Gauntlet03 Gauntlet03

Babylon 5 Mod Ideas

▼

Babylon 5 Mod Ideas

from Sins Forums
So since it should be inevitable for a B5 mod to get made, i figure it couldn't hurt to talk some about it, and perhaps maybe plan and get a team going for it.

Major Major Questions...

1. How many playable races to attempt, and which ones?

2. How many ships per faction, should ship roles/designs and numbers be based off the existing Sins races or not care?

3. Which general era of ships to use for the Earth Alliance?

4. Should capital ship mechanics remain the same? IE should the current game mechanics be kept in more or less the same condition?

My personal ideas is that the general game should play about the same, but that many ships should be condensed into one for some races, or expanded for others, notably I am in favor of maintaining only 3 Capital ship choices, as I think finding 5 for each major race would be quickly silly.

I would say for the beggining 3 balanced major races would be best, in general I view the technical/qualitative tiers being as such

Lowest: League Worlds, Early EA, Dilgar
Medium: EA, Centauri, Narn
High: Minbari, Drahk
Godish: Shadows, Vorlons, Additional Ancients

The mod would preferably come with several maps, one of which would represent the B5 universe just before the shadow war, it would be nice if a timer was included so that perhaps 3 hours into the game 2 special pirate worlds (the Shadows and the Vorlons) launch massive and mean pirate strikes... regular Raider Pirates would otherwise conduct themselves normally.

Other special maps/scenarios: Dilgar EA war... Earth Minbari War, and Narn Centauri War (The Shadows should/could be present here as well.)

While some races would be playable in these scenarios, for example in the Earth-Dilgar war you could play these or the League worlds, as the Early EA faction would be balanced with them; but the Earth Minbari War should be a 2V1, with the Minbari being powerful enough to take on two players.

This means that in the generic game, the balanced races would be EA, Narn and Centauri. The Minbari, Drahk and League worlds would all be special militia or pirate forces, we could easily design new planets that corresponded to these races and would spawn with special militia units, thus you wouldn't have Minbar being guarded by Raiders or Drazi.

Ship wise, the most important is obviously the Capitals- My personal choices for the 3 main powers are as such, with the TEC similar ship noted.

EA: Omega Destroyer (Kol) Posideon Super Carrier (Sova) Nova Dreadnought (Marza)

Narn: Bin`Tak Dreadnought (Kol) G`Quan Heavy Cruiser (Dunov) (Third????)

Centauri: Primus BattleCruiser (Dunov?) Octurion Battlship (Kol) Balvarin Carrier (Akkan?)



Additional Scenarios: Psi Corp Rebellion, EA Civil War, Mars Rebellion, The Centauri-League War (with Drahk as Pirates?) The list goes on and on.

Oh and for the EA, I would use Hyperions as the basic combat unit, to give fans an iconic mainstay for their fleets, as opposed to the too awesome for Frigate Omega, and the lesser known Olympus, Tethys, Saggitarius, or Oracle... (or the others   )
modding
481,803 views 311 replies
Reply #176 from Sins Forums Top
I would love to see this , recreating the battle of the line would blow me out of the water.

The diplomacy would cause problems though , unless you made it so that only the shadows and vorlons would dictate missions and you would respond to either to pick your side.
Reply #177 from Sins Forums Top
yes..this game seems perfect for B5. It's such a great sci universe i cant wait to see more about plans for it
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #178 from Sins Forums Top
Just a idea fellas but if you check out the community for the game bridge commander there are models there you can use and recently created ones that look very good. Some Start gate stuff, all the ST you can imagion, SW, and I am pretty sure some B5 stuff. would be worth checking out.
Reply #179 from Sins Forums Top
Yes, many of the models and textures that were used in bridge commander were ported to Galactic civ, in order to make the Babylon 5 mod. (which was created by Rev8 i believe.)

when it comes to it i might be able to help, at least with some basic scripting.
too little time on my hands to learn how to model for sins though.
Reply #180 from Sins Forums Top
Both Bridge Commander and ST:Armada2 use visual models whilst good for their time are looking a little dated. Now it might well be that the Mesh is good and that the textures need updating I'm afraid I'm not experienced enough to say one way or the other.

@ Darthriddick & Trenthowell : What is the typical polygon count of the models you have?
Reply #182 from Sins Forums Top
If anyone is interested, there is a board called sgnonline.com and they are willing to take on a modding group and have a home for you guys for free. Just saying...

Anyway, first thing I thought when I saw Sins was that it would be a perfect platform for Babylon 5. I don't think you can do the same thing as Babylon 5 Armada with adding the Shadows and Vorlons. Perhaps it might be better to add the Drakh in as a playable faction.

Could have about six factions in the mod:
Earth Alliance
Minbari Federation
Drakh Horde
Centauri Republic
Narn Regime
Interstellar Alliance (mix of Ranger and League)

Just my thoughts, don't need to take them on or anything. Wish you guys the best of luck with the mod. This and the Startrek Dominion War mods look quite interesting.
Reply #183 from Sins Forums Top
If some factions like Shadows and Vorlons r too difficult to create, just leave em.. will be still awsome to have the basic ones :)
Reply #184 from Sins Forums Top
That and I guess we can always use older models as place holders for future updates, need to be realistic given the pool of skills at our disposal.
Reply #185 from Sins Forums Top
I've been thinking about pirates and I think the pirates seem to be too strong to be the equivalent of Raiders that we saw in B5. So perhaps maybe use those "Redhelm" aliens that you see in season 5 that attacked from nowhere? They seemed like intergalactic nomadic pirates that attacked anyone so they might make a more stronger faction to use as pirates.

Oh and remember, try sgnonline.com if you guys need a place to work as it can be difficult to find this thread once it sinks into the depths of the forum.
Reply #186 from Sins Forums Top
That’s an idea for the pirates, another would be the Striebs from season 2 or simply adjust the health points of the pirate ships to match the raiders from the show.

Or... and I’m not sure if this is a possibility, you could have different types of pirate bases. One for each minor race, that way it could then be an option for the map maker which pirates would show up in game.

Either way it’s still early days and I‘m sure it’s vitally more important to get the main races and models working in the game. But brainstorming never hurt. :)



Reply #187 from Sins Forums Top
Porblem with the Strieb is that once the Minbari slapped them silly they never became that much of a threat again in terms of numbers though the idea of different types of pirate bases is interesting. The Mongoose Publishing RPG group says that some Raiders managed to get their hands on Nova Dreadnaughts and turned them for their use... while not canon, I think plenty of material can be taken from them in developing ships and stuff.

If the Drakh are added, i can picture them being very much like the Vasari in terms of the technology they use like nanotech and stuff. Minbari perhaps base on the Advent a bit. But I think six races might make things quite interest and be appropriate counters to one another. If you guys need any information on the Drakh, I think I can dig some stuff from the Mongoose stuff for you to use.

As for which races against which maybe something like:
Centuari Republic versus Narn Regime
Interstellar Alliance versus Earth Alliance
Minbari Federation versus Drakh Horde

Reply #188 from Sins Forums Top
I would eventually like to see a small quadrant featuring most races. But for start, a interstellar nation vs another is best solution. A custom made map would be perfect for this. I would also like to see Dilgar invasion of League of Allied worlds.

I have done some modelling in past, have tried some game modeling, without acually using them in the game, but just for low poly and smoth training and for love of sci.fi :) I cant make textures(yet), but will learn to apply them soon(hopefully, whn i get more time on my hands :) )

So if anyone chooses to start a mod team, you can count me in..I can create some modells and somebody else can make textures :)

Will work on my own anyway(even if B5 mod doesnt kick in) to train my skills, so I will start with ships that look easy to make(not so small sofisticated details on them), than move to ships that are tough i think, like earth sips and minbari(tough making those nice smooth shapes without using too many polys)
Reply #190 from Sins Forums Top
When do you think we could test the v.0 of this mod?
End of quote


Hard to say, we are forming the team atm.

Release date is dependent on far too many variables for me to even suggest a date that would be meaningful.

Reply #191 from Sins Forums Top
I am pleased to announce that the 'gathering' of foundation members of the B5 mod team for SoaSE is now complete.

I tend to check this thread every other day for peoples views and opinions so please continue to throw your thoughts into the mix we are listening.
Reply #192 from Sins Forums Top
Congrats and the progress. I wish you guys the best of success.
Reply #193 from Sins Forums Top
I have a suggestion on how to incorporate the shadows into the mod.

