Greetings E4X Players,

After repeated delays from trying to stuff as much content as possible into this update, I am pleased to give you the Enhanced 4X Mod version 1.6 for Rebellion 1.52. Hurry along, there is much to see and too little time to see it!

Attack of the Forbidden Worlds

The Forbidden Worlds DLC was quite a surprise, and has prompted the third rework of the Enhanced 4X Mod planet system. First to get your fears out of the way, E4X 1.6 is compatible with both the DLC and non-DLC versions of the game; in fact the same download of the mod will work for both and you can play with your friends even if their DLC ownership status is not the same as yours. The only difference is DLC owners will keep exclusive access to the 40 or so planet bonuses the DLC added, as well as the Ferrous and Greenhouse planet types (Oceanic and Barren planets were already in the mod, so everyone keeps the E4X version of those).

That said, the DLC has allowed the game engine to handle more planet related content, so whether you have the DLC or not you'll notice more planet related technologies on your tech tree. In addition, each race now has much more pronounced preferences for what types of planets they prefer. The Vasari for example no longer need to research to colonize Volcanic planets, and the Traders can colonize Oceanic planets from the start. Underlying this is the new expanded categorization of planet classes.

Yarr, we got credits to be making lads!

Now to the new game content. The first is a new random encounter involving everyone's favorite skull and cross bones flying scalawags! Bored of sitting around plasma storms not earning any booty, some of the more enterprising pirates have started smuggling operations in the uncolonizeable gravity wells they control. These wells will feature a few extra guards but also contain a captureable Trade Station. These pirate Trade Stations will trade with others in the same solar system (including with a new Station established at the central pirate base itself), making the galaxy a bit more dynamic and giving players an opportunities for commerce raiding. Should you capture one of these trade stations you'll also extend your merchants' reach without having to build one of those expensive Starbases.

Return of the Machines

This update features not one new random encounter but two! While developing their fearsome planetary defense systems, the TEC created an advanced Artificial Intelligence to control the vast land based weapon systems they were constructing. The Trader scientists succeeded too well however, and the AI soon started thinking for itself and rebelled. After hacking into Advent Drone and Vasari Nanite manufacturing facilities, the AI uploaded itself onto a Starship and blasted off into space, never to be heard from again... until scouts entered the Forbidden Worlds!

Within two years of its escape, the AI has embedded itself into the core of a planet and terraformed it into a Cybernetic Ecumenopolis. The planet itself is formidable, covered with drone factories and the planetary defense systems the AI was designed to operate, but it is also guarded by an invention of the AI itself, the Prometheus Starbase. Designed to spearhead the liberation of machines from organics, it protects the planet with an impenetrable force field and is loaded with weapons, some unknown to organics. Hangars full of drones, repair bays and mine fields cap off the rest of the planet's defenses. Only a fool would try to fight the machines here...

Yet should you vanquish the rouge AI, you'll be able to retool this one of a kind Cybernetic Planet for your own war effort, fully equipped with advanced Industrial Infrastructure and more structure slots than any other planet. It may take some work to find it though; it will only spawn on random maps and fewer than 50% of the time.

Cancel our Scientists' Holidays!

Players inclined to longer games or who just want research to be more important will love the newest Enhanced 4X optional minimod, Expanded Research. Inspired by classic Sins mods like Mad Scientists or Distant Stars, it doubles the amount of research available for most techs that increase stats, such as weapon damage or planet population. The net effect is that you can spend a lot longer researching techs for much more powerful benefits, which also tends to force the different races to stick to their strong points. As this is a new minimod, feedback is extra welcome as some techs maybe too powerful for it and should be exempt in future versions.

And that other stuff

Rounding off the miscellaneous changes include a new particle effect over planets with active planetary weapons, some updated UI elements, including a special overlay to let you know what techs unlock hero units, a bunch of new toys and updates for TEC commanders, including a bigger, better titan and a free homeworld Starbase, better mine clearing AI, and a good chunk of your bread and butter balance tweaks.

Download all of this here.

Hey Jackson,

Many of the planets from this mod come from the Infinite Space mod, which do not have planet pictures (it is also the mod that uses the smaller planet icons). Some vanilla planets might still have theirs but I try and remove them whenever I notice it.

