NGCS Beta 1 Release
Available here:

http://files.filefront.com/NGCSRel1zip/;4400516;;/fileinfo.html

There is a mini manual/game guide included in the package itself, unzip to HW2 root folder, you will see a "readme.pdf" there.
NGCS @ Relic
Visit the Relic Boards' Mods in Progress section - there you can find a nice clean concept and applications document for NGCS, now being adapted to function as a TC for the Rhapsody of the Stars universe by Daniel Hawking.


For this lazy, here is a direct link:
http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?t=79832


You can view the latest development information for NGCS on this website here:
http://www.pds.homeworldaccess.net/forum/viewthread.php?rowstart=40&forum_id=19&thread_id=316#post_5013
NGCS News
Working closely with RL military psychologists makes a part of NGCS very easy to build. Without RL experience backing it, NGCS will be merely a cool sounding concept.

This morning, the Lavi has been given loadouts and AI settings for green, regular and special operators' performance. In addition, the three squadrons showcasing the respective crew qualities have different loadouts simulating operational specialisation.

Regular strike frigates are armed with a mix of APICs and anti-starship missiles on their primary hardpoints while special operators favour a assault DEW-heavy loadout. The ship's structure remains unchanged but certain hardpoints designated as modular can take specialised "mission packs" hence provision for ship specialisation.

The newbies here from the Karelian Volunteer Defense Force (KVDF) rely on missile firepower as they are not experienced in close quarters attacks on enemy capital ships. They however are very aggressive when opposition is light, and will follow up SRAM salvoes with close in AC, PC and APIC attacks.

In contrast the veteran 3rd Special Operations Wing (3 SOW) Lavis are armed with five APICs on the assault cannon hardpoints and only one SRAM launcher - while this loadout doesn't generate the awesome saturation attacks launched by KVDF squadrons they are employed efficiently as precision attack weapons.

Now lets take a look at battlefield performance - the KVDF pilots are great to have for missile boat warfare: salvo fire and run. If you commit them piecemeal in a assault they will break under heavy fire and formation cohesion is totally lost as all ships aim to save themselves first. They're totally worthless trying to chase FF wolfpacks where the large number of railgun turrets creates a deadly web of ballistic weapons fire.

On the other hand the 3 SOW crews are deadly as stilletos and can carve up any enemy frigate, using teamwork and superior maneuverability to close in with APICs. Thus their risky close assaults are balanced by pinpoint attack precision, concentrated firepower and superb crew conditioning.

Thus, a KVDF squadron backed up by special operators is a very effective strike force - have the missile boats put the enemy into disarray and overwhelm their centre of gravity with a barrage of SRAMs then have the spec ops carve up individual pockets of enemy resistance - then suddenly pull back the strike frigates and commit the heavy gunships (Bloodhounds) to conduct a direct action mission with the advantage of initiative. They key in NGCS missions is to identify the objective, take it out with a minimum of attrition, then tactically withdraw. Completely cleaning up a area of operations of enemy forces is a costly and time consuming objective and is, most of the time, not required for a strike carrier battlegroup intended for hit and fade attacks against high asset value targets.

Note that while missiles are deadly in the new battlespace, this means that everyone and their dog/cat will make a point to counter them. A Bloodhound "Easy Eight" evading hypervelocity missiles with a Newtonian flight model and realistic "balls to the wall" ship handling is a sight to behold!

All this "dynamic battlespace" features are self-contained and highly portable. All HW2 mods can be adapted to the new combat systems.

Oh really?!
Will PDS be terminated as said in my rather suggestive speech below?

The answer is: NEVER.

The most likely scenario I see is that PDS -and- Gundam Mods will be converted to the NGCS standard, which is the best of both worlds solution. This project will also benefit from the greatly enhanced data file system in NGCS.
NGCS Mk.1 Test Results
The first rendition of the Next Generation Combat Systems compilation has been extensively tested over the past two days and has outstripped all initial expectations, to achieve the following:


1. Highly dynamic, truescale space combat
2. Fully automated combat processes negating all need for player management besides mission planning. Ships maneuver evade attacks, charge non maneuvering targets, withdraw to repair and engage various targets on the battlespace automatically.
3. Scientifically realistic weapons performance

With that stated I will now register publically the intent to experiment with improving the Gundam mod for HW2, to the above standard where ace dogfights in the Gundam TV shows may be easily modelled using the NGCS guidelines. This course of action will be taken whenever or whereever I find that community input on the NGCS concept is unsatisfactory.

This is because we neither need new TCs nor more "gameplay enhancements" where the HW2 community is already an enormously rich resource for continued research and development on existing and released projects.

The decision point for NGCS or Gundam V3 is the end of November. No preliminary work on Gundam Mod V3 will be done without explicit permission from the Gundam Mod Team.
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