Some Love From PC Gameplay Phoenix Rising - March 31, 2008 For those of you living in Belgium or Holland, you might have already had the opportunity to read about Phoenix Rising in your local gaming periodical, but for those of us not so fortunate, here's a recap. PC Gameplay, a Dutch-language magazine circulated throughout the Low Countries, featured us rather prominently in their mods section for the March 2008 issue. From what I can garner, the review was quite positive, even going so far as to compare us to an official product. I'm, of course, both flattered and thrilled that so many people are enjoying the hard, often uncompromising effort that was put into Space. But the truth of the matter is that this mention was no random coincidence. Getting an article published for us was wholly the enterprise of our very own Theempirewins. Many thanks to Peter for taking it upon himself to do this for us out of no prompting of my own and also PC Gameplay for sending it to the presses! May it be the first of many such mentions for PR. Comments (9) Live From San Francisco Phoenix Rising - February 19, 2008 Armed with Phoenix Rising-themed business cards and CDs of the latest release, I'm currently in San Francisco for the Game Developers Conference, a veritable who's who of industry professionals. While I search for someone willing to pay me to do what I love, check out these hot, fan-made topics in the forums: Zarkis' work in exploring the AI has already led to a number of fixes and improvements that will make the v1.1 patch, and now he has released his own take on the AI. The Zarkis AI strives to address some of the deficiencies in the Galactic Conquest-mode AI from a production standpoint, so if you just can't wait for the patch, be sure to check this out. If you're looking for more flash in your tactical experience, look no further than Dal MP's Aesthetics Pack. This pack focuses on making the turbolaser bolts look and feel better and also has an added side-effect of improving performance, so there's really no reason not to try it. Last but not least, Dane Kiet is organizing a multiplayer Skirmish tournament, which is the perfect opportunity to check out multiplayer on PR if you haven't yet done so. This is especially true for those of you having issues with the AI - you'll be in for a few surprises against a live opponent. The tournament comes in 1 vs. 1 and 2 vs. 2 flavors and will commence as soon as there are enough players, so sign up today! Comments (29) What's Next Phoenix Rising - January 27, 2008 First off, I want to thank our fans for the response to the release. It's been fantastic! To those disenchanted by the bugs, don't write us off yet. Realize that the reason for doing a public beta is actually to identify the bugs for the development team so that we can fix them. We don't have formal in-house testers, so it's up to you all to fill this role. So far, the people on the forums have been great in doing this. Their good work has resulted in a number of hotfixes that you can apply to your copy of the mod to address some of the issues before we release a comprehensive patch. Those fixes can be found scattered around the forums, but most of them have been compiled here. Just be cautious when making these changes, as they will prevent you from playing multiplayer. Now that we've reached our major milestone with the version 1.0 release of Space, what's next for the mod? My goal right now is to get space combat working to perfection - or at least as close as can be attained through modding - which will eventually culminate in a version 1.1. The long-term goal is to have our vision of land combat done by version 2.0, but that is realistically still a long ways off. In the short time span since the release, I've already made a great deal of changes to address various bugs and balance issues that have cropped up. I'll attempt to detail the most important of those changes: A lot of people have commented that the galaxy map is too crowded. I was actually aware of this before the release, but because of our timeline, did not want to attempt such a massive undertaking on short notice. I had set the scale last summer, but without knowing which planets I would need for the campaigns, it was just a best guess. Since Thrawn's campaign had never been presented in a topographic format before, I wasn't readily aware that most of the flashpoints actually occurred in just a handful of sectors. Now we know and can better accommodate. The rescaling is done, but that wasn't the major issue with it. The biggest problem is making sure that all planets are still connected to each other at the increased distance, which I'm still working on. I had decided that connectivity was more important than scale for the release, but now that I have more time, we can eventually have both. I believe we've solved the crashes involving bombing runs. See the forums for details. This is only one source of the exceptions, so keep reporting bugs and we will find the others! This is important. All turbolaser and turboion weapons