Path to Victory (Alpha 0.0.7.1 - and an official good-bye)

[YahwehFreak4evr]

Awesome mod. If only I could figure out how to get the Devastator. D:

[skaune]

Sup Mololu

Played this mod a year back and got the munchies for some space action again so installed HW2 and put in my favourite mod, PTV. Happy to see 0.0.6, but also kind of suprised that 0.0.7 haven't been released since 6 was back in August. I'm not complaining or anything, the mod's great and I'll probably play it for ages. Anyway, I'm guessing the Turanic Raiders aren't finished yet, correct? They seem to be lacking in some areas :P

Loving the huge battles you get in this mod, keep up the great work almighty modGod

[mololu]

Hmm, guess I was just a liiitle to slow with this =)

I was 24 when I first saw them.

My job was not one of great interest. Serving as a mechanic on a Vaygr Warlord's 17th carrier is anything but interesting. Most days I spend repairing or building strike craft like those damned interceptors or bombers. Talk about annoying. The Warlords never care how cheap the material is just as long as it works and allows them to kick ass in their oh-so-epic voidfights.



Anyways, so I'm sittin' there waiting for the CAP to dock. Their ships would need re-fueling and standard maintenance.

All the sudden the hangar bay's a bustle of chaos. Officers are shouting to scramble all strike craft. And I'm sittin' there, wondering what in the name of Vay is going on!



They just come outa' nowhere, firing their guns and blowing everything to hell. Green guns! I mean the nerve! They actually taint their shells green?!

Anyways, the whole carrier's a shaking under the fire and everyone's shoutin' different orders. I try an' make myself useful, try an' help one of the pilots into his ship. Lotta good that did!

That green goo stuff they're shootin' at us? It comes eating its way into the hangar bay! I mean right through the damn hull! Like it's made o' paper!



I'm like 'aw shit' and all that. Try runnin' for the escape pods but it's too late!

They're a killin us and our carrier, well it ain't made for combat. Ship's goin' down. Fires on all decks. Captn's screamin' that we all abandon ship and whatnot. we're dead. I mean everyone know that! Somehow I make it to a pod an' hit the release. I'm flying out the carrier, somewhere out in the darkness. Don't see shit... and then I hear the voices, like in my head and all!

Freaky I tell ya... freaky!



An' what's he sayin?

Well it don't make do damn sense to me! But I'm a listening all the same:

"You'll never get me! Never! Ever ever! I'm comin' back. Again' and again' And I'm taken all your souls because I damn well can! My name's MORGAN! And I'm NOT DEAD! Remember that, worm!"

On Path to Victory

A few days ago I released Path to Victory's Alpha 7. The reason for this rather spontaneous release is that I'm running out of time for modding and leaving everyone hanging while little to no progress is made doesn't seem very fair to me.

This may be the last Path to Victory release. It may not. I can't say and I won't make any promises now.

I'd like to take some time to talk about my time making Path to Victory all the same.

When this mod started, I knew nothing of modding. Now, a little over a year later, Path to Victory has become one of many Homeworld 2 mods. It's gone from basic stats changes to an entire re-imaging of the Homeworld Universe, complete with back story and all sorts of interesting tidbits.

In my time making this mod I've learned a number of things from modeling to how to organize something of this scale. Learning to mod HW2 was one of the smallest challenges. When I started I had no concept of how much work would have to go into such a project. If I'd known back then I may not have ever started.

But looking back it was a great time. Frustration did come from time to time but my memories of making Path to Victory are for the most part positive.

Incidentally, I started the mod because my relationship at the time was slowly failing and I was getting bored with too much time on my hands. That boredom and lack of anything to do focused me on this project, driving me on for well over a year. Many a day I'd be sitting at work or at school and couldn't wait to get back to my computer so I could add some new cool idea to Path to Victory.

Now I'm in quite the inverse situation. I'm currently in a new relationship and ironically, it's taking all my time away from modding. I'm not complaining, no not at all. One person can only do so much in life. We all set priorities and given the great success I've had with PTV so far, it's being put on a back burner.

