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I finished the flag of the UGF.
It is, of course, heavily based on the United Nations flag:
It just occurred to me Star Trek's Federation flag is also heavily based on the UN flag. And here I thought the UGF flag was based on the Federation's. It's been a while since I last saw a UN flag, you see. I forgot what it looked like.
Will UGF ships feature the complete flag, as well, or just the circle portion they already have?
@darthkev, on 04 April 2011 - 04:26 PM, said in EV Nova: United Galactic Federation:
I've never actually seen the flag of the Federation.
And just like the US Navy's insignia isn't the stars and stripes, the Galactic military doesn't use the flag as its insignia. As you've seen, the Navy uses the globe portion with an anchor piercing it. The Fighter Corps has the globe with wings. The Marine Corps (used as offensive ground troops attached to the Navy) has a triangle not unlike a Starfleet insignia (base is pointed inwards), and the Army (defensive ground troops) has four spikes arranged so the points form a square.
I've also looked into having a national motto translated into Latin. Going all the way, you see. Unfortunately the available web translators are crap: translating from English to Latin looks good, but I know enough Spanish* to tell that they're not giving me anything close to what I put in, and translating in reverse tells the whole story: http://www.translati...nglish&to=Latin
Original: Many worlds, one people.
To Latin: Plures universitas, unus populus.
To English: Many more the whole, one populace.
"Many cultures, one people" is even worse; I also tried "Many planets" and got something about kidnapping. So I did a Google search and found a Latin forum. Stay tuned.
This post has been edited by StarSword : 04 April 2011 - 08:52 PM
Actually, very rarely (if ever) will you find a perfect translation for anything from one language to the next. Some languages have words that other languages don't. In those situations, the closest equivalent is used, so when translated back to the original language it differs slightly. I would say 'plures universitas, unus populus' is probably as close as you'll get. I'm not a language professor, however, so take this post with a grain of salt.
Granted, the examples you describe are more extreme than I've seen. Kidnaping from planets? Very odd, indeed. Especially since I'm almost positive Latin has a word for 'planet.'
I'm kinda struggling with the Anz'kalarad patrol ship (a gunboat) right now. Can't quite decide on a shape.
Instead, here's a new(ish) weapon, the quad laser turret.
Terran Engineering Corporation QLT-837B Quad Laser Turret Tier 2 Primary Weapon, Civilian Market
A quad laser turret consists of four laser cannons mounted on a turret. This particular model, TEC's QLT-837B, uses the Magnum Dynamics HL6 heavy laser, an older and slightly less powerful version than the HL7. However, the rate of fire is greatly improved over the simpler dual HL7 turret. TEC's quad laser designs have been popular for decades.
This component made its debut on either the Carrack or the Naloth -class frigate (I forget which came first, but the image is taken from the Naloth ). It's one of the best medium ship weapons in EVN:UGF. Each shot does less damage than the standard heavy laser turret, but the QLT's firing rate is double that of the HLT, meaning its damage per second value is greater.
EDIT: Damn, I forgot to link the image. facepalm
And I ran across a former EVN developer on DA after I posted this, too.
This post has been edited by StarSword : 21 June 2011 - 04:07 PM
After many hours of fiddling, here's the Anz'kalarad patrol ship and some new weapons.
Anz'kalar Shipyards M207R Rovion -class Patrol Ship Fast Response and Reconnaissance Gunship, Anz'kalarad Principalities Royal Defense Force
The Anz'kalar Shipyards M207R Rovion -class Patrol Ship was designed in 972 GSD to replace an earlier model of gunship that was becoming more obsolete by the minute. Armed with heavy lasers, ion cannons, and several missile types, it strikes a balance between speed and defense, and frequently shows up in private fleets. On convoy duty, the patrol ship usually jumps in ahead of its fellows and checks the area with its powerful sensors, which since 980 GSD have included a CGT array.