have had their damage and range increased by half. The problem was that I had used the RPGs to judge relative damage, but RPGs operate on a six-second round or something similarly synchronized, so it seems their damage had been adjusted for time. Well, in real-time, lasers can fire about every two seconds and turbolasers every three, as it is in the mod. To account for this, I've increased the damage (and thus the range) so that turbolasers are three times as powerful as a comparable laser, but since they're slower to fire, they effectively output twice the damage. As it was, they were doing four-thirds the damage output, which felt weak to me. Prepare to lose some frigates if you're not careful! Line of sight has been changed to being class-based opposed to armament-based. If the range of your guns exceeds your line of sight, you will require spotters to fire at the maximum distance. All ships transport size or larger have been given a damage control ability. This allows them to make slow repairs to hull damage at approximately one-tenth of their shield refresh rate. It is not a replacement for dedicated repair craft, however. The BTL K-wing has been given a fresh conversion thanks to the new version of Starships of the Galaxy, which is actually the first source to give it detailed stats. I've also taken the opportunity to redo its upgrade branch. I had actually gotten the K-wing close on pure speculation, but a few aspects have changed. Speed, acceleration, maneuverability, hyperdrive, and shielding remain the same on the base model, while hull increases modestly. The main differences are to payload. It now features a total of 18 proton torpedoes and 6 plasma torpedoes, spread out three to a launcher instead of being directly affixed to a hardpoint. On top of that, 4 concussion missiles are added on the first upgrade. To compensate, the double laser turret has been downgraded to light, which effectively makes it a turreted version of the Y-wing's laser cannons. So it trades some of its fighter defense for roughly double the warhead capacity of the released version. The cost has also been increased accordingly. The Modular Taskforce Cruiser has also gotten a new conversion (and upgrade branch), this time from WEG sourcebooks. Intended as a non-combat vessel, it loses much of its shielding and hull from where it was, but I've also given it a built-in system spy ability to simulate some of the other modules, such as the Observation Module. Build cost for the MTC has been decreased to compensate for its loss of durability. Due to some sort of confusion on Wookieepedia, it turns out that the ATR Assault Transport doesn't actually have laser cannons at all, so I've removed them. The ion cannons remain, but I've switched them to light turboion cannons, thus stripping it of all starfighter-scale weaponry. Make sure you escort these in the future. The IPV has switched roles. All of its turbolasers have been replaced with laser cannons and the capacity of its launcher has been increased to 24 missiles, but otherwise the upgrades remain the same. Sources lean towards its guns being "boosted laser cannons" instead of actual capital-scale turbolasers, which is more in-line with its mission profile as a counter-smuggler ship. I've added the YV-666 Light Freighter as a neutral transport. I went with the 62 m Fact File length of Hound's Tooth to allow it to fill a role as a heavy freighter-transport for CEC, despite the remaining canonical designation. You can read about it (and the rest of the changed ships) in the Units section. Speaking of freighters, I found out that I had overpowered their income generation ability such that they were capable of producing more revenue fully upgraded per planet than mines in terms of population and structure slots respectively. This had never been my intent, so I've halved the extent of their income upgrades. Fully upgraded freighters now produce 250 credits/week instead of 400. In Skirmish, however, they produce slightly more than the previous levels. Meanwhile, mineral extractors generate less. Golan platforms in Skirmish are now "reinforced" with double shielding and hull since all other ships are at full upgrade status. I may also improve their armament; I haven't decided yet. The AI now builds more balanced fleets in Skirmish, in addition to better selecting targets to attack. For one, less battlecruisers are being built and the star dreadnoughts have been removed from the AI's building options completely, such as to avoid the massive build delays. AI players will also upgrade their Golan base quicker than before. Finally, the AI has been disallowed from scouting with its starfighters. Fighters, bombers, and transports will now actively dogfight and engage your ships, so be prepared. Also, the AI should be smarter about hiding freighters/non-combat ships, escorting capital ships, and exploiting lowered shields in tactical combat. Changes are occurring all the time, so keep reporting those bugs for us! Comments (40) Launch Into Space: Version 1.0 Is Live! Phoenix