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Omega Conversion Project (version 3)
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Nerroth
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PostPosted: Sat May 10, 2014 4:23 am    Post subject: Omega Conversion Project (version 3) Reply with quote

In light of the version 3 upload, I figured it would be as well to re-start the overall discussion thread for the broader Omega project in FC.

How much depth would you like for the current crop of factions? Which empires would you like to see added later on? And are there any other aspects of this region of the galaxy (such as fighters, gunboats, or X-ships) you'd look forward to seeing explored in further detail?
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Garydee
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 5:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The next group that I believe should be in another 5 race playtest packet:

1)Kolighar
2)Drex
3)Vari
4)Worb
5)Souldra

The reason why I chose these races are because of their importance to the Omega sector. The rest of the big hitters I should say. I'm curious to how the Souldra would operate in FC. Like the Andros their tech is weird and one of their most important features(draining crew units) can't be done in FC.


Last edited by Garydee on Thu Jan 08, 2015 7:22 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Nerroth
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 7:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For what it's worth, my long-term goal for the Omega project in Federation Commander would be to follow a more gradual degree of expansion into new empires and new territories, akin to that done for the Alpha Octant in the current range of formally published FC modules.

After starting things off with Klingon Border (and adding more ships for the original five factions via Klingon Attack), FC shifted focus over to the Gorns and Romulans in the next two releases. After that, each new batch of empires came in a group which highlighted the connections and/or rivalries between them: Neo-Tholian/Seltorian, Lyran/LDR/Hydran/WYN, ISC/Andromedan, and so on. (One might wonder about the Vudar connection to the other War and Peace empires, but I'd say it was as good a place to publish them as any.)

With the Omega Octant, the choice of empires in the current playtest pack followed a similar pattern. After selecting the FRA as the "gateway" faction for Alpha Octant players and the Maesron Alliance as the "central" power to build the remainder of the octant around, I started with the two Superpowers on the Alliance's "western" flanks - the Trobrin Empire and the Probr Revolution. While I suppose I could have chosen the Bolosco as the fifth starter faction given their home space's location along the Probr-Trobrin border, I went with the Iridani since their Quest ships can show up pretty much anywhere (and their rules were easier to translate by comparison). And also because I really like the Iridani. Ahem.

Were I able to get those five empires officially up and running, my next step would be to shift to the Maesrons' "eastern" flank, to cover the Koligahr Solidarity and the Vari Combine. That would help round out the "core" area of the octant, and allow for further expansion later on. (I would probably add at least one, if not two, minor factions at that point - perhaps the Bolosco and/or the Chlorophons. As with the Iridani, many of those ships have a habit of showing up in various places away from their home territories. But for now, I don't have any definite leanings on who should be in "wave 2" beyond the Koligahr and Vari.)

After that, I would try to group the remaining factions into distinct groups of three or four, based on which ones work best as foils to one another. I'd want to do the Drex at the same time as the Ymatrians and Worb, since I believe those three powers work best when grouped together. For similar reasons, I'd wish to put the Hivers and Alunda in with the Branthodons, the Loriyill and Singers in with the Souldra, and so on and so forth. (I might have to think about where a few of the others might best fit, to include the various "Omega's lost futures" factions which await publication over in SFB.)

That said, I don't know if it would be wise to do too many new empires in playtest form right now. I'd rather see how well the first five stick, and hope that they can establish enough interest to sustain more FC Omega material further down the road.
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Garydee
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 2:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gary, I have a question when it comes to the implosion bolt. It says in the rules "you may pay the three Energy Points otherwise due in the
Energy Allocation of the Third Turn during the Offensive Fire Phase (1E2d) of a given impulse in the turn." Does that mean the same as paying at the time of firing like the Tachyon Gun does or am I missing something? Also, can you look into disallowing implosion bolts from being able to use directed targeting. Technically, they don't overload but it's just a little too good as is.
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Nerroth
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 8:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I posted my replies over in the stickied feedback/errata thread. (Generally, I prefer to use that thread to review the current playtest material, and keep this one for discussions on where things might go for the Omega Octant in Federation Commander moving forward.)

-----

On another note, I'll be keeping an eye on the pending development of the first Borders of Madness module, not least to see how the concept of carrier operations may some day apply to the FC Omega project.

All five of the current playtest empires use carriers, though the number of fighters per squadron varies from one empire to the next. The Maesron strike carrier has 14 to a squadron, the Trobrin scout carrier has 11, the Probr and FRA strike carriers each have 12, while the Iridani use one or more carrier modules which take six size-1 fighters (or three size-2 fighters) apiece.

Depending on what range of fighters are offered for Alpha Octant carriers (and fighter ground bases) in Fighters Attack, the array of fighters available here might remain to be decided. Although I'd still prefer to stick with one fighter per type per empire.

