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Welcome to my sixteenth public report as a Science Officer, a week late... (Sorry, was busy building ships and such :) ...but that also means it'll be a tad long, so lets get on with it:

Science Office News:

1. Star Wars: Imperium. This new project of the Science Office aims at modding the Starshatter game to be a new EH platform. The features it offers already are near incredible: 100s of craft at the same time, flying from and to the surface of a planet from space, unlimited craft types and all that good stuff. Screenshots are available already - and they look great! Check out the project site on the SCO site: http://www.minos.net/~sco/project/project15.html A great amount of respect to LC Shadd for finding the game - and all his work for it already: This includes a lot of research, but also already having ported many of the craft already.
   As strange as it might sound: I'd like temper your expectations of this project slightly, as ever since we went public with it people on message boards and IRC are behaving like it will be released like next week. It won't - we've only just started work on it and like any mod it will be a lot of work, which takes time. We also cannot answer a lot of questions and "demands" (lol) at this stage yet. Don't worry: We're trying to make it an excellent type of "TIE Fighter II" and we will give out more screenshots and details and such - but the game HAS limitations, and so do we. :P
2. The SCO Quotes Webhunt has been concluded in a win for FL/LCM A. G. Snijglau from Wasp Squadron with 55 points and his BGCOM, VA Darksaber coming in second with 48 points! Participation was good (Yay! Someone reads my reports!:)) and the outcome quite varied: the lowest entry had just 2 points *g*. Thank you all for playing, the medals will be on their way to Snij and DS right after I finish this report - the rest all gets another chance in the next SCO Competition, very soon. (All the answers to the Quotes are tagged on at the end of this report - curtsy of Snijglau and Darksaber.)
3. Lots of patching news again for these weeks, as the XvT/BoP/TIE95 Ship Patch project is actually getting to its finalizing phases. A fairly chronological layout of what has been done this and last week:
   • Mike's Gunboat: Yes, we got the TAC his own fighter craft for his efforts as Chief Mission Messer, *cough* I mean "Master". It's a prototype long range Gunboat with most excellent armour, two ions and four lasers and a mug holder. More details will be on the new FM the moment that's finished - the patch is already available for TIE (T/F Slot) and XvT (Slot #10).
   • Toscan Fighter: Has been released with new textures as Flight Group colours, so that "yellow" will give you EH textures, where as Blue makes it a special Vampire Squadron Toscan Fighter - a squadron that will apparently be switching to this powerful imperial craft completely. Patches for XvT (Slot #10) and TIE (T/F Slot) have been released, as well as a craft replacement one for XWA.
   • Skipray Blastboat: Has been released for TIE (T/B Slot) and XvT (Slot #11).
   • Modified Strike Cruiser: Has been released for TIE and XvT now as well, in both of which it replaces the Interdictor. This craft is now available in all flightsim platforms save X-W, which doesn't have support for interdicting craft.
   • Phalanx Interceptor Gunboat: The model has been fully updated in all patches, the Fleet Manual and Order of Battle so it resembles what it should look like more. Additionally it received completely custom Flight Group textures for the EH (yellow), Slayer Squadron (blue) and Talon Squadron (green).
   • Task Force Cruiser: Has been OPTed, tested and will be released in a very cool patch for TIE very soon. The graphics on the Order of Battle and Fleet Manual have been updated to show the craft correctly.
   • Cloakshaped Fighter: Patch for TIE has been updated to include the new OPT, patch for XvT (Slot#10) has been released. Was already in XWA of course.
   • TIE-IW patches: All have been updated to add the corresponding models and .bat installers. Some might have lost what meagre TIE Disk and CD support they might have had.
4. About all existing TIE and XvT patches have now been updated to have .bat installers, custom OPT files and updated stats here and there. Save some exceptions they also have all been moved to the free fighter slots of XvT (#10 and #11) and to the T/F and T/B slots of TIE. All new OPTs feature fully changing hull textures connected to the Flight Group colours which generally lay as follows: Red = default textures, Yellow = generic EH textures (blueish hull, red markings and EH logo), Blue = generic ASF textures (blueish hull, blue/white markings and ASF logo), Green = generic DB/ATF textures (dark gray hull, white markings, DB logo) or generic IW textures (greenish hull, blue markings). Exceptions are personal craft and craft of (elite) squadrons, which either have no FG colours, or are located on Blue instead of the ASF ones.
5. We have a lot more exciting stuff coming from this office very soon, so stay tuned:)

Science Office Status:

CA:SCO: Admiral Darkhill has been working on the "Uber Project" and on the SW:Imperium Project, and on the major TIE95 patch and lots more... AND he found time to fly a whole lot of missions as well, and score High Scores. Respect tha Den, he's unbelievable!

