We've had the big "Coming Soo" slots in the faction select screen since the first release, and while we've made some offhand comments about who they can or will be, it's time for us to officially announce who's filling that first slot. Keep in mind, this faction will be coming in 1.2, not the upcoming 1.1 which is primarily about fleshing out the existing factions. We just wanted to give people a quick rundown and show that we are always thinking about the future. So, without further ado, the Hapes Consortium awaits.
(https://i.imgur.com/X1FEBy3.png)
...History...
"The Hapans have kept closed borders for over three thousand years. I've seen firsthand what happens when you get too close to them. Believe me, they're hiding something." - Han Solo
The Hapans are the descendants of a group of pirates known as the Lorell Raiders, who were mostly wiped out after a confrontation with the Jedi Order 4000 years before Endor. Hapans are famous throughout the galaxy for being extraordinarily beautiful, a result of the selective capturing of the most attractive humans in the cluster by the Lorell Raiders. The Consortium finds its home in the Hapes Cluster inside the Transitory Mists, a considerable astrographic barrier to attack, where it controls 63 systems guarded by the Hapan Royal Navy. The Consortium is ruled from the Fountain Palace on Hapes by the Queen Mother, a replica of which was built into the Queen Mother's personal flagship, the Star Home. Staunchly isolationist for millenia, the Hapans made their first forays into the galaxy after 3000 years in 8 ABY when they began a strong alliance with the New Republic, prompted by a mutual interest in the destruction of Warlord Zsinj. Hapan society is both filled with political intrigue among the ruling classes and strictly matriarchal. The Hapan armed forces were described by Prince Isolder as, "billions of warriors, thousands of starships." These thousands of starships were organized around a primary honour guard for the Royal Family of 63 Battle Dragons, one for each of the member worlds.
(http://media.moddb.com/cache/images/mods/1/22/21018/thumb_620x2000/20160612195912_1.jpg)
...The Canon Conundrum...
We're announcing this fairly early partially to address the topic of canon and how we address it, especially with factions like the Hapans, Empire of the Hand and any less developed group. We always strive to make the best representation of the Star Wars galaxy that we can, and essentially we try to approach it the way we would want any new game to. For some people, this means strictly staying to what already exists. For us, this means not contradicting the available information or replacing the parts that exist, but building on that where it's lacking. For example, the Empire and New Republic are very well fleshed out in canon; they have entire fleets with developed backstories and ship designs, so we would never want to make up a ship for them, unless it's a case like the Proficient where there's information but no design, and an opportunity exists to examine the contributions of a member group that you don't really see in their fleet. With the Empire of the Hand, the canon indicates that there is a well-developed and unique fleet behind it, but that's never really explored, so we took that opportunity to build on what existed. We take the mod as an opportunity to explore some of the less highlighted aspects of the post-Endor galaxy. So, what does this mean for our approach for the Hapans...
...The Hapan Fleet...
Essentially, while the Nova and Battle Dragon are the only fully-developed classes (there are some like the Beta Cruiser which exist, but were never given a design) Isolder's description of the fleet indicates that it was probably a bit more diverse than that, especially as they became embroiled in galactic politics after 8 ABY and especially towards the Vong War. The primary gimme we're using here is that the term "Battle Dragon," instead of just meaning the one specific class, is a catchall term much like "Star Destroyer," within which you have anything ranging from small frigates to huge dreadnoughts. To that end, we'll be developing different types of Battle Dragons based around their design principles to supplement the canon ships that do exist. These will be addressed as we go, and while this post is a primer on how we're approaching them, we'll have a more full gameplay-related post on them after 1.1 is released.
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