Fleet Ops Roots 3.1 file

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Fleet Operations: Roots v3.1

Stand Alone Total Conversion mod of Fleet Operations 3.2.7 and

Star Trek Armada II (credits for both can be found in the Credits folder)

Created by JanB (2023)

Contents:

1. Introduction

2. Installation Instructions

3. Global Features

4. Detailed Features

5. Faction Overview

6. Hotkeys

7. Credits

1. Introduction

Fleet Operations: Roots is a total conversion of the Fleet Operations project,

itself a mod of the popular space-based RTS game Star Trek Armada II, which

in turn was the successor to Star Trek Armada.

To celebrate the re-release of Star Trek Armada II on GOG.com, version 3.1 of

this mod brings many fixes and improvements. The mod includes 3 fully original

single player campaigns with a total of 19 missions. You get to play as, and

against, every one of the 6 factions in the game. For several missions you

get to choose the faction you play as.

Roots aims to keep most of what made Fleet Operations and Star Trek Armada II

great while also returning a bit of the atmosphere of Star Trek Armada.

A rock-paper-scissors system, combined with a smaller number of ship classes and

build limits on capital ships make each ship useful, even during the late game.

This mod also puts the Cardassians back into the game as a fully playable faction

where Fleet Ops left them out.

This mod does not require a previous installation of Fleet Ops,

however it does require a valid Star Trek Armada II executable file (armada2.exe)

from either GOG.com or the old disc version.

Enjoy,

JanB

2. Installation Instructions

- You do not need to install Roots on top of an existing Fleet Ops or Star Trek Armada II installation, but you can choose to install it as a mod within an existing Fleet Ops installation.

- Run the install exe and choose between a standalone installation or installation as a mod within an existing Fleet Ops installation. If you choose the latter option the installer will search for the installation directory of the last known Fleet Ops installation on your system.

- You will need a valid Armada II executable (armada2.exe) file. You can either use one from the old disc version, or use the Armada2.exe from a copy bought on GOG.com. For the GOG.com version navigate to the folder where the GOG launcher installed Armada II, typically this will be:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Star Trek Armada II"

then copy the file "Armada2.exe" to another location, for example your desktop,

and rename it to "Armada2.ldl". You will get a warning that you're about to

change the file extension, click "Yes" to continue. Then paste the file into

the Roots installation folder, typically this will be:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Fleet Ops Roots\Data"

make sure not to paste directly into the "Fleet Ops Roots" folder, but into the underlying "\Data" folder.

- Note: if you install Roots as a mod within an existing Fleet Ops installation you may not have to carry out the above step, but it is advised to do so if you have not done so before, since Roots consumes more memory than a vanilla Fleet Ops installation and may run into texture glitches (objects having white surfaces) if the above step is not carried out. Naturally the folder would have a different names, for example:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Fleet Ops\Data"

and in that case you will then also have to copy the 275kb “Armada2.exe” file to the above directory, from the mods folder, which might be:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Fleet Ops\Data\Mods\Fleet Ops Roots"

- Run the game from the desktop icon and set graphical, sound and gameplay

settings under the Options menu.

Note: I scaled up the font size because the original size became tiny at

resolutions above 1920x1080 (akak 1080p, aka HD). If you're playing on a lower

resolution, or just prefer the aesthetic of the original smaller font, then

you can get it back in one step. Open the file "FontFinal4_18.spr" in the

\Data\Sprites folder and change the line "@include FontFinal4_17.spr" to

"@include FontFinal4_16.spr". This does not affect multiplayer compatibility.

3. Global Features

- New rock-paper-scissors balance system between ship types and armed

stations, based on types rather than weapon range.

- Fully original single player campaigns, complete with cutscenes.

- A combat system where even small, early-game, ships stay relevant.

- Cuts the number of ship and station classes per faction down to improve

oversight and eliminates units that served no real purpose.

- Much improved AI opponents that you'll struggle to survive against on

the highest difficulty setting.

- Most combat ships and stations have secondary weapon systems that

target additional enemies so battles look less like entire fleets ganging up

on individual ships.

- A fully functional Cardassian faction.

- A special ability cycle system to allow more control over support ships with

multiple special abilities.

- Fewer ships classes and stations per faction for increased battlefield

control and oversight.

- Graphical updates to most ships, stations, effects, and background objects.

- Interface improvements to allow more (efficient) control.

- Polished: no mountain of missing buttons/wireframes/

voice commands/tooltips, textures, etc...

