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[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
4,112,150 views 1,754 replies +2 Loading…
Reply #751 from Sins Forums Top
He said he has pretty much all the stuff needed for a release of just canon material. If he's that close, then awesome. Time to show the galaxy what humans can do when they are pissed off. Klingons got nothing on us.
Reply #752 from Sins Forums Top
My understanding of cannon is Mirandas are designed by the federation to be a stop gap or bridge between TOS and TNG era starships. The Miranda was well armed for what it was in the days of the excelsior but the phasers are underpowered in comparison to the galaxy class that has type X. In that regard they were placed on the dominion lines to be extra torpedo launchers with shields. However they were not used for the most part in the initial assaults due to their limited effective phaser range.
End of quote



actually the Miranda class frigate was designed to be a support craft for the Constitution class and replace the then ageing Bonaventure class. you are right when you talk about the limited effective range of their phasers,this was augmented during the initial refit of the class (around the time the Enterprise C was launched), thus giving them the adequate range as other,newer ships. note that this was Starfleet's first adventure into ships that had alternate main weapons, the Miranda class were the Long Range Missle-boats for awhile (untill the Akria-class was developed)making their standard armament photon torpedoes.

the Miranda is most memorable as acting as a service tender ship, used for planetery support. this fact is mimicked in the newer Nebula Class

Groupy 2 - Organize multiple applications into grouped tabs on your Windows desktop
Reply #754 from Sins Forums Top
Yes?
Reply #755 from Sins Forums Top
The pics for the ST mod Look Great I like the Rom ships.
If I can Help let me know I'm on the AU mod team for SFC3
Reply #756 from Sins Forums Top
OK guys im BACK from my trip!

My main puter is being delivered so i am still stuck modding on this crappy laptop for now. I am continuing work on the mod for 1.05, but will fix all the 1.1 patch issues when the reference data is released.

The only ships i need for the "canon" release now are the Galaxy/Venture refit, Defiant, Lakota (Excelsior II), Nebula (both Farragut, and Phoenix variants), K'Vort, and the Negh Var. I have all of the meshes i need. They just need to be converted, re-textured, Optimized (polys reduced), Mesh Error fixed, and hardpointed to work with SoA2. Some of the older works from the original SoA mod need tri's added to them because they are way too LOW poly if you can believe that ;)

The "Canon" release wont have any "Trek" structures. Those will come in the full release of SoA2 much later down the road as the mod progresses. For now i will leave the vanilla sins structures in place. They will be next to useless, so build them at your own discretion.

The canon release most certainly will not be balanced. It is intended for the canon release to be only as a demo for things to come for the full blown SoA2 mod. I have some big, and ambitious plans for SoA2.

I estimate the demo will take about 2 weeks to a month to finish for the 1.05 version. This is no guarantee, because anything can happen that can delay this (mainly my RL job schedule).


To save me some time i would like a 3rd party to design a semi-transparent LCARS UI for the mod. I know UI mods have been done, but i dont have much time to mess with it right now. So once again i am calling on the community for assistance.
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Reply #758 from Sins Forums Top
How unbalanced will the canon release be? Will it be Star Wars mod unbalanced or just plain 'ol unbalanced?
Reply #759 from Sins Forums Top
More than likely WAY IMBA, but not Star Wars mod IMBA (fraking good mod BTW :D )

Since this is a "canon" demo the breen only get 1 ship. Most of the other factions will have only 3 ships, and the Federation will have the biggest advantage with the full Dominion War lineup. I will try to give each faction "canon" stats to the best of what can be done with the Sins engine. Just remember when the demo is released it is just that.. a DEMO. There will be bugs, problems, IMBA's, etc. etc..
Reply #760 from Sins Forums Top
OK I can deal with that.  :CONGRAT:  :CONGRAT:  If I come across some I will tell you but either way I appriciate that you are letting us know up front what to expect.
Reply #761 from Sins Forums Top
I also like the cinematic intro that was proposed by Jono! I can't wait!
Reply #762 from Sins Forums Top
Okay. I can deal with those imbalances. Of course, the Breen will be very unbalanced with 1 ship being used for scouting, colonization, battles, and siegeing planets.

I think we can all live with a buggy, not very balanced demo, if it lets us have fun in the Star Trek universe. Here's to the Federation!
Reply #763 from Sins Forums Top
Ok, 1st rendered images of the SoA2 Galaxy Class Venture refit. She is 70% re-textured using the SMS Galaxy textures. The mesh is the CE Galaxy from bridge commander, but it is being heavily re-worked, and optimized. It is a combination of P81, SMS, CE, Trekmod's, and Myself. The model is still just a placeholder until i can mesh, and Texture my own Galaxy from scratch. She started off at over 8000 tri's, but i have reduced it to 6500 tris, and i am not done yet. My goal is to get her under 6k.

The only difference between the Galaxy, and Venture is the Venture has extra phaser pods mounted on her warp nacelles. Why? i have no clue. I didnt design her :p As if the galaxy didnt already have enough phasers. However the Venture will make a fine "Elite" unit.

