ManSh00ter ManSh00ter

[MOD] Sins of a Solar Empire: INVASION (new screenshots, May 28th, 2012.)

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[MOD] Sins of a Solar Empire: INVASION (new screenshots, May 28th, 2012.)

Previously known as "The Last Stand"

from Sins Forums

 

 

Sins of a Solar Empire: INVASION is an addon project aiming to expand upon the existing universe of the Sins of a Solar Empire, providing original and high-quality content on top of the original game. Aside from the new content, the addon will also include multiplayer-friendly gameplay changes as well as reworked or new visuals/sounds.

ETA: To Be Announced

Planned changes/content will include:

  •  A new playable race, created to the highest quality standards. The Xin are a race of utterly alien origin, and the massive fleets of their living, semi-sentient ships have been ravaging the galaxy for millenia. Countless races have perished under their onslaught - and now TEC, Advent and the Vasari will have to face this terrible enemy and win - or die trying.
    Assume the role of the defenders and try to stem the tide of death and destruction, or take command of the invading armada and destroy the impertinent insects wherever they choose to make their last stand. 
  • Volumetric Explosions & Damage Effects, providing not only greater excitement to your space battles by transforming all explosions and persistent damage effect into true 3D affairs, but also better visual cues as to how the battle is going, enabling you to spot at a first glance the hotspots and even the level of damage on particular ships.
  • Dynamic Battle System, where each ship class' strenghts and uses are not determined only by its stats and abilities, but also by its flight characteristics. Certain ship classes will be able to move during fleet battles, which, coupled with the reworked stats of all ship classes should prevent "cookie-cutter" or "spam" strategies.
  • New Ship Classes for the new faction, ranging from specialist ships such as the Warmaster or Emperor Battlecruiser all the way to Titans acting as mobile superweapons capable of facing down an entire fleet on their own or even destroying an entire gravity well in one powerful surge.
  • Reworked Balancing, aiming to further focus various ship classes on their roles, removing any overlapping advantages which ultimately make one ship type or the other the ship to produce. Changes will also include increased gravity wells as well as greater class difference in turning rates and top speeds in order to further accentualize fleet placement, strategic positioning of forward bases and other such details which a great admiral make.
  • New Planet Types, which will also be visually enhanced, primarily by increasing their size in order to make them a true centerpiece of a given sector. New planet types will provide greater variety without providing game-breaking advantages to players.
  • Enlarged Gravity Wells which, coupled with the dynamic nature of space combat, will challenge players to an even greater level, requiring careful placements of planetary defenses and orbital structures, as well as fleets.
  • Unique Structures for the new faction, ranging from formidable Heavy Defense Batteries to deployable Outposts which will be capable of guarding even sectors around otherwise uninhabitable astronomical bodies such as stars or gas giants.

==MEDIA SECTION==

 

==SCREENSHOTS==

 

==TRAILERS==

DRONE SPOTLIGHT I

A short ingame exposition of the Scout, Assault and Siege drones.

 

 

 

==BACKGROUND LORE==

Pangalactic War Timeline 

Clicking the above link will lead you to the download of a .pdf document detailing the rich and dynamic history of the factions which will play a major role in the Last Stand mod, so if you are into background lore, be sure to check it out!

 

==UNIT INFORMATION==

 Pending.

 

modding
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Reply #1276 from Sins Forums Top

That video was superb!  I just love the way all the ships move and enagage each other just like you would see in a movie.  Really made me think I was watching the real thing.  This MOD really is top notch, really looking forward to it's release!

Keep up the good work man. :)

Reply #1277 from Sins Forums Top

Hey ManSh00ter, i have a few ideas to toss your way as far as the clans remnants. Feel free to PM me and ill discuss with you in more detail.

Offworld Trading Company
Reply #1278 from Sins Forums Top

Im not sure if you knew this or not (you most likely do) but there is a section in the race info file that lets you set an amount of antimatter required for the race to start FTL travel. Perhaps changing this could allow you to create the idea you want for the fuel requirements?

Reply #1279 from Sins Forums Top

All that line does is make it so a certain amount of AM is removed when phase jumping, it doesn't actually prevent phase jumping if there isn't enough anti-matter.

Reply #1280 from Sins Forums Top

Yeah, knew about that line a long time now. As SpardaSon said, it doesn't actually prevent you from jumping. I think I'll scrap the fuel idea altogether - its just too micro, it would probably quickly turn into a chore and detract from the fun, once the novelty wears off.

Reply #1281 from Sins Forums Top

Can't wait for the mod m8! Good job thus far.

Personally I'd agree with ditching the refueling system, it works well in a turn based enviorment but being real-time I agree it would be too much micro. If you're looking for a game with a fueling sytem, go with Sword of the Stars.

Reply #1282 from Sins Forums Top

last RTS game I remember that had fuel system... Homeworld... lol of course that was for fighter craft

Reply #1283 from Sins Forums Top

FreeOrion, and open-source TBS, has a 'fueling' system, where as long as your ships remain in your supply lines, they can move about indefinitely, but each ship type has only so many fuel points that it can use for system-system travel when out of supply line range.

I think that something SIMILAR to that would be easily implementable in Sins (to an extent). Here's what I mean- ships regenerate AM VERY slowly. They use AM to power special systems (or power up standard systems to very high power), and to construct SC (across the board). This is because AM would represent the amount of excess energy stores, expendable ordnance stores, and fightercraft component/replacement stores. By extending your supply lines (culture), you expand the areas where your ships can fight highly effectively. The TEC already has the research to increase AM regen in friendly culture.

