Empress PvP Mod v1.3b

Contents
0.0 Development
	0.1 Known Issues
	0.2 To Do list
1.0 Overview
	1.1 Purpose and Goals of Mod
	1.2 Unquie Environment
	1.3 Ship List by Faction
2.0 Ships and Weapons
	2.1 Weapon Types
	2.2 Weapon Mounts
	2.3 Ship Classes
3.0 Setting
	3.1 Empress System
	3.2 Factions
	3.3 Backstory


----------------
0.0 Development
----------------

The Empress mod is not currently complete

0.1 Known Issues
----------------

- Ships vibrate as they move away from the centre of the map
	As far as I know this is a Freelancer bug due to the very large map. However this is less noticable on larger ships when the camera is farther out.  The plan is to move the camera out on smaller ships to avliviate this.

- Docking Autopilot does not function
	this is most likely due to the zero drag.  Unless this can be resolved you must dock manually by piloting your ship up to right in front of the berth door or mooring point.  Hitting dock from this point will automatically dock you without a cut-scene.

- Bases do not appear on the nav map
	They actually are there but are too small since the map size is so much bigger.  Many bases can be seen on you scanners at very long range once you have them mapped.  For the bases that do not a good guess with a waypoint should get within 10k of the base, close enough to see it.  The same problem occurs with the waypoint maker and ship icon; waypoint routes do show up so as long as you remember which end is which you can tell where your ship is.

- Asteroid Belt needs work
	Mining and population zones have yet to be added.

- Bases are all named “Good Luck Out There.”
	There are no voices for the new bases.  I could use bases from the original game but I’d rather have creative base names than be able to hear NPC say the names.

- Empress is a MP only mod
	Since it is simple to start up a local servr there is no intention to make this mod into a SP compatible mod


0.2 To Do List
----------------

- Continue work on balancing combat and trade

- Add NPC to bases.
- Add NPC random encounters.
- Add random missions at the bases in the Outer Empress System.

- Fix the asteroid belt by adding in mining and marking navigable passages.
- Make the Battleship attached to Downsview base dockable and sell high end Imperial equipment
- Add a trader to the Federation Shipyard.

- Set Empathy values so reputations will work.
- Set initial reputation values
- Add in bribes for some factions

- Adjust powerplants so fuel is actually limited and does not regenerate too fast.
- Set up lights on some ships

- Set prices on ships and equipment

- Finish infocards and names.
- Create news and rumors.




----------------
1.0 Overview
----------------

Key Changes
System
- one system, Empress
- significantly larger system
- no trade lanes
- no cruise engines
Ships
- completely new stats on all ships and weapons
- player flyable capital ships
- zero drag
- the energy bar is now a fuel bar (thruster fuel is also limited)
Combat
- combat radius is now 100 km
- weapons use ammo
- ammo uses cargo space

There are a few new key commands in Empress, vertical strafe and roll.  The vertical strafe is quite valuable so it is highly recommended you map these to some keys.  The roll commands are just nice to have but not at all needed.


1.1 Purpose and Goals of the Empress Mod
----------------
The purpose of this mod is to allow for friendly player  
competitions in a unique environment.  

The differences in the ships and weapons have been exaggerated.   
The idea is to create ships that are specialized for a their job.   
This will encourage players to group up with a variety of  
different ships to cover all the bases.  Some ships are more  
generalized then others but they should not perform as well as the  
specialized ships.


1.2 The Unique Environment
----------------
The Empress mod consists of a single system, named Empress.  This  
system has been built from the ground up to demonstrate the  
possibility of a more realistic and dark environment. Key to this is  
the increased combat radius of approximately 100k, and the removal  
of all drag setting from ships.  The Empress system much larger  
than any default system to accommodate these changes.  Lighting has  
been toned down to make the sun a much more apparent light source.  
 Planets and bases have been placed at different orbital distances  
from the sun so that it is clear they could orbit without hitting  
each other.

Several changes have been made to ships to make them work in this  
environment.  The energy bar now represents fuel, once it runs out  
a ship's engine will only run at a faction of maximum output.

To polish off the new environment the old freelancer houses have  
been done away with.  In their place are the Solar Federation, the  
Colonial Republic, the KORM Empire, and the Outcast Alliance.   
While only the Outcast Alliance and KORM Empire are officially at  
war there are periodic skirmish involving the other power in the  
Outer portion of the Empress System.


