48 minutes ago, Norsehound said:

I'm not sure how far I want to push development on my contributions for this... I'm kind of reaching that point where either I'll go whole-hog on this or just acquiesce to Lyraeus. I know how I want to do things, and it's not like I have to compromise... most projects I do I've been working solo, or my role was pretty clear cut within the project and I have the absolute freedom to work within the scope defined for me (or that I've defined myself).

I've stalled in building out a Raider movement profile. What's next to do on my end is finish that and build up some AI activation/behavior cards for fighters, then come up with a rudimentary xp spending system and build off of "Mission 1", which seems like a good start. I know I want to go the single-ship customization route, but I remember that's not what Lyraeus wants to do.

I will throw down some of my thoughts for what I was doing next;

• The Nebulon-B in Mission 1 is an assistant put in if you're single player, though under player control. It and the fighter squadrons go away after the first mission, you begin with either a corvette or a ship of your choice (hammerhead, GR-75) depending on how I want the upgrade tree to look.
• Mission 2 is platform defense. One station at the center of the board with three squadrons of Z-95s as defenders. Fend off a few waves of TIE/LN and TIE/SA, followed by either a Raider (easy difficulty) or an ARQ that kites at long range (hard difficulty). Empire's trying to destroy the station, defend it!
• These missions will have a relatively small amount of ships on the board- we're not looking at a fully automated Armada game. I'd sacrifice bulk for mission specifics.

I think we can come to some form of agreement or we can end up with two variations of AI and let the community have their pick. The ones who want more HotAC can have that, the ones who want a "smart ai" can have that

HotAC is nice as it's easy to just plug in to almost anything, and requires minimal to no player adjustments.. it's easy to just take a HotAC card set and throw your own stuff together, and it's a nice visual that helps bring in players on the fence (look shiny!).

More complex ai is also nice tho, and provides better player challenge, tho you can always just stack the forces on the empire's side which follows the Star Wars thematic.

Both being fleshed out is cool.. I would love to see HotAC for all the imps, and interested in seeing a "smart ai" too.. scenarios where you can plug either in would be great.

55 minutes ago, Daht said:

HotAC is nice as it's easy to just plug in to almost anything, and requires minimal to no player adjustments.. it's easy to just take a HotAC card set and throw your own stuff together, and it's a nice visual that helps bring in players on the fence (look shiny!).

More complex ai is also nice tho, and provides better player challenge, tho you can always just stack the forces on the empire's side which follows the Star Wars thematic.

Both being fleshed out is cool.. I would love to see HotAC for all the imps, and interested in seeing a "smart ai" too.. scenarios where you can plug either in would be great.

Always welcome to come and check a game out. I am still working it out but there is a lot of testing and I am always looking for testers. I need to work on the games rules and see if they are understandable

Speaking of testing I am starting up now.

Got any more of them hotac cards?

Hmm.. Well, I think this one is done if someone wants to test it.

This is really cool and I am trying to understand and get into it. Does the Raider never turn away from target?

Not the way I designed it since the intent was to get the front arc towards a target and get aggressive. It's not like the automated ships are trying to preserve themselves; they're trying to trash your ship.

I'm curious to see the ISD, Quasar, gladiator, and gozanti ai

So I've been keeping this at the back of my brain, I came up with an upgrade economy players can use when playing a single-player campaign.

Quote

Experience Points (XP)

XP Earning:

Standard

1 point for each damage card assigned to an enemy vessel.

1 point for each ship that received a critical hit (once per enemy ship)

1 point for each generic squadron destroyed.

2 points for each unique squadron destroyed.

Mission

3 points for a major objective completed.

2 points for a minor objective completed.

XP Spending:

Repair:

1 point to repair one point of hull damage (or 3 points to restore full health)

1 point to restore a squadron to full health

Upgrade:

X points to purchase a generic upgrade to your ship (x = upgrade cost)

Modify:

You may have a number of modifications equal to your hull value. Upgrades with the -modification- tagline count against this restriction.

