Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (Full Version)

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rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/8/2017 8:58:46 PM)

I have made a very small change to the Description of the topic of this post.

I have removed all mention of this being a dice game mod as role playing is one way you can play the mod but you can play it equally without any RPG elements to the game.

Not everyone want to play role playing games as they can be very complex..... my version of the Role Playing is actually a lot simpler and is designed not to tax the old grey brain cells but provide a vehicle in which Distant Worlds Universe can be optionally played in a more extended way.

I have also added a post to the Picard era topic for the team behind the Picard era mod to see if they had plans on when they were going to release their version of the Kirk era mod and whether or not it was on hold for Distant Worlds 2.




rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/8/2017 10:25:57 PM)

I have revamped the Miranda Class Federation Destroyer seen in the mod and previewed in the shot below.

I am testing the removal of certain ship types via options as I may not need a escort, bomber or capital ship in this mod.




[image]local://upfiles/44980/EC0F1B850CE84CBEB610F09CDF2D1421.jpg[/image]



Dakkon7 -> RE: Star Trek : The Return of Khan (TOS Era) (1/8/2017 10:47:04 PM)

[:)] It's your mod, you do what you feel is best. Personally, I'm most interested in role playing the enterprise crew, not necessarily playing one of the empires.

But, having the Cardassians transition from a struggling but peaceful/spiritual society to a more militaristic and secular one in the course of the three phases of your mod could be quite interesting narratively.

You could have the Cardassians start off in a relatively inhospitable and resource barren area of the galaxy, where they start to peacefully expand their society. But at the same time, they encounter problems of expanding too fast, unrest amongst the colonies grows because of a break down in providing basic necessities. They start fracturing into various different factions (perhaps predecessors to the Obsidian Order, the Central Command and the Detapa Council)and begin plundering/stealing resources and technology from one another. And finally the duo of the Central Command and the Obsidian Order (with the Detapa Council being rendering completely powerless) subdue the prior unrest and start expanding the small but newly formed Cardassian union.

It could be a nice little narrative centering around the theme of falling from grace when things get real (meaning, sacrificing one's morality/spirituality to avert the horror/guilt of having one's friends and family starve).



rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/8/2017 11:09:11 PM)

I have got a lot done on the mod in the last day.

Below is an example of how I am creating the shipsets for the mods using basic diagrams as a starting point.

The USS Antares below is about 50% done but already looking better than the original source image.

The Antares class has a crew of 20 and is only 19% of the size of the Enterprise so there is not too much work to do once this ship is scaled down to it's official size.



[image]local://upfiles/44980/C0E95DDB27E34EF3A86565496CFDBFB9.jpg[/image]



rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/8/2017 11:13:21 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dakkon7

[:)] It's your mod, you do what you feel is best. Personally, I'm most interested in role playing the enterprise crew, not necessarily playing one of the empires.

But, having the Cardassians transition from a struggling but peaceful/spiritual society to a more militaristic and secular one in the course of the three phases of your mod could be quite interesting narratively.

You could have the Cardassians start off in a relatively inhospitable and resource barren area of the galaxy, where they start to peacefully expand their society. But at the same time, they encounter problems of expanding too fast, unrest amongst the colonies grows because of a break down in providing basic necessities. They start fracturing into various different factions (perhaps predecessors to the Obsidian Order, the Central Command and the Detapa Council)and begin plundering/stealing resources and technology from one another. And finally the duo of the Central Command and the Obsidian Order (with the Detapa Council being rendering completely powerless) subdue the prior unrest and start expanding the small but newly formed Cardassian union.

It could be a nice little narrative centering around the theme of falling from grace when things get real (meaning, sacrificing one's morality/spirituality to avert the horror/guilt of having one's friends and family starve).




The first module for the role playing will have you role playing as the Enterprise crew.

The next role playing module will be the Klingons....a third Romulans if there is demand for it...and later modules could give role play to other races like the Ferengi, Cardassians, Vulcans etc.




