple types of ships from time to time. So Iām not 100% sure if I want to do this, but Iām seriously considering building a Lua feature that will automatically evaluate what outfits are available and procedurally determine what outfits each ship should have as that ship spawns. This would likely be a lot of work to get up and running, but could save a lot of time & headaches on Orion Skies and other TCs in the long run.</li></ul><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Other Lua Features TBD!</b></u></h2><p> In addition to everything mentioned above, there are a few more minor features Iām thinking about, as well as others that Iāll re-discover as I work on the Ares adaptation, and others that Iāll only think of once Iām actually playing and tinkering with the game. So the six Lua mods mentioned here will likely end up with additional capabilities beyond what is described in this blog post.</p><p> ...and, thatās it! Thanks for reading, folks. Iām looking forward to getting to work on this stuff, and I hope others in the community find it enjoyable and useful. :)</p>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-16134548514388269112021-09-18T07:26:00.002-07:002022-01-17T10:08:47.758-08:00Rabbit Holes & Weapon Generators<p><span> This month, I went down a rabbit hole of ideas based on Magic: the Gathering, which ultimately led me to start work on a <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">weapons & outfits generator</a>!</span></p><p><span> </span>In last month's blog post, I wrote about designing "cubes" in Magic: the Gathering, and about how I felt in some ways cubes are analogous to TCs, and how some aspects of cube design can transfer to TC design; I also wrote about ideas for Orion Skies from the paradigm of cube design.<span></span> </p><p><span> One set of concepts that I use when designing cubes, I call "MSCTT". That stands for "Mechanics, Synergies, Counters, Tradeoffs, and Tension". These ideas help me design interesting interactions between the cards in a cube so that the cards can be woven by players into interesting deck strategies & matchups.</span><span><span> <br /></span></span></p><p><span><span> The concepts of "MSCTT" are very heavily based on the specific ways in which Magic's strategy is designed. I ended last month's blog post with the idea that I would have to spend some time pondering the differences & potential parallels between Magic and EVx in order to be able to apply the "MSCTT" concepts to TC design. Since then, I have spent many of my commutes thinking about just that!</span></span></p><p><span><span> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span><span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6HVs7tjb-JKI6zCPMjh66V-6avqDSob5502oNmCU9gXWumKuli_tCDb2GUFFmQjkHWtSkLVFy9MamcbzlMUSMyR9Q9oyAda0MUVcml7T1nPK_bz9-s0jJX8wkcFq8ZGl4McF-_efWXezHzhLhzNXOSqVZRe6VmQ5PVk8H7SwOhR6FCXSCQ2YprvRY8w=s2117" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1496" data-original-width="2117" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6HVs7tjb-JKI6zCPMjh66V-6avqDSob5502oNmCU9gXWumKuli_tCDb2GUFFmQjkHWtSkLVFy9MamcbzlMUSMyR9Q9oyAda0MUVcml7T1nPK_bz9-s0jJX8wkcFq8ZGl4McF-_efWXezHzhLhzNXOSqVZRe6VmQ5PVk8H7SwOhR6FCXSCQ2YprvRY8w=w400-h283" width="400" /></a></span></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span><span><i>The first "MSCTT" diagram I ever made for a cube ā it added a lot of depth to the final creation! </i> <br /></span></span></p><p><span><span> </span></span></p><p><span><span> Long story short, all of this thinking has ultimately led me to start working on a tool to procedurally generate weapons and outfits. There are a few main reasons for this:</span></span></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span><span><u><b>Volume:</b></u> When building a Magic deck, one has hundreds (or even thousands) of cards to choose from, selecting dozens of them to go into the deck. I think selecting cards for a deck is analogous to selecting weapons and outfits for a ship. If I try to replicate Magicās massive selection with weapons and outfits in EVx, a tool to help me produce large numbers of them will be incredibly helpful.</span></span></li><li><span><span><u><b>Rules:</b></u> Although Magic has a vast number of cards that do an unfathomable variety of different things, there are strong rules that guide what sorts of things each card is allowed to do based on how much in-game resources it costs and what overall type of card it is. The foundations of these rules are cost, base stats, and special abilities. To make "MSCTT" work in EVx, I will have to come up with an analogous set of rules for what different weapons and outfits are "allowed" to do in Orion Skies, trying to maximize overall variety in a strategically balanced manner. And as long as I'm creating these rules, I may as well write them down in some form of code and use that for a generator!<br /></span></span></li><li><span><span><u><b>Ideation:</b></u> I often struggle to come up with fresh ideas for things like new weapons or outfits, which leads me to end up falling into the same sorts of patterns over and over, or to create things that are somewhat simplistic in concept. It generally takes some time & reflection for me to refine my ideas to bring in more complexity and nuance. However, procedural generators are great for creating things with that sort of refinement baked in from the beginning. So when I build Orion Skies, it would be great if I could start by running a generator, then review the output and adjust it by hand to what is needed.