I couldn't have said that better myself SpardaSon21. Railguns could be made semi-automatic, or automatic; they just would have to have lower velocities and current requirements than other versions. Advanced heat materials could also aid that. Coilguns would be easier to adapt to automatic firing cycles.

Also, because the Ancients of Zol tend to mobilize only one or 2 of their Venerable Battleships at a time; actually only 1, as they've only ever deployed one prior to arrival in Trader space. They make more use of War Titans, powerful bipedal assault vessels designed to cruise the stars and invade worlds.

NOTE: I've placed this project on a TEMPORARY HIATUS, due to the fact that a 2nd mod idea, centered on Strikecraft, came to me. It'll be more of a quick-and-dirty type mod, but will be very cool. That, and it may be a way to intro the races of The Legions mod.

EDIT: Space Superiority (the quick-and-dirty build mod) has been cancelled. Its features will instead be incorporated into The Legions. Have some abilities and buffs done. Working on more. War calls us my brothers, and the stars will be bathed in blood once more.

Well, I thought I'd give you guys a little look at the Taun'Shas leadership vessel. Here it is-

Castellan Command Destroyer

The Castellan class Command Destroyer is designed to support friendly ships. Only able to be built after intense cost and research, the Castellan class on its own isn't particularly destructive. However, it has several special and unique abilities.

1. Establish Colony- not particularly unique, the Castellan can establish Taun'Shas colonies. The Castellan's ability differs from the Devilfish version in that it decreases both the build/upgrade time and the cost of the upgrades.

2. Fire Castellan Launcher- this fires a powerful and destructive Gravimetric Launcher system. While this does inflict significant damage, it requires a little finesse and common sense to use efficiently.

3. Activate Mass Driver- probably the most unique ship ability of the game, and the mod, this abiltiy propels a Launch Vehicle containing a small scouting/colonization party. This is very useful for tearing apart enemy rear line worlds, as well as rapidly expanding your empire's influence and planet count.

4. Onward To Glory!- this ability is the Castellan's shining glory. Able to decrease ability, weapon, and bombardment cooldowns, AM cost of abilities, and increase weapon damage, shield, hull, and AM regeneration rates, this ability allows the Castellan to truly turn its acompanying fleet into the ultimate doomsday force.

More to come.

You do realize that every single one of those is superior to any equivilent ability...  1 should not benefit both...  2 okay...  3 only I know how to do that...  4 that is a combination of PS, Amplify Energy Aura, and Finest hour.  I hereby veto that ability unless each one of those is only increase by say 3-5%.

8% and you have deal. And if I can make a Mass Driver superweapon, than I can tweak it to be used with a cap

as for the upgrade deal, the time reduction is minimal at best (max is 10%), while cost reduction is also a bit less than the Advents (25%? at best)

and as for the Mass Driver, if you could pass it on to me that would be most appreciated.

By the way, what class of ship is this?  Otherwise I can't judge the DPS properly...

8%? Let's see...

Cooldowns-8%  (yields a +1-2% in DPS)

AM Cost-10% is about all I could stand...

Weapon Damage+8% (increases DPS by about 4-5%)

Shield Regen+5 (max I'll tolerate)

Hull Regen+1 (max I'll tolerate)

AM Regen+2 (max I'll tolerate)

And what an overall fleet buff?  VETO

Total DPS Buff: 7%  That is tolerable...

I can't tell you the exact effects without having the stats for it like cooldown and weapon damage, but those are the basics...

it isn't a combat ship, its designed as the Leader class. Basically, this is your ruler. A character. If classified in the existing lines, it would be similar to a Dunov, I suppose.

But it's not a combat ship.

The abilities only affect the ships w/in the abilities range, so its not global. While I could wish for it to be global, it's not.

Also, if possible, PMing me the Mass Driver ability code? I understand if you don't want to share it.

Okay, well at that point, the DPS buffs won't do much...  So, I'd be fine with 10%, so long as the DPS is no higher than 34...

