It has been a long while since I last posted on this blog. I have had some difficulty with finding time to write, as well as finding something interesting to report. Now though, I feel I have left it too long, and so I will post whatever I can think of that will be of interest to you, the reader.
It seems recently that our numbers are once again beginning to pick up. During our last shift, we were able to deploy five ships with either 5 or 6 officers per ship, as well as one officer on the Command and Control deck (acting as our GM for the mission). This was similar last shift too, with five ships being deployed, the majority having 5-6 officers. Over the years that the TSN has been running, we seem to experience a lull during certain months, particularly in the summer. This is pure observation however, and we have no data to support this. To try and track our numbers more closely, I have taken the decision to have the duty officer enter a number of officers per shift on a simple form, and record and track the data on a spreadsheet. Though it will take time to see any trends, it is my hope that it will show where declines occur and where we have spikes in numbers. From this, we may be able to determine and predict when we are most likely to have lower or higher numbers, and design missions and campaigns around this (for example, if winter months are the more active time for us, then we can have mini campaigns through the summer, all the build up and then a major campaign during the winter).
The Intel Department, responsible for designing and running campaigns, are once again taking us through a major campaign in the Cerberus system. They have in fact designed two story arcs that are running parallel to one another and intertwine, the second story arc taking place in the Cronus system. In the Cerberus system, the 4th Light Division is currently dealing with an incursion by rebel Hegemony forces, under the leadership of a Torgoth general. Those forces are supported by mercenary forces in the form of the Euphini pirates, and N'Tani aliens, also encountered in the Euphini expanse. They are making fantastic use of both the new TSN Sandbox and the TSN mod to create diverse and exciting missions to play through.
The first missions of the campaign saw the Light Division facing insurmountable odds, fighting delaying actions and evacuating local sectors. Caught on the back foot, there was no option but to withdraw into Cerberus, evacuating personnel and abandoning TSN bases. Our last shift saw the Division deploy in force to disrupt a buildup of enemy forces in a nearby sector. With sensors limited to 8,000 units, the scouts TSN Hunter and TSN Valiant were invaluable in seeking out targets for the other three ships to attack. The Light Cruisers TSN Hawk and TSN Phoenix, along with the Battle Cruiser TSN Raven remain within close proximity of one another for mutual support, coordinating attacks against enemy fleets located and identified by the Hunter and Valiant.
Actions like these are excellent for stimulating new thoughts on strategy and tactics too. One issue that comes up often is how to handle extended combats against enemies. Last shift, we came across an enemy command vessels and its escort. These ships had extremely high shielding. In the combat, it was only possible to destroy one escort vessel, and this required the efforts of all five ships to achieve. The Hunter and Valiant distracted and harassed the other vessels, whilst the Phoenix, Raven and Hawk fired on the escort. It took several minutes of sustained fire from all three ships to weaken the shields of the escorting ship (a Skaraan class vessel), and then a final volley from a scout ship before it was destroyed. The action lasted long enough that the ship's had to disengage to refuel at least once during the combat. This has occurred before, and each time we come across the situation we are able to deal with it more easily than the last. Through these encounters, we have started to formulate a clearer approach to attacking such heavily armoured groups of ships and now have reached a point where a proper battle doctrine is being established to handle future encounters.
Over the past few weeks, there have been a number of promotions of junior officers to senior officers too. The most recent was last shift, with other promotions occurring two or three weeks previous. It is always one of the most challenging decisions on who to promote to a senior officer rank as it is traditional a major step up in the TSN RP Community. Though all officers are encouraged to participate and contribute to the community, when someone is promoted to the rank of senior officer, the focus shifts to the management and running of the community. When promoting an officer to a senior rank, the senior officers discuss and assess candidates of an extended period, and do not make such decisions lightly. To become part of the senior officer team is to become part of the decision making process that significantly impacts the direction of the community. In weekly senior officer meetings, decisions are made on everything from how to run the shift for the night, to who to promote. Over a longer period, decisions by the senior officers are made on wider issues such as promoting the community and increasing numbers, to balancing crews and ranks.
Sunday, 27 September 2015
Thursday, 6 August 2015
Building the TSN Canon & General Updates
The TSN Canon
Recently, there was a discussion on the TSN RP Community forums about developing the canon further in our group. It is something that really peaked my interest and there were some valid points made.
When our old website went down and we switched to a new site, we sadly lost a lot of the content that we had posted, though some was recovered. Since then, the canon on our site has been woefully scant. On the forums, someone wanted to know more about the canon and the universe as they wanted to begin writing personal logs and stories based in the TSN RP Universe. From what I understand, it was to be an extension to playing the game, something outside of the normal shift that they would gain enjoyment from. Personally, I thought it was an excellent idea, and the fact we have little canon posted and accessible was something that definitely needed working on. We have a stable group now, good supportive leaders with development group and well established protocols and procedures. With all this in place, and with the discussion on the forum, it seems an ideal time to make a push forward on the canon in our universe.
At the moment, there is a small group in the community who are helping bring together and write canon for our universe. It is small and select, and much of what is being written is away from the main site. My intention is to have a few people help out establish all the major stuff, drawing on and discussing ideas and suggestions from people in the whole community. This is being made available to people who want to write short stories and personal logs, so that they can use the ideas to build into their writing. When these are published, people reading them will be able to get a real feel for the TSN Universe and the lives people lead, without having to trawl through all the canon information written in the background. By keeping the canon stuff off the main site for now, any tweaks or edits can be done without people having to re-read and possibly get confused. Eventually though, when the canon is refined and established, I want to publish it on the main site so everyone has access. It is a process that I hope will help keep things consistent and mean that ideas are well thought out and fit together.
