Confederacy of Independent Systems

I just realized during testing that I had not done the Separatists yet and since I will need them for the 'Reconquest of the Rim' scenario I thought it would be good to quickly list the units I wanted to include:

Confederate Navy

• Lucrehulk-class Battleship (View Entry | Wookiepedia Page)
• Bulwark Mark I Battlecruiser (View Entry | Wookiepedia Entry)
• Providence-class Carrier / Destroyer (View Entry | Wookiepedia Page)
• Recusant-class Destroyer (View Entry | Wookiepedia Page)
• Munificent-class Star Frigate (View Entry | Wookiepedia Page)
• CR90 Covette (View Entry | Wookipedia Page)
• Z-95 Headhunter (View Entry | Wookiepedia Page)
• Hyena-class bomber (View Entry | Wookiepedia Page)

Separatist Droid Army

• Droideka Mark II (View Entry | Wookiepedia Entry)
• Droidekas (View Entry | Wookiepedia Entry)
• B2 Super Battle Droids (View Entry | Wookiepedia Entry)
• B1 Battle Droids (View Entry | Wookiepedia Entry)
• Mercenaries / Pirates

Overnight Playtest

Last night I finished up the starfighter dogfighting improvements so decided to run a long playtest... lots of fun but the biggest thing I found was that the shipbuilding and space station building times were WAY too long...

The times I were using are found in this post, I'm thinking they will need to be cut in half at the very least.

Right now a Death Star 2 takes 13-15 minutes which I'm ok with but the rest made the game lag too long and made testing a lot harder.

My next step is to go through all the build times again with [current value / 2] build times:

Class	Build Time
Space Station	210
Battle Station	180
Star Dreadnaught	150
Star Battlecruiser	120
Star Destroyer	90
Frigate	60
Corvette	30
Starfighter	15

Hopefully once I tweak to the above times it will make things run a lot smoother.

I may also make Level 1-2 space stations 180 seconds instead of 210 to make them go even faster.

I will do an update once I have launched the above changes.

Weekend Update

In my previous post I outlined how I was looking at starfighters in terms of optimizing their dogfighting capabilities.

I have to update that post, the columns that are there now are mainly defensive and I am adding in a 'laser' accuracy section to show the offensive capabilities of the ships in terms of dogfighting - starfighter to starfighter combat.

This weekend I started implementing the changes I outlined, I still have to go through some of the Rebel vessels but I am close to finishing them. Then I need to do the Hutt, Underworld, Neutral and Pirate starfighters -- but a lot of those ships are the lower end ships I've already done so it is just a matter of copying and pasting hopefully.

Then I need to do some playtesting, the numbers I gave in the post were based on my experience playing and the goals to make the Rebel starfighters superior to TIE fighters etc. So really right now it is just a hypothesis, I need to playtest it to make sure the results are there.

After that my next step is to optimize the hardpoints of the capital ships to be reflective of this post. Then I need to do a round of capital ship playtesting with the updated hardpoints and the compared to the updated starfighters.

After that, there is not much more to do before the Space Demo release.

Starfighter Dogfighting Capabilities

After I go through the weapons and hardpoints for accuracy I want to make sure that starfighters were balanced in terms of their dogfighting capabilties (ie. fighting against other starfighters in a space superiority role).

The following chart lists the average or baseline of each starfighter and how effective it is at evading enemy fire and moving around the battlefield (speed/acceleration/doding abilitiy). They are listed in order of their dogfighting ability.