Also, as far as Mass Driver goes, I don't want anything other than TT's to have it...  Besides, the way you want to use it, it wouldn't work...  A ship can't target something outside the gravity well or the phase lanes connected to it...  Only superweapons can do that...

So, in short, I currently do not wish anything other than a TT to have it.  If FD add additional races later on, the UHR or Extuli Empire might have an "Ark" as a superweapon.  In the code, it would destroy itself and send forth a giant rocket aimed at an enemy planet that would damage it and possibly colonize it...  There would be no "destruction" code, so it would just look like it took off...  I guess, its kinda hard to explain, but to someone playing, they would just think that it simply launched, rather than detonated...

the reason the Castellan has the Mass Driver ability is because that's a way that it spreads the Taun's influence. Though if it doesn't work, then that sucks.

On the other hand, the Taun are going to have three superweapons, and an almost-superweapon. These are-

Farsight Railgun (explained on page 1), the Messenger Engine (3 guesses? na, I'll tell ya- its the Deliverance Engine, only Taun), the Explorer Mass Driver (once again, 3 guesses), and the Defender Particle Cannon (anti-cap/MSF/SB defense).

The Defender is almost a superweapon, but it's not. The Explorer is likely the weakest and the strongest superweapon, as it can allow you to spread out on big maps real easy, but it also doesn't do anything to occupied worlds except land a scouting party there.

And ships can target something out of their gravity well. The Advent's Revelation Battlecruiser's 'Clairvoyance' ability does this. Not quite in the way I want, as it just reveals enemy planets, but with tweaking, maybe.

Something that damages a planet and gives sight of it would be unique and I don't want to see any of the superweapons' abilities duplicated...

the Mass Driver does NO DAMAGE to a planet. It just launches a scouting party. In fact the Mass Driver does no damage at all. It is almost a Phase Gate launcher.

As for the superweapons' abilities, what other kinds of things would you suggest? Right now the only thing I can think of that might be good besides the existing ones and the mass driver is just not having them for the new races.

Sorry for the late reply, I haven't been paying much attention to this thread.  You might want to make the Ancients of Zol like the Eldar, and have them and the evil robots be mortal enemies that have been fighting for untold millennia.  You also might want to tone down some of the firepower, as it might be unbalanced and result in either an easy victory or an inevitable defeat depending on who has what.

You also might want to start with just custom-hardpointed vanilla ships with new coding before you start any serious modeling.

actually the Necros Mechanicum was created by the Ancients of Zol. The Ancients are similar to the Eldar, in terms of technological grasping and age of their race.

Here's the timeline, as it currently stands:

537 AD- Ancients of Zol civilization rises

628 AD- Ancients of Zol 1st contact with an alien race. They name them the 'Cretacus Necronum', which translates as 'Creatures of Death.

778 AD- Eggrenian Empire rises

781 AD- the Ancients of Zol create the Necros Mechanicum, or the 'Death Machines', to aid them in their ventures

794 AD- the Twin Empires of Anatol and Forak rises

1844 AD- the Twin Empires of Anatol and Forak falls. The Anatolin (Anatol) and the Forerunners (Forak) flee amongst the stars from the Eggrenian Empire

2008 AD- 15yr old human male is kidnapped from Earth.

2009 AD- same human male obtains an aging merchant vessel, outfits it with weapons; names it the Dreamrunner.

2022 AD- same human male is appointed the Lord Vraxedes of the planet of Vraxedais (VRAKS-UH-DAY-IS)

2033 AD- The Vraxedais planet has become the capital planet of an empire- the Vraxedes Empire has been born

2035 AD- capital relocated to the newly colonized, and currently terraforming Red Planet- Mars

2037 AD- March: Earth expedition to Mars provokes a possible conflict with the Empire, due to it's Treaty of the Mars Founding; August: ~10,000 Vraxeden   civilian colonists on the Moon are killed by nuclear weapons fired from the surface of Earth. It is unknown what country fired the weapons. The   Empire declares war upon the nations of Earth.

