==================== STARSHATTER ==================== ACTION Starshatter is a 3D action-simulation game in a space combat setting. The player will control a space ship of one type or another, and attempt to defeat various enemy forces composed of small, medium and large space ships, space stations, and ground- based resources. The game is designed as a series of combat missions in which the goal is to destroy an enemy resource, secure an enemy position, or defend a friendly resource from an enemy attack. Unlike most space combat sims, Starshatter missions are fought within the context of a large dynamic military operation. In the attack type of mission, victory is achieved by destroying the resource(s) and escaping to safety. In the secure and defend types of missions, victory is achieved by preventing the destruction of the resource while simultaneously destroying the enemy or forcing the enemy to retire. In any mission, achieving a partial victory is a possibility. Individual mission designs will be characterized by: 1) the locale, including various space bodies such as stars, planets, planetoids, asteroid fields, space stations, nebulae, terrain, cities, and so forth 2) the composition and placement of enemy forces 3) the composition and placement of friendly or neutral forces, if any 4) the objectives / resources / victory conditions for each force element RELEVANT TECHNOLOGY: Space ships and ground units are each endowed with a group of resources that they use in battle. These resources fall into eight different categories: Ship System List: 1. Vital (Hull/Stabilizer/Core/Life Support) 2. Econ (power management) 3. Conventional Drive 4. Hyperdrive (optional) 5. Shields 6. Weapons 7. Flight Ops (optional) 8.* Systems (computer) a.Communications b.Sensors c.GNC d.Tactical (target tracking) Large space ships are capable of supralight travel by means of "hyperdrive," which is similar to the same concepts used in Star Wars and Babylon 5. Smaller ships (fighters, attack) are not capable of long distance travel using hyperdrive, and must be carried to and from missions by a larger ship (a destroyer or cruiser). All combat will occur at sublight velocities using conventional plasma projection or fusion drive. However, damage to the hyperdrive may effect the outcome of a mission (e.g. by delaying a safe escape). Ships and ground targets may employ various types of weapons, both matter and radiant energy based. From the AI's point of view, all weapons are of one of three different types: guided, unguided, or regional. Guided weapons include their own AI to direct their flight path to a target. Unguided weapons simply follow the straight line course set for them at launch time. Regional weapons inflict damage on any resources that happen to occupy the same volume of space as the weapon during its deployment. Any single ship or ground target may employ several fire control AI systems to manage multiple beam weapons and missile launchers. Ships and ground targets may employ defensive screens or shields. These shields are invisible barriers that prevent the transmission of both matter and radiant energy weapons. Shields (actually, shield generators) are degraded by the process of deflecting weapons and will eventually burn out, leaving the ship open to attack. Larger ships will employ multiple shield generators to screen various parts of the ship. In addition, larger ships can mount more robust shield technology, requiring heavier weapons to penetrate. Laser/Particle Beam cannon types: * Alpha * Gamma * Delta * Omega Explosive Missile weapon types: * Pyrotechnic * Thermonuclear * Antimatter * Varion (Torpedo) In addition to basic laser and explosive missile types of weapons, Starshatter features several advanced weapon types: * Cruise Missiles (very long range guided munition) * Bomb-pumped Laser Warheads * CIWS Laser Turrets * Plasma Cannon (very high power energy weapon) * Fusion Burst (ultra high power energy weapon) * Graviton Pulse (goes through all shields) Whenever any ship system takes damage, the capabilities of the ship in that area are temporarily or permanently downgraded. Most systems are capable of limited self- repair. Safe bases will be provided for full repair both during and between missions. Although there will be no powerups just lying around, there will be both friendly and enemy supply ships on each mission. Small ships can resupply themselves at any time by docking with a friendly supply depot or ship. While ships are grouped into the broad categories of "large," "medium," and "small", there are several distinct classes within those categories. Ships in each class will have typical size parameters as follows: CLASS LENGTH (m) CREW ----------- ----------- ------- Fighter 