The canon itself is sticking closely to ideas from the main Artemis universe, but going into much more depth and including some of our own ideas, like the jump points and jump gates. There is information about general life as a citizen of the USFP from the kind of planets people live on, to the diversity of species that make up the member races of the USFP. There is also a lot of detail on life in the TSN, with particular points about being an officer including training, descriptions of a bridge, the kind of computer systems that are used on a day to day basis, living conditions and many other aspects of life. In addition to this, there is a whole host of information written about the technical and engineering side of ship operations, as well as some science/physics about the jump points and gate systems.
General Updates
With the extra time I have over the summer period, I have had the chance to work on the TSN Sandbox. I am in the process of upgrading it to Version 3. The reason I have moved to a new version number is because some of the fundamental workings of the Sandbox have changed.
The Sandbox now has "edge-to-edge" transitions. Basically, when all the player ships move to within 1000 of the edge of the sector, a transition occurs to a new, adjacent sector. Originally, there were nav points, but in this new version I have opted to go for the edge-to-edge so that a ship, particularly a solo vessel, could set a heading and effectively move from one end of a system to another without having to turn. With multiple ships, all of them have to be within 1000, so it is a matter of moving in formation, or waiting at the edge until the other ships get there.
There are a few new features for GMs too, including the ability to create the odd terrain feature, like minefields and black holes, as well as a radiation source and a couple of supply ships to re-stock ordnance on long range patrols.
And that's it for now! I know it has been a while since I last posted; I'll try to post more often as things of interest come up. Thanks for reading!
Recently, there was a discussion on the TSN RP Community forums about developing the canon further in our group. It is something that really peaked my interest and there were some valid points made.
When our old website went down and we switched to a new site, we sadly lost a lot of the content that we had posted, though some was recovered. Since then, the canon on our site has been woefully scant. On the forums, someone wanted to know more about the canon and the universe as they wanted to begin writing personal logs and stories based in the TSN RP Universe. From what I understand, it was to be an extension to playing the game, something outside of the normal shift that they would gain enjoyment from. Personally, I thought it was an excellent idea, and the fact we have little canon posted and accessible was something that definitely needed working on. We have a stable group now, good supportive leaders with development group and well established protocols and procedures. With all this in place, and with the discussion on the forum, it seems an ideal time to make a push forward on the canon in our universe.
At the moment, there is a small group in the community who are helping bring together and write canon for our universe. It is small and select, and much of what is being written is away from the main site. My intention is to have a few people help out establish all the major stuff, drawing on and discussing ideas and suggestions from people in the whole community. This is being made available to people who want to write short stories and personal logs, so that they can use the ideas to build into their writing. When these are published, people reading them will be able to get a real feel for the TSN Universe and the lives people lead, without having to trawl through all the canon information written in the background. By keeping the canon stuff off the main site for now, any tweaks or edits can be done without people having to re-read and possibly get confused. Eventually though, when the canon is refined and established, I want to publish it on the main site so everyone has access. It is a process that I hope will help keep things consistent and mean that ideas are well thought out and fit together.
The canon itself is sticking closely to ideas from the main Artemis universe, but going into much more depth and including some of our own ideas, like the jump points and jump gates. There is information about general life as a citizen of the USFP from the kind of planets people live on, to the diversity of species that make up the member races of the USFP. There is also a lot of detail on life in the TSN, with particular points about being an officer including training, descriptions of a bridge, the kind of computer systems that are used on a day to day basis, living conditions and many other aspects of life. In addition to this, there is a whole host of information written about the technical and engineering side of ship operations, as well as some science/physics about the jump points and gate systems.
General Updates
With the extra time I have over the summer period, I have had the chance to work on the TSN Sandbox. I am in the process of upgrading it to Version 3. The reason I have moved to a new version number is because some of the fundamental workings of the Sandbox have changed.
The Sandbox now has "edge-to-edge" transitions. Basically, when all the player ships move to within 1000 of the edge of the sector, a transition occurs to a new, adjacent sector. Originally, there were nav points, but in this new version I have opted to go for the edge-to-edge so that a ship, particularly a solo vessel, could set a heading and effectively move from one end of a system to another without having to turn. With multiple ships, all of them have to be within 1000, so it is a matter of moving in formation, or waiting at the edge until the other ships get there.
There are a few new features for GMs too, including the ability to create the odd terrain feature, like minefields and black holes, as well as a radiation source and a couple of supply ships to re-stock ordnance on long range patrols.
And that's it for now! I know it has been a while since I last posted; I'll try to post more often as things of interest come up. Thanks for reading!
Thursday, 19 February 2015
Updates: The Mod, Communication and Our History
Once again, it seems to have been some time since I last posted. There has been plenty happening in the TSN RP Community, so there is lots to write about.
The Mod
We have been running the mod for the past few weeks during duty shifts, and it has been a great success. To help people who first join us, a team of senior officers have put together an instructional video on installing the mod. Switching back and forth between the modded and unmodded game was also addressed and made simple with a simple enable/disable executable. So far, there have been no problems whatsoever with installing and running the mod on peoples computer, which has been a great relief. The next update to the mod is due soon, with the team responsible aiming to update it on a monthly cycle. This should keep things fresh and allow any tweaks or improvements to be made.
Scout Operations
In my last post, I mentioned about the role of the Scout during combat operations (missions). The operational procedures put in place work well. The captains of the Scout ships in our Division have reported that they are useful in defining what the Scout should be doing at a given time. We are still practising and getting used to using them, however they enable clear communication of the scouts role, quickly and effectively.