Reply #1284 from Sins Forums Top

Yeah, but currently there is no way to actually make the lack of AM cause any detrimental effects on, say, jumping. Plus, using AM as a "fuel" also makes it necessary for the player to micromanage their fleet. For example, you have to make sure each and every ship uses their special abilities only when you want, otherwise they might end up depleting their AM reserves and get stuck for a while when you need them elsewhere.

On the other hand, if you make the AM regen very quickly in friendly cultures, you make it possible to spam special abilities which do not have a long cooldown.

What I plan to implement instead is a way for each new faction to have certain advantages and disadvantages without requiring micro from the player. For example, the Xin are very slow to deploy by default, their ships are slower in normal space, slower in phase space. But, they can construct very cheap wormhole relays which enable them to link up their owned territories in a network which allows their ships to simply zip around like there's no tomorrow.

The Remnant will not have such technology, but their numerical superiority and higher overall speeds will mean they will be far more flexible when it comes to deployment to start with. And so on.

Reply #1285 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting ManSh00ter, reply 1284
Yeah, but currently there is no way to actually make the lack of AM cause any detrimental effects on, say, jumping. Plus, using AM as a "fuel" also makes it necessary for the player to micromanage their fleet. For example, you have to make sure each and every ship uses their special abilities only when you want, otherwise they might end up depleting their AM reserves and get stuck for a while when you need them elsewhere.

On the other hand, if you make the AM regen very quickly in friendly cultures, you make it possible to spam special abilities which do not have a long cooldown.

What I plan to implement instead is a way for each new faction to have certain advantages and disadvantages without requiring micro from the player. For example, the Xin are very slow to deploy by default, their ships are slower in normal space, slower in phase space. But, they can construct very cheap wormhole relays which enable them to link up their owned territories in a network which allows their ships to simply zip around like there's no tomorrow.

The Remnant will not have such technology, but their numerical superiority and higher overall speeds will mean they will be far more flexible when it comes to deployment to start with. And so on.
End of ManSh00ter's quote

I like your ideas mate.  It's good to see this MOD in very capable hands.  Very excited for it's release, do not keep us waiting to long! :)

Reply #1286 from Sins Forums Top

It's been over a year since the mod was first announced :P


Manshooter operates on valve time sometimes

Reply #1287 from Sins Forums Top

Yeah. :p But then again, Valve got us Half Life, so it can't all be that bad. ;)

Reply #1289 from Sins Forums Top

Just like wanted said, thank you for your dedication ManSh00ter. It is much apreciated. :-)

Reply #1290 from Sins Forums Top

Has there been an updated ETA in the past few pages? I seem to remember it supposed to be out soon after you got back from your vacation :P

Reply #1291 from Sins Forums Top

Thrawn there has not been an updated ETA. Manshooter works on the "it's done when it's done" timeline.

Reply #1292 from Sins Forums Top

When I have a definitive ETA it'll be displayed in bold red letters in the opening post. Currently I am rigging ship models for gameplay, which includes adding particle effects, tweaking stats and testing them in actual gameplay (hence the combat trials). I am also working on models for structures, that part is going relatively quickly. And of course, I am also working on UI elements, such as icons and coding research trees and abilities.

Add to that about three other projects, one of which is professionally oriented, and you can see how full my hands are. I have to wear a specially designed cooling hat or my head would start a fire! ;)

Reply #1293 from Sins Forums Top

lol.

keep up the good work mansh00ter, we're all waiting patiently. :D

Reply #1294 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting ManSh00ter, reply 1292
When I have a definitive ETA it'll be displayed in bold red letters in the opening post. Currently I am rigging ship models for gameplay, which includes adding particle effects, tweaking stats and testing them in actual gameplay (hence the combat trials). I am also working on models for structures, that part is going relatively quickly. And of course, I am also working on UI elements, such as icons and coding research trees and abilities.

Add to that about three other projects, one of which is professionally oriented, and you can see how full my hands are. I have to wear a specially designed cooling hat or my head would start a fire!
End of ManSh00ter's quote

Hey stranger!  Boy do I know where you are coming from.  My life is so crazy, and I have multiple projects, jobs, wife, kids, etc.  It is hard to find time to do this.  I, just like the others here, eagerly, and patiently await the release of this epic mod.  I hope to get the Xin and Atlantians, or one of my other races, to spar some day LOL.  Increadible work, keep it up, and let any of my guys (Spardason, Mr. Blunted, etc.) know if you need any help from us.  It would be an honor.

Good luck, keep up the good work!

DANMAN

Reply #1295 from Sins Forums Top

From just a player, I don't know how you guys keep all this going and deal with us peons as well, and then toss in updates as well.  almost enough to make you quit the whole idea.

Good luck and lots of encouragement.

PS - DANMAN hope to see 7d out of alpha soon.  ha ha he he)

Reply #1296 from Sins Forums Top

just wondering of you ever got my PM. I swear, as soon as i mention the Clans Remnants this thread goes inactive!

Reply #1297 from Sins Forums Top

Jeez, sorry man, I've read your PM but had about five other emails to answer and by the time I was done with them I seem to have figured I answered yours too. I'll get back to you today.

Reply #1298 from Sins Forums Top

ok, thats fine. Im not angry or anything if thats what youre thinking (though on retrospect i should try to make my posts sound less like a rant) I just wanted to confirm that you got the PM because as soon as i had sent it, the forums dumped on me and i couldnt find a copy of it in my box.

Reply #1299 from Sins Forums Top

Just want to bump the forum. havnt heard any news which worries me. This is easily my most anticipated mod!

Reply #1300 from Sins Forums Top

If you look at the past year or so, there are often large "dead zones" of time, where no one posts here. The mod, as Manshooter said, should be out pretty soon :D I, like everyone else, eagerly and patiently await the mod :dur: