GEM
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This page contains outdated information, but is kept for historical reasons. |
G/E/M stands for Galactic Empire Mod. The mod is based on Imperium Galactica, a space strategy game from 1994. It will incorporate many ideas from the original game.
Uhh... I'll add more info here later.
The mod is based around the premise that the most fun and interesting battles in TA usually take place with 20 or fewer units on each side. At this point it is still possible to micromanage units to use them to optimal effect, but there is also probably more than one battle taking place simultaneously and all that stuff.
Anyway, if that's the best part of the game, why should it be relegated to the opening 5-20 minutes of the game? Beyond that point, tactics become less and less important, when you basically just throw massive bunches of units at each other. Sure, you can split your group into two forces and do a pincers movement or something, but by and large a lot of battles are simply too large to be able to use every unit to its optimal effectiveness.
What G/E/M will do to address this situation is to make every unit you build important. A single destroyer might represent total domination over a fair-sized segment of the map - at least, for a time.
Fighters, while being powerful attackers and having enough hit points to survive anywhere between 5 and 20 direct hits, have no radar and a poor line of sight. In other words, you *must* either have a specific target in mind or otherwise use them as part of a battle group. Destroying your enemy's only ship with a radar or good line of sight might mean he is forced to retreat because it will be difficult to target these small ships without radar tracking for pilots.
Bombers are superior anti-ship units but are relatively slow, ungainly, and highly vulnerable to fighters.
Destroyers serve as scouts, featuring a moderate to long line of sight, and also as anti-fighter platforms. In numbers, they are also more than capable of defending themselves against larger ships, although their weapons are not specifically designed for that sort of combat. These ships have many turrets with wide firing arcs - however, usually only one or two turrets will have an overlapping arc, so a single destroyer is vulnerable to even a moderate-sized group of fighters.
Cruisers feature a small to moderate line of sight but have radar which enables them to serve as logistics support in battle. They are your mobile early warning system. Cruisers feature powerful anti-ship guns, generally having only a limited firing arc. In other words, they are superior anti-ship attackers, but can be outmaneuvered by a clever opponent. Their anti-fighters turrets are strong but have very limited arcs; in fact, most cruisers' anti-fighter weaponry is also limited by having a relatively small firing arc. Cruisers are the cheapest way to ensure an area is protected from your enemies.
Flagships are powerful warships with good line of sight, good radar range, a wide assortment of weapons, and are (or, hopefully will be) capable of building fighters and other small/utility ships while mobile. They also have repair bays for battle-damaged fighters. They are ultimately a mobile base, but their large size and slow movement makes them vulnerable to an opportunistic opponent. Guard them well, but make no mistake: these ships are not an easy target to bring down.
Construction units are your means of, uh, constructing things. They build structures but are not capable of repairing or assisting construction. All units, except fighters, have a slow auto-repair that begins when the unit is not in combat. Advanced ships can repair themselves (ie, recharging shields) even during combat, albeit not very quickly.
Command Ships are basically the same thing as a Commander in TA. Basically they are the most powerful mobile unit, although obviously not featuring d-guns or that sort of thing. However, although these ships will be overwhelmingly powerful compared with most other ships, they do have weaknesses, and more importantly, have a much slower auto-repair compared with other ships of its size.
Tanks are ground units. They are required in order to secure an enemy base. These come in several different flavours, depending on what you need them for. There will be no more than 6 ground units available even at the top of your tech tree, as the game focuses mainly on starship combat.
Projectors (ie, Ion Projector, Plasma Projector, Meson Projector) are expensive but extremely powerful anti-ship buildings which are built on the ground. They are very large compared to most other structures you can build, and are literally capable of holding off an entire invasion force. These units have extra damage versus transport ships.
Transport ships are what is required to move tanks around the map quickly. They can be used to bypass impassible terrain, whether natural or artificial. Each transport can carry quite a few tanks.
Barracks, Fortresses, and Strongholds are ground structures which are your only means of defense against tanks besides other tanks. G/E/M has no infantry-like units.