Imperial Navy Starfighters

Starfighter	Dogfighting Capabilities
Ship Class	Maximum Speed	Accel eration	Max Thrust	Rate of Turn	Max Lift	Armour	Hull	Shields
Missile Boat	125	0.4	3.5	5.03	5	Heavy_Starfighter	20	120
TIE/D Defender	155	0.5	5.2	4.5	4	Medium_Starfighter	20	200
TIE/ad Starfighter	145	0.45	2.5	3.5	3	Medium_Starfighter	20	100
TIE Phantom	100	0.45	1	3	4	Light_Starfighter	14	40
TIE Advanced x1	105	0.35	1.5	3	3	Light_Starfighter	17	40
TIE/IN Interceptor	111	0.45	2	5	4	Light_Starfighter	16	0
I-7 Howlrunner	105	0.3	1.5	6	4	Medium_Starfighter	18	30
A-9 Vigilance Interceptor	120	0.55	1.5	2.5	3	Light_Starfighter	14	0
TIE/rpt Starfighter	100	0.45	2	5	4	Light_Starfighter	14	0
TIE/LN Fighter	100	0.45	1.5	3	4	Light_Starfighter	15	0
Alpha-class Xg-1 Star Wing	90	0.328	3	1.5	3	Monitor	50	100
GAT-12 Skipray Blastboat	80	0.128	1	2	3	Monitor	65	80
Scimitar Assault Bomber	80	0.35	1	1.5	3	Light_Starfighter	40	60
V-Wing Starfighter	75	0.25	0.1	3	1	Light_Starfighter	12	25
TIE/sr Scout	80	0.25	1	1.3	4	Light_Starfighter	15	30
ARC-170 Starfighter	60	0.25	1	1.3	3	Heavy_Starfighter	65	100
TIE/sa Bomber	60	0.25	1	1.3	3	Light_Starfighter	50	0
TIE/D Automated Starfighter	100	0.45	1	2	2	Light_Starfighter	12	0

Starfighter	Laser Accuracy Versus
Ship Class	Fighters	Bombers	Transports	Corvettes	Frigates	Capital	Super
Missile Boat	15	15	15	15	15	15	15
TIE/D Defender	20	20	15	20	20	20	20
TIE/ad Starfighter	30	30	15	20	20	20	20
TIE Phantom	25	25	10	20	20	20	20
TIE Advanced x1	35	35	20	20	20	25	25
TIE/IN Interceptor	40	40	20	25	25	25	25
I-7 Howlrunner	40	40	20	25	25	25	25
A-9 Vigilance Interceptor	50	50	25	35	35	35	35
TIE/rpt Starfighter	30	30	15	35	25	25	25
TIE/LN Fighter	30	30	15	35	25	25	25
Alpha-class Xg-1 Star Wing	30	30	20	25	20	20	20
GAT-12 Skipray Blastboat	40	40	25	35	35	30	30
Scimitar Assault Bomber	40	40	20	25	25	25	25
V-Wing Starfighter	50	50	25	40	30	30	30
TIE/sr Scout	30	30	15	35	25	25	25
ARC-170 Starfighter	35	35	20	25	20	20	20
TIE/sa Bomber	50	50	15	35	25	25	25
TIE/D Automated Starfighter	90	90	75	65	55	55	55

Rebel Alliance Starfighter Command Starfighters

Starfighter	Dogfighting Capabilities
Ship Class	Maximum Speed	Accel eration	Max Thrust	Rate of Turn	Max Lift	Armour	Hull	Shields
E-wing Escort Starfighter	120	0.45	2.5	4.9	4.4	Medium_Starfighter	40	50
T-65 X-wing Starfighter	100	0.4	2	3	4	Medium_Starfighter	65	50
RZ-1 A-wing Interceptor	120	0.55	3	4	4	Light_Starfighter	15	50
Eta-2 Actis-class Light Interceptor Squadron	125	0.65	4	4	6	Light_Starfighter	11	0
Delta-7 Aethersprite-class Light Interceptor	120	0.55	3	4	4	Light_Starfighter	16	0
BTL-S8 K-Wing Assault Starfighter	70	0.25	1	1.3	3	Heavy_Starfighter	65	75
B-wing Starfighter	91	0.25	1	3	3	Heavy_Starfighter	60	125
BTL Y-wing Starfighter	80	0.25	1	3	1.3	Medium_Starfighter	40	75
Z-95-AF4 Headhunter	80	0.35	1	2.5	4	Light_Starfighter	14	30
Z-95 Headhunter	75	0.3	1	2.5	4	Light_Starfighter	14	30
V-Wing Starfighter	75	0.25	0.1	3	1	Light_Starfighter	12	25
ARC-170 Starfighter	60	0.25	1	1.3	3	Heavy_Starfighter	65	100
BTL-A4 LP "Longprobe"	80	0.25	1	3	1.3	Medium_Starfighter	40	75

