Blackwater Operations

Overview

Original authors:

• Ace - Mission designer and story consultant
• BlackSheep - Music and voice designer and manager
• Bobboau - Chief model designer and mod manager
• IceFire - Mission designer and team leader
• Kellan - Mission designer and story creator
• ShadowWolf - Mission designer
• Alikchi - Mission designer

Status: Hybernating; demo released; full mod dump leaked

Mods: Voice acting; new ships

Description

Blackwater Operations is a campaign set in the Cold Element continuity. Its development remained a limbo phase for over two decades, with only a demo being released. On July 15th, 2024 a leaked version of the modpack was released. Though the identity of the user "1234567890" who uploaded the dump is unclear, they are assumed to be a former BWO/CE team member.

FAQ

Please note that these notes refer to old HLP content. They may not match the actual leaked version released in 2024.

What is BWO?
Blackwater Operations is a FreeSpace 2 based campaign. The player becomes Commander Aidan Mallory who until recently was a regular GTVA pilot. In the campaign Aidan becomes the leader of the 101st Blackwater squadron. The 101st a special operations team setup by the GTVI under the direct supervision of Admiral Kepler.

What is the plot behind BWO
The overall plot behind Blackwater Operations is about reestablishing the connection with Earth via the Charon portal. The GTI Charon is a fully functioning Knossos portal on a slightly smaller scale than the Ancients device. But with the successful connection with Earth comes turmoil, misunderstandings, plots and machinations, and ultimately full scale conflict. The player will decide which side to choose during a climatic battle and ultimately what the outcome is.

How many missions are there?
There are over 40 missions in the BWO campaign. Almost all missions are action packed and filled with dialogue as part of a overarching storyline. To fully experience the campaign you'll need to play through twice choosing the alternate path to victory.

MOD's?
The infamous GTD Golgotha class destroyer has been most closely associated with the Blackwater Operations campaign. The Golgotha itself is a destroyer class vessel designed by the GTVA to be a counter to the Sathanas. Using refined Meson technology based on the original Meson bomb, the Golgotha can focus an intense blast of energy through its main cannon. Depending on the power levels used the Golgotha has the potential to destroy a large capital ship in one or two bursts at significant range. A Golgotha class destroyer can cut through and severely cripple if not outright destroy a Shivan Sathanas class vessel with several concentrated beams. The system is not perfect and is prone to several technical issues including targeting difficulty, power surges, and other miscellaneous problems.

BWO will also feature a number of other MODs including new player flyable ships and weapons. The Sol Coalition of Planets will have their own fleet...based on modified FreeSpace 1 ships as well as several new and more radical designs. Many of these ships will be fully revealed as we get closer to a final release date.

When is it coming out?
We're not there yet...there is allot of work to be done but we're making solid progress. As soon as we know we'll be making announcements.

Links

• Archived Website
• 2024 leaked version
• Release thread of the 2018 upgraded Demo
• Status of the campaign (as of 2018)
• Freespacemods.net Mirror of the old BWO Demo Repackage by Tinman