10-20 1 Small Attack 25-50 2-3 Destroyer 200+ Medium Cruiser 400+ Battleship 800+ Large Carrier 1000+ Station unlimited As the class names indicate, small ships are analogous to modern combat aircraft, while medium and large ships are analogous to modern naval surface warships. Medium and large ships are sometimes referred to as "Starships" because they are capable of interstellar travel. Medium ships may be outfitted with towing rigs. Large ships may be outfitted with flight decks. Both of these can be used to capture a ship. Flight decks can also be used to repair and re-supply smaller ships. Ships may be organized into battle groups that are led by a "flagship." The flagship is responsible for the general direction of the other ships in the battle group. This includes such things as setting the overall state of readiness, prioritizing targets, and deciding to pursue or retire. ==================== STARSHATTER ==================== TACTICS Aside: I really want to avoid the typical "furball" (as seen in XvT, WCn, etc.) as much as possible. One thing I've always liked about DOOM style games is the measured pace of the action. During the course of a single level, the player faces a variety of enemies and situations in small packets, controlled by the level architecture. I would like to mimic this in Starshatter somehow, but the "open- ness" of the space setting makes it difficult. Some ideas: Missions will be sliced up into sections by distance and obstacles. So there might be a group of sentry ships to defeat as you enter the playfield, followed by a short flight to the next enemy force package. The enemy will be somewhat slow to react to the player's presence. Per- haps enemy ships will need to stick close by other resources on guard duty or some such. A challenge: Unlike DOOM, the player and enemy ships have the same capabilities. This means that with reasonable AI, the player will get killed about as often as the enemies. As a result, if the player is vastly out-numbered as usual he won't last very long with even odds. Result: we may need to fudge the damage on the player's ship somewhat to give him an edge. Either that, or the player will only be allowed to battle one or two enemy ships at a time. Or, the enemy AI should preferentially attack red-shirt pilots instead of the player. USING HYPERDRIVE: How about, most ships are equipped with hyperdrive. This allows the player to travel to places that are too far away to be seen with tactical scanners. In effect, jumping through hyperspace places "doors" between scenes of action. Let's postulate that hyperdrive allows supra-light travel at some ridiculous velocity. While in hyperspace the ship is essentially impervious to everything except gravitons. If the ship passes too close to a gravity well or gravitic weapon, the hyperdrive will "stall". The ship will return to normal space, and the hyperdrive will be offline for several seconds. Further postulate that shields and weapons are powered down during hyperspace transit. So you can run, or you can fight, but not both at the same time. While in hyperspace, the player can pilot the ship in the usual manner (or perhaps just using the keyboard), but the ship is no longer as agile (perhaps 1/5th as agile as in sublight flight, perhaps this is variable depending on ship design). The point is that the player can point and go, without some hokey "warp out" animation sequence. Of course, it's a big universe out there. There is no point in *making* the player wander around in the middle of nowhere for an hour because he overshot the battle. So we will also provide a nav map with preset way points. The player can plot a course to anywhere in the mission profile by clicking on the way points and pressing "GO". While under "auto-pilot" like this, the player can still operate all of the ship systems, review the database, etc. Nav courses can also be pre-plotted as part of the mission profile. Nav points should be reasonably close together, so as to provide a "breather" but not "boredom". At any time, the player can steer the ship and break out of autopilot, without the navigation system forgetting the plan. This provides a nice possibility of "secret areas" like checking for the secret base on the far side of the 3rd moon. While in hyperspace, the view of the universe is altered. Sublight ships are invisible, as is space dust. Planets and other gravity wells are important, so these are still visible in some way. Probably want to replace the "star and nebula" sky shell with something more distinctive, a'la Bab5 hyperspace, might be nice to have it be animated. Even though you never see your own ship go into hyperspace, it would be great to have a suitable special effect for when another ship does so. Perhaps