1.3 Ship List by Faction
----------------
The following list all ships in the mod along with where they can  
be purchased and the model they use.  For information about what  
the classes mean see the Ships and Weapons section.  Equipment for  
each ship is sold at the same base as the ship.


The Solar Federation (at Federation Shipyard)
The Federation Armed Forces uses the Kusari ship models.  Their  
ships favour missile based weapon.  They tend to be more role  
specific than the Colonial ships.
- Light Fighter  	"Angel"		(ku_fighter)		
- Attack Fighter	"Priest"	(ku_elite)		
- Destroyer Escort 	"Red Star"	(ku_gunboat)
- Light Cruiser		"Syrinx"	(ku_gunboat)
- Destroyer		"Temple"	(ku_destroyer)		


The Colonial Republic (at Republic Shipyard/Minning)
The Republic Naval Forces uses the Liberty ship models.  Their  
ships tend to have better endurance and are more versatile than  
the Federation ships but they are more reliant on direct fire  
weapon systems.
- Fighter		"Hermes"	(li_fighter)
- Corvet		"Apollo"	(li_elite)
- Frigate		"Artemis"	(li_freighter)
- Cruiser		"Athena"	(li_cruiser)
- Heavy Cruiser		"Nemesis"	(or_osiris)
- Battle Destroyer	"Ares"		(li_dreadnought)


The KORM Empire (at Ind Shipyard)
The Imperial Order uses the Rheinland and Outcast ship models.   
Their ships are heavy armoured but lack shields and are very slow.  
 They use more primitive torpedoes as their primary long range  
weapon.
- Fighter		"Firefly"	(rh_fighter)
- Light Corvet		"Kensington"	(bw_fighter)
- Corvet		"Regent"	(bw_elite)
- Frigate		"Victoria"	(bw_freighter)
- Destroyer		"Admiralty"	(rh_gunboat)
- Cruiser		"Aurora"	(rh_cruiser)


The Outcast Alliance (at Ind Colony 1)
The Outcast Alliance uses the GE Transport and Corsair ship models.  
 Their ships are little more than civilian ship with guns strapped  
on.  They are slow, have light armour, and low firepower.
- Sloop-of-War		"Yeesha"	(co_elite)
- Merchant Raider	"Veovis"	(ge_transport)
- Merchant Raider	"Achenar"	(ge_transport_large)


Universal Shiping (at Ind Shipyard)
Universal ships uses the GE Transport and Corsair ship models.   
Their ships are cheap and have large cargo holds but are slow.
- Sloop			"Adams"		(co_elite2)
- Freighter		"Lewis"		(ge_transport)
- Freighter		"Asimov"	(ge_transport_large)


Interspace Commerce (at Ind Shipyard)
Interspace ships use the Liner, Armoured Transport, and Bounty  
Hunter Models.  Their cargo ships are unarmed but have some armour and powerful engine for civilian ships.  Their escort ships are  
heavily armoured but lack significant firepower.
- Light Corvet		"Queen"		(bh_fighter)
- Heavy Corvet		"King"		(bh_elite2)
- Brigantine		"Union"		(ge_armored)
- Barquentine		"Chester"	(ge_prison)
- Barquentine		"Christie"	(ge_liner)




----------------
2.0 Ships and Weapons
----------------

Combat is quite different from the point and shoot in Freelancer.   
It is both faster with more one hit kills possible, and slower  
with well matched ships able to engage at standoff range until one  
of them runs out of ammo.


2.1 Weapon Types
----------------
Lasers are very high speed and long range but low power.  They  
perform very well against shields

Ion Beams fire continuous beams of ionized gas using  
electromagnetic acceleration.  They are very accurate and have a  
long range but are highly ineffective against shields.

Particle Beams fire a continuous beam of sub atomic particles using  
electromagnetic acceleration.  They are more accurate then Ion  
beams and have a longer range but they have lower damage output  
and are also ineffective against shields.

Plasma Cannons fire a burst of superheated plasma using a  
combination of electromagnetic acceleration and the high pressure  
of the plasma.  They are highly inaccurate and short ranged and the  
least effective against shields but deliver the highest damage  
output against armour.