Starfighter	Laser Accuracy Versus
Ship Class	Fighters	Bombers	Transports	Corvettes	Frigates	Capital	Super
E-wing Escort Starfighter	30	30	20	30	25	25	25
T-65 X-wing Starfighter	20	20	25	25	25	25	25
RZ-1 A-wing Interceptor	40	40	20	25	25	25	25
Eta-2 Actis-class Light Interceptor Squadron	40	40	25	35	35	35	35
Delta-7 Aethersprite-class Light Interceptor	30	30	15	35	25	25	25
BTL-S8 K-Wing Assault Starfighter	50	50	25	35	35	35	35
B-wing Starfighter	40	40	20	25	25	25	25
BTL Y-wing Starfighter	45	45	25	30	30	30	30
Z-95-AF4 Headhunter	40	40	30	45	30	30	30
Z-95 Headhunter	40	40	25	45	35	35	35
V-Wing Starfighter	50	50	25	40	30	30	30
ARC-170 Starfighter	35	35	20	25	20	20	20
BTL-A4 LP "Longprobe"	45	45	25	30	30	30	30

Legend

The following lists defines what each of the items in the charts above mean and the in-universe unit of measure if provided:

• Ship Class: Name of ship type.
• Maximum Speed: Maximum speed in 'MGLT'
• Acceleration: Rate of increase of speed
• Max Thrust: Propulsive force, explosive moving power
• Rate of Turn: Turning
• Max Lift: Going up down
• Armour: Armour class - determines damage modifier for turbolasers etc.
• Hull: Hull strength in 'ru'
• Shields: Shields in 'SBD'

Note: Like everything else in this mod I try to keep everything canon if possible. If I don't have information, I try to extrapolate or guestimate the 'proper' values. If you see something that looks horribly wrong, let me know.

Does this look about right? How could I improve the baseline starfighter capabilities?

Space Weapon Accuracy by Class

As part of the balancing run before launching the space demo version of the mod I've been going through various aspects of the data to make sure everything is balanced and 'realistic'. Part of that is determining how accurate various types of weapons are against different ship classes.

The following chart lists the average or baseline of each weapon class and how effective it is against the different ship classes available. Quality of weapons and pilots/crew would affect the numbers for each individual ship or hardpoint, modifying the baseline values.

Weapon Class	Accuracy vs. Target
Weapon	Fighter	Bomber	Transport	Corvette	Frigate	Capital	Super
Light Laser	30	30	15	25	25	25	25
Medium Laser	40	40	20	25	25	25	25
Heavy Laser	50	50	25	35	35	35	35
Light Turbolaser	90	90	80	70	60	50	40
Medium Turbolaser	95	95	85	75	65	55	45
Heavy Turbolaser	Can't Target	Can't Target	90	80	70	60	50
Light Ion Cannon	95	95	85	75	65	55	45
Medium Ion Cannon	Can't Target	Can't Target	95	85	75	65	55
Heavy Ion Cannon	Can't Target	Can't Target	95	95	85	75	65

Note: With the numbers above, the lower the better. 1 seems to be always hit.

Does this look about right? How could I improve the baseline weapon accuracy?

Coming Closer to Space Demo Release

I have the base Imperial Navy done.

I will be doing a balance run once I have the Rebel Navy done, I need to finish the strong against/weak against icons for the Rebels first.

Pretty much every Imperial, Rebel, Pirate, Neutral and Hutt ship I want implemented is in there so it is just a matter of finishing the Rebel strong/weak icons and then doing a 'balance run' for things like laser/turbolaser accuracy, speed, manoeuvrability etc.

I also want to add about 6 planets including Hast, some from Sith Space, Rothana and Sluis Van. Then it will be ready to go with a simplified version of the Galaxy at War sandbox.

I need to also update the minor heroes for the Empire, I am getting rid of the generic Fleet/Field commanders and replacing them with Admiral/General, Captain/Major etc.

When I was doing a playthrough a while back it crashed unexpectedly, not sure what caused it, haven't had anything like that in a long time. So either there is a planet or unit that the AI was using / doing something too it didn't like or some other issue. Nothing showed up in the debug code so I hope it was just a fluke, if not I will have to find out what caused that to happen as well.