something like the spiral smoke trail from "Eraser". Whatever it is, it has to convey a sense of speed (without silly elongation effects or fake motion blur). SENSORS AND SCOUTING: Ships will have access to both passive (short range) and active (long range) sensors. Passive sensors rely on the detection of radiation emissions from target ship systems such as shields, weapons, drive, reactors, active sensors, and communications (this is analogous to IR or passive sonar). Active sensors transmit an energy beam into space and detect the "echo" of the energy bouncing off a target ship (in a manner analogous to radar or active sonar). The fundamental strategy of scouting is to detect the enemy targets while simultaneously thwarting the enemy's attempt to detect the player. The basic tool for implementing this strategy is Emission Control. The player must balance the energy output of his own ship against the ability of the enemy to detect and target him. The ships will have an Emission Control system, with a range of EmCon options. As the EmCon level is increased, more ship systems are enabled and allowed to radiate. The ship's computer will attempt to minimize the EmCon level to the greatest degree in accordance with safety. If unfriendly ships are detected at close range, the computer will increase the EmCon level to allow the use of shields and weapon systems. The player can also override the automatic EmCon setting in situations where stealth is paramount. Each ship will be modeled by a passive and active sensor cross-section. The passive cross-section (PCS) is a dynamic number that represents the current radiation level of the entire ship. The PCS is the current sum of the radiation levels produced by all active ship systems. The active cross-section (ACS) is a fixed number for each ship type which represents the amount of energy reflected by the ship's hull (aspect angle ignored). Each sensor system will be modeled by type and efficiency. During each frame of simulation, the sensor system will sample all targets in the game. For each target, two levels of detection will be computed as: Detect_pas = PCS / range * Eff_pas Detect_act = ACS / range^2 * Eff_act(Power_act) If the level of detection for a target is 0.5 or less, the avionics will not register the target as a contact, and will not display it in the HUD or tactical viewscreens. If the level of detection is 1.0 or greater, the avionics will register the target as a contact, display it in all view- screens, and allow weapons targeting of the contact. If the level of detection is between 0.51 and 0.99, the avionics will be able to detect position and classification only (not velocity or capability). Weapon targeting will not be possible. The target's affiliation will only be displayed if its IFF transponder is enabled. (in all cases?) ----------------------------------------------------------- EmCon 1: Silent Generator - idle Shields - disabled, discharged Weapons - disabled, discharged Sensors - passive only Comms - receive only, IFF disabled EmCon 2: Stealthy Generator - 50% limit Shields - disabled, discharged Weapons - enabled, discharged (missiles only?) Sensors - active low power Comms - receive, transmit encrypted, IFF disabled EmCon 3: Normal (launch condition) Generator - 100% limit Shields - enabled, charged Weapons - enabled, charged Sensors - active full power Comms - receive, transmit, IFF enabled ----------------------------------------------------------- Table 1: EmCon Settings Short range (passive) sensors will be able to detect EmCon 2 targets up to a range of 100K, and EmCon 4 targets up to a range of 500K. Long range (active) sensors will be able to track all targets up to a range of 1M (maybe as high as 2M). The flag ship serves as Wide Area Search Protocol (WASP) coordinator for the fleet. That is, all ships in the fleet will have access to the flag ship's target list. All ships will periodically send their own target list back to the flag ship for distribution to the fleet. ==================== STARSHATTER ==================== STORY An ancient Evil has awoken in the galaxy... The story will be told against a backdrop of two warring powers, one peaceful/isolationist, one warlike/imperial. The warlike power seeks to control less sophisticated races and civilizations and to lead them in an attack on the peaceful power. The player is a member of one of these "less sophisticated" races (i.e. a human) who gets caught up in the subtle yet violent conflict between the two titans. Since the conflict between the powers involves the con- trol of lesser species, you can never really know who is on your side. Or even which side is really yours. As a soldier, you will be forced to choose between obeying orders from your