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

ManSh00ter

Join Date 02/2008

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

Previously known as "The Last Stand"

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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Another day, another update! The model factory delivers yet again. For your perusal, I have brought forth the newly assembled Long Range Drone. This baby not only sports dreadlocks, but can also spit a gob of superheated plasma at high velocity across a formidable stretch of space to really ruin any captain's day.

The fleet assembles...

And so the moment when the frigate line is complete slowly approaches. Two more to go, the siege and colony ships, for both of whom I have neat concepts already. Hopefully I will be able to pull it off.

In other news, I have downloaded a really good audio editing program, Audacity, which also happens to be free. A new race not only needs new ships and spectacular explosions (by the way, the mass-fire test using the incredible amount of five Assault Drones produced a dazzling spectacle of exploding plasma balls; and the Drones kick ass too), but new sounds as well! (we shall see if my sound mixing skills can match my graphic skills - I feel like one of those street musicians playing seven instruments at once

)

This much for now, stay tuned for the... Xin Drone Assembly Module! You name it, it can... grow it, mutate it and surgically implant weapons of destruction in it!

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Wow, that last shot really shows that this mod is coming along nicely. Keep up the excellent work

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Ooo looks really cool! I really like the last pic of the whole fleet! nice!

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Wow i must say this mod looks beautiful. A lot of hard work must be involved, I cant believe the high goals that you set and are accomplishing.
I can't wait to play the new factions!

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*whistles*...wow....another update and another "great job" from me. I love the ships, especially seeing them all together. They just look so damn original and shiny and strange that i love it. Good luck with the sounds. I look forward to another update.

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i have to say tho, this mod seems to be coming along nicely, as well as rather quick, ive seen mods in other games take as long as a month just to get 2-3 models done and textured for a screen shot of it. this one will be interesting, id like to see a new race's which do not use default models. anyhow, good luck to ye, ill be waiting for the release :3

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yeah looks great!

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Yes this mod looks real good

Speed of progress is most impressed. Keep good work!

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When I first read the goals, I thought "No way that is ever going to happen." But, you're doing amazingly great. Everything looks great. I am looking forward to the mines and new race most, personally. Keep up the great work!

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Yeah, I really like how the ships turned out together myself too. You should see them in action. Actually, you will, as soon as I touch up the particle effects.

In the meantime, here is a concept shot of the first orbital module I've made for the Xin.

I have to say, even though making larger models is more demanding, especially in the texturing department (no more easy this-whole-side-will-be-shiny-so-I-can-just-slap-a-gradient-on-it stuff), but its also loads of fun. And seeing what you made rendered in the game engine for the first time... woah.

Anyway, this thing still needs some particle effects added, such as the new forcefield effects I am making (for the main entry, and yes, the base actually has an interior) and construction plasmids flitting about inside. I doubt screenshots can capture the end effect fully so I'll post a short movie, together with the one showcasing the new weapon and explosion effects later.

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Oh my gosh! Your work is really unique keep up the great work!

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wow this is very impressive. keep up the good work. also is there any way to incorporate a heavy gauss cannon in the TEC titan sort of like the Halo MAC gun? it would do good damage but take a while to recharge as well as drain the shields a bit. there would also be a brief shield drop when firing so the vessel would be vulnerable..

neways great job and keep up the amazing work

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Awesome looking models, i ain't check back in a while and glad i just did,

Great work and i hope you keep it up, looks great and do look forward to seeing it in action.

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Glad you like it!

Dark_lord1399, the way Titans will be introduced: the mod is planned to come out in three releases; when the first release comes out, only the Xin will have a Titan - it will actually replace their superweapon, and I intend to do the same with the other racial superweapons, replacing the existing structures with something more defensive and less annoying. Fleet HQ maybe, or a Citadel. I feel there is simply something very rotten about giant space cannon spammage. Having to actually get your superweapon in range, risk it on the front line and watch as it obliterates an entire sector is much more satisfying than interplanetary (even interstellar) bombfest.

That said, every Titan will have several powerful abilities at its disposal, both defensive and offensive. There will be, of course, the allmighty doomsday device no Titan can live without, but it will have a long cooldown, and a long powerup during which the ship will be more vulnerable as to prevent ninja tactics.