It's almost ready... I want to get the space demo out there to get feedback, then I can worry about the planets, land units and scenarios. The space is the easiest to do by itself, so I thought I would do that first. Being an Imperial Navy junkie may have prompted that position as well, not having access to popular ship vessels or not having them implemented the right way was always annoying in vanilla FOC.

Another Quick Update

I have two more Rebel Navy ships to implement, the Delta-7 and Eta-2 Interceptors.

Once those are done I will be doing the neutral / pirate / Hutt / Underworld ships, which are mostly just copies of ships that have already been implemented and sorting / setting up the data files in a way that is consistent with how I am doing the data files for the Imperials and Alliance.

That should take a week or so, then I can worry about game balance and small fixes to get everything ready.

Then I have to reimplement a basic map with some of the main planets and do a quick version of the standard sandbox campaign to showcase everything.

Once that is ready I can release the mod, probably in early-mid November.

It has taken a lot longer than I thought, mostly because I set the project aside for a long time before getting the inspiration to work on it again a month or so ago... but when I do work on it, I make progress fairly quickly. I prefer a one-person modding team on a project like this for now so everything is done consistently.

Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor

The Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor was a Clone Wars era starfighter that was used by the Jedi Knights. It was an upgrade on the Delta-7 Aethersprite-class light interceptor and served as the design starting point of the A-Wing fighter.

You can read about the ship on Wookiepedia.

Role: Starfighter, Interceptor

Manufacturer: Kuat Systems Engineering

Build At: Various

Size: 5.47 metres
Speed: 125 MGLT

Hyperdrive: Class 1.0 (with booster ring)
Shielding: No
 Main Battery: 2 Heavy Laser Cannons
Secondary Weapons:  2 Light Ion Cannons
Anti-Fighter Weapons:  None
Complement: None
Availability: Tech Level 0

I am currently using a holder model for testing purposes. If you have a model I can use let me know.

Delta-7 Aethersprite-class light interceptor

The Delta-7 Aethersprite-class light interceptor was a Clone Wars era starfighter that was used by the Jedi Knights.

It would inspire the later Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor.

You can read about the ship on Wookiepedia.

Role: Starfighter, Interceptor

Manufacturer: Kuat Systems Engineering

Build At: Various

Size: 8 metres
Speed: Unknown

Hyperdrive: Class 1.0 (with booster ring)
Shielding: Yes
 Main Battery: 2 Light Laser Cannons
Secondary Weapons:  None
Anti-Fighter Weapons:  None
Complement: None
Availability: Tech Level 0

I am currently using a holder model for testing purposes. If you have a model I can use let me know.

BTL-A4 LP "Longprobe"

The BTL-A4 LP "Longprobe" was a modified version of the standard Y-Wing bomber used by the Rebel Navy.

They fullfilled the same role as the TIE Scouts, and have the same 'ping' ability to scout battlefields. They are also stealth capable and can gather a small amount of fleet / defence information for a planet.

You can read about the ship on Wookiepedia.

Role: Starfighter, Space Superiority Fighter, Reconnaisance

Manufacturer: Koensayr Manufacturing

Build At: Various

Size: 16 metres
Speed: 80 MGLT

Hyperdrive: Class 1.0
Shielding: Yes
 Main Battery: 2 Light Laser Cannons, Ion Cannons
Secondary Weapons:  Proton Torpedos
Anti-Fighter Weapons:  None
Complement: None
Availability: Tech Level 2

I am currently the default model for testing purposes. If you have a model I can use let me know.

Barloz-class Medium Freighter

The Barloz-class Medium Freighter was a popular freighter during the end of the Galactic Republic and the Rise of the Empire periods. It was later superceded by the YT-1300 freighter.

They were useful for hauling freight.

You can read more about this ship on Wookiepedia.

Role: Transport

Manufacturer:  Corellian Engineering Corporation

Build At: Corellia

Size: 41 metres
Speed: 20 MGLT

Hyperdrive: Class 2
Shielding: 240 SBD
 Main Battery: 1 Medium Laser Cannon
Secondary Weapons: None
Anti-Fighter Weapons:  None
Complement: None
Availability: Tech Level 0

I am currently the default model for testing purposes. If you have a model I can use let me know.