superiors, and doing what you believe is right. The game begins with the player assigned to the Tekton- Organon Combat Training Facility in the Janus System. The player can choose a career path as a fighter pilot or as a starship commander. In either case, they are assigned a first vessel, and sent through a course of ten or so training missions with both simulated and live fire against combat instructors and drone targets. During the last training mission (a sort of final exam) the CTF is destroyed in a hit-and-run attack by the enemy. The player is immediately assigned to a combat billet and sent into the fray. (Note that once the player has completed the training missions, future games will not require the player to repeat them.) The remainder of the game takes the player through a series of combat missions against more and more difficult alien opponents. Midway through the game, the player learns that the true enemy is the EVIL that has instigated the conflict in the first place. In the end, the "good" power offers a weapon of last resort to the player. This weapon will cause the explosive annihilation of several dozen stars in enemy space. It will immediately result in several billion civilian deaths, with tens of billions of casualties resulting from radiation poisoning over the next several centuries. Other, more dire, and more global consequences will also result... ==================== STARSHATTER ==================== STRATEGY Although Starshatter is fundamentally an action title, there is also a significant back-story and strategic element to the gameplay. The game occurs in a far-distant future of the Milky Way galaxy. Our corner of the galaxy, an area some ten or twenty thousand light years in diameter is popu- lated by thousands of human-intelligent species on tens of thousands of worlds. Many races live in approximate isolation, but most are organized into complex poly- specific civilizations spanning many star systems. Humans are not central in galactic affairs (as in Star Trek or Star Wars) but are merely another species. And some of the other species and civilizations are *much* older and *much* more advanced than ours. POLITICAL FACTIONS: - Starshatter (warlike/imperial power) * Sterat Empire (controlled by the Starshatter) * Brenel Core (military/intelligence corporation) * Zolon Empire (hive-like hereditary empire) * Marakan Hegemony (Failing human imperial civilization) * Terellian Alliance (peaceful commerce group) Alliance of Terellian Republics (ATR) + Ele'aan Fusion (peaceful/isolationist power) The player is a human starfighter pilot in the military of one such civilization, Tekton-Organon, which is in turn part of the Terellian Alliance. The computer plays the part of the player's superior officers in assigning missions and offering criticism and praise for performance. In addition, the computer plays the role of all enemy pilots and politicians. The game follows the action in an interstellar conflict between the Terellian Alliance and those civilizations in the control of the Starshatter. The player is assigned missions and ships commensurate with his ability by the computer. ==================== STARSHATTER ==================== MISSIONS Each of the three episodes follows the action in a military campaign against a single enemy civilization. Individual missions will be constructed on the fly by the dynamic campaign manager (or by the player if acting as operational commander). Each episode takes place in a fixed volume of space con- taining about a dozen star systems. The global campaign map will treat the star systems as points in a 2D map. The action will take place within individual star systems, which use a finer grained map. The enemy will control most of the star systems, although a few will be neutral, allied, or controlled by the player's faction. These may need to be defended if the enemy is able to incur. Rather than being "mission based", Starshatter is an "operational simulation". Each campaign episode is broken down into a series of military operations, each of which occur in a given star system. Different opera- tions will have different rules of engagement and victory conditions. Some will require the player to secure a neutral or allied star system from hostile threats. Others will involve incursion into hostile territory. Still others will have more limited objectives, such as securing a friendly position in a neutral system, without violating neutral airspace or damaging neutral assets. Major resources such as space stations, ship yards, SAM and sensor sites will be part of the fixed universe design. Likewise, the initial number, type, and location of warships is fixed at design time. It is hoped that the combination of large numbers of ships and small random factors (battle outcome, planetary position, time of attack) will result in increased variety of enounter for the player. During the game, the campaign manager must keep track of the location and make-up of each ship and battle group. As each ship is destroyed in battle, it must be removed (permanently) from play. New ships and battle groups can be constructed on each side, at a rate dependent on how many critical resources the side controls. In addition, reserves may be advanced from rearward areas to support an operation. For each mission, the computer will assemble a mission profile by selecting one or more objectives, selecting a location for the battle, and assigning friendly and enemy forces. The computer can choose randomly from among the nearby resources to attack (or defend) and the nearby ships on both sides to fight. Missions will be generated in accordance with the current strategic objectives for the operation. The dynamic campaign manager will keep a prioritized list of strategic objectives, mostly related to major fixed resources. Before the battle, the player will be given a gene- rated mission briefing describing the mission objec- tives, locale, and the makeup of his own group. Once the player completes the mission (or loses it), the computer will tally up the losses on both sides and remove those ships from the campaign roster. A generated mission debriefing will detail kills and losses, pilot ratings, etc. In order to keep the player doing something interesting, he will have to be assigned to an attack force, either a battle group or fighter wing. Early missions will be shorter and simpler, with a single objective in a single system. Later missions will get more involved, with multiple objectives and sometimes requiring free drive travel to other systems. In addition, the com- plexity of missions will be modulated by the user's chosen difficulty level. Sometimes, the objectives will be enemy forces: e.g. destroy a fighter wing or cripple a battle group. Other times, they will be fixed resources like space stations or fortified moons. Still other times, they will be distributed or moving targets: e.g. shut down interplanetary shipping throughout the system. At any time, the player's group may get assigned to a defensive mission (scramble). This can mean defending a fixed resource from an incoming enemy attack. Or it could mean escorting an important freight convey through unsecured space. Mission objectives can be constructed from verb-noun imperatives: Verb List Object List ---------------- ----------------- Intercept Ship Shadow Group of Ships Escort Defend Strike Space Station Capture Blockade Defend Launch From Starship or Station Dock With Dock/Rearm/Launch Clear Mine Field / Satellite Grid Go To Location Patrol Hold At We may also need to define some high-level tactics for achieving these objectives which can be used by the enemy AI. Here are some ideas: Massed or Dispersed Attack at Long Range or Up Close Stealthy or Overt Approach (psychological impact, force disposition) Clear space or Nebula (won't always have a choice) * Find other ways to screw up sensors - pulsars - jammers Guerre de Course? Use Decoys? Keep Reserves? What kind of Antiscouting/Deception? What kind of weapons? ==================== STARSHATTER ==================== COMMAND A unique feature of STARSHATTER is the ability to choose between a career as a fighter jock or a starship commander. The fighter side of the game will play similar to a space combat sim or an air combat sim. The starship side will be quite different: Starships are big, expensive, powerful platforms, but they are not terribly maneuverable. In general, one does not "knife fight" with a star destroyer. Starships will make use of a variety of long range (even beyond visual range) weapons including cruise missiles, varion torpedoes, and attack ships. These can be used to weaken or destroy an enemy vessel while putting the ship at minimal risk. Once the enemy has been sufficiently weakened, the player can safely close range and finish the job with supremely power- ful but short range energy weapons. The commander can select and direct long range weapons to attack enemy sub-targets to achieve a specific goal, whether it is to disable, disarm, or outright destroy an opponent. It will probably be great fun to disable an enemy, close range, and ask them to "surrender...or DIE!" In these long range attacks, timing and distance will be everything. The player must be close enough to detect the enemy and coordinate a strike, but not too close to be detected first. Then the player must close range quickly enough to finish off the enemy before an effective counter attack can be mounted. The opportunity for deception and