[Mod] Species diversification mod

BETA almost ready!

Some of you may have seen me posting around asking questions here and there already, but if you havent (or even if you have) this is what its all going into.

What I noticed when i really started to get into this game (to my dismay and im sure some of you out there will agree with me) is that there really isnt that large a difference between the three species we get to play. Sure their techs vary a lot but all in all they'er not all that different when it comes to two or three massive fleets battling it out. Yes capital ships can add a degree of difference but those skirmishes and even some major battles just lack effective strategy and micro management.

What im currently working on is setting up each specie with a distict advantage as well as disadvantages. Situations where only certain ships at the right time could turn the tide of the battle.

Progress:
TEC [85%]
Advent [50%]
Vasari [10%]

BETA:
75-80% complete

Sins plus:
Im hoping that i can get uzii's permision to use this mod in junction with his sins plus as it only adds to the great diversity this mod will provide.

A glimpse at TEC:

So far some of the changes ive made to tec will already make evident the change in fleet strategy and gameplay. Most noteable is that TEC no longer have shields. To make up for this drastic change a few capital ship abilities have been changed around, health on most ships has been nearly (if not) doubled and armor plays a major role on ships (both starting armor and researched armor) However their hull regen has only been improved by around 30%. However their repair structures effectiveness has been improved by lowering cool down and antimatter costs.
The light frigate and codac cruiser now have a researchable Magnetic Accelerator Cannon, like the one on the Kol battleship, though weaker.

In a nutshell heres the large changes and some other smaller changes (not all are implemented yet but intended to be soon):
Shields removed (may be able to research later, still under discussion) DONE
hull nearly doubled (LRM frig a large exception to both hull and armor) DONE
armor raised DONE
hull regen slightly raised DONE
repair defencive structure efficiency raised DONE
mobile repair cruisers efficency raised DONE
Carriers have had their max fleet capacities raised (cruiser and captial ship) DONE (on tech and advent only)
Fire power on capital ships greatly increased, cost increased to balance DONE
Abilities on capital ships changed around to reflect the non-shielded hull oriented TEC ships
Flak frigs now fire faster but do less damage per burst to mroe effectively deal with fighter/bombers DONE
light frigs now have researchable MAC gun that fires once every 3 minutes for 175 antimatter dealing 100 damage, range = 5000 (might change to 4000) HALF DONE (research still needs to be added)
Heavy cruisers now have researchable MAC gun that fires once every 2 minutes for 200 antimatter dealing 3 bursts worth of 100 damage (300 total) range 5000 HALF DONE (research still needs to be added)
Laser/energy weapons on Tec vessals will be less common (restricted to capital ships) research will be adjusted accordingly.
LRM frigs now attack with a whole silo of missiles for massive damage, but the recycle time raised to 45 seconds. cost increased. DONE
Kol battleship no longer supports any fighter/bombers DONE
Bombing range increased on Kol to 5000 damage also to 60 (damage lowered to 50) DONE
bombing range increased on Tec siege captial ship to 7000 damage also to 75, planet bombing looks more devestating DONE
bombing removed from carrier capital ship DONE
bombing damage reduced on support capital ships DONE
carrier capital ship now uses a large amount of autocannon anti-fighter weaponry DONE
Carriers missile satilites now move (slowly) and have two missile weapons, each fire large salvos like LRM and have long recharges, armor/hull not changed. Damage is still far less then an LRM will produce however, range also less. DONE
Scouts are now faster and more agile DONE
Culture rate doubled DONE

Still in the works:
Antimatter on most ships has been increased, adjustments to this as well as AM regen to come
Updates to the command cruiser and seige frigate
New MAC gun defencive unit, available when once both levels of MAC gun research have been learned;
Weapons - 2
Damage - 2000 front (40 second recycle) 60 all sides (24 second recycle)
Range - 10,000 / 6,700
Slots - 8
Cost - 1350/250/150
Build time - 135
Max hull/restore - 15,000/8
Armor - 25
NO SHIELD OR MITIGATION!
EXP for killing - 200
 DONE (still needs research)
Something needs to be changed around with the TEC orbital cannon (Or more specificly all specie orbital cannons) can i get any imput on these?
STILL NEED INPUT ON THE ORBITAL CANNONS