SCOA: LC Shadd has gone absolutely bezerk on the SW: Imperium Project and been spending many a sleepless night on it - testing, taking screens, modding, research - and converting a whole load of craft from Star Wars already! Great stuff!

SCOA: LT Kweeky been in charge of brewtesting this week... but says he's looking into modifying "Generals" using "Force Commander" into a real Star Wars RTS.

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, plus some to the FM and OoB - and added the Imperium Project site.:)

Science Office Projects:

Star Wars - Imperium: The project's goal is to modify the Starshatter game into a viable new platform for primarily the TIE Corps and Infiltrator Wing, perhaps branching out to other SGs as well. This week the project was officially started and got immediately pulled "into the century of the fruitbat" manually by LC Shadd, who's been making excellent progress.

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. This project is drawing closer and closer to its end for especially TIE and XvT.

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.

Science Quotes Webhunt answers:

1. "Tonight Science will throw its gauntlet into the ugly face of death! Tonight we shall rule the thunder and control the lightening!" - Anders Sandberg, Sounds so very Frankensteinian. - http://www.d.kth.se/~nv91-asa/mad.html
2. "I have become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds" - J. Robert Oppenheimer, 1946, After the bomb drops in Japan. line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita: "I am became Death, the destroyers of worlds." - http://www.shep.net/resources/curricular/physics/P30/Unit4/Topic17_Fission-Fusion/Notes/Bomb/HistoryABomb.pdf
3. "So what are we doing tonight, Brain?" "The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world!" - Pinky and the Brain, 1995, Every time they began to plot http://www.maxpages.com/obsession/Pinky_and_the_Brain or: Maurice LaMarche .... The Brain (voice) Rob Paulsen .... Pinky (voice) - http://www.maxpages.com/obsession/Pinky_and_the_Brain
4. "Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius-and a lot of courage-to move in the opposite direction." - E.F. Schumacher or: Full Quote: "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius-and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction." - Albert Einstein - http://maller.com/quotes/default.html?xauth=E.%20F.%20Schumacher
5. "My Moon-based Death Ray Panics the people of Earth. Mock my theories now!" - Andrew McCaan, 1998, Planetmag - http://www.etext.org/Zines/planet/sfku.htm
6. "They laughed at me! But I will show them. One day it will be I who laughs at them instead!" - Anders Sandberg - http://www.student.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/mad.html
7. "Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing." - Wernher Von Braun, 1973, R.L. Weber "A Random Walk in Science" - http://www.giga-usa.com/gigaweb1/quotes2/qutoptechnologyx001.htm
8. "The effects could well be called unprecedented, magnificent, beautiful, stupendous, and terrifying. No man-made phenomenon of such tremendous power had ever occurred before.", General Thomas Farrell, July 16, 1945, Witness to the Trinity Test - http://nuketesting.enviroweb.org/trinity/tr_test.html
9. "Igors do not change a winning formula. (Especially if it's green, and bubbles).", Terry Pratchett, 2001, "The Fifth Elephant". Full Quote: "He was Igor, son of Igor, nephew of several Igors, brother of Igors and cousin of more Igors than he could remember without checking up in his diary. Igors did not change a winning formula. {Footnote: Especially if it was green, and bubbled.}" [p. 65] - http://www.digiserve.com/eescape/closet/pratchett/The-Fifth-Elephant.html
10. "Any smoothly functioning technology will have the appearance of magic." - Arthur C. Clarke, 1962, From "Profiles of the Future", http://guinness.cs.stevens-tech.edu/~msulliva/pub/quotes.txt
11. "HO HO HO" - Saint Nicholas aka Santa Claus aka Father Christmas aka A Large Goat that Eats Finnish Children. No distinguishing marks or scars. c 245 AD - c350 AD Basic Santa laugh. http://www.santaclaus.com/
12. "We knew the world could not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent." - J. Robert Oppenheimer. Jul. 15, 1945 At the detonation of the first atom bomb - http://www.kornea.com/quotations.html
13. "We were drinking in the lab late one night... When our booze revealed its dangerous might: The clones in their tanks began to rise... And suddenly, to our surprise..." - Blatant rip off of "Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett, 1962, Said when that graceful monster awoke. - http://www.webfitz.com/lyrics/Lyrics/1962/161962.html
14. "No man should escape our universities without knowing how little he knows." - J. Robert Oppenheimer - http://twomstone5.freeservers.com/twomstone_quotes_001.htm
15. "The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom." - Isaac Asimov, 1988, Isaac Asimov's Book of Science and Nature Quotations - http://www.quotegarden.com/wisdom.html

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!