In-Game Communications
The new focus on combat operations is communications between ships within the Division. Although we communicate well between ships, allowing us to coordinate ships effectively, there has been some confusion as to who is communicating, and what people on the receiving end can or cannot hear. Sometimes, communications would be bridge to bridge (the captains would talk directly to the channel on TeamSpeak and the target channel). Sometimes though, communications would be sent via Comms Officers using a comms channel (setting up whisper keys to talk only to those on a Comms Server group). The confusion would arise when a comms officer did not know which orders were being sent bridge to bridge (and hence everyone could hear) and which were only sent to them through the Comms Server group. With assistance from the senior officers, a clear protocol was drafted to deal with the issues.
All ships in the Division are organised into small sub=groups called Battle Groups. These are teams of two ships that operate within an area in the sector (their Area of Operations). Between ships in the same Battle Group, the captains communicate bridge to bridge. This allows for quick communication, particularly in combat when both ships in the Battle Group are likely to be attacking the same enemy.
Each Battle Group has a lead vessel and when there are two Battle Groups operating together, the communication from one Battle Group to another is via the comms officers on these lead vessels. Usually, the messages give particular objectives, or an area of operations, examples include: defend DS2; Area of Operations is Grid A4 through B5; or, rendezvous with ships in Grid E3. Short orders such as these allow flexibility for the leader of the Battle Group to make decisions, but also means the overall commander all the ships knows where the Battle Group is located and what they are doing.
Scouts are organised into a separate group named "Support Elements" and are contacted via comms officers on the most senior ship (usually the flag ship). The operational procedures are used to give quick instructions to the Scout ship.
The Euphini Campaign
The Euphini Campaign is now underway, and is set to be a thrilling adventure. The GM team have really worked hard to get everything set up for this campaign and it is already proving to be a great experience. The background to the story is relatively straightforward - the USFP have sent the TSN into the Euphini Expanse to secure the system for future expansion. The 4th Light Division have been deployed to the system, relieving the 3rd Deep Space Escorts who had gone ahead to set up a base of operations. The thing is, the jump point into the system is unstable - engineers are still working on setting up the gate systems to allow travel to and from the system. This means that the Division is cut off from TSN Command most of the time. Supply convoys can make it through when the point is forced into alignment, but when it is out of alignment nothing can get through.
This all makes for a very interesting story arc. We can't fall back to an established system easily to get ships repaired should they take damage, or to resupply with ordnance, knowing that there is in infinite supply of both parts and weapons. Instead, we have to stockpile supplies and ordnance at our base of operations, the TSAF Asimov. Everything we use - ship parts, ordnance, even energy - drains these stockpiles on the Asimov. If we go out on a mission and come back having used all our ordnance, we are going to very quickly run out!
There is also special equipment that has been added into the mission script to enable us to really explore the area. Probes have to be launched into an adjoining sector to set up a nav point, and it is not until the following week that we can then actually enter it; comms buoys and sensor relays have to be deployed to secure an area; and there is a whole load of other equipment to search for anomalies, mine resources, collect samples from asteroid and much more! We actually have to plan our missions in advance, thinking carefully what to do, which makes for some really amazing game play. It has taken the whole game to a different level altogether.
Documenting our History
During our previous campaign, some of the actions that took place were documented to provide a history of what happened to the Division. Many of the records were left incomplete however, because it was only part way through that we started to record the campaign in more detail. This new campaign is being documented in much more depth though. Mission Briefing documents are created before each mission and given to senior officers and crews, detailing their objectives and summarising the mission. After each mission has been played, there are going to be uploaded to our site and released for any and all to view. Along with these are two written logs - one by the TSAF Asimov captain, and another written in character by me. Finally, there are video logs being kept of the actual missions themselves and uploaded. The intention is to create a really detailed record of the campaign so we can create a real history and look back at all we have done. If you want to check it out, it is all on our website:, under our new 'Campaign History' pages: http://www.terranstellarnavy.info/campaigns/
Awards and Medals
Some time ago, a system of awards and medals was designed. This gave something other than just a rank for officers in the Division to earn; from ribbons showing years of service, medals for actions taken during missions as well as pins showing someones level of expertise at a particular role. The greatest problem we had though was how to actually give these awards out and allow officers to see and track them. Now, with a new add on to our site, we have a way to award the medals, ribbons and pins, adding them to the officers profile on the site. This was the missing element, and should help kickstart the awards systems again.
Final Word
The TSN RP Community continues to grow. We have a strong team of officers leading the way, and committed members who make it all worth while. Looking back at where this all began as we approach our 2 year mark makes it clear how far we have come. When I set out to create this group, I wanted to build a lasting community of players, and to train crews who could work together better than any others. There have been ups and downs, times when it seemed that it would all collapse and fail, but the group has endured. It has faltered, but not fallen. Instead it had grown stronger and better than I could imagine. In two weeks time, we will be entering our 3rd year; I wonder what it will bring...
I am looking forward to it though!
The Mod
We have been running the mod for the past few weeks during duty shifts, and it has been a great success. To help people who first join us, a team of senior officers have put together an instructional video on installing the mod. Switching back and forth between the modded and unmodded game was also addressed and made simple with a simple enable/disable executable. So far, there have been no problems whatsoever with installing and running the mod on peoples computer, which has been a great relief. The next update to the mod is due soon, with the team responsible aiming to update it on a monthly cycle. This should keep things fresh and allow any tweaks or improvements to be made.
Scout Operations
In my last post, I mentioned about the role of the Scout during combat operations (missions). The operational procedures put in place work well. The captains of the Scout ships in our Division have reported that they are useful in defining what the Scout should be doing at a given time. We are still practising and getting used to using them, however they enable clear communication of the scouts role, quickly and effectively.