<br /></span></span></li></ol><p><span><span> In any case, I'd like to introduce the (extremely incomplete!) <b>"<a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iRvFzGBanZFGzsS57eQLN7AbkGLyw-0-8EKmvuBvfmo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">EV Tech Generator</a>"</b>, currently an early Work-In-Progress version.</span></span></p><p><span><span> Ultimately, the goal is to make it generate weapons and outfits in any of 3 modes, selectable by the user in the Settings tab:</span></span></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span><span><u><b>Override-like Weapons & Outfits:</b></u> This mode is particularly aligned with the design principles of EVO: Expanded. This will hopefully be beneficial for modders in the future creating non-TC plug-ins for Cosmic Fontier: Override. Additionally, it seemed like a good place to start working as Iām quite familiar with this paradigm, which means I can focus on building the generator logic without having to also figure out what it should be generating! As I write, the Tech Generator is able to create Override-like Primary / non-ammo-using weapons, and that seems to be working great! There are a few additions and improvements I want to make to that, and later Iāll make it generate Secondary / Ammo-based weapons, as well as Outfits.</span></span></li><li><span><span><u><b>Ares-like Weapons:</b></u> Iāve always thought that Ares had so much in common with the EV series, it made natural sense for players to enjoy both games and for ideas to cross-pollinate between them. Ares is very combat-focused, and has a unique weapons paradigm that facilitates intricate dogfighting-esque gameplay. I felt this was worth exploring in an EV/CF context. Additionally, I am hoping to eventually create an adaptation of the stock Ares scenario for the Cosmic Frontier engine, and an Ares-aligned weapon generator may be helpful for any folks who, some day, may be interested in creating plug-ins for Ares-on-CFO.</span></span></li><li><span><span><u><b>Magic-inspired Weapons & Outfits:</b></u> This mode of the generator will attempt to generate weapons and outfits inspired by Magicās strategic paradigms, trying to achieve maximum potential for complex & creative planning when a player is trying to decide what weapons and outfits to buy for their ship. If this turns out well, I will likely use it to facilitate the design of weapons and outfits for Orion Skies, trying to realize the ācubeā design concepts Iāve been pondering during my commutes this month. (And if it doesnāt turn out well, no worries; Iāll just find a different approach for Orion Skies, hah!)</span></span></li></ol><span><span> In any case, thatās the rabbit hole Iāve been down this month. For the next few weeks or more, I plan to focus my development efforts on this Tech Generator, and Iāll probably be posting periodic updates about it on the Discord servers for <a href="https://discord.gg/KrwCTT63" target="_blank">EV Nova</a> and <a href="https://discord.gg/w6TsN5jF" target="_blank">Cosmic Frontier</a>. I hope this will turn out to be something that is useful to the wider community. :) <br /></span></span>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-43121056415306568412021-08-21T06:06:00.007-07:002022-01-17T10:19:22.857-08:00Design Concepts from Magic: the Gathering<p> <u><b>tl;dr:</b></u> Building a "cube" in Magic: the Gathering is in many ways similar to building a TC plug-in for the EV/CF series. I've built a few cubes, and in the process I learned a lot about designing them well, and lately I've been thinking about how to adapt those design concepts to an EV/CF context and to Orion Skies specifically.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://starlightrunner.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Magic-The-Gathering-logo-800x279.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="800" height="140" src="https://starlightrunner.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Magic-The-Gathering-logo-800x279.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="http://magic.wizards.com/" target="_blank">Magic</a> is one of the few other games that has truly stood the test of time, at least for me. I definitely recommend trying it if you can find someone to play with.</i><br /></p><p> In addition to the EV series, one of the other handful of games I have enjoyed since childhood is Magic: the Gathering. For those unfamiliar, it's a strategy card game with (currently) <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=year%3E%3D1993&unique=cards&as=grid&order=name" target="_blank">about ~22,000 different cards</a>, each of which has unique abilities. There are a few different ways to play, but it always involves choosing which cards to put in your deck such that the combination of cards will have a coherent strategy. Your opponent(s) have done the same with their deck(s), and when you play you're trying to out-strategize them, essentially.</p><p> Magic cards are released in "sets", with each set containing anywhere from ~150 to ~300 new cards with new abilities. Typically several sets are released each year, and they are designed such that their cards can readily be combined with those from all of the other sets.