Multiverse Mod

[Fizar]

@Campeador,

I've been playing/modding SF for years. Mostly tweaking the original campaigns to my liking. I recently downloaded your mods and began playing them. I am now 3 missions into Multiverse1 and now I am inspired to create a more serious mod as opposed to just tweaking.

I haven't done more than small adjustments to the files, no adding of ships, no mission additions, groups, etc... Would you be up to answering some questions, providing a more indepth modding guide, or just advising on some of the pitfalls and inevitable mistakes I'm likely to run into?

[Campeador]

Fizar, glad to help as time permits. Also on this forums there are plenty of people who are knowledgeable and my be able to assist too.

[Suicide Junkie]

Another good resource is the #spaceempires channel on irc.freenode.net

Me and Fyron, at least, can be found idling there 24/7

[Campeador]

Multiverse Campaign 3
Multiverse_3-Space_Pirate_Harlock

You will need three files:
Mod file
1. Multiverse_3-Space_Pirate_Harlock
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/thr...?Number=597143

Mod Music
2. Multiverse_Music-3 (new)
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/thr...?Number=597146

3. Multiverse_Music-1 and 2 (This are the same previous ones used on Campaign 1 and 2)

All the mods are going to be progressive with the Music files.
Multiverse 1 - needs Music 1
Multiverse 2 - needs Music 1 + 2
Multiverse 3 - needs Music 1 + 2 + 3

[Campeador]

Multiverse Campaign 3
Multiverse_3-Space_Pirate_Harlock

This is all about giving the player the opportunity to fly the Arcadia.
On each campaign the player will command a different ship (s):
On Multiverse 1 it was the ships of the Earth Defense Forces (EDF) from Star Blazers.
On Multiverse 2 it was the Argo/Yamato
On Multiverse 3 is Harlock's Arcadia.
On Multiverse 4 and 5 it will be a different one.

How to accomplish this while following the story... that is the tricky part, but so far so good. I do not want the player to think that the whole series is just about Star Blazers because it is not. Star Blazers was just the starting point since it follows a good progression from the previous Stat Blazers Mod.
There is a new twist on the story. Campaign 3, 4 and 5 does not continues were we left off at the end of Campaign 2 but before and during the events taking place on Multiverse 1 and 2. Therefore we are going to see the same story!
I know, you may be thinking what the fun on that except of flying different ships. We already know what is going to happen... That would be a true statement except that instead it is the story (as in the case of Multiverse 3) from the point of view of Harlock, the Space Pirate. Before, we only saw him and the Arcadia making cameo appearances, now you will get to experience firsthand what he was doing while we were sweating fighting off three enemy invasions.

About Harlock and the Arcadia:
This is the creation of Leiji Matsumoto.It aired on TV on 1978 for the first time. Matsumoto was also the co-creator of Star Blazers. In addition of two TV series (the first one had 42 episodes) there are also over half a dozen movies. Matsumoto continuity with the Space Pirate story can be confusing, since every movie or series many things are different, he seems to like to give a different spin to the story every time he tries, just like been born on a Multiverse...
My approach on the story is just one between their many versions. If you want more info just do a search on the net.

[Campeador]

Multiverse Campaign 3
Multiverse_3-Space_Pirate_Harlock

Game play:
The Arcadia is a Battleship not a carrier, not really a battle-carrier either.
Ships that can be consider battle-carriers:
The Argo/Yamato
The Illumidas Revenge
The Zentradi Scout
The Star Destroyer
The SDF-1
And a few others. The thing is that any of those I mention can dish out an incredible amount of damage like a battleship (or greater) and have exclusive dedicated pilot crews just for their fighter squadrons.

The Arcadia on the other hand can dish out a great amount of damage, but it does not have a exclusive dedicated pilot crews, instead some of the crew do double role function as crew of the Arcadia (and just a very few) pilot fighters. Remember the crew of the Arcadia is only 41. They have no replacements. That is the reason for why can you only have 3 fighters out at any given time. Yes, you are going to feel like you wanted more... Be happy, at least I included some at all. So my advice is not to stuff the Arcadia with too many fighters unless you want to move with the speed of a snail.

Some annoying issues with the AI controlling fighters. Sometimes they like to hit your ship as soon as you launch them. I have no settings to control the delay of collision for fighters unlike mines (mines you can set a delay time for activation).
How to deal with it:
1. Launch the fighters when the Arcadia is moving.
2. Try to launch then when there is no enemy in range - not always possible especially in the middle of a battle. The problem during the battle is that when the fighter detect enemy nearby it slow down. If the fighter does not get away of the Arcadia in like 3 seconds (I really do not know the timing) it may blow up if it is within the boundaries of the Arcadia.
3. Take some time and practice. Or at least remember to save often. Eventually you will get the hang of it. A similar thing was happening with the Argo/Yamato, but the Arcadia being bigger it is more problematic.
There are a few other things on the Arcadia but I will let you find out on your own!

Note: The game ran flawless on my AMD Athlon XP 1666 MHz and with all the previous bugs corrected, not a single crash!

[Q]

Great work Campeador! Thank you very much for the new sequel of this excellent story.

[douglas]

Oh, just a side note, I actually did manage to take out a star destroyer once with the Arcadia.

It helped that it had already fought a Zentradi scout.

[Suicide Junkie]

Hey, have you considered making a torrent of this to put on Fyron's tracker?
It could use some starfury stuff.

http://bt.spaceempires.net/index.php

[enrico7113]

these mods are absolutely wonderful ...