Thrawn's Revenge

Mod & Network News => News & Updates => Topic started by: Corey on September 24, 2016, 05:17:25 PM

Title: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Corey on September 24, 2016, 05:17:25 PM
2.2 is bringing a lot of overhauled content to the table, and Galactic Conquest scenarios are no exception. The GC selection and era system of previous versions did a decent job of capturing the overall themes, but there were some things we really wanted to change. Some GCs ended up trying to cover too much, and some GCs ended up being a little redundant. For 2.2 we sat down and basically re-planned all of our scenarios from the ground up (get it?). We'll be posting 7 updates of this type to outline the changes; one per era, one for progressive GCs, and one for GCs which don't fit into those categories (though eras 3 and 4 may be combined for the breakdown, we'll see when we get there). There will probably be some changes between what you read in these updates and the final release, but nothing too major.

With all of the GCs in the mod, once of the things we wanted to do was to inject a little bit more of the story and lore where possible, so in 2.2 you'll see a few more events thrown into the GC for different rewards or to cover different plot points. Some of these will be mentioned in the update, but not exhaustively. The era system does a decent job of covering the broad strokes of the post-Endor story, but there's still some gaps it leaves and we essentially want to make that a little more fluid and try to have some story progression in GCs which don't cover multiple eras. Era 4, for example, is pretty compact; there's only one major conflict in the time period (Daala trying to reunite the Empire while fighting the NR), but with others there's a lot to represent and having "the era 5 GC" just didn't do it justice.

Now, for the first set. Era 1 has always had Isard on the Lusankya as the sole leader of the Empire, which got the job done but condensed things a bit too much considering Lusankya spent most of this period under a city and Sate Pestage was more or less in charge before Isard (there was another guy between them, but he didn't really do much). Having just Fractured Empire and The Stars Align, which were altogether too similar in content also left out a lot of the bigger campaigns in what was actually a pretty hectic period, and that's what we're trying to cover here with these changes. So, we've refocused The Stars Align to be more localized to the Pentastar Alignment, and split Fractured Empire into the 2 GCs; Endor Aftermath and The Bacta War.


The Stars Align
"The New Order has never fallen. Only the Emperor. … The Emperor may be dead, but the Empire lives on!"
―Grand Moff Ardus Kaine

(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h283/DArbiter/TheStarsAlign_zps43t0haqb.png)

Time Covered: Pentastar Talks (4ABY)

This GC essentially gives the option of a small campaign within Era One for Pentastar players, focusing on the formation of the Pentastar Alignment and the Pentastar Talks between Grand Moff Kaine and the various groupss that form the Alignment. In 2.1, The Stars Align was meant to focus on this but ultimately ended up containing the majority of Fractured Empire as well, so these changes (initially planned by new team member, Kucsidave) should refocus the scenario and with its focus on the Alignment, give it a bit more of a reason to exist on its own.

Factions:
New Republic - Hast
Imperial Remnant - Orinda
Pentastar Alignment - Entralla


Endor Aftermath
"It's just that, after every major victory, I hope the fighting is over. But it'll never be over…Even after we defeat the Imperials, there will be someone…another threat to peace…"
―Wedge Antilles

(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h283/DArbiter/EndorAftermath_zpsq361o8qm.png)


Time Covered: Delvardus Campaign (4ABY) - Liberation of Coruscant (6ABY)

This GC covers the initial expansion of the New Republic and the rise of Imperial Warlords. The battle of Endor has left the Empire in shambles, caused infighting within its political and military branches and allowing the New Republic to make several key gains. The Pentastar Alignment, Zsinj, Eriadu Authority and Greater Maldrood all hope to establish themselves as the legitimate successors to the Empire, and have the benefit of starting with their territory already consolidated. Within this GC, the Remnant starts out with Sate Pestage as its head. However, if Coruscant is taken, Pestage flees and Isard takes over with the Lusankya (or if Pestage is killed before then), essentially splitting the GC into two mini eras. Imperial players can also opt to support Isard earlier if they put in the resources to extricate Lusankya from Coruscant themselves.

