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Welcome to my twenty-fifth public report as a Science Officer, pretty late... (I got stuck under the hood of a TIE Experimental Mk. I ...) ...let's get to the news:

Science Office News:

1. Project Shield is getting released, finally. TAC has uploaded the material and is working on updating links. After that its up to our XO to add some small changes and we'd be good to go. Don't worry: it's worth the wait... AD Darkhill did some excellent work.
2. Actually, he still is: The EH Patch Manager (EHPM) is in beta phase and looking good (a screenshot is included in this report). The idea will be that you download a patch, double click the file where ever you downloaded it to, and EHPM will not only show you a picture and some info, it will also let you install it with 1 click - whatever the Windows version you run. Besides EHPM making it easier to use patches, it also makes it easier to make them - the moment its released, you will be flooded ;)
3. While EHPM is under way I've released some patches for while we wait:
   • Firespray Attack Ship: Also known as the Slave1 in use by the Fett family, the OPT has been made by CM Timmay and the patch is available for TIE95 and XvT. (It is already in XWA).
   • Lancer Frigate: One of the more common screening vessels in the fleet and formerly only available in XWA. The OPT was made by CM Timmay and the patch is available for XvT.
   • Authority IRD: Common cheaper fighter in use all over the Galaxy. Now also available for TIE95 and XvT.
   • Pinook Fighter: A smaller and weaker craft often used by slavers and pirates cause they can be carried even by freighters. Patch available for TIE95 and XvT.
   • Razor Fighter: The last fighter built by Alderaan before it was executed for treason (and proof it wasn't all that "peaceful"). Now also in TIE95 and XvT.
   • Supa Fighter: Large fighter, actually bigger then a TRN, in use by various factions across the Galaxy. Patch released for TIE95 and XvT.
4. I've taken the TIE Experimental Mk1 patch for TIE95 temporarily offline because its pretty bugged (something I found out when trying to make a battle with it). It will be reslotted to the T/B slot the moment it stops plopping me back to desktop.
5. CM Timmay's Project Cueball, with the goal of adding more astronomical objects to XWA, is proceding nicely, with a 30 click diameter planetoid in beta testing (about the max size for anything in the engine). More news on this most likely in the next report.
6. There is a very nice online arcade game called "X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter" available for free at http://www.theforce.net/games/apps/xvstie/xvstie2.shtml - it resembles Spearhawks excellent OpenGL game but it's based in java: check it out.
7. Spearhawk himself has made a more 3D landscape engine, available from his site at http://w1.183.telia.com/~u18321972/, which he has released for people who want to test their skills at making a game with it.

Science Office Status:

CA:SCO: Admiral Darkhill has been coding the most excellent EH Patch Manager, as mentioned above.

SCOA: CM Tim has made 2 OPTs for patches and has been working on Project Clueball.

Site: The Science Office site can be found at http://sco.minos.net or via the redirect http://scienceoffice.isCool.net. The mirror can be found at http://www.gimmie.tudelft.nl/homes/blok10b/ender/sco. Updates have been made to the patch archive.

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. This week saw the release of 9 more patches.

Grand Project: The EH Patch Manager Project is going along smoothly - expect it to be released before 2050. ;)

Project Cueball: This project's goal is to add more and larger astronomical objects to XWA, perhaps even to scale of planets. Name is derived from the fact that you don't actually need a Death Star if you can dump 30 kilometres of rock at Mach 30 on a planet as well.

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 or look us up at #sco. 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 #sco, #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 but they are on the TIE Corps site, CS reports, as well.

Until next time, good luck and have fun!