You may ask why I'm saying this: Well, Path to Victory proved to me that if I set my mind to something and devote myself to it, great things can be achieved. I personally believe this mod offers gameplay and content not seen in any other HW2 mod. It's designed to be unique and allow players a maximum of fun by stretching the HW2 engine to it's very limits.

There is hardly anything I haven't tried to do in Path to Victory and many of it was - for a long time - considered impossible by the HW2 modding community. I'm proud of being able to say I did things that no other Homeworld mod managed to before.

With that in mind, remember that I won't forget this project quickly. Path to Victory means a lot to me personally and I'd really like to see it finished someday.

Until that day comes, enjoy the Alpha 7 release, continue to give feedback and report all those nasty bugs you find.

Thank You!

I'd like to thank ModDB for their awesome hosting and the Desura team for their great deployment platform: http://www.desura.com/mods/path-to-victory1

I'd like to thank the SWR folks for hosting our internal forum and of late news posts too: http://forums.swr-productions.com/index.php

I'd like to thank the RelicNews Forums for their long-standing support of HW2 modding: http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?242196

I'd like to thank the entire Path to Victory team for testing and providing feedback on this mod.

I'd like to thank everyone who contributed ingame content to this mod.

I'd like to thank everyone who's been following this mod. All our fans and supporters, thank you too!

[gthompsn]

Desura isn't working well for me. Could you make PTV available through another source?

[ajlsunrise]

How about ModDB?

[Aeshi]

I installed the mod on my Mac and have a couple of bugs:

1. All the text is just stuff like "$1422"
2. A few of the new maps crash at the "Load Level" part of loading.

Everything else seems to work fine, which is a pretty impressive accomplishment, especially for a mod as advanced as this.

[Eos]

In response to Aeshi's post, while I haven't had any problems with maps I too have had issues with the new text being replaced by "$XXXX" placeholders. Well, I had it in 0.0.6 too, but for now I've been able to work around it with guesswork and a lot of recycling. I don't suppose you have any idea what the problem is, do you? Sorry to be a bother.

[Komo'val]

The text works fine for me. Seems like a problem with the language files, i get the same text while trying to play those Chinese mods

Awesome mod btw, one of the best HW2 mods ever. Although a manual would be nice. A lot of things are pretty straightforward but there are a few interesting details that should be explained a little more (e.g. you can't build siege platforms if playing the Maanani-Naabal combo,the Vaygr hero units seem to be random (sometimes I can get that fancy destroyer lady, sometimes I can't) etc.)

[Pegman]

I'm in the process of writing up the manual atm. Progress is slow at the moment - the dreaded exams are upon me - but once those are finished, I'm looking to getting the manual out for 0.7. It'll be a big thing, with explanations of each ship, plus general tactics for each race, plenty of backstory and fluff, and loads of pictures! As you can imagine, it's quite an undertaking for such a large mod!

I'm not sure the mod is optimised for Macs, and I dunno if there's a fix for the crazy text. Mololu's the one to ask there!

[Aeshi]

Well from the little I've played of the mod so far everything seems to be working fine (the Research Choices, the Vaygr's "Pick a Ship" Sensor, the Progenitor resource maker....things .etc) It just seems to be the text.

[mololu]

It's probably a language issue. Are you using a version other than the english one? Otherwise it may be a mac related issue (I think you were on a mac?). If it is the latter, I'm afraid there's not much I can do.

I think there's some command line option to override the language files used but damn me if I can remember it.

[Aeshi]

Just using the standard English install here, unless the game considers U.K English and U.S English to be different languages.

Eos has apparently had the text problem as well, but I'm not sure whether he uses a Mac or not.

[mololu]

No, AFAIK it doesn't. Hurm... how strange. Maybe someone else has information on this. I'm afraid I've never encountered the issue, though I've heard several people have it.

p.s. I have an english game disk from the UK.

[Aeshi]

After a bit of experimenting it turned out that the new maps just take a lot longer to load instead of crashing so it just seems to be the text.

