Oh boy, I hope so.  I've been watching this one ever since its beginnings a year ago.  =D

Yes, Episode I is closing in. I can't say the exact date, since I have a bit of work left to do, but the major chunk of the workload has been done.

Thank god. I think many of us have been waiting the full year for this mod to come out! I really wish I new how to model... or model like that... What sotfware / tutorial sites do you use? I've been looking to start to learn how to model

This looks incredibly creative. And while starbases have been a fantastic add through Entrenchment, I have been missing a titanic ship class from the game. Good on ya. Lookin forward to the mod!

Cheers

Thrawn, yeah, I know its been a long wait, but considering my goal was always to deliver a sort of an unofficial expansion which would be on par with the official content, the wait was to be expected. I must say that over the course of the last year I've learned a LOT when it comes to game content production... which is good news because it means you won't have to wait as long for Episodes II and III as you've waited for the first one.

I am using XSI, Photoshop and Zbrush for my work. Over the years I've read more tutorials than I remember... and some white papers too, in the quest for that "extra edge". A good site to get useful advice and tutorials are the Digital Tutors forums  who also have a line of really good video tutorials for most popular CGI packages out there, and even some primers on next-gen game modelling and texturing. They are not free, but I can say they are hands down the best video tutorials I came across.

Cepheidsoul, yep, what's an epic space strategy without huge spaceships!

I am at a stage where I'm just plugging in various parts I made over the last year into a coherent whole, and it looks good! Can't wait to show you guys an epic space battle with a full Xin vs. Hapless Local Fleet!

So do you use Zbrush just to slap skins on or to model too (that seems more for actual artists, like with digital pen thingers and stuff, not for mouse and keyboard). Stinks that those XSI tutorials aren't free... and it's 6 hours for the first set of tutorials lol

Good to hear its almost done. Stink I'm leaving for Ireland and won't be back till the 7th ish of July. Uh I hate flying

First off I'd like to congratulate you on almost finishing such an awesome mod mansh00ter. It definetly looks professionally done, giving Ironclad a run for their money actually

I do have a question though. You mentioned you'd double gravity well size and tripled planet size, I was wondering if you were also planning on modifying the range of things such as starbases, static defenses, phase jump inhibitors, repair platforms and increasing minefield sizes, as large gravity wells make many of these things far less effective. Balance wise it simply makes it a lot easier to move in a fleet of seige frigates avoid defenses and take out a planet, especially since the larger gravity wells means it'll take longer to get a fleet in.

Thanks Banthracis.

As to your question, static defenses will definitely be overhauled. I am not sure about minefield sizes, that will have to wait for the open beta, but turrets will definitely have their range vastly increased. Coupled with balance changes as a part of the Dynamic Combat System, it will be difficult to succeed with a rush siege frigate attack against an even lightly defended planet, unless you send in a whole little fleet of them, but then be prepared to lose a lot of them in the process.

Thrawn, I do both the detail modelling and color painting in Zbrush - that's what its best for, you can do stuff which would either be impossible or really time consuming to do by hand in Photoshop.

And don't worry, the release is not *that* close! As I said, I still have a bit of work to do...

Just one question regarding the titans. I haven't really played any mods using titans before, I assume that they will be built at the standard capship construction yard. Or will there be something speccial involved.

ehm... at page 47 there is screen shot with titan and 2 cap. ships... i guess that a special construction yard just MUST be... How can you  build that monster in so tiny construction yard as that one for capital ships is?

i know this may come as on out of the box question, but would you allow me to help you with the Clans Remnants as far as ship coding? I know enough to make new ships now, but probably need some more time to learn Entrenchment modding. Im not that adept with stuff like weapons and new abilities but i will do what i can to help.

what, i offer to help and the thread dies on me?

Heh, sorry, I'm on vacation so I haven't checked the thread much. Thanks for the offer! I actually do plan on getting a team together when I start the production of Episode II sometime this autumn, so if you're still interested by then, we'll talk.

Back from vacation, and here are some shots of the upgraded and reskinned models for the Seeder Pos and Spitter Drone. The seeder was reworked because of its high poly count (which would interfere with the idea of having to send a LOT of them if you want to punch through defensive lines and deliver the slow-sapping planetary diseases and whatnot to your enemy) and the spitter drone because it had an atiquated design which stood out from the rest of the Xin ships.

Total time spent on it: two days.

The Spitter Drones, mkII

compare with the old version:

New Seeder Pod. You can now build a crapload of them...
As seen here. Can you say INVAAAAASIOOOOON!

This is just placeholder candy while I finish unleashing multimedia goodness on the new website and the upcoming Unit Recap: Drones.

nice work manshooter

can't wait to play with the mod!!!

just wouldering this race seems to relay on the ocean type shapes of fsh squads and jellyfish i find for the nex 2 races have you thought about what there ships may look like wether it be a revised human faction or completey random??

wat?

Well, all three factions are alien, but the Clans Remnant have most in common with humans when it comes to design. So their ships will have a recognizable design, with corroded metal plating, complicated machinery, and so on. The Hegemony ships, actually Consul ships will be the most abstract of the three races. They will have a completely alien look, with lots of mixing going on between physical and energy aspects of their vessels.

wow thats a lot of seeders :3

Whens it gonna come oooooout

Also is that intro to XSI 6 DVD set thats $50 (on the digital tutorials page) really really good? Or is there a free one that's about the same out there?

When it's reeaaaady! Its all about quality when I'm in charge.

Regarding Digital Tutors, yes, their tutorials are quite good. 50 bucks may seem a lot, but you get high quality detailed tutorials (more like digital lessons really) which are generally clear and easy to follow and understand because the guys take time explain to everything they do. No button clicked just like that and such.

I'd only advise you to invest in stuff you really have no clue about and for which you have the listed prerequisite knowledge and resources. Intro to XSI 6 is a good product, considering it explains pretty much every use of the program and you have more than seven hours worth of stuff to go through... the snag is that it really shines if you have the full version of XSI, not the mod tool. As far as I know, the mod tool lacks the more advanced features which have to do with rendering and animation. But they cover the basics of modelling, UV mapping and so on pretty well.

Well I don't have $3000. Although I do have utorrent >.>

I'm kidding but autodesk stuff is all stupid commercial liscences so its all too expensive

True, they don't really shine when it comes to offering student licenses and such, at least not where XSI is concerned. I think they're trying to push back XSI in favor of Max, which is their native 3D package.

On last question before I buy a tutorial (I decied I should). Should I get the v6.5 or the v7 tutorial? Isn't the mod tool based off the v7?

Thanks for getting me started though Mansh00ter

just an idea for the titan, have the builder unlocked by the civilian research tree and the ship and weapon unlocked with seperate researches in either the military tree and/or the defense tree so you would have to invest a lot into reasearch but not just into military.

and stop asking when it  will come out! enough already... when mansh00ter decides to put it out, you can drool all over it