In-Game Communications
The new focus on combat operations is communications between ships within the Division. Although we communicate well between ships, allowing us to coordinate ships effectively, there has been some confusion as to who is communicating, and what people on the receiving end can or cannot hear. Sometimes, communications would be bridge to bridge (the captains would talk directly to the channel on TeamSpeak and the target channel). Sometimes though, communications would be sent via Comms Officers using a comms channel (setting up whisper keys to talk only to those on a Comms Server group). The confusion would arise when a comms officer did not know which orders were being sent bridge to bridge (and hence everyone could hear) and which were only sent to them through the Comms Server group. With assistance from the senior officers, a clear protocol was drafted to deal with the issues.
All ships in the Division are organised into small sub=groups called Battle Groups. These are teams of two ships that operate within an area in the sector (their Area of Operations). Between ships in the same Battle Group, the captains communicate bridge to bridge. This allows for quick communication, particularly in combat when both ships in the Battle Group are likely to be attacking the same enemy.
Each Battle Group has a lead vessel and when there are two Battle Groups operating together, the communication from one Battle Group to another is via the comms officers on these lead vessels. Usually, the messages give particular objectives, or an area of operations, examples include: defend DS2; Area of Operations is Grid A4 through B5; or, rendezvous with ships in Grid E3. Short orders such as these allow flexibility for the leader of the Battle Group to make decisions, but also means the overall commander all the ships knows where the Battle Group is located and what they are doing.
Scouts are organised into a separate group named "Support Elements" and are contacted via comms officers on the most senior ship (usually the flag ship). The operational procedures are used to give quick instructions to the Scout ship.
The Euphini Campaign
The Euphini Campaign is now underway, and is set to be a thrilling adventure. The GM team have really worked hard to get everything set up for this campaign and it is already proving to be a great experience. The background to the story is relatively straightforward - the USFP have sent the TSN into the Euphini Expanse to secure the system for future expansion. The 4th Light Division have been deployed to the system, relieving the 3rd Deep Space Escorts who had gone ahead to set up a base of operations. The thing is, the jump point into the system is unstable - engineers are still working on setting up the gate systems to allow travel to and from the system. This means that the Division is cut off from TSN Command most of the time. Supply convoys can make it through when the point is forced into alignment, but when it is out of alignment nothing can get through.
This all makes for a very interesting story arc. We can't fall back to an established system easily to get ships repaired should they take damage, or to resupply with ordnance, knowing that there is in infinite supply of both parts and weapons. Instead, we have to stockpile supplies and ordnance at our base of operations, the TSAF Asimov. Everything we use - ship parts, ordnance, even energy - drains these stockpiles on the Asimov. If we go out on a mission and come back having used all our ordnance, we are going to very quickly run out!
There is also special equipment that has been added into the mission script to enable us to really explore the area. Probes have to be launched into an adjoining sector to set up a nav point, and it is not until the following week that we can then actually enter it; comms buoys and sensor relays have to be deployed to secure an area; and there is a whole load of other equipment to search for anomalies, mine resources, collect samples from asteroid and much more! We actually have to plan our missions in advance, thinking carefully what to do, which makes for some really amazing game play. It has taken the whole game to a different level altogether.
Documenting our History
During our previous campaign, some of the actions that took place were documented to provide a history of what happened to the Division. Many of the records were left incomplete however, because it was only part way through that we started to record the campaign in more detail. This new campaign is being documented in much more depth though. Mission Briefing documents are created before each mission and given to senior officers and crews, detailing their objectives and summarising the mission. After each mission has been played, there are going to be uploaded to our site and released for any and all to view. Along with these are two written logs - one by the TSAF Asimov captain, and another written in character by me. Finally, there are video logs being kept of the actual missions themselves and uploaded. The intention is to create a really detailed record of the campaign so we can create a real history and look back at all we have done. If you want to check it out, it is all on our website:, under our new 'Campaign History' pages: http://www.terranstellarnavy.info/campaigns/
Awards and Medals
Some time ago, a system of awards and medals was designed. This gave something other than just a rank for officers in the Division to earn; from ribbons showing years of service, medals for actions taken during missions as well as pins showing someones level of expertise at a particular role. The greatest problem we had though was how to actually give these awards out and allow officers to see and track them. Now, with a new add on to our site, we have a way to award the medals, ribbons and pins, adding them to the officers profile on the site. This was the missing element, and should help kickstart the awards systems again.
Final Word
The TSN RP Community continues to grow. We have a strong team of officers leading the way, and committed members who make it all worth while. Looking back at where this all began as we approach our 2 year mark makes it clear how far we have come. When I set out to create this group, I wanted to build a lasting community of players, and to train crews who could work together better than any others. There have been ups and downs, times when it seemed that it would all collapse and fail, but the group has endured. It has faltered, but not fallen. Instead it had grown stronger and better than I could imagine. In two weeks time, we will be entering our 3rd year; I wonder what it will bring...
I am looking forward to it though!
Sunday, 18 January 2015
Updates; Mod, Training, Website, Scouts, and the Armada (OOC)
Last year, my blog posts were few and far between. This year, I want to make them more frequent. Where possible, I intend to spend a little time on a weekend (probably Sunday as this is after the shift) to add new posts and keep everyone up-to-date on what is happening in the TSN RP Community.
TSN RP Community Mod
Fish Evans and Allard Mo have been hard at work readying the mod for its first release. A few minor tweaks have been made to ship stats to ensure a good level of balance is maintained in the game and to make meshes and skins match up. Allard has worked to smooth out the 3D models and match up the skins to the ships and Fish has focused on tweaking weapon stats. The final test is scheduled for next week, and the release date to the TSN RP Community is set for the end of this month - 31st January. This should coincide with the next major story arc planned out by the Intelligence Department. Many of the new ships and extra features have been added specifically for this, but also make an excellent addition to the game.