possum-playing on both sides will add to the tension. However if the player is unlucky enough to find himself on the receiving end of a BVR attack, he still has several interesting options. If the long range attack has revealed the location of the enemy (a likelihood), the player can request assistance from better positioned allies (if any). Alternately, he can choose to hunker down into a defensive posture or launch a counter-attack. If the situation seems truly grim, he can also choose to reconfigure power systems and run. To compensate for the lack of maneuverability, the player will need to be given control over a richer variety of defensive assets. In addition to basic fighter cover and CIWS lasers, starships will be able to carry and deploy sensor probes and weapons pods. Sensor probes are usually passive sensor arrays mounted on a stable platform analogous to a modern sonobouy. They are deployed by the starship and send target contact information back to it. Weapons pods are more like unmanned, unshielded, undriven fighters. They have the ability to orient themselves in space, and may even be capable of limited movement through translation thrusters. But basically they sit where they are left and fire lasers and missiles at any unfriendly targets that wander into range. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Steps needed to get there: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Passive and Active Sensors - Tactical Situtation MFD - System Targeting - System Damage Combat Results - Long Range Weapon Types - Sensor Probes and Weapons Pods - AA Turrets on Starships - Fighter AI Commands - Starship AI - Squadron AI Commands - Big Explosions and Shock Waves ==================== STARSHATTER ==================== AI AI STATE ----------------------------------------------------- Threats Targets Allies Destinations Objectives Self health Team strength Morale Tenacity/Recklessness Mood/Stability Difficulty High Level Behavior ----------------------------------------------------- Choose to continue or retire the engagement Guard a position or resource Search for a target Plan an assault on a group of targets Assign an objective to a teammate Call for help Mid Level Behavior ----------------------------------------------------- Assess a threat, or group of threats Select a target from a group of targets Select a subcomponent of a larger target Select a weapon to use when attacking Attack a Target using an offensive combat maneuver Assess own capabilities or "health" Assess team capabilities or strength Set levels of agression and desperation Set desired level of stealthiness Choose to pursue or break-off an attack Seek cover Seek repair or supplies Follow a flight plan Launch or recall a ship Low Level Behavior ----------------------------------------------------- Navigation: Idle Evade a Threat Seek an Objective Avoid an Obstacle Match Target Velocity Form with Target (ally) Dock with Target (ally) Hold Position Orbit(patrol) Position FireControl: Fire upon a target Set EMCON level Primitive Behavior ----------------------------------------------------- Turn or Establish Heading Accelerate or Slow Down Fire a Weapon Target a Weapon Select Sensor Mode Set EMCON Level Activate Countermeasures ==================== STARSHATTER ==================== INTERFACE SCREEN CONCEPTS: ----------------------------------------------------- Main Menu ----------------------------------------------------- New Game Continue Game Quick Mission Training Player Info (callsign, difficulty level, stats) Game Options (controls, audio-video settings) Help! Exit ----------------------------------------------------- Help Menu ----------------------------------------------------- Online Manual Keymap About... Credits ----------------------------------------------------- Operational Command ----------------------------------------------------- Operation Name, Date, Status ---- Orders (overview of operation) Theater (system map showing resources) Strat Plan (edit objective list) Intel Rpt (news feed) Status (current score, us vs. them) - missions - Active ## (current mission list) Pending ## (missions in prep) Scramble ## (inbound threat list) Commit (engage current mission) Cancel (back to main menu) Also need controls to navigate the maps, and control visual clutter. [May want to offer simpler versions of this screen for "Starship Command" and "Fighter Command", allowing the player to focus on combat simulation rather than strategy.] ----------------------------------------------------- Mission Planning ----------------------------------------------------- Briefing Data (scrolling text and images) Mission Title Objective List Force Package package callsign wingmen and loadout Annotated Flight Plan launch