Yeah, blender. It's a good program, and there's plenty of documentation and tutorials on the net.

Unfortunately, I've been guilty of this in the past, with the offering of help to a mod and then disappearing. I think though schoolwork crushes all creative desire. Since I don't have to do that stuff anymore, I can concentrate better and focus more on my own projects.

I wanted to say "Don't worry", but it wouldn't sound right. I also have abandoned a project before, but that's what happens in "open-source" projects. You are not required to cry and write walls-of-text saying how sorry you are that you can't send any more commits. In a way I think it's a good path: people come, people go - you can't feel sad/happy about everyone who got involved in your project. That is why it's so important to choose your project carefully. No matter if it is your own, or not.

Ok, no more off-topping - this is a thread about the DR mod, still. GL & HF!

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[FACTION PROFILE]

Verdanian soldiers in a mountain fortress during the Verdanian War of Independence. From the Republican Free Archives.

Verdania

Of freedom and ambition.

Everyone in the Republic knows where Verdania is, and no one can seem to shut up about it. The fact is in Verdania's massive sphere of influence there is not a single deal that they do not have a hand in. Verdania is unique in that it is the only planet which could rival Earth in cultural, economic, and military power. Depending on who you talk to, Verdanians are either the defenders of freedom or the biggest danger to the Republic since the Incursions.

Few, however, know the source of their bitter ambitions. When the utopian rainforest planet of Verdania was first colonized, Republican officials landed on the planet and drew a circle around the colony. The colonists were told in order to protect the vast biodiversity of Verdania, structures could not be built past the circle. Some say it was this restriction which shaped Verdania's attitude and demeanor. The Verdanians have never broken this law, and have obediently built up from initial colony, Verdania City.

The city is now called the Bulb, a prison-like gray edifice that extends way into cloud cover with Verdania's only spaceport on top, inside untold billions of Verdanians live in sunless streets lit by neon lights. Verdanian bitterness transformed into ambition and a desire to escape, and so Verdania was the first planet ever to start a colonization program independent of Earth, starting with the “economically unviable” planets that littered the Republic across the Republican-Etarn border.

It took almost no time for Verdania to control virtually every aspect of life in their sector. All the major corporations were Verdanian owned, all of the natural resources were exploited by Verdanians, and Verdanians even made all the movies. Talking about Verdanian politics and powerplays became professions and hobbies. Its laws and philosophies were disseminated throughout the Republic, their success admired as much as feared.

However, during the Etarn Incursion (an invasion, by the way, the Verdanians provoked) Verdania found itself the main target of an enormous alien fleet. After a bombardment of the Bulb and a ground invasion, the Verdanians valiantly fought off the invaders and used their landing craft to capture the Etarn battleship “Velhelham” in a battle of impossible odds. Their victory was so unlikely and so complete that the hubris that followed almost destroyed them.

In the following century, Verdania felt that now that it had fought off aliens, she could steal back her destiny from Unity. Without warning, Verdania and its colonies declared independence, and they spearheaded a massive fleet towards Earth to force the issue. Verdanians crushed the first Republican fleet sent to intercept and it seemed that nothing would stop the Verdanians from seizing Earth. They had not counted on Canthus.

One planet that was resistant to Verdanian hegemony was Canthus. Canthus was a strange planet populated by a strange people that had distinguished itself for being a prolific and high-quality naval construction yard. Canthus disturbed Verdania as it was in the center of Verdanian space and not receptive to Verdanian power, but Verdania dismissed Canthus as a marginal place. When Verdania declared independence, Canthus scrambled the shipyards and put together a fleet of battleships that could intercept the Verdanian fleet. So, in the system of Tridia, this fleet of Canthian battleships along with the remnants of the first Republican fleet fought a gigantic space battle with Verdania, in which the Verdanians were absolutely crushed. Canthus pursued Verdania right into their home system, where the Verdanians were given a very simple ultimatum: submit to the Republic or be leveled. After having their military power bombed into oblivion, Verdania reluctantly capitulated.

Since then, Verdania had harbored a genocidal grudge against Canthus. This is apparent by the eerie, cold silence whenever the subject is brought up with a Verdanian. There isn't a “true” Verdanian who aren't itching for a rematch against Canthus. Canthus has found themselves the villains of countless Verdanian movies and television shows. Canthus meets this grudge with its characteristic stoic attitude.

Verdania knows that the only route to independence is on the wild frontiers. If it can take as many colonies as it can, it can use those to build a fleet strong enough fleet to throw off the yolk of Republican oppression. To realize its ambitions, it will have to fight off powers with similar ideas. And if it can sweeten the pot by destroying Canthus, so much the better.

Faction Qualities

-- Brutal economic policies and sanctions it can level against other factions.

-- The best overall professional ground forces. There's no such thing as Verdanian "cannon fodder". They're expensive, well equipped mercenaries. Verdania also has access to an ultra-elite core of Incursion veterans.