I removed the meshed in phaser strips, and will replace them with texturing, and bump mapping. The textures are SMS, but i am doing the normal map myself. No easybake oven 2 meter high hull plating on her. I liked the original smooth as glass Galaxy better.

New textures are mixed in with the old and there are accuracy flaws that still need fixing. Anyways enjoy the pics.

Reply #764 from Sins Forums Top
Very nice Galaxy class (any chance of a third nacelle :) :D

It looks just like the plastic model I had when the show came out...
Reply #765 from Sins Forums Top
ye, nice work!
I cant w8 for the next demo and try out the new ships!

Awesome work man, you rule :CONGRAT:
Reply #766 from Sins Forums Top
well I dont know if anyone has said this but if you need modles, my father and I have playe star trek armada, there is mod that I think will be realy helpful, and I have played it alot and love it, here a link for the download: http://armada2.filefront.com/file/Millenium_Project;70401
Reply #768 from Sins Forums Top
I recoginize you from the sto forums naynayz I see we're both eagerly awaiting this mod

Major stress great job so far. the ships look great. I noticed you are putting in the k'vort will the b'rel also be in ?
Reply #769 from Sins Forums Top
stupid Question, but where will i be able to download this ? it it definately a very nice Star-Trek mod, nice work mate!
Reply #770 from Sins Forums Top
I noticed you are putting in the k'vort will the b'rel also be in ?
End of quote


Perhaps you failed to notice the B'rels along side Ktinga's on the main header screen shots? :p

When the demo is ready it will be posted on Mod Database. I dont have the mod listed there yet, and i wont until i have something to post there. Remember i still need to fix this thing for the 1.1 patch.


Texturing, optimizing, and re-mapping for the Galaxy/Venture is finished. I just have to mesh in the lower saucers indented windows. The poly count is now 5831 for the Venture, and 5579 for the Galaxy. it wont be much higher with the meshed in windows.

Reply #771 from Sins Forums Top
kk, sadly i have no knowledge of modding, id really like to help you :NOTSURE:
Reply #772 from Sins Forums Top
I have been able to mess around with some stuff and I have come up with a few interesting things,

As an example, I created an ability for one of my ships called "Fire-At-Will" which is basically an altered Volley Fire, but it takes power away from the engines (-200% engines +200 rate of fire) and devotes it to weapons. The result was a very interesting but ultimatly balanced ability. (When on, the ship may be slower, but you dont want it to catch up with you..  :SURPRISED: 

As for the UI, I dont know if your interested but a Trek UI was made for Ez.'s work and I think its quite nice. I could get some screenshots of it if you wanted.

As for helping out, I am more than willing to do what ever I can. So far I have been able to do Weapons and effects (which I know you dont need), Abilities, Maps, I even made a four round torpedo launcher. So it is possible that I may be able to help out in some way.

If you think that might be the case, or if you think you might have something that needs to be done and follows along those lines, I offer up my services, such as they are & would be happy to do what ever I can.

As a side note, I have made some really amazing Star Trek Dominion War maps, the only problem being, that I had already intergrated alot of the stuff from 7 Deadly Sins (Planets, stars, etc) so that the maps themselves could be more accurate. I.E. Bajor being a Relic world... Or as another example, I took his "Rouge" stars and made them uncolonizable and began using them like you would normal stars but in a VERY large single star map then connected all the stars to each other so you could travel anywhere from anywhere. It turned out quite well, but in the first versions I had upwards of 220 planets and it got a bit laggy toward the end so I reluctantly had to scale things back. But it is a great example of what could be done in terms of maps.

But I would suggest that where ever possible, you might take advantage of some of the other Galaxy work done in the Sins community, i.e. black holes new planet types & bonuses etc... I am sure all of them would probably be honored to have some of their work used in a project of this scope. =P

But these are only suggestions and stuff... ;p 

However, I would love to help out if I can somehow, so please dont hesitate if you think I might be able to.

Otherwise, you & your teams work has always been & continues to be of the highest calibur.

Sincerely,

Adm. Cobbs

Reply #773 from Sins Forums Top
Any help with the UI, FX, Particles, Sounds, and Music will be greatly appreciated. PM me if you are interested in assisting, and tell me what you can do. I want an LCARs UI similar to the original SoA mod (within the limits of the sins engine of course) With appropriate fonts. This is my challenge to the community along with the ability challenge. First to do something i like wins a place on the growing credits list.

HW1 didnt have much of a UI to speak of which made the game better IMO. Heres some original SoA screens to show what i have in mind for the SoA2 UI


Reply #774 from Sins Forums Top
well that looks cool, but the display panel wasnt That colorful, only the individual options were highlighted

heres an example (i.e. Tng "Food Replicator")
Reply #775 from Sins Forums Top
I will see what I can do/learn but I agree the UI mentioned in Ez's would work nicely for this one and it can be adapted. Is that person keeping up with this mod I wonder? Cheers to Adm. Cobbs for the offer of help to Major in this project!