Hello fellow members of the P.A. community and welcome to my mod B.O.W aka Badass Orbital Warfare for PA (Also my first mod, but one that I am going to put a lot of effort into). What is B.O.W? Good question. B.O.W is basically what my vision for orbital is. Quite a few people including me were hoping that orbital would play a bigger role and in general just feel more badass, since this was not the case I am creating this mod with the intention of achieving that. The mod will overhaul orbital in that orbital will not be limited to just satellites, but will also play host to a variety of battleships, cruisers, fighters, artillery, more satellites (ion cannon anyone), more orbital structures and etc . Think space battles in the orbital layer. (A mix of modified naval and air combat in orbital) Is The Mod Out Yet? Sadly not yet and it most likely won't be out for a while (most likely will be released after we get the client files). At this stage the mod is still a concept and most likely will be for quite a while due to time constraints and the fact that I have no prior modding experience. Even though I may be a noob, that does not mean that I will release a below average mod. I will refuse to release it until I actually find the mod fun myself. So If The Mod Is Not Ready, Why Is There A Thread? Simple, I started this thread so that I could share my concepts which will include mechanics and various models which I will be putting together for the mod. Also would like to hear feedback for any ideas I post here or just some suggestions. I like listening to the ideas of others since they may bring up something that I did not think of before so make sure to post if you've thought of something. Although don't feel down if I reject your idea. Won't This Idea Detract From Non-Orbital Battles? Really until I get something playable out i'm not going bother with this topic too much. In the future I will try to integrate the orbital and ground layers so that both can influence each other in some way, but total control of one layer will not guarantee total control of the other layer. Devs: -Nicb1
Concepts: Name: Devastator Stats:Light armor (low hp), Long range, slow firing, slow-moderate movement speed, Possible energy consumption upon firing? Pic: Really Early WIP. (Also want to hear from you guys if you think this model fits the style of PA, a bit more detail will be in the final version, but this is a rough of the final model.)
This is exciting. While I think this forum's modelers can do a better job of critiquing the work you posted, I agree with the concept behind this mod and I've been eagerly awaiting something like it. For what it's worth, I was thinking of a heavier anti-orbital structure gunboat, a larger but still nimble corvette, and a large battlecruiser with heavy weaponry. The idea of a spaceplane that is built in orbital but can swoop down to air is also intriguing, though balance is a concern there - is there an effective counter? I hadn't really began to think of anything regarding more orbital structures but there definitely should be some.
I will indeed be implementing different kinds of unit, such as the ones you listed. I may not be able to execute the space plane idea though. Adding units to the game does not look too difficult, although adding new mechanics such as moving between the orbital and air layers is a different story alltogether. In the future I will also attempt to add some ground based buildings and units which can influence the orbital layer. For example the umbrella wont be the only anti orbital defence (It may even be removed or rebalanced so that I can add multiple anti orbital defences which have differing roles). There won't be only one anti orbital defence that is automatically good against every type of orbital unit. This may not happen though as it is just an idea atm that I am still refining. As mentioned before adding new units is not really a problem, although If I am to add different mechanics suc has moving from orbital to air I will most likely need assistance from someone who is more experienced, if this is even possible. So for a good while I will stay focused on just adding new units.
I highly approve, that model looks badass, and my name recommendation is the Devastator. One thing I think the RCBM did well in orbital was their Artemis, essentially an orbital Boom. Orbital needs its cheap and common units just as much or even more than it needs its massive game-ending spaceships, and an orbital Boom is a great idea. Other cheap units could be: A slow or even stationary point defense satellite, firing at missiles and smaller ships with a very fast fire rate A very fast interceptor with homing missles, made for dogfighting with Avengers and other fighters A strafing bomber with a slowly recharging tactical missile (or a volley of thereof) A satellite with AoE projectiles Orbital mines A radar-stealthed satellite with a single-shot high alpha cannon
It has too many fins for PA's style. The only thing that decorative/flashy is the commander. You want big, intimidating blocks. Shave off some edges and you've got a winner there I think. Looks very Pillar of Autumn.
Thanks. I quite like your ideas, and will definitely look at implementing them. Also thanks for the name . I'm just not too sure about the radar stealthed satelite since the game does not have a radar stealthed unit or building already which means that I would have to code it in (which sadly at this point in time is a bit beyond my ability. This may be something to look at in the further future though). For the alpha canon i'm wondering if it would be possible to implement something that works similarly to the commanders Uber Canon ability or if I should have it just fire like any other unit except really slowly with a high energy consumption or somthing similar. (I'm still deciding if I want a good portion of my orbital units to have some energy consumption per shot so that the player needs to have good energy income as well if they are to support a decent set of orbital units. I also like the idea of mines in orbital. Just have to decide whether to have a dedicated orbital mine laying unit or have the mines placed by the existing orbital fabber.(leaning towards a mine layer) Thanks for your feedback as well. Some of the ships which I am working on are indeed inspired by some of the content from Halo. I will take your feedback into consideration with the design of the ships I am working on at the moment, and will probably come back to redesign the artillery vessel/Devestator at a later date.
Apparently the radar stealth is in already, just not applied to any units. The cannon would just be high damage, low fire-rate, though a powerful orbital Uber cannon on a larger unit would be awesome. Maybe some sort of miniature death star? I'm thinking an orbital combat fabber would be cool to place mines, especially if it could also build the point defense satellites or other small defense structures. Also, there's not too much to fight over in the orbital layer right now. Energy satellites, radar sats, and the possibility of the other guy getting an SXX com snipe are really the only things you need to watch out for. Why not have orbital presence be a real threat to ground warfare, with killsats that deal AoE damage, or maybe orbit-to-surface tactical missiles?
I've been working on the code side of things for a similar mod over here:https://forums.uberent.com/threads/wip-orbital-and-bot-balance-mod.61642/ Maybe we could work together? I need models
Here's two more early concepts, for a new satellite this time. They are still very early WIP and are subject to change. Also not sure what role it will have yet. Could be anything from an alternative to the SXX (Think Ion Cannon) to an orbital metal extractor.
I agree, people say this is impossible in PA. While I don't agree with the direction of "space ships in PA" because it distracts from the macro, I think it can work. I see a lot of games where you basically play strategically by mounting assaults as an offensive navy in space against a defensive planet as if it were a shoreline. Basically, whatever ships chosen and weapons chosen, against whatever defenses chosen and whatever ships parked at that planet. I could dig that, but a focus around that leaves land armies and especially bulk AND specialized ones as second fiddle. If I got bored of Army PA, I could definitely dig ship battle PA. Space ports VS space armadas. Good job OP +1
Thanks for the support. I am aware of the issue of ground potentially becoming second fiddle, but I will attempt to make it so that ground and orbital are both important. On another note I've got an important announcement. I will be entering a collaboration with Emraldis in order to deliver a high quality orbital overhaul. We are still discussing details of how this is going to work, but hopefully this collaboration will allow us to deliver an awesome mod to the community. Since our ideas were similar hopefully this will work out for the best.
Just letting anyone following this thread that emraldis and I have started a new thread for the collab. From now on the mod will be running under the name of Orbital Warfare Overhaul and you will be able to find any future updates and information here. https://forums.uberent.com/threads/wip-server-orbital-warfare-overhaul.62878/
