once the game is finished. would it be shipped to store's or or just download it?

Great job Jig... The demo looks great and I put my fait into you to lift my spirits back into BOTF!

Err...this is a fan-based game, Qaz. Once it's complete, you'll have to download it. You certainly won't be able to buy it from the shops - unless Paramount/Viacom/Atari finally realise that they could actually make money if they decided to help fan-based games.

hey i am new but I freaking love BOTF, despite its glitches. So is this actually a sequal to the game you're all making? Like a new engine and the whole works? And what is this abouta demo. please fill me in speedlimitless@hotmail.com, happy to help in any way I can

can I just make a point this is going to be a big game, how are you going to find a specific system? On a large galaxy on BOTF it was quite possible to lose systems. Obviously not good places but the sort with 80 population, no bonus' and generally worthless, you just forget about them after 50 or so turns. Then all of a sudden there's a problem there which keeps poping up and it takes an age to find it. If there isn't already provision for this might I suggest something like Hearts of Iron where there somehere you can type in (or copy and paste) a name and the game finds it for you.

Also do you get to choose (or assign) Admirals to command large fleets? In Star Wars Empire at War you build/train "fleet commanders" which basically makes your units better, a bit like giving them extra experience. In the original BOTF you Command ships sort of did this but I feel there is the possibility to make this better perhaps making races different in this area. The Federation would be more willing to work together and take orders than a Klingon desperate to protect his honour or any Cardassian.

Thanks

Hey there, ZNR1 , welcome to the site!

Your point about finding systems is a good one - one that we haven't thought of. I'll bring this to the attention of the other devs and see if we can come up with something.

As for assigning Admirals, it sounds like you mean giving the AI control of some of your fleets. I'm not the programmer for the game; Jigalypuff is the guy you need to talk to for that.

I think that Jig is giving some thought to this already, although how it will work I don't know yet.

One thing that I can definitely say won't be in is anything that boosts the skills of your Fleets, whether this is described as additional technology, Fleet Admirals, Flagships, or whatever. We've dicussed something along these lines under the idea of assigning of "Flagships". In the end we ultimately had to say no to the proposals for various reasons.

That's not to say that training your Fleets won't be in. Training will be in the game, and it will work in pretty much the same way that it did in BOTF. Green crews will be slow and inaccurate when firing weapons. Legendary crews will have near 100% accuracy, and may even be able to get a shot or two in as an enemy ship decloaks.

The races will also have varying degrees as to how they train. The Klingons will train at roughly twice the rate as the other Empires, whislt training will be a weak point of the Dominion; they will train at only half-rate. (One of the few dissadvantages of being the Dominion)

One tiny nitpick on your last point though: there is no dishonour in running from a superior foe - or being commanded by him - no matter what race he is.

Again, welcome to the site, i'll mention your system-finding point to the devs and see what we can come up with.


*Edit - ok, Skeeter has come up with the idea of having a full list of your systems in the in-game database. There will be a list of your systems and a small amount of detail next to them to give you an overview. Instead of having to manually scroll through each system you can just find the name of the system in the list, and click it to go there - much like the BOTF system in the news reports, except that it will be easier to navigate because it will be the database, rather than in a separate place of its own.

Jigalypuff has said he'll add this in when he gets to that bit of the programming.

thanks

and for the record I would NEVER suggest letting ANY AI control any of my fleets . I just meant that it might be something to give an extra bonus. But I take your point' I'm a new to this site so I don't know everything you disscused bear with me if I'm repeating what others have already said .

Another thing occured to me, how close to the original is the moral system going to be? I don't mean the little details so much as do the Federation start whinging every time you go to war, or do a little orbital bombardment, or subjugate someone. I appreciate this is realistic but at times it got excessive I reremeber when I conquered TWO systems and my once pleased people suddenly became disgruntled and even rebelious! The federation always struck me as the sort of people who tried to avoid war but when it came along they didn't like to be pushed around. The sort of people that don't look for fights but when they find themselves in one they want to finish it on the winning side ie they might drop to content to show that "hey we don't like you killing everyone in sight be if it protects the Federation and keeps our families safe we can live with it". Otherwise it makes the game very hard to win as the federation because you almost get afraid to subjugate anyone. And you can't tell me they didn't conquer any poor little Cardassian worlds during the Dominion War. (unless the got the Klingons to do it).... But that's not the point!

no extra boni from command ships is ok. i am the commander of my fleet, thats the best bonus

ZNR1, the morale system is gonna be slightly different to the BOTF system, but not by much.

