I haven’t posted any videos to youtube in a very long time, and the ones I did post were unlisted. Yesterday was an interesting day. Dare I say a good day, so I was feeling up for it and decided to make most of the older videos publish to give my ‘channel’ (if you really want to call it that) something for browsers to look at. Using my youtube channel for that should make it easier for me to post videos so I don’t overload my own site. Definitely a bonus.
The Map’s not ready for an actual preview just yet, but progress on the terrain (mainly the peaks) is looking good and I should be able to make my deadline (the 23rd). More importantly, I’m starting to pick up some new knowledge and skills while working on this.
People have been saying you should make tutorials for things you just figured out, but I’ve always been reluctant, personally. Usually because I have a habit of taking the long road and if I’ve got a quick and easy method, I picked it up from someone else ten minutes ago. I might as well point you to them.
That’s been the reasoning for some years now, at least. Now I’m thinking more along the lines of: Oh hey, I could put more stuff on the site!
Making any kind of information available is work so once I figure out what I’m doing I’ll definitely start putting some photoshop information up on the blog.
I’ve been so preoccupied with ironing out things for Frame Ops that I haven’t been able to come up with anything for today’s post. You know what that means ….
(As usual, I’ll be experimenting with the blogging format for readability, as well)
What is Frame Ops?
Frame Ops is a series in the Aeon setting centered around an E-sports community and the Battle Network, the gaming conglomerate that manages it all. The game Frame Ops is a fast paced mech shooter at its core, but ‘Battlenet’ went all cash-eyed and turned the game into a full blown E-sport with colossal commercial interests and at least two different leagues for the players. The whole series is based in the Jovian Sphere.
What is the Jovian Sphere?
The Jovian Sphere consists of all the territories around Jupiter, out to 1 AU from the planet itself. The Jovian League controls most of it, but that control diminishes the farther out you go from the settled regions. It’s like a combination of the old Wild West and the Pacific Ocean.
Details to Iron Out
As for what’s keeping me busy up in the mental workshop, it’s mainly the economics of both the setting as a whole, and the internal economics Battlenet’s system. Frame Ops isn’t just an E-sport for the times, it’s a new world created in cyberspace to facilitate all sorts of outlandish business models.
While Frame Ops is mainly about the gamers and their adventures, Battlenet’s activities, and those of the major companies are always carrying on in the background. This has a rippling effect throughout the various stories, affecting pretty much everyone who’s anyone. That’s why it’s important for me to understand the process, even if it barely amounts to background noise in any given story.
Besides, at some point, once I find a good way to do it, I will be focusing on Battlenet’s people, too.
A Work In Progress
I am working on Frame Ops’ ‘Odyssey related stories when I can, but I’d also like to do some smaller stories about characters that won’t get much attention otherwise. That will also help me out with ironing out the lore before things get too muddled.
Fleeing Victory’s format is working for me so far, so I’m thinking of using the same format for that kind of content.
Anyway, there’ll be more news on this when I’ve got more to share.
I figured it was time for another Cosmo Messer update. There’s always going to be the question of mods, though. How many is too many? Isn’t plain old vanilla just best for workshop hopefuls? Well yes and no, but I’ve seen some decent workarounds in the form of vanilla ‘versions’ and ‘modded’ versions. I’ve decided to adopt the same approach for certain ship builds going forward. With that, let’s take a look at the updated Cosmo Messer.
This screenshot is the vanilla version.
There are design compromises here aplenty but only scripts are used. Something interesting to note about the size and shape of this fighter is that I was able to put most of the maneuvering thrusters inside. I even forgot to take out some of the timer blocks and space balls that I was testing with the modded version and there’s still plenty of room inside for more parts.
All of the internal thrusters are hydrogen based, so I didn’t need a lot of them to get the thing moving. I just needed 2 blocks of clearance per thruster for safe operation. Sadly, ion thrusters are so frustrating to use that they border on being useless for my builds. They don’t need conveyors or hydrogen storage to operation, just power, but their output’s so sluggish that you need an insane number of them. They’re better as cosmetics on small combat ships.
To help distinguish the Cosmo Messer from the Cosmo Falcon, I gave the base model a yellow nose similar to some of the Messerschmitt paint schemes.
To take it a step further I also ditched the ‘prongs’ of the Falcon and added two fin-like structures on the tip of the nose. I also tried to give the engines a bold thrust vectoring look like with the F-22 Raptor. It’s not much, but the differences add up to a noticeably different profile.
There aren’t enough hydrogen thrusters for reliable atmospheric flight or hovering just yet. That will change after some experimentation.
The vanilla version has no issues reaching high speed.
There are a number of scripts running inside, too.
Top down view shows the overall shape of the Cosmo Messer.
The Cosmo Messer base model still uses just four machineguns and a rocket launcher like before, but other variants will add to that or switch out those weapons for other options. It just depends on the use cases.
Now for the modded version.
Note the landing gears.
The main difference between the modded version and the vanilla version are the landing gears. I don’t like having landing pads or wheels sticking out from the bottom of the vehicle, and the shape of this ship would have made that a requirement. The modded version used to have a defensive shield, but I decided not to use that on the base model. Other versions might have it, but I feel the base model shouldn’t be decked out with all the bells and whistles, just have the occasional panel or hardpoint that implies a much greater potential.
The dynamic laser compression thrusters were a strong case for the modded version.
Naturally, this version handles extraordinarily well in all directions. The DHI thrusters don’t need any clearance so they can be placed anywhere inside the hull. I typically group them up in front of the external engines so the SIMPL readout looks better. Really, though, they could go anywhere. I won’t call this the ‘True Cosmo Messer’ but as far as the look and feel of it, this is what I had in mind originally. Having landing gears and ridiculously good handling also makes it usable in all environments.
There’s one more version I made that I want to show off today.
The Cosmo Messer A1.
The paint scheme isn’t all that’s different. This one is a carrier based interceptor with both the base model’s weapons, and some extras. It carries 6 air to air missiles (conveyor mounted launchers), 2 target designators, a rocket pod, and four machineguns. The designators act as the front ends of those pod looking things on the wings.
I had to change a few things under the wings and that gave it an aesthetic similar to the F-15 Eagle when armed.
I couldn’t find any pointed or rounded edges that fit the back ends so I just stuck some colored spotlights back there to keep it from being flat and bland.
One last thing to note. While the vanilla and modded base models have the same magnetic plate as the carrier fighter version for the purposes of docking, the carrier version has an additional use. I built a gravity catapult to test it and the magnetic plate works perfectly as a ‘hook’ to keep the messer in place until its thrusters are fired up. Originally the catapult had its own holding plate but I wanted the fighter to be able to launch itself without any timer blocks being involved. (I still might add some to shut the catapult down post-launch though). Once the pilot’s ready, they can switch the holding plate’s lock state and they’ll be on their way. I’ll showcase the catapult once I’ve upgraded it and built a ship that can support it. The Heinrich wasn’t designed for that and the Dresden class I’m tinkering with is too compact to support any kind of craft, much less a launch catapult.
