Fate of the Galaxy

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Fate of the Galaxy (FotG), formerly known as the Star Wars Conversion, is a single player and multiplayer total conversion for the FreeSpace 2 SCP engine set in the Star Wars universe. The game is currently in development.

Gameplay

Fate of the Galaxy is a space simulator game where the player takes the role of a starfighter pilot through a series of missions in a story campaign. A multiplayer mode will also be available. The game is primarily played through the perspective of single-manned craft, and there are no plans for control of capital ships or multiplayer vehicles. Most missions will be set in space, though atmospheric missions are planned as well in later releases.

The player will choose to play as either a pilot for the Rebel Alliance (later the New Republic) or the Galactic Empire. Each side will have its own unique ships to control. Story missions will likely also include neutral factions such as pirates, though these are not planned as playable factions for the initial releases.

The gameplay will differ from that present in the default FreeSpace 2 engine. Ships will be much faster and combat quicker paced, with a larger focus on avoiding damage rather than absorbing it. Several coding features have either been completed or are planned to create a brand new style of combat not before seen in any space simulator game.

Authenticity

Fate of the Galaxy strives to recreate combat as close to as seen in the original trilogy of Star Wars, during scenes such as the Battle of Endor and the Battle of Yavin. To achieve this, the members of the development team have extensively analyzed individual movements and moments within these scenes to determine a baseline for such game concepts as damage, speed, and maneuverability. Each fighter will stay as close as possible to its canonical statistics stated in various sources, but the final authority is the original trilogy movies themselves, and thus many attributes may be contrary to other published materials due to their divergence from the original trilogy.

Vehicles

The game will initially include a small number of ships unique to each side, with some designs being shared between factions. Each side's fighters and capital ships will have unique strengths, leading to a different gameplay style for each side.

Alliance to Restore the Republic/New Republic

The X-wing Starfighter, main fighter of the Rebel Alliance

The Alliance to Restore the Republic and New Republic maintain a focus on versatile and durable starfighters and small, fast capital ships. Most of the Rebel fighters are equipped with secondary missile weapons such as concussion missiles and proton torpedoes. Rebel players will, in most cases, be unable to outmaneuver their Imperial counterparts and will rely on their superior durability and weapon complement, as well as teamwork to engage the enemy. Rebel capital ships are smaller than their Imperial counterparts, with each having diverse strengths due to their construction by various manufacturers. Rebel Mon Calamari Cruisers are noted for their incredible shield regeneration rates, while Corellian Corvettes are known for their speed.

The following Rebel fighter craft are planned to be included in the first release of the game:

• T-65 X-wing Starfighter
• BTL-S3 Y-wing Starfighter & BTL-A4 Y-wing Starfighter
• RZ-1 A-wing Interceptor
• B-wing Starfighter
• Z-95 Headhunter

The final list of Rebel capital ships is not yet decided, but the following models are in various stages of production:

• Corellian CR90 Corvette
• Corellian DP20 Frigate
• MC80 Liberty-type Star Cruiser
• MC80 Reef Home-type Star Cruiser

Galactic Empire

The TIE/ln Starfighter, main fighter of the Galactic Empire

The Galactic Empire's main strategy for fighters revolves around the concept of numerical advantage. Imperial TIEs usually lack shields and durability, but have very potent weaponry and great maneuverability to counter this weakness. Most Imperial fighters also forego any sort of missile secondary weapons and focus entirely on their lasers for offensive armament. Imperial capital ships are much larger than those of the Rebels, and focus on heavy offensive weaponry and great hull durability.

The following Imperial fighter craft are planned to be included in the first release of the game:

• T.I.E. Starfighter
• TIE/ln Starfighter
• TIE/In Interceptor
• TIE/sa Bomber
• TIE Advanced x1

The final list of Imperial capital ships is not yet decided, but the following models are in various stages of production:

• Carrack-class Light Cruiser (operable and in-game)
• Vindicator-class Heavy Cruiser
• Immobilizer 418-class Interdictor Cruiser
• Victory I-class and Victory II-class Star Destroyers
• Imperator I-class and Imperial II-class Star Destroyers
• Tector-class Star Destroyer

Development

The progression of model work shown on an E-wing Starfighter, from Model (Right) to Normal Maps (Center) and Diffuse Texture (Left). Note that this model will not be used.

Fate of the Galaxy picks up after a number of previous attempts to create a Star Wars mod for FreeSpace. For several years the "Star Wars Conversion Project" was worked on by various teams and developers, but without any releases.

In early 2007, chief1983 took over as project leader, and began to assemble a new team of developers. Choosing the name Fate of the Galaxy, the initial team consisted of chief1983, Brand-X as a modeler and Turambar as a texturer. The initial plan put forward was to use the models and textures that had been completed by previous teams. Soon after the reformation of the mod team, however, it was decided that all new art assets were needed to compete with the high graphical standards of the newer models, and all previously completed ships were discarded.

Work continued on ship models and textures through the next year and a half, as new staff members were added to the development team. In May of 2008, work began on implementing the new ship models into the game and work began on redesigning the feel and pace of the FreeSpace 2 Open engine. Work still continues on the models needed for a campaign and demo release. The story for the campaign has not been decided on yet, though it will be set sometime during the Galactic Civil War era of the Star Wars universe.

In early January of 2009, Brand-X experienced a hard drive failure which destroyed all previous models of his, setting the team's art department back significantly. Since then, work has progressed on recreating these models to even higher quality standards.

On June 4th, 2009, the first in-game screenshot of the X-wing starfighter was made public at the Mod Database (Link) and at the official FotG forums (Link).

Newsletter

On June 1st, 2008, the mod development team released their first newsletter, giving a brief update on the status of the project and advances made throughout the month. This newsletter, edited by Brand-X, can be found on the official forum.

First Release

The first open beta of Fate of the Galaxy was originally planned to be released sometime late 2008 or early 2009. However, with the art setback, the release has been pushed back. A date has not been decided yet, but the initial version will include both a short story campaign and multiplayer functionality.

Developers

Staff

• chief1983: Project Lead
• Brand-X: Senior Artist and Content Moderator
• Turambar: Artist
• Axem: Artist

Contributors

(in alphabetical order)

• bobbtmann: Artist
• Galactic Emperor: Artist
• Herra Tohtori: Model Converter
• jacek: Model Converter
• maje: Artist
• swashmebuckle: Music Composer
• TopAce: FREDder
• Turey: Coder

Links

• Official Website
• Official Forum
• Fate of the Galaxy on ModDB