The Unsung Era
[PDS V10]

A one-night wonder release by Kenny MM Koh.

Installation:

Unzip into HW2 Root Directory (UE is not compatible with any other data mods, not even PDS)

Modify your Homeworld 2 desktop shortcut - add the parameter -overridebigfile to the Target line, outside the quotation marks, like this example:

Fire up HW2, go to the Skirmish vs CPU screen, select the PDS-UE TEST gametype and you will be presented with two short, sweet and fully automated scenarios for your viewing pleasure. There will be a time when you're called to manually fly capital ships (or direct their weapons fire) to victory, but the affairs of close-in frigate knife-fights are best left to the judgement of the crews locked in the terrors of combat.

Background:

Based on PDS Classic (7.2), UE represents the final link in PDS's experimental chains of evolution that began in November 2005 with the NGCS project. While NGCS, Second Era (V7.6), and Third Era (V9.0 Alpha) were unsuccessful in creating a new avenue for a "PDS II" total conversion, it represented a "market survey" of sorts that gave us ample data of what the PDS community would like to see in the formal successor to PDS Classic and its predecessors (which can be traced all the way back to Nov '03).

In this release you will observe a working example of the UE combat system for relatively small and short ranged, yet powerfully armed "littoral" patrol craft. The largest differences you shall observe, compared to any PDS version so far, are as follows:

1. Tactical Scale: While PDS V7.2's combat speeds are maintained (HW2 engine does not support maps large enough for true-speed Newtonian combat in the strategic scale, see V7.6), primary weapon ranges are extended to allow for both the true potential of capital ships, and also to provide more leeway for AI-controlled combat maneuvers.

2. Weapon Lethality: A few hits are enough to destroy the opponent's Spahi class light skirmisher... in theory. See below for more.

3. Damage Modelling: Thanks to my experimentation with PDS scripting in Star Wars: Warlords (the Evolution project) I got a new idea in creating a "shield" system for PDS ships without the hassle of custom subsystem modelling or sacrificing a boatload of CPU usage for the task. It's deceptively simple, if you look at the mechanics involved. You know I love working magic out of existing resources rather than get my hands dirty...

The Spahi frigatess here have three main defenses against missile and massdriver attack - you won't be facing beam weaponry in the two test scenarios:

a) Counter-missile fire with primary massdrivers, CIWS autocannons and standard missiles
b) Ablative shielding (ABS), intended primarily as a defense against beam weapons (see Homeworld 1 Manual), this hull-external expendable protective shell absorbs energy from explosive blasts and, to an extent, kinetic impacts as well.
c) Evasive maneuvering. This does not prevent missiles from proximity detonating near your ship, but have a chance to steer the vessel clear from the primary blast and fragmentation zones of incoming warheads. This means less ABS depletion, translating to greater combat endurance. It's all a matter of luck.

In summary, anyone under fire is going to take whatever measures possible to keep him or herself alive. Regardless of how anyone a talks about how fragile your ship is.

ABS is treated here as a finite, irrepairable "shield" system that once breached, represents total failure of the ship's active hull integrity measures. ABS material can be imagined as either sci-fi electro-reactive defense, or anime-style gel ablatives (ie, re-entry coating in the Gundam series). Both of these measures may be overloaded with successive attacks while strong kinetic impacts (ie, from collisions or capital ship massdriver fire) bypass completely ABS protection.

In simplistic terms, the ship that loses ABS, dies first. Without ABS the ship is vulnerable to ALL incoming weapons fire, including shells from CIWS weapons. They're the equivalent of today's 20-40mm automatic cannon, albeit far more advanced and deadly given their role in intercepting missiles flying in at ridiculous velocities. 

For item c), this is affected by your ship's main drive status. Yes, ships as small as frigates now have damageable drive arrays! Certain weapon systems, like standard missiles, are programmed to target drive emissions by priority. Needless to say, ABS is useless without maneuvering capability as you'd be a sitting duck unable to evade even the slowest of massdriver attacks. 

A frigate without ABS is as good as dead. So is one without her main engines. Larger ships in UE will probably have the luxury of multiple redundant engine arrays that cannot be taken out in single attacks.

We'll see how capital ship defense wages a technical war against upcoming strike warfare tactics and armaments in time to come.

4. Massdriver modelling. Unlike stock Homeworld 2 where kinetic weapons are assigned a percentage chance to hit, we use unguided rockets to simulate massdriver attacks. This removes the unrealistic curving bullets that magically follow ships on evasive, and additionally provides us with a more realistic rendition of massdriver performance in space combat - in the vast distances of space, they're horridly slow and only possibly effective at short ranges against maneuvering targets. However, a direct kinetic impact from either a solid slug or fragments from a detonating shell can cause catastrophic damage to spacecraft due to the velocities at which they travel. A 2 kilogramme depleted uranium bolt flying at Earth escape velocity (11km/s) is no joking matter.

That doesn't stop anyone from creating terminally self-guiding projectiles (delayed ignition missiles) or sending vast amounts of shells at planetary targets with a time to impact span of years (eventually I hope to simulate all of these in UE to satisfy the PDS fiction writing crew!), but we're talking about small-craft tactical battles at this point. How the small fish will interact with big fish is an entirely different subject for study.

Don't look at me that way - this complexity represents the enduring personality of the PDS and now UE projects.