Factions:
New Republic - Endor
Imperial Remnant - Coruscant
Pentastar Alignment - Entralla
Eriadu Authority - Eriadu
Warlord Zsinj - Serenno
Greater Maldrood - Centares


Bacta War
"Rebel forces are indeed now in control of Imperial Center. What they have discovered, though they know not the depth of the problem, is that Imperial Center is a poisoned world, a sick world. It is a black hole from which they cannot escape."
-Ysanne Isard

(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h283/DArbiter/BactaWar_zps3vth97ry.png)

Time Covered: Mission Above Imperial City (7ABY) - Battle of Thyferra (7 ABY)

After the fall of Coruscant, elements within the New Republic differed on what should be their course of action. As she left the planet, Isard on the Lusankya unleashed the Krytos Virus, a bioweapon developed by Evir Derricote which targeted non-humans. Isard then took Thyferra, allowing her to control the galaxy's supply of healing bacta. Wedge Antilles and Rogue Squadron wanted to raid Thyferra for the Bacta and focus on removing Isard, but the New Republic instead chose to target Warlord Zsinj, believing him to be the greater threat. Despite this, Antilles and Rogue Squadron still undertook the mission to cure the virus. This GC primarily sees the Imperial Remnant and New Republic fighting over the core worlds, with Zsinj waiting at the edges of the galaxy to strike. It also includes a series of events for the New Republic involving finding a cure for the Krytos Virus, which will place penalties on New Republic worlds from the start of the campaign until it is cured.

Factions:
New Republic - Coruscant
Imperial Remnant - Thyferra
Warlord Zsinj - Serenno



That's it for now. Hopefully this gives you a decent idea of where we're going with these changes. These updates will be interspersed with faction profiles and "We Could Be Heroes" editions until we've completed them all, so stay tuned. Also, I (Corey) have been doing some very early preview playthroughs of 2.2 content on my personal youtube channel, so if you want to check that out it can be found here (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC24e_8ncnLg-vptxVDNP-DA).

If you have any suggestions, critiques or anything else you want to discuss for the mod, head over to our forums at www.thrawnsrevenge.com/forums.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: tlmiller on September 24, 2016, 05:43:22 PM
This sounds like REALLY awesome changes.


So Endor Aftermath is a multi-era (within a single era) scenario?
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Corey on September 24, 2016, 05:44:10 PM
Just to add, these changes are definitely an area where we'd like feedback on whether we're going in the right direction or not, considering a good portion of our dedicated playerbase is probably more familiar with not just the source material but also the GCs from previous versions than we are.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Darth Red on September 24, 2016, 05:49:58 PM
Corey & the team, you are teasing hard!  :D
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Mat8876 on September 24, 2016, 07:17:26 PM
With the Bacta war gc you spoke about the virus having penalties on NR planets what sort of penalties are you thinking about?
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Illidan Stormrage on September 24, 2016, 07:52:06 PM
Just to add, these changes are definitely an area where we'd like feedback on whether we're going in the right direction or not, considering a good portion of our dedicated playerbase is probably more familiar with not just the source material but also the GCs from previous versions than we are.
I think stars align should be a little bigger like 35 planets. Planets like Telos and Etti, and maybe add Eradiu Authority to Bacta war and stars align (the are kind of Rivals Eradiu and PA)
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Avarice1987 on September 24, 2016, 08:39:14 PM
Good work, im happy to Play this Fantastic Scenarios in the Future.