</p><p> However, each set has its own setting, story, and unique gameplay design, and is intended so that you can, if you choose, play using cards from just that 1 set, using special rules in which you have to essentially improvise your deck on-the-fly using cards from that set. When you play this way, each set feels a lot like a total conversion scenario in the EV series ā it's its own world with its own story and its own challenges. For example, here's <a href="https://scryfall.com/sets/isd?order=name&as=grid" target="_blank">a set with a gothic horror theme</a>, and another <a href="https://scryfall.com/sets/kld?order=name" target="_blank">focused on inventors and technology</a>.<br /></p><p> Some players who enjoy playing this way build what is essentially a custom, fan-made set, combining cards from <a href="https://scryfall.com/sets" target="_blank">all of the different sets from Magic's history</a> to create a combination of cards with its own unique, coherent design. These are called "cubes", and in many ways they are very similar to total conversion plug-ins.<br /></p><p> Several years ago, I started building cubes to play with my friend group. I have four of them at this point, each with its own story/setting and gameplay themes:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>A cube with an apocalyptic setting, inspired by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEJnMQG9ev8" target="_blank">Mad Max</a> and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Mg7qKstnPk" target="_blank">Terminator</a> series.</li><li>A cube inspired by the film "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5guMumPFBag" target="_blank">Pacific Rim</a>", in which massive robots wade out knee-deep into the ocean to fight massive monsters.</li><li>A "machine war" cube, based on the "<a href="https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Brothers%27_War" target="_blank">Brothers' War</a>" story from Magic.</li><li>A cube that just combines 3 <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=block%3Ammq" target="_blank">specific</a> <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=block%3Aody&unique=cards&as=grid&order=name" target="_blank">official</a> <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=block%3Aisd" target="_blank">sets</a> with compatible gameplay <a href="https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Graveyard" target="_blank">themes</a>. </li></ul><div><p> In the process of designing, building, and upgrading/revising these cubes over time, I've learned a lot about designing them well. My current framework for building a cube and ensuring it's interesting and fun is as follows:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><u><b>Bullet-Point Concept:</b></u> Just a few words that describe the gist of what the cube is about, e.g. "Pacific Rim cube" (which, in the Magic context, translates into "ocean-themed, big-creatures-based cube").<br /></li><li><u><b>Unique Gameplay Dynamics:</b></u> What will make playing this cube feel different and novel compared to playing any other cube or set out there?<br /></li><li><u><b>Story:</b></u> Where/when does this take place? What's going on? What are the different characters trying to do?<br /></li><li><u><b>Key Word:</b></u> One word/concept that abstractly captures the "vibe"/"feel" of the cube, in terms of both story and gameplay. For example, my apocalypse-themed cube's keyword is "brutal".<br /></li><li><u><b>"MSCTT":</b></u> This is basically designing the gameplay elements to have interesting interactions with each other and to enable complex strategies. It stands for "Mechanics, Synergies, Counters, Tradeoffs, Tension". Typically I have to draw a diagram to visualize the connections/interactions between different components.<br /></li></ol><p> Why am I spending all this time talking about Magic: the Gathering? Because I think cube design has a lot in common with TC design, and many concepts can apply to both. </p><p> This month, amongst other things I spent some time thinking about how well those 5 design points would translate to an EV/CF context, and how I could use them to guide the design of Orion Skies. Items #1-#4 apply directly, I believe. Item #5, "MSCTT", probably deserves more reflection to figure out how those concepts would best translate to the EV/CF game engine.<br /></p><p> In any case, here are my current (subject to change) thoughts on these design concepts for Orion Skies:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><u><b>Bullet-Point Concept:</b></u> Nebula plug-in + homage to East African culture.<br /></li><li><u><b>Unique Gameplay Dynamics:</b></u> Detection, stealth, and navigation in the nebula fog; high-performance fighters; heavy forward cannons; dodgeable missiles; no Monty Pythonning.<br /></li><li><u><b>Story:</b></u> Set in the Orion Nebula, which has been settled by people of East African descent during the "Great Evacuation" from Earth. Some people live a high-tech "spacer" or "megacity" lifestyle, while others live more traditionally. Much of the nebula remains unexplored, and many wondrous things can be discovered by those who venture away from the settled worlds. (There will be more to this, including some very major pieces, but the details are still a work in progress and not ready for sharing yet.)<br /></li><li><u><b>Key Word:</b></u> I've struggled to settle on just one specific word for this so far. Some candidates include: discovery, wonder, exploration, hope.<br /></li><li><u><b>"MSCTT":</b></u> This will take some time to figure out how best to apply these concepts to an EV/CF setting, and will also require plenty of in-game testing to ensure that my hypothetical ideas work out well in practice.<br /></li></ol><p><br /></p></div>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-42344668793625597382021-07-19T11:24:00.003-07:002021-07-19T11:26:09.662-07:00Clouds & Worldbuilding<p><span> </span>This past month, life has gotten much busier for me. My social group is
