Aftermath: Battalia Requiem (tjoz return to modding)

[Kirk]

The is quite illegible. If I didn't already know the name of the project, I would never be able to make out what that says.

[tjoz]

The text was used for placement with the logo, its by no means the final sizing of it. The sizing has already been shown elsewhere and is legible.

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Something for show today is a concept of a different kind; promo concepts. I dont actually think anyone has ever tried conceptualizing  their own promo but it is an area that Aftermath has been well known for; slick promo. Anyone that usually does promo work in mods its usually take shot and slap your logo on it and spam it out to the world. Apart from the actual shot and the logo, that is the only reference to your actual mod. With Battalia Requiem, the promo in the concept below also has ties to the new interface. The new interface ties into every aspect of Battalia Requiem, including its promo. You will find this out over the coming months as the promo for Battalia Requiem has a secondary component.

Promo will be split into 3 types; generic, premium and video. Generic promo will all be at the 800 x 600 resolution for forum browsing. Premium will be 1440 x 900 resolution for special promo and ModDB and video is self explanatory. The smaller resoultions for the promo is down to internet speed, not everyone has high speed internet and many countries now run capped internet services. It may be something small but it shows Aftermath takes everything into consideration.

[tjoz]

Today some random concept artwork for show. This is part of the 'Statica' series of Aftermath. The series is a bunch of artwork that gets created for later use within the dev cycle of the game. The one below is currently being trialed with the new interface. The new interface I will start going over it in depth in roughly 2weeks time.



For anyone that has followed development of previous Aftermath releases may pick up something on the above... Memory testing 

[tjoz]

Now I know DS9 station is special to many and many try to recreate it as canon as possible. However, Battalia Requiem is not canon. Canon has no ground in Aftermath. Below is the AM version of the Nor station. Battalia Requiem is a very different version of ST for you all. That will be known this weekend (fingers crossed...).

Something special, the first shot taken of the station reworks for Battalia Requiem. Station on show for today are the Nor type stations. This one is of its first treatment test and on a test map. The ideal for the new Nor station is to have a far more formidable and menacing look and to make it look larger than it actually is (it may get an actual size upgrade later on). The station has a more war like persona to it and in environments it has a more stranger stance. There is also a second variant...

[tjoz]

Just like I put up the process involved of how the new Aftermath logo was created (progress of the logo was at another site), I will be doing the same with many areas of Battalia Requiem. This time the focus will be on the AM version of the Norway class. Now the AM Norway already had some work done to it in one of the Add-ons for Aftermath 2.0 but time has come to re-work the Norway to fit in with Battalia Requiem. Currently, the AM Norway will be the first Federation ship to receive a complete overhaul and the first to be trialing new treatments for the Federation race.

Current work has seen the ship revert to a white hull with blue paneling. You cant see it in this shot but in the ship select the ship is actually white. Its not grey or cream like the previous AM version or stock version. Reason for using a white hull are for treatment use. The AM Norway is getting a very radical image change. Plus white is neutral and with the lighting of all the systems within the game it highlights treatment work better and the lighting environments. Also ships look different in every system you play in.

Once work is complete on the AM Norway, a comparison will be made between Stock, the previous AM Norway version and the new AM version.

[FarShot]

I might pick up Legacy again when this comes out.

[Bones]

I might pick up Legacy again when this comes out.

...now who did I sell my copy to ...

[tjoz]

Over the past few months, Dagger from CombatAce has had exclusive hands on access to the upcoming release Battalia Requiem. Its something I decided on a long time ago was to allow different sites access to Aftermath material. CombatAce being the first to get a hands on preview of Battalia Requiem. Recently CombatAce did a feature for Aftermath and focused on the upcoming release; Battalia Requiem.

A lot of the material in it has been taken from small interviews here and there, hands on testing, various promo releases over the previous months and the staff members own input into how things are shaping up. The review does jump back and forth in a few areas mainly due to the previous promo being scattered everywhere and some can be traced back to late last year. In the review you get to see a few bits and pieces into what is to come.

