Here we go at last! I have decided to release a portion of the visual content which will be included in the Last Stand mod as a separate mini-mod, ready to be merged at your convenience with whatever is your current content of choice.
The background of and reason for this mod is simple - I am not satisfied with explosions in either vanilla game or improved versions of several graphic mods out there. The concept of this feature is that a battle should tell a story - when hundreds of ships are pounding at each other with weapons of incredible power, I wanted to see that power reflected directly on the ships themselves. I wanted to see pieces breaking off, sparks flying into space, thick smoke and fire billowing out, atmosphere escaping from cracks and finally, a glorious detonation befitting something which has fought hard, and lost.
However, words can be cheap - I have a preview video of what I meant by "carnage in space", one of the early names I had for this mod, before it got merged into the Last Stand. It's called "Face of War" and this is how the combat will look like in the Last Stand mod. Ok, I'll shut up now and hope you enjoy it!
Preview video (standard quality) download here: Mediafire(30Mb)
Streaming video (YouTube):
Also, here is a new preview video showcasing the new ver 1.0 effects: Mediafire (29Mb)
And on Youtube:
MOD DOWNLOAD: Volumetric Damage & Explosions Effects ver1.2 (Mediafire, 14.04Mb)
COMPATIBLE WITH SoaSE 1.18/Entrenchment 1.41
Entrenchment FIX
This fixes a bug where racial explosions wouldn't show up in the Entrenchment version. Keep in mind that due to the nature of the necessary changes, the currently available Dynamic Battle System version is no longer compatible with this mod. A new version of the DBS will be uploaded in its respective thread.
Download: Volumetric Damage & Explosions Effects ver 1.2 - Entrenchment fix
Version 1.2 change log
-added new explosion effects for all three factions. Now Vasari ships explode in a different fashion than Advent or TEC. Vasari explosions are green tinted while Advent are more to the purplish side.-added new explosion sound effects for all main ship explosions. The effects are more numerous now and have a greater variation/complexity-removed bodies from spilling when a ship is critically struck. Bodies still float around for a short while after a ship is destroyed-optimized ship explosions for heavy duty battles. You should notice a lot less of a FPS drop when lots of ships blow up in a short amount of time
KNOWN BUGS/ISSUES:
None.
This version is meant to be merged at will, so merge away, just credit me. The preview video includes improved particle effects by Bailknight. To merge this mini-mod with others, install those mods FIRST, then overwrite the files with the ones from this mod. Note that if you have any special explosions listed in your .explosiondata file, they will be overwritten. Also note that if your ships .entity files invoke any explosions of non-standard names, you will get a minidump, so take that into consideration when merging.
A final note - I am very much interested in hearing how this performs on your machine, so you are welcome to comment upon that and don't forget to include your system specs! I also playtested this for a few hours and so it should be free of error, but if you do notice something missing or odd, do tell.
This much from me for now, hope you'll like the new stuff!
+1 Karma indeed. Looks like awesome work. So can't wait to play with it when you get time to get it all wrapped up.
I merged it with sins plus and the newest bailknight. I t seems to run fine.
And now you can avail yourself of the newest 1.0 version of the mini-mod, with improved and more numerous explosion effects to delight the pyromaniacs and demolition junkies everywhere! Check out the top post for links.
That's some beautiful work there, bud, great job! Looking forward to the release!
Manshooter...
Dude, I'm one of the lurkers in the forums. In fact I have been lurking here for the last two years... Also, I'm a fairly dedicated lurker: I check the Sins front page as part of my daily site checks...
I'm just not very interested in posting, since that would commit me to reply to the replies, and I generally only have time for a quick scan Unfortunately, I'm also one of the people that got let down by the lack of depth in Sins... It just wasn't what I hoped it to be. So, I've basically stopped playing, quite a while ago... Don't get me wrong... I think its a great game and I mean to pick it up again soon... maybe when they've released all the expansions...
Anyway, the point is... Why did I get into the habit of checking the forums out every day? In anticipation of your mod...
Dude, nice work I'm working on a game-related project myself, but haven't had the time to come even close to where you are right now... Much respect. I'm jealous saying this, but Ironclad should pay you some kind of commission... You're partly responsible for keeping their customers hooked I'm sure there are other lurkers that will agree...
Respect...
*dances*
'ave some karma, mate
I merged 1.0 of this mod into my mod and have to say battles are soo intense. I didnt drop in fps at all, props to you and your particle goodness!
Credit has been given in readme if you wanna know
Thanks guys, glad you like my work!
I've fixed a minor bug, check the top post for more info.
Where do I find the other versions of this mod?
If you need the earlier versions, you can get them at the Last Stand moddb webpage.
If by other versions you meant stand-alone, merge-ready etc. they're all packaged together in the download.
This is an amazing mod, combined it with BK graphics and Sins Plus really make the game so much better visually. Batlles are incrediable and actually makes me want to sit back and just watch two fleets go at it.
This mod has been officially merged with SoA 2. Nice work Manshooter!
Thanks, glad to hear it.
Cougar46, you know, I actually lost a game once because I was looking at two lone capitals duking it out and failed to notice a largish fleet ravaging my backyard colonies...
First time trying a mod, using Sins ver 1.05 (Official) I get a mini dump error. tried all 3 versions of this mod
So guess means dosn't support the newest version ?
The newest version of SoaSE is 1.12, not 1.05 - if you are using 1.05 you need to get to the mod's Moddb webpage and get the older version of the mod (v0.81), which will work with SoaSe 1.05.
Are you going to make this cpmpatible with entrenchment when i comes out? I was disapointed to learn that danman was not making 7DS for entrenchment (though im still hoping for a solar sins adaptation). I like entrenchment but i know it could look so much cooler with This and Bailknights effects and sins plus planets...
thanks ManSh00ter, your mod was one the reason I wanted try SINS again.
Yes, the next update will be Entrenchment compatible - also, I will take a look at the new weapon and particle effects and try to bring them up to speed with BailKnight's Effects mod.
If the Entrenchment brings some of the modding changes I am hoping it will, I think it will be very hard to pass on that.
Just a quick question. If I install this mod, will my previous save games work with it, or no? I've been working on a huge map in single player and I'm currently using BailKnight's Effects mod, and I'd like to add this in as well if I can (Well, I'll be adding this mod in one way or another ).
Anyway, great work on the mod!! +1 Karma for you sir!
It should not affect your savegames in the slightest, as the only things changed are the particle effects and the explosions.explosiondata file.
Yep, I gave it a shot last night, and you were right! I had no problems, and strangely enough, it seemed like the game was running more smoothly than it had before!
It really makes the game look amazing, thanks!
Another quick question; will I be able to play the game over a network with a friend that doesn't have the mod, or will that not work? I'd like to think we could for the same reasons you listed, but ya never know
Probably not, I'm afraid - but it doesn't hurt to try. The thing is, I have no idea if Sins takes into account changes to particle files and explosiondata file...
Manshooter,
Thanks for this mod, as you can see in this link in case you weren't aware...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXx-acw5KKg
making this with your mod was too much fun!
Glad you're having fun! That's a lot of capital ships...
Try playing with coloured backgrounds... some of those explosions weren't really designed to look good with black/dark background, the cores are too defined and you can't really see the black smoke and shrapnels scaterring about.
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