A CGT array (CGT stands for "crystal gravfield trap"), incidentally, is a Galactic sensor outfit capable of piercing a cloak field and revealing cloaked starships. It, more than anything else, is what pushes up the price of the Rovion -class to more than two-and-a-half times that of comparable ships. It works by detecting cloaked vessels' mass signatures. Since a cloaked ship is still physically present, hiding from a CGT array is impossible.
I had some trouble deciding which textures to use. For the red paint -- which for Anz'kalarad ships signifies it was built by the Anz'kalar shipyard -- I started out using the "Orion red panel" texture. However, the background image for that texture, when used where I used it, had the odd artifact of producing greenish-yellow splotches. At first I thought it looked kinda cool, but I soon tired of it and switched to the red metal texture I used on the Balcrusian ships.
Magnum Dynamics G85-T Tempest Assault Cannon Point-Defense Turret, Civilian Market
Tempest assault cannons have longer range than the Gale, and are mounted on a turret that can swivel 360/270 to hit any incoming missiles or small craft. This makes it a relatively inexpensive alternative to the point-defense laser clusters used aboard Galactic capital ships. For ammunition, it uses the same chains of 12.7mm plasma-jacketed bullets as the Gale assault cannon.
The Tempest is essentially a scaled-up and highly advanced version of Raytheon's Phalanx Close-In Weapons System, used as point-defense and a last-ditch anti-aircraft weapon aboard ships of the US Navy and many others. A successor to the Storm chaingun developed by the Aurorans in EV Nova , it is far cheaper and somewhat lighter than the point-defense laser cluster favored by the UGN. It can rotate at up to 500 RPM if necessary, fast enough to track Needle missiles at close range (though not necessarily fast enough to hit them, since the missile's semi-sentient AI guidance has been known to evade the shots).
This weapon debuted on the Anz'kalarad patrol ship. I reused the chaingun component DarthKev used in the Black Knight. I'm not sure if it was him or someone else here who developed it, though, and I'd like to give credit over on DeviantArt.
Imperial Martial Engineering AD93J Automated Defense Cannons Point-Defense Weapon, Axe-tail Imperial Starfleet
Thanks to a high degree of technical expertise, the Axe-tails are masters of automation, and this array of powerful autocannons is a good example. They are impressively effective at eliminating incoming homing weapons and starfighters, so most Imperial Starfleet warships carry at least one array. It's expensive, but well worth the price.
The Axe-tail answer to the Tempest assault cannon and point-defense laser cluster, it fires relatively weak plasma bolts at an unbelievable rate to tear incoming ordnance apart. 'Nuff said.
I first developed this weapon for the 'Rapier' type prowler, and reused it on the Shandu light freighter.
This post has been edited by StarSword : 18 April 2011 - 01:38 PM
@starsword, on 08 April 2011 - 05:25 PM, said in EV Nova: United Galactic Federation:
Nice. I noticed you used the cockpit piece I made in this one, too. Or, so it appears. I have another, sleeker cockpit if you want. I used two of it back-to-back for the Black Knight's cockpit, though in that case it's kinda hard to reuse it since it's blown up into individual faces. I can give a copy of the original piece, if you want.
Quote
It can rotate at up to 500 RPM if necessary, fast enough to track Needle missiles at close range (though not necessarily fast enough to hit them, since the missile's semi-sentient AI guidance has been known to evade the shots).
Needles are starting to sound more and more OP'd. Sure, they don't have a lot of range or hitting power, but unless you put some limits on capacity, players will easily be able to just load up on Needles and kill most opponents. I do it all the time in EVO. I'm just advising you be careful with them when it comes time for balance editing.
I reused the chaingun component DarthKev used in the Black Knight. I'm not sure if it was him or someone else here who developed it, though, and I'd like to give credit over on DeviantArt.
I did make that piece, though I used the Angle-Cut Strut and the Chevron from Delphi's parts collection to do it.
Thanks to a high degree of technical expertise, the Axe-tails are masters of automation...
I thought the Balcrusians were the masters of automation and robotics. Or is automation different from robotics in some way?
@darthkev, on 08 April 2011 - 07:47 PM, said in EV Nova: United Galactic Federation:
Yeah, I did reuse the cockpit piece for the Rovion -class.