all fully vaccinated at this point, so we've been busy getting together in-person again and making up for lost time. Aside from that, Iāve had a number of other things
going on in my personal life ā some fun, and some practical. Overall
life has been good, but Iāve had less time than before for things like
daily 3D work.</p><p><span> </span>With that said, I have made some progress on 3D work since my last update on that, and I've also continued to design the world and scenario for Orion Skies itself.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>3D Clouds</u><br /></h2><p><span> </span>My last update about my progress on 3D graphics was two months ago. After that post, I spent some time trying to learn how to do high-quality 3D clouds and skies.<br /><br /><span> </span>As before, I started by following a ācloudscapeā tutorial from Blender Guru, a 3D artist who has made a number of high-quality tutorials.<br /><br /><span> </span>However, that cloudscape tutorial is several years old, and Blender has changed significantly since then. Some of the features it uses no longer work the same, and many of the buttons and options have been reorganized and I had to find their new locations.<br /><br /><span> </span>Additionally, a lot of new technology has been added to Blender since that time, which should theoretically allow for a number of improvements over the original tutorial's version. After following the tutorial once, I began to experiment with some of that new technology, working towards re-creating the same scene, but modernized.<br /></p><p> There's much more work to be done on that front, and I'm looking forward to getting back into it in a more serious way when time allows.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif9mYFA8jKX36h_bO70LcUmYdyqRXBdEQMSJkUDEX0P7KjaHbGQ7rZJQYkAib9h7IT2TkCw6L3NxCFd-dvBduIWFAjSdd4J0NXnA8_riIfURMIpR__N8w7kkMhAOJty34JhUKtVcPXKIca/s960/Tutorial+Cloudscape.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif9mYFA8jKX36h_bO70LcUmYdyqRXBdEQMSJkUDEX0P7KjaHbGQ7rZJQYkAib9h7IT2TkCw6L3NxCFd-dvBduIWFAjSdd4J0NXnA8_riIfURMIpR__N8w7kkMhAOJty34JhUKtVcPXKIca/s320/Tutorial+Cloudscape.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The final product from the old cloudscape tutorial.</i><br /></div><p> </p><h2><u>Design Work</u></h2><p><span> </span>Although I havenāt been devoting much dedicated daily work-time to Orion Skies, I have continued to think about it regularly, and have been making notes with new ideas. Iāve especially been working on worldbuilding: thinking about human society, history, aliens, technologies, spacecraft, social dynamics, etc ā though Iāve also been thinking about gameplay elements like Lua features and designs for ship and weapons.</p><p> Thereās a lot of progress happening on that front, but I donāt think Iām ready to share any of it at this point ā Iād hate to share something that ends up getting changed or cut when I actually build Orion Skies after CFO is out, or worse yet to share something that I end up deciding to turn into a surprise in-game discovery!<br /><br /><span> </span>As part of this design work, Iāve also been doing some reading and video-watching on topics related to Orion Skies's world. Here are some links that folks may be interested in, in no particular order:<br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Canada_CF-105_Arrow" target="_blank">CF-105 Arrow, the largest fighter plane ever designed</a></li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_B-58_Hustler" target="_blank">B-58 Hustler, a supersonic bomber</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-WO-z-QuWI" target="_blank">How to Terraform Venus</a></li><li><a href="https://www.livescience.com/amp/rare-glass-octopus-sighting.html" target="_blank">"Glass Octopus" Sighting</a><br /></li><li><a href="https://neal.fun/deep-sea/" target="_blank">Interactive Chart of Deep-Sea Animals by Depth</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxAkK8oCewM" target="_blank">Everyday Astronautās rundown of two competing commercial spacecraft</a></li><li><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/WarplanePorn/comments/okxq9w/polish_f16_from_31st_tactical_air_base_in/" target="_blank">Gorgeous footage of an F-16 in flight</a></li><li><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureIsFuckingLit/comments/oks374/beluga_playing_fetch_with_humans/" target="_blank">A beluga whale playing fetch with humans</a></li><li><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/WarplanePorn/comments/oljvhw/a_dassault_rafale_marine_taking_off_from_the/" target="_blank">Gorgeous photo of a Rafale launching from an aircraft carrier</a></li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/WarplanePorn/comments/oljvhw/a_dassault_rafale_marine_taking_off_from_the/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1099" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnrlbA9avpRQrvxXjeVoDdHf6OFjApyJ9rkakATcZz9EvpsMs2Ue-oGracgbk7L-C0wJKwNJt3KuoX4JThQTNYl0dPlrqPWojXKunzd2WGf0sYYToCUafkg7uY-85C5BH-dDDNHKJFMSTK/s320/Rafale+Launch.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>I've spent a lot of time thinking about aircraft carriers and how one would realistically expect a space carrier to work. Here's a photo of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Rafale" target="_blank">Dassault Rafale</a> launching from an aircraft carrier.</i><br /></div><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Practice Gallery</u></h2><p>