Is the AI from Maldrood, Eriadu and Zsinj more aggressiv? I hope the AI can be danger for the Player
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: hellblazer on September 25, 2016, 12:07:45 AM
This looks really cool. I really like it. You ARE in the right direction  ;). And I guessed right with the Bacta War. Well, sort of haha.
To answer you AdmiralThrawn2, adding the EA to Bacta War wouldn't make sense as for that time, they only controlled one planet, Kampe.
Ans in Stars Align, they said that they want to make it a PA campaign, so adding lots of planets would essentially make it look like Endor Aftermath. And the EA is too far away to be involved.
Also, what kind of hero would Pestage be? A spy? Or one that grants bonuses? Or both haha?
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: derp on September 25, 2016, 01:45:37 AM
I'm looking forward to this over new games coming out.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Pali on September 25, 2016, 01:59:37 AM
Really like the direction you're going in, especially the inclusion of Krytos effects and the IR having the Isard/Pestage changeover.  Letting the same campaign have multiple ways to be played is always a plus.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: kucsidave on September 25, 2016, 02:06:04 AM
I think stars align should be a little bigger like 35 planets. Planets like Telos and Etti, and maybe add Eradiu Authority to Bacta war and stars align (the are kind of Rivals Eradiu and PA)
from one side, hellblazer answered the question, but there is more to it.
To answer you AdmiralThrawn2, adding the EA to Bacta War wouldn't make sense as for that time, they only controlled one planet, Kampe.
Ans in Stars Align, they said that they want to make it a PA campaign, so adding lots of planets would essentially make it look like Endor Aftermath. And the EA is too far away to be involved.
And on the other hand, we didn't wanted to make it too big. Since the warlords will be involved has the consequence that some small GC will be bigger than they were. I wanted to counter it with one or two becoming smaller, so people who just want a taste but not a full blown war lasting a hundred week can have fun too. Bigger is not always better.
Also since this GC still has all the PA planets, therefore ended up somewhere around 25 planets, which is already larger than what I originally intended.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Labria on September 25, 2016, 02:23:16 AM
New scenarios looks great! Good work. I'm looking forward to more news.  8=)
I have a few questions:
Why Zsinj doesn't have access to CSA planets in Bacta war? So no Lucrehulk and others CSA units in this scenario. ???
What about add Delvardus campaign as small scenario focus on Eriadu Authority and his fight against New republic?
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: c-sa on September 25, 2016, 03:16:13 AM
These changes look amazing, I love the attention to detail and the more story-focused nature of the GCs.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Illidan Stormrage on September 25, 2016, 09:33:18 AM
New scenarios looks great! Good work. I'm looking forward to more news.  8=)
I have a few questions:
Why Zsinj doesn't have access to CSA planets in Bacta war? So no Lucrehulk and others CSA units in this scenario. ???
What about add Delvardus campaign as small scenario focus on Eriadu Authority and his fight against New republic?
I agree very much with that statement that Zsinj needs Cooperate Sector planets.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Tortique on September 25, 2016, 10:37:28 AM
Looks cool, especialy Endor Aftermath and The Stars Align, but the last could have a bit more planets and the question is how many SSDs will be present, if there is Lusankya and Reaper I predict NR being smashed very fast and the winner will be the player who will destroy enemy SSD. Direction you are going is right with no doubt from every perspective.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Jorritkarwehr on September 25, 2016, 01:34:32 PM
Excellent work! Maldrood and Eriadu start with a bit more territory than I expected, but that's not necessarily a problem.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Lord Xizer on September 25, 2016, 04:56:19 PM
I confess myself both impressed and intrigued
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Corey on September 25, 2016, 06:55:22 PM
With the Bacta war gc you spoke about the virus having penalties on NR planets what sort of penalties are you thinking about?

We'll break that down a bit later.

I think stars align should be a little bigger like 35 planets. Planets like Telos and Etti, and maybe add Eradiu Authority to Bacta war and stars align (the are kind of Rivals Eradiu and PA)
Quote
Why Zsinj doesn't have access to CSA planets in Bacta war? So no Lucrehulk and others CSA units in this scenario.

Hellblazer and Dave pretty much covered this. The point of The Stars Align is to have a smaller, more localized GC since those are few and far between in the mod. It's the entire reason TSA exists in the first place since otherwise, Endor Aftermath pretty much covers its subject matter.  Adding Telos, Etti (which would be part of Zsinj's Empire and the Eriadu Authority to The Stars Align means the only difference between Endor Aftermath and The Stars Align is Maldrood not being in it, and we end up with the exact same problem I said used to exist with The Stars Align in 2.1, where it was just a very slight difference from Fractured Empire.

For Eriadu in Bacta War, as Hellblazer pointed out as well, the Eriadu Authority had already been pushed entirely to the Deep Core 2 years before the Bacta War started. As for Zsinj's reduced presence (not having his CSA territory), Zsinj is not the focus of that GC so his territory will not be as large nor as important in Bacta War. He's already fully represented in Endor Aftermath, and has his own GC in era 2 as well. He doesn't need to be everywhere, and he was still in the process of capturing the Corporate Sector when it started technically. We don't want to dilute the GCs too much, that's why we're making these changes in the first place.