Rising - December 30, 2007 Just under a year after going public for the first time, I'm extremely proud to present our first full release! You can get Phoenix Rising: Space from one of the following mirrors: Mirror 1 - FileFront Mirror 2 - Mod DB Mirror 3 - StrategyInformer To quote myself from the readme: "Phoenix Rising: Space is the first full release of the mod for Empire at War: Forces of Corruption. It includes our complete vision of space combat - from heroic X-wings to imposing star destroyers and everything in between - all set to the theme of a galactic arms race par excellence. Ships from a diverse range of sources have been brought together under one consistent, unified stats system to produce an unparalleled showcasing of their capabilities. We have literally remapped the galaxy to bring you this, so we hope you enjoy it!" Comments (291) Top 100 And A Date Phoenix Rising - December 26, 2007 The race has been narrowed from some 6800 titles down to just 100 for Mod of the Year 2007 on Mod DB - and Phoenix Rising has made the cut! Thanks to you, the fans, we are now officially ranked as one of the best in the world. But the voting isn't over yet. Now that we have made the Top 100 - Top 50 in the released category - you must vote again to secure our place as an award winner. The top five released titles will place as Mod of the Year, so click on that golden wrench below to start voting! From our Mod DB profile, click on the large "VOTE NOW" button. We are the first mod under Star Wars: Empire at War in the top (released) group. Keep in mind, you needn't be registered on Mod DB to vote and we have only five days left in the polls, so be sure to have your family and friends vote before 2008! Another matter of business needs to be taken care of, that concerning the upcoming release. Up to this point, we've held our own in the Mod of the Year contest with nothing more than an eight-month-old demo. Well, it's time to take out the big blasters. As I've previously stated, the release would be out before the end of MOTY voting. Well, I'm pleased to announce that will indeed be the case! Phoenix Rising: Space will launch on December 30th! In the meantime, keep up the voting! Comments (113) New Ground Phoenix Rising - December 26, 2007 One of the most rewarding aspects of modding is being able to bring never-before-seen places to life, especially those places deemed too obscure to the mainstream to likely make it in a retail game. Some of the most memorable places in the galaxy - Borleias, Duro, Hapes, Ithor, Sluis Van, and Yaga Minor, just to name a few - have thus far existed only in our imaginations or through fleeting glances. One of our objectives with Phoenix Rising is to change that. Over the past few weeks, jdk002 has been working on the maps for a number of planets that have little more to go off of than a description. In such a short timespan, he's managed to complete ten more professional-quality maps - two for each planet - that will be included in the upcoming release in addition to Metellos. These have, at best, previously appeared only in a comic pane; at worst, never. So, without further ado, I'd like to introduce for the first time: Da Soocha 5 This obscure moon is home to a primitive, but intelligent species of chiropter known as the Ixlls, who nest upon the curiously-massive stone pinnacles that formed from volcanic activity in low gravity. In the time following the loss of Coruscant to the reborn Emperor, it also briefly served as a staging ground for the New Republic government-in-exile at Pinnacle Base, until the entire moon was destroyed by the Galaxy Gun. Dolomar A frigid world and sector capitol in the Core, Dolomar was settled for its abundance of rare ores and gemstones, but is also known for its wineries. The local human population has adapted to the climate by building their cities in underground caverns, which makes them near-impervious to orbital bombardments. As a gateway to Coruscant, the planet is of strategic importance and was a flashpoint of the Thrawn Campaign, where New Republic and Dolomari forces repulsed Imperial ground troops in one of Thrawn's few commitments to land battle. Generis Like Yavin 4, Generis is a jungle planet that was host to a now-extinct civilization that left behind numerous ruins. By the time of the Galactic Civil War, the planet was uninhabited and used by Rebels formerly of the Atrivis Resistance Group as a major communications center due to the presence of hiridiu crystals. Obroa-skai As home to one of the most complete information archives in the galaxy, Obroa-skai was a valuable target for many factions, although the native Obroans remained staunchly neutral during the Galactic Civil War. It was once raided by Thrawn and later captured by the Yuuzhan Vong, who destroyed much of the data stored there. Qat Chrystac This relatively worthless world is notable only for being the site of a standoff between Imperial and Rebel special forces. The planetary crust of Qat Chrystac is entirely molten, with landmasses consisting of glass