Here are some practice renders I've created since the last 3D update. In
these, I was working on creating clouds & skies:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3pXmPVSpybDPLSrIDPAE-L21OQi-ls3Cw1T5j_aLhOkVzWTiOyYsUbii857ow9eCYZ1RAmNEt2OHwPgbZmgUEsRAy6U86jT4Q_bUTbIK6dSuKhWOwEvSzCmiMpvQeWNCtoFwAAhit84Cn/s960/Cloud+Colors.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3pXmPVSpybDPLSrIDPAE-L21OQi-ls3Cw1T5j_aLhOkVzWTiOyYsUbii857ow9eCYZ1RAmNEt2OHwPgbZmgUEsRAy6U86jT4Q_bUTbIK6dSuKhWOwEvSzCmiMpvQeWNCtoFwAAhit84Cn/s320/Cloud+Colors.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz7qglTZCN6SUdI8td7qGD42xrH8XA5tBfuD8QQaEbVM8Yj3tRYiQsJ_qTHdoBBYEJhic52C5Ic9Pv8-Rt_FRujxk2dgsmnY9rQP8l0hel2a-14kWiXavkpR6jnF-MUWniM_3OSp8oXdrI/s480/Curved+Horizon.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz7qglTZCN6SUdI8td7qGD42xrH8XA5tBfuD8QQaEbVM8Yj3tRYiQsJ_qTHdoBBYEJhic52C5Ic9Pv8-Rt_FRujxk2dgsmnY9rQP8l0hel2a-14kWiXavkpR6jnF-MUWniM_3OSp8oXdrI/s320/Curved+Horizon.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_P6mDiega5PTGd5ATPVeurG8FblJd4mnydJqXoWgFrJcuH8fodqli7UoaOgvdRR_FHI6hgJiuyIWmuhpNvrxwMuUbH95v_Lonq3gFvit7WFbSTcHAuqSSkj2dLlH7ZZgbYZlcy1yr4pil/s960/Ocean+Gradient.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_P6mDiega5PTGd5ATPVeurG8FblJd4mnydJqXoWgFrJcuH8fodqli7UoaOgvdRR_FHI6hgJiuyIWmuhpNvrxwMuUbH95v_Lonq3gFvit7WFbSTcHAuqSSkj2dLlH7ZZgbYZlcy1yr4pil/s320/Ocean+Gradient.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisu4HyzuGd6oO3ecm9r9R0ODazx-MsqKCMCBhxiw0CltXV2cZDVPC6y9zEGvBEtz0tdTVqjRptn7VKaYdPDGvsBXQIfdETz3qGye-aeFJ-1HFQBs4Jv3w0EJ1Q7ezfgQm1LEDpPRrLoUWH/s960/Open+Cloudscape.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisu4HyzuGd6oO3ecm9r9R0ODazx-MsqKCMCBhxiw0CltXV2cZDVPC6y9zEGvBEtz0tdTVqjRptn7VKaYdPDGvsBXQIfdETz3qGye-aeFJ-1HFQBs4Jv3w0EJ1Q7ezfgQm1LEDpPRrLoUWH/s320/Open+Cloudscape.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwQmw7R_IdG5pbIV_Usb-_za8jw_9IfJOm1ATyeASItyahvm1_jNejM0pYRlBV_qhy3qJUUga56NlXB4ULlnw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyWNmNraUApVNRuqUUiNyObvspUUT_aaYin2uCa_lHH-tjb-_LMf5PB1cFrf4eBYEqrb66YoIbEPRGCnVVw9Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw02M9AOUqzfqdGnuBmauaMHIphiPxE-rxcoE6KIMISfvlpvakC1SnL1NfeB0k7CZo9T7vCf11jivxNHeF0pw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwsgR5AC5nP94WBzjUXMZ0ehHk6ypPQld2nQqK0f5i-M9G46xBeUmkaf5SE3bZeXQHMIUkDgVF53MnuO4IA3g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzdLLbrLycDc4OioO1ZRN3ygkJ6dilcgHXVxlAVnJ8YVCQCUx9yIwy5Be_3_3OHz4ZGZ9f9XxlPB8iewINFbg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"></p></div>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-59194236956231616592021-06-22T05:22:00.001-07:002022-01-17T10:27:42.958-08:00Modding Advice<p> Iāve been making mods for Ares, Override, and other games since the mid-90s, and in that time I have learned many lessons āthe hard way". Recently I got to thinking about what Iāve learned from all of this, and about what advice I would give someone today. This advice is primarily focused on creating and releasing large mods, though most of it can apply to mods of any sort. These concepts have been very helpful for me, and I hope they may benefit others as well. :)<br /></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><u><b>šØ Go for It!:</b></u> Modding is fun and worthwhile
in and of itself, even if you don't plan to release anything. If you
feel like making a mod, or even just messing around with the tools to
see what you can do, I'd encourage you to give it a try. As long as
you're having fun, you're doing it right. :)<br /><br /></li><li><u><b><u><b>ā¤ļø Love the Process:</b></u></b></u> This is a video game. The point is to
enjoy it. Creating a mod typically takes a long time. If modding is a chore for you, and
youāre unhappy doing it, that'll drag you down for an extended timeā and
it'll also increase the chances of you ultimately abandoning the mod. So approach
modding from a standpoint of enjoying the process, of having fun
building neat new things, and treat it as a long-term hobby.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thebrilliantassistant.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/happy-woman-computer-510x360.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="510" height="282" src="https://www.thebrilliantassistant.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/happy-woman-computer-510x360.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>This is the goal for what your modding experience should look like! :)</i><br /></div><i><br /></i></li><li><u><b>šÆ Stay Focused:</b></u> Often, when you get a new
idea for a mod, itās really exciting, and you want to dive right in and immediately start building it. But after youāve been
working on it for a little while, something else often comes along that grabs
your attention instead, and suddenly youāre tempted to set that first mod project aside and focus on this new thing; and then something else comes up
and interrupts that second project, and then another thing, and another.