CombatAce feature review: Aftermath Battalia Requiem

This is the first time I have let a site have hands on access to an early build of an upcoming release.

[tjoz]

A few months late, here is the official announcement ofor Aftermath: Battalia Requiem. Listed in the announcement is the path that will be taken for the latest release and what is beyond in the future. A new direction for the Aftermath franchise.

ModDB alternate video link

Aftermath first began way back in late December 2006 as an untitled mod. At first it was just a small interface mod that changed the stock interface of Legacy for a more user friendly type interface that saw reductions in lag and some new backdrops. For the next six months, this small untitled mod slowly grew into a new total conversion mod; Aftermath. On the sixth month, the game changed forever...



The smallest of all the total conversion mods for Legacy began making changes to the game that kept it at the forefront of the modding community; game play advancements. Spanning a total of 4 major releases and 12 minor releases over 3 years, Aftermath kept the community in a constant cycle of activity. That all ended in March 2009. Development support of the Aftermath 2.0 release had come to an end. The Aftermath team was soon disbanded soon after. A new major release for Aftermath was planned; Aftermath 3.0. Within months that release was scrapped. Instead of quitting, work continued on a new untitled release but at a much slower pace than normal. Work began on creating a brand new Aftermath release starting from scratch...



After several months of uncertainty, that untitled project became Battalia Requiem (battlefield of the fallen). The darkest of all Aftermath releases yet the most grand in scale. The name was chosen in memory of all that had come before that had since passed on and also for the last Aftermath release. The final battle. This final battle is waged within a region of space known as the Berratta Verge. A long fought battle tore this region of space in which the stories of the scarcely populated natives of this region refer to it as the battle between Heaven and Hell. The ones that participated in this battle that tore this region of space apart have long passed leaving the Berratta Verge split into two distinct sectors representing the result of these two factions. Since the collapse of the Borg Transwarp network, this region of space has now been discovered by the other races of the galaxy. Though this region of space has many secrets it has kept hidden for so long, all is not as it seems in this region of space.



With inspiration taken from games like Mass Effect (both 1 and 2) and Darksiders; Aftermath Battalia Requiem is the least Star Trek influenced release for what is still essentially a Star Trek mod. With next to no Star Trek influence, Battalia Requiem is doing something no other Legacy mod is; standing completely on its own and running under its own momentum. The only reference to Star Trek canon is the collapse of the Borg Collective. No canon look, no canon feel and certainly no historical battles of canon events are present in Battalia Requiem. Battalia Requiem is the first representation of Legacy as a completely different game. No throw back to ideals of yesterday, Battalia Requiem is a re-imagined version of Star Trek in a much darker portrayal. Less technical and more brutal. Unforgiving and savage. An apocalyptic type realization of the Star Trek franchise.



With massive advancements to the core game engine, Battalia Requiem is well on track to going out on a high note. Everything from the way the game plays, the look of the ships and the environments will all be unique to Battalia Requiem. With a heavily stylized look and feel, Battalia Requiem is to be the last Star Trek version of Aftermath. With inspiration ranging from other games right through to music videos, K-pop and carbon fiber; Battalia Requiem is ready to leave the Star Trek franchise behind. The departure from the Star Trek franchise is reason for the state of Battalia Requiem. The final send off. The uniqueness of Battalia Requiem is to pave way for non Star Trek versions of Aftermath.

   

[tjoz]

New download for Aftermath:

Aftermath: Nepera Dissi (Battalia Requiem reject)

This is one of the maps that was originally made for the Aftermath 3.0 release and spawned the start of Battalia Requiem but since all content made after it; it really doesnt fit in with the release anymore. Plus I dont like it that much either. This map would not have held up well against the other ones that are in the release. Nepera Dissi was also a testing ground for some of the new techniques that are found in the Battalia Requiem map set. The map is very dated, was made last year.

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Compatiablity: Aftermath 2.0 and above

Map name: Nepera Dissi
Mode: Death Match
Players: 6

Description:

Nepera Dissi was the first maps made for the upcoming release Battalia Requiem but due to the level of content that is being created for that release, this map did not fit in with the overall project.

