[CountBuggula]

I hope you know by now that most of our activity has moved to Discord in the last few years.  But for you loyal forum readers, it looks like we're overdue for an update, to show that we're still still alive, and have made some great progress since the last newsletter!

• Since the last update, all custom code used by Fate of the Galaxy has been merged upstream to the SCP.  That means that we're using vanilla FreeSpace Open builds, and all custom modifications we've added are available for use by modders for other projects.  Also, we've completely switched over to Knossos as a distribution system, which has made our beta testers able to easily and quickly update and test new features or fixes.
• Speaking of beta, our private testers have done a fantastic job with giving us feedback and we've done an immense amount of polishing and bug fixing from their feedback.  A huge thank you for our beta testers and all the hard work they've done for us!
• Cockpits!  We've been wanting in-game cockpits for years, and thanks to newcomer Limbert, that's now a reality!  We have fully instrumented, working cockpits now in-game for the TIEs, A-Wing, X-Wing, Y-Wing, and Z-95.  We also have a WIP B-Wing, and look forward to showing that off too!
  
  
  
  
  
• Another great contribution from Limbert is the new BFF Bulk Freighter!  This has long needed an update and the new model is fantastic.
  
• There have been a ton of smaller changes and improvements, such as new B-Wing weapon loadout, custom script movements for capital ships, custom controls, improved hyperspace effect, updated and proper weapon icons, AI improvements, and new voice acting for commanders.
• A few new additions from Rogue One for the Y-Wing including Ion Torpedoes and Proton Bombs
• TONS of work on our super secret Project Alderaan 
• A new offical trailer!
  

There are still ways that you can contribute - please take a look at our needed ships and positions open threads for more info.

Also, I'd like to give a shout-out to the XWVM team.  They're a great group of talented and dedicated fans working on a recreation of the old LucasArts X-Wing games in Unity.  They've been extremely supportive of Fate of the Galaxy and I offer a genuine thank you for putting up with me and my constant "over at FotG we do it like this..." comments.

This is really getting close, folks.  There's a handful of things that still need to be done, but progress is going well on them.  I can't promise anything but it's entirely possible that 2020 could see a public release of Fate of the Galaxy.  Thanks for all the support and interest you've all shown throughout the years, and May the Force be With You.

[Jethro Grey]

Impressivge.

[Su-tehp]

Impressivge.

Most impressivge--er, impressive.

Goddamn, but the models here rival the quality of the X-Wing Alliance Upgrade Project.  

I know you said the B-wing cockpit was still a work in progress; is that why there's an X-wing in the B-wing's shield indicator?

And it's soooooo nice to see an X-wing shooting its continuous lasers at the fast rate of fire that we saw in the movies instead of the slower rate of fire from the LucasArts games. Granted, that was probably done for game balance in those early days, but still....

[wookieejedi]

Impressivge.

Most impressivge--er, impressive.

Goddamn, but the models here rival the quality of the X-Wing Alliance Upgrade Project.  

I know you said the B-wing cockpit was still a work in progress; is that why there's an X-wing in the B-wing's shield indicator?

And it's soooooo nice to see an X-wing shooting its continuous lasers at the fast rate of fire that we saw in the movies instead of the slower rate of fire from the LucasArts games. Granted, that was probably done for game balance in those early days, but still....

Thanks for your enthusiasm and comments! We really are striving to have unique game-play that gives the feeling of being in the movies. Ah we do have a B-wing shield icon, I'll just have to make sure it's in the right spot.

Also new Discord Channel is here: https://discord.gg/k7ZMdmt

[CountBuggula]

Goddamn, but the models here rival the quality of the X-Wing Alliance Upgrade Project.  

I know this gets tossed around a lot, but keep in mind that the XWAU guys are extremely constrained with what they can do within the limits of a game/graphics engine that is older than ours and didn't have the fortune of being open-sourced and updated extensively throughout the years.  I give them massive credit for what they've managed to do, and they're talented enough that I have no doubt they'd be able to create models at least as good as ours if they were working with a better graphics engine.  But honestly, if you want even more jaw-dropping visuals, go check out what the XWVM team is doing.  They put us to shame.

I know you said the B-wing cockpit was still a work in progress; is that why there's an X-wing in the B-wing's shield indicator?