Having the second cockpit version could come in handy for the Gunstar (Anz'kalarad bomber), since it looks like Kamisama/Virmor has vacated the premises.
The guidance is a little on the weak side, actually; a basic IR jammer should be able to block a fairly high percentage of Needles. And I'm not turning on the "Can't be targeted by point-defense" flag; that would make them overpowered. The intent is just for them to move fast enough that framerate effects make the PD miss every once in a while. I'll keep the capacity thing in mind, though.
Really? I thought it was just a collection of tubes.
In answer to your second question, there's a lot of overlap between automation and industrial robotics, but automation is a more general term for making things run themselves.
As for the first question, they both are. The Balcrusians are forced into automation because their population is low, so they need to make up for that with automation or else they can't field fleets large enough to challenge the UGN and Orizio Union Navy on an even footing. The Axe-tails are good at it simply because they were the first of the major factions to reach space, and have thus had longer to work on their act. (That's also why the Axe-tails are the undisputed masters of the cloaking device.)
And before you ask, there's no chance of seeing a Balcrusian/Axe-tail fleet battle; the Balcrusians are in the southeast Milky Way, and the Axe-tails in east-central Andromeda, and the UGF, which has control of the intergalactic hypergates, is in the way.
@starsword, on 08 April 2011 - 09:27 PM, said in EV Nova: United Galactic Federation:
While I'm at it, I have a heavier cockpit you can use also. Links below.
Sleek Cockpit
Heavy Cockpit
Most of it is, but look at the rear section. You'll see Angle-Cut Struts on the sides around the tube and a pair of Chevrons on the rear. I added those so the thing didn't require embedding like the quad-cannon piece, because of the no-detail rear of the latter. The tubes are all my work, though.
Oh, I think I know a way around that. And I don't mean altering the data to make it work. <cryptic grin>
@darthkev, on 09 April 2011 - 02:58 AM, said in EV Nova: United Galactic Federation:
I hate it when people do that. :despair
I have to ask: what do you have in mind? Flying a Balcrusian ship with Balcrusian escorts into Axe-tail space or vice versa?
@starsword, on 09 April 2011 - 10:45 AM, said in EV Nova: United Galactic Federation:
Custom Fleet and Dude resources, then either mod the syst resource to pull from the mixed fleet/dude resources, or use a mission to call in the fleet.
@lnsu, on 09 April 2011 - 02:53 PM, said in EV Nova: United Galactic Federation:
Dude, that would be altering the files. I'm talking about not doing that.
StarSword, you had it right. Though since the UGF controls the gates, I was thinking more playing the UFG string and at some point capturing either 6 Balcrusian ships and heading over to Axe-tail space or the other way around. I'd then set my escorts to attack some of the other guys and see what happens. That way, it's AI vs. AI, with no superior human brain functions getting in the way.
Also, you hate when people do what? Find ways around your attempts to block them, or do cryptic grins?
@darthkev, on 09 April 2011 - 04:48 PM, said in EV Nova: United Galactic Federation:
You actually can fly through the hypergates regardless of which string you're in. It's just that they're all in Galactic-controlled systems, so if you're in the Balcrusian string or Axe-tail string, you might wind up getting blown away.
The <cryptic grin> thing. Reminds me of Baldrick's non-cunning "cunning plans" in The Black Adder. Like the time he tried to save the life of King Charles I of England by balancing a pumpkin on the king's head and chopping off the pumpkin instead of his head.
Anyhoo, the Anz'kalarad bomber, the gunstar. Anz'moria Shipyards S402B Gunstar Heavy Bomber, Anz'kalarad Principalities Royal Defense Force
In contrast to the Fangship, the Anz'moria Shipyards S402B Gunstar is a slow, lumbering heavy bomber that uses big guns and thick armor to keep itself in one piece. Though vulnerable to hostile fighters, the Gunstar has enough missiles -- including Magnum Dynamics RH301 Stingrays -- to rip much larger ships to pieces. During the United Powers War, wolfpacks of Gunstars tore the front lines of House Dani to pieces, bulling straight through hailstorms of chaingun and fusion pulse fire.