Republic Light Assault Cruiser

The Republic Light Assault Cruiser was a fast attack corvette from the Clone Wars. The Rebel Navy had a few of them but replaced them with the more advanced CR90 Corvettes as they could.

You can read more about the ship on Wookiepedia.

Role:  Star Cruiser (small end of battlecruiser range)

Manufacturer: Corellian Engineering Corporation

Build At: Corellia

Size: approx ~185 metres
Speed: 60 MGLT

Hyperdrive: Class 2
Shielding: Unknown
 Main Battery: 6 Light Turbolasers
Secondary Weapons: None
Anti-Fighter Weapons:  None
Complement: None
Availability: Tech Level 0

I am currently using a holder model. If you have a better model I can use please let me know.

Liberator Cruiser

The Liberator Cruiser was a powerful front line SoroSuub Corporation capital ship used by the Rebel Alliance Fleet during the Galactic Civil War. It had heavy shielding and armour for a ship of its size, and its large complement of starfighters made it a valuable addition to the Rebel Navy.

You can read more about the ship on Wookiepedia.

Role:  Star Cruiser (small end of battlecruiser range)

Manufacturer:SoroSuub Corporation

Build At: Sullust

Size: 8,50 metres
Speed: 30 MGLT

Hyperdrive: Class 2
Shielding: Unknown
 Main Battery: 240 Heavy Turbolaser Cannons, 200 Heavy Ion Cannons
Secondary Weapons: None
Anti-Fighter Weapons:  None
Complement: X-Wings, Y-Wings, B-Wings, A-Wings (6 Squadrons)
Availability: Tech Level 2

I am currently using a holder model. If you have a better model I can use please let me know.

Mediator-class Battle Cruiser

The Mediator-class battle cruiser was an advanced warship developed by the Mon Calamari for use by the New Republic Defense Fleet.

You can read more about the ship on Wookiepedia.

Role:  Battlecruiser

Manufacturer: Mon Calimari Shipyards

Build At: Dac, Hast, Pammant

Size: 8,500 metres
Speed: 30 MGLT

Hyperdrive: Class 2
Shielding: Unknown
 Main Battery: 1.000 Heavy Turbolaser Cannons, 500 Heavy Ion Cannons
Secondary Weapons: 20 Proton Torpedo Launchers
Anti-Fighter Weapons:  None
Complement: X-Wings, Y-Wings, B-Wings, A-Wings (6 - 8 Squadrons)
Availability: Tech Level 5

I am currently using a holder model. If you have a better model I can use please let me know.

Update: Working on Balance

I'm currently finishing up the Rebel Navy with a November beta Space only release as my target launch for the mod.
While doing that I have started to think about balance, especially for ships where I don't have canon values for various stats.
The following chart lists where I am currently at in terms of baselines by ship/station class:

Class	Build Time	Population Value	Maintenance Value	AI Power	Armour	Shields
Space Station	420	0	0.1	2000	100	5000
Battle Station	360	0	0.1	3500	100	7500
Star Dreadnaught	300	10	2.5	7500	125	12500
Star Battlecruiser	240	7	0.5	1500	100	5000
Star Destroyer	180	5	0.25	500	75	3500
Frigate	120	3	0.05	150	50	1000
Corvette	60	2	0.025	75	25	500
Starfighter	30	1	0.01	5 * Number of Ships in Squadron	5	50

Legend

• Class: The ship or building class.
• Build Time: In Seconds.
• Population Value: How many population units the vessel takes up. Older and more inefficient ships like the Dreadnaught-class Heavy Cruiser would have higher values than the baseline.
• Maintenance Value: Taken from your income, the higher your maintenance the less money you'll have for new spending. Older or more ineffecient ships in a class would be higher than the baseline.
• AI Power: This is how the AI calculates how powerful a unit is for battle auto-resolve and for determining if a force is powerful enough to launch an attack.
• Armour: A general number, I have these setup in the config file and will probably need to tweak this. It works like a damage modifier, +/- damaage based on damage types like laser, turbolaser, missile etc.
• Shields: in SBD

Does this look ok? What are your thoughts?