Dakkon7 -> RE: Star Trek : The Return of Khan (TOS Era) (1/8/2017 11:23:11 PM)

You do what you feel is best.



rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/9/2017 7:32:39 PM)

In Kirk's opening monologue where he finishes with the sentence.... "To boldly go....."

Well that is what I am doing with this mod.

I am testing some significant changes with the ship sets and am looking at making some significant changes to 34% of the ships to give the ships a more Star Trek flavour.

Stay tuned.



Twigster -> RE: Star Trek : The Return of Khan (TOS Era) (1/9/2017 11:01:30 PM)

[;)]



rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/10/2017 3:58:14 AM)

Work on the mod was somewhat interrupted by issues with my main computer where the computer was randomly shutting down. This has been resolved so back into the development at full steam again.

With the mod I have the 3 big races as the center piece of the mod and have them listed as Group 1.

1. The Federation
2. The Klingons
3. The Romulans

Group 2 races will have the other Founding Members of the Federation which are the Confederacy of Vulcan, the Andorian Empire, the United Planets of Tellar, the Alpha Centauri Concordium and the world known as Rigel IV.

Group 3 races will have the rest of them.

With these races I am designing the ships to be added to the mod and then testing them. Sometimes the ships look great and other times I have to do more work on them as they look less than great.

The picture below is one I have of a Constitution Class starship chasing down a Klingon Raptor. Very happy with the Constitution Class but still work to do on the Raptor.





[image]local://upfiles/44980/BF15ED15ACA8463395578AD09B380E47.jpg[/image]



rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/10/2017 11:30:38 PM)

The first three Tholian ships belonging to the Tholian Assembly



[image]local://upfiles/44980/795C60ED58084961AC30DE8FB7F785F5.jpg[/image]



rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/11/2017 2:33:40 AM)

What happened with the Romulans after Kirk defeated them in the Balance of Terror?

Starfleet Intelligence reported a most troubling development - the Romulan Empire had acquired a substantial number of Klingon D-7 class battle cruisers to supplement their fleet. Somewhat ironically, the impetus for this move on their part could well be the actions of the Federation Starship Enterprise under the command of Captain Kirk.



The Enterprise had engaged a prototype Romulan ship in battle and ultimately defeated it. The loss of their most advanced vessel demonstrated to the Romulans that they had little chance of mounting a full scale invasion of the Federation.... and it also implied that the Romulans would not be able to protect themselves if the Federation should decide to attack them.

The Romulans decided to strike a deal with the Klingons where they traded their cloaking technology for Klingon warships of the D7 class.

The Klingon experience of the D-7 was that it was considered to be somewhat less than a match for the Constitution class, one-on-one. But when fitted with a Romulan cloaking device the Klingon vessel had a huge advantage over its Federation counterpart.

In the original timeline the Romulans acquired the D-7s in 2268....however in this mod the Romulans made the deal with the Klingons 2 years earlier in 2266 shortly after the Balance of Terror episode took place.

For this mod it would make sense that if the Romulans are going to go to war with the Federation they would want to fast track the addition of D-7s to their fleet.

Below is a work in progress shot of a Romulan D-7 Battle-cruiser.



[image]local://upfiles/44980/9B92043A3B624C1994B037BCC5B6F74B.jpg[/image]



Jagdtiger14 -> RE: Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/11/2017 3:22:31 AM)

I think your Klingon Raptor looks awesome!...as do the Tholians!

When I was a kid I had some D-7 plastic models...always loved the D-7. Your Romulan D-7 looks great!

Is there a Distant Worlds 2 in the works?...if so, where can I follow its development?



rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/11/2017 11:48:57 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Jagdtiger14

I think your Klingon Raptor looks awesome!...as do the Tholians!

When I was a kid I had some D-7 plastic models...always loved the D-7. Your Romulan D-7 looks great!

Is there a Distant Worlds 2 in the works?...if so, where can I follow its development?