Advent changes (nearly all of this is subject to change):
Greater shields (mitigation to stay the same)
Hull/armor reduced
Weapons switched around
Better control over phase jumping (faster, less AM cost etc)
Fleet slot costs decreased among all ships
Damage to be slightly higher then current
Hull research reduced to two
Hull regen = 0
shield regen x5
Detonate AM ability removed (steal and give AM abilities still in place)

Vasari changes:
Regen rates high
Conversion ability (advents mind control ability for capital ships)
(havent really thought about these guys much yet)

Overall changes i hope to implement:
Pirates attack in larger numbers DONE (Pirate ships are now slightly weaker however they are far FAR more numerous) *I cant stress enough how much more numerous they will be*
(in addition I used some of the dead ship files in Uzii's sins plus mod to give pirates a chance to throw dead ships into the mix, these will act like original tech ships without the changes i have made)
weapon damage (this is a big one i hope i can implement, though capital ships may be left on out this):
Autocannon 100% damage to shields then 100% damage to hull (basic damage)
Missile 75% damage to shields 25% damage to hull (basic damage, increased chance of causing fires)
Laser 50% damage to shields 50% damage to hull (basic damage)
Wave 125% damage to shields 50% damage to hull (still on the drawing board)
Phase missiles 75% damage to shields 115% damage to hull (still on the drawing board)
Plasma 125% damage to shields 100% damage to hull (has a burn/melting effect when hitting hull)

If anyone wants to contribute that would be wonderful as well! Ill try to keep everyone posted on how this is going and even think about giving you guys a beta once i complete tec and advent.
7,977 views 10 replies
Reply #1 Top
Nice idea...will keep eye on it!

BTW, is there a way to change usage of different planets to get a diversity in there too? Thinking of probably having more people on desert planets for Advent then for the other two...something like this. Or is it impossible by the game engine and all need terran style planets for best use?

Reply #2 Top
Its possible through research, i would just have to up the % raise in population, add more tech levels or mod the planet directly, though that wouldnt apply to just advent but all races...
Reply #4 Top
More diversity between the races = more fun for me. Good luck.
Reply #5 Top
This looks like a very interessting mod!
I like the idea of it and look forward to the first downloadable version :)

one thing i really would like would be more fighters/bombers in the battles... Espacially for the TEC i think, fighters would be more used because fighters are much easier and cheaper to construct than bigger vessels...
Reply #6 Top
... just a few comments - first and foremost, you do know shields and hull are effectively the same thing in soase, right?

Pretty much the only difference is regeneration rate and armor's apparent 5% apparent health increase.

Secondly, tec aren't the armor race, that's vas, so I REALLY hope you pull something out of your hat for them... vas are not jack of all trades, that would be the tec.

EDIT: wtf?!?! what the hell have you done to the capital ship balance!

Seriously, siege capitals are siege capitals, battle ships are battleships, don't dick the two around. I really think you need to consider changes better, and don't name your railgun armament after Halo please, it offends my sense of taste, badly.

Edit2: Just so you know - your changes make the Kol's siege damage 80% of the siege frigates... that's not good balance, and upping the Kol's damage without upping your siege frigates damage is bad, seeing as every race's siege is their DPS ship
Reply #7 Top
... just a few comments - first and foremost, you do know shields and hull are effectively the same thing in soase, right?Pretty much the only difference is regeneration rate and armor's apparent 5% apparent health increase.Secondly, tec aren't the armor race, that's vas, so I REALLY hope you pull something out of your hat for them... vas are not jack of all trades, that would be the tec.EDIT: wtf?!?! what the hell have you done to the capital ship balance!Seriously, siege capitals are siege capitals, battle ships are battleships, don't dick the two around. I really think you need to consider changes better, and don't name your railgun armament after Halo please, it offends my sense of taste, badly.Edit2: Just so you know - your changes make the Kol's siege damage 80% of the siege frigates... that's not good balance, and upping the Kol's damage without upping your siege frigates damage is bad, seeing as every race's siege is their DPS ship
End of quote


You forget mitigation which completely negates a % of damage and only comes when you have shields. TEC wont have any of that. In addition you cant really send repair bots or nanobots out to repair shield now can you?
I have something (sorta) special coming up for vas so no worries :p
I will re-look at the battleship/seige issue you brought up
Siege frigs are still in the works btw so dont complain about them just yet!
Chances are i will greatly increase siege frig range, or maybe... just maybe ill give them a different use all together.
Also, for the time being they will be MAC guns, sorry but just deal with it until this mod is more then 90% done.