Nepera Dissi was the missing link to the entry into the Berratta Verge and also the last Borg stronghold before this new region of space. The Borg set up their stronghold within this system as they were losing too many of their ships inside the systems of the Berratta Verge. With their ships being destroyed by an unkown source, entry into this region of space was a long fought battle for the Borg to understand this area.
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There will be more little releases like this by the time Battalia Requiem drops  ;)

[tjoz]

The second dev cycle is now underway for Battalia Requiem. Doing things in cycles so I dont overload myself with too much at one time. For this cycle most of the concepts shown in the first cycle enter their dev cycles so the interface and GBS feature make the transition from concept to in-game. Interesting times for those two areas.. For today is one of the new systems that will be in the release, Esio. Esio is the lead map of the second dev cycle where the bulk of all testing gets done in. Esio has the most advanced lighting set up currently present to mimic a realistic lighting environment. Light and shadow showing in the right places rather than randomly and against normal conventions. The lighting set up in Esio is also set up specifically for the reflective ships that are being made. Instead of the toothpaste look; many of the ships now actually look they are made from metal. A couple ships that really show the map off are the Romulan Gryphon and the AM Centaur that is being developed. The environment gives the ships a complete new look. The AM Centaur progress will be shown over the next few days.

Once the lighting set up is finalized, it will be carried over to all of the other system maps to portray more realistic light and shadow. The intrepid shot above shows how far along it is, its slightly off at the moment but it shows the direction where things are going. Esio also has a lot of placeholder content in it. The final version of Esio will look different to how it currently is.

[086gf]

Wow that looks amazing. Keep up the awesome work.

[tjoz]

For Battalia Requiem, all of the races are getting mass overhauls of pretty much everything. The ships are no different. Breaking away from tradition is something that the Romulan race will go through; main thing being green ships. In BR, very few Romulan ships will actually be the standard green colour. Here is an update version of the AM Heavy Defender. From an earlier build, the changes have been a switch to a gold tinted hull and a frosted metallic texture effect. Also updated are new detailing effects to give the ship a velvet/suede like look. Initially to be white, the gold treatment worked very well for the ship and will be further tested on other Romulan ships.

As a whole, the Romulan ships may make a permanent shift over to gold coloured ships as currently trials on the other ships are coming up pretty good. It is a big difference in terms of presence as their fleet now has new persona's to play with.

[tjoz]

The ship above is actually the Vengeance class and not the Heavy Defender. Can always change their names around though  Heavy Defender is also being worked on too.

Next up is one of the Klingon ships; the Deathrite. I rarely show how Klingon ships are looking at the moment as a lot of them are the ships that get used in the reflection testing. This one though has just started its initial work stage for its overhaul. Like the Romulans, the Klingons too are ditching the green ships theme as for a race that is war like, the green ships do not match that persona. Instead, the Klingon ships will be going for a bone colour look with a red tint. The ships look more older and have a far more aggressive/intimidating look to them.

When you play BR, at the ship select screen many if not all ships will look strange. The ships are being developed for specific environments and not for pretty things in the ship select screen. The ship select screen is not an environment.

[tjoz]

Here is your very teaser look at the Terran Philadelphia class.



This ships existence was known earlier in the year when there would be a third variant of the Proxima family in Aftermath: the Philadelphia class. The Proxima Refit is the base for the Philadelphia class for the Terran race but unlike slapping some yellow stickers on the ship ; she will have a far more aggressive look over the existing Proxima Refit. Only in its initial stages, the Philadelphia class draws heavily on design elements from today's battleships plus use of carbon fiber and LED treatments to have a more brutal stance when in flight. The Philadelphia class will exist as a Terran only ship; there are no plans to have a similar ship sit above the Proxima Refit for the Federation.