2038 AD- The Peace Treaty of Empire is signed, war ends between the USA, Russia, the EU, China, and the Empire. Catastrophic damages to Earth's    infrastructure and mass losses of productive lands prompts the Empire to send aid to the people of Earth.

2311 AD- the 1st Lord Vraxedes dies at the age of 318. His 1st-born son succeeds him. The Empire continues to prosper. All of the 1st Lord Vraxedes'    descendants are long-lived, reaching an average age of 290-310 years old.

2948 AD- 1st negotiative contact with the Ancients of Zol. Previous contact had been in brief meetings, consisting mostly of warnings.

3392 AD- The Empire declares war on the Neo-Sanguist (SANE-GWIST) Confederacy (NSC). At the same time, they also denounce the practices of the resurging   Cult of Sikanu (SEE-CON-OOH). The Cultists ally themselves with the NSC. The First Age of Strife has begun.

3587 AD- after nearly 200 years of war, the Empire defeats the Confederacy. The Cult of Sikanu's primary temples and HQs have been destroyed. The Ancients  of Zol arrive again, foretelling the Empire that it will not fall, but will fade into obscurity. The 1st Age of Strife ends.

3599 AD- the Halcyon Era of the Vraxedes Empire begins. It continues for ~8000 yrs.

4756 AD- the Necros Mechanicum splits with the Ancients of Zol. The Mechanicum is now led by the sentient robot Erasmus. They form a peace treaty with the Ancients.

5688 AD- the beginnings of the Empire of Taun'Shas have been laid, they begin to advance rapidly.

9822 AD- the Empire of Taun'Shas have an encounter with a splinter fleet of the Cretacus Necronum. Seven planets are lost, and are subsequently sterilized to contain the threat. This lays the foundation for the Taun's hatred of the Necronum.

11,607 AD- the Halcyon Era comes to an abrupt close when several planets of the Empire are attacked, the populations massacred. An alien race, the Noids,   comes forth, arrogantly proclaiming that they have perpetrated the act. The seeds for the beginnings of the 2nd Age of Strife have been laid.

11,646 AD- After nearly 40 years of quiet, several Excelsior Starbases are destroyed. Nova MSFs are prepared for deployment. The Empire's enemies have    struck again.

11,649 AD- the 2nd Age of Strife begins. The Noids have allied themselves with the Gorgols, while the Empire has no allies, as the Galactic Republic is   refusing to enter into the conflict.

11,694 AD- The Galactic Republic collapses, from internal strife due to the numerous wars that are erupting, and external pressure from the Noids.

12,587 AD- after nearly a millenia of war, the ultimate act of destruction is approved by the current Lord Vraxedes. The Annihilatus Protocol is    established. The first target is the Noids. Multiple Nova MSFs are deployed. The first Noid worlds fall. The Noid homeworld is destroyed, all life  being exterminated and the planet cracked open at the core, rendering it down to a debris field.

12,686 AD- after an additional 100 years of fighting, the Noids have been exterminated. New empires have arisen, and are censoring the Vraxedes Empire for  its drastic actions. The Empire closes its borders completely. No trade goes on except for internal economy action. People begin to forget about   the Empire.

13,764 AD- after more than a thousand years of relative peace, the Empire of Taun'Shas arrives into the territories of the middle Milky Way. With highly   advanced technology, they easily conquer several weaker empires in the locality. The Vraxedes Empire sends emissaries to the Empire of Taun'Shas.   Negotiations begin.

13,779 AD- after 15 years of negotiating, the Vraxedes Empire and Empire of Taun'Shas sign the Treaty of Twin Empires. They agree to respect each others   territories and come to each others aid if needed.

15,466 AD- the beginnings of the 3rd Age of Strife are seeded with the arrival of the coldly logical and rational Eggrenians. Their empire has expanded   from a nearby galaxy into the Milky Way. The Empire of Taun'Shas declares war upon the Eggrenians.

15,538 AD- the Vraxedes Empire officially declares war upon the Eggrenians. They have been mostly rendering aid to the Taun'Shas and making guerilla    strikes into Eggrenian territory until this point. The Eggrenians reveal their true numbers, which are among the quadrillions. This is compared   against the billions of the Vraxedes and Taun'Shas.

15,539 AD- historians mark the year 15,539 AD as the official beginning of the 3rd Age of Strife. In all reality, it had begun a year earlier.

22,742 AD- the 3rd Age of Strife ends. The Eggrenians have been driven out of the Milky Way. Settlers wishing for more peaceful settings begin to depart   in masses. They will eventually found the Trade Order, and later, the Trader Emergency Coalition.

22,749 AD- the Vraxedes Empire begins to fade away, as the Ancients of Zol predicted. War has tired the civilian populations that were absorbed/colonized   for the Empire. Vraxeden-descent people feel that this is not the end.

23,448 AD- due to overpopulation, a failing economy, and other issues, the Eggrenian Empire collapses from internal strife

24,893 AD- the Empire of Egron Rising is established from the ashes of the Eggrenian Empire

27,443 AD- the correct date of the rise of the Xyphos Hegemony. Little is know except that they are expansionist and desire to control the universe.

39,876 AD- Mass revolts in core Taun'Shas worlds lead to more extensive rebellions among the Empire of Taun'Shas. They request aid of the Vraxedes Empire,  but the Vraxedens are unable to give it. Relations become tense, and are eventually terminated between the empires.

40,706 AD- the Vraxedes Empire has decayed away completely. In its place is the Legion of Vraxedes. The remaining Taun leave the Milky Way.

41,007 AD- Mars is destroyed by a hedonistic and whim-driven empire, the Sanguinus (SANE-GWENE-US) Empire of vampiric beings. The Legion brings its wrath down upon the Sanguinus Empire, destroying several of its worlds. The 4th Age of Strife begins.

41,098 AD- the first encounters with the Necros Mechanicum. They are robots created by the Ancients of Zol many millenia earlier.

41,101 AD- The core worlds of the Vasari Empire fall silent. The Vasari Exodus Fleet begins its trek through space.

43,744 AD- the 4th Age of Strife ends. A small fleet of people from the Legion leave; the meet an equally sized fleet of Taun, and combine their ships.

43,745 AD- the small fleets that had combined a year earlier stumble upon an enclave of Anatolin and Forerunners. Negotiations begin between them.

43,746 AD- the negotiations end in the creation of the Explorator Republic of Mars Rising. Named after the now-destroyed capital of the Vraxedes Empire, the Republic is notable for its powerful Mars Legacy Battlecruisers.

43,853 AD- Vraxedais falls to siege. The whim-driven empires that have arisen in the wake of 4th Age of Strife sieze its multiple natural resources, that   have been carefully shepherded and preserved by the Vraxedens, and consume them in the course of 10 years. Historians give this as the date that the Xyphos Hegemony rises. The Xyphos Hegemony had actually arisen several millenia earlier.

44,709 AD- universal censorship by the other empires of the Milky Way motivates the Legion to construct grand Explorator fleets, much like the fleets of   the old Empire. They begin their way out of the Milky Way. Their advanced Inter-Dimensional travel allows them to rapidly leave the areas they once inhabited. They are further motivated by a need to survive.

48,866 AD- the Trade Order is founded.

50,104 AD- the predecessors of the Advent are expelled from their homeworld by the Trade Order. The Ancients of Zol are surrepticiously observing the    Traders, Psionics, and the Vasari. They wait for the next Age of Strife to begin.

51,104 AD- the Vasari Exodus Fleet arrives in Trader territory, quickly brushing aside what little defenses there are. The Trader Emergency Coalition is   founded to combat the xenos threat.

