Overview:
Last December 2019, the first alpha of the mod was released. Over the last few months I have been working on the mod further and I think the time is coming to release update alpha 0.2 soon enough. There will be many different changes coming to the mod in the next update.
But a few things may change. Currently I am thinking that I will split the alpha 0.2 update into multiple parts so that you guys can get access to it faster. The first part of the alpha 0.2 update will feature new unit models, more new ground units for both the Empire and New Republic, and a few new maps. The 0.22 update will feature more more content that wasnt done by the first update and will even have a redone Pirate roster. More than likely the first of 0.2 updates will be released sometime near the end of June.
Now onto what you all are actually interested in, what exactly will the next update feature?
Overall update 0.2 will an expansion to the original release. More bugs will be ironed out as well.
Units Reworks:
Most of the vanilla infantry/hero units will feature better models, lots of new vehicles added. For Example the Empire will get a few more tank varients along with a jet trooper and the mech suit (as a Dark trooper replacement). Meanwhile the New Republic will get more infantry variants (such as elites, jet troopers, etc) along with a few new tanks, new troop transport, and some other goodies. The reason Im doing this is to give more variety to ground battles and not make them seem so repetitive and this will also give more battle strategy.
Additionally even the hostile enemies will get more variety; certain planets may contain Mortaxans or Daleks which will attack everything on sight. AST will help the Empire defend their planet while the Nova core will help the New Republic defend their planet. Other planets may get other new ground enemies. But ground hostiles being expanded isnt the only thing Im thinking of doing. Probably in the 0.22 update, the mod will also feature Space hostiles, ie hostile units which will attack and try to plunder any unit in sight. It wont be just pirates, but various giant space creatures as well in order to make space seem more alive and less stale!
While we are on this topic, of coarse new heros will be seen in the new update. From Kurumi to Ahsoka to Tohka to Maul to Reaper to mcuh more.
Mapping and Planets:
Of coarse the units arent the only thing that this mod is focused on. Planets and environments are another important aspect as they bring life to the mod universe. Since the mods first alpha release, a few more planets were added. Sadly in the first release alot of the new planets were using old vanilla maps. But this will finally be addressed in the 0.2 update. In this update, the new planets will finally get custom maps! For example as of today, the Yaga Minor (land and space) and RZ7-6113-23 feature brand new maps; the other new planets are still having their maps made. Certain vanilla planets such as Bespin also got their ground maps edited.
While we are on this subject of maps, another important part of bringing life to a map is props. In the vanilla game, there is a very limited selection of space props, and the ground props dont always fit the new planets. Thus I have added some new props as well. For example for space theres new props for planets, additional stations, ships, dyson spheres, and other stuff. For ground, custom props (such as clone wars era vehicles, various equipment, and even new buildings such as the Planetunebuildings I showed back in April 2019) have been added to make the planets look more alive as well.
Balancing, Battles, Skirmish, and Economics:
Balancing is one of the most important aspects of a game and mod. You need a balance between simplicity and difficulty for a great experience. As more units are added, more careful emphasis on balance must be placed.
I had also taken your feedback into account. One of the units there was complaints about being too powerful had been the MAAT and Thunderwing ground fighters due to them being air units with powerful anti armor lasers and missiles; thus for the next patch they will be toned down. As for other ground units, their costs will be adjusted for skirmish and galactic conquest. Additionally the ground units will feature some other changes, such as bigger tanks spawning pilot units when destroyed (such as a rebel pilot from the MAAT/T5B/AAC3; At-At pilot from the At-At, and TIE Pilot from the thundering and lancet).
As for space units, there are some changes I would like to make. The main one being to try and make the earlier ships not completely obsolete by tech era 5. The biggest change Im thinking of making is altering the HP stats of the hardpoints on the biggest ships such as the ISD3/MC85/Resurgent/MC90, and adjusting the fire-rates for their weapons (making it so that higher power weapons fire less rounds, while the weaker ones fire more); this change will require more testing, so it would probably come out in update 0.22 of the mod.
As for skirmish, the unit costs and level requirements will be adjusted to be more accurate compared to the units stats/abilities compared to the enemy units and other units available for that faction. This has more so to do with ground skirmish, but some changes will be done for space skirmish as well.
Now with that out of the way another important faction to take into account is the state of Galactic economics. Theres certain powerhouse planets (such as Coruscant and Muunilist) and many others who give less, with certain planets like Rz7 which shouldnt even provide credits due to their role. First things first, the credit acquired per planet will be adjusted. Other than that there will be a few new economic boosts; the first being trader ships, which will give a small boost to a planets income when in the planets space tab. Another thing is that certain planets will have a mining building variant similar to a bank (such as Muunilist) or Senators office/Galactic irs which will provide another economic boost. Additionally mining worlds (such as Polus, Mygeeto, Bespin, etc) will provide an option to "hire" the mining guild (by building a mining team), which in turn will boost credit production on those worlds even more. Not all options will be available on every planet. But this should make Galactic conquest a bit more interesting. As for galactic conquest itself, there will be a few more GCs to add in a future update, including some based off Infinities scenarios.
Pictures:
New Land map for Yaga Minor:
New Space map for Yaga Minor:
New Land map for Rz7:
Edited Space Map for Bespin:
Edited Land Map for Bespin:
Some of the new space props:
Some of the New hostiles (Daleks and Mortaxans):
Some Random mod screenshots:
Concluding thoughts:
So what are your thoughts on the upcoming update 0.2? Are you excited? Note that the first part of the update will become available most likely in June. The update will be available on Steam workshop and here.