The original show was all about different axis ie. Shadows vs. Vorlons = Chaos vs. order. In the original sins game chaos to me is the pirates. So the idea is to use the existing game mechanics surrounding the pirates and let the shadows have a go in their place. In the original TV show, Mr. Mordon traveled to B5 and asked the same question over and over again "What do you want?" so in the mod it could be him that would oversee the bidding on who the shadows should attack next. It would also place the shadows as a single planet in the game for the players to take. For me at least the ability to stike back at Z'ha'dum to get my vengeance would be a major pleasure point :D
Reply #194 from Sins Forums Top
Just to let everyone know I got the word out about this mod over at http://www.firstones.com/

I hope to see this mod come to completion and I hope that the First One community will prove helpful.
Reply #196 from Sins Forums Top
Hey um, I also think you should just make the pirates shaddow, also keep it to where players cant use them and also they should be able to conquer planets. You can do the same with the vorlons. Any way, I think the best time for b is the begining where all the little wars where starting. Oh, if you guys actualy make this mod and are fast about it I will definatley spread the word as much as I can. I will also give you 10% of my lottery winings(if that ever happens), but tell then I will make what donations I can. I have been waiting a long time to see a game come out with these mechanics, now I just need it with B5 and it will make the game I have been waiting for my whole gaming life(sad I know but I think B5 beats any sci-fi under the sun). Enough for the rambling, you do a good job and I will make as much hype as possible and hopefully you guys will be able to beat shockwave this year. This game will prolly make up most of the mods list this year as well. It is a great game. So much so that most of you prolly find this annoying.

Ovethrow
When you need 4..........I will bring 40!!!!!!!
Reply #197 from Sins Forums Top
Its funny you should say that Overthrow but I was thinking along the same lines, if you muse through the earlier posts you'll see as much.

If anyone is interested in joining the mod team for B5 & SoaSE come register at
WWW Link Introduce yourself and feel free to speak openly about your ideas or better still examples...

I am a firm believer in actions speak louder than words  :HOT:  it adds a lot of weight to your opinion or argument over hot air.
Reply #198 from Sins Forums Top
Babylon 5 mod is an awesome idea.

I agree that it should include 4 basic races. Here are some ideas for their characteristics:

1. EA - cheaper expansion (space construction costs lower?), focused on firepower, trade bonuses

2. Centauri - same tech level as EA, bombardment bonus, planet dev. costs reduction, planets generate more resources (strip mining), focused on speed and agility

3. Narn - tech lower from EA, higher pop growth rate, cheaper fleet construction, powerful fortifications, focused on durability

4. Mimbari - tech above other races, big crystal extraction bonus, scanners bonus (possible to track 3 systems away?), expensive fleet, ships superior in 1v1, cultural resistance


Regarding the ships, I think its better to have few but unique and balanced rather than dozens of clones (think Starcraft vs. SupCom ):

1. EA:
- Omega destroyer - cap ship, similar to Kol, larger fighter complement,
- Nova dreadnought - cap ship, weaker than Kol but big bombardment bonus, planet blockade, small fighter wing
- Hyperion cruiser - heavy cruiser, command bonus?
- Olympus corvete - light attack, replacement for Cobalt
- Starfury - fighters
- Thunderbolt - bombers

2. Centauri:
- Primus battlecruiser - cap ship, combination of battleship and carrier, damage deflection bonus, medium fighter wing
- Primus Bombardment battlecruiser - cap ship, same as Primus, fighters replaced by heavy bombardment
- Vorchan cruiser - heavy cruiser, accelerate bonus
- ??? - light frigate
- Sentri - fighter/bomber

3. Narn:
- G'Quan heavy cruiser - cap ship, battleship and carrier, moderate price, very durable, armour upgrades
- T'Loth assault cruiser - cap ship, weak and cheap compared to other cap ships, durable, small fighter wing
- Th'Nor light cruiser - light frigate
- Frazi - fighter

4. Mimbari:
- Sharlin warcruiser - cap ship, extreme firepower, damage reduction bonus (stealth), medium fighter wing, command bonuses, very expensive
- Vaylan cruiser - cap ship, weaker and cheaper than Sharlin, high firepower, small fighter wing, design similar to 'Glider transport', or one from 'Voices in the Dark'
- Tinashi warfrigate - medium frigate, large firepower and durability, expensive
- Lintira flyer - light attach ship, fast, damage reduction (stealth)
- Nial - fighter

I have taken most of the names/ideas from: http://www.b5tech.com/

IMO, it is better to have fewer, but more unique ships, this way each race will require different strategy. In B5 series you rarely see more than few 2-3 types per race. Any idea for Centauri figate?
Reply #199 from Sins Forums Top
I am definetely looking forward to this mod. A Warlock class destroyer would be a sweet ship to have.
Reply #200 from Sins Forums Top
Vorlon/Shadow could give also missions (battlecrab harassing vorlon transport in only debris/storms system) and attack according witch side you choose to help plus money bounty.