[Mod] The Foundation: Conspiracy [v0.0.1 Alpha Release]

Coming soon to a computer near you…
[size=200]The Foundation Crisis:[/size]

When one thinks of pushing things too far, many factions of the Gratuitous War may spring to mind, but none compare to that of the Foundation. Pushing the very barriers of the universe, at its height it possessed the power to bring the entire galaxy to its knees with virtually no opposition. Though it supremacy was extremely short-lived, the event is universally remembered as the “The Foundation Crisis”. Had it not been for the Foundation’s accidental discovery the galaxy would would have already fallen into ruin. They are a mysterious galactic power; due to the intentional destruction of so many of their records once defeat was near, even today many details of the Foundation’s origins remain shrouded in secrecy. The little that is known comes from the capture of Dr. Harvey Sheldon during the Battle of Terminus I.

The Foundation entered the galactic stage in an instant, and declined nearly as fast. As further research continues into Sheldon’s plan, questions have arisen about whether the Foundation’s discovery, and resulting decline, was truly accidental, or if it is all part of a greater ongoing scheme…

[size=200]The Divisions of the Foundation[/size]
[size=150]The Foundation:[/size]
The Foundation is driven by a pursuit of technology, and they are successful at it. Their ships are highly advanced, but come at an increased cost. (Considering how many millions in funding they “borrowed” from the Great Powers, it’s not surprising.) Their dedication to psychohistory Harvey Sheldon’s Plan reaches level of religion rivaling the order. They are believed to control a region between the Himalaya Wall and Stygian Abyss, but this is unconfirmed.

[size=150]“The Front”(?):[/size]
Not much is known about this secondary division of the Foundation, however they appear to use standard and modified hulls from the Empire and Rebellion. Until recently they were the only part encountered, and are currently believed to be a front for the true Foundation.

The first part of the mod will be released in 3 phases, with each adding a new set of hulls, modules and a new scenario of the 3-part Foundation Conspiracy. Afterwards it will receive additional add-on sets.

[size=150]Mod Status[/size]
Green Indicates the area is included in the current release.

Hulls:
Fighters: Hulls: 4 - Sprites: 3 - Hulks: 3 - Coded: 3
Specialized Fighters: Hulls: 2 - Sprites: 2 - Hulks: 2 - Coded: 2
Corvettes: Hulls: 1 - Sprites: 1 - Hulks: 0 - Coded: 0
Cruisers: Hulls: 1 - Damaged: 0 - Hulks: 0 - Coded: 0
Stations: Hulls: 1 - Damaged: 1 - Hulks: 1 - Coded: 0.5

Modules:
Fighter: Standard: 7 - Turret: 2
Cruiser: Turret: 1

Scenarios:
Prologue: Prelude to Foundation - Background - Coded - Deployment
Conspiracy: Foundation - Background - Coded
Conspiracy: Foundation and Empire - Background
Conspiracy: Second Foundation - Background

Misc completed sections:
Foundation Battle Music

Mod Status:
Current version: v0.0.2 (test version)(November 8, 2012)
Next Test version: N/A
Next Release version: v0.1
Download link: mediafire.com/?nqsg3j0ebgwoxgv
Current required DLC: Stations of the Great Powers (core)(AcePalarum)
Download weight: 14.1 MB
Mod weight: 23.8 MB
Status: The Foundation is finally ready for alpha testing. This incomplete release is for testing and balancing of the fighters and their modules. There may be issues. If you do not want a he first stable release should be up some time next week. Feedback and comments on the current version are encouraged. If you do not wish to post them here, feel free to send me a PM. v0.0.1 contained a minor issue with damaged and hulks, which should now be fixed.

[size=150]The Foundation Conspiracy:[/size]
[size=125]Background:[/size]

Encrypted data received.
Origin: Fleet Command
Priority: Urgent
Level 7 Security clearance required. Confirm identification.
Identity confirmed. Commencing decryption.
Start Transmission

Reconnaissance Frigate PZX-384 Log Transmission
Final Entry

Frigate has been ejected from hyperspace. Determining cause.
Navigational systems offline. Beginning repair.
High levels of local radiation confirmed. Shields stable.
Cause determined to be realspace missile detonation. Source Unknown.
Long range probes deployed to determine source.
Probes confirm no vessels or exit windows within range. Entry win… reported. No source sigh… within possi… …ange
Missile radius estim… … thou… …lometers.
Large ene… signature detected estim… …tance >1 light year. Too low … star, larg… …y known sour…
Rad…tion overl… …stems. Hu… …ail… im…ent.
Sen… …vestiga… fle…
END OF TRANSMISSION

Your taskforce has been deployed to determine the source of the power signature and cause of the explosion.
Heavy opposition expected. Exercise caution.
This transmission will self-delete.
Deleting data. 0% complete
Deleting data. 48% complete
Data deleted.
End of Line.

TO BE CONTINUED

[size=150]Journals of the Foundation[/size]
Prelude to Foundation

Accessing historical engagement records…
Combat record “Massacre of Eridani VI” has been loaded.
ERROR: Duplicate file exists under name “Prelude to Foundation”. Source unknown.
Downloading records…
Download complete.
Opening file.
Approximately 40 years ago Eridani VI was a major science base of the Rebels. Prior to the engagement many of the brightest minds in the Rebellion were deployed at the site. Despite its obvious strategic value its system was heavily under-defended, a weakness its enemies would mercilessly exploit. The attackers arrived without warning, and the defenders were no match for massive invasion fleet. It was a massacre. Their sacrifice gave the inhabits a chance to evacuate thousands of personnel to safety. But it would not be enough…

3 armed evac groups and several stations in high orbit were all that remained between the advance division and the planet. The defenders would fight bravely, but it would be futile. Thousands of civilians were aboard the transports. Thousands more were on the stations. Many more were on the surface below.

By the time rebel reinforcements arrived Eridani VI was declared a dead world. Any Rebel in the system had been captured or killed, and most of the captured were soon killed. The destruction was soon worsened by the news of the horrific results of an Imperial ambush at the evac rendezvous site.

End of combat log.
Fleet engagement data attached. Opening file…
Combat scenario “Prelude to Foundation” been loaded.

Entry #136

-TRANSMISSION INCOMING-

“The Luyten prototype is ready, sir.”

The admiral’s view shifted to the shipyard, a look of disappointment filling his face.

“Isn’t that just a javelin with spare parts? I thought you were supposed to be making something original!”

“Sir, while it appears that way there’s much more to it than that. We’ve given this thing more weaponry and equipment, and thanks to combination of our module compression, and it’s improved thrusters and sleekness you won’t be slowed down too much either.”

“Interesting…”

“And this is just our warm-up, Admiral. The best is yet to come. Sending you the blueprints now.”

The Admiral showed an obvious mix of surprise and disbelief as he began to read, quickly turning into a confident grin. “Perfect. They’ll never know what hit them.”

Entry #264
“Operation Sirius is ready to launch, Captain. Launching in 5 seconds.”

Operation Sirius launched towards the cruiser. It had been so nice of the Federation to “lend” them the Dreadnought. For testing they had modified to the highest possible defensive power. It should not fall quickly.

“Dimming the viewscreen for impact. Prepare for detonation.”

Despite the great distance and dimming the flash was still blinding. The entire bridge flinched. Except for myself, that is. As the flash dimmed the damage done by my project was evident. But it was not yet over. The hull rapidly began to bend and buckle. Within mere seconds this armored dreadnought had crumbled like a Swarm frigate. I allowed a small grin to escape.

“What now, sir?” asked one of my inferiors.

“Now? Now we make it stronger. Once no fleet dares to challenged the Sirius weapon, then we take it even further! No planet must, nay, WILL escape the wrath of my weapon. NOTHING shall oppose the Foundation.” I cried, bursting into a mad laughter.

I was feared by most of my peers. It was rightfully so.

Entry #265
The Admiral’s aide came on the intercom. “Report for Operation Sirius is arriving now, Admiral.”

He had never seen so much destructive power.

“It won’t be widely usable, but they’ll be deployable on the fleet scale. Construction for the Terminus’ weapon is also progressing as planned.”

The Admiral gazed out at the construction zone that surrounded his office. What they were attempting would require an enormous amount of power. The final product would be one of the largest ever built. Once once it was finished they wouldn’t need to keep up this charade anymore.

Entry #472
For years they had mocked him. “Too expensive.” “Too heavy.” “Too much power.” They claimed the module would never work on a fighter. He struggled to prove them wrong. It didn’t need to be powerful, just enough to keep them alive longer. It didn’t need to work on interceptors, just be viable on the class. Though his team was shunned, in the end he proved them wrong, grinning as the shining orbs streaked across the sky.

Interestingly, on the same day the Parasites successfully created a flying pig, and the Order claimed one of its hells had frozen over.

While I try and fix an important issue, I’ve posted some short preview journals about a couple things I want to include. While the topics are not explicitly stated, it should be fairly easy to determine.

a short and sweet read, emphasis on sweet my friend.

Doesn’t sound like they’re too interested in making friends with the Union Coalition though lol.

The Sheldon Plan was not designed to be friendly or flexible. According to his reports, only 2 of the great races are even part of his output values.

Although, things do seem to go sour after their early (or was it?) discovery. Since they are all (at least formerly) members of the Rebels and Empire, most of them are willing to aid their (current/former) allies and those allies’ allies, though some Foundationers have attacked Rebel and Empire fleets. (Few understand their relations with their parent races anymore, it’s rather blurry depending on who is in command.) They may need to form this sort of alliance. It might even be part of Sheldon’s plan.

I meant that statement in so far as such a doomsday weapon is a great leap AWAY from the Galactic Peace that Union strives for lol

That is Union’s overarching goal after all…ending the Gratuitous War not through conquest, but mutual understanding…but of course Uni-T needs to be stopped first.

Fear not…I have no actual intention of writing about such an end to the war, or even the defeat of Uni-T

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want the Union to get into this plot somehow…a weapon of such power as to destroy a Lion-Class Dreadnought is scary enough! BUT if Uni-T were to attain such a device, I fear it would be the Galaxy’s darkest hour.

My race definitely has a different outlook of unification.

Any superweapon module I use will also be fairlybalanced, of course.

I have no doubt of that…I was merely speaking from a “character standpoint” lol

Now that I seem to have a fix for my problem, I can get around to finishing part 1 of this mod. Journal #136 has also been recovered.

I think the way to best describe the race’s make-up would be an alliance of the brightest, craziest scientists and military strategists in the galaxy, all bent on galactic domination.

Entry #265 has been recovered, along with a report showing the Sirius missile test. That dreadnought was designed to have the unrealistically high defense possible. Ship rating was 24.02 average armor, 1427.64 shield strength, 9179.00 hit points, for those curious. The animation was around 17 seconds in real-time, and at 0.2x the game time was under 5 seconds.

What would something like this launch from? Only a 2048x2048 hull image size is large enough for that kind of power. (It was reduced for forum and screen size compatibility.)

Foundation Terminus Station.jpg512×512 62.3 KB

Why name it Terminus? (Besides Asimov reference) With a hull size larger than most weapon ranges and a superweapon with power beyond the comprehension of many (its deployment in fleet combat is ensured destruction for both sides, so it is not seen in-game), this ship marks the end of the road for the Great Power’s era and the rise of the Foundation.

How my…

To the whole Xedilco fleet, concentrate all available fire power one THAT thing! And if necessary, The Eldest One will be on the frond line!

OK, tell us, it’s a non playable weapons? Or is a 0.00 tracking speed?
I want all the data to see how to counter it ^^

Anyway, it’s a really impressive battlestation you got there, I can’t wait the opportunity to destroy it ingame ^^ (PLEASE!)

(Remember, Praetorian Indus have an 1500m station)

If I have seen correctly, it inflicts 18000 HP?

the Sirius weapon will be a usable Foundation-exclusive weapon. As part of its balancing the weapon’s fire rate is low enough that’ll you’ll rarely see it fire twice. That thing also requires a lot of power and money, enough that more that one way not be viable.

The non-usable weapon is just more of a plot device.

Oh trust me, you will be getting a scenario named “The Battle of Terminus I”. You will get the chance. Surviving it? Don’t know about that. I may not even need to add support for this thing.

1 Primary Warhead + 18 submunitions = 19000 HP of damage inflicted on its victim. Takes a lot of defense and/or PD to survive a Sirius warhead.

Anyway, I’m going to try and get v0.1 ready this weekend. It won’t include Terminus or Sirius, but it will include have 4 hulls, multiple race-specific modules and a scenario.

I see a Parasite fleet with a LOT of “return to sender” scramblers…

Did anyone said that Parasite are OP? ^^

The problem with a scenario were their is only one ship, and more if it’s a station, it’s the phenomenon of Perma-Lock with EMP, because even a 999 999 resistance shield can’t protect with a 100% chance against it.

More, fight against Praetorian Indus and his OP Perma-lock EMP with it’s 999 999 emp shield penetration…

Or use a Grand Goremaul with it 25 000 Shield points! (And 50 000 credit…)

Ok, maybe 1 ship was an over-exaggeration. I do plan to have some heavy defense though; by the time you reach Terminus I you’ve punched through their primary fleet(s) into the heavily defended core where their most powerful weapon lies. Expect plenty of stations and dreadnoughts with a jumbo-sized map and budget.

As for the Sirius backfiring, I might just replace it with a beam of similar power or find some anti-counter variable that is even more OP. It’s designed as the pinnacle of anti-ship technology. Having it blow up in their faces (literally) kind of goes against that. That update is still a while away from release.

I didn’t rename the layers and coincidentally the layer which ended up becoming the final layer of Terminus station was the Praetorian cruiser. I found that rather interesting.

Terminus’ alpha test deployment. As you can tell, it’s bigger than the screen at a whooping 1600m. As you might also notice, I’ve yet to arm any of its 94(!) turret slots. Even if I triple-grouped every weapon I think we can agree this will neither be lightly armed nor cheap.

To power it’s superweapon it required jaw dropping quantities of energy which led to the creation of better (and more expensive) . In fleet combat that allowed it to increase generation by over double in addition to its high base energy. While it makes power easy, it makes a really big boom. It also receives a massive boost to shield, armor and hull; but an increase in cost and near complete reduction in speed.

screenshot_20-10-2012_20-58-30.jpg1366×768 249 KB

This takes me back . . The limits on ship sizes had been removed and the sky was the limit.

As a suggestion:
Open \My Documents\My Games\GratuitousSpaceBattles\config.txt
Change the line
OPTIONS_MINZOOM = 1.00
To
OPTIONS_MINZOOM = 0.00
Then you will be able to see your whole ship onscreen
(and maybe take a screen shot of the enemies trying to attack - just to give people a point of reference to see how big it is)

Modders Tip: When coding the turret placement, start from the front and work to the back. It will avoid any beam “passing under” turrets

A better frame of reference:

screenshot_21-10-2012_12-00-13.jpg392×650 81.1 KB

cant help notice:

the lines represent the empire hulls they are flip-floped and dont have symmetry