[Mod] Unity vs Union

[SirJamon]

@Thunderbird
I managed to extract the sound of that video and added it to the railgun I made for my mod. Here it is (if anyone wants to use it, feel free to do it). I feel the duration of the beam is still 'long', maybe changing it to an uberfast ""cannon"" (a missile with really high speed, I already added one if I remember correctly) the railgun effect would be better (well, if we ignore scramblers of course D:).

@Darkstar
Sorry for not posting more feedback about the mod, I was busy with my stuff so I couldn't mess with it much. I only have the feeling that or I'm still a crap player or it's a bit overpowered against vanilla races (it could perfectly be the first option xD).

Looking forward to seeing the mod finished early :D

[Thunderbird]

thanks a load for the sound Jammon
http://www.filefront.com/17100949/rail%20beta2.7z

its basically bolt gun now...
i tweaked it to fire fast sorta purple/blue projectiles,alltho im fairly certain i only hit the right color by accident :-D looks really like high-temp plasma

it might not be extremely eyecandish but it sure looks and sounds like a railgun now (apart from the muzzle flash),as far as i was able to do it anyway.... i didnt want to get into making graphic files as that would probably end very badly and i didnt see a real "bolt" projectile,so i just used GSBs "little line" projectiles

if i remember right the order rad cannon has a "bolt" but that one looks more like a blob than a bolt,too short,so didnt want to use that either, plus its green so... that would give me nightmares :P
didnt do any balancing either

anyways... do whatever you want with it,its my very first attempt at modding and personally i love it,but hey,im the insane railgun-lover :-D

P.S.:
it took me an hour to figure out how to make a projectile weapon work,someone please shoot me in the face....
it also took me another half an hour to figure out that the weapon HAS to be restricted to rebels to work... i ofcourse have no idea why :-D

[darkstar076]

I promise that when i finish these last 2 ships i will work on your rail gun :)

::Update:: - the corrupt fleet is complete . . happy dance time
<(^.^<) <(^.^)> (>^.^)>

::Nother Update::
Ok, thats it . . i now have all the material i need for this mod !!
Now i am tweaking and balancing . . really trying to get this mod released by the end of the day . .

[Cen2050]

If you liked the Sunbeam...

I have been getting lost of praise for my screenshot a few pages back and I am VERY greatful, the fact is it's a prototype and unrefined...there's a lot that has yet to be done but I figured I'd give everyone a LITTLE heads up as to what to expect

As Darkstar already stated the Union Mod is sort of a counter to his Uni-T so many of the quotes, lines and victory messages will be geared for towards that.

The Union Mod WILL include the following
3 new cruisers of quasi-original design (chop jobs of from a variety of ships from each race) of Federation, Rebel and a custom design courtsey of Darkstar (I LOVE THAT SHIP)
1 "station" of Imperial design...which is a Cruiser with a -900% speed bonus so it simply CANNOT MOVE, though you can still technically equip engines on it to use it in levels that REQUIRE engines be equipped

3 new Frigates of Order, Tribe and Swarm design

2 new fighters of Alliance and Rebel Design (pending some changes)

All ships are SUBSTANTIALLY more powerful than their typical counterparts: Union Frigates will have the power and durability of some cruisers and the cruisers will likely be far superior to even the Dreadnaughts that dot the forum

Union will also feature at MYRIAD of new weapons and modules...most with new graphics and turrets thanks to Darkstar. I believe I'm up to about 15 total and I still have many frigate and fighter modules I wish to develop

Balancing has yet to begin but I plan to make cost a HUGE factor...every single Union ship thus far will cost at least 10% MORE...such that fully loaded there is a Union Cruiser that cannot be deployed in the tutorial level (cost is something like 12,000+)

the idea being that Union is race VERY small in numbers and manpower so they have to put all their eggs in one proverbial basket...1 on 1 no ship is a match for the Union...but if you get enough ships pounding away on even the strongest Union Cruiser it SHOULD go down...assuming I get my balancing right.

[darkstar076]

I am sorry peoples, I have run out of time today and did not get finish the tweaking and balancing :(
(hopefully over the week i will get some time to finish up and release this mod)

While i was working on the Unity Mod i took out 5 minutes and created another version of a rail gun:
This version uses a modified muzzle flash and a very fast projectile.