@Thyalin
All races will have increased fighter/bomber slots, ill think about changing that around to better suit the species later
Reply #8 Top
UPDATE:

Current vision for Vas is as follows, absolutely none of this is permanent just the idea ive thrown around for a while and might follow through with.

Shields will be very low, however they will have extreamly high mitigation (85-90%)
Hull will be around 35% or 40% of current
Hull repair rate will be very high
Techs for vas ships will be much higher leaving a player to only start with a scout, light frigate, and colony ship.
Capital ships will require research (for all races not just vas)
Vas ships will be expencive however harvesting techs will have their effectiveness raised
ships will cost almost 3x (if not 4x) as much in fleet supplies
All vas ships (minus capital ships) will have the capture ship ability (only possible when ship hull is 50% or less)altered for balance.
Shield techs will be changed to up mitigation rather then total shields/regen
Hull techs will increase max hull more and hull regen less
weapon power will be either be equal or slightly less then current.
Armor on vas ships will be removed along with armor techs
Fleets brought via phase gates will now only be scouts or weak versions of other light frigates (all with capture ability of course)
Phase missiles will be removed for balance
Further updates to come once i get closer to actually editing each ship individually.


Goals for each specie.
TEC will now rely much more on support ships as well as hit and run tactics and micro managing. Im going to increase the chance as well as the damage fires deal.
Advent will be the only true battle race who can run in, fight and hold a possition, however a smart player on either vas or tec will be able to knock out their shields leaving them helpless. In addition their ships will cost far more. (you get what you pay for)
Vas will require interesting stratigies because they're main fleet power will not come entirely from their own buildable ships, but rather captured ones, both neutral, pirates and even other players ships making them the most versatile of all.
Reply #9 Top
UPDATE:

TEC have been given minimal shields (.01) so as to activate mitigation, though minimal!
Shield tech for TEC has been changed to up their mitigation from as low as .05 (5%) to .175 (17.5%)Their locations in the research table are no indication to their teir (teirs 4 and 7 respectfully) because trying to move these techs seems to mess up the mod when i load it.
More tweeks to fighters and flack.
Im beginning basic work for advent. Abilities will change around but will probably be saved for one of the last things i fix.

Sorry for the slow updates on those watching the progress of this mod, uzii's recently release of 1.3a sins plus bogged me down while i tried to merge.

Please though i would love feed back on Vas forces.
In addition i now realise AI might have trouble playing Vas should they be completed as planned. Anyone want to help me with that should it happen?
Reply #10 Top
UPDATE:

Advent have been slightly updated
Shields are now 2x or more
hull reduced by 75% or so
hull regen removed on most ships
shield regen 3x to 5x more then normal
weapon damage slightly increased
weapon speed increased
Mitigation about the same
armor reduced greatly (on most frigates entirely)
speed on all ships increased by 75 to 100%
antimatter increased on most ships
Carrier capacity increased

Still in the works for advent:
Ability balancing
Capital ship balancing
Plasma "burn" effect still needs to be added
Weapon damage balancing
Shielded structures
Technologies need changing around.

Still in the works for everyone:
The same as stated in previous posts

Total complete percentage:
TEC: 85%
Advent: 50%
Vas: 10%
Total: 60%

BETA ready percentage:
75%

Depending on how busy (or lazy) i am i should have the BETA out for you guys to try and give feed back and such in about 15 days or less.
As always if you wish to help with anything im open for suggestion or even better actually modding!
Right now since i havent really worked on any research aside from tec shield mitigation any thing to do with that would be wonderful!

Look for another update within a week or two.