Quote
Also, what kind of hero would Pestage be? A spy? Or one that grants bonuses? Or both haha?

He'll be in the same vein as Mothma, Raquoran or base-game Tarkin.

Quote
What about add Delvardus campaign as small scenario focus on Eriadu Authority and his fight against New republic?
For now the Delvardus Campaign is solely going to be present as part of Endor Aftermath. A Western Reaches/Trailing Sector localized campaign similar to Stars Align is on our shortlist for future GC options, but we've already given ourselves a ton to do in the meantime (as you'll see with the upcoming posts), so for now we're leaving it as-is.

Quote
Looks cool, especialy Endor Aftermath and The Stars Align, but the last could have a bit more planets and the question is how many SSDs will be present, if there is Lusankya and Reaper I predict NR being smashed very fast and the winner will be the player who will destroy enemy SSD. Direction you are going is right with no doubt from every perspective.

Lusankya will not be, since it was still buried at this point. Because of the size, we may end up making it so you have to build Reaper or something.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Illidan Stormrage on September 25, 2016, 07:29:01 PM
Is Zsinj now considered a era 2 Gc?
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Lord Xizer on September 25, 2016, 08:20:48 PM
Lusankya will not be, since it was still buried at this point. Because of the size, we may end up making it so you have to build Reaper or something.

Reaper was already long commissioned by that point and had been in service under Kaine for about 4 years. Wouldn't make sense to have her buildable.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Corey on September 25, 2016, 08:28:40 PM
Is Zsinj now considered a era 2 Gc?

Yeah. It really should have been all along.

Reaper was already long commissioned by that point and had been in service under Kaine for about 4 years. Wouldn't make sense to have her buildable.

I say buildable only in terms of the game mechanic, I don't mean to imply that it would have been actually built in story terms at this point, just that we'd make the player pay/wait to actually start using it for balance reasons, in the same way that we separated Jerec and Sysco.



Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Illidan Stormrage on September 25, 2016, 08:39:26 PM
Yeah. It really should have been all along.

I say buildable only in terms of the game mechanic, I don't mean to imply that it would have been actually built in story terms at this point, just that we'd make the player pay/wait to actually start using it for balance reasons, in the same way that we separated Jerec and Sysco.
So here is a interesting question how many Gcs will Maldrood be in? I am kind of nervous they will be in the least GCs of all the warlords.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Darth Red on September 26, 2016, 04:42:40 PM
One random question: will there be maps with with more than [100] planets? Or are these too cumbersome to make?
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Illidan Stormrage on September 26, 2016, 05:15:21 PM
One random question: will there be maps with with more than [100] planets? Or are these too cumbersome to make?
yes Imperial Civil War has 100 planets
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: StarBornMichaelh165 on September 27, 2016, 03:56:51 PM
I can't wait to play all of these Scenarios for 2.2.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Illidan Stormrage on September 27, 2016, 04:40:10 PM
yeah me too
#MakeMaldroodGreatAgain
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Darth Red on September 28, 2016, 05:08:21 PM
yes Imperial Civil War has 100 planets

