We took a vote when we made our PSGs whether balls on the tops of the ISDs were radars or shields.  We decided to base our design off the movie (and indeed several games) which all depict the giant domes as shield generators.  So, when it comes to the FirstStrike universe (*giggle*) those are, in fact, shield generators.

You decide facts by committee? How very unscientific. Darwin and Einstein roll in their respective graves, and Kent Hovind shits his pants with glee. Next you'll say the FS maps were Intelligently Designed, as opposed to brought about by natural processes.

Indeed I was half disappointed that the shield gen on Ryloth wasn't a huge dome myself.

It wasn't a giant dome because us champions of truth shot your decided-upon-by-committee ideas down, you blackguard of irrational thought, you [waves Nietzsche statue threateningly].

The shield design was based on 2 things really.

1. Lore.
... states that the shield generators and the sensors are both situated in/on the domes. There is no definitive lore to state whether the shield gens are the domes themselves, and the sensors being modules on the domes, or vice versa. With that in mind we went with the dome because it is quite a well known Imperial design, aswell as the following....

2. BF2142 animations...
The carrying of the shield generator had to use default bf2142 animations, since we didnt at the time have either the man power or the time(other things were of a far higher priority) to make new carrying animations. These reasons depicted the size and , to a lesser degree, the shape of the object.
A similar reason arose with concerns to the look of the Squad Beacon. Initially we only wanted to have you carrying a base (a disc) and have the antenna etc animate out of it. Neither carrying animations or the animation of the object itself were included due to the reasons above. Infact the initial design was going to be based on the antenna contraption Han Solo put up when he was with Luke on Hoth. Animation restraints put an end to that.

As for the look of the PSG, Im sure if they upped the contrast in the alpha of the shield texture youd get the look you are after. In my own opinion I didnt want the shield itself to be very visible since we never saw a shield in the OT.
I think the look of the dome itslef could be improved with the addition of an ambient occlusion map.

We took a vote when we made our PSGs whether balls on the tops of the ISDs were radars or shields.  We decided to base our design off the movie (and indeed several games) which all depict the giant domes as shield generators.  So, when it comes to the FirstStrike universe (*giggle*) those are, in fact, shield generators.

You decide facts by committee? How very unscientific. Darwin and Einstein roll in their respective graves, and Kent Hovind shits his pants with glee. Next you'll say the FS maps were Intelligently Designed, as opposed to brought about by natural processes.

It wasn't a giant dome because us champions of truth shot your decided-upon-by-committee ideas down, you blackguard of irrational thought, you [waves Nietzsche statue threateningly].

Sorry this isn't Crysis with the dynamic water effects that can be applied to any surface

Dang, I wanted to say that first :-P

Closest thing that can probly be gotten is having a patern moving across the surface in a very regular method (thicker lines transversing the object).   Could probly be applyed to the shield barrier as well, I think its the same effect that the Titans have in 2142.  (haven't played in a while tho so can't be sure).

Suriander wrote:

Oh yes, why is there no thermal detonator identical to the one in RotJ?

Go find the secret kit

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/4909 … 165zt6.jpg

Was that during a public game? Why are you way the hell over there?   */hint HINT*

Oh yes, why is there no thermal detonator identical to the one in RotJ?

Go find the secret kit

Of course, this may also effect grenades, which might cause problems.  I would think grenades would be the way to counter this droid.  Oh yes, why is there no thermal detonator identical to the one in RotJ?

I don't think there is Any mechanic president for that being able to be done tho.

Unless....

Its made into a thing you have to use, like the shields on the repair frigates in space.   Or if that could be made to be an automated gun thingy fireing constantly.

That reminds me of something one of you guys said in a response post about the little mine carts.  It sounded like one of the ideas being tossed around was for that cart to be used as a mobile defense unit having it's own shield or something.  Mabye tweak the cart so it has that user-activated shield?  Not sure if that's possible with ground vehicles though.

But the more control players have in setting up their own bases the happier we are.  We're (or at least I am) a huge fan of deployable equipment like our bacta tanks, generators, weapons, and shields.  The shields are a great workaround for this engine's limitation on not being able to alter the scenery, because it believably works around it in ways we couldn't do if we actually had to dig holes in the ground or knock down walls.  Giving the players the ability to set up their own makeshift defensive positions is a great addition I would love to see expanded and continued; either in FS or in other games.