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True-to-Life Ships
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Cheap-ass MOD by Matt_el_g, A.K.A. Matt Lever

E-mail: mattelgreato@hotmail.com

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Acknowledgements:
ME, all ME, and some encouraging words from some more experienced modders out there

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Introduction/Brief Description:

This is V1.1 of my Authentic Ships mod. It balances things out a whole lot more, and takes into consideration the traditional cliches assosiated with most ships from each race, as generally highlighted on TV.

This 'update', as there is no real complicated coding involved (its all in the balance of things) CAN run without the full V1.0 mod, Rescaled Ships & Stationsv1.0. However, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you install that first, as only a handfull of ship ODFs are modded here, and it really doesn't have the same play effect. Besides, it would be hugely unbalanced as you would have most of the original Federation ships, whereas nearly all the main Species 8472 and Borg ships are remodded here, so they would have an even greater advantage than usual.

Finally, I very kindly put it in .zip format; I've noticed that a lot of you pro modders out there are using .rar archiving, and that can pee people off who only have Winzip. I had to download Winrar on a 56k connection, dammit. So this file can be opened using any archiver.

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Installation Instructions:

OK, first off you'll want to backup all the files under
(Your drive letter, e.g. C)\:Program Files\Activision\Star Trek Armada II\odf
in subdirectories 'Ships' and 'Stations, coz these'll all get replaced, and if you had a wonky download, then you might be looking at a reinstall without the backups.

OK, once you've stowed them away safely, unzip this mod into a seperate directory, and copy all the files in the unzipped folder into the relevant folders. The files inside the zip are laid out in the right pathways, so you should be able to figure it out. If it asks to overwrite some files, don't worry, just make sure you've made back-ups and click 'yes'. If you still have probs, e-mail me at the address at the top of this read-me. If you've installed mods successfully before, you should have no problem with this, it doesn't require any mod packer or anything like that. Just some common sense.

Of course, I have checked the entire .zip for viruses before sending it off with a fully updated (as of 18/08/2002) version of Norton Antivirus 2002, so if you do find a virus in there, please don't look at me.


To use the mod:

Once you've copied and overwritten the relevant files successfully, the mod will just work... simple. Start up your game, and the ships will be updated when you enter a Quick Battle or Single Player game (still haven't tested Multiplayer yet).


Testbed:

This mod was made and successfully tested on the following system spec:

Clean Install Armada 2 V1.1
1Ghz AMD Athlon Thunderbird Processor
768MB PC100 SDRAM
64MB Geforce 2 MX400 graphics card
Soundblaser Audigy Soundcard
24GB 5400RPM Quantum Fireball Hard Drive
28X CD-Rom
Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer
Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro
(Told you I'd be thoughourgh ;))

It worked fine with no real slowdown at 1024x768 32bit resolution.

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Disclaimer:

He he, I know its not necessary, but it makes this read-me look good ;)

If this mod completely screws up your system, or contains a virus, its not my fault and I take absolutely no responsibility for it. You download at your own risk. I have tested all the files inside for viruses and stability and found them to be fine, if you don't blame a faulty download or something, not me.


THIS MOD IS NOT MADE, DISTRIBUTED, OR SUPPORTED BY Activision
TM & (C) INTERPLAY & PARAMOUNT PICTURES.

Copyright notices:

Star Trek, Armada 2, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next eneration, Star Trek: Voyager (and the various logo devices used in them) are copyright Paramount Pictures, as are the characters, related images, and sound from the productions.

This mod took me hours to make, not the coding, but the balancing of it. You can modify it for your own use by all means, but if you make a change to it that you intend to put up for download or just share with mates, I would like you to ask me first, and maybe show me what you've done so I can learn something...

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Ship Backgrounds/New Stats:

OK, the original mod was OK, I was quite pleased with it, but something was missing... something wasn't how it was supposed to be. Then it hit me. The two most original species in the entire Star Trek universe hadn't been modded much at all. A few additional weapons and hit points on both kinds of both cube, and less still on 8472. Hehe, now say the same.


Most major updates to the Borg:
Nearly every Borg ship in the game now has the ability to use a personal transwarp drive (off the Interceptor) and the ability to regenerate (off the Sphere). Coupled with their incredible resilience to attack, it makes them a deadly foe indeed. Several ships from other races (cept 8472 of course) will be needed to take one Borg vessel out. The weapons, I haven't gone overboard on, but shields and hull are incredibly strong, stronger than a Starbase. I might tone these down a bit in future versions if I get any complaints, but now it poses a real challenge to the enemy. Of course, Balance is always important, and now not only do cubes cost a hell of a lot of all resources, but they take at least a couple minutes to build each one. But they're well worth it;)
Finally, all cubes (standard, tactical, and both fusions) can assimilate a max of 20 weapons. This means, pretty much, that you could theoretically assimilate every special weapon you could ever want. Remember, this mod is mostly about sticking to the authenticities of the Star Trek universe, not game balance (though in fairness I have tried to keep things as equal as possible), so the Borg could, if they wanted to, do such a thing.

