I wanted to let you all know that I'm in the preproduction stages of creating my own faction to add to Sins. The faction's called the Inter-Stellar Sol Federation or ISSF. The ISSF is based on using spacecraft and structures of a more space age / cold war era design.
I've already planned out the ISSF's ships and their abilities and weapons:
Frigates:
Odyssey – Deep Space Probe Explore | Scan Unarmed
Gagarin – Patrol Frigate Disable Shields 2 × Autocannons
Hellfire – Long-Range Assault Frigate Hellfire Missiles | Nuclear Warheads 2 × Ship-to-Ship Missile Launchers / 2 × Ship-to-Surface Missile Launchers
Rottweiler – Escort Frigate EMP 6 × Light Autocannons
Atlas – Colony Ship Colonize | Crew Extraction Unarmed
Cruisers:
Valkyrie – Escort Carrier EMP 2 Squadrons (upgrade to 3) Unarmed
Aurora – Combat Support Vessel Repair Crews | Ammo Supply Unarmed
Hunter – Destroyer Seek-and-Destroy | Ping 2 × Heavy Autocannons / 1 × Laser Cannon
Capital Ships:
Korolev – Battlecruiser Boxer Missile | Blockade | Emergency Power | Moment of Desperation 4 × Laser Cannons / 4 × Autocannons / 1 × Ship-to-Surface Missile Launcher
Polaris – Strike Carrier Flak Screen | Evasive Maneuvers | Scramble Fighters | Perseverance 2 Squadrons (upgrade to 8) 4 × Light Autocannons / 4 × Flak Cannons / 1 × Ship-to-Surface Missile Launcher
Geneva – Command Ship Fire-Control Array | Missile Screen | Propaganda | Sensor Jammer 4 × Autocannons / 4 × Anti-Missile Launchers / 1 × Ship-to-Surface Missile Launcher
Havoc – Assault Cruiser Gauss Rail Gun | Missile Storm | Thermonuclear Warheads | Cluster Bomb 1 × Rail Gun / 4 × Autocannons / 2 × Ship-to-Ship Missile Launchers / 1 × Ship-to-Surface Missile Launcher
Current weapon setup is not absolute.
Other Parts of the Mod:
- Fighters and Bombers - Construction Frigates, Trade Ships, Refinery Ships - Structures, ie: Frigate Factory, Research Stations, Extractors, Tactical emplacements, etc. - Cosmic Debris - Research Trees (Union Tree and Society Tree) - HUD Texture Elements, ie: ship icons, action grid buttons, etc. - Other Coding, like ISSF ship names.
note: My Sins is on my other computer at home, so it'll be a while before I can actually begin building these ships.
I've started assigning ship abilities to each of the ship classes.
A compilation of what the ISSF ship abilities do:
Scan The probe does an extensive scan of the system. Similar to the Probe ability.
Disable Shields A well-placed shot knocks out an enemy ship’s shield array.
Hellfire Missiles Gives a burst of increased fire rate of missiles, effectively dealing a heavy amount of damage.
Nuclear Warheads Highly destructive weaponry increases the damage output from the using ship.
EMP An electromagnetic pulse quickly disables other ships, but is only effective at short range. The Rottweiler EMP is powerful and knocks out target ships for a long time, but needs to recharge for an equally long time in order to fire it again. The Valkyrie EMP has proportionally shorter time than the Rottweiler, but is effective enough to escape a pursuer.
Repair Crews Skilled repair teams sent to damaged ships quickly keep them in operation.
Ammunition Supply A constant stream of ammunition replenishment keeps a high firing rate for the ships being supplied.
Seek-and-Destroy The using ship receives a boost in speed to close the gap and deliver a crippling blow fleeing ships.
Ping Ship emits a powerful signal that detects the smallest of ships through the most powerful radio emissions, thus identifying cloaked ships.
Boxer Missile An anti-ship missile powerful enough to destroy a frigate instantly.
Emergency Power The user ship’s power is redirected into its weapon and shield systems, increasing the ship’s firepower.
Blockade The ship blocks trade to and from the enemy’s planet thus stealing the enemy’s credits. Ability’s effect increases in the presence of trade ports and refineries. Has similar effect to Embargo.
Moment of Desperation As a last-ditch action, the ship’s captain orders the ship to ram the closest enemy ship. This action severely damages and possibly destroys the using ship, but guarantees that the target ship is destroyed. (This ability will be limited to only when the ship's hull is damaged beyond half-way)
Flak Screen A screen of flak-fire is used to destroy any small ships or fighters that dare too close to the ship.
Evasive Maneuvers The ship receives extra power to is engines, allowing it to outrun incoming ships and evade some weapons.