Satellites are units which have a long line of sight and radar, and the more advanced ones are even radar-invisible. However, they are virtually defenseless against any kind of attack, and enemies will use this to their advantage. Literally a single fighter can destroy a satellite in a matter of a minute or so.
Trade stations generate income for your empire. Many low-tech or smaller ships can be bought with the credits trade stations provide. Trade stations do not provide a steady flow of credits, however, and it will vary depending on what map you're playing on.
Refineries will allow you to purchase the various metals required for building advanced ships, then turn them into a refined, usable product which is then sent to your shipyards and construction ships. If these are placed in areas which are naturally metal-rich, their output is increased.
Residences and Colony Bases generate a steady supply of credits from colonists. Don't worry, in the event of an attack they are quickly evacuated and won't return until the crisis is over!
Space Bases provide defense for an area. It would likely be wise to build one of these over your bases when you have the credits for them, since projectors alone can only defend very well against larger ships. Space bases, on the other hand, are not only potent adversaries for large ships, but also come with a full complement of anti-fighter defenses.
Shipyards are lightly defended construction platforms which are available in a variety of sizes and tech levels depending on what you want to build with them. For instance, you might build a shipyard designed specially for building fighters quickly, or you might build one designed for larger ships, or you might build a general-purpose one. The general-purpose one will, of course, be the most expensive and will be a major target. As I mentioned in passing earlier, it will be impossible to assist the construction of ships (or any other unit/structure). But, never fear, the entire mod is being planned around this, so I'll be making sure that it won't take all day to get a half-decent fleet assembled.
Factories construct ground units such as tanks and construction vehicles.
Colony Hubs are the central part of any base. If you lose your colony hub, your storage will be greatly reduced. These structures have a lot of armour and even some minimal anti-tank cannons.
Even the weakest units in G/E/M will be capable of surviving reasonably intense combat intact. A destroyer, for instance, might have 1000 hit points and be capable of dealing out 100 damage every 10 seconds. This is just a very rough estimate that I haven't even calculated for, so take that with a grain of salt. Anyway, fighters will be able to survive several direct hits from most weapons. Because ships repair slowly over time, but cannot be repaired all at once by construction units, the fact that you managed to inflict 90% damage on a flaghip before your attack force was destroyed is not necessarily a defeat - you might be able to return 5 minutes later and deal a final blow. Or, you might force a retreat, allowing you to take control of whatever part of the map it was protecting.
Ships in G/E/M will be relatively slow from what you might imagine. They won't move around at a snail's pace, like a sumo compared to a flea, but you will need to ensure that you have enough ships spread out over your territory that you can respond quickly to threats. You will not be able to make an all-out attack without exposing yourself to serious repercussions - you'll be leaving yourself wide open for a counterattack. Similarly, you will have to consider carefully moving ships around to protect an area under attack - what if it's only a decoy from the real attack? Does your opponent have enough resources to attack two fronts simultaneously? What ships would best be used to cover your defense? Should you "accidentally" expose your all-important Command Ship to bait your opponent into a trap?
Furthermore, most ships will be incapable of firing on any ground targets EXCEPT projectors (ground-based anti-ship guns) - this is where ground warfare comes into play. You must protect your transports so that they can begin dropping your ground units behind enemy lines and thereby allow you to attack your enemy's economy and production.
In G/E/M, you must wage war on two fronts - and losing on either of them could take you out of the game permanently.
Progress on initial beta:
Planned ships: 15 Completed ships: 10
Planned other/utility: 2 Completed other/utility: 0
Beta estimated completion date: sometime in 2006 (a more specific date will be available when I know what it is ^^)
The full G/E/M tech tree consists of approximately 50 units and structures (I have an exact number somewhere, but I can't think of it offhand)
This mod will feature much more detailed models than any TA or Spring mod has to date. Here's a rough guide of how many triangles per ship you'll find in G/E/M:
Fighter: 1000 or less
Bombers: ~1250
Destroyer: ~3000
Cruiser: ~4500
Flagship: 6000-8000
Work on G/E/M began in early November of 2005.
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