time nav points and events time on target Intel Report expected counterforce degree of confidence Package (select wingmen) Loadout (select weapons) Nav Map (edit nav points) Targets (assign objectives to flights) Commit (engage current mission) Cancel (back to previous screen) [NOTE: same screen can double as Alert Intercept by changing the title and removing the edit buttons] ==================== STARSHATTER ==================== TRAINING Training Missions (both services) 1. Basic Flight and Navigation 2. Guns 3. Missiles 4. Combat Maneuver 5. Sensors / Stealth 6. Wingman Interface 7. Long Range Scan 8. Tactical Navigation and Waypoint Setting 9. Advanced Tactics a. Starship Assault (fighter weapon school) b. Cruise missiles & Flight Ops (fleet tactical school) 10. Situation Awareness (Final Exam) ======================================================= MISCELLANIA Sensor ships and stations will be important resources in winning the information war. Both the player and the AI will need to exploit and protect them appropriately. Briefings/Debriefings and other Intelligence Reports must adequately communicate the overall game situation to the player in order to allow the player to make meaningful decisions. This is crucial to establishing immersion and making the player care about the outcome of the game. Briefings and Info Bursts will be more visceral if they include simulated "news footage" of the events being related. ======================================================= DYNAMIC CAMPAIGN NOTES 1. Fighter jocks will be allowed to choose from a menu of generated missions that have been assigned to the player's squadron. 2. Cruiser skippers will be given only one generated mission at a time (like KA or SFC), but it will be somewhat broader in scope. 3. Carrier admirals will do what exactly? 4. Both cruiser and carrier missions will often start in the field or on patrol. Fighter missions will always start and end at a base (carrier|station| dirtside starbase). 5. Cruiser and carrier missions will not normally include the starsender translation to the area of conflict. The player will only go through the sender in real time as part of a mission (not as prelude or ending to a mission). 6. Admirals will need to be able to generate orders for their forces during the battle. This implies some kind of Op Command workstation. 7. The mission planner algorithm must construct generated missions that are "fun", not just logical to the campaign. I have a vague notion of using time/distance heuristics to place enemy units as "challenges" on the battle field. e.g. For xxx type of mission, place an enemy destroyer yyy minutes away from the (player|objective|sender). 8. The generated missions do not have to hang together as well as previously planned. That is, we don't need to maintain the feeling that the player is just a unit in an RTS game. Instead, the campaign manager is just a device for generating interesting single player missions as would be found in any game with a static campaign. On the other hand, the player should not see any obvious contradictions between the big board and what occurred during their missions. That means, any kills they witnessed must still be visible between missions in the intel report/event log. ======================================================= SAMPLE OPERATIONAL SCENARIOS --- COLD WAR, LOW TENSION --- 1) Training Center (see above) 1a) Live Fire: Engage in "live fire" exercise with a friendly power. --- COLD WAR, HIGH TENSION --- 2) Restore Order: The enemy is supporting a terrorist puppet govt in an allied star system. Aid the locals in putting down the disturbance. 3) Deliverance: The enemy is sponsoring terrorists and pirates harassing a small outpost system. Ensure free access to the space lanes and aid the delivery of needed supply convoys. 4) Freedom Fighters: The enemy is supporting a despotic govt that is occupying a weaker friendly or neutral system. Aid the locals in driving out the occupying force. 5) Strategic Withdrawal: Ownership of a former protected star system is passing back to the enemy. Oversee the withdrawal of friendly forces. Try to avoid active conflict. --- FORMAL DECLARATION OF WAR --- 6) First Blood: A research and educational center is on the front lines and in harms way. Set up a strong defensive posture, and oversee the evacuation of non-military personnel. 7) Sneak Attack! The enemy has already struck a friendly system, but they have not yet had time to fortify their position. Coordinate with local forces and evict the hostiles. 8) Fortress of Light: Protect an Eleaan frontier system from enemy attack. 9) Turning Point: The enemy is seeking a decisive victory by wiping out the home fleet. Turn the tables on them by attacking first. 