Greetings! Its Moff Warper of the Imperial Planetune system! Im back to continue modding and updating Imperial Dimension Neptunia.
I know many of you have noticed that I havent been here for a while and that the last update for IDN came out January 2021, which is over 2 years ago, which is a very long time for a mod. If you want more news about IDN you can skip the next Paragraph which describes the absence.
The abscence was due to many unforeseen circumstances I wasnt able to do modding (or even much gaming) for a long time. From varrious issues to getting a stable job to moving to a better state, alot happened in that time period, most of which im glad is resolved. But more importantly lets get back to Imperial Dimension Neptunia. Around late 2022/early 2023, the situations were stabilizing and I finally have free time and stability again to do various things in my free time. I began to mess around with 3dsmax again and remembering all the controls. One of the first things I did then was make a model of a custom Republic Heavy walker (last December) and finally rig a dedicated model for the Lastation Defense force trooper (last January), both of which were meant for my Clone Wars era mod Ultra Dimension Republic. From that I slowly got back into full mode working on EAW modding again.
Im still working on 3 mods which are Imperial Dimension Neptunia (IDN), Ultra Dimension Republic Clone Wars (UDR), Solar Worlds at War (SWAW), they just need time to get done.
So Whats the Status of IDN?
Do not worry, Imperial Dimension Neptunia isnt dead, its coming back with update 0.3! There will be quite alot of new additions, revisions, and changes in 0.3 compared to the previous 0.2 updates. This update im focusing more on ground battles than space battles. One type of new goodies has to do with new heros and units joining the battle for or against the Imperial Remnant, some of which are from SW Visions, others from Legends Novels, and others from the Neptunia universe! Examples of these new heros include Ocho, Jedi Leia, Drydon Vos, Affimojas, and Nepgear.
On the topic of land infantry and heroes, many of the existing ones have recieved upgrades to their apperences and rigs/animations! For example Tyber Zann now has a better "hd" model, while other units like Archers team have vastly improved animations. Other units will get some more cosmetic changes (ie new shock trooper model and varients, new field commander varients, etc).
But there is another thing im planning to do in regards to ground infantry and heroes for update 0.3; IDN is an anime mod which combines anime series like Neptunia with Star Wars Legends, so what better way than the fuse the 2 to use a similar style! I do plan on converting the ground infantry and heros to use the anime style! From Luke Skywalker to Han to Lando to Pelleaon to field commanders to rebel troopers, they will now use anime style heads instead of the live-action style ones! This is a change I had been contemplating for a long time as it feels weird having both live-action and anime style charecters alongside each other; I feel making most of the charecters use the anime style will make the mod more unique and help it stand out more as Neptunia is anime. It might not be all the characters that get the treatment this update, but many should.
On the space front, there will be some minor changes as I have plans to redo the whole space balance and roster in a future update as im not that happy with the current rosters powercreep. In the 0.3 update, a few space units got some cosmetic updates (such the Venator, Providence, TIE Defender, etc) whether its a new model or texture updates to make the spaceships look more unified together. The Sentinal lander did get fixed so it doesnt freeze up when starting off anymore, and the Lamda will use a nicer model now. Meanwhile theres a few other new landing craft varients that land to deploy units.
On the topics of planets and galaxies, a few of the current planets got some cosmetic updates to their ground maps. Meanwhile Planetune will finally be getting a new unique planetary map with its iconic city and tower! Im adding new props as well, as maybe some new models for the ground militia civilians and infantry. There will be some new hostile creatures on some planets as well!
Switching to the topic of balancing and difficulty, quite a few heros and ground units got their weapons and abilities adjusted for better balancing (looking at you Kurumi who was too strong, and Luke who now has working heal and almost perfect blaster deflection rate). But more importantly I have managed to improve the ai at least a little bit. The AI will no longer be a push over, its going to be smarter and stronger than in the previous versions of IDN. This is most evident in Skirmish mode where the AI is able to overwhelm you more easily, and now knows how to build the new heros and units! I still need to work on getting the AI to be smarter in Galactic Conquest mode.
