MOD New Empires

no offense but there are already about three or four mods that do this already.

If you want to make a mod, try adding new races, or re-imagining the races that are already there. More depth to the game. Don't take something that is pretty much balanced already and just change a few little things.

If you want your mod to stand out, make it visually different from everything else.

Amen to that. At the moment we have a good wide range of mods; balancing, enhancing, adding, altering, textures and graphics.

But hey, who am I to say what to do, good luck with it, and any help, just post

I've added a high tier super railgun defense for TEC   

So far, I'm using the gauss cannon model and displays, if any of you could help with modeling, I would appreciate it.

I have made the Vasari Evacuator pretty powerful, but extremely expensive in terms of logistics (100 slots) and standard resources. Eventually, I hope to add my own factions, but I need to get a lot more experience in modding before I try that.   

Working on adding new effects for the TEC lasers. I'm trying to get them to look like lasers, not bolts, so I'm taking the Kol beams, using them to replace the cobalt weapon data, then adjusting the damage, sounds, and beam duration to .1 (to make it like a vasari flashbeam) However, it minidumps on me when I try to load the mod. Any suggestions?

If you want help, you're going to have to be a bit more specific. What files exactly have you changed, which lines, to what? If you want to make them like the Vasari weapons, find them and copy and alter.

I changed the cobalt frigate and copied (then changed) these files over from the Kol:
WeaponType "Beam"
damageEnums
AttackType "CAPITALSHIP"
DamageAffectType "AFFECTS_SHIELDS_AND_HULL"
DamageApplyType "OVERTIME"
DamageType "ENERGY"
WeaponClassType "BEAM"
DamagePerBank:FRONT 280.000000
DamagePerBank:BACK 0.000000
DamagePerBank:LEFT 0.000000
DamagePerBank:RIGHT 0.000000
Range 5000.000000
PreBuffCooldownTime 14.000000
CanFireAtFighter FALSE
SynchronizedTargeting TRUE
PointStaggerDelay 0.250000
TravelSpeed 0.000000
Duration 4.000000
WeaponEffects
weaponType "Beam"
burstCount 1
burstDelay 0.000000
muzzleEffectName "Weapon_TechCapitalBeamHeavy_Muzzle"
muzzleSoundMinRespawnTime 0.100000
muzzleSounds
soundCount 1
sound ""
hitEffectName "Weapon_TechCapitalBeamHeavy_Hit"
hitHullEffectSounds
soundCount 1
sound ""
hitShieldsEffectSounds
soundCount 1
sound ""
beamEffectSounds
soundCount 1
sound "WEAPON_TECHCAPITALBEAMHEAVY_TRAVEL"
beamGlowTextureName "TechCapitalBeam_Glow"
beamCoreTextureName "TechCapitalBeam_Core"
beamWidth 35.000000
beamGlowColor ffffffff
beamCoreColor ffffffff
beamTilingRate 3.000000
then I changed the sounds to 3, and changed them to the cobalt laser firing sounds. I also changed the beam width to 10 and beam duration to 0.1. The burst count, as mentioned, was channged to 4 (and of course I really lowered the damage   )

Thanks in advance for the help!

Jon

Need I say more? I strongly advise getting a text comparer, I use a free one called 'Compare It!'. With this you can view files next to each other and see exactly what is different where. I suggest comparing your new frigate, to a Vanilla frigate of similar type/stats and making sure things like this are the same in both.

I successfully got around the crash-causing bug whereby if Militia had Capital ships, the game could randomly crash when the mod was loaded, by basically making a new file, with all the traits of a Capital ship, but in the format of a Frigate.

So, just compare your files with Vanilla ones to make sure things like this aren't present. I'm not saying the quote above is the problem, but it would be a good place to start, and the right lines to look along.

Hmmmm. I had already changed the damage types to "ANTIHEAVY." thanks anyway!

btw, what do mean by "format of a frigate"?

When you look at the two file with the Text Comparer, you will see what I mean. The way they are set up in a file is very different. Per level increases is one thing that isn't in the Frigate files, and there are a few more. Also the order of their stats are completely different. Please get the above mentioned comparer and merger, it will save your time, and ours

Did you get it working or not? You didn't say

Thanks. No, I haven't got it working yet, but I'm working on it.
So far, I have basically implemented most of my originaly desired changes, and I am now deciding on how to tinker with the unit graphics, weapons, behaviors, etc.

How do you add new factions? I tried, but the command bar didn't show up and the player started with nothing.

Jon9,
If you mean new races, you have to alter (copy) the PlayerRace files. They look like this: PlayerPsi.entity

Copy one of these to start, then paste it under your own name:
PlayerNEWRACE.entity

this is the basis of a new race, just don't forget to put your new race name into the ENGLISH string file, or they won't show up. the new race will be excatly like the one you copied, until you start making changes to the individual files. That takes TIME. I am currently in the middle of making a new race based off the Vasari and the Advent, kind of a hybrid Super, yet Ancient race known as the Atlantians. I know you have already been to my thread, 7 DEADLY SINS.
WWW Link

I will be posting my "in progress" version soon, and you can just copy what I did if you like as a starting point. It all depends what you want to do with your new race or faction. Depending on what you want to do, a lot of files may need to be changed or altered.

Also, if you have any content you would like to add, my mod is always welcome.

DANMAN

For some reason, when I copied the race file, the player playing my new "Swarm" race started with no resources, structures, constructors, and the command bar at the bottom of the screen didn't show up. Thanks anyway!

Jon9,
Interesting...I wonder what is causing that. Can you post a screen shot of both your player file and the actual game screen?

DANMAN

You need to add a new group to the "Template:DefaultHomePlanetSetup" template in the GalaxyScenarioDef.GalaxyScenarioDef File to fix that problem.