-- Understandably, Unity does not trust Verdania. Verdania can't really count on Unity unless the crimes committed against Verdania are extremely egregious and the Verdanians have been keep their hands clean... and ask real nice. On the other hand, Unity is more than happy to violently apprehend Verdanian scum.

BONUS: In Game Portraits

These are some in-game character portraits I've been working on (I did these a few weeks ago, so I'm not overworking myself). They'll probably be replaced at some point. I did a female one but it was too stupid to show.

hehe, sorry about furthering the off-topicness. Maybe I should create a thread for tips about modding...

Anyway, your mod continues to look great! Keep up the great work.

Verdania has a great back-story, Will. Well done indeed my friend.

Thanks! I (was/am) going to set a novel in the Dark Republic universe before I decided to make a mod of it, so the universe is fairly well developed and thought out.

(OK, I got an Internship, so I'll have less time to work on this. However, I'm still steadily doing stuff, which is a good sign. I was especially stressed this week so my picture is especially bad. This would normally not pass the test, but I just didn't care)

[FACTION PROFILE]

The planet Canthus and the naval construction yard Ravi Indra III, from space. From the Republican Free Archives.

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Canthus

Of one mind... divided.

The image of planet Canthus has become associated with sinister mystery, a shadowy world barely lit by the light of its own star, evoking a dark gray-blue surface. The actual planet of Canthus is tidally locked with its star. It has trace oxygen, but one half of the planet is too cold to colonize and the other half too hot, so millions of Canthians live in a vast and haunting structure circling the planet. Those outside of Canthus call it the Ring, while Canthians don't call it anything. This mega structure sustains all life on Canthus and is one-of-a-kind. Orbiting silently around Canthus are twenty huge naval construction yards that build the most powerful, sleekest battleships in the Republic. Actually, the majority of the Canthian population live on battleships and space stations than on their own planet.

It's absolutely true what they say about Canthians. At best they are stoic, but even those who admire Canthus have to admit they are an insular people. They don't even talk to each other that much. They know enough humor and acknowledgments to not be rude, but these always come off as a little phony and are impossible to get close to. What they do behind closed doors is of great speculation. Cultic rituals, weird conspiracies, breeding programs, robot armies, and even psychic hiveminds are all theorized by conspiracy nuts around the Republic.

Canthus is even older than Verdania but had been extremely quiet and marginal for the first few centuries of its existence, quietly manufacturing naval vessels for the Republic. It surprised everyone when it defeated Verdania practically single-handedly in the Verdanian Rebellion, no one actually knows why they made the decision to intervene. But even then their own allies reported the Canthians as being “creepy”.

Actually, few know this, but the conspiracy theorists are right: all Canthians belong to a psychic hivemind. This isn't, however, due to some ancient alien relic or machine... Canthians have just been secretly breeding their planet to have more and more powerful psychics. The latent psychic energy among Canthians has created an empathetic network that carries emotion and communications to all other Canthians. Canthians are so used to the hivemind that it is now difficult to relate to non-Canthians that aren't a part of it.

Those ignorant of the nature of the hivemind believe that all individuality is consumed by the whole. When the hivemind began to arise, though, Canthians found that the hivemind simply made differences more apparent. Canthus appears to be monolithic and unified... actually, Canthus is full of debates and factions, the hivemind giving rise to a sort of “psychic democracy” in which the most powerful minds lead. However they make their decisions, once the issue is settled all Canthians stand behind the decision.

But however hard they argue, Canthus cannot make its mind about non-Canthians. Are the others inferiors or equals? Should they be allowed independence or do they need to be controlled? This is the greatest source of contention in Canthian society. While these philosophical questions remain unanswered Canthus will remain loyal to the Republic.

It is clear, however, that Verdania poses a clear and present danger to Canthus. A planet that ambitious and bloodthirsty cannot be sated. To survive, Canthus will need to follow Verdania to the furthest and darkest reaches of space and oppose their every effort... Verdania's destruction may be necessitated.

Unity itself doesn't trust Canthus. The fact that Canthus controls so much of the space fleet is frightening... a powerful world that sits silently in wait is more suspicious to Unity than a world like Verdania's openly aggressive and muscle-flexing foreign policy. Still, for now, Unity is just thankful it doesn't have to deal with Canthus right now, so anything involving Canthus is of low priority...

FACTION QUALITIES

-- Canthus is owed many favors from the Republic... but Canthus is by no means trusted. The Republic will be quick to the defense of Canthus... but also quick to condemn it.

-- Canthus's superior naval and space power ensures that units are well supported. Canthus's ground forces are small but elite... they rely on good communication rather than numbers.

-- Canthians are practically impossible to spy on and simultaneous really, really good at spying.

-- Canthus have a higher rate of high-powered psychics than other factions

-- Canthus has a significantly lower population growth rate and immigration.