Railgun muzzle flash.jpg (46.79 KiB) Viewed 145 times

And when you scale it up and place it on one of those Siege Turrets (which are found in the Union Mod) it looks like this.

Railgun muzzle flash II.jpg (52.47 KiB) Viewed 144 times

Nother version without the rings

Muzzle flash III.jpg (60.55 KiB) Viewed 115 times

[Thunderbird]

[darkstar076]

Another version . .

Muzzle flash IV.jpg (61.87 KiB) Viewed 115 times

[Jake Wedding]

I think those shock waves looks to clear in the shape, if you could roughen it up a bit then it would be great.

[Thunderbird]

i kept pestering him about the shockwaves looking weird all day via PMs :-D
personally i`d just prefer a "regular" plasma flame from the tip of the barrel,but the side-flashes on the barrel look super cool and i like the projectile too

i guess that if i keep getting on his nerves long enough,he`ll have 5+ railgun versions right according to everyones taste....
then we`ll start fighting who gets the most powerful one :-D

[Jake Wedding]

couldnt it be like the basic one witch has the flame whipping out strait from the barrel to a point and then kinda a bell shape forming?,

eg:

1;flame comes out
2;tappers to a point
3;bluffs out

??, im not very clear am i....

[Thunderbird]

no but thats ok Jake,we understand....
*pats you on the head*

edit:
weird,my mind popped back to this after watching Babylon 5 :-D
well,at first,GSB doesnt support animations like that
and from a physics side of view,yes, a regular cannon puffs out a "bell" shaped (sorta even) cloud of flame and smoke,after that you see the projectile pass through that
on the other hand,the cloud of superheated plasma particles from a railgun flies out "after" the actual projectile,because its the shavings from the rails and projectile sliding along,therefor having smaller velocity than the mag-propelled chunk of steel, which is caused by friction
this gives the railgun muzzle flash (if its carefully adjusted to generate minimal friction and have top efficiency) a unique shape and very bright color (high temperature)
if its not adjusted carefully (both mech and EM side),the result is a massive pillar of flame and sparks that travel right behind the projectile

a quote from powerlabs: "8.3kJ shot utilizing a pulse lengthening inductor and an aluminum backed Teflon projectile (plasma armature)"

this is related to the video i linked earlier,the plasma is actually mostly from teflon and some silver (from the rails)
since teflon is relatively soft and heat resistant,while also being a material with like 2nd lowest friction coeficient, it allows less erosion of the rails

dark asked me about that earlier today so i remembered it now and added some crap to it lol
sorry for the railgun seminar,i seem to be really fascinated by that weapon....

P.S. this post was edited like 10 times,WTB life

[Lonestar]

Another version . .

Muzzle flash IV.jpg

Two words sum this picture up for me. . . KEEP IT

[darkstar076]

I think those shock waves looks to clear in the shape, if you could roughen it up a bit then it would be great.

Smudging the alpha channel should do the trick . . I will add that to the "stuff to do" list

i guess that if i keep getting on his nerves long enough,he`ll have 5+ railgun versions right according to everyones taste....
then we`ll start fighting who gets the most powerful one :-D

I don't mind . . its these kind of discussions that help create something good.


::Edit::
As usual just when i am about to claim the weekend as my marathon modding session, Murphy's Law has stepped in and demanded my time *sigh*
I shall return


::Nother Edit:: 27/07/2010
Quick update, I am slowly going through Unity and cleaning up any unused textures and other loose ends.
Also I am still trying to strike a fine balance of Uni-T against the other races.
Those muzzle flashes that were posted earlier have been refined and implimented into their own weapon system

[Barbaros]

This looks to be an interesting mod. In fact, I eagerly await its conclusion!

[Archduke Astro]

Cen and Darkstar: do you fine folks have a rough E.T.A. to offer us yet for the public roll-out of Unity and Union? I assume that you're maneuvering for a simultaneous release, since each mod's content is aimed at the other. Feel free to be vague if you must; "quality takes time." Thank you. :)