If you're looking at the last screenshot in that list, it's not a B-Wing, but a Z-95 Headhunter.  And that's a Z-95 in the shield indicator, not an X-Wing (but I could forgive you for confusing them).  We haven't shown any public shots of the WIP B-Wing cockpit yet.

[Su-tehp]

Goddamn, but the models here rival the quality of the X-Wing Alliance Upgrade Project.  

I know this gets tossed around a lot, but keep in mind that the XWAU guys are extremely constrained with what they can do within the limits of a game/graphics engine that is older than ours and didn't have the fortune of being open-sourced and updated extensively throughout the years.  I give them massive credit for what they've managed to do, and they're talented enough that I have no doubt they'd be able to create models at least as good as ours if they were working with a better graphics engine.  But honestly, if you want even more jaw-dropping visuals, go check out what the XWVM team is doing.  They put us to shame.

That's true, the XWAU deserve massive props for what they've done. I didn't remember that the XWing Alliance engine wasn't open-sourced; considereing those restraints they were working under, what they've accomplished is even more impressive. As for the XWVM team, I'll have to take a look, but Discord gives me fits while trying to log in; it won't give me hints to my own password (which I apparently forgot).

I know you said the B-wing cockpit was still a work in progress; is that why there's an X-wing in the B-wing's shield indicator?

If you're looking at the last screenshot in that list, it's not a B-Wing, but a Z-95 Headhunter.  And that's a Z-95 in the shield indicator, not an X-Wing (but I could forgive you for confusing them).  We haven't shown any public shots of the WIP B-Wing cockpit yet.

OIC, that's the Z-95 cockpit; I saw the curved cockpit windshield frame and mistook it for the B-Wing cockpit. Now that you mention it, the angular dashboard does look more like the X-Wing dashboard more than the B-Wing dashboard from the original X-Wing games. Especially so, when you notice the black and red cylinder in both the Z-95 and X-Wing cockpits on the upper-right of the dashboard above the shield indicator.

[Nightmare]

*quotes whole OP*

Nice job
Still, having PR split over a forum and 2 Discords is a bit troublesome.

[CountBuggula]

*quotes whole OP*

Nice job
Still, having PR split over a forum and 2 Discords is a bit troublesome.

...and YouTube, and ModDB, and...you get the picture.  We go where the people are.  We used to have a strong IRC presence but nobody uses it anymore.  We used to have a much more active forum, but people don't use forums as much anymore.

[Nightmare]

Ah OK, I just thought that keeping everything updated would be more difficult.

[CountBuggula]

Ah OK, I just thought that keeping everything updated would be more difficult.

Maybe, but that's part of what makes my job so interesting!

[wookieejedi]

Just to tack this on here showing how great Knossos is with it's animated png support:

[Nightmare]

I'm sorry but I'm unable to find the FotG YT channel. I know Wookieejedi has one with some of the recent vids but that's his own one, and the mod website only has 1 video from Chief from almost 10 years ago.

[wookieejedi]

The ModDB one here has https://www.moddb.com/games/fate-of-the-galaxy/videos has videos from very recently. Are you perhaps looking at another ModDB page?

[Nightmare]

...and YouTube, and ModDB, and...you get the picture.  We go where the people are.  We used to have a strong IRC presence but nobody uses it anymore.  We used to have a much more active forum, but people don't use forums as much anymore.

So I presumed there was another one.

[CountBuggula]

...and YouTube, and ModDB, and...you get the picture.  We go where the people are.  We used to have a strong IRC presence but nobody uses it anymore.  We used to have a much more active forum, but people don't use forums as much anymore.

So I presumed there was another one.

We really should consolidate and make a more official youtube channel but for now we've pretty much just releasing things individually.  That's another thing we can work on to improve.

[coffeesoft]

Very nice work, congratulations, these cockpits looks amazing.... 

[Erkhyan]

The XWA Upgrade project has made a lot of progress recently, and then I discovered the XWVM project, and then I saw this update to the FotG project…

I think I’m gonna like 2020, SW flightsim-wise.

[wookieejedi]

Thanks! And indeed Rise of the SW Fan Games with the goal to keep hidden from a certain Empire.