Star Trek: Armada II Windows game

There are many different aspects of making a game mod, and different skill sets needed. One major downside of being a solo developer is that some things just aren't possible because I don't know how to do them.

The original Fleet Operation dev team had a variety of members and skill sets, which they used to great effect creating brand new visual assets, from menus and buttons to ship models, textures, and animations. Tactical Maneuvers, on the other hand, did not have a graphical dev at first, and could only reuse their visual assets with new game mechanics and stats.

In the almost 10 years since I started, I've gotten to know a group of excellent modders who've gradually filled those roles. We each enjoy developing our own personal mods without officially teaming up, but the assets and code we've shared with each other over the years has elevated all of our projects to new heights.

Tactical Maneuvers Version 5 is a big step forward in this regard. The engine itself has been modified with a ton of small improvements by the modder Jan_B, who develops Fleet Ops: Roots. Many of the ships and weapons are now using textures created by Drayzon for his Fleet Ops Remastered. And I've added new buttons and icons to the huge list of assets provided by Adm Nat who created a mod called Admiral's Edition. In the future I'm hoping to add a campaign using Megadroid's tools for LUA scripting single player missions.

It took a very long time to incorporate the engine changes, and I had to rewrite large chunks of the mod. But now I'm finally proud to announce the release of Tactical Maneuvers V5.0.0. It was so much work that I sometimes wondered if the benefits were worth it, but now I'm excited to get back to working on the balance of the game again.

Moving forward, I should be able to release much faster, smaller updates that add balance and detail to the game's special mechanics: mixed-technology ships that require certain allies (or enemies) and special warp-in reinforcements for the various factions. Eventually the Romulans will get a total overhaul to their spies and saboteurs, creating a system where they can gain intelligence and shift the tide of battle through hidden means.

Starting from Version 5, the mod will use an installer instead of being copy/paste; it now works as a stand-alone game instead of a sub-mod of Fleet Operations. The installer checks for an Armada 2 CD or GOG version, and then put the mod in the folder of your choice, ready to go.