In conclusion, IDN is still going strong and will feature a fun new update soon! My current plans are to patch up and expand Imperial Dimension Neptunia until i feel it is satisfactory enough for me to release as the next update. After that I plan on working on my Clone Wars Era mod Ultra Dimension Republic and try to get at least a demo of that released as well using it as a testbed for the changes to space im thinking for adding to IDN.
Previously on IDN An entire assault Fleet has been wiped out in a New Republic attack. The Remnant of the Empire is fracturing. We must defeat the traitors and then the rebellion. To restore the Empire we must advance where the omens of the gods and the crimes of our enemy summon us, the die is now cast, long live the empire!
Now time for a change list! Please note theres more content coming thats not mentioned on this list. These are just some of the new content and changes I specifically recall.
Unit Changes:
Rebel/New Republic:
- Jedi Leia is added
- Cara Dune will be joing Dyn Djarin
- Saturn (Neptunia) will be added
- Luke Skywalker gets a buff and will have better deflection rates and stronger jedi healing ability
` Han Solo will get new model and costumes based off Terrain, including an Indiana Jones skin
- Generic Praxium Jedi will be recruitable on Yavin and Coruscant
- Saw added. His rebels will be found on certain planets in the style of planetary militia and will assist Rebel players. Saws militia will be stronger than standard militias but will have a limited amount of units.
- 4Lom and Boba Fett will be recruitable as bounty hunter minor hero.
- Sabine recruitable on Mandalore as minor hero.
- Various adjustments to stats and rigs/animations
- Yoda will be removed as he doesnt fit the timeperiod. In a future update he will be replaced with Ewok Jedi Knight
- Rebel Sniper added
- New model for the Providence cruiser and a few other ships
Empire/Remnant:
- Queen (Date a Bullet) will be playable
- Nepgear has ground form added and will be recruitable on Planetune
- Ocho added
- Archers team got better rigs/animations. Tpol now properly looks like her Mirror Universe counterpart.
- Various adjustments to stats and rigs/animations
- At-St got updated cosmetic variants based on Terrain
- Neptune now has cosmetic different based on terrain
- Field Commander now has a Female varient on certain terrains
- New Shock Trooper model
- Imperial Royal Guard has new model and might spawn with certain heros as escort.
- Boba Fett will no longer be playable, Darth Vader might leave as well, and Palpatine might be locked to one specific GC.
- Space units got some cosmetic updates so they look more like theyre part of the same fleet.
Pirate Scum:
- Dyrdon Vos is joining
- Tyber Zann got an update to his model so he looks more HD
- Affimojas is joining
- Pirate Elite Shock Trooper is added. A squad of them will escort certain heros, and they will be buildable in gc and skirmish for the pirates where they'll serve as the pirate version of Red Shock troopers
- An Umbaran crime leader will be added
- Rogue Super Tactical Droid added
- Captain Jack Sparrow added
Other Changes:
- All the infantry heros and troopers who dont have their head covered by a helmet will slowly get anime style heads. Ill try to convert as much of them as possible for the 0.3 update, and then convert the rest in a future update.
- Ai is now smarter and stronger and not as dumb anymore. It now properly builds and uses the new units and heros in Skirmish.
- Ai is more aggressive
- Lots of new props for planet maps
- Planetune is getting an actual unique map now
- Tao (planet) will be added
- Civilians/militias will have new models
- All 3 factions got some balancing changes to their stats for their ground and space units
- New Hostile creatures
- Much More
- Im working on a new GC based off the Imperial Skirmishes of 17aby
Video Showing the Stronger AI In Skirmish:
Planetune city with some new heros and models:
From Left to Right:
Queen, Umbaran Crime Lord, Drydon Vos, Pirate Shock Trooper, Rogue Super Tactical Droid, Maho, Royal Guard, Saw Gerrera
Sneak Peak into the Anime Style Conversion for IDN Heroes and Infantry:
