Status Report (June 12 - July 7) news - Luyten Civil War mod for FS2_Open Source

LCW made slow progress since the last news update (published on June 11). When you thought you could dedicate more time to modding, you realize it's quite the opposite. On the 29th, I passed my final exam at university, which relieved me from a lot of stress and gave me more free time. However, not only do you need time, you also need to have an internal drive to achieve your aims. The latter was present until this weekend, during which I finished FREDding one of the later missions for LCW and also made a mission for another project. This week, everything would have been given to FRED another LCW mission (mission 11) and polish up the other mission, but somehow I simply haven't made any progress with them.

So I decided I needed some break from FREDding (and maybe FreeSpace modding as well) and do something else. The next week will see no (or at most unremarkable) progress so I could regain my FREDding/FreeSpace drive. According to my plans, I should finish all the remaining six missions by the middle/end of September. That's nearly two months for six missions, which is not an impossible goal, assuming I get back in the swing of things and nothing unexpected happens. Then spend the next two or three months making everything as good as they can be. The "official" deadline is December, which I'll do my best to meet.

Now, details.

Missions

Mission 10 was built up from scratch to a well-polished mission over the course of three days. While I need to test it on difficulty levels other than Medium, I'm fairly certain that there are no bugs in it. I'm also fairly certain that these long hours of tireless FREDding are responsible for my needing some break this week. Well, if I can continue with this pace when I get back to LCW, I'll surely complete all missions by the end of September, then commence the less strenuous, but perhaps more time consuming, final testing phase.

There's a new mission on the agenda as well: the "new" mission 12; the "old" mission 12 is mission 13 now. I had a mission idea that I wanted to implement for LCW, and this is where it could be inserted. It also sets the stage for the last mission.

Here is a list of missions and their status:

• Mission 1: Mission 1 is in a really, really good shape. I don't expect to find anything wrong with it later. Mission length could be a bit longer, though.
• Mission 2: It's fine. Needs some balance refinement.
• Mission 3: The fighter-type (default) version is fine and ready to go. The bomber version needs to be made.
• Mission 4: The beginning of the mission may need some tweaks to make it more fun to play.
• Mission 5: I have some ships placed, but nothing else.
• Mission 6: Needs to be tested on all difficulty levels to make sure it plays out like it's supposed to.
• Mission 7: Not yet started.
• Mission 8: Everything is okay, apart from balancing. Currently the mission is self-play.
• Mission 9: Not yet started.
• Mission 10: You read about it.
• Mission 11: I have some ships placed, but nothing else.
• Mission 12: Not yet started.
• Mission 13: Not yet started.

Promotion

I was having some fun with GIMP, the "poor man's Photoshop," and made some effects. I wasn't aware they'd make it to the mod when I started them, but I'm satisfied with the outcome. The video that presents them had been uploaded already, so I'm sure some of you have seen it.

A proper trailer is on the way as well, but I can't predict when it'll be ready. It may be out next week, it may be out one week before release.