For example, Maesron squadrons typically have 8 phaser, 4 TG, and 2 TM fighters in SFB. If BoM only allows one type of size-1 fighter per empire, all 14 fighters on a Maesron CVS Ship Card would be phaser types. But if BoM allows for a little more variety, the assault and missile fighters would be retained. But in each case, I'd use only one model of Maesron fighter per type - of which I'd prefer to use the ASF, ATF, and AMF from Module Omega 5.

Any thoughts on how Omega carrier operations might some day work in a BoM context?
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Garydee
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 10:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm okay with the concept of "flights" but I'd hate to see all races go to only one type of fighter. It takes away from the flavor of the game and it really doesn't make the game that much simpler. Also, might be a good idea to boost Omega fighters' speed a little since most of the slow Omega ships are faster in FC(can now go 32 speed).
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Garydee
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 5:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nerroth, you've mentioned that there's a Maesron Battleship. Could you tell me in what product that's located?
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Nerroth
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 20, 2015 12:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd suggest checking out the "BoM1" thread over in the FC portion of the BBS, to see how some of the discussions have been going on this topic thus far.

The Maesron ASF, ATF, and AMF are all speed 14 in SFB, so it may not be too unreasonable to set them at Speed 16 in BoM.

The BB is in Stellar Shadows Journal #1, which is currently available in print or on Warehouse 23. It's the only Omega SSD in that file, though.
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Garydee
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 12:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nerroth, I'm curious on what you are planning to do for the races that are viewed to be unbalanced in the SFB game. For example, it's widely believed that the Drex are a little too good and that the Vari are somewhat weak. Will you use rule changes, point value adjustments or just leave stuff as is if/when you bring them over to FC?
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Nerroth
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 10:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As it happens, I did look through the supercomputer rules offered in a recent(-ish) Captain's Log issue, to try and pick out what details could one day be re-purposed for use with Drex CPU boxes.

I think that the mechanics for the FC game system might help to mitigate some of the Unity's potential excesses. With the limits on shield reinforcement, the Drex would have fewer options to bulk up their defenses; while the requirement to pay double while going backwards might help avoid the kind of lethal retrogrades which Drex fleets can attempt in open space over in SFB.

But, it may be a while before I properly get around to them, so.

-----

As for the Vari, I have my eyes on the Wing Cruiser and Command Cruiser from CL23, as well as the particle splitter torpedo operated by both hull types.

I'm hoping that the use of the PST on these more powerful hulls might help make "late-war" Vari fleets a more dangerous proposition to contend with.

(Should we get gunboats into FC at some point, that might also open the door for Vari "volatile warp" PFs; though it should be noted that Vari gunboats are not quite on the same level as, say, Maesron or Trobrin gunboats.)
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Garydee
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 8:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quick question. Is the particle splitter torpedo in Omega Module 5 or just CL 23/OMRB?
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Nerroth
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 10:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The PST rules are in CL23 and the 2011 OMRB only. There is a PST-armed Vari gunboat variant in Module Omega 5, though.
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Garydee
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 8:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nerroth wrote:
As it happens, I did look through the supercomputer rules offered in a recent(-ish) Captain's Log issue, to try and pick out what details could one day be re-purposed for use with Drex CPU boxes.

I think that the mechanics for the FC game system might help to mitigate some of the Unity's potential excesses. With the limits on shield reinforcement, the Drex would have fewer options to bulk up their defenses; while the requirement to pay double while going backwards might help avoid the kind of lethal retrogrades which Drex fleets can attempt in open space over in SFB.

But, it may be a while before I properly get around to them, so.

-----

As for the Vari, I have my eyes on the Wing Cruiser and Command Cruiser from CL23, as well as the particle splitter torpedo operated by both hull types.

I'm hoping that the use of the PST on these more powerful hulls might help make "late-war" Vari fleets a more dangerous proposition to contend with.

(Should we get gunboats into FC at some point, that might also open the door for Vari "volatile warp" PFs; though it should be noted that Vari gunboats are not quite on the same level as, say, Maesron or Trobrin gunboats.)


Yeah, looking over the Drex more closely I've discovered you're right about FC knocking down a lot of their abilities. The constant ECM advantages and the range 26-33 sniping for 8 points damage(completely insane) will be gone in FC. In addition if you drop their enveloping mode for their HCs the Drex looks like they will be better balanced.
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Nerroth
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 4:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually, I would at least like to try and see if implosive and enveloping HC rounds could be made to work in FC. If for nothing else, their interactions with PA panels over in SFB might be interesting to model here.

But, again, it may be a while before I would have the chance to get around to fleshing out the FC Drex rules in any great detail, so.
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Garydee
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 8:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Most of the races transfer right to FC quite easily like the Koligahr and the Vari. A few of them like the Drex, Souldra, and the Worb are a little tricky. I've been working on the Worb and I can't find a good workaround on the subspace rockets. An impulse delay in SFB just isn't the same as in FC.
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