I also came up with two ideas for the next version:

1. Can you add a map full of capturable derelicts so that those of us who play Turanic Raiders can see what you get for capturing stuff?

2. Can the next version come with an .mp3 of the Menu Music? It is catchy as hell.

[mololu]

Can't produce an MP3 but I can link you to youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_UFV...eature=related

As for derelicts, that's something planned if we ever get round to making more of PTV.

----------

Double post fail - sorry

[Zephyr]

here is the mp3 from that video

[Zephyx]

Great mod! Keep up the good work!

[mololu]

Posted on Moddb but deserves mention here too.

Written by Ryuseimaru who has bee part of PTV development for a long time.

Ishele was furious. When she heard the news, she was so angry, she shot the messenger without a second thought. In her case, "being furious" just didn't really define her true feelings, because her "calm state" was something that most people would rather call "highly agitated". She was beyond rage. Once she had stuck a merchant in an airlock and vented him into the vastness of space, just because he had gotten a little too cocky. Shooting someone was actually one of her nicer ways to say "I don't like what I just heard!". Not that she was trying to be nice. That man just had the nerve to tell her that the fleet of her favorite commander had suffered such a total defeat that there wasn't a single ship left.

Shooting people won't make you feel better... the voice inside her that sounded an awful lot like her mother said to her.

"Oh, but it does!" she shouted, stomping up and down before her throne-like armchair. She had been in her her quarters, playing with her favorite pet, when the messenger came in. At the sound of the shot, her guard had come in and she had ordered them to dispose of the body.

"How could he lose? I finally had enough faith in him to give him command over that Warlord-Flagship and he goes and gets it crashed!" she shouted even if there was no one around. "That thing had cost me a fortune! Let alone all I had to do to get a hold on it..." she said, more silent now, and she shuddered at the thought. Well, she still had three Invasion Carriers at her disposal, and all of their commander were quite capable, but the greatest loss probably was what her favorite commander could do. At the thought of that, she felt a tingling sensation rise from her lower abdomen and she had to bite her lower lip not to lose it now.

Minutes later, she had almost calmed down to her usual level of anger and she was about to call her maids to clean the blood the messenger had spilled. How could he have had the nerve to bleed on your floor after you shot him in the chest! the voice of her mother said in a mocking tone and Ishele felt an itch in her right hand starting to irritate her. Then the door's signal came and she was furious again. After shouting an assorted number of vulgar curses that would have made even a Turanian blush, she shouted "Open!" and another man stood in the now opening doors, seemingly scared by the look on her face.

She remembered him from the bridge, a young man that now had to replace her last sensor operative she had killed two weeks ago for failing to notice a cruise missile that had hit her ship only moments earlier.

You are thinking about making him your new plaything, don't you? her mother's voice mocked her again, but she ignored it for the moment because it just held too much truth. The itch in her right hand was getting more and more irritating.

"Oh, this better be good!" she snarled at him and she saw him break into sweat almost instantly. She grew more agitated at him stuttering the message he was told to deliver. When she was about to shoot him too, he got to the point that the previous message was only half true and that her favorite commander had managed to get her favorite Flagship into hyperspace before his enemy could destroy it.

Oh! So THAT is how you look when you're happy...well, not as happy as I hoped, but happy none the less... the voice of her mother mocked her again and Ishele scratched her right hand absent-minded, noticing that scratching her artificial hand wouldn't really relieve her of the itch she felt.

"He is momentarily on his way here, he should arrive in 4 hours at most." the young man before her continued, still sounding a bit scared. She was about to ask him why in the name of the great gods they didn't notify her over the intercom as she noticed the flashing red light on the panel next to the doorway that showed that it was set to "Mute". Scolding herself in her thoughts, she reached out, reactivated it and contacted the bridge to open her a comm-channel to the "Hir'Votna", the "Spider's Web", the Warlord-Flagship.