Hi Jagdtiger14


Yes Distant Worlds 2 is in the works and, though there is no specific topics to follow its development, there have been a few posts from the developers such as these 2.




1. Erik Rutins 23rd September 2015
Hi folks,

We are indeed working on the next game in the series, but I can't share any details yet. I can say that it is a very major project for us all that has been getting a lot of effort and attention both from us and Elliot. We expect this to move DW forward in every respect, but even the internal test team haven't seen any details yet, so it will be a while before we can share anything publicly.

Regards,

- Erik



and more recently




2. Erik Rutins 25th August 2016

Sorry to keep you all in suspense - we are working on Distant Worlds 2, but not ready to release more information as yet.






rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/11/2017 11:59:43 PM)

Speaking of Distant Worlds 2 this is one of the reasons I am spending more time on the development of this mod .

The plan is to release this mod as well as the Voyager mod prior to DW2 being released.
After DW2 is release I then begin work on the DW2 version of the mods adding whatever new features are coming out with DW2.

Status at the moment:

I have the Federation, Klingons and Romulans already added as playable races.

By the end of Sunday I plan to have the founding members of Starfleet such as the Vulcans and Andorians added. This will give me 8 playable races to do more testing of the game play of the mod.

From Monday I start one month of development adding the other races, the role play, the trading system, gameplay as Orion Pirates and a few other things.




Jagdtiger14 -> RE: Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/12/2017 12:21:31 AM)

I assume the developers of DW2 will do something better than what ever the best is out there now (Stellaris?).

The only reason I would be even remotely interested in DW or DW2 is your mod work. But as a potential customer for this product (DW), why would I not just wait for DW2?...with the added benefit of your mods being completed?

I think the developers of DW2 should hire you.



Twigster -> RE: Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/12/2017 9:01:44 PM)

Greetings Jagdtiger14,

To your question on why should you not just wait until DW2...

A couple of answers to that would be:

*Release time-frame of DW2 is currently completely unknown, and
*DW:U is currently the very best space-themed 4x out there. You would be missing out on a great experience by waiting. [8D]



rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/12/2017 11:23:24 PM)

A lot of work is going into the role play cards that will be seen in the mod.

Below is an image I created for the Enterprise in orbit around Earth.
This image is then used for additional images such as one where the Sun is beginning to set

I will explain in a later post how these cards will be seen and used in the mod.




[image]local://upfiles/44980/5BD0E9375D834C198F1A568286FB9449.jpg[/image]



rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/13/2017 3:32:41 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Jagdtiger14

I assume the developers of DW2 will do something better than what ever the best is out there now (Stellaris?).

The only reason I would be even remotely interested in DW or DW2 is your mod work. But as a potential customer for this product (DW), why would I not just wait for DW2?...with the added benefit of your mods being completed?

I think the developers of DW2 should hire you.





Depending on when DW2 is released work on my mod for DW2 could take 6 to 12 months so in theory my DW2 mod may only get released late 2018 or early 2019....but hopefully much earlier.

Reason to play my mod in DW1:

- DW1 is still the best 4x game to date.

- My mod for DW1 will be released early 2017.
: Kirk Era mod released first followed shortly after by the Voyager Mod

- Both DW1 mods will receive updates every few weeks adding more to the game play

- The mods for DW1 and DW2 will be different from each other



Recommendation:

- you will need several months with Distant Worlds to learn how to play it... it has a steep learning curve

- play Distant Worlds Universe without mods to learn the gameplay.
- then play with mods installed

- by this time my DW1 mod will be released and you can get straight into role playing in my mod without several months of learning how to play.


- my mod makes a number of changes in how Distant Worlds plays so it is beneficial to know how the game plays before my mod makes it a little more complicated and realistic

- My mod is designed specifically for the latest version of Distant Worlds which is Distant Worlds Universe and will not work with the earlier versions of Distant Worlds.





rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/13/2017 4:06:59 AM)

Carol Marcus (From Star Trek II) will play a more substantial part in this mod and will not have resigned from Starfleet prior to the pilot episodes been filmed as per the original timeline.

Instead Carol Marcus will remain on board the Enterprise in the Sciences Division and will be involved in several landing parties along with Gary Mitchell. This is a timeline showing what would have occurred if Carol had not resigned and Gary Mitchell was not killed off in the pilot episode.

I have upgraded the image of Carol Marcus to a more realistic version as seen below.... still a work in progress. The image had to be recolored and photoshopped to fit in with the background scene.

The picture is a younger version of the actress Bibi Besch who originally played Carol Marcus.


[image]local://upfiles/44980/DDE51A5A82F54A75ABD35ED1C66461C6.jpg[/image]



Jagdtiger14 -> RE: Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/13/2017 4:43:17 AM)

quote:

*DW:U is currently the very best space-themed 4x out there. You would be missing out on a great experience by waiting.







Hi Twigster! I'm not surprised anyone with this game would say its the best, but what do you base your opinion on that this game is better than Polaris Sector or Stellaris? I see Polaris Sector has a Star Wars mod, but of course the Star Trek world is much better...so that's my reason, but I would like to hear what others say their reasons are.
Thanks!





rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/13/2017 4:51:32 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Jagdtiger14

quote:

*DW:U is currently the very best space-themed 4x out there. You would be missing out on a great experience by waiting.







Hi Twigster! I'm not surprised anyone with this game would say its the best, but what do you base your opinion on that this game is better than Polaris Sector or Stellaris? I see Polaris Sector has a Star Wars mod, but of course the Star Trek world is much better...so that's my reason, but I would like to hear what others say their reasons are.
Thanks!







Have a look here

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4130699



rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/13/2017 6:56:42 PM)

My next post will explain how the characters are added to this mod and how crew transfers work.....

but before I explain all that below is a picture I have photoshopped showing who is likely to be the first Klingon Captain you will encounter in combat.

Rebel Klingon Captain Koronin on board the Klingon Bird-of-Prey Quundar

Captain Koronin is one of the many Klingons in the mod with the Klingon ridges on their forehead while most Klingons in this mod will have the smooth forehead as seen in the TOS series.

[image]local://upfiles/44980/ADEC5956651F43A6BED56068CD9E5550.jpg[/image]



rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/14/2017 9:45:24 PM)

Just a quick redesign of the in game Role Play card as I was having a few issues with the previous layout.



[image]local://upfiles/44980/E9DDCBE8B147432384EA5453A334EDB9.jpg[/image]



rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/15/2017 4:11:29 AM)

The following is used in the role play and is entirely optional for players of this mod.
First and foremost I am developing this mod the way I want to play it and am going to make it available for those who want to try it with or without role playing active.

When Distant Worlds Universe has finished building the USS Enterprise it is not a matter of clicking a mouse and straight away heading out of space dock.

The picture below shows the initial procedures (version 1) I follow with each step completed by a dice throw.
This should only take a few minutes to complete all 7 steps.
While the Enterprise is in space dock there is no room to begin construction of the next ship so you need to move this ship out using these steps before space is available for the next ship to be built.

I have almost completed a revised version with 2 additional steps necessary before a ship can leave dock.

Some may look at the following and think this complicates things.
It actually adds to the immersion while playing the mod in Distant Worlds

Once all 7 steps are complete you then begin the Shakedown cruise at impulse speed before returning to Earth to be fitted with warp engines when the technology is available.




[image]local://upfiles/44980/2C56335358F048AFB51D20D25B6F69A6.jpg[/image]



rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/15/2017 8:28:26 PM)

Captain's Log

Finally after 6 months the Enterprise has been completed and I have beamed aboard to meet key personnel and the bridge crew to go through last minute preparations before we leave space dock in a few hours. Our shakedown cruise is on track but not without issues with Leonard McCoy still unavailable as Chief Medical Officer for the next few weeks and Starfleet has yet to assign a First Officer to the Enterprise. Mark Piper will act as our Medical Officer for the shakedown cruise and I have been advised that Lieutenant Brent will be beaming aboard momentarily as our temporary First Officer.