Basically, the Gunstar goes for the brute force approach. Its rudder is sluggish, its engines can't push it to much faster than an unmodified light freighter, but it is heavily defended and carries more missiles and bombs than it knows what to do with, including the nuclear-tipped Stingray.
The Gunstar is based on the Claimer, a design by Kamisama/Virmor. It is named in homage to the gunship favored by the Star League (the "good guys") in the movie The Last Starfighter , the first sci-fi movie (at least as far as the DVD featurettes are concerned) to exclusively use CG for its space scenes.
I had to help SketchUp along a little in order to get this viewing angle, one which is much better in my opinion than the standard isometric angle I've used everywhere else. I'm a little iffy on the golden yellow I used for Anz'moria colors, too; might end up darkening it.
And does anyone know what the heck happened to Kamisama? I've been trying to reach him so that I can get official permission to use his design, or else it's back to the drawing board.
Wow, has it really been twelve days since I last finished a ship?
Anz'matarin Shipyards L367C Kalar -class Battleship Ship of the Line, Anz'kalarad Principalities Royal Defense Force
Anz'matarin Shipyards' Kalar -class Battleship looks like the Thanatos -class light cruiser writ large. Its technological ancestors killed human pirate Redhand Ed Marlowe during the United Powers War, and led the campaign to capture Orion space in the century before that. The stigma attached to such a weapon of terror, even a thousand-plus years ago, still remains, and the Anz'kalarad Principalities Royal Defense Force follows standing orders never to deploy their battleships outside their territory without provocation (or permission from the Council of Rule, whichever comes first).
At just under five-and-a-half kilometers long, the Kalar -class battleship is one of the largest ships in EVN:UGF. Surprisingly fast and agile for such a large vessel, it is heavily armed and carries multiple squadrons of Fangships and Gunstars. Its defenses leave somewhat to be desired, however, being weaker than those of the smaller KarHallarn -class battleship of the Orion League Defense Force.
Since the Anz'kalarad Principalities only maintain their military at the level required to keep the peace and keep their borders secure, it has only a dozen or so of these battleships. Despite the appeal of captaining a dreadnought, the backbone of the Anz'kalarad fleet is the much smaller Thanatos -class light cruiser.
The bridge tower was interesting to build. I constructed it by substantially compressing the Delphi library's Massive Curved Hull with Substructure lengthwise, then stretching it vertically. I don't normally do this kind of extreme distortion except with the Archon Fin and Archon Wing (the wings in many of my ships), but I was experimenting and decided the trick worked really well here.
Good news in Real Life: I'm graduating next month!
And three new game sequels I want, and a movie based on one of them, are coming out this fall! The games are The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim , Mass Effect 3 , and last but definitely not least, the long-awaited sequel to X3: Terran Conflict , X: Rebirth! The X-Universe forums (forum.egosoft.com) have been buzzing for two days since developer Egosoft made the announcement of the project previously codenamed TNBT. (They were buzzing in particular due to the fact that we previously thought they were waiting until a convention on the 28th to announce the release. My theory is they got tired of hearing the forum members whine.) And the movie is Nautilus, based on an X3TC fanfic/story guide by forum member and veteran gamer Nuklear_Slug. (The links lead to the trailers on YouTube.)
EDIT: X3TC movie was an April Fool's joke.
This post has been edited by StarSword : 11 January 2012 - 06:36 PM
I haven't been back here or done any work on EVN:UGF since April for several reasons. On May 18, I (finally) graduated from Durham Technical Community College with an Associates' in Applied Science. Since then I've been looking for a steady job (no luck so far), and playing a lot of RPGs ranging from Dragon Age: Origins to The Witcher to an old favorite, Neverwinter Nights 2.
But tonight (after The Witcher crashed right as I exited a cleared dungeon :hector_bird: ), I decided to finish the last Anz'kalarad ship. I now present the Anz'kalarad light cruiser.