Most Major updates to Species 8472:

Both the Battleship and the Behemoth have 3 times the fire power that they did before. Basically its coz I just gave them 3 of their beams instead of just one. My intention was to make it look like it was just one beam, hence all 3 are on the same hard points rather than editing the weapon stats (I don't really wanna do that unless I have too) and it seems to work at close range, but the further away they get, the further apart the beams get. Go figure. Also, they are heavily shielded. The smaller ships are left pretty much the same as they were in the last mod, which was reletively unmodded aside from shield strength increase. Species 8472 can easily claim to be the most powerful race in the game, now. Of course, the usual balancing applies, e.g. longer build times, more costly.


Species brief Description:

Federation:
Focusing heavily on defence more than offence, Federation ships possess heavy shielding and armor. Their weapons, while not necessarily as numourous as some war-like species, can pack a heavy punch however, certainly the Sovereign class battleship. Federation vessels are good all-rounders, both in terms of performance and price/build times. Their prized vessel, one of the few pure 'battleships' the Federation fleet employs, is a marvel of shielding and weaponry technology. One of the most powerful vessels on the battlefield, its dual-fire quantum torpedo launchers and 4 heavy phaser banks make it a formidable foe, as does its regenerative shielding and ablative armor matrix (to get ablative armor, you simply give it more hitpoints, simple, no? OK, so its not armor, but it has a similar effect).

Klingon Empire:
The Klingons, being warlike, prefer to focus more on the offensive side of things. Most ships, even smaller vessels such as the B'Rel, feature powerful weapons, accurate, and numerous. The Neg'var, their most prized battleship, for example, features not only 4 heavy disrupter banks but 4 heavy torpedo launchers, which are capable of launching simultaneously. Most Klingon vessels are shielded sufficiently so they may last until their opponent has been blasted out of the stars. Expect varied costs and build-times, but mostly short and cheap.

Romulan Star Empire:
The majority of Romulan vessels rely on speed and stealth for victorious attacks. Heavily shielded, but not particularly well armored, their weapons do not tend to be as powerful as their opponents. But for this reason, they may create vast numbers of vessels as they are cheap and quick to produce. The exceptions to this rule, however are the Venetor class (even though this is the second most powerful ship of the Romulans, it is still lightly armed and shielded. This makes for cheaper and quicker building though) and the massive Warbird, or D'Deridix class vessel. The Warbird, the Romulan's most outstanding achievement, is a massive vessel, twice the size of the Federation's or Klingon's largest offering. Its sheer size and intimidating shape are enough to scare away opponents. Of course, if fear does not work, it is more than ready to defend itself, and boasting impressive shields, armor, weapons and life support systems, it has a right to be feared. As well as 4 Starbase-quality long range distrupter cannons, it features 4 heavy disrupter beams and 2 heavy plasma torpedoes. However, these vessels are EXTREMELY costly and tkae nearly 3 minutes to construct.

Cardassian Union:
Ravaged by many wars and civil up-heavals, the Cardassian Union has improved its ships reletively little over the years. The aging Galor class is still in service, with only minor improvements, and the second-rate Keldon class vessel matches only with lower-powered battlecruisers of fellow species. Its attack vessels are an even more sorry array, with only perhaps the Brinok class presenting a challenge for its peers. While being lightly shielded, armored and armed when compared to their enemies, this does give them a sizable advantage: cost. The Cardassian Union is famous for producing vast numbers of ships in a reletively short space of time, even during economic hardship. Their vessels are not particularly powerful or large, therefore they cost significantly less to construct both in terms of time and resources. In this respect they do not need particularly powerful shields, as they outnumber the enemy and spread their fire.

The Borg:
Feared by all species, even secretly the Klingons, the Borg control an enourmous amount of territory, and have assimilated millions of species from around the galaxy, in their search for perfection. Thus their vessels, while bland, poccess the most advanced technologies of all. All combat-ready vessesls have the ability to activate transwarp drive, which is not only so fast that it takes only a heartbeat to travel from one end of a sector to another, but undetectable until they emerge. Also, the Borg are able to link their thoughts and focus on one goal; the reperation of their ship. This leads to advanced, swift, repairs, though only until their energy reserves have drained. The tactical cube, their most advanced vessel of all, is huge, virtually indestructable, and armed to the teeth. The Borgs technology and firepower doesn't come cheap, however, it takes significant time and resources for most Borg vessels to be produced, meaning reletively few will be seen on the battlefield.

Species 8472:
Species 8472, a Borg designation that is used by Starfleet for want of a better name, live in a parallel universe known as 'fluidic space'. Their first encounter with species from this universe was with the Borg, who tried assimilating them. Thus, they are hostile to any creature from this universe. They employ advanced biological ships and stations, which can regenerate themselves quickly if damaged. Their bio-pulse beams are incredibly powerful, and can even devastate the Borg. The battleship, the most commonly used bioship and the most powerful, employs powerful shielding and 3 bio-pulse beams. Beware of it. This species is incredibly hostile and powerful. Any offensives should utilise huge numbers of powerful ships, possibly joint offensives from allies to vary the weapons used against them. The Borg themselves said that 'They are highly resistant'.