[image]local://upfiles/44980/96EC5A58CD624DF9B71AADE2A2A718CE.jpg[/image]



It is 2264 and Mankind is about to travel further than he has gone before. Our first starship has been commissioned the USS Enterprise and is only a matter of hours away from taking it's first voyage around the solar system to test out key systems and technology. James T Kirk has completed his final briefing with Starfleet and has transported over to the Enterprise as her first Captain. The eyes of the world will be on this new Constitution class starship which will take us beyond the solar system with the imminent release of warp technology.




rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/15/2017 9:05:12 PM)

67 new images were added to the mod yesterday similar to the one seen in the last post and these images introduce the mod player to the range of aliens that will be encountered as the Enterprise crew travel beyond the Sol System.

Most of the images can be created in 10 or 15 minutes while others such as Kirk in one of the Enterprise's corridors as seen above took a little longer. Transferring a character into a background shot can be tricky depending on the background and steps are followed to merge the character into the background picture so it does not look like one picture copied and pasted into another.

A lot of research goes into the mod to keep the story line real....such as how to deal with the absence of Mr Spock as both Science and First Officer since First Contact with the Vulcans never happened.

After several days of scanning through episode scripts and novel highlights I discovered that crewman Lieutenant Clifford Brent played an important part in some key episodes and novels and had been relief Science Officer for Spock in several instances and his experience made him the most logical stand in for Spock.

I have worked out the scenarios on how to introduce Spock to the mod when First Contact is made with the Vulcans and established rules that need to be set when you setup the game in Distant Worlds Universe.

Different game-plays of this mod will have different results and sometimes the Federation and the Vulcans may not see eye to eye and may even go to war. In cases like this I have looked into Spock's character to see what he would do when faced with a choice to stay with his fellow crew members or go back to Vulcan in times of war.

This mod is designed so that 4 races need to be in every game.

1. Federation
2. Vulcans
3. Klingons
4. Romulans

This takes care of making sure that at some stage Spock will transfer aboard the Enterprise



rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/16/2017 2:14:59 AM)

The moment has arrived as the Enterprise edges slowly away from space dock and passes in close orbit around Earth as millions of people watch the special event on viewing stations around the globe. It had been indicated to Kirk by some at Federation Headquarters that an occasion like this where Mankind finally was reaching for the stars should be highlighted in a spectacular show.

Kirk fully intended to put on the best show that Earth has ever seen before the Enterprise headed out into the solar system for several months of systems shakedown.





[image]local://upfiles/44980/94A2A7042B614054868FB5304BAB4B1F.jpg[/image]




Every planet in this mod has been given an upgrade to a higher definition and the picture above shows what the planets now look like zoomed in as far as you can get. Work is still been done on our Moon but this should be finished sometime this week.

I have heard people say that one of the things that Distant Worlds Universe lacks when compared to the modern Stellaris or Polaris Sector is the quality of Graphics. I would like to say with a little modding anything is possible as the picture above hopefully shows.





rjord2021 -> Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/16/2017 3:24:17 AM)



A little work in progress...... a new Sun?



[image]local://upfiles/44980/A0E172130733449EBB70F5DE8E9FC04E.jpg[/image]



rjord2021 -> RE: Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/18/2017 3:58:47 AM)

I have implemented a new procedure for the portrait pictures showing the various characters and species seen in this mod. Each character will be seen in a format somewhere between a live picture and a painting or sketch. I have tested this with various characters within the Federation, Klingon and Romulan species and the character pictures will allow me to create a whole new range of characters for the mod.



Dakkon7 -> RE: Star Trek : The Return of Khan (Coming soon in early 2017) (1/18/2017 4:33:58 AM)

Any plans for mirror universe content?



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