- Windows 10/11 support, and HD-gameplay (menus that are not in-game are

limited to 800x600, this is a hard limitation of the original game engine).

- Avatars and ship ranks have been removed to improve oversight, because the

AI could not handle them properly anyway (such as with build limits) and

because they had little impact on gameplay in any case. However there is a

limited avatar system in some single player missions where you get to choose

the race you play the mission with.

- A dim visual ring effect surrounds sensor platforms (but not scouts)

so players with cloaked ships can see the edge of the detection effect

(replacing the effect_progscan.tga texture with the effect_progscan_2.tga

texture adds this same visual effect to scouts and this replacement has no

effect on multiplayer compatibility, so it's purely a personal choice).

4. Detailed Features

- Each faction has 8 combat ship classes (except for the Dominion who lack a

Destroyer), namely a Scout, Destroyer, Cruiser, Artillery ship, Berserker,

Support ship, Battleship and Dreadnought.

- Scouts are extra fast, have cloak detection and a large sensor range, but they

are quite vulnerable, even to Destroyers.

- Destroyers are cheap, light warships that are especially useful against Scouts,

Artillery ships, and Berserkers, but weak against Battleships and Dreadnoughts.

- Cruisers are balanced medium warships, neither weak nor strong aganst any

particular targets, but cheaper than Support ships and Berserkers (also harder

to capture than Berserkers), buildable by basic shipyards, and with numbers still

a serious threat.

- Artillery ships excel against base defenses, but are generally quite powerful

against any non-moving target, even Dreadnoughts, but they are glass cannons

that are even vulnerable to Destroyers, and they need a Scout's sensor range to

fire from outside the firing range of base defenses.

- Berserkers are derived from Cruisers. They are specialized big-target hunters

that are cost-effective against Battleships, Dreadnoughts, Support ships and

base defenses. Compared to Cruisers they are more expensive, have smaller crews,

and require an advanced shipyard. They are not cost-effective against

Destroyers.

- Support ships are also derived from Cruisers. They are more expensive but

come with special weapons, including the Fleet ECM Optimizer that does not have

to be researched and partially protects an entire surrounding fleet (or base

defenses) from enemy weapons fire. They are vulnerable to Berserkers.

- Battleships are heavy, expensive warships. Only 10 can be fielded at any one

time. They are especially useful against base defenses and Destroyers, however

they are somewhat vulnerable to Berserkers.

- Dreadnoughts are the most powerful, most expensive warships. Depending on the

faction 1, 2, or 3 can be fielded at any one time. They are essentially

beefed-up Battleships but also have a special weapon that boosts the damage

output of all nearby allied ships and stations by 20%. They are somewhat

vulnerable to Berserkers.

- Starbases and a single type of defense platform are the only armed stations

(base defenses) in the game. However Starbases are incredibly powerful, they

can easily take on a Dreadnought 1-on-1 (except the Borg Cube) and both they

and defense platforms have slightly longer firing ranges than any ships,

except Artillery ships.

- Scouts and sensor platforms can continously detect nearby cloaked ships,

although scouts (except the Romulan scout) require a technology to be

researched first, and for scouts the detection range is smaller than their

normal sensor range.

- All conventional weapons have a 100% hitchance unless affected by defensive

special weapons.

- The maximum zoom out level has been increased by 20%.

- Large stations now have smaller footprints (but shipbuilding stations still

have enough room to function) so they can be placed closer together.

- An example of the rock-paper-scissors system is the following: the Defiant

class is the Federation's Berserker type ship, which does 50% more damage to,

and take 50% less damage from, large targets such as Battleship type ships and

Stations, but do 50% less damage to, and take 50% more damage from, Destroyer

type ships, which in turn are weak against Battleships and Stations.

- The shields of all ships and stations have 3 times as many hitpoints as their

hulls. For example, a Starbase has 11200 hitpoints of which 8400 are shield

hitpoints and 2800 are hull hitpoints.

- All ships and stations need 360 seconds to fully repair their hulls and 240

seconds to fully recharge their shields. Going back to the Starbase example:

it recharges 30 shield hipoints per second. For comparison, a typical Scout

only does 11 damage per second (combined DPS of all its weapons) so it can

never deplete a Starbase's shields on its own, but a typical Battleship, with

a DPS of 58, could.

5. Faction Overview

The Federation is a generalist faction, though slightly prone to defense, but

they otherwise rely on numbers for offensive power.