[tjoz]

Borg today and also new system. Usually keep new systems as separate promo but was testing Borg out aswell. This is the first time in a couple years the Borg have had any further work done to them. They all know have an ice/frost treatment applied to them which in certain systems come up really well. For today I will show how the TOS Cube looks. The system is Nullabyron which has a proto light set up to mimic heat and mirages. The reflective and metalic ships give off a shimer/mirage like effect when on this map and normal ships give off brighter bursts of light. This is the first time a treatment has been applied to an entire system. The whole set up is to mimic a desert like environment. The Borg though show off a different side to their ships with their ice/frost treatments that they have; the treatments allow the Borg ships to show more characteristics rather than a plain grey look.



Video footage was also taken of the Borg tests in the new system.

[tjoz]

Two shots for today of the latest build of the TNG Diamond. The ship had a weird look before with strange purple glows but they gone now. They green. The ship has also had an ice treatment applied to it. The treatment makes the Borg ships more 'colder' than what they use to look like before plus it shows up detail they have always had but never came through from the way they were set up. This was the first Borg ship I started on but will go back in to do more work on it. Want to give it a more aggressive look than the awkward one it had before.

[tjoz]

Video footage of the new TOS Cube today, finally put it up over at YouTube and ModDB. Same cube that was shown a few days ago on the new system Nullabyron.

Will also be thinking about closing down the main Aftermath site, simple reason being just dont have the time to update it anymore. Will see at the end of the month.

[tjoz]

Last few things to clear out then can go in and start on some more things. Will show both the AM TNG Sphere and the Terran Centaur. The Sphere is in its first stages. Out of the Borg ships that were first done a couple years ago the TNG Sphere I did not like at all... So its now back to its stock look with a few enhancments. It has an ice treatment applied to it but not in the same intensity as the TNG Diamond or the TOS Cube. At this stage, the Sphere may not adopt an ice treatment like the higher Borg ships. May give the lower level Borg ships a different treatment. But the Sphere will be changing again.



Now the AM Centaur. Due to both the Steamrunner and Norway being in the Federation for the TNG era; the decision to make the Centaur a Terran only ship was a lot easier and allows more room to develop it further as a Terran ship. Having all 3 of them under the Federation it blurs the lines of what role each of the 3 had. As they are all essentially cruisers within the game, the room to develop each one further is very limited as they step on each others toes.Now that the Centaur is a Terran only ship, it allows for a more stronger presence and identity within the game. Currently having new nacelles, revised hull detailing and a few other minor changes; the Centaur is still in its early stages of development. Like the Philadelphia, it will take on similar characteristics to make the Terrans stand out from all other offerings within the community. The Terrans are being developed as a fully fledged race and not a bunch of Federation ships with yellow stickers on them.

[tjoz]

New stuff for today, the AM Ravenous. As everyone knows, BR is a complete overhaul of both Legacy and Aftermath and the release will upset people over how some areas are handled. There are many ships within Legacy that simply do not fit the races they were meant for; the Ravenous being one of them. Currently in the Legacy community (stock and all mods), the Ravenous is a Klingon ship. In BR, the ship makes a race change over to the Romulans. Under the Klingons, the ship is out of place in terms of progression. Its down as a TOS era ship but compared to all previous ships and the ships that proceed it; it just does not fit in. Having Klingon treatments applied to it just didnt work either so it now is taking steps to become a part of the Romulan fleet. Initial treatment work has so far proved the ships works far better as a Romulan ship than a Klingon ship. The Ravenous also fits in more with the progression of the Romulan fleet.



At this stage, its era alignment is not confirmed but is currently sitting in the TOS era for testing purposes. The AM Ravenous is not the first ship to change races for Battalia Requiem and certainly wont be the last. Along with the Centaur, the Ravenous is the second confirmed ship to change races within Aftermath. In the coming weeks I might show one of the ships that have now become a part of the Vulcan fleet. Every ship in Aftermath is being developed further towards a certain goal; to set the release apart from every other offering. The entire race fleet structure is being changed to eliminate the Federation bias that Legacy came with. Ships will change races, small amounts of ships will be added and some ships may get dropped completely from the game.