This can be 100% okay, as long as youāre aware of whatās happening and
youāre okay with just having fun tinkering without releasing anything;
but if your goal is to actually release mods, youāll have to make sure you stay focused enough to keep working on each project until itās done.<br /><br /></li><li><u><b>š Take the Time to Make it Good</b><b>:</b></u> It's almost always worth it to take the extra time to make your mod as good as possible. If you plan to release your mod, I'd encourage you to be ambitious about quality; challenge yourself to match the quality of EVC, Override, or Nova. This will take a more time than quickly rushing something out the door, but youāll be really satisfied with the end result. As far as <i>how</i> to make it as good as possible, an approach I often use is this: first make an initial version, and then repeatedly review it and improve it until you canāt think of any more ways to make it better.<br /><br /></li><li><u><b>šŗļø Explore & Learn:</b></u> Modding the EV series is part game design, part writing, part <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4eNl1rA1Ns" target="_blank">programming</a>, part <a href="http://reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/" target="_blank">world-building</a>, part science, part visual arts, part storytelling... etc etc. Each one of those fields is endlessly complex, and also worth learning in and of itself! Be ready to learn the things you need as you go. Research <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyJWoyVx_XI&list=PLjEaoINr3zgEq0u2MzVgAaHEBt--xLB6U&index=1" target="_blank">tutorials</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyeball_planet" target="_blank">articles</a>, similar or related projects, etc. Ask the <a href="https://discord.gg/mPW8nkus" target="_blank">community</a> about modding resources and tips. These things are not only enjoyable in and of themselves, but <i>also</i> they'll help you make the best mod possible, <i>and</i> you'll be learning things that will benefit you for the rest of your life. :)<br /><br /></li><li><u><b>š
Keep The Size Manageable:</b></u> Making mods
takes a lot of time. For example, Total
Conversion mods often take multiple years. The vast majority of Total
Conversion mods never get finished, because their authors either lost
interest partway through, or because something else in their life changed and they
didnāt have time for modding anymore, etc. Meanwhile, a
small-but-meaningful project may take only a few weeks, and can be
really fun to finish and share. So just be careful to make sure your
projects aren't too huge to finish. Err on the side of small, especially for your first few mods.<br /><br /></li><li><u><b>š§© Release In Parts:</b></u> As a safeguard for a large mod, and also as a way to keep your enthusiasm up, it can be helpful to look for ways to break it into parts, then build and release one part at a time. This gives you a quickly achievable target to work on at any given time, as well as more feedback throughout the project. It also ensures that, even if your project is never 100% finished, there will be some kind of playable version of it available to folks who are interested.<br /><br /></li><li><u><b>š Stepping Stones:</b></u> It can also be helpful to brainstorm different, smaller projects that will
help you get closer to completing your bigger project. For example, on
the way to Orion Skies I'm planning to build a <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kCABkT-AC6aOZoyEoub8jLrZgH8hXkeSQSwmnIXwMX8/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">galaxy generator</a>, a
planetary graphics pack, and some standalone Lua plug-ins; all
of these will be directly used by Orion Skies itself. Any way to make
more small releases, while simultaneously getting yourself closer to
completing your big mod, can help energize you and will also guarantee
that something meaningful will come of your efforts, even if for some
reason you donāt end up releasing the final project itself.<br /><br /></li><li><u><b>š¤ Brainstorm Possibilities:</b></u> It's also
worth it to take some time to brainstorm ideas for alternative ways to do things in your mod, and to really explore the possibilities for
what you <i>could</i> do. Doing this will lead you into more unique
ideas that have never been done before, and will give you a deeper
understanding of what will make your mod as good as possible, which will help you make the best possible version of your mod.<br /><br /></li><li><u><b><u><b><u><b>š§</b></u></b></u> Independence:</b></u>
There have been a few attempts, over the years, at large-scale mods made
by a group of several people. Often, these projects fail because of
group dynamics: maybe the members of the group end up strongly
disagreeing about what the mod should be like; maybe they end up having
some kind of personal conflict with each other; maybe some members lose
interest in the project; or maybe life happens and some members no
longer have time to work on it; etc. Be careful about depending on a group, because that opens