Cheers, I need to re-install the corrupt Steam game!
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Illidan Stormrage on September 28, 2016, 05:31:11 PM
Cheers, I need to re-install the corrupt Steam game!
After 2.2 it will most likely still have 100 planets, but they will give the IR less land, Factions:(guessing) IR, NR, PA, Warlord Zsinj, Eradiu, and Greater Maldrood.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: StarBornMichaelh165 on October 04, 2016, 02:25:07 PM
I still can't wait to play mod update. ... When I fix my Computer DAMN it.
After 2.2 it will most likely still have 100 planets, but they will give the IR less land, Factions:(guessing) IR, NR, PA, Warlord Zsinj, Eradiu, and Greater Maldrood.
one Question can they be a GALACTIC Conquest with all of the Planets in mod.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Slornie on October 04, 2016, 04:28:14 PM
All 210 planets (probably nearer 250 once we finish all of the additions and GC reworks)?   :angel:
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: StarBornMichaelh165 on October 04, 2016, 05:17:32 PM
All 210 planets (probably nearer 250 once we finish all of the additions and GC reworks)?   :angel:
Ok then ones all of the reworking is done then we can play in a Grand Imperial Civil War Campaign oohhh I love the sound of that do you. Or just that can be in Form the ground up if so or both a Story Driven Campaign or just play a non story Campaign with no heroes but yeah I still want to play a GC like that so day ok.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Illidan Stormrage on October 04, 2016, 06:19:53 PM
All 210 planets (probably nearer 250 once we finish all of the additions and GC reworks)?   :angel:
Slornie would only do it if Corey wanted to.
I don't want to piss off and over work Slornie.
he is too cool.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: StarBornMichaelh165 on October 04, 2016, 08:37:39 PM
Slornie would only do it if Corey wanted to.
I don't want to piss off and over work Slornie.
he is too cool.
Yeah your right sorry I get Carried away there at the thought of a
Bigger Galactic Conqueror sorry.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: JMDurron on October 15, 2016, 07:52:14 AM
Just to add, these changes are definitely an area where we'd like feedback on whether we're going in the right direction or not, considering a good portion of our dedicated playerbase is probably more familiar with not just the source material but also the GCs from previous versions than we are.

My only suggestion would be regarding the Krytos effects on the New Republic - I'd suggest that the NR get zero income from Coruscant until the Krytos virus is dealt with, but that other planets not be impacted.  If I remember by Krytos Trap correctly, it was mainly a political focus and resource issue for the NR on the newly-liberated Coruscant, so starting the game with such a high value planet producing no income might be appropriate.  I can't recall any impacts on other planets, so I'm not sure why the Krytos virus should have any impacts across the entire NR, unless that's just what makes sense in terms of game mechanics. 
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Slornie on October 15, 2016, 08:16:41 AM
If Coruscant, the galactic centre, is engulfed in a deadly and fast spreading virus what impact would that have on galactic trade?  My thought was that beyond an immediate humanitarian response on Coruscant itself the New Republic might instigate quarantine measures elsewhere to try and prevent the virus spreading off-world.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Corey on October 15, 2016, 01:02:23 PM
My only suggestion would be regarding the Krytos effects on the New Republic - I'd suggest that the NR get zero income from Coruscant until the Krytos virus is dealt with, but that other planets not be impacted.  If I remember by Krytos Trap correctly, it was mainly a political focus and resource issue for the NR on the newly-liberated Coruscant, so starting the game with such a high value planet producing no income might be appropriate.  I can't recall any impacts on other planets, so I'm not sure why the Krytos virus should have any impacts across the entire NR, unless that's just what makes sense in terms of game mechanics.

From a gameplay perspective, if we make it only impact Coruscant, then the NR just plays as if they don't have Coruscant's income but still have all of its production. That's not a huge deal considering at any given time only one faction can have Coruscant anyways, and they can just conquer other planets or even ditch Coruscant entirely. If they lose Coruscant, intentionally or otherwise, they lose the entire point of the GC and they've got this whole story plot that doesn't matter at all, because they don't even control the impacted territory. The Krytos Virus still had an effect beyond just its immediate victims, there was a huge species relations crisis so impacting production everywhere still makes sense.
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: Lord Xizer on October 15, 2016, 03:10:49 PM
From a gameplay perspective, if we make it only impact Coruscant, then the NR just plays as if they don't have Coruscant's income but still have all of its production. That's not a huge deal considering at any given time only one faction can have Coruscant anyways, and they can just conquer other planets or even ditch Coruscant entirely. If they lose Coruscant, intentionally or otherwise, they lose the entire point of the GC and they've got this whole story plot that doesn't matter at all, because they don't even control the impacted territory. The Krytos Virus still had an effect beyond just its immediate victims, there was a huge species relations crisis so impacting production everywhere still makes sense.

To be fair there was significant danger it could have spread to other worlds, so this is a good gimmick
Title: Re: Era One - Galactic Conquest Breakdown
Post by: JMDurron on October 15, 2016, 09:24:57 PM
To be fair there was significant danger it could have spread to other worlds, so this is a good gimmick

Agreed, it is a good point.  Consider my suggestion withdrawn, then.  :)