The reason only the Xin will have one at the beginning is tied both into the storyline and for art reasons. It is difficult to fully integrate a ships model and texture style into an existing race, especially if you are making a completely new unit. Not only that, but since I intend to replace every current faction with new ones (Remnant replaces TEC after they get allmost wiped out by the Xin and, after the Vasari take the opportunity generated by the Xin rampage and subjugate the Advent - only to have their society merged with the tenents of the conquered humans - the Hegemony emerges, completing the transformation), it would be awkward to go at it from the top.

IF the big ships prove to be exceptionally popular, I may add them prior to the rest of the new factions, even though they may look a bit out of place. I am also considering adding a new type of supercapital ships, the Mothership class. Sort of a smaller cousin to the Titan. But since its currently not possible to make new construction buildings, I have to wait for Ironclad to open up the way - I am fairly certain they will (and I still have a lot of work to do with the rest of the units anyway so there is no rush).

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when the first release comes out, only the Xin will have a Titan - it will actually replace their

So you actually find way to make structure "move" or adding capital ships more then 5? That`s really impressive. I tried these things my own still have no result

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yeh but what i was saying was that this would be a ship-to-ship gun that could weaken another titan or perhaps obliterate another cap ship altogether!

but if there are going to be new races then which one is still going to be the "human" defenders? is there one or is earth conquered? well this looks great anyway and all i was doing was throwing an idea out there and trying to help.

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Bailknight, no, as far as I know there is no way to make a structure move. Titans will be just another type of ship. A bigger, badder, nasty piece of hardware though.

The number of cap ships is currently hardcoded. However, I am quite sure by the time the mod is ready for release, that particular problem will be fixed. Some may call that optimistic, but it is a simple enough change and much asked for by the modding community.

Dark_Lord1399, the Remnant will fill the role of the "human" defenders. And much more fittingly so if I may add. Their particular theme will revolve around junkyard ships, cheap both in terms of resources and fleet supply, but also comparatively weak. As for ship-to-ship weapons, I am currently in the process of redefining how particular units are used; and while it is tempting to try out a massive ship-buster weapon (though you could say the Titan Doomsday device is precisely that), I would rather see particular units used for that purpose. For example, the Remnant will have Torpedo Boats which, while very easy to destroy, can unleash hell against large targets if not intercepted. They should, however, be somewhat less useful against medium and small targets.

The point is to avoid making a ship type which is obviously so powerful it doesn't make sense to build anything else. A common problem in many strategy games is that as the game progresses and you unlock new technologies and units, old and basic ones turn obsolete and useless. I want that not to apply in the Last Stand. Every unit should have its place and purpose, from the beginning to the end of the game. Assault Drones will not be able to replace Recon Drones, Long Range Drones will have superior firepower to Assault Drones, but vastly inferior armor, etc. For example, I have recently been reading on the forums that a common strategy is to simply "spam" a unit type and throw them at the enemy. That will simply not be viable in the Last Stand. Spam forty Torpedo Boats or Long Range Drones and send them without front-line support and you will lose them VERY quickly against a mixed unit fleet.

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ManShooter,
WOW! I missed a lot in the past few days. First, thanks for telling me how you made those awesome models. I have XSI, I just have to learn how to use it. Secondly, OH MY GOD! What awesome models you have done. Most excellent work! Keep it up, and I will definatley beta test this thing too. Incredible. Keep up the good work. You have far surpassed my idea for a new race, you took it to a whole new level. Perhaps, when you are done this awesome mod, you might be able to hel me with a concept. I am trying to resurrect the Master of Orion / Star Control series within Sins, creating new ships and races to look like those old games. Your 3D modeling skills would be most helpful. It is an open invintation. I can do textures as I have Photoshop CS3, just not much 3D modeling experience, that's all greek to me. If you can help, that would be great, if not, I understand that too. I would be an honor if you could though! Keep this mod of yours going. Excellent work!

DANMAN

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And here I am again. A short (too short) vacation later and I have some more screens to show off. These are kind of special because they mark the transition from small-ish frigates to humongous structures, the making of which has finalized how the big Xin ships will look regarding the texturing and surface design.

Feel free to comment, what you like (in which case the Xin shall reward you by placing your brain in a nutrient jar for further study, you may even be allowed to think occasionally), what you dislike (and be processed into biomass and fed to the assault drones) and such.

