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!
Hey ManSh00ter just wanted to let you know that the Distant Stars MOD now uses this MOD, ofcourse you're credit on the MOD page: https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/335474 & when you load up the game you're mentioned!
Superb MOD, thanks for submitting it to the community!
a quick question...
What if I just replace/add the files from the mod into v1.0 will it work?
Likely not, because v1.12 version of the Sins uses a different format for explosion listing in the .explosiondata file.
Nacey, glad you like my work!
Will there be any more updates to this?
Man this looks amazing! Can I get your permission to merge this with my mod Urban Expansion? Here's the link.https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/331334
Edit:Tested out your mod as well and it works great. I get 60fps straight with all settings on highest and bloom enabled at 1440x900@60hz no AA. Here's my specs:OS: Windows XP ProCPU: Pentium 4@2.8ghzGPU: Nvidia Geforce 7600gt 512mb Superclocked Edition (AGP 8x)RAM: 3gb of DDR1@400mhz
Hope that helped.
It did, even though I already surmised my mod doesn't cause a noticable performance hit. Kudos to Ironclad for making a robust particle system.
And yeah, feel free to merge, just credit me and that's it.
New version of the Volumetric mod can be expected when Entrenchment gets out officially.
when entrenchment does come, do u mind keeping a copy of the non-entrenchment version just incase people still want to use it without entrenchment?
Well, it still has to be seen whether Entrenchment will actually require a new version of the mod. I just plan to touch up some of the Entrenchment effects as well, that's why I am delaying release untill then. But in any case, yeah, the mod will be kept available for everyone, whether they've got Entrenchment or not.
I have Entrenchment beta 2.5 and this mod (both merged with bailknight's or not) isn't activating.
It freeze screen when enable is pressed.
Ah, then they probably changed something in the explosions.explosiondata file again, since its (hopefully) the only thing which usually causes minidumps. When I get the official version, I'll fix it up.
Last i checked, the person who made the Mad Scientist mode had made a version of your mod compatible with Enterenchment; he gave you full credit of course. Here's a link-
Linkey
You would be correct Alpha. Mansh00ter, if you would like then feel free to use the explosions.explosiondata file from my mod to make your own compatible with the new entrenchment. You probably could just upload it as a patch so people can choose between entrenchment version or vanillia.
Is this going to be brought up to speed for Entrenchment? I love this mod with Bailknights and would love to use it again
Yes, probably later today, there will be an updated version compatible with Entrenchment. No new features though, that will have to wait.
Awesome, where can I find the Entrenchment download when it's finished? Also, amazing work!
Actually, make that in a day or two. I have to make new stuff for starbases and mines, forgot they expanded the exaplosion effects.
A quick heads up for anyone thinking of using this for entrenchment. I am using bailknight's mod combined with the latest version of ManSh00ter's mod. I've thoroughly tested many many of the games aspects and explosions. I haven't had ANY minidumps or performance problems. The only quirk (very understandable and obvious) is that the starbases don't explode or dissapear. But ALL the other effects work beautifully.
That's strange, I get a minidump if I try to use the latest Volumetric with Entrenchment, but that's due to the explosions.explosiondata file being short of some 5 explosion entries. But yeah, its easy to fix, most of the workload will go towards making new explosion effects for those starbases and mines. I may even throw in the Carnage-in-Space(TM) system featuring hapless crewmen being sucked out into space when a hull ruptures.
Holygod! If you could actually make it happen. Wow. Carnage-in-Space, why is it trade marked? just for fun?
Please include Carnage-in-Space(TM) for those of us without Entrenchment.
Oh-my-god!!!!!!!!!!
I just ran into this courtesy of the mad-scientist mod, and along with bailknight's work this just got added into my 'remember to download' list! (You know, the mods I always re-download after a crash, and watch for after a patch... just not while I'm testing new beta versions!)
Volumetric minimod will be available for those with or without Entrenchment - unfortunately due to the necessary changes done to the explosions.explosiondata system it probably won't fall into the category of "purely visual" mods even though it is - I'll have to check this out further.
And Carnage-in-Space is trademarked just for kicks.
@ what Skyman said earlier - well, I got around to patching my Entrenchment and now the mod works fine just like he said, minus of course, the new explosions for mines and starbases which should be done today or tomorrow. So keep an eye here or on the mod's ModDb page for an update!
... I was gonna ask if you were gonna do a smash with the updated bailknight, and then I was all d'oh that's not necessary anymore
... anyway, SPLOSIONS! RAR! I can't play without this mod anymore
People, please remember that only Entrenchment uses the Manifest system for multiple mods. Vanilla Sins doesn't have that capability yet.
P.S. ManSh00ter, I can't wait to see a screenie of an exploding Starbase. Hopefully you can do some race-specific explosions with different color schemes where the TEC blow up orange, Advent blow up blue/teal, and the Vasari blow up green. Of course, that's if Sins allows race-specific explosions. And Starbase explosions would be the perfect explosions for a Titan...
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