up the risk of failure from group complications. In the long
run, itās often better to find ways to build the project by yourself, or at least to have a backup plan if your group runs into trouble.<br /><br /></li><li><u><b>š Adventure Into The Imagination:</b></u> Years ago, a group of EVx modders created "<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ambrosiaevn/addons/evn/The_Non-Technical_EVN_Bible.rtf" target="_blank">The Non-Technical EVN Bible</a>", a guide to making high-quality plug-ins. One quote from that guide has stood out to me ever since I first read it. The quote is from Martin Turner, the legendary creator of <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1n31VvHQ2emYvSao3XIN69KuhWlIckGaI?usp=sharing" target="_blank">The Frozen Heart TC</a>: <i>"The game should be an adventure into the imagination. After five hours of playing, the player shouldnāt come away with sore eyes, a twitchy finger, and the feeling that they've wasted part of their life. Rather, they should come away with the feeling that their eyes have been opened to a wider world than they had dreamed of."</i><br /></li></ol><p> I've found the above concepts to be very helpful in my own work, and I hope at least some of them will prove helpful to other modders also. Whatever path you take, I wish you good luck, and happy modding. :)</p>Chris Paffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14893661385889180951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744242867562147349.post-18373873878845202742021-05-16T05:45:00.004-07:002021-05-16T14:02:49.874-07:00All About Oceans<p><span> This month's 3D work has been entirely focused on oceans. Aside from being useful as a backdrop for the naval fighter plane I've been building for practice, oceans will also be used quite a lot in the planetary graphics for Orion Skies. As such, I wanted to take the time to really do them well.</span><br /></p><div><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>First Ocean</u><br /></h2><p> When it comes to oceans, Blender is really nice in that it
has a built-in ocean simulation system; however, its default operation is very limited in scale.</p><p> Several months ago, I used it to create a basic ocean; that ocean worked well-enough to do some practice images, but it was also quite limited in a number of ways.<br /></p><p> That ocean was a 1-kilometer-by-1-kilometer square, with "frozen" waves that can't move. In order to make it look halfway decent, I had to carefully position it in front of the camera for every image I rendered, being careful to rotate the ocean to line an edge up with the horizon.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU8qggHpLLkHIpJoOGehmzajcyEY7RaxhTpfnKhbCII8Qv5MZkOO9odOD9h-xTb43SR91K3dQhWjnWboB_k7pvPKIJZ91FwmTOnQW8ORwvkoUKOXE8n1YXl5OMCTxaWZeQRS4QGZ9CGjJX/s1920/r192.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU8qggHpLLkHIpJoOGehmzajcyEY7RaxhTpfnKhbCII8Qv5MZkOO9odOD9h-xTb43SR91K3dQhWjnWboB_k7pvPKIJZ91FwmTOnQW8ORwvkoUKOXE8n1YXl5OMCTxaWZeQRS4QGZ9CGjJX/s320/r192.png" width="320" /></a> </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>In this render, I forgot to manually rotate the ocean to match the camera position. Oops!</i><br /></div><div><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Large Animated Ocean</u></h2><p> To improve the ocean, I went through <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0lBHlBBMjcDFnLWhAEhMLg" target="_blank">Dylan Neill</a>'s "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwJrb3vjAaA" target="_blank">Large Ocean Tutorial</a>", which uses a clever setup to expand Blender's ocean simulator. It showed me how to create a circular ocean 8 kilometers across, with moving waves. This was a complete game-changer compared to what I had before!</p><div style="text-align: center;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pila2aah_R0" width="320" youtube-src-id="Pila2aah_R0"></iframe></div> The 8-kilometer ocean from the "Large Ocean" tutorial.</i><br /></div></div><div><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Infinite Ocean<br /></u></h2><p> There were limits to the "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwJrb3vjAaA" target="_blank">Large Ocean Tutorial</a>" approach:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Each
second of wave movement required hundreds of megabytes of hard drive
storage to map out, so long animations aren't always practical.<br /></li><li>Additionally,
the ocean is only 8 kilometers across; when you have a high-speed
aircraft or spacecraft, 8 kilometers runs out very quickly!</li></ol><p> So I did some research and some
experimentation, and learned how to "loop" the wave motion indefinitely,
with random variations. This enabled the ocean to be used in videos of
any length.</p><p> I also learned how to keep the wave pattern fixed in place, while simultaneously linking the ocean-surface object
to the camera's location; this essentially enabled the ocean to
perpetually generate itself in front of the camera, no matter how far