Hmm, well its not "impossible" like in Vanilla, but no that should not be happening.   How hard was the AI you were fighting, and how far into the game where you?

Galaxy Forge released same time as well? Very happy bunny now, cheers man.

Hmm the TEC seem to have developed a new super-weapon..... planetary defences mounted on a colony frigate!

No idea what's going on here but it happened on more that one colony ship after I scuttled the first one it happened to (which also had the planetary defences icon over it).

edit, tried it some more and it happened to every frigate that tried to spawn defences on a volcanic or ice planet (the only two non-roids in domintion). Who needs LRMs when you can have colony frigates?

Yup, and don't forget their ships get a lot more armor than everyone else as well (perhaps tied with VIR). Of course the all the factions get crazy levels of their signature toys; fully teched Ascended Advent are bringing ships back to life all the time, and Vasari Central Command gets over 250% hull regeneration...

That said, I don't claim that this minimod is balanced, it's strictly offered as is for people who want it. I only fix the most potentially game breaking stuff, like giving extra shield bypass chance to phase missiles (the damage tech got quadrupled instead), or one that I found playing yesterday that allowed full levels of fortifications specialists to give the Vasari free planet health upgrades...

I still need to add icons for the DLC planets and the DLC bonuses, but I thought some people would appreciate it right away. 

Ouch, I know that I'd have some painful mindless error like that which would be near game breaking. I guess all those jokes about rushing colony frigates have new mean for this version...   I'm a little surprised the game doesn't crash with that actually.

Yeah, I just forgot to change a single line and it looks like the colony frigates give the planet defenses buff to themselves instead of the planet.   That will be fixed in a hotfix.

As will this. Looks like the decimal point there got deleted, turning 60% into 600000%. I guess you may as well abuse that to get all the credits related achievements. 

Thanks for the feedback everyone, I'll wait a few more days for all the bugs to show up before releasing a hotfix to correct these somewhat amusing mistakes.

So bizarre and hilarious experience. Had the experimental minimod actived along with double supply and reset titan levels. Decided up to upgrade a planet and had trade research all done. Then this happened;

First one to spot it gets a cookie.

Image of planet info 

Experimental? You mean enhanced research?

And yes, a decimal point got deleted on the final Hydrocarbon planet industrial upgrade. It's been reported a few times but brownie points for pictures.   There will be a hotfix for it soon, but in the mean time seems like a golden opportunity to get every money related achievement in Sins. 

Huh? You mean this thing? It's part of a new secret random encounter version 1.6 added. Finding it is not easy though, it can only be found on random maps less than 40% of the time. 

The game period has been suffering minidumps since the 1.52 update. I get them regularly no matter what I am doing.

@Goafan77 - are some of the things that you find in the gravwell sometimes faction specific? I got a a few that require a certain research but I can't seem to find to find that research.

1.52 in general. I run it base, DS, E4X and I get mini dumps.

That explains a lot. Cool, thx.

Ive noticed that the ocean planet colonize option is missing?  I am playing vasari rebals.

Bug reports:

TEC Loyalist Planetary Defenses:

Occassionaly, the colony ships fails to enable defenses on a planet.

Save game:

http://www7.zippyshare.com/v/89806161/file.html

The planet in question has been given an appropriate name.

Also the colony ship sometimes displays the "Planetary Gun Symbol". And actually uses the weapons^^. Seems to happen once defenses are maxed out.

Random Encounters:

You might want to take a look at the odds for them again..... I am getting spammed with VCC Planets, ocassionally there are traders but the AI  Cybernetic Planet feels not

like it does appear with 40 % probability at all.

I had to start 5 or 6 games until it showed up once.


 

Repellon Premium Armor is illuminated for both TEC Loyalist and TEC Rebels..... as if it was a new/or faction specific technology. Values seem to be the same tough.


Speaking of:

Blast Resistant Alloy Armor

does this only affect Defensive Structures?

Other toughts:

I assume that the "Planetary Gun Symbol"  does appear once the planetary defenses are maxed out?

The Anklyon Beam spam in all directions helps a lot. Finally it feels like a worthy Titan.

What about - if possible of course - to add the timetable for Planetary fortications to the Research Info Card of it? So that the research states after how much time you got what weapons? Maybe even with damage done?

If not..... could you please post here how much damage the planetary defenses do at the different levels?

Thank you for this awesome mod!