AFF:
Naval Combat
Operations

A total conversion starting to kick into high gear; this is a real attempt to produce a completely original game universe using the Homeworld 2 game engine, where the United League of Planets faces off against the secessionist Antarean Empire. The AFF TC promises to produce something like 70 new custom ships, with the emphasis on striking tactical play and AI's. If team leader Alex Drake's past efforts are anything to go by, (the Dynamic Series Mini Mods) then this should be something well worth waiting for.

You can get a feeling of things to come with the AFF's work in progress download: version 0.8 alpha patch 1. There is also an AFF Map Pack (current version 1.1), and the AFF Forums. You can also follow up its RelicNews forum thread.

Looks like the mod amalgamates some of the previous efforts on the subject. BSG:FC gives you four factions to play with: the Colonial Forces and the Cylons from the new TV series, and then the same two forces from the original 80's show. So far, there's only a trigger driven campaign demo map to give you a glimpse of the glories to come. The fighters are tiny and fly at high speed like invisible specks, while the Battlestar fills your screen and fills space with tracer. The ship models are mostly sumptuous. Large explosions fill space with big clouds of permanent, persistent debris, really giving things a nice sense of scale. It does look like the big fights on the telly!

Current version: 0.3.6. This release does not come in .big format: make sure you read the readme first!See also: its own BSG Mod forums for all relevant info, its SourceForge homepage, and modDATABASE entry.

Brickspace 1 is for the old Homeworld; Brickspace 2 is for Homeworld 2. You pick from either Blacktron or Classic Space (CS) models to fly around in. At present, only Blacktron is really usable, replacing some of the Vaygr fleet. CS is not at all playable, but you do do get a flight of unarmed goldfish for Scouts in compensation(!). There's even a generic badge pack that includes a few LEGO icons as well. At present, this early release just showcases some of the new units. The HW2 version definitely shows its own Homeworld roots: all Fighters and Corvettes come as single unit squadrons.

You can follow its progress at its Development Journal, or via its RelicNews forum thread. Current version: un-numbered. Well worth keeping an eye on!

EVE Online Homeworld 2 Mod: An ambitious total conversion that will convert all of Homeworld 2's shipping to that of the sprawling ship linesof the EVE Online MMORPG universe. If you can imagine the old spaceship space trading sim Elite, scaled up to include tens of thousands of players, a huge persistent environment, a player driven market and environment, then you've got some idea of what it's all about. EVE is one of the best and biggest multiuser persistent roleplaying game universes out there (now there's a mouthful). This mod has grand ambitions of making available the four major civ's in EVE, all of which are human: Amarr (religious fanatics and slavers), Caldari (mega capitalists), Minmatar ("primitive" tribalists and freed slaves) and Gallente (democratic), each with their own wildly different (and just wild) ship designs. There are dozens, if not hundreds to pick from.

The mod has only just been announced, and has only just received clearance from CCP, EVE's developers, so there's nothing to see yet.

A total conversion based on Battleship Gothic, a tabletop game set in the Warhammer 40,000 (or W40K) universe by Specialist Games, a subsidiary of Games Workshop. W40K is set in the 41st Century, where the entire galaxy is waging war on itself. A number of galactic empires, the Human Imperium's Space Marines, the ancient Eldar, and the young Tau fight it out for control of the skies. The screengrabs look very nice (for once!) and there's no downloads to see as yet, but its generating a fair bit of interest and showing strong signs of development. Progress is slow with nothing to show apart from some nice screengrabs, but it's still active.

Current version: 3.0. See also ModDATABASE entry for downloads. See also: Gundam SEED RelicNews forum thread. Its very impressive!

This mod is rough around the edges: fighters seem too small, scatter to the four winds in a brawl and die in one shot. Ships seem to respond to any enemy activity even if its right across the map - this causes all newly minted shipping and anything hanging around to constantly run away in dribbles throughout the game. Warlords is annoying on small to medium sized maps, making them very difficult to keep under control. For best results, play this mod on a big map, and with plenty of resources. The radar range of your ships is wider than the Sensors Manager's widest view, yet Fighters and most shipping completely vanishes when you've pulled the camera just a small distance away. Its hard to get a sense of scale when your fighter swarms literally vanish before your eyes; its hard to follow. NLIPS is inconstant between some ships, and formations are often filled with twitching, wobbling units. The overall effect makes this mod feel a little small and insubstantial - and not at all epic like Star Wars should be.

But then - this is a work in progress. Things improve mightily when you get to the big end of the build tree. Some of the models, especially the many different TIE Fighters and the Corellian Corvettes are excellent close up. But I really wish those fighter models were individually larger and more visible at a distance.

The mod is still in an early development stage, and as a Star Wars sandbox for the fans, it serves its role well. Myself, I'd prefer a less ships and more polish. Current version: 0.6. Make sure you download and read that readme file first. This mod is a cluster of .big files, and prefers a pristine version of the game to work with. You can also track this mod at its latest RDN Forum thread. See also: modDATABASE entry.