Weekend Update

I was able to add in the Gladiator-class Star Destroyer with some effort, and switched Admiral Screed from an ISD to his Demolisher. It still needs to be tweaked and tested some more so that it gels with the rest of the fleet.

One non-canon thing I did was keep it as a Rendili product instead of a KDY one, since it is an outdated ship like the Victory/Dreadnaught models and was an original Walex Blissex/Rendili design. I may end up making it canon, but KDY has  full list of ships and Rendili is much smaller.

With that ship I think I am done with the Imperial Navy. There is a bug with the Golan 2 model showing green, I need to add in a shader I think for it. Other than that I am pretty happy with the selection and balancing of the Imperial Navy. I still have to go through all the ships and setup strong against/weak against parameters - they are broken due to my internal naming of the Rebel ships.

I also modified Darth Vader. There are now two versions of him, a Tech Level 0 where he is on the Exactor and a Tech Level 2 where he is on the Executor. I was going to put his starfighter on each but a horrible bug caused me to just add in a squadron of TIE Advancedx1 for now to each. I hope to fix that soon.

'Warlords' Implemented

Last night I finished implementing the Warlords feature from my unreleased version of the mod - lots of Imperial characters added, mostly of the minor flavour variety.

• Captain Gilad Pellaeon with the ISD-II Chimaera and 3 of the ISDs in the Thrawn series such as Captain Brandei
• Piet, Ozzel and the rest of Imperial Death Squadron for Vader
• Admiral Daala and the Star Destroyers of the Maw Facility
• The traitor admirals Grand Admiral Zaarin and Admiral Harkov
• Warlord Zsinj and the Iron Fist
• Grand Moff Adrus Kaine
• Most of the Grand Admirals including their special abilities and ships

Lots more of the minor heroes to do for the Empire, I'll be ignoring the land based ones for the space demo release.

Once the heroes are done I'll add in the Gladiator-class Star Destroyer if I find a good model and then focus more on the Rebels. I did some of the Rebel stuff, I have to add in some of their larger vessels and then make sure their starfighters (snubbies) are given their proper due.

Rounding Out the Imperial Navy

The modding progress continues...

I've gotten the shipyards working and am now adding in the space heroes for the Empire.

In the previous personal only incarnation of my mod I implemented an idea called 'Warlords'. They were basically unique versions of a unit based on a SW character, such as Admiral Daala having an ISD Gorgon with her escort of 3-4 other ISDs or Zsinj's Iron Fist with TIE Raptors as the starfighters.

In this version of the mod I am switching to a major/minor/misc hero system that will incorporate regular heroes, unique units as heroes and misc heroes such as probe droids and bounty hunters and fleet admirals.

Heroes can be spawned one of two ways, either through the spawning system (when you increase tech levels or conquer a certain planet or conquer a number of planets) or by building them (one time only special builds.) For the buildable heroes they usually have unique properties to the base unit so they tend to cost at least 10% more - they are primarily there for interest and story purposes.

I also figured out the X-Wing bug, I was including the old squadrons.xml file and it was overwriting my changes. Whoops! I got rid of it from the GameObjects file and it is working properly now.

Once I finish the Imperial space heroes I will decide if I want to implement any other ships. I still haven't done the Gladiator-class Star Destroyer, I should probably add it in but haven't got around to it - it was not a high priority item. Right now the space hero Admiral Screed is using an ISD but he is known for bumming around the Outer Rim in his Gladiator-class vessel.

I have the 8km Bellator-class Star Dreadnaught implemented, I'm thinking do we really need the larger 12km Mandator III-class? There are already five classes of super expensive Star Dreadnaughts for the Empire, I love choice but will it really be needed? Between the Executor, Vengeance and Bellator that is a lot of choice for conventional style SSDs.

I still haven't found a model for the YT-2400 Light Freighter so I might have to drop it. Was using the M Falcon for the YT-1300 but it has a weird bug with invulnerability that I still have to fix.

I'm thinking about not doing the Bavos-II Military Space Platform and Bavos-I Military Space Platform - the Golans already offer nearly the same functionality.

Once I get those issues resolved the Imperial Navy will be done in all its glory and I can start finalizing the Alliance Navy and the Pirate/Neutral ships that will be available to fight against.