Distribution of the Mod should be straightforward, simply getting people sorted at the start of the shift. The pre-release test gave us ideas on how to quickly get the Mod out to people, and we have plenty of people who can help should anyone have any issued. I have thought over the organisation of it in my mind, and have thought up a plan on how to organise it should anyone have any issues, simply assigning an officer to do a walk through to those who need the assistance. I think it will take very little time to get the mod out.
Public Release of the Mod
One question that has been asked is whether the mod will be release to the general Artemis Community. This is something still under consideration and would have be done in consultation with those who have created the Mod. They are the ones that put all the work and effort into it after all. I personally am in two minds still on what to do. Releasing it will really show people who we are and what we are doing, which is something that can only benefit us.
I do have my reservations though as things that the RP Community have created and shared are used without reference to where they come from. The one I have seen used most often is the Combat Orders. Although there were crews using orders before hand, it was the TSN RP Community that came up with the formalised Combat Order: Echo, Delta, Omega, Gamma, Theta and people use them without really knowing where they originally came from. It is awesome to hear people who have never played with the TSN RP Community using them though and shows how our group has really influenced others playing Artemis (I don't profess to have influenced everyone of course! That would be rather too big headed of me, lol!)
Training and Recruitment
The Training Department have been working to develop some new training videos of our own. They are also developing new documentation to outline some key protocols and simplify some things for new officers. The aim is to allow officers to join us and settle in quicker, making them feel more comfortable with how we operate. Some who have joined us will have heard and even used our combat orders before and be confident with operating their console, so it is a simple matter of learning our way of working, however those new to the game can sometimes be overwhelmed with this extra learning curve.
TSN RP Community Website
It was highlighted by some officers that, although the website is informative, it could sometimes be difficult to find information and they would have to dig through pages to get what they needed. As a result, I have spent a little time reorganising a few pages, and changing the main navigation menu across the top of the screen. I have added a drop down menu to a couple of the options to allow people to miss out the main page, and jump straight to a specific section. It should mean less digging to find specific information.
The role of the Scout
During the Duty Shift last night (17th January) we were running another mission with two battle groups (Falcon & Hawk, Pegasus & Phoenix) and a scout (Hunter). Personally, when I was commanding the Division I felt that I was not using the scout to its full potential. For a while now, we have have the scout ship conduct "Recon Ops" whenever we make contact with unidentified enemies. This allows science officers on other ships to focus on secondary scans of enemy vessels, whilst the scout gets the primary scan with what we call "visual identification". This role is well practised now and a simple order "Begin Recon Ops" to the scout sets them off doing this.
It occurred to me last night that we could expand this quite easily, by coming up with other "Ops" for a scout to complete. At the end of the shift, I discussed the idea with the senior officers, and we developed new "Operational Procedures for Scout Vessels". Rather than Attack Patterns, which are use by Battle groups, the scouts have four "Ops"; Recon Ops, Counter Ops, Support Ops and Defense Ops. These tell a scout and crew what their tasks are to be during the current engagement or mission, giving clearer direction on what they should be doing, but the freedom to operate more independently without needing to check in for new orders.
I want to trial these new "Ops" next shift to see how they work and let command officers get used to them. Hopefully, too much of a new concept as it is simply an expansion of the "Recon Ops" which we have used for a while now.
The TSN RP Community at the Artemis Armada
A number of officers have been discussing the presence of the TSN RP Community at the Artemis Armada this year. Until now, there has been no official 'yes' or 'no' to whether the TSN RP Community will be attending. However, based on the discussions I have seen people have on our own forums and the work a couple of officers have been doing, a small team has developed that are attending, and want to do so as the TSN RP Community. Verok has been leading the way, coming up with ideas such as a bridge set up, contributing to discussion on uniform design and thinking up a promotional video to show people. As a result, he seemed the natural choice to take the lead on this. Having one person in overall charge in this way should give other officers someone to communicate with.
Final Word
And there we have it, my first Blog post of the year. I hope this has been informative, and thanks to those who read this. If there are any questions or comments about anything we are doing, just comment below. I'll try and address them in future blog post.
Wednesday, 31 December 2014
The TSN RP Community Mod - Progress! (OOC)
Over the past month or so, we have had officers of the TSN working on creating a TSN Mod (particular thanks to Allard & Fish for working on this!) Now, we have something working and ready for testing!
The aim of the Mod is simple - give more options and diversity by adding new ships and elements to the existing Artemis game. The idea is to add new ships that the TSN can encounter, including allied ships, neutral alien factions, enemy ships, as well as some new generic meshes to use in missions. The focus is mainly on non-player ships and generic meshes, however there is scope for developing specialist vessels for missions, for example a mercenary ship for undercover operations (think ST: Into Darkness - heading to Kronus).
The first tests of the mod have begun! Officers had the opportunity to encounter several new ship types, both allied and enemy ships, as well as use a couple of new player ship. I myself was unable to attend (I had very strong words with my ISP about that!) but from what I heard, the mod was well received. Since then, I have managed to get my hands on a copy of the Mod pack to take a look at some of the ships.
There were concerns that was raised with the Mod pack with regards to sharing and installing the mod; making it accessible to all users no matter their knowledge and expertise. I believe that both these barriers are no longer an issue as the people who attended the first test of the mod all managed to add it to their Artemis game with ease. After going through the process myself, I was surprised how simple the process was - it was just a matter of copy and pasting the files into the dat folder of Artemis. With our team of instructors, new recruits can be set up in minutes when they first join the TSN RP Community. Sharing should be little issue too. By putting the mod in a zip file, it can be uploaded to the TSN RP Community website and shared via a link. If the file gets too large, then Google Drive or Dropbox could be used to share the file, or even simply email people with it. For now, I think both concerns have been addressed and so development of the mod can continue.