Hearing that, the young man hurried off back towards the next lift and she stomped after him. When she caught sight of him next, has was furiously jabbing at the "Call" button and praying for the lift to come fast so he wouldn't have to wait for it next to her. She once had shot someone in the foot just because she got irritated from waiting for the lift. Rumor had it that an engineer had programmed the lift computers in a way that if you press the button in a certain rhythm, the lift would come faster and that the rhythm would be "I don't want to be shot!" in Morse code. Knowing of that rumor, she slowed her steps to take delight in his squirming.

Squirm and twist all you want, there is no getting away from me, little boy! her dark mind's voice echoed through her head and she smiled grimly. Luck seemed to be on his side when she reached him, because the doors of the lift opened just as she stopped. Sighing thankfully, he got in, holding the door and quickly jabbed the button saying "Bridge". Ishele got in and stood herself against the back wall, appreciating the sight of the young man before her. The ride to the bridge were probably the longest 10 seconds for him he ever had to live through.

Oh, get your mind out of the gutter, will you? her mother's said as she was looking up and down the young man's backside. There was the itch again and she flexed the fingers of her mechanical right hand.

The lift reached the bridge and the young man quickly hurried to his station, happy to finally be out of her reach. She only took one step out of the lift and felt all of the bridge crew tighten up. She heard her commanding officers bark orders at the comm-station to relay the channel with the "Hir'Votna" on her personal screen in her command chair. She sat down and looked at it.

There he was, the man she had been so furious about the thought of losing him. Her mother's voice voice was right, she was happy, but hell would freeze over before she would admit it, even to herself. His face was always as calm as now, it had even been like that when she had strangled a man to death with her bare hands right before him, just because he saw both of them coming out of her quarters. His calm face irritated her, but it also made him all the more interesting to her. She never could tell what he was thinking, a fact that also irritated and interested her in the same amount.

"Only good news please...or I might just kill someone again..." she said. All she got from him was a raised eyebrow, and a a look that seemed to say "Again? So you killed someone recently?" to her. She leaned back in her chair and scowled back at him, trying to say "Yes I did, and it would have been you if you would have been here..." with her look. It seemed to have gotten through to him, for he just gave her one of his faintest smiles.

"She is still in one piece, but the repairs will probably take a month, three weeks with the right replacement parts. We have a hole on starboard that goes all the way through to the capital ship bay, big enough for a Disruptor Frigate to pass through sideways with lots of space to maneuver." he answered in his usual and calm voice, knowing what would come next.

"I said only GOOD NEWS!" she shouted, drawing her weapon and shooting at the point where she thought her CO's head to be. Having heard the previous sentence, the CO had ducked out of the way in anticipation of the attack that came only seconds later. So all that was heard were a few outcries, together with the sound of a screen exploding and sparking. Having vented her rage for now, Ishele stuck her gun back in its holster and the CO contacted engineering to send up a replacement for the destroyed screen.

He ducked, so what! It is because of situations like this that you made him your CO... the voice of her mother spoke, the itch in her right hand coming back with it.

"You better have a damn good explanation for how you lost four Destroyers, two Assault Cruiser and resourcing operations for a whole solar system!" she snarled at the calm man on her screen.

"We were fighting off a small group of Raider Carriers when we go ambushed by a whole strike group of Sobani Battlecruisers sporting weapons the likes I've never seen before." he answered with only a slightly disgruntled tone in his voice, but she knew he was angry.

"Sobani? Since when are the Hiigarans interested in a resourcing operation so far off their usual territory?" she asked him, adding "And what kind of weapons?" afterwards.

He only answered "I don't know.", but she knew that that meant I don't know yet, but I intend to find out.

"I think they were after those Raiders and when we engaged them, they wanted to try out their new toys...I've been going through the sensor logs since we jumped and it seems as if those BC's were accompanied by a S'jeti Science Carrier. It's probably something those scientists cooked up." he continued.

"What KIND of weapon I asked!" she snarled through her clenched teeth and clawing at her armrest with her left hand, trying to fight back the urge to punch through that screen in front of her.

