Major Stress Major Stress

[MOD WIP] Star Trek: Sacrifice of Angels 2 (updated 01/10/09)

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[MOD WIP] Star Trek: Sacrifice of Angels 2 (updated 01/10/09)

from Sins Forums

Featured (by a small mention) in the October edition of PC Gamer magazine

Candidate for Mod Database's 2008 Mod of the Year

This is the OLD "Work in Progress" thread for the Star Trek: Sacrifice of Angels 2 mod.

The new WIP topic is here https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/342747

The "Release" topic can be found here https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/322473


The mod is intended to be a hommage, and tribute to the original Sacrifice of Angels mod for Homeworld. It will use many of the same models, and effects created for that mod by the Trekmods team. Like the original SoA mod SoA2 is set during the Dominion War era of Star Trek. Using both canon, and non-canon units to recreate those battles with Sins "empire building" mechanic added. Like in SoA you can fight battles in SoA2 using hundreds of starships. Sometimes thousands if your computer can handle it ;)

While the mod was not intended as a "Total Conversion". That is exactly what it is winding up being. There is much about the Sins engine, and mechanics that we still need to learn. There are some hard coded stumbling blocks we have to overcome.

The factions will be the Federation, Klingons, Romulan, and the Dominion (with Breen, and Cardassian ally units). The main factions seen in the Dominion War. With a "Surprise" as the Pirate faction.

Factions like the Borg "may" be added in the future. LokiGodofMischief is working on a very good 3rd party Borg add on for SoA 2. It is very possible his add on may be merged with SoA 2 at a much later time.

The current version of SoA 2 is  0.03b   "The Second Dominion War". Look for it here  https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/322473

0.03b only works with Sins versions 1.1, 1.11, and 1.12.

All previous versions of SoA 2 are obsolete, and will not be supported, or hosted anymore. All older version downloads will be removed.

We will NOT port SoA 2 over to Entrenchment until after Entrenchment is out of beta, and released. Along with proper forge tool updates.

I am working on the models mostly ALONE so it may take a while for any new ship model updates.

Darkshimmer is the Balancing guru, Code monkey, and Master at arms. We do have other contributers, and the best 3rd party work from the finest artists in the trek mod community to help make SoA 2 the best it can be.

Status of Demo 0.04  "The actors are in place" 

Will update when i have news.

General Changes:

Manshooters Volumetric Explosions mod will be included as of 0.03a

May include Sins Plus (planets), but ill need to see how much that mod needs changing to incorporate into SoA 2.

SoA 2 0.03 and above is now patch 1.1, and better compatable. Sins patches 1.11, and 1.12 only address balancing, and online exploits, and have no effect on the mod.

Ships will have some anti stike craft weaponry.

Ships are still being added and balanced accordingly.

More re-balancing so that one faction is not overpowered over the other.

The Federation:

Faction is complete. Only structures left

The Klingon Empire

Faction is complete. Only structures left.

The Romulan Star Empire:

Faction is complete. Only structures left

The Dominion:

Faction is complete. Still needs balancing work.

Pirates:

They were going to be the Borg, but that idea failed. So we are looking into Random multirace ship spawns.

Planetary Defenders

Basically "Ships of the week" like the Maquis, Sona, Ferrengi, Tammarian battle cruisers and the like.

Balancing:  Darkshimmer has the Federation, Romulan, and Klingon Empire, and Unified Dominion balanced.

Gameplay: We now have a working Cloaking Device! Check the ModDB page for the WIP video. Cloaking will not be fully implemented in the mod until version 0.04

Art: We are working on an LCARS style UI, adding proper icons, and pictures for all of the new units. The UI is going to take a while to do, because of all of the redundancy of the Sins UI. SoA 2 uses 2 sets of UI textures. Instead of the standard 4 textures for buttons, and 2 textures for icons. SoA 2 uses 8 textures for buttons, and 4 textures for icons which IMO is a major waste of resources, because sins loads all these textures at startup. Unfortunetly i dont see any other way to do it. What is kind of cool is that we dont have to use the same HUD for each faction. It is possible to have unique HUDs, but again the perfomance hit, because of the extra drain on resources could be big, and not worth it.

In Planning: (No promises, or guarentees, but we will try to add these if possible.)

Troop Transport effects.

Planetary invasion animations

Tractor beams. (need a code monkey for this)

Whatever else we can think of and are capable of doing.

Future Updates:

SoA 2 0.04 is now in planning, and will be focused primarily on Proper research trees, Ability's, and adding proper Structures. More than likely demo 0.04 will be the last demo. After that then the full mod should be ready.

SoA 2 0.05 will be the final spit, and polish of the mod. It will focus mainly on re-balancing if needed. Also final artwork changes will be made here. Which will include some ship model re-builds, and re-texturing.

The Full SoA 2 1.0 mod will be released "When it is Finished". We are doing this on our own free time. We aren't getting paid to do this. We have no set schedule. We have no time limit. I want this one to be good. So it wont go online until we feel it is ready.