Some of the morale levels will get new names and there's a new level being added - Patriotic. (It'll go between Fanatic and Devoted - Devoted is replacing Loyal)

The Morale table has gotten a COMPLETE overhaul though. There will be a LOT of new Empire-wide morale-adjusting events in the game, for example, "Repel a Borg Attack", "Lose Evacuation Refugees in Battle", and "Lose a Hospital Ship". (There are more than this though)

However, the Federation still recieve heavy penalties for attacking systems. I understand what you are saying, and you are right, but it wouldn't be right if the Federation got a morale bonus for destroying the inhabitants of a system. Hmm...we'll just have to give some extra thought to programming it...

well I can't think of any more questions at the moment so I'll leave you in peace... for now... I'll be back though! Just so I can annoy everyone with my long rambling posts! lol

Regarding Morale ZNR1, on the Morale table I've developed I've specified different morale values for the Federation depending on if they started the war. If the Feds were the aggressors, broke a treaty and declared war etc, the morale penalties for their bloodlust will be much the same as Botf 1. If however war was declared against them, the penalties for bombardment etc will be much reduced.

Oh right the moral system sounds much better! Ah screw it the WHOLE game sounds much better!!

Anyway I’ve got lots of little questions so run now before you read the rest!

Can you actively try and steal other powers ships (with Intelligence)? You could steal ships on BOTF but it wasn’t that common, and there was no “click here to steal shipsâ€￾ button.

It sounds like you’ve added another resource (deuterium) is it going to be collectable (ie you stockpile it) or is it like dilithium on BOTF (ie you don’t actually have it, it just gives you the ability to build ships at a certain number of places). Additionally is it a one off cost sort of resource or a turn based maintenance cost sort of resource? While we’re on this topic how about making Dilithium/Deuterium things that can be put in treaties eg instead of saying have 5000 credits go away you could say have X amount of dilithium.

Also about treaties are you/can you make them so that when you want a non-aggression instead of giving credits you can demand them as well? Doesn’t make much sense to give credits if your winning does it? Furthermore why not have it so that you can demand specific systems perhaps even in return for credits, or some other resource. The number of times I ask for about 8 or 10 disputed sectors because I want 1 or 2 of them is amazing, the other guy can have the rest for all I care! Another point why don’t have an option so that if you’ve each taken one of the others systems you can just exchange them when you sign a non-aggression. A final point on this topic how about an option where you can limit the number of ships another Empire can have by treaty.

What about letting you train officers at other empires home planets? (If you have an alliance). Also maybe experiment with only letting a specific number of ships train at once with different races having different numbers so the Dominion could have the least (according to what I seen) the Kingons/Federation the most.

Another idea you may not have thought of is that in BOTF when you upgrade from Destroyer I to Destroyer II all your ships change automatically. I personally don’t like that. How about making them have to return to a shipyard to “refitâ€￾ this would take a couple of turns perhaps depending on the type of ship, the planets industry, how much your refiting (from I to II or I to III). This could make for tense periods in the game, the Romulans are staging a major build up, do you send your ships to the border to protect your out lying systems/starbases or do you refit but risk having too many ships at home when the Romies launch a devastating surprise attack!!!

Will you actually be able to engage the orbital batteries? In BOFT it could be really annoying when you attack a planet and you lose the odd ship to the batteries and you wonder how the hell could the AI lose a ship?

Oh and by the way the names Nick, ZNR1 is just some random thing I came up with because I couldn’t use Nick.

I look forward to hearing your groans after reading this!

Ok then, i'll try to answer your questions concisely, Nick. I know that I tend to rabbit on...

Actively Stealing Enemy Ships
No. Whilst the Intel system is gonna be a bit more complex, you won't be able to specify targets as specific as this. You might get the occasional message about a "new target acquisition" or something along those lines - if you're lucky - but you won't be told what it is.

In these circumstances, you'll be able to spend resources to increase the chances of success, but if you were to get caught, the penalties to Diplomacy, Internal Affairs, and Intel Operations will be massive, afterall, you're the leader of the Empire, but you shouldn't be dipping into the funds for personal gain...


Additional Resources
There are actually TWO new resources in the game - Deuterium, and Raw Materials.

Deuterium - this will be collected and stockpiled. All systems will produce a certain amount of Deuterium, although certain classes of Planet will produce more than others. (You'll have to figure out which ones though, I don't want to give too much away... )

You'll also be able to build structures to increase the amount you get per turn from the system.

Deuterium is the fuel of your ships, so the more of it you have, the bigger the Fleet that you can sustain will be. An amount of Deuterium will also be required to physically build ships/stations, although this will vary depending on the actual class of ship etc.

In BOTF1, there were specific ranges that your ships could go, as outlined by coloured lines. This system has been modified with the introduction of Deuterium.