the camera travels.</p><p> Between those two updates, the ocean was now infinite in time and space, which was a huge milestone.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzCJ2B6MtGBgZsVpk2roI0Np_F_efQ1XLA8eM3LBLXgLtgmFj6bSyNjsTcK9judkHgWogZe9fgwLrL7bVwWqw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A demonstration of the "infinite ocean".</i><br /></div><p></p><div><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>High-Altitude Views<br /></u></h2><p> Although the ocean object could move to generate ocean in front of the
camera, it was still only 8 kilometers across, which wasn't nearly large
enough for long-distance views from high altitudes. So I did a little research on the plane I've been practicing with, the FJ-2 Fury. Its maximum flight altitude is 14.3 kilometers. So I wondered what would happen if I put the camera up that high?</p><p> I used a "<a href="http://www.ringbell.co.uk/info/hdist.htm" target="_blank">horizon calculator</a>" to find the distance one can see from 15 kilometers up, which is roughly 450 kilometers. I scaled the ocean up to 1000 kilometers across, or 500 kilometers in any direction. I also used a "<a href="https://earthcurvature.com/" target="_blank">curvature calculator</a>" to find how far down the Earth curves at that distance, and applied that curve to this new massive ocean.<br /></p><p> With the ocean this size, Blender's editor interface really struggled to display or edit it correctly. I held my breath and hit the "Render" button... and it rendered just fine! The total render time was actually the same as the 8-kilometer version. Interesting.</p><p> However, from 15 kilometers up, there were two remaining problems:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>It no longer looked plausibly like an actual ocean of water. I did some work on this, but I think part of the problem is it's missing some atmospheric effects that you see at those distances. I'll work on clouds + atmospherics next, and then I'll revisit this if it's still looking bad.</li><li>The waves were very obviously tiled in straight lines, so I spent some time researching and experimenting with different ways to disrupt the uniform, linear wave layout.<br /></li></ol><p> After having done some work to address #1 and #2 above, I'm pretty happy with the ocean. I'm sure I'll want to make additional improvements in the future, but this seems like a strong start. :)<br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxxbPYWxl-yD0UCmE1F7NtG8drV6S3afGy-3DzS2YyrVs02igX_cZwPxIQOkhA-EOUnUJL9zzdrH-muyT-xLg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div></div></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A view with the camera quickly rising from the ocean's surface to 15 kilometers up.</i><br /></div><p></p></div><p><br /></p></div><div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Next Steps</u><br /></h2><p></p><p><span><span> Now that I have a nice ocean, I want to spend some time seriously learning how to do good clouds, and related atmospheric effects like fog. Then I'll play with a few different compositional
setups. <span><span>After that, I'll work on making a revised version of the FJ-2 Furyā improving the detail, realism, and level of accuracy.<br /></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span> Overall,</span> </span></span><span><span><span>I'm (increasingly loosely) following a <a href="https://www.blenderguru.com/podcasts/episode-4" target="_blank">curriculum</a> outlined by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/AndrewPPrice" target="_blank">"Blender Guru"</a>, a 3D artist who has created a number of high-quality tutorials. Here's where I'm at along this path:</span></span></span><span><span> </span></span></p><p><span><span> </span>š¢ Donut Tutorial / Intro to Blender</span><br /><span><span><span> </span>š¢ Chair Tutorial / Modeling</span></span><span><span><br /><span><span><span> </span>š¢ Lighting </span></span></span></span><span><span><br /><span><span><span> </span>š¢ Principled Shader / Materials</span></span></span></span> <br /><span> </span><span><span><span><span>š¢</span></span></span></span> Anvil Tutorial / Texturing<br /><span> </span>š” Improved Environment + Composition<br /><span> </span>āŖ Improved Fury + Aesthetics<br /><span> </span>āŖ Aircraft Carrier + Animation<br /></p> <h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Practice Gallery</u></h2><p>
Here are some practice renders I've created since the last update. In
these, I was working on making a basic ocean that looks good, and then working on removing various limitations of scale:<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwSxhVyhHpJJj0iSihe-jBuF-JuLORIDNfedgti4LSZifbFr2Wjvs8WKU8jg0dajNDDeHDqf-zz_xZE7ljR7A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div></div><div></div><div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxyHmUju-zo-U_VGS90YbOZDWVCMUjDb52c5jk5bT9YQ6hq9RlxoKj0Vjqfh3clDu8jVwtGSxuUJY3cv00LlA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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