And the courtesy shot of the fantastic view from the terrace of a little pub on the 27th level, right after you turn left on the 2nd Assembly Yard, its a little luminescent blue building, can't really miss it...

P.S.
Since this is my thread, I am allowed an occassional digression.

It is my opinion that arrogent people who drive expensive cars and act like they own the road should have their vehicles reposessed and made to commute via bycicles. Not only are bycicles healthy, but vhen you have to pedal for your speed you tend to have a somewhat different perspective regarding other drivers. And they don't inflate egos that much either.

P.P.S

Danman, while I love the MOO series, even the much loathed no. 3, the amount of work that goes into making of just one race is somewhat prohibitive. MOO had about a dozen races if I remember right, which would mean a LOT of work. Maybe a large, well organized modding team could pull it off, in a year or so, but I'll stick to just three.

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those screenshots look great,are you now planning on starting to make the big cap ships?

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I have two more frigates, the siege and colony ships, to finish; then I will start on the cruisers and after that on cap ships. I have to note that Xin (and later, all) ships will be considerably larger than what you can see in vanilla game. The drones are an exception, and I may even downsize them a bit (the Assault Drone is currently around 90m long) depending on how they look next to the cruisers. Also, the planets themselves will be resized (about 3 times larger) along with the gravity wells (2 times larger) to bring the planets more into perspective as the biggest mass around.

Size-wise, I have envisioned cruisers to be roughly 4-5 times larger than frigates, which makes them about 2/3rds the size of current capitals (and just able to squeeze through the hangar bay doors), while the capitals will be again 4-5 times the size of cruisers, and considerably larger than vanilla ships. Titans will be, well, titanic.

This goes hand in hand with the concept for the Xin, which has their ships few in number, expensive but powerful.

Later on, with the introduction of the two other factions, the size discrepancy will diminish, bringing all ships classes roughly to the same level. I have to point out that I am not using a template here, rather every ship is modelled by design and purpose. So some factions (like the Remnant with their cheap ships) will naturally have somewhat smaller vessels, while the Xin which are more advanced than either the Remnant or the Hegemony will be visually the most dominant race on the block.

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Great work as always

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Damn, those are some good looking screens. Keep up the exceptional work.

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Wow, this mod really is coming along beautifully, it's a shame there isn't more notice being taken of it. I'm sure things will pick up with a release though

The orbital is simply stunning, if all the new buildings look like that then...well, they'll look great!
Being a defensive player, I love the sound of better static defenses, and the outposts sound awesome too. With titan ships, and the doomsday device, does this mean we're going to be seeing insta kills, and perhaps much faster destruction of smaller vessels?
Also, will speed be increased, so that for instance, a ragged Remnant fleet could jump in, quickly harass a much more powerful XIn fleet then be gone before they can be fired upon?
My idea is of a well defended home system with weak fleets that rely on quick attacks, rightly or wrongly?
Also, anyway to subscribe to this thread?

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Asiriya, yes, with the doomsday devices you will see instant kills. In fact, as they are meant to replace the racial superweapons, I intend to have them suitably powerful. The Xin will, for example, generate an artificial mini-nova, with the chance of decimating an entire gravity well; the Hegemony will be able to use their cultural and military heritage to create an awesome display of might which will have a similar cultural impact as the current Advent superweapon. And the Remnant will just detonate antimatter planet-buster bombs. Nuff said, eh. HIT and run.

The Xin have the slowest ships of all factions. They are, however, very well armored and shielded. The Remnant, true to the zerging nature, can outperform them with numbers and speed. So yes, it will be possible to utilize hit-and-run tactics, especially when the Xin are not on their home turf. On the flip side, the Xin will have the ability to travel VERY fast in phase when they establish a network of quantum gates, structures they can build for low costs at the sectors they own. So it will be quite hard to outmaneuver them in their own fortresses.

There are other minor differences, such as the fact that the Remnant ships will be for the most part able to fire in all directions, which opens up new and interesting ways to outmaneuver the enemy while keeping up the pressure, while the Xin have, with a few notable exceptions, forward-facing weapons.

In whichever scenario though, it will be hard to hit a Xin fleet and get away with it with zero losses.

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