Command Values:

X points to downgrade your command value by 1, to a minimum of 1. (x = your current hull value)

X points to increase your fighter value by 1, to a maximum of 8 (x = your current hull value)

X points to increase your engineering value by 1 (x = your current hull value)

Battery:

8 points to add one die color of your choice to your front or sides arc.

5 points to change the color of a die to one range band higher or lower.

Navigation:

5 points to increase the yaw value of 1 position on your navigation chart (to a maximum of 2)

10 points to increase your maximum speed by 1.

Copy your previous navigation chart but move the yaw values up by 1.

Upgrade Slots:

You may spend points to change one upgrade slot to another within the same category.

5 points: [Turbolaser, Ordnance, Ion Cannon]

5 points: [Offensive Retrofit, Defensive Retrofit]

5 points: [Fleet Support, Fleet Command]

3 points: [Weapons Team, Support Team]

You may spend points to add one upgrade slot of the following category to your ship.

8 points: Turbolaser, Ordnance, Ion Cannon

8 Points: Offensive Retrofit, Defensive Retrofit

6 Points: Fleet Support, Fleet Command

5 points: Weapons Team, Support Team

Officers:

5 points to add 1 officer slot.

3 points to convert any upgrade slot to an officer slot.

Escort - Fighters

Your maximum fighter allowance is equal to the total fighter rating of all starships under your command.

X points to acquire a generic non-rogue squadron (X = Cost of that squadron)

X+2 points to acquire a generic rogue-keyword squadron (X = cost of that squadron)

Escort - Mercenaries

Several squadrons may be purchased during the Supply Phase when you’re spending XP. These squadrons are available ONLY for the next mission and must be purchased again before they can be fielded in a separate mission. These mercenaries do not count against your fighter rating. You may only acquire mercenaries up to your ship’s printed command rating.

Generic Spacers:

5 points: Z-95, TIE Fighter, Y-Wing

8 points: YT-1300, YV-666

10 points: Aggressor Starfighter

15 points: Mandalorian Gauntlet Fighter, Firespray-31

Bounty Hunters:

10 points: Jan Ors, Nym, Ketsu Onyo

15 points: Dash Rendar, Dengar, Bossk
20: Boba Fett, IG-88

Escort - Capital Ships

See the rules on Escort Capital Ships for limitations on capital ship escorts.

X points to purchase a command 1 capital ship (x = the cost of the capital ship)

MERITS

This is special currency that is spent for above and beyond accomplishments. Merits are awarded for actions above and beyond the call of duty to confer special perks. Merits are generally awarded for special objectives completed.

Merit Earning:

1 Merit awarded for all fighters destroyed that were allocated by the mission.

1 Merit awarded for the destruction of an enemy flagship.

Merit Spending:

1 Merit to choose another starship (see progression chart)

1 Merit + X to equip a title for a ship of your current class (X = the cost of the title upgrade card)

1 Merit + (X-Y) to upgrade one generic fighter squadron to a unique pilot of the same class of fighter (x = the cost of the ace squadron, Y the cost of the generic squadron).

1 Merit to add one upgrade slot of any type to your ship (This counts against your modification allowance)

2 Merit to purchase one command 1 ship of your choice, along with 1 non-unique upgrade equipped.

3 Merit to purchase and equip a commander card of your faction to your flagship.

Obviously there are some things to work out still, but I think it's a pretty good basis to start with. It hits one of the major points I'd like to see in a system like this: modifying your ship beyond what is capable in a standard ARmada game. I'd say a large part of the appeal of HotAC is customizing your fighters to make them your own. I want to do the same with an Armada system.

This is still simmering on the backburner... I measured out and the Armada rulers and found out they also match a 3x3 just fine. There are problems with exact distances but I think this chart works well enough to use in programming some missions.

Thought I'd revisit this forum to see if there has been any movement on this amazing work.

Any thoughts on advancing the project at this time?

Cheers.

Still hoping...