Science Office Report
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"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom."

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Welcome to my fifteenth public report as a Science Officer, on time! (My Command Attachй has started fearing for my health... ;) ):

Science Office News:

  1. First up: A little Science Office competition for all to enjoy, even the Fleet Commander if he wants: The Science quotes Webhunt!
    The science Office reports all start with a Quote... but they are all without references! Find the 15 references on the web and gain points. The one with the most points wins the medal(s) - an IS-SR for the winner and a IS-BR for the second place. You receive 1 point each for:
    • Who's the Quote from?
    • When was the Quote spoken/written?
    • At what occasion?
    • Your reference. (A believable site URL where you found it - it's a webhunt after all.)
    In case a quote is incorrect or a modified version of something, more points can be gained with more specific data. You have two weeks to send me 1 mail with everything on all 15 quotes. Have fun looking about:)
    More data at http://www.ehtiecorps.org/competitions/details.asp?ID=321
  2. Lots and lots of patching news again this week, as the XvT/BoP/TIE95 Ship Patch project proceeds nicely along where we left off last week. I have completed moving the other half of the fighter patches to the "tienew1" slot in XvT and released several new patches. A layout of what has been done this week:
    • I-7 Howlrunner: Released for XvT now as well (XWA patch has been around for a while.).
    • Spectre Missile Boat: updated, tested and re-released for XvT and BoP. (Still replaces the MIS because of its weaponry.)
    • TIE Assault: This "old skool TIE Advanced" is now available for XvT. "The TIE Assault is a space superiority fighter. Excellent multi-role craft from which Lord Darth Vader's TIE Advanced x1 Prototype was derived. It was later replaced by the TIE Advanced." 2 green lasers, shields, no hyperdrive.
    • TIE Drone: Released for XvT. "Drone/Droid fighter deployed in overwhelming numbers. In use where craft production is easier then training pilots and as a sentry craft throughout the Empire. Highly manoeuvrable." (note: Obviously this patch is not flyable)
    • TIE Experimental Mk.I: Released for XvT. "Brief encounters with this star fighter revealed its exceptional speed and manoeuvrability. Unfortunately, a powerful turbo laser was also discovered." (Already in XWA)
    • TIE Sentinel: Released for XvT. "Long range sentry and reconnaissance craft. Typically based at deep space outposts and customs checks. The updated shielded version of Avenger Squadron is known as the "TIE Shadow"." (As TIE Shadow, Limited use restricted to missions that include Avenger Squadron. XWA version coming up)
    • Corellian Gunship: Released for XvT. "Light star ship. The most heavily armed of the Corvette class star ships. An excellent anti-star fighter platform."
    • Marauder Corvette: made a patch, tested and released for XvT. "Light combat cruiser not powerful enough to engage heavy Imperial Navy ships, but well-suited for system patrols and smuggling interdiction efforts." Patch features optional M-CRV Tripidium/Tau Squadron textures. (This is obviously limited use.)
    • E-Wing: Made the patch and released as new IW craft. "The E-Wing is one of the newest New Republic fighters in existance. It combines great speed with heavy firepower, and is a match for nearly any Imperial Fighter." (XWA version on the way as well)
    • Ares Class X-Wing: Made the patch and re-released as new IW craft. (Limited use restricted to Ares Squadron)
  3. Most these fighters have been moved to "tienew1", the slot right after the T/D (save the TIE Sentinel and TIE Experimental which have gone to "tienew2"). The two Corvettes have been moved to the "newfreighter" slot, right after the HFL. Sadly these still don't work with the fighter patches but this will be addressed ASAP with a different patching system. This operation, now finished, has mostly served as a preparation for such a new patcher - though more patches are surely coming up:)
  4. More patches for XvT are coming up, among which the Cloak Shaped Fighter for XvT, the TIE Phantom and the Lancer Frigate. For XWA the TIE Sentinel/Shadow, E-Wing, S/Y-Wing and Phantom should be around soon as well. A note on these XWA Patches. Because I want these craft released for EH use now but I haven't found the time (or people) yet to make proper XWA level OPTs for them they will be using updated XvT level OPTs. These will be updated ASAP, but at least everyone can already use them for their missions and such.
  5. Again: Because of the numerous questions about this matter I'd like to explain how the XPinstaller works. XP Batch Installer v0.1: "Simple utility that will allow Windows XP users get around XP's limited DOS shell support to install EH custom craft on their computers. Unzip XPInstaller to your \EHPatch folder. Usage: XPInstaller (Note: The *.bat extension must be included or the program will not be able to find the batch file.). Use the XPInstaller if you're running Windows XP or 2000. Note that if you ask questions in this direction you will receive an automated reply.

