Hey Z. 

I've modded the Cylon starbase (not the main one, the one that is in the "Moon" addons mod). 

I've emailed it to you for inclusion in the game. I've added a few unique abilities to it... 

All files should be added to the "Moon" addon. 

It is a wonder that you find anytime with all your responsibilities! I know you are aware of Ice Dragon modelling work. I think something like this might make a good candidate for the Picon Fleet HQ with Ice Dragon permission. I am happy enough to contact him as he still seems quite active on his forum. Effectively it is an updated Ragnor stations with three shipyards attached. This being the case it would end up being similar to the Ragnor station as it can act as a secondary refuelling/repair facility. I can imagine the command staff/admirals looking down on their fleet.

Ghost Fleet

I hope you have a book mark, lol. This is just some food for thought when the time is available.

I have recently read a very interesting article (production notes) from two of the model designers who worked on the BSG 2003 series and Blood and Chrome. They addressed some of the fan criticism regarding the scaling of ships in the Scorpion shipyard attack scene. They explained that due to tight work schedules per episode they were not able to spend the time they wanted to on this scene, likewise they didn't have the resources available for more accurate scaling. They didn't want to make the same mistake with Blood and Chrome, so this time round they done a lot more research into the individual ships. They also wanted to reward fans by adding some of their own designs such as the Defender/Sintenal class. Their main aim was to give fans an idea to what a fully functioning BSG would look like and how each ship would play it's part. They based a BSG heavily upon a modern day carrier tasks force. They gave some additional information about each ship and their roles that you will not find on other official websites. Here is a rough breakdown of some of the unknown ships in the Ghost Fleet.

Waterslide (early Battlestar), Eros class troop carrier.

This ship housed the main medical facilities for the fleet and could also be used as a troop transport.

Catamaran (missile frigate)

Long ranged tactical missile frigate. Providing additional frontal fire power for the fleet.

Loki/Cyclops (heavy cruiser)

The Loki and Cyclops are actually of slightly different designs, though their functions are the same, both are fleet repair and supply ships similar to the Flattop. The main difference is that these ships are able to construct other ships! I find that a bit strange, it would be more likely that they would carry supplies for the constructing of orbital structures, just my views.

They had two other designs that they didn't manage to get finished, both are kept to the far screen of the Ghost fleet. One was a dedicated marine transport ship and the other one was a Raptor carrier ship, similar I would imagine to a modern day heli-carrier. Designed to support the fleets logistical requirements, SAR missions and marine landings.

After getting that out the way, I now turn to the information regarding ships that are currently in the mod and the model designers views on them.

Defender/Sentinal (Lightstar)

The ship was originally a merchant ship that was refitted for military use at the onset of the First Cylon War. These ships prior to military use were top end merchant ships, fast, well armoured and lightly armed to deal with pirate threats or any other would be opportunists. They were popular with space explorers and often outfitted with scientific equipment including advanced Dradis systems. It is no surprise that the CDF seen this ship as a viable ship for military use. The ship would make an ideal scout ship due to its speed and advanced Dradis equipment. The addition of a hangar pod to allow for raptors would extend the vessel scouting range. To ensure the ships survival on long range missions more emphasis was put on defensive systems. The ship was well protected against missiles and fighters. The ship was also upgrade with missile pods to add an additional punch. The Defender/Sentinal was designed to be a scout and fleet escort.

Taking this information into account, I have had some thoughts. Instead of having the Defender and Sentinal as two different ship classes. I would have the Sentinal as a military upgrade to the Defender class. The Defender would be moved to the cruiser menu and once upgraded it would change into the Sentinal. I have seen a few mods do something similar, for instance Excelsior class being upgraded to the Excelsior B 'Lakota' class. Once the Sentinal upgrade has been unlocked, the ship will have it's hanger and missile pods. This could then link up to the engine boost upgrade, and a PDS upgrade to increase the ships survivability.

This of course would leave you without a frigate class for the CDF. I would say the 'Guardian' class would be better suited as an escort frigate as the ship was designed to protect merchant shipping. It is very similar to the defender, though 4/5^th the size and lightly protected. The main emphasis of this ship was on speed and ranged missile warfare. The Tyr class is a better balanced ship and more durable than the Guardian. I will post a picture of the Guardian below, hopefully the Defender model can be modified in time to create the Guardian.

Berserk Class (heavy escort)

Unlike many colonial ships that were modified at the start of the First Cylon War, the Berserk class was purposely built to be a heavy cruiser. Though this class is a highly effective anti fighter/missile ship, it is foremost a heavy cruiser and thus is not lightly armed. Most mods put this ship in anti fighter role, like heavy cruisers in the second world war she was able to dish out punishment, hence why the Berserk name is quite appropriate. The top spine of the ship is the only weak point in the design, she was designed to be well armed and fast, so sacrificed some armour, however the sheer amount of weapon emplacements made up for this. The missile pods though capable of interchangeable weapon ordnance are primarily meant for long ranged anti fighter suppression. I have seen Berserk class models that show the ship with it's heavy KEW batteries opposed to just the auto-cannons. It would be good see the Berserk class outfitted with heavy KEW batteries, I don't know if it is possible to add a special ability to this class so that the ship can fire ranged anti-fighter missiles, similar to the flack ability. The Berserk class ranged missiles were designed to take out enemy fighters long before they could deploy their own missiles.