10) Firestorm: Press the advantage by invading a series of enemy manufacturing and military systems. 11) Nightfall: Climactic operation against the enemy home system. ======================================================= MISSION TEMPLATE TYPES FIGHTER TACTICAL FIGHTER WING ATTACK SQUADRON DESTROYER/CRUISER SQUADRON Anti-shipping Shipping Escort, anti-fighter Shipping Escort, anti-cruiser Shipping Escort, general Picket Squadron Hunter BATTLE GROUP/TASK FORCE Force-on-Force Engagement Starbase Bombardment, pre-assault Starbase Bombardment, anti-fighter CARRIER ======================================================= Ship Names: F-32G Falcon Squadrons Flying Tigers, Bearcats, Aces High, Cool Hands, Wizards F-36C Stormhawk Squadrons Nighthawks, Mustangs, Stallions, Chargers, Blazers F/A-38D Talon Squadrons Starknights, Lancers, Wild Bunch, Razorbacks, Buzzards Berents Class FF Berents, Bosporus, Barth, Bering, Balen, Clarkeston, Carlisle, Canton, Delmar, Dardenelles, Darmstadt, Leyte, Messina, Mountebank, Morgan, Malory, Parker, Rainier, Sorrel, Seychelles, Tanly, Trieste, Yarmuz, Zephyr, Zodiac Spectre Class DD Spectre, Wraith, Shadow, Warlock, Phantom, Mistral, Nemesis, Necromancer, Merlin, Nightshade, Moloch, Demon, Phobos, Deimos, Enigma, Phantasm, Revenant, Banshee, Barrows, Gorgon Courageous Class DG Courageous, Fearless, Stalwart, Defender, Guardian, Steadfast, Assurance, Protector, Heroic, Valiant, Dauntless, Vanguard, Redstone, Victory, Honor, Braveheart, Defiant, Audacious, Valorous, Confident Devastator Class CA Devastator, Annihilator, Onslaught, Relentless, Argent, Stormwind, Thunder, Hurricane, Inferno, Torrent, Typhoon, Vortex, Predator, Ravager, Demolisher, Havoc, Scourge, Huntress, Warrior, Shrike Orion Class CV Orion, Antares, Archon, Titan, Hyperion OTHERS Wasp, Hornet, Scorpion, Deaths Head, Wolf, Cobra, Viper, Raptor, Python Jackal, Zodiac, Scarab, Sphinx, Osiris, Onyx, Isis ------------------- 1 Fleet = 95 starships + 300 fighters 5 carrier groups 1 CV + 60 Fighters 2 CA 1 DG 1 DD 2 FF 5 battle groups 2 CA 1 DG 1 DD 2 FF 5 destroyer squadrons 2 DG 2 DD 2 FF ==================== STARSHATTER ==================== GALAXY : NAMES Adavan Aram Borreal Bress Casalle Chi Dawn Elkhart Fenn Gaul Garrison Haiche Hemmik Ilon Janek (Janus-3) Jarnell Kala Khalife Kolchev Korius Lanos Loris Marak Manse Muir Navara Nephrys Nergal Oleanne Omin Patagon Path Pollus Relay Renser Ri Rodis Senna Suven Tal Amin Tarsus Theramin Thralis Ur Volante Warren - world crack canyon/rain-forest settlement (must always face the sun) Whorl Xanthe Zephyr Zone ==================== STARSHATTER ==================== GALAXY : PLANET TYPES --= Landform Types =-- Arid Desert (Arrakis) Frigid Desert (Mars) Frozen Exotic (Titan) Temperate Planar Temperate Mountainous Tropical Forest Tropical Oceanic Icy Oceanic (Scandinavia) Rocky Planar Rocky Mountainous Volcanic (Venus, Io) Barren (Pluto) --= Atmospheric Types =-- Thin Clear, Breathable Dusty Foggy/Cloudy Dense Poisonous Layered --= Population Types =-- Agrarian Industrial Mining Research/Technology Military Political Terraforming ==================== STARSHATTER ==================== GALAXY : RACES Human Ele'aan Eltaar - "Those Who Speak for Ele'aas" Marakan Commar Kasatti Zolon Empire ==================== STARSHATTER ==================== CAMPAIGN SEQUENCE --- COLD WAR, LOW TENSION --- 1) Training Center - Live Fire: Engage in "live fire" exercise with friendly units on the border of Hegemony territory. --- COLD WAR, HIGH TENSION --- 2) Restore Order: An outlying Hegemony system is using terrorist tactics to gain control of a neighboring neutral star system to create "breathing room" between themselves and the Alliance. Drive out the terrorists and get the neutrals to sign a treaty with the Alliance. 3) Freedom Fighters: Hegemony taxation policy has driven an outlying system to resort to despotism to collect needed revenue. A group of local freedom fighters is attempting to overthrow the Hegemony backed govt. Aid the locals in driving out Hegemony forces. --- OPEN WARFARE --- In response to campaign 3, the Hegemony formally declares war on the Alliance. 4) Fortress of Light: The Hegemony has struck three Alliance systems, but they have not yet had time to fortify their position. Drive out the enemy forces, and protect Alliance citizens and assets in the area. 5) Firestorm: Alliance Force:Command is planning a major offensive against the core Hegemony systems. This operation is to strike major war production and ship yards to weaken the Hegemony resistance before the main offensive. 6) Nightfall: Climactic operation against the enemy home system. Discovery that the Hegemony worlds have been overrun by the Zolon Empire. --- ALIEN STRIFE --- 7) Spear of Triton 8)