Scramble Fighters An extra squadron of fighters is launched to counter a force of fighters and/or bombers.
Perseverance Repair crews work against incoming attacks, keeping the ship in the fight longer.
Fire-Control Array Allies receive an extended targeting range and increased accuracy.
Missile Screen A point-defence system protects the ship and its nearby allies from long-range missile strikes.
Propaganda The ship broadcasts a radio signal to the occupying faction of the planet, increasing the planet’s allegiance to the ship’s user.
Sensor Jammer Enemy ships in the system cannot detect or target the user’s ships; effectively cloaking them from enemy radar. This is a toggled ability, but ally ships must be within range in order to be covered by the jamming system.
Gauss Rail Gun A high-power kinetic energy weapon capable of ripping a hole through a ship. (same as Kol's)
Missile Storm A cloud of missiles is all launched at once, randomly hitting anything in range.
Thermonuclear Warheads Increases the destructive power of missiles.
Cluster Bomb A timed explosive missile is fired where it will detonate, filling an area with a devastating amount of damage.
larger font?
there, big enough? i don't want to take up too much room than it already it is.
DAMN...man you send me thrilled! FINALY A MODDER that comes in here and shows up proof that hes commited and ready to work....
Look at what you give all ships...all weapons AND MOST IMPORTANTLY ALL ABILITIES WITH A DESCRIPTION OF WHAT THEY DO!
Sir, to you I bow my hat! From bringing back faith that somewhere out there...they are people that will actually bring out their ideas instead of always asking for "Hey guys..how about you do a mod on this..I can't do squat and am not interested in learning but you should spend hours on one so that I can play it in the end!" LOOL
Thank you Sikauran!
Wow, thanks for the support ShadowMastiff!
Though I have experience in game designing this is still my first mod and I will eventually require help when it is needed. I will do my best to make this mod the best, because I want it to be the best. So, I also want some feedback -- even at this stage, because what good is a mod if only one person likes it, right?
Ok, I finally got a chance to begin. I openned up the Sins program file folder and realised why I've never modded before - I'm soo lost
I don't even have any scale to go by to model the ships. Help me, please!
Start by creating a new player entity! for thart simply copy-paste one of the player.entities! then change the first lines to the name you wanna give it and all. Then open the string file and add a line (using as template the line of other races names) with your races name! CONGRATULATIONS YOU NOW HAVE A FOURTH RACE!
Now simply go down that new race.entity and change as you go.
for example..next in line is the tab 0 of ships = frigates!
Take the first one (scout if memory serves me right!), copy-paste the entity of the scout of the race you're using as template and rename exactly the same name except you change the race. Ie. FrigatePhaseScout ---> Frigate'yourrace'Scout, open the entity in notepad and make the changes you want! Adding abilities and all..etc!
Keep on going down the list and you'll them work on buildings and finally on research!
My tip: Keep it up! In a few hours, you'll get the declick and you'll understand how everything works. Once that is achieved your off to complete the fastest yet most important task of your mod. Codding your ships and abilities.
Once that is done, you may start worrying about models (at least thats how I proceed) which are located in the MESH file of your sins folder (to answer youre second question).
Sorry my answer isnt really detailed but I'm currently struggling to gather the strenght to finish a personnal challenge thus I dont ahve all my head +_+!
-ShadowMastiff2468-
Ok, does anyone know an .xsi or .obj conversion Add-On for Maya 8.5? or an ActorX-to-XSI converter?
Better yet, an .mb to .mesh converter would be perfect.
Crosswalk would work right?
Here are the first two ships that have taken shape:
Cancelled ship:
Hunter Destroyer:
On the second one, add to side-hangar bays and you got yourself a new version of Battlestar Galactica
this is really cool ,looking forward to it.
will u make the style like bsg? so with the look a little bit of bsg, u know what i mean??
cause i find the vannila game is to much... high tech, u know what i mean?
No, the ships will not be BSG -- dispite how great of a show it is
The one ship there is only an evolution from a series of model designs that i've gone through. The fact that it looks like a Battlestar is only a coinsidance. This ship is also designed based on its role -- being a dedicated warship, it has a more armoured appearance than that of it's cohort's.
The Korolev and Havoc capital ships will bear some design similarities to the Hunter Destroyer, but will also have consistancies with the other two capital ship designs.
The rest of the ships will look somewhat between the first and second ships -- however, the first ship will not be in the mod, because i've decided to go for a slightly different design that i originally planned.
These are some old ship models that I'm thinking of just throwing in, maybe another faction or two -- tell me what you guys think
Inspired by WWI HMS Dreadnaught and Ironclads:
Spin-off designs:
Emperor of Thyre class:
Spin-offs:
If your wanting a more "Space age" designe. I would sudgest designing ships that look like their tail landers.
