[dogscoff]

My general impression was that after SE4 Gold came out work was discontinued. I was upset because I was really looking forward to the expanded shipsets.

Well... like S_J says, the neostandard is essentially just a list of names, so once that was completed there wasn't much work to be continued.

You are probably referring to what is now called the neo-expansion pack, which is just a bunch of neostandard images for the stock races. While these are fun and add flavour to modded games, they are by no means required by any mod that I know of (except, arguably, the generic shipset in non-Gold mods.)

The thing to remember is that the neostandard is completely optional for modders, players and shipset creators. As long as you have the basic escort, frigate, destroyer etc as prescribed by Malfador you will be fine. Any extra images you have on top of that (ie the neostandard ones) are exactly that: Extra. Added Value. Bonus. The neostandard is just a way of maximising that added value.

General V: a list of the neostandard sizes is available here. Feel free to add all, some or none of them to your shipset(s). The inclusion or non-inclusion of these images will not affect compatibility of your shipset with mods in any way: Your shipset is already compatible with all the major mods.

However, let's suppose you add a scout image to your shipset. When someone then uses your shipset in proportions mod, they will be pleasantly surprised to see that while the Rage's scout looks exactly the same as its escort, yours has a distinct image for each. Likewise in Devnullmod and Ultimatevehiclesize mod.

As for which ones to include... the most commonly used are probably the Scout, the huge & massive fighters and the TroopInfantry. It's worth doing a worldship too because they are just so much fun (think Death Star; worldships are cool).
Like I say though, it's entirely up to you. Include as many or as few as you like.

[ January 03, 2003, 10:06: Message edited by: dogscoff ]