Within the mod pack, there are a number of new ships and a couple of modified enemy ships to give more diversity. These are: TSN Privateer (player ship); TSN Missile Cruiser Mk2 (player ship); Crystal Ship (allied ship); Crystal Ship 2 (allied ship); Kralien Cruiser: Drone variant (enemy ship); Arvonian Bomber (enemy ship); Pirate: Arrow Class (enemy ship); Pirate: Axe Class (enemy ship). I have briefly detailed each below:
The aim of the Mod is simple - give more options and diversity by adding new ships and elements to the existing Artemis game. The idea is to add new ships that the TSN can encounter, including allied ships, neutral alien factions, enemy ships, as well as some new generic meshes to use in missions. The focus is mainly on non-player ships and generic meshes, however there is scope for developing specialist vessels for missions, for example a mercenary ship for undercover operations (think ST: Into Darkness - heading to Kronus).
The first tests of the mod have begun! Officers had the opportunity to encounter several new ship types, both allied and enemy ships, as well as use a couple of new player ship. I myself was unable to attend (I had very strong words with my ISP about that!) but from what I heard, the mod was well received. Since then, I have managed to get my hands on a copy of the Mod pack to take a look at some of the ships.
There were concerns that was raised with the Mod pack with regards to sharing and installing the mod; making it accessible to all users no matter their knowledge and expertise. I believe that both these barriers are no longer an issue as the people who attended the first test of the mod all managed to add it to their Artemis game with ease. After going through the process myself, I was surprised how simple the process was - it was just a matter of copy and pasting the files into the dat folder of Artemis. With our team of instructors, new recruits can be set up in minutes when they first join the TSN RP Community. Sharing should be little issue too. By putting the mod in a zip file, it can be uploaded to the TSN RP Community website and shared via a link. If the file gets too large, then Google Drive or Dropbox could be used to share the file, or even simply email people with it. For now, I think both concerns have been addressed and so development of the mod can continue.
Within the mod pack, there are a number of new ships and a couple of modified enemy ships to give more diversity. These are: TSN Privateer (player ship); TSN Missile Cruiser Mk2 (player ship); Crystal Ship (allied ship); Crystal Ship 2 (allied ship); Kralien Cruiser: Drone variant (enemy ship); Arvonian Bomber (enemy ship); Pirate: Arrow Class (enemy ship); Pirate: Axe Class (enemy ship). I have briefly detailed each below:
- TSN Privateer - this ship is designed for specific special operation missions. It is a light and fast vessel, and available as a player ship.
- TSN Missile Cruiser Mk2 - this ship is a more advanced version than the original missile cruiser. On board, it has been fitted with a point defense beam weapon, trading off some shield strength to allow the ship to deal with long range drone attacks. It is available as a player ship.
- Crystal Ship - the crystal ship is an alien vessel, belonging to the N'Tani, a nomadic alien species. It is lightly armed and armoured. It is available as a neutral ship.
- Crystal Ship 2 - this is another N'Tani vessel, larger and more durable, but still only lightly armed. It is available as a neutral ship.
- Kralien Cruiser: Drone - this Kralien Cruiser is a modified version of the standard Kralien Cruiser encountered by the TSN. It is equipped with two torpedo tubes and a light primary beam for defense. It is available as an enemy ship.
- Arvonian Bomber - similar to the Arvonian Fighter, the Arvonian Bomber is equipped with drones, allowing it to conduct 'bombing runs' against a target vessel. It is available as an enemy ship.
- Pirate Arrow Class - a light scout vessel used by pirate factions based in the Euphini expanse. It is available as an enemy ship.
- Pirate Axe Class - a heavily armed pirate vessel used by pirate factions based in the Euphini expanse. It is available as an enemy ship.
There are other ships in development to be added to the mod, and the ships themselves are still being tweaked to get the balance right in terms of firepower and durability. However, the work that has been done on the mod so far is excellent, and I personally am looking forward to meeting these new ships in missions. New possibilities for mission ideas have been opened with this mod; future development will only make them greater!
Saturday, 15 November 2014
The TSN - Duty and Honour
The recent departure of my two highest ranking officers, two individuals who I had held the utmost respect for and trusted immensely, has been a blow that has prompted me to reflect on the TSN RP Community.
What are we? Who are we? What is our purpose? Where are we headed? These are all questions that, although I think on them often, have taken on renewed importance. In thinking on these, the answers have been brought into a much sharper focus in my mind. So.. where to begin...
When I first set out to created the TSN RP Community, I wanted to create the best crews possible. I wanted to take the game to the next level. But what does this mean? To me, it is not about playing the highest level game possible, it is not about finding exploits or loopholes, or using tactics like monster baiting to destroy enemies in the quickest and most efficient way. I have heard about solo players play level 11, and beat it in a scout. And I have no doubt that it is possible. I have seen groups of 4 or 5 ships controlled by 4 or 5 players take on some of the most difficult simulations and win. I have played as part of a crew that are so in tune with each other that hardly a word needs to be said. The experience of the players is so great that the ship almost seems to run itself.
But it is not what I ever aimed to do with the TSN.
The focus of the TSN is, and always has been, on the crews. When it was first set up, a rule was outlined - 'no ship can run if there are less than 4 crew aboard.' This rule underpins everything, and I think clearly shows my intention. The crews come first, because it is about the people running the ships and their interaction.