- Federation stations and upgrade research are cheaper.

- Can warp in additional ships for free, including Cruisers and Support ships,

at their strategic station (Starfleet Command).

- The Starfleet Command station slowly generates resources.

- Fleet ECM deflects 30% instead of 20% of incoming fire and support ships have

20% more special energy than other support ships.

- Starbases can slowly recharge shields of nearby allies.

- Can maintain 3 Sovereign Class dreadnoughts.

The Klingons are a very offensively -minded faction that also excels at raiding.

- All Klingon combat ships can cloak (though not as efficiently as Romulan

ships) and have 10% more firepower (DPS) and 10% fewer hitpoints than comparable

ships of other factions.

- Klingon scouts can slow down enemy ships trying to escape, players also start

with two scouts instead of one.

- Destroyers are just as fast as scouts.

- The special weapon of the strategic station (MoQbara Station) takes four

minutes to recharge instead of five.

- The support ship has the devastating Ion Storm special weapon to break through

defensive lines.

- Defense platforms are more expensive.

- Shield upgrades are more expensive, weapon upgrades are cheaper.

- Klingon non-combat ships have light weapons and in groups can defend themselves

against scouts and destroyers, but should they be destroyed half their resource

cost is recovered for the player.

- The MoQbara station's special weapon can increase the firing rate of all allies

by 25% for 30 seconds.

- Can maintain 3 Negh'var Class dreadnoughts.

The Romulans rely on surprise, ambushes and special weaponry. They are the most

difficult faction to master, perfect for players who are good at micro and

like a challenge.

- All Romulan ships can cloak, and very quickly as well. Romulan freighters can

mine resources while cloaked, and construction ships can build while cloaked.

- Romulan artillery ships can fire while cloaked. Romulan cruisers can drop mines

while cloaked.

- Romulan combat ships fire more quickly during the first salvo of an engagement.

- Romulans do not have to buy the Tachyon Detection Grid upgrade, their scouts

and sensor platforms can always detect cloaked ships.

- The Romulan strategic station (Strategy Center) can disable the weapons of a

randomly selected 25% of enemy ships and stations for 30 seconds. At the same

time it will steal a modest amount of resources from a random enemy team.

- Can maintain 2 Invictus Class dreadnoughts.

The Cardassians are survivalists and a flexible faction that can quickly switch

between offense and defense.

- The Cardassians use several classes of unmanned ships which are

immune to capture or assimilation.

- Non-combat ships have the Harden ability which protects temporarily protects

them against raiders, but does slow down their engine speed.

- Berserkers use expendable drones to distract enemies.

- The battleship can transform into a defense platform, and vice versa.

- Keldon Class cruisers can morph into an Emergency Mining Center. They lose

their weapons in the process but can now process resources from nearby mining

freighters at a reduced speed. They can transform back into a cruiser as well.

- Fleet ECM deflects 30% instead of 20% of incoming fire and support ships have

20% more special energy than other support ships.

- Starbases can slowly recharge shields of nearby allies.

- The Cardassian strategic station (Missile Beacon) can warp in a Pinpoint

Missile. This missile can ram itself into a target and cause enough damage

within a small radius to destroy a mining station, shipyard, or several

defense platforms.

- Can maintain 3 Hutet Class dreadnoughts.

The Dominion is a rush/spam-focused faction that dominates the early game with

scouts that can ram larger targets and can be mass-produced very quickly.

- Scouts (Jem'Hadar Attackship) have the ramming ability, which can severely

damage a cruiser. I groups they can take down large targets.

- When a scout is destroyed 50% of its resource cost is recovered for the

player.

- Scouts can be built from advanced shipyards. Scouts can, optionally, be

produced more quickly for an additional resource cost.

- The Dominion strategic station (Command Facility) can warp in a squadron of

10 scouts for free.

- The Dominion does not have a destroyer-type ship.

- Construction ships can transform into mining freighters, and vice versa.

- Can maintain 2 Jem'Hadar Dreadnoughts.

The Borg are a defensive faction that excel at slowly turtling their way

towards late game domination.

- All Borg ships have very large crew complements, making them essentially

uncapturable.

- Fleet ECM deflects 30% instead of 20% of incoming fire and support ships have

20% more special energy than other support ships.

- Starbases can slowly recharge shields of nearby allies.

- Upgrade research is cheaper.

The Borg strategic station (Transmission Node) can greatly enhance the

regeneration speed of all allied ships and stations for 30 seconds.

