Discussion

[JustAnotherDude]

Are the Ophidians the new Star Swarm? Because if so I like the new shtick. Do they still reproduce with eggs, though?

[Steve Walmsley]

Are the Ophidians the new Star Swarm? Because if so I like the new shtick. Do they still reproduce with eggs, though?

Yes, they are the Swarm. They no longer use eggs specifically, but the general idea is still the same. They have a new concept called Bio-energy, which they gain from salvaging wrecks and intact ships and from mining. Hive ships use that bio-energy to produce new swarm ships.

[chrislocke2000]

Well that was certainly an eventful year! Loved the fact that the small squadron used the jump point mechanics to avoid the missiles and also decided on not attacking your survey vessel once the missiles were detected. Looks like combat is going to be significantly more interesting and challenging which is great.

[Darkminion]

I am super hyped on the swarm boarders, are they replenished in with the same Bio-Energy mechanic? Is there a reason that life pods and their soft nougaty center are not used as well?

[Steve Walmsley]

I am super hyped on the swarm boarders, are they replenished in with the same Bio-Energy mechanic? Is there a reason that life pods and their soft nougaty center are not used as well?

The Hive Ships turn the empty boarding FACs back into Bio-energy (they salvage their own ships) and then use that energy to produce whatever is needed, including new boarding FACs. The Swarm is only interested in TNEs, so they ignore the life pods.

[Person012345]

The naming of the new dimension as the "aether" would probably get confusing as the luminiferous aether was still the prevailing theory for the propagation of light during this time. lol.

[Father Tim]

Am I missing something, or has Steve not posted the design of the Majestic-class battleships -- other than the blurb "an enlarged version of the Royal Sovereign with a displacement of 18,750 tons?"

[jonw]

Good grief, those slimy Ophidian monstrosities seem waaaay more vicious than previous incarnations. Can you give some details of the acid weapons - does the residual effect have limited duration, or are there ways to counter it once hit? Also cool to see the AI using EM weapons.

You mentioned they gain bioenergy via mining - do they have installations or ground forces, or is this done via asteroid mining modules?

Definitely looking forward to this!

[DEEPenergy]

Will the Swarm be jump capable

[The Forbidden]

Will the Swarm be jump capable

An option for it would indeed be nice. It'd make for an interesting challenge. Then again it might impede on the role the extra galactic invaders are supposed to fulfil.

[JacenHan]

Steve mentioned in the changes discussion thread that the Swarm had gravsurvey ships, so I would assume they are jump capable. They already (slowly) expand in VB6, so it wouldn't be a huge change.

Edit: Just realized that the mentioned post was made after DEEPenergy's question, so they probably already saw it.

[vorpal+5]

Fascinating AAR. I would love to read a new part now! 

[JustAnotherDude]

Unfortunately, Steve has moved on from this campaign. You can follo his new one, however

[Cavgunner]

Has Steve ever finished a campaign?  Not sarcastic, just curious.

[TheBawkHawk]

Has Steve ever finished a campaign?  Not sarcastic, just curious.

Well, define "finish". Finishing an Aurora campaign can mean a lot of things, and depending on definition might not actually be possible. If I understand you correctly though, I don't think that he has finished one. He usually (afaik, I could be wrong) uses them to test out new features and bugtest, and moves on to a new campaign when the current one no longer lets him test what he wants to. I think.