Anz'vatrin Shipyards L708C Thanatos -class Light Cruiser Ship of the Line, Anz'kalarad Principalities Royal Defense Force
Similar in role to the Ganbar Escort Carrier, the Anz'vatrin Shipyards Thanatos -class Light Cruiser is the masterpiece of Duvana Tormo, Prince of Anz'vatrin. Though a noble by birth, he is an engineer by trade, and his work shows it. Typical of Anz'kalarad war vessels, the Thanatos -class is purely utilitarian. Long range, strong weapons, and four Fangships launched from bays on either outrigger make this the most popular vessel among Anz'kalarad war captains.
The Thanatos -class is placed in the light cruiser grouping more due to its physical size than anything else. Though half-again the size of the Calamity -class destroyer, it is only around half the size of the Kalar -class battleship. The battleships aren't allowed to leave Anz'kalarad space without extenuating circumstances, however, so the light cruiser acts as a light carrier to fill the midsize capital class. A true masterpiece of miniaturization, it packs the approximate firepower of a UGN O'Brien -class battlecruiser into a package about 1.5 times the size of the Anaconda -class destroyer (a reduction of over half).
For this design I essentially mixed the Kalar -class battleship with the outriggers I developed for the Axe-tail 'Khanhur' Type Heavy Freighter. I moved the two fighter bays to the wings, then replaced the Anz'matarin orange with Anz'vatrin blue.
And with that, the Anz'kalarads are finished. I'm not sure who to do next, though I want to get another major faction done. So far I've done the UGF and the Axe-tails, and Meaker VI did the Klavarese.
thinks for a minute
The Balcrusians are half done (one light capital and two civilian ships to go), so I'll hit them next.
And as long as I'm in a working mood, the UGF's most powerful weapon: the Devastator -class MIRV.
United Galactic Department of Defense MIRV-CXVII Devastator -class Strategic Arms Platform Space-to-Surface Bombardment Weapon, United Galactic Navy
The Galactic Department of Defense's MIRV-CXVII Devastator -class electron-compression missile was designed for use during space-to-surface bombardments, but in recent years, what with the Ganba and the Balcrusians constantly probing the borders, Galactic admirals have started using these MIRVs against battleships. The launcher is exceedingly heavy -- so heavy that only a couple ships can mount it -- but the damage dealt by the Devastator is unmatched anywhere this side of a superlaser.
"MIRV" is an acronym dating back to the 20th century AD that means "Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicle." It's a concise and highly descriptive name for a horrific weapon. The Devastator -class missile is really no more than a launch platform for twenty independently targetable electron-compression warheads, each with a maximum yield equivalent to 100 megatons of TNT. They're also interchangeable, and can be loaded with sprayers for chemical or biological weapons. The Devastator -class missile is one of the most powerful weapons humanity has yet devised.
Electron-compression weaponry uses gravity generators to jump-start a runaway quantum reaction inside the warhead, a reaction that releases vast amounts of energy in nanoseconds. Far more efficient than nuclear fusion weapons, without the obvious hazards of matter/antimatter bombs, and producing little to no radioactive fallout (the isotopes having decayed at an accelerated rate due to several confusing levels of quantum weirdness), electron-compression bombs are one of the few weapons of mass destruction sanctioned by the UGF.
It is in some ways ironic that the most powerful missile in EVN:UGF should be developed by its titular nation. The UGF is a democratic government that prides itself on supporting sentient rights and working against civilian casualties, and it is to their lasting regret that such weapons as the Devastator are deemed necessary. But with the instability of the STS nuclear-armed Varellavites, the firepower of the Axe-tails, and never mind the Balcrusians' experiments with STS singularity weapons, the Galactic government believes it has little choice. The only saving grace is that this missile is too large for any ship smaller than an O'Brien -class battlecruiser, and that's after ripping out half the ship's interior to accommodate its launch tubes, fuel bays (they're stored unfueled), and other ancillary systems. In the Galactic fleet, only its thirty fleet command ships carry the weapon.