*NOTE: Much about Sins as we are all now realizing is hardcoded. SoA 2 is going to be far from a perfect "trek" mod due to these hardcoded issues. However we will try to do the best we can with workarounds, and compromises to get it as close as possible. Like i said some things wont be perfect. Some things cannot be done at all. Enjoy the mod for what it is, and try not to be too "nit picky".

SoA2 will be hosted on Mod Database once it is ready http://www.moddb.com/mods/star-trek-sacrifice-of-angels-2

This main header will be updated when i have news to post.





modding
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Reply #601 from Sins Forums Top
I think they said about twenty times alrady that there will be no Borg in the mod... :)
Reply #602 from Sins Forums Top
The way i can see the Borg being pulled off is as a separate faction. However as a planetary defender faction on a custom map. Is it possible for a defender faction to build, and phase jump like a player faction? Regardless there wont be any Borg in the early mod releases.

Early releases will only be a few ships per faction. With more added as the mod expands over time (lots of time). No researches (vanilla research trees), and only limited ability's until i become more proficient in creating these entity's.

I wont use anything from ST:POS aka Legacy (you figure the acronym out). I thought legacy was atrocious. The models are way too high poly for sins. I am using models made by Trekmods, and models i made, and textured myself. I do not want to use anyone else's work unless i have absolutely no choice (and have their permission). The Trekmods models are within if slightly above the recommended poly, and texture limits of the sins engine. Of course my own work is well within the standards, and i am building them with Sins in mind. I wont use ridiculously high poly models or textures way above the resolution needed, because it will only be a waste.

Ships are going to be scaled in accordance with the original SoA/FTB mods (which used ex astris scientia as a guide).

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Star Control: Origins
Reply #603 from Sins Forums Top
Yeah, definitely do Borg after the first release.
Reply #604 from Sins Forums Top
*rolls eyes* Why is everyone so hell-bent on getting the borg into this mod? They have almost no ship variety; you'd have to make up a bunch of ships for their faction. Besides which they weren't even involved in the dominion war...
Reply #605 from Sins Forums Top
Yeah, definitely do Borg after the first release.
End of quote


What was it that guy posted earlier? Can't find it. Oh well, I think it went something like.....

We aren't adding the Borg because 1. Not in Dominion War. 2. Borg usually added because, well, you know... BORG!!! 3. Borg either canon and hideously overpowered and unstoppable, or seriously nerfed for playability and absolutely stupid because of it.

Looking forward to this mod, and I can understand both sides' feelings about the Borg.

Pro-Borg: Everyone loves to hate them, me included.

Anti-Borg: Too many damn Borg already! They're EVERYWHERE!!!

Me personally, I want to show the galaxy that humanity ain't grown soft because of the Federation. Those few years of peace can't overwhelm an entire history of war and violence. Humanity is pissed, and the Dominion will feel our anger. No letters of protest, just quantum torpedoes of pain.

NO BORG!!! I want to kill w/e quadrant Dominion from people without having to deal with the Borg. I'm sick of Borg. Gimme another Klingon/Federation war already.
Reply #606 from Sins Forums Top
I am a big fan of borg but trying to fit them into the dynamics of the game and still be fun is more trouble than it is worth. Once you work out the mechanics of everything with original factions then move from there, you will generally get a better outcome. I would be happy if the alpha/beta only had two factions to start from to nail down the strategy and then build from there.
Reply #607 from Sins Forums Top
Just like said before, put in some BORG as a little fraction...like pirates in original SOASE :)

And everyone would have what he/she wanted :)
Reply #608 from Sins Forums Top
The borg will only be added if they have a low "p.i.t.a." (Pain In The Ass) factor, and much later on as the mod grows. The early releases will ONLY be Dominion War era. Later releases will expand upon the late TNG era.

The borg "IF" they make it in the mod will never be pirates. Read past post about this. It just won't work, and the mod wont be fun if they are pirates.

The Maquis are going to be the pirate faction. That is set in stone, and yes they will use a few different ship designs.



Reply #609 from Sins Forums Top
Good to hear! I understand why a lot of people want the borg but I just don't think it would work. Still the thought of having a "cease fire" with the borg would be pretty amusing.

Star Trek is the best fit for this games political and economic structure, because that is 80% of what star trek was.
Reply #610 from Sins Forums Top
as i've said before it doesn't really make any sence for the maquis to be pirates, i'm still for the orion pirates. but if it's set it stone then so be it, it just doesn't make any sence. keep up the great work stress, can't wait for this mod!
Reply #614 from Sins Forums Top
When it is done. Most of the team has disbanded I belive so it's very very very slow going at the present.
Reply #615 from Sins Forums Top
If you were looking for a good photon torpedo effect, you should check out the SolarFlair mod's phase missiles. If you remove the trails then it seems you have a very good torpedo.

Just search Moddb for SolarFlair, you'll find it.
Reply #616 from Sins Forums Top
While i'm not actively modding SoaSE together with MajorStress, I will provide this little bit of information for all to read and probably ignore in future posts:





NO BORG/ORION WHATSOEVER IN THIS MOD (MAQUIS ARE PIRATES)

NO ETA UNTIL FIRST RELEASE IS READY




Period. I hope this was all clear enough for anyone choosing to post more comments in this thread. If you believe the development time is slow-going, send a message to MajorStress and volunteer to help out in various roles for the project. Don't critisise the slow progress and at the same time, not doing anything to speed things along.
Reply #617 from Sins Forums Top
I already have a very good weapon pack thanks to Darkshimmer. We have a good warp effect as well tho it may need some tweaking.