51,114 AD- the Advent returns to the Trade Order's territories, creating a 2-front war for the TEC.

51,119 AD- a 15 year war has been waging between three powers, the TEC, Advent, and the Vasari Exodus Fleet.

51,120 AD- the Legion and Taun'Shas arrive in Trader territory. They begin to wage war with the other races, and renew the Treaty of Twin Empires between   themselves. The Explorator Republic also arrives. Learning of its origins, the Legion and the Taun'Shas decline the petition of the Republic to be  added to the Treaty of Twin Empires, and instead offer a new treaty between the three, the Treaty of Triumvirate. It is signed and passed into law  for all three empires.

51,122 AD- continuing negotitians with the TEC sees the TEC petition to be added to the Treaty of Twin Empires. The Legion and Taun'Shas will likely    reject this request, but will not immediately announce this to the TEC. This is especially true as the Treaty of Twin Empires has been replaced by  the Treaty of Triumvirate.

51,123 AD- the Xyphos Hegemony, in its quest to dominate the entire universe, arrives into the local galaxy. Numerous worlds begin to fall silent as the   Xyphos people, known as the 'Xatians' take control of world after world.

51,124 AD- the Sanguinis Empire, and the Empire of Egron Rising arrive in the local clusters. The Ancients of Zol declare the 5th Age of Strife to have   begun. Mass warfare erupts among the stars, bathing the galaxy in blood.

51,125 AD- six months after the Ancients of Zol declared the 5th Age of Strife to have begun, extensive contact with the Necros Mechanicum occurs. The Cretacus Necronum arrives in the system, and multiple worlds fall off the grid. They have been devoured.   

Okay...  Well, at any rate, I still would like to see a superweapon that allows for sight and deals damage...  I guess there is always the option of a "friendly" superwep which would target allied planets and give them some sort of buff like increased trade income for a set amount of time...

that's actually an interesting idea. The sight/damage superweapon would be good for the Explorator Republic of Mars Rising, or perhaps the Sanguinis Empire/Xyphos Hegemony. Depends I guess.

A new announcement for The Legions Mod.

A couple replies, probably a lot of replies in fact, back it was suggested that I have some space-bugs, or a bio-ship race. Tyranids from Warhammer 40k were suggested as the basis, and I have finally found a good name for them.

The Cretacus Necronum. The name given the race by the Ancients of Zol, the first civilization to encounter them, it means 'Creatures of Death' in the Ancients' language.

The Cretacus' defining feature is the sheer numbers that they can put forth against the enemy. Outproducing a Cretacus player is simply impossible, as the Necronum's ships are inexpensive and build fast. Granted, they are proportionately weaker, and require more numbers, but target saturation is easily enough to kill an enemy fleet.

A current list of the Necronum's ships-

Kraken Hive Ship- the primary capital of the Cretacus

Cretacus Bio-Titan- the biggest, baddest ship of the so-called 'Space Bugs', the Bio-Titan is designed to destroy and devour enemy fleets, and then literally vomit the flaming wreckage onto the planet below. Unpleasant at best.

Infector Bio-Scout- the standard scouting ship of the Cretacus

Devourer Bio-Cruiser- the standard cruiser class of the Cretacus

Spawner Bio-Colonizer- the Cretacus' colony frigate, it can spawn much of the population of the planet.

The Cretacus Necronum's ships cost no credits, and little metal. This is as they are of little value to them. While the Necronum can process metal into a material to be incorporated into their chitinous shells, credits are completely useless to them in most purposes. Crystal is extremely valuable to them however, and is used as their primary food source, besides the hapless populations of enemy worlds that is.

However, the Necronum does have creatures that can communicate and deal with those that are similar to us, and as such they use credits mostly to purchase more crystal. Crystal is the most valuable asset to a Cretacus player, as such taking measures to deny them of it is a sure way to win.

