The A2 Weapons Project - by thunderfoot006.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- A ReadMe, which no one will read.
- Installation Instructions, complete with uninstall instructions also. Ignore these at your own risk!
- The files needed to add in this mod.
- Backups of the stock files, because we all forget to backup our game whenever we add in something. These are here for your benefit and convienence.

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CREDITS These belong at the top, Y'all. So everyone knows who helped me out.

Gene Roddenberry - for giving us such a cool place to play.
Paramount, Activision, and Mad Doc - for making and putting out A2.
Tain_Ebaran - for graciously allowing me to use his Romulan Plasma Torpedo Special Weapon as a basis for the Plasma Torpedo located herein.
Achilles, Ameba, Chiletrek, Dan1025, elevatormusic, Freyr, StarFox1701, the Starfleet Kid - for encouragment, inspiration, and politely pointing out numerous flaws I have included in my mods before I sent them in for public release.
YOU - for downloading this mod.

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INTRODUCTION

I have been unhappy with the stock weapons available in A2 for some time. A2PhysProj attempted to deal with this. However, we were so busy dealing with how the ships moved we had little time to address the numerous flaws in both the regular and the special weapons. I changed the ranges on the weapons and somehow managed to miss more than a few. The mistakes in the files are ridiculously amusing. Why should an Intrepid-class light cruiser mount bigger guns than an Akira-class heavy cruiser? How come the Romulans do not have their "signature" weapon, the Plasma Torpedo as a regular weapon? Why do all of the assault ships use the same pulse phaser? How come all of the stock weapons have exactly the same ranges? The damage dealt by each weapon seems to have been randomly decided based upon how cool the ship looked at the time. I found the entire situation very irritating. Yet there was little I could do about it at the time.

That time has passed.

Before you is the A2 Weapons Project. It addresses my concerns and the flaws and mistakes I found in the weapons odf files. In conjunction with the A2 Physics Project, it diversifies the stock races even more. Each is now different enough so entirely new tactics and strategies are now viable options to the old ones. It takes what was pretty good and makes it better.

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WHAT THIS IS

This a complete re working of all of the regular and Special weapons in the stock game. Not all of the stock weapons needed to be changed. Not all of the stock weapons which were changed were changed completely. Using A2PhysProj v1.1 as a basis, weapons, rates of fire, damage and ranges were changed from the stock values to those which more closely aligned with what we have seen in the series and films. Since the series and films are considered "canon" Star Trek, it only made sense to make the weapons closer to that. All the weapons files have been closely screened for errors and things which were left out for no reason other than poor QC checks. The weapons and ship odf files herein are now to be considered an upgrade for the same files in all previous versions of A2PhysProj. This is because weapons were supposed to be a part of that mod all along

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WHAT THIS DOES NOT DO

This mod is not intended to "balance" the game. I have resigned myself that "balance" as a concept cannot be applied to PC games in general and A2 in particular. To most people, "balance" has come to mean, "My favorite faction gets the biggest ships and the hardest hitting weapons and all the other factions are only in the game to provide me with lots of targets." This may sound judgemental, but I see little evidence to support a different view. If you are expecting your favorite faction to have it all their own way, all the time, you should press the DEL key right now.

"Balance" comes from the player, not the developer. "Balance" means working with the tools one is given, not the tools one wishes one had. Those are waay overpowered anyways so the game gets badly skewed in favor of the player. A good player can and should develop techniques to compensate for supposed weaknesses of his/her favorite faction in A2. A good player expects the game, and any mod, to challenge the veracity of his/her preconcieved notions about Star Trek in general and A2 in particular. A good player will find ways to overcome things like the very slow reload times for Plasma Torpedoes or the very short ranges that Cardassians now fight at.

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A2 WEAPONS PROJECT MISSION STATEMENT.

To modify weapons, and sensor ranges within stock Armada II with both Patch 1.1 and Patch Project 1.2.5 applied to provide a closer to canon feel to how ships fight within A2.

Priorities and Goals:

- To have a minimal impact on the files in question so anyone can add this into a stock game or a heavily modded one without the danger of a CTD(Crash To Desktop) event.
- To make available the files in question so modders can include them in their own mods with minimal adjustments.
- To have ships in A2 fight in a fashion similar to how they do so in a series episode, movie, or other Star Trek based game. If done correctly, any player should be able to recreate any combat sequence seen in either a series episode or movie with a fair degree of accuracy. The DS9 episode 'Sacrifice of Angels' combat sequence came to mind instantly.
- To modify the weapons ODF files to support the above. This includes, but is not limited to:
a) Adjusting ranges and damage effects.
b) Adjusting rates of fire.

- To modify all other ODF files to support the above. This includes, but is not limited to:
a) Creating ship specific files.
b) Adjusting ship ODFs.
c) Adjusting LOS ranges for all ships and stations.

As you can tell this is a pretty ambitous project. I hope it meets with your approval and enjoyment.

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PURISTS, PLEASE NOTE.

I am not trying recreate the way Ent-D fights any film or series' episode exactly. The game engine of A2 is pretty antiquated and barely up to the task of depicting space combat at all. I am attempting to get the engine we have to be a little closer to what is seen in the series' episodes and films. If I have accomplished this successfully, Vor'Chas and Akiras will now be formidable opponents in their own right and can be game winners if used correctly. Further, ships will no longer spit photons like a belt fed machine gun. Combat sequences in the game will last longer and a player should be able to micro manage a fleet very effectively. Used in conjunction with A2PhysProj v1.1, this mod should go a fair ways towards making A2 a little more tactical.

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POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

This mod has been tested only within the SP Campaign and Instant Action vs. my laptop. I do not know if it will work in online Multiplayer. As always, I accept no responsibility for your computer or your game. This file was checked for viruses and completeness before upload. If it does not work correctly the first time, please go back and read the directions. Then install the mod again AFTER you read the directions.

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RELEASE INFO AND PERMISSIONS

Permission is hearby granted to use any part of, or all of this, in any mod you intend for public release. That is correct. I am giving permission for you to use this in your mod before you ask for it. You do not have to mention me in the credits for your mod because I did all this. It was something which needed doing and I had the time and the skills to address it.
If you attempt to pass this off as your own work, that is fine by me. After all, you and I will always know the real truth, won't we?

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CONTACT INFO

Any doubts, questions or suggestions, you can E-mail or PM me from here.
All of the people mentioned by name herein are blameless for anything which may be wrong with this mod. All the mistakes are mine alone.
I am not responsible for any type of damage to your computer, game disc, or application from misuse of this mod.

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COPYRIGHT AND DISTRIBUTION PERMISSIONS

THIS PATCH IS NOT MADE, DISTRIBUTED, OR SUPPORTED BY ACTIVISION TM & (C) ACTIVISION & PARAMOUNT PICTURES.

Copyright notices: Star Trek, Star Trek Armada II, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager (and the various logo devices used in them) are copyright Paramount Pictures, as are the characters, related images, and sound from the productions.