Star Wars Mod

[Black_Knyght]

Very cool looking.

They maintain the overall "Star Wars" look and feel while still being unique from anything already seen.

Nice work.

[Atrocities]

Thank you BK. The first image is used in EAW. The second is just me muking around a bit trying to flesh out a usable ship set for the pirates.

Once I have the pirates done, I will begin working on the data files. I am conflicted though. I don't know if I should go with a simplified tech tree or one that has many branches.

Simply put, Imperial Tech I - XX. As the tech level increases, the player gains access to new things like ships, weapons, and so on. No choices as to which branch to follow, the tech is progressive and locked.

Or two, branched, this would allow players to select what tech they want to research over other tech.

The pros of a simplified system are that it matches EAW, and Rebellion, is AI friendly, easy to added new tech, and makes the research file very simple. Cons- is that it becomes very predictable, there is no choices made by the player.

Of course a multi branched approach is what most SE IV players are used to and seem to prefer. But it is time consuming to set up, isn't all that AI friendly, and it doesn't really lend itself well to the addition of new tech. (requires modding of many files)

[Kana]

I say do the first, and then if you feel up to it work on the second and offer it as an alternative version of the mod.

[Intimidator]

I agree with Kana,

And starting with the easier option first will give you an easy chance to test and work out some of your ideas.
(And knowing you just a little, you will never stop adjusting your mod, just take a look at AST, STM )

[Black_Knyght]

I think I'd have to agree here, too. Go for the simplest approach first, then expand on it if you'd care to later, as time, motivation, and energy permit.

[Suicide Junkie]

Atrocities said:
Once I have the pirates done, I will begin working on the data files. I am conflicted though. I don't know if I should go with a simplified tech tree or one that has many branches.

Do you want to make it more of a movie reenactment, or a sandbox with SW physics?

[Atrocities]

What would you prefer? I mean as one of the most skilled mod makers in the community, what do you think would be the best approach to make? I value any and all help any one is willing to hand me. Advice is something that I desperately need.

[Suicide Junkie]

I personally prefer things to work with the least amount of iron-fist rules.

In my preferred paradigm, a game trying to replicate movie action would be a scenario... Plenty of neutrals helping the rebels-without-a-homeworld (just a hidden, tiny ice world colony for maintaining political contact?) all while trying to avoid the planetbusting wrath of the established empire empire (who starts with subjugation treaties with everyone, and thus huge resources for huge ships and fleets with which to oppress the others).

The scenario would start out with a big fleet of movie like designs, but there would be no reason you couldn't build new custom stuff when events start unfolding.
Maybe the rebels could start out with a single million-organics cost fighter that has a special damage type, Deathstar-killer weapon (only planet destroyers, 64k damage?) Try to keep it from dying before the final battle...


On the other hand, for a typical PBW game, you're starting your own empires from scratch, and you have 5 or 6 equally strong empires. Too much canon starts to conflict with the actual game events in that case


PS:
Certainly, going with a heavy handed canon approach will be the most straightforward.
Plug in a limited set of options, and set the abilities such that all of the legal tokens are reasonably accurate.

Making it work sandbox style takes a lot more planning, math, effort, more math, planning, and tuning. And free time to do all of that.