Communication/Advanced Electronics Ship (Celestra type)

Another civilian ship enlisted into the Colonial fleet. Originally designed as a purpose built science vessel. It's advanced sensors were modified for military use, assisting the fleets targeting systems. Though the main advantage to this ship was it's ECM equipment, able to jam missile locks and block Cylon communication signals. This ship provided extra security for the fleet from Cylon viruses. I especially like what you done with the upgrades for the Flattop. It is very easy to concentrate on the military ships, but in the BSG universe, merchant ships played a big part. At the moment the Celestra is being used as a mining ship. This old girl when upgraded could prove to be very useful, especially for fleets that lack a Battlestar capital ship.

Columbia (Heavy Battlestar)

The model designers received some flak of fans for the Galactica being OP with the amount of weapons compared to the model in the BSG 2003 series. The Block (1) 'Ribbed armoured', Columbia class that came of the production line first were no match for the Hades (1a) Basestar. The Columbia class was designed prior to outbreak of war with the Cylons. The Columbia class was never designed to fight the Caprican designed Basestar. Due to the immense costs of building a Battlestar it was likely that this ship would of remained on the designed board if it had not been for the outbreak of war. Only when the colonies came together did they have the resources for this project.

12 keels were laid down for first batch of Colonial Battlestars. The first Battlestars to be commissioned were lost early in the war. The CDF had to radically upgrade the existing Block (1) Battlestars still under construction. The new Battlestars now had fully armoured plates with additional auto-cannons, PDS and more heavy KEWs, they would become the Block (2) variants. Galactica in Blood and Chrome is a prime example of a fully upgraded Block (2). This Battlestar was far better suited to slugging it out with a Basestar, only surpassed by the Minerva class command stars at the end of the war. In the Scorpion shipyard scene we see an upgraded Block (3) Battlestar, though they admit the scaling was wrong for this ship. The Block (3) refit addressed the design flaw in the need to retract the flight pods. The class was far heavier automated, additional armour and cargo space were added. Only the late generation Block (2) Battlestars built towards the end of the war and just after the Armistice received this refit. The Galactica was an early Block (2) Battlestar, she was deemed too old and expensive to upgrade. The Block (3) Battlestar resembles the original design on the outer shell, internally they are vastly different, hence why it is not considered a Columbia class Battlestar by many. So they were right to say that the Galactica was the last true Columbia class Battlestar to be taken of the active roll.

Though the model designers have used many fanon ideas, they certainly seem to fit into the story line and answer some of the continuity problems that have been brought up.

I know that there are other mods out there that might be willing to donate some ship models if you are happy for me to contact them?

Thanks for the info Cylon_Luvr, I will keep that in mind for future posts.

I have been working on research icons per our previous discussion. What format and sizes do the pictures have to be so I can convert them. Are there any rules I need to keep in mind for the pictures so they actually work? Would ship models used in Star Wars Empire of War be of a low enough resolution to work in sins?

The icons for research are now ready to be sent. I have compressed the file in a RAR format, how do you want me to send it? I have done little adjustments to the pictures other than some cutting to get rid of unnecessary backgrounds.

File sent. If there are any problems, I will break the file down into smaller segments

I was looking at some star charts recently for the layout of the Colonies and Cylon space. If you were able to create a Galaxy Forge tool with your material I could then work on a new map. The map would have set starting places for both factions. Example; 3V3 player map. Player starts of in one cluster of four colonial planets, whilst the AI (allied) controls the other two clusters. The map could include a Scorpion shipyard planet with capturable shipyards, bonus; reduced ship build times and costs. Where major battles were fought in the war there could be capturable derelict ships for both factions. The Ragnor station at Anchorage could be capturable. I would be able to include many planets/systems/space anomalies visited by the Galactica in both the TOS and Re-Imagined series. Each faction will start of in their own space and have to expand through the Armistice Line to reach their opponent, there will be no more early rushes! Planets/Asteroid Belts in the Armistice line will often be rich in resources. The player who manages to find the path to Kobol and Earth will be richly rewarded. The map will be designed to stop the AI camping in one location. Where you able to use any of the research icons I sent to you? 

I will give that a go until you find time to complete your own version of Galaxy Forge. It will at least give me a working template to begin with. Thanks

The mod activation looks correct.

Did you get the Sins of the Fallen loading screen or video with the heart monitor.

What is the file name you downloaded? SotF.Full.Reb.1.82.37.1.2.7z?

Sorry for not getting back to you in so long.

Baked version throws me the same issues and I did get the Sins of the fallen loading screen and heart monitor splash animation.

The file I installed was SotF.Full.Reb.1.82.37.1.2.7z off of moddb .

As you may of expected I had limited success with contacting other mods for material that could be used . Though some of the designers who I spoke with gave me some helpful tips. A lot of mods are using models/mesh that have been freely donated by the original designers. Even Ice Dragon has donated some models, though his ones seem to have too high a resolution. I followed the links provided to me for models that were of low resolution and could be rigged for gaming. There are even some modding packs. I will post an example below as at least this one comes with full details with polygons count etc and can be downloaded in different formats. Once I know what specs you ideally need for sins models, I can narrow down my search.

http://www.3dcadbrowser.com/download.aspx?3dmodel=40838