mesas and plateaus that have cooled solid, yet still float tenaciously upon the magma sea. The atmosphere is swamped in radioactivity, rendering it lethal to anyone without proper protection. According to jdk002, this is only a taste of what is to come, so be sure to stick around to see what we realize next! Happy Holidays! Comments (16) Mod Of The Year 2007 Kicks Off Phoenix Rising - December 2, 2007 The polls opened today for Mod DB's 2007 Mod of the Year Awards event. This is the definitive player's choice awards event for the amateur game development community - the past three winners have all gotten their projects commercialized and published via Steam or some other means. You know the history of Star Wars strategy games and you've seen what I've been able to do alone on a closed-source mod, just imagine what could be accomplished with a little professional help. If you're enjoyed the mod at all, please vote for us this year by clicking on the golden wrench below. In the preliminary round, you can nominate as many mods as you want, so it can't hurt. Here are some important dates in the voting process: December 2nd - nominations begin, you can nominate as many different mods as you like. December 15th - field is narrowed to the Top 100 nominations. December 20th - voting begins, you can vote for up to three mods in the Top 100. January 1st - voting ends. January 25th - player's choice winners revealed. January 26th - editor's choice winners revealed. I absolutely believe Phoenix Rising can make the Top 100. Our Mod DB topsite was averaging around 50th overall before they pushed out the new version and broke the daily reset. If that's any indication, we should put up a fight against some of the larger communities, but it's going to be close and we're going to need all the votes we can get. Whatever you can do to get the word out would be much appreciated. Comments (78) Skirmish Returns! Phoenix Rising - December 2, 2007 I have some very exciting news for you just in time for the upcoming release: Skirmish mode, which was disabled in the mini-mod, has made its triumphant return and will be featured in version 1.0! For those of you who don't have the time or patience for a drawn-out campaign, you will finally have the option to get straight to combat in a Skirmish match as the Rebel Alliance or Galactic Empire and battle it out for technological supremacy. First let me back up and explain why it wasn't enabled all along. It just so happens that story scripting for EaW only works for Galactic Conquest mode. Unfortunately, this is how I've accomplished the asynchronous tech tree, which means that it doesn't work in Skirmish. As battling without upgrades kind of defeats the purpose of this mod, I originally just turned Skirmish off to concentrate on Galactic Conquest for the mini-mod. But for the full release, I wanted it functional. As traditional upgrades weren't going to work for Skirmish, I had to compromise. I decided to remove the upgrading process entirely and instead, all ships start fully-upgraded. To defeat your enemy in Skirmish, you must beat not only his tactics, but his best technology. This is the basis of Skirmish in Phoenix Rising; let me get into the details. Each team starts with a Golan I platform that serves as their base. From here, players can build tier zero ships from the tech tree - the same starting units you would get in Galactic Conquest before researching. You also have the option of upgrading the base and unlocking the next tier. Instead of the five starbase levels from vanilla, PR has only three, each corresponding to a bigger Golan platform and deeper tier. The Golan II level can build up to tier one ships, or your first level of research in GC, and the Golan III level unlocks everything. A team wins by destroying the enemy Golan and cementing their claim to that system, or by wiping out the opposing force entirely, depending on your options. Scattered throughout the maps are also various capturable neutral stations that allow you to do one of two things: summon heroes to the fight or build Republic-era ships (albeit fully upgraded). The heroes offer an important edge over your adversaries with their leadership abilities and unique starships. They also use the upgrade build queue, so calling on them doesn't halt production. The X7 Factory is able to produce upgraded starfighters from the Clone Wars, including the Alpha-12 Nimbus-class V-wing, Eta-11 Actis-class, and ARC-170J. Both of these factors make map control a priority. Finally, the last implication of Skirmish is that players will now be able to play Phoenix Rising against each other properly. The same issues that prevent the tech tree from working in Skirmish also prevent it from working in multiplayer Galactic Conquest, so for the first time in version 1.0, players will be able to go head-to-head as intended. And I, for one, can't wait to own my endearing fans. Comments (43) Star Wars is a registered trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd. All other content copyright Phoenix Rising 2007.