"It seemed to be some kind of giant plasma cannon, two in each BC, their firepower rivaling that of a laser pulse cannon." he said while looking off-screen, seemingly looking at something else.

"WHAT?" Ishele shouted and smashed a few buttons as she slammed her mechanical right fist on the control panel in her right armrest.

Lucky for the CO, Ishele didn't see him rolling his eyes at her as he ordered a technician to come to the bridge and fix the panel.

Source: http://ryuseimaru.deviantart.com/gal...23056#/d3ll7mb

[hzjd]

Oh wow, I haven't been playing much hw2 for the past few months, so I check relicnews for updates and what do I find? This is definitely gonna draw me back into the game for a while. While I'm sad to hear that the beta may never be realized, I'm happy to hear the reason why you're taking a break. And if I had ever managed to channel that post-relationship boredom into a project as amazing as this one, I know I'd certainly be proud of what I'd created. So, regardless of whether you ever come back to this project, rest assured that it stands on its own as a great game, and while I can't speak for anyone but myself and a few friends, it's safe to say that it brought some people many hours of fun, and I'm sure this update will bring us many more. If you ever fix your computer's multiplayer issues, it would be great if you pm'ed me for a game or two, if you have time.

[mololu]

Long ago, when the word 'Hiigara' rang only as a hollow dream, the kiith of Kharak never imagined they would walk the Path to Victory. But, when they reclaimed their Homeworld and proclaimed themselves 'Hiigaran', they believed they had reached their goal. How wrong they were. 150 years after Hiigaran landfall, conflict rages across the Galaxy.

Announcing the final Path to Victory release Alpha 7.1 and saying our good-byes.

The Price

Warriors of the Vaygr war fleets flock to battle in the thousands, rivaled only by the fanatical millions of the Kadeshi Swarm. Ancient Keeper AIs, dormant for centuries, return to life and make battle with the slithery beings which call themselves pirates - and any other foolish enough to stand in their way. Amidst the tumult, the proud men and women of the Hiigaran Empire stand strong against all.

What they do not speak of are those lost. Countless hulls ruptured, millions sucked into the dead of space. To the bomber pilot it is the flash of a mass driver, burning death he sees too late to evade. To the frigate captain it is the panicked cry of his sensors operator: "Torpedo inbound! Brace for impact!" And aboard the battle cruiser, all know the end has come when the damage report systems announce ruptures in all fusion chambers.

But what form the end comes in does not matter. Death is absolute. One might only pay the respect the fallen are due. Honor their sacrifice in pursuit of the ultimate goal, for there is always a price to pay for Victory.



Alpha 7.1 - our official good-bye

With Alpha 7.1 released, Path to Victory comes to an official end. We hope you'll remember this mod as fondly as those thousands of digital souls that died in your epic space battles. On second thought, we hope you'll have fonder memories. Everyone knows you don't care how many little digital souls you commit to death. The more the merrier, eh?

Here's the link to the Download page

And, while we're remembering fond things...



- Turanic Raider Destroyer, which rests in peace along with many of our other concepts



- The Snailship, which looked so good it had to be cut



- The Kadeshi Drone, which never made it out of concept phase



-The Holy Kadeshi Mothership which was just to big to work ingame



- The Nabaal Factory... wait, we actually made concept art which ended up ingame? Oh, yeah. That would be this one.

Path to Victory was a fun time for all of us but, eventually, we come to...

[Shadowgaz]

Its sad to see such a great mod come to a end

[Pouk]

It's been an honor. Good luck to you.

[sudazima]

its always sad to see something so good go, best HW2 mod evar! (sry pouk

[23-down]

Well good luck to you and the remaining team... May you find a lot of fun in what ever you do next and who knows maybe some day in the future PTV will get finished by you guys.. Or by then we may be even call Hw3 our own and everything starts a new.

Thanks for this great mod and the support over the years.

[tadamir]

All the best to Mololu and crew!

[General Kong]

May you future endevours bring you luck guys, thank you for such a great mod

[gthompsn]

I agree w Pouk. Its been great to see the work you've done. Best wishes.