- The Transmission Node station slowly generates resources.

- Defense platforms are cheaper.

- Construction ships, sensor platforms, and mining stations can slowly recharge

shields of nearby allies.

- All Borg combat ships are built from a single type of shipyard, but the

ships have to be unlocked through an upgrade at a starbase that costs the same

as two advanced shipyards of other factions.

The Borg Sphere, Cube, and starbase have Holding Beams that can hold an enemy

ship in place and slowly capture it.

- Can maintain 1 Cube as a powerful super dreadnought.

6. Hotkeys

- Pausing the game: "Pause"

- In-game menu: "Escape"

- Saving the game: "Ctrl+S"

- Skip cutscene: "Spacebar"

- Cinematic view (in and out of): "Caps Lock"

- Map Editor Mode: "Ctrl+E"

- Attack Location/Attack-Move: "A"

- Stop Action: "S"

- Repair/Recrew: "R"

- Set waypoints for a ship: hold "Tab" while right clicking on the desired

waypoint locations, relase the tab key and the selected unit(s) will start moving

- Create Group: "Ctrl+number" (number can be 0-9 from top row of keyboard)

- Assign to existing group: "Ctrl+Shift+number"

- Set rally point for a shipyard: "P"

- Changing alert status: numbers 7, 8, 9 (from the numpad)

- Changing movement autonomy: numbers 4, 5, 6 (from the numpad)

- Changing special weapon autonomy: numbers 1, 2, 3 (from the numpad)

- Select all ships of the same class: "double left-click"

- Transport: "T"

- Explore: "E"

- Search & Destroy: "K"

- Cloak/decloak: "C"

- Building Something/using special weapons: F1 through F12

7. Credits

Credits for Fleet Operations and Star Trek Armada II can be found in the Credits

folder.

YOU WILL NOT ATTEMPT TO SELL ANY PART OF THIS MOD. You have my (JanB) permission

to use this mod for your own mods as you see fit, all I ask for is to be

included in the credits, but other modders mentioned in the credits may want you

to contact them before using their work.

Anything that is not credited either below or in the Credits folder may be

assumed to have been made by me (JanB) and can be reused in mods without asking

for my permission, so long as I am credited.

Credits for the direct creation of this mod are below:

Special thanks to Rifraf who helped me with the AI modding.

Special thanks Megadroid for (re-)writing the mission scripting API, without which

I could not have made any of the single player missions

The Federation and Dominion campaign images are from Picard456's excellent

"Dominion War" mod

The voiceovers for the single player missions were created using Azure's

Text-to-Speech functionality

Credits for the models I added that were not already in Fleet Operations or

Star Trek Armada 2:

Drayzon: base textures for retexture of the stock Dominion and Federation faction

ships and stations, many effect textures such as the mining beams, holding beams,

wormhole, and torpedo effects

The Armada 3 team: explosion textures, Cardassian Defense Platform, textures for

the Klingon Freighter, Construction Ship, B'rel, K'vort, Fek'lhr, K'vek, and Qeh'ral

The Starfleet Command 3 team: Invictus Class model (Scimitar)

Jetfreak: Nebula Class

Aad Moerman: Cardassian stations, Hutet Class, Hideki Class, Cardassian Construction

Ship, Cardassian Freighter, Spacedock, Premonition CLass, models of the Klingon

Freighter, Construction Ship, Fek'lhr, and K'vek, Cardassian Construction Ship,

Berserker, Support Ship, Artillery Ship

9 of 9: Defiant Class, Jem'Hadar Attackship, Galor Class, Keldon Class

LC Amaral: Cheyenne Class, D'deridex Class, Romulan Destroyer (Dtype),

Serkas Class (Raptor), Ambassador Class, New Orleans Class, Intrepid Class

Rick Knox (P81): Norway Class, Akira CLass model, Steamrunner Class

Smiley: Jem'Hadar Warship, Dreadnought, Berserker and Cruiser

Redragon: Norexan Class, Breen Warship, Breen Bomber

Darkdrone: Borg Probe, Negh'var, Vor'cha retexture

Queball: Saber Class

SNS (Scotchy): Galaxy Class, Akira Class textures

Captain Russell & Chronocidal Guy: Sovereign Class

WileyCoyote: Excelsior Class, Centaur Class

Wrath of Achilles: retexture of Klingon Starbase

Zorg: Hideki, Dreadnought (Pinpoint) Missile