The A2 Fighter Project Part I - The Romulan Star Empire
by thunderfoot006

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) Credits - Hey, Y'all? Credits should go at the top of the ReadMe. This way everyone knows whom to blame.
2) A ReadMe - I don't know why we even bother. No one reads these things. Especially the warnings and cautions.
3) ReadMes from the original mods - All Y'all know by now all I can do is tweak other people's work, right? Never had an original mod idea in my life. Just keep getting lucky, lol.
4) Installation instructions - If you place this mod into your game and it doesn't work, try again. Only this time read the intructions BEFORE you place this mod into your game.
5) All the files and folders needed to place this mod into your game.

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CREDITS

Gene Roddenberry - For giving us all such a cool place to play
You! - Yes, You! For D/Ling this.
|AXiN| - for the Romulan Fighter mod and thoughtfully allowing others to take his work and mangle it.
marianoDT and Mishkako - for the Scorpion and thoughtfully allowing others to take their work and mangle it.
Chiletrek - For good advice and being an excellent modding role model. This is because he is always an excellent human being before he is anything else.
The crew of StarBase 34 - For putting up with crazy me and my crazy ideas.
Tain_Ebaran - Original creator of the Plasma Torpedo Mod. A modified version of this is included herein for the Scorpion.

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INTRODUCTION

Hello, and thank you for downloading this. Recently, I've become obsessed with making fighters work (sort of) in Star Trek:Armada II. I am unsure as to why. I just know one rainy Saturday morning, I woke up and sat down at my laptop and all the concepts just fell out onto the keyboard. I did draw some inspiration from all the other fighter mods currently available. I do not consider this to be anything other than the first installment of what I've just decided to call...The A2 Fighter Project.

This is the first installment. Why release Romulans first? Because the Rommies deserve to be first at something other than being a target. Because all of the Starfleet fighters I've already done are part of StarBase 34's Compilation Mod. These will be released as a stand alone after that most excellent piece of work comes out. Because Dan1025 caught the fighter bug from me and has pretty much run wild designing really good Cardassian fighters lately.

This mod gives the Romulan Star Empire two fighters which are built by the Romulan starbase. They are balanced and adjusted to my personal install. This means they may not work as well in yours. The Interceptor is intended as a defensive weapon and the Scorpion as a fighter bomber. They work well as an adjunct to the fleet, and coupled with a small fast ship such as the P Veer class or the Shrike class can cause serious damage if ignored or discounted. Both of these are designed to work with A2PP X installed since that is how they were created. I have included the appropriate physics files for people who do not have/use A2PP X. The A2PPrfighter***.odfs inscluded herein are new and not part of the original A2PP X release. I wanted the Interceptor to move slightly differently from the other fighters I have in game already. The Scorpion comes with a modified version or the Romulan Plasma Torpedo I included in A2PP X, which is based upon Tain_Ebaran's Plasma Torpedo mod.

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MISSION STATEMENT

The A2 Fighter Project is intended to give Star Trek: Armada II fighter combat capabilities within the limits imposed by the game. Since combat in Armada II is structured around fleets of capital ships firing upon each other en masse, fighters do not have the full capabilities they do in first person shooter or flight simulation games. Instead, fighters are intended to be very long ranged artillery delivery systems with limited self defence capabilities. Fighters are a means to conduct artillery raids upon enemy ships and stations, and a cost effective way to successfuly conduct rear area security operations. Due to limits imposed upon Star Trek:Armada II by: 1) the EULA, 2) the game developers, and 3) the lack of an available software development kit, true fighter vs. fighter combat is not currently possible.

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AI ISSUES

Currently, I have not adjusted the build lists to allow the AI to build fighters because I cannot get it to build anything else but fighters since they are so inexpensive compared to the stock ships. Built in large quantities (64+) they can devastate nearly anything, upto and including a Tactical Fusion Cube. This has caused cause some balance issues. Whenever I solve this problem, I will be releasing new build lists to give the AI fighter capabilities. Since this will be an ongoing project and will be given updates and improvements as I have done with the A2 Physics Project, I should come up with a suitable solution and as soon as I have enough new material, I will release the new build lists inside it.

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PATCH PROJECT 1.2.5

The A2 Fighter Project currently does not have any known compatibility issues with Patch Project 1.2.5. This is not by intent. I have no plans to alter any part of the A2 Fighter Project to make it compatible with PP1.2.5, or whatever followon to 1.2.5 the FleetOps Team releases, should such compatibility cease at a future date. PP1.2.5 is stable and a very popular mod. As is FleetOps. I prefer to stay closer to Stock A2 patched to v1.1 since I think this is still the version played most often by the most people. Anything I have done being compatible was and is pure luck because I do not design my mods with FleetOps in mind, as I am sure the FleetOps Team did not design FleetOps with A2PP X in mind. If you desire to find out if future editions and updates to the A2 Fighter Project work with PP 1.2.5, you will have to do so on your own. I will not be responsible for any damage to your computer, application or disc if they are not and you install them together.

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A QUESTION OF BALANCE

I have resigned myself to the fact "balance" as a concept cannot be applied to PC games in general and Armada II mods in particular. To most people, "balance" has come to mean, "My favorite faction gets the biggest ships and the hardest hitting weapons and all the other factions are only in the game to provide me with lots of targets." This sounds judgmental, but I see little evidence to support a different view. If you are expecting your favorite faction to have it all their own way, all the time, you should press the DEL key right now.

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PURISTS, PLEASE NOTE:

The game engine of A2 is pretty antiquated and barely up to the task of depicting space combat at all. I am not trying to exactly recreate Red Squadron's Death Star trench run, rather I am adding in something which logically should have been there from the start in some manner or another.

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POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

This mod has been tested only within the SP Campaign and Instant Action vs. the 'puter. I do not know if it will work in online Multiplayer. As always, I accept no responsibility for your computer, disc, or application. This file was checked for viruses and completeness before upload. If it does not work correctly the first time, please go back and read the directions. Then, install the mod again AFTER you read the directions.

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RELEASE INFO:

Permission is hearby granted to use any part of, or all of this, in any mod you intend for public release. That is correct. I am giving permission for you to use this in your mod before you ask for it.

If you do attempt to pass this off as your own work, well, that is fine by me. After all, you and I will always know the real truth, will we not?

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CONTACT:

Any doubts, questions or suggestions, you can E-mail or PM me from here.
All of the people mentioned by name herein are blameless for anything which may be wrong with this mod. All the mistakes are mine alone.
I am not responsible for any type of damage to your computer, disc, or application from misuse of this mod.

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COPYRIGHT AND DISTRIBUTION PERMISSIONS

THIS PATCH IS NOT MADE, DISTRIBUTED, OR SUPPORTED BY ACTIVISION TM & (C) ACTIVISION & PARAMOUNT PICTURES.
Copyright notices: Star Trek, Star Trek Armada II, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, 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.