Not a bad idea...  Perhaps have the armor upgrades for this race would require obscene amounts of metal as they are used for little else...

And just curious, how do u intend to use these things?  Will you have some "particle" effect that is really an animation?  How will they move?  How will they attack?  These are all critical questions...

not sure how the Cretacus will move. They will not have engine effects, and will not have animations. Attack is by bio-plasma or bio-acid weaponry, though they will have special abilities that replicate the effects of obscenely large claws and tentacles.

Some will have the ability to spit giant spikes/spines at enemy ships. The Cretacus Necronum basically 'spawn'/'grow' their ships in 'Drone Hives' and 'Titan Hives'.

I suppose there is always the option of having their ships as giant cell clumps...  The ship itself would be alive, but there would be a crew..  In that way you could justify having engines...

the ships themselves are alive. they grow them in in the hives, and then they are mobilized.

So, is there a crew or not?

yes and no. I've revised them to use a bio-waste burning propulsion (basically a crap-jet, rofl), and they do have a special close-range boarding ability that destroys enemy ships very quickly. Most have the ability to spread bio-plagues that damage enemy, but not friendly ships.

If you could give me good coding for a bio-plague ability, that would be appreciated. I think I could figure it out, but it would be helpful.

Some have crews, some don't. The ships themselves are alive, so any crews they carry are for propogating the race (devouring planets), or for seeding colonies, taking control of neutrals (MORE DELICIOUS CRYSTAL).

Ultimately, it all depends on the ship to determine the existence of a crew. The Kraken, Infector, and Spawner all have crews, as they are the primary propogators of the Cretacus, while the Devourer has a crew for boarding actions, and to a small degree seeding populations of the Cretacus on enemy planets. This slowly damages the planets, and will kill large amounts of population in bursts, like 50 in 3 seconds, then a 15-25 second cooldown, than another 50, and so on. Planet health is dropped slower, but in a more constant fashion.

All you have to do is use a standard DoT...  If you really wanted to use a "plague" ship, you could lift the code from TEC Supremacy's (I think that is the mod) gas giants that have plagues that can infect ships...

So, would you call them humanoid?

Fair enough...  Makes sense...

the Cretacus? Well, some of them ARE humanoid, some are giant spiders, some are the ships, and some are, different.

Think Warhammer 40k Tyranids. They, and to a small degree, the Starship Troopers (slightly more movie than book, and YES, there was a book (it's better than the movie, oh, and Dizzy was a dude in the book, not a chick like in the movie) are the inspiration of the Cretacus Necronum.

What, so they have modified their DNA to become multiple species?  I mean, the ships wouldn't be the same.  More than likely, the ships would just be bioengineered to work like they do...

That would really help if I knew what any of those things are...  I mean, I know WH 40k is a game, but don't know much else...

the Tyranids are a unique race. Here's a basic rundown of their deadliness as predators:

Tyranids are several species, that have a relatively UNFIXED genome. They assimilate the conditions and native species of a planet/biosphere and adapt. You could say that they undergo evolution at a rapid rate, as evolution simply means change. However, I prefer the term adapt, it's less of an argument-starter.

EDIT: they also deploy their own plant life, to warm the temperature of a world, to ease consumption of the biospheres. (shivers)

Continuing, Tyranids are a diverse race, and controlled psychically be a hive-mind. They use Hive ships to transport most of their bio-creatures, and use bio-plasma, bony spines, and acid and virus based weapons, that are all GROWN FROM THEIR BODIES. So instead of having a bunch of guns on a battlecruiser, you have a bunch of weapon orifices on a creature that trawls the depths of space.

A good mod to reference for creatures adapted to space travel is the Last Stand mod by ManSh00ter. The Xin, which are in the 1st release, use creatures that they adapted by adding armor plates, and weapons, as well as protective elements and engines, for the frigates.

With the Cretacus, they pretty much are controlled by a Hive Mind. They didn't MODIFY their OWN DNA, they absorbed the information of OTHER species.