Each class of ship will have it's own Deuterium usage and supplies. Whilst the ship is within range of a shipyard or station, (Shipping lanes) then it will receive free "tops ups" of Deuterium every turn. (So whilst it is within the shipping lanes a ship is automatically refuelled)

The moment a ship travels outside of these ranges though, it will quickly begin to use up its fuel - especially Starfleet ships, which are the most Deuterium-hungry ships in the game.

If a ship runs out of Deuterium, it will simply become adrift in space - it will be a sitting duck to any enemy ship that attacks it, as the ship will have NO power for engines, weapons, OR shields!

To get adrift ships back, you will have to extend your shipping lanes - by building a Station or Shipyard nearby, making an affiliation treaty with a race nearby, or by sending a Command vessel to physically tow the ship back for resupply at a station or shipyard.

Raw Materials - this resource also gets stockpiled, however it will be a relatively difficult resource to get.

Most Planets in the game will provide a certain (Small) amount of Raw Materials by default. However, certain types of Planet will produce extra resources compared to others. (You'll have to figure out which ones though, I don't want to give too much away... )

Asteroid Belts will also provide a large bonus to Raw Material production.



As with Dilithium, there will also be a random bonus of Raw Materials in a system. This will be displayed as a shiny metal icon or something next to the Dilithium bonus icon. (The Crystal) We're using pretty much the same system info system as in BOTF1, with some additions like Raw Materials.

(This is only a mock up of the system by Dafedz, and might not represent the final system)


As with Dilithium, you will have to build a particular structure to be able to mine these extra resources.


Giving Resources To Other Races
I'll have to double-check this with the other devs. I'm 99% sure it'll be in though...


Treaties And Demands
We've given this system an overhaul - there will be many more options here, so you should be happy.


Alliances
Alliances may result in an influx of new recruits. It depends what race you play as and who you've allied with. Certain random events can also increase/decrease the number of new recruits per turn you get as well...


Automatic Upgrades
Scrapped. You'll have to pay to upgrade ships, and it'll be expensive. MOST ships won't get upgrades either. The only exceptions are ships like the Federation's Constitution, (Both the old and the refit versions will be in the game! ) and the Klingon B'rel will get upgrades. The B'rel gets two upgrades!

All other ships, when "upgraded" will be scrapped, and the resources gained will be used to reduce the cost of building the new ship. The crew will then transfer to the new ship.


Orbital Batteries
You'll see them in their full glory - AND they will attack you!

You'll have to fight them in battle before you can directly attack a system - you MIGHT also have to bombard the Planetary shields first...

This is more like it! You've got me excited now! Tell me just how many players will the Multiplayer support? Because if some of the "major" minor races are playable then there could be quite a few playable races (if they're playable in the multiplayer). But that doesn't mean the game will actually be able to cope with 6 major and say 4 or 5 minor races as well. Is there some limit to the number you are looking at or is it a case of it evolves with technology?

ahhh I really shouldn't have started to get into this because now I'm starting to realize just how limited BOTF is! lol

Oh and if there's anything I can do to help....

znr1 use the edit button, double posting is frowned upon.
guys you are so far off topic your gonna be running into vorlons soon, discuss game content in another thread please.

Good point, Jig.

Nick, if you want to know more, PM me. And if you want to help, have a look in the Jobs forum.

oh, another Nick. Hi !

jig: i tried the conitec trial again on another pc. this time win XP SP2, but i got the same double-definition errors. please send me what u have so far, maybe the problem lies within the current gui-test and will vanish in the next ? i have a whole weekend free

EDIT: my compile errors on compiling "launch.wdl"

Just a question, do you need any donations to help develop the game and are you taking up any scriptwriters for the dialouge/text of the game? As i'll be intrested in trying to lend a hand.

Donations are completely out of the question, Lotte. Since it's a fan-based game and we don't have the licence to make Star Tek games, if we were to take money for the project, we could get ourselves into some really big trouble.

As for scriptwriters, I assume you mean programming? In which case send a PM to Jig and MStrobel letting them know exactly what you can do. They are writing their games in different programming languages, so you'll have to figure out where your skills will be of use.

I believe he meant writing game text and dialogue.

I'm always doing this, arent I?

Lotte, check your PM's.

someone help me !

Is it the demo that you're having trouble with, Ashur, or the actual A6 program?

If it's the demo, then i've uploaded the two launch.wdl files that I have. (I've got a couple of different versions of the demo, so i'm not sure which one you need)

Just click these links, download them, then put them in the SAME folder as the demo files.

Launch.wdl version 1
Launch.wdl version 2

If this doesn't work, then I REALLY don't know what the problem is.

I think the big bad wolf is home. 8O

i would if it was warm and comfy m8, e-mailing your g-mail account tnow gav.

So... what's the latest scoop?

I really want to know too, now that Gavin is back.

work continues on all projects