This is one of EVN:UGF's few anti-SPOB weapons. Like most of these, the Devastator's launcher is actually two WEAPs and OUTFs; buying one triggers an OnPurchase bit which grants the other. One WEAP is for shooting at ships, and is a homing cluster missile with twenty warheads. (It is very hard to hit anything smaller than a frigate with them because they maneuver poorly, having been designed to hit stationary targets like military bases.) The other WEAP is for shooting at SPOBs, and basically shoots the whole missile at the target (the warheads separate in the upper atmosphere).
@starsword, on 20 June 2011 - 01:15 PM, said in EV Nova: United Galactic Federation:
Ah, the MIRV. Are you perhaps also considering adding a Death's head?
@meaker-vi, on 20 June 2011 - 06:17 PM, said in EV Nova: United Galactic Federation:
I've played a couple different variations on that game, but I'm not familiar with that weapon.
My current intent is to finish the Balcrusians by the end of the week.
The Balcrusians are hot-headed by nature, and their design philosophy reflects this. While the UGN tries to strike a balance between firepower, performance, and defenses, and the Axe-tails for the most part focus on firepower and defenses at the expense of speed and maneuvering, the Balcrusian design philosophy can be summed up as follows: "Strike fast, strike hard, strike first, and don't get hit." Nowhere is this more evident than in the Nemesis -class frigate.
Balcruz Military Industries Nemesis -class Frigate Fire Support and Patrol Warship, Balcrusian People's Navy
Balcruz Military Industries' Nemesis -class Frigate is a boomerang-shaped vessel that is fast, well-armed, and poorly defended. Bureaucratic inertia on the part of the War Council and BPN mechanics' resourcefulness is all that keeps these craft commissioned; nevertheless, they can pose a great threat to Galactic warships when deployed in wolfpack formations. (Recent fleet-wide technical upgrades help a great deal.) Many Balcrusian admirals have mastered using them for hit-and-run strikes to soften up targets for Marauder attack.
The Nemesis -class is fairly dated (the first one was completed in 978 GSD), but its firepower and speed make it dangerous. It can outfight the UGN Naloth -class frigate one-on-one with ease (though the Galactic warship's greater missile payload can present a challenge), and with some clever tactics a small number of Nemeses can even bring down Anaconda -class destroyers. The O'Brien -class battlecruiser is well above the design's pay grade, however.
The key is to use its small size (200 meters long, 400 in beam) and its performance characteristics to maximum effect: though it can shrug off some damage, it cannot hold out for long against cruiser-class weapons.
This post has been edited by StarSword : 09 January 2012 - 10:33 AM
Balcruz Aerospace EP49 Light Transport Light Freighter, Balcrusian Civilian Market
The Balcruz Aerospace EP49 Light Transport is a knockoff of the New Netherlands Carrack, with the same modular construction, the same engines, and the same structural framework. Its armament, however, is pathetic, which is more due to stringent BPR "public safety" laws than any manufacturing defects. Nevertheless, it carries much more cargo relative to its price than does the HEP52 Bulk Freighter.
Balcruz Aerospace licensed the plans for the NNS Carrack light freighter over thirty years ago because the Galactic ship was deemed superior to anything BA had on the drawing board. The BPR's arms control laws forbid anything more powerful than the fighter-grade Dagger-class plasma cannon from being mounted on the EP49 transport, meaning that if a stock Carrack goes head-to-head with a stock EP49, the Carrack will win every time because it mounts Magnum Dynamics HL7 heavy lasers.
Of course, the BPR can't do much about EP49 captains who cross the border into the much less restrictive UGF, or about captains who work for the rebellious Balcrusian People's Front. BPF-flown EP49s have been seen mounting everything from Talon-class plasma cannons to Galactic-style quad lasers. Missile launchers are even more common, being easy to conceal behind breakaway panels in the hull.
Awesome new ships! I especially like the Nemesis; I have a thing for 'flying wing' designs.
Edit: The MIRV looks good, too. I do have one question on it, though: I feel safe assuming more than one is needed to destroy larger warships, but I'm curious as to how many anti-spöb versions are needed to destroy a planet or station.
This post has been edited by DarthKev : 21 June 2011 - 12:34 AM