The rank system was also established from the beginning, and for a reason. It isn't easy to advance through the ranks. Everyone begins at the same level, the lowest rank, and has to prove themselves over a long period to be able to become a higher ranking officer. In the past, crews have wanted to join as their own rank, or people, both experienced and inexperienced, have wanted to command a ship straight away. This has never been allowed. The simple reason behind it is because those who are in command, those who are the higher ranking officers, as those who have proven themselves capable, and shown their clear commitment to the TSN RP. Every high ranking officer is there because they have earned it and have proven experience.
This simply means, the people in charge of crews are the best. They know what they are doing and have been doing it a long time. It is easy to criticise or think they are doing it wrong, but everyone who has tried to fill their shoes soon discover that it is much tougher than they first realise.
What are we? Who are we? What is our purpose? Where are we headed? These are all questions that, although I think on them often, have taken on renewed importance. In thinking on these, the answers have been brought into a much sharper focus in my mind. So.. where to begin...
When I first set out to created the TSN RP Community, I wanted to create the best crews possible. I wanted to take the game to the next level. But what does this mean? To me, it is not about playing the highest level game possible, it is not about finding exploits or loopholes, or using tactics like monster baiting to destroy enemies in the quickest and most efficient way. I have heard about solo players play level 11, and beat it in a scout. And I have no doubt that it is possible. I have seen groups of 4 or 5 ships controlled by 4 or 5 players take on some of the most difficult simulations and win. I have played as part of a crew that are so in tune with each other that hardly a word needs to be said. The experience of the players is so great that the ship almost seems to run itself.
But it is not what I ever aimed to do with the TSN.
The focus of the TSN is, and always has been, on the crews. When it was first set up, a rule was outlined - 'no ship can run if there are less than 4 crew aboard.' This rule underpins everything, and I think clearly shows my intention. The crews come first, because it is about the people running the ships and their interaction.
The rank system was also established from the beginning, and for a reason. It isn't easy to advance through the ranks. Everyone begins at the same level, the lowest rank, and has to prove themselves over a long period to be able to become a higher ranking officer. In the past, crews have wanted to join as their own rank, or people, both experienced and inexperienced, have wanted to command a ship straight away. This has never been allowed. The simple reason behind it is because those who are in command, those who are the higher ranking officers, as those who have proven themselves capable, and shown their clear commitment to the TSN RP. Every high ranking officer is there because they have earned it and have proven experience.
This simply means, the people in charge of crews are the best. They know what they are doing and have been doing it a long time. It is easy to criticise or think they are doing it wrong, but everyone who has tried to fill their shoes soon discover that it is much tougher than they first realise.
What are we? Who are we? We are people who work together to make the best possible crews out there.
In every duty shift, all crews and command officers work on developing their experience and tactics, yet some tactics are banned. Monster baiting has become somewhat of a controversial issue for example. Baiting monsters and using them to destroy enemy fleets is not a viable course of action. Other tactics, exploiting other aspects of the game are also not used. It is seen by me as a matter of honour. How could a TSN, that is built to protect vulnerable alien species, exploit a space dwelling creature? It is not attacking of its own will, it has been deliberatly provoked, almost coerced, into attacking. Surely this would stand against the principles of the USFP and the organisation given the honour and duty of protecting it. And that is where the problem lies. We are an RP group, set out to create a place where we can play as real officers of the TSN. Yes, there are tactics tgat can be used to decimate enemies. Yes, destroying that enemy that has surrendered, but you know will rejoin the fight, means they are out and will not be a threat again. But then what if other rules? If you want honour and respect, you have to take the tough line of not breaking those rules. It is much harder, but to me much more rewarding and challening, and how I see the TSN working. I want to be a TSN Officer, and to me a TSN Officer is the best example of a member of the USFP. Respected and held in the highest regard. And that must be demonstrated through the actions we take and how we behave in game.
What our purpose? To be the officers of the TSN. To build and uphold honourable principles that are in line with what it would be like to be a real TSN Officer.
So where are we headed? This is the final question which I ask myself. I have a commitment to this group. There have been times when I have considered walking away. I have been criticised by many people for decisions I make, for ideas I reject, or for not moving things on quick enough. But on every occasion, I have reflected on all the things I have done, the decisions I have made and the reasons for doing so. I do not intend to step down. I will not. My work and vision is too important, and I would be a betrayal to all those who have joined and made a commitment to the group. At the beginning, I started with few. We have evolved. What has been achieved so far is something in which I am proud, and to look back on this helps to give a direction on where to go next. There are protocols in place, procedures developed. The next step is having scenarios to test and extend these. A mod is one idea, to add new generic meshes, new possible ships for story lines, and ultimately to create new opportunities. With this, we can move the game to the next level, and the role play element. Port Arthur was an amazing creation by Fish Evans. To be able to have a better stock of generic meshes at hand for such creations would enhance the game even further. Perhaps rather than ask "where are we headed", the question should be "what do we want?" The answer to that would be to add to the game to enhance the experience and create more possibilities to take on the challenges of a TSN crew. It wouldn't be to change the base game, the player ships, or their function, but to add more elements that create more possibilities in story development and encounters.
The Final Word
This has been quite a long post. As it has been so long since I last posted, and with recent developments, it had to be. The TSN RP will keep going. It will adhere to the principles first set out, and the values and aims on which it is based. I will remain committed to running and developing it, with the assistance of those in whom I trust. Those who wish to join, to play as TSN Officers in as true a way as possible, and to be part of the best crews may do so.
The Final Word
This has been quite a long post. As it has been so long since I last posted, and with recent developments, it had to be. The TSN RP will keep going. It will adhere to the principles first set out, and the values and aims on which it is based. I will remain committed to running and developing it, with the assistance of those in whom I trust. Those who wish to join, to play as TSN Officers in as true a way as possible, and to be part of the best crews may do so.