Science Office Status:

CA:SCO: Admiral Darkhill has been working on the "Uber Project", formerly known as the Briefing Patch update but getting wonderfully out of hand. These programs are in their final stages now so sit tight for a release... they sure look great - and even better the they did last week - and they looked excellent then already. Expect a complete set of utilities for all your EH flying needs very soon :)

SCOA: LC Shadd has been testing our latest brews... *cough*... I mean... he has been making himself useful:)

SCOA: LT Kweeky has started on a project to modify Descent: Freespace II to a Star wars game for the Emperor's Hammer. If anyone knows where to find a converter from .3ds to .fob format, contact the Science Office.

Site: The Science Office site can be found at http://sco.minos.net or via the redirect http://scienceoffice.isCool.net. Lots of updates done to the patch archive of course :)

Science Office Projects:

XvT/BoP/TIE95 Ship patches: This project's goal is to add all the original and Order of Battle craft that are still "missing" from these games, like the SSD in TIE and XvT, the Medium Transport in all etc. The part to update all the existing fighter patches for XvT and release a lot of new ones is drawing to a close. Next up would be XWA on particular craft, then TIE95. :) (ten more patches released this week.)

XWA Ship patches: Primarily the plan is to clear out the backlog of craft arranged by earlier SCO's and such, like the Trithan Interceptor (Kermee), the Hyperion (Den), the Alvaakian Craft (me) and the new fighter for Avenger Squadron (AES). The Trithan Interceptor and Hyperion are now ready, working on the Jedi Fighter before I continue to the Alvaak Fighter, as that's based on it. Releasing the T/Ph, E-W, V-38, A-9b and S/Y-W probably sometime this week.

Emperor’s Hammer AGI Games: This project goals is to make it possible to create EH games in the style of "Space Quest", "Kings Quest" or "Leisure Suit Larry". The EH total Conversion of "Larry" is nearly completed: about 90% of the views are done, and 50% of the pictures (23 out of 40). Been busy doing patches:)

Finishing up:

I think that's it - If I've forgotten anything or if you have comments, suggestions or corrections, let me know via email. Don't forget that all the projects are described in more detail on the SCO site.

(use only mindb_ender@hotmail.com for official SCO mails.) or ICQ (9706474). Preferably do not mail large files to me, but DCC them via IRC – I’m practically always online at #emperor’s_hammer and #tiecorps using the nick MindB_ndr (or variations.)
 
All my SCO reports are available online as well: you can reach them on the SCO site: http://www.minos.net/~sco/reports/index.html. They are posted on the TC database as well. And don't forget to participate in the competition!

Until next time, good luck and have fun!

<salute>
SCO-TCT-TCS-PROF/FA Ender mBind/CS-10/SSSD Sovereign
GSx2/SSx7/BSx4/PCx7/ISMx16/MoI/MoT-32rh-51gh-6bh/IS-1SR-2GR-1PR/LoC-TS-Rx1/DFC-Rx1/CoS/CoE/CoL/CoB/LoAx2/OV-3E [CNTR] {IWATS-AIM-GFX-ICQ-IIC/1/2/3-JS-M/1/2-OPT-SM/2-TM-TT-XAM-XTM/1/2-XTT}