Yesterday I was experimenting with Gimp and trying a few new techniques, and I came up with this. A good spy or saboteur portrait. What do you guys think?

He looks very normal. It'd be a good cover for a spy or saboteur, but might be hard to identify just by the picture ingame.

[GRAPHICS]

Started experimenting with modifying the medallion frames. This is what I came up with:

Nice simple "black marble on gold" piece... reminds me of some sort of civic duty I'm supposed to do. I've just noticed a tiny little speck at the bottom. Could be that I flubbed up a little. Feel free to use it in your own projects.

Another thing I want to experiment with is removing the two columns in the picture, perhaps replacing it with wires or something.

Here's what it looks like ingame:

Whatever the speck is, it doesn't appear to show up in-game.......... the medalliobn looks a little Steampunk to me, I was thinking of something more like this:

sort of a tactical HUD look (the symbols on the right were supposed to be a circuit diagram, but I was too lazy to make it look good). In fact, why bother with medallions at all, or keep to the traditional medallion shape?

Wow! Those are amazing!

Yeah, I'd prefer something like that. I was going for an "executive" look... black marble, gold, hardwood, etc. I don't think it came off that well. The top one is a little to "alien" for me, but the bottom one is good.

I really have three different artstyles for the UI I'm debating between:

1) Classic scifi; with clear plastic and numbers running down the screen and targeting reticules and that sort of thing. Info would display as computer prompts.

2) Executive; like you're a rich tasteful executive. Marble gold hardwood, as above. Info would display on excellent stationary.

3) Bunker; thick armored and camouflaged. Info would be given on tactical printouts.

Right now, the classic sci-fi would be the best as it's most generic and least distracting... I guess.

Could I use those? They aren't exactly what I'm looking for, but they're closer.

Why not give each race its own UI? Give each race a UI that fits their personality/traits. Based off of the backstories you've given so far, I'd say the Federation would be the rich executive style, Verdania would be all metal, dull gray, that sort of thing. Of course the title menu couldn't really be faction specific, so maybe that would be the "classic" sci-fi.

But this reminds me, I need to start coming up with ideas for the UI for my mod

I more wanted to modify them or splice them with stuff I've already got. The glassiness of the first is pretty awesome. But I'll work with what I've got for now.

[FLAVOR/GRAPHICS]

Technology & the Cartels in the colonies

In the labrynthine copyright laws of the Republic, research is a minefield of lawyers, royalties and contracts. Information is an extremely valuable commodity and thousands of corporations spend trillions on armies of lawyers to defend the technology they have the rights to. Lawyers... and mercenaries. These companies are known colloquially as the Cartels.

The good news is that almost every piece of technology can be licensed from the company that owns the rights. The bad news is the royalties. And the legal expenses. And the lawyers breathing down your neck, ensuring that copyright is not infringed. Then the aforementioned mercenaries, who go where the lawyers can't.

Thus, arises a bizarre phenomenon. Engineers could build cold fusion reactors but choose to instead build steam engines. New colonists utilize civilian arms or home-made black powder weapon. Computers may require vaccuum tubes. Luckily, sponsored colonists usually can field more advanced technology than this, but not much better than that of the 21st century.

Fortunately, there is a loophole that the Cartels have been trying to close for centuries. If the colonists can prove they've independently discovered a technology without the use of copyrighted material, then copyright infringement doesn't apply to them and them alone. This often becomes the cheaper alternative to buying the technology from the Cartels.

Thus, research in the colonies is sort of an ironic activity. Researchers aren't chosen for their expertise but for their ignorance in a subject. Instead of trying to find new things they are simply trying to rediscover the old. Often in the best research labs are also the best legal firms. In essence, research is weird. Even Canthians, who can theoretically bypass the entire legal process with their psychic communications, have to twiddle their thumbs and simply wait until an acceptable time has passed to announcing new discoveries for fear of arousing suspicion.

This isn't true with all research. Some research involves planet-specific ecology and political or social organization rather than hard-boiled technology. The Cartel has no interest in such areas. Cartels also don't care how their technology is used. Two backwater colonies firing nukes at each other is Unity's business... unless the nukes aren't paid for.

Across the Republic

From the hyperreal utopia of Nova Torus to Verdania's vast mechanical marvels, the Republic itself is a patchwork of technology. Worlds use cyberware and wetware and everything in between. One planet's technological innovation is another's old hat.

Past all the arguments about what kind of technology is better, it come down truly to fashion and need. Since the vast digital networks of the 21st century fell out of favor (except on Nova Torus and those in its sphere of influence) humanity has turned to a variety of technologies. Rainy or oceanic planets such as Aegea use waterproof plastic almost exclusively. Verdanians famously spurn digitalization in favor of "real things". Other colonies were founded to avoid technology completely and live as natural a life as possible.

Of course, Unity, who excuses itself from the Cartel's petty rules, uses whatever technology it wants to in order to further the interests of the Republic.