Railguns fire shells using a Lorentz force to accelerate the shell  
between two rails.  Railgun are extremely basic but have reasonable  
accuracy and range along with a very combat and simple design.

Coilguns fire shells using linear electromagnetic acceleration.   
They can better accuracy and range than railguns but are much more  
bulky and complicated.

Cannons fire shells using chemical propellants.  They offer good  
rate of fire and can be made even more compact than railguns but  
lack range and accuracy.

Guided Weapons include missiles, torpedoes, and drones.  These all  
include onboard propulsion and guidance systems.  Missiles and  
Torpedoes have the longest ranges, drones are short ranged.


2.2 Weapon Mounts
----------------
Boat Weapons
Rockets/Light Missiles		- Gun class 4
Missiles			- Gun class 5
Internally Mounted Fixed Weapon	- Gun class 6
Externally Mounted Fixed Weapon	- Gun class 7
Externally Mounted Turret	- Gun class 8

Ship Weapons
Class 1 Deffensive		- Gun class 9
Class 2 Deffensive		- Gun class 10
Capital Missiles		- Turrent class 2
Type I Torpedoes		- Turret calss 3
Type II Torpedoes		- Turret class 4
Class 1 Offensive		- Turret class 5
Class 2 Offensive		- Turret class 6
Class 3 Offensive		- Turret class 7
Class 4 Offensive		- Turret class 8


2.3 Ship Classes
----------------
The old Freelancer ship classifications have been replaced with a  
more descriptive system.  Boats are all vessels that can dock at  
berths, ships include everything else.  The Star prefix indicates  
a combat craft.  Armoured Merchantment is a general name given to  
merchant vessels converted into combat craft.  These craft are  
ladled as Star Boats or Ships in game.

Boats Combatants
	Fighters
	Corvet
	Frigate

Ships Combatants
	Destroyer
		Destroyer Escort
		Destroyer
		Battle Destroyer
	Cruiser
		Light Cruiser
		Cruiser
		Heavy Cruiser

Non-Combat
	Salvage (boat)
	Sloop (boat)
	Brigantine (boat)
	Barquentine (ship)
	Freighter (ship)

Armoured Merchantmen
	Sloop-of-War (boat)
	Gun Brig (boat)
	Gun Barq (ship)
	Merchant Raider (Ship)




----------------
3.0 SETTING
----------------
	3.1 Empress System
	3.2 Factions
	3.3 Backstory


3.1 Empress System
----------------
The Empress system is divided into two regions.  The Inner and  
Outer Empress systems are separated by the asteroid belt

Inner Empress System
This area is controlled by the Colonial Republic and the Solar  
Federation.  It is largely safe for law abiding citizens.

Outer Empress System
Space beyond the asteroid belt is largely uncontrolled.  The KORM  
Empire and the Colonial Republic both attempt to assert their  
control over this unclaimed space but they continually run into the  
Outcast Alliance a very loose alliance of the locals who do not  
wish to be subjugated under anyone else.  


3.2 Factions
----------------

There are three official governments in the Empress system: the  
Colonial Republic, the Solar Federation, and the KORM Empire.   
There are civilian corporation operating under each of these  
governments.  There is also the Outcast Alliance, and several  
independent corporations and factions that exist outside of any of  
the governments.

Solar Federation
	Federation Armed Forces
	Deep Space Engineering
	Kishiro Technologies
	ALG
	
Colonial Republic
	Colonial Navy
	Ageria Technologies
	Universal Shipping
	Interspace Commerce
	Kruger Minerals

KORM Empire
	Imperial Order
	Unioners

Outcast Alliance

Zoners
Independent Miners Guild
Empress Rogues
Fugitives


3.3 Backstory
----------------

Currently not complete.  Basically the area controlled by the Republic was settled first.  As people moved away there was debate about how far the control of the Republic extended.  Eventually the Federation formed and exists peacefully with the Republic despite the Republic's continuing claims that the entire system is part of the Republic.   The Republic mostly ignores the Federation and focuses on the Outer Empress system.  In the Outer Empress system the KORM Empire and Outcast Alliance have emerged recently and both fight each other and the Republic for control of this area of space.

I’ll have more details once I figure out how everything happened.