The only help i really need is a code monkey to help script in new particle effects, and game mechanics. I am going to do the rest of the new(non trekmods)artwork myself since no one else seems skilled enough, or can be bothered to volunteer to help in that area.

When i have news i will post it.

Who said sins doesnt support spec maps? :P 1st in game test shots of the SoA2 Ambassador

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Reply #618 from Sins Forums Top
Beautiful.
Reply #619 from Sins Forums Top
My jaw just dropped when I saw that image. Please don't downsize the graphics in any way. If anything release two packs for this. I would love it if the ships looked that good, and I am not even a Star Trek fan. Take your time man. Take your time.
Reply #620 from Sins Forums Top
Just a thought...the Klingons could be allied with both the Federation and Romulans as there was the House of Duraus who caused the Kitamure massacre.
Reply #621 from Sins Forums Top
Do people sometimes simply not read the comments made previously? Last one I made was not more than 4 posts ago, and again we have yet another suggestion for a "pirate faction".



PIRATES ARE MAQUIS



End of story. No other suggestions for pirates will be used in this mod. Period.

On a brighter sidenote: Excellent work on the Ambassador Class. Will be an awesome ship when used in combat situations.
Reply #622 from Sins Forums Top
There wasn't a suggestion for a different pirate faction. Just a suggestion at combining factions, though I do believe if I'm remembering correctly and haven't missed anything, that it's been said there will be six races.

On another note, Stress, very nice model. :CONGRAT: I'd point out that it almost looks like a New Orleans class ship, but those lazy Federation engineers and their making ship designs all look alike. :p
Reply #623 from Sins Forums Top
Um... Thunder, no one said anything about pirates since your last post :p

I will repeat this again to make things clear. There will be SIX playable factions in the mod. The Federation, Klingons, Romulans, Dominion, Cardassian, and Breen.

The Maquis will be the pirate faction. Weak, Annoying, Mostly non-canon, Just exist to provide cannon fodder, and XP for cap ships just like the Sins pirates. End of discussion.

The Borg, Sona, 8472, and other TNG race of the weeks may show up in the mod IF they aren't a major pain in the ass to add in, or balance.

I have managed to make all 6 main factions work, but i am having some problems with crashing. I am a 3d Modeler/Texture artist(who is looking for a job BTW), not a code monkey. I can work with already existing scripts, but dont ask me to make a new one from scratch. It ain't gonna happen. This is why i need dedicated scripter/coders for this project. If i have to learn, and do this myself it will be THAT much longer the mod will take to get done.

None of the factions will be "merged" together. No feds, and klingons in the same faction. I am a very big fan of "what if" scenarios. Example what if the Klingons decided to side with the dominion? What if the breen sided with the feds? what if the feds had no allies, and the Romulans decided to stay isolationist? I want as much free play in here as possible. That wont happen with merged factions.

What you see on my WIP's IS what you will get in the mod. The Ambassador model is 2500 triangles, but it looks like it has much more (this is intentional). The textures are well within the default sins resolution limits. This is my "taste great-less filling" approach to modeling. The quality you see on the SoA2 Ambassador, and Excelsior models are the standards i have set for the mod. Most of the Trekmods models meet, or exceed this standard without going over poly counts, or using multiple ridiculously high res textures. If your machine can play sins then you will have no problem playing SoA2. My benchmark system is a sempron 3100+, 2 gigs ram with a gf-6600 video card. Those ambassador screens were taken on my crappy laptop.

I have a challenge if anyone is up for it. The Ambassadors ability's are going to be pretty similar to the TEC Akkan cruisers ability's with one exception. It will colonize. It will to hit buff friendly units. It will have "call a truce" (same thing as armistice, but not spamable), but its level 6 ability will be "Starfleet Marines". I need someone to be able to create a script that launches landing craft, AND make an animation above the planet similar to the advent provoke hysteria ability. The animation should show brief clips of starfleet troops fighting it out on the surface. Is anyone up to the task?

Reply #624 from Sins Forums Top
Unfortunately, I have no scripting skills, but might I suggest to the eventual code monkey that he/she use images/clips from "The Siege of AR-558" from DS9, for the animation above the planet as requested. That had Federation troops battling the Jem'ha'Dar(sp?).

I also want to express my expansive gratitude to all who are working/will work on this MOD. For me, and I suspect many others, this is a dream come true; one that has always been teased by every disappointing Star Trek game to date. That Ambassador is stunning and it is very exciting to know that it is a level of quality that will pervade the entire MOD. I may even try my hand at some Trek Machinima with the completed MOD.
Reply #625 from Sins Forums Top
Major- You guys are really knocking this one out of the ballpark! Screens look great, but you are keeping the gameplay just as it should be.... balanced! LOVE IT.