Rockets, Spheres, Piramids, etc. All of those would be good ideas. Capital ships should LOOK like they have spin hapitats or the like, or should be MASSIVE cylanders. Another thing that would be interesting is making it so that all of their ships have a 'forward attack' priority. That wold lend even more to their abilities. To make up for the lack of fire power on other weapons arcs, I would say give them some kick ass armor, even better than TEC, but weaker sheilds and mitigation.
Good Idea though, I like it.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking along the lines of. I do want some rotating sections on some of the ships, but I haven't seen any ships with moving parts, so I don't know if I'd be able to.
As for the ships' functional uniqueness, they will have no shields, but have long-range weaponry - amplifiyed by the Command Ship's Fire-Control Array ability.
What you have to do for rotating sections is to attach the rotating sections to the ships as particle effects. What you do is import the .mesh of what you want to rotate into Particle Forge, then modify it so it rotates and has an infinite lifetime. Then you attach it to the ship's model somehow (not sure how on this, not a modeler), and voila! rotating section.
Thanks SpardaSon, that could work.
Another matter, after working on the ships for a while now, I've decided to change-up the ship roster; the new ship classes (no change to the ship designs) are as follows:
SSV — Gunships: – Destroyers — one is a heavy Cap, and a second is a cruiser SSV-DDH · Large Multi-Role Destroyer (Capital) SSV-DDG · Area Defence Destroyer – Frigates — these ships are all of course frigates, but each ones will differ with their roles SSV-FFH · Large Multi-Role Frigate SSV-FFG · General Purpose Frigate SSV-FFR · Area Defence Frigate SSV-FFL · Light Patrol Frigate
CSV — Carriers: CSV-LAC – Assault Carrier — this Cap carries an invasion force to attack planets (think of the Spirit of Fire) CSV-CV – Strike Carrier — not much difference from the original Cap CSV-CE – Escort Carrier — same here, but a cruiser; half the strength of a Strike Carrier
CCV — Support Vessels: CCV-CNC – Command-and-Control Vessel — same as the old Geneva-class CCV-CR – Combat Replenishment Vessel — functions similar to the Aurora-class
ISV — Civilian Ships: ISV-C – Colony Ship — same as the Atlas-class ISV-X – Exploration Probe — same as the Odyssey probe – Starliner — new idea, putting the cancelled ship model to some use – Freighter — they'll bear similarities to the Emperor of Thyre-class-style of ships
FV — Fighters: – Superiority Interceptor — an anti-fighter fighter – Attack Fighter — deals with small, hard-to-hit targets – Strike Fighter — deals with large, hard-to-miss targets
OV — Orbital Vehicles: OV-Y – Construction Shuttle — ISSF version of the construction frigate OV-T – Deployment Shuttle — you'll see this ship launched when ISSF ships invade planets
Once finished, the old Hunter-class Destroyer will become the new Destroyer Captial ship. And the ship above that, I've decided to use as Starliners (civilian transports)In essence, I really only took out the Korolev and Havoc, and replaced several of the Frigates.
Updates: the first ship is almost finished the modelling process. i'll post some images tomorrow.
- the build slots on the action grid are sorted out, along with approximate build costs:
Frigate Factory: [SSV-FFL] [SSV-FFR] [SSV-FFG^] [SSV-FFH^] [CCV-R] [ISV-X] [ISV-C] [CSV-CE^] [SSV-DDG^] [->]
Capital Ship Factory: [SSV-DDH*] [CSV-L*] [CSV-CV*] [CCV-C*] [-] [-] [-] [-] [-] [->]
- i've also started working on the research trees.
SSV-DDH — Large Multi-Role Destroyer:
the long angular designs remind me of the carriers from ORB. the first faction, i dond remember what they are called.
I've been trying to figure the cost to build each of the ships. Fact is that I really don't like Sins' resource selection. Looking at the resources reminds me of the resources from Starcraft -- It works from a game-economic point-of-view, trading between them and all that. But I don't really like doing that when I'm trying to build a fleet and I keep running out of crystal. And crystal's not really a resource of the space age -- what would they use it for?
I wonder if it'd be alright with everyone if I just maybe cut out crystal, and just focus on credits and metals to build my ships, ok?
I wouldn't mind ditching crystal. It gets in the way far too often to be of value.
I would strongly recomend keeping it for the more powerful ships (maybee cruisers and caps only), or having research be Crystal dependant. That way the faction remains balanced.
Just thought I'd put in some of the concept thumb-sketches of the upcoming models:
FFL – Light Patrol Frigate
FFG – General Purpose Frigate
LAC – Land Assault Carrier
(A couple of them didn't scan very well)
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