Sunday, 6 July 2014
New Developments - TSN RP Community (OOC)
It has been a while since I last posted. I had a couple of requests I think, so since I have some spare time I thought I might post an update on all the developments that have been happening so far, and some of my ideas for the future. These are all on the TSN RP Community. I'll make another post about the TSN Sandbox.
The TSN RP Community is still growing, with new people applying weekly. It seems the recently (this week and last week) during the duty shift numbers have dropped a little to about 25-30 officers attending, but I am putting this down to the holiday season starting. Hopefully it will pick back up again, but even if it doesn't, I intend to keep going! There is a core of regular officers, and even if it were just these turning up, the quality of play would still be high and worth keeping the community alive for. Besides, there was a similar trend last year I believe, and the community came back stronger.
In terms of new developments, there is a growing team of Game Masters, who have trained on the TSN Sandbox and are running missions and simulations regularly. Over the past month or so, the campaign team, run by a couple of officers, have been designing and running an extended war campaign. They have developed a pretty good storyline, and have added in news announcements that we listen to in the mess hall, emergency actions like having to evacutate the base suddenly and some really excellent scenarios. I want to continue to grow the team of those trained as Game Masters, and have started a thread on the TSN website in the GM forums for missions to be posted. These should give a good set of stock missions that could be picked up and run at relatively short notice.
I am not sure if last time I posted we had the website up and running. www.terranstellarnavy.info is now becoming more established. We have a number of different forums on the site for communications between officers, and all applications and communications are handled through there. There is still a lot of information on the wiki that needs transferring over, but during the summer months when I have more time, I want to do a little work on it. The site itself was set up by one of the senior officers, and I will have to make sure they show me the ropes before I start adding too mich in, just to make sure I am doing it right.
I have been talking over with the command staff bringing back the TSN Corps. The initial idea didn't really take off, and the corps that did get started has stalled it would seem. My idea therefore is to relaunch them with a similar purpose, but less of them. There would be three corps - the Tactical corps, for helm and weapons specialists, the Communications and Intelligence corp, for science and comms officers and the Engineering corps for engineers. I want to hand the responsibility of coming up with role specific commendations to the officers in those corps. They would be required to design the commendation, decide on specific criteria and then, after the commendation has been approved by the command staff, they would be able to recommend people to receive them. All final decisions would be made by command staff to make sure what is created is done to a high standard, and handing them out is managed. Such awards would be ones that are challenging to earn, and not handed out at the drop of a hat. The aim would be to make earning them all the more significant.
I have not finalised all the details for the new corps yet. I want to create something to track officers who join them, and make it clear how they are to be managed and run. Last time I just offered them out and left them open to be run however officers wanted, and I think that was one factor which caused them to stall. This time, command officers will be more involved, and I want corps to become part of the duty shift... perhaps a corps meeting on a monthly basis at the start, or a time where members of the corps must plan a training mission with a particular focus in which certain skills are taught.
And I think that is it. There is probably a lot I have missed out. I will try to post more often with other developments - I am going to use a separate post to talk about the TSN Sandbox mission script later on.
The TSN RP Community is still growing, with new people applying weekly. It seems the recently (this week and last week) during the duty shift numbers have dropped a little to about 25-30 officers attending, but I am putting this down to the holiday season starting. Hopefully it will pick back up again, but even if it doesn't, I intend to keep going! There is a core of regular officers, and even if it were just these turning up, the quality of play would still be high and worth keeping the community alive for. Besides, there was a similar trend last year I believe, and the community came back stronger.
In terms of new developments, there is a growing team of Game Masters, who have trained on the TSN Sandbox and are running missions and simulations regularly. Over the past month or so, the campaign team, run by a couple of officers, have been designing and running an extended war campaign. They have developed a pretty good storyline, and have added in news announcements that we listen to in the mess hall, emergency actions like having to evacutate the base suddenly and some really excellent scenarios. I want to continue to grow the team of those trained as Game Masters, and have started a thread on the TSN website in the GM forums for missions to be posted. These should give a good set of stock missions that could be picked up and run at relatively short notice.
I am not sure if last time I posted we had the website up and running. www.terranstellarnavy.info is now becoming more established. We have a number of different forums on the site for communications between officers, and all applications and communications are handled through there. There is still a lot of information on the wiki that needs transferring over, but during the summer months when I have more time, I want to do a little work on it. The site itself was set up by one of the senior officers, and I will have to make sure they show me the ropes before I start adding too mich in, just to make sure I am doing it right.
I have been talking over with the command staff bringing back the TSN Corps. The initial idea didn't really take off, and the corps that did get started has stalled it would seem. My idea therefore is to relaunch them with a similar purpose, but less of them. There would be three corps - the Tactical corps, for helm and weapons specialists, the Communications and Intelligence corp, for science and comms officers and the Engineering corps for engineers. I want to hand the responsibility of coming up with role specific commendations to the officers in those corps. They would be required to design the commendation, decide on specific criteria and then, after the commendation has been approved by the command staff, they would be able to recommend people to receive them. All final decisions would be made by command staff to make sure what is created is done to a high standard, and handing them out is managed. Such awards would be ones that are challenging to earn, and not handed out at the drop of a hat. The aim would be to make earning them all the more significant.
I have not finalised all the details for the new corps yet. I want to create something to track officers who join them, and make it clear how they are to be managed and run. Last time I just offered them out and left them open to be run however officers wanted, and I think that was one factor which caused them to stall. This time, command officers will be more involved, and I want corps to become part of the duty shift... perhaps a corps meeting on a monthly basis at the start, or a time where members of the corps must plan a training mission with a particular focus in which certain skills are taught.
And I think that is it. There is probably a lot I have missed out. I will try to post more often with other developments - I am going to use a separate post to talk about the TSN Sandbox mission script later on.
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