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Sins of a Solar Empire / Re: Sins of a Solar Empire Strategy, Tips and Tricks

« on: November 04, 2012, 03:51:22 AM »

... The Argonev can get 2 ranks of a trade port, as well as an antimatter/repair function which I have yet to use much, planning to start experimenting with it to see how good it is...

Well, the repair/antimatter function is perfect in case that you have research the "Twin Fortresses"... you only need to place the two starbase near each other... and they will repair/feed each other too... dual starbase with both having repair ability are a hard nuts to crack, you need a fleet with a lot of DPS for destroy them or having plenty of ship able to dissable ability...

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2

Sins of a Solar Empire / Re: SoaSE:R Modding Info Dump

« on: November 04, 2012, 03:29:39 AM »

The main savings one gets are in the mesh/texture files of ships/structures/etc that only the race in question uses.

Ok, i understand the way you wish work with a main mod who have everything common in it and some add-on for minor races... but i think that it is not worthy the work and possible player problem in this case... most of the secondary races have similar model/textures that main races... by example, if you look at the Pentastar faction, almost everything ( if not everything ) will already be included in the main mod due to the Empire Remment main faction...

When it comes to multiplayer, there should be a default order for a given mod (i.e. all races activated, no addons), and any specifics to be decided amongst the players.

Personaly, it is not a problem for me... but it will be for some Joe user guy who is not very computer educated... the Joe will make some mistake, never read the "readme.txt" and complain that the mod is broken... best to apply the KISS system : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle

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3

Ascendancy Discussion / Re: Ascendancy General Information Thread (And Ask the Makers Anything 2.0)

« on: November 03, 2012, 07:47:28 AM »

I don't think it can be randomized.

I don't think it can be randomized.

True, it is not directly possible with SOASE but it become possible if you think outside the box... let me explain how...

Normally, in the mod, you will have the entity, mesh and texture file for the flagship... the trick is to create some type of dynamic mod... let say that in your mod directory, you create a new directory called "random"... inside these new directory, you create two new one called "even" and "odd"... in the "even" directory, you place the entity, mesh and texture from the  "Ackbar's Home One" ... in the "odd" directory, you place the entity, mesh and texture from the "E'tahn Abaht's Endurance Class"... the entity, mesh and texture name need to be identical in both the "even" or "odd" directory...

Now, you create a "randomize.bat" file. These file need to be launch one single time before a new game... the ".bat" will check the time, control the parity of the second ( by example ) and copy the content of the "even" or "odd" directory in the right game directory ( gameinfo, mesh, textures )...

Well, there is a catch !!! The method work well for single player but not for multiplayer where checksum of mods activated need to be identical... so, random feature ( run the .bat file ) can only be something used for single player...

Now, it is possible to make something more complex... by example, content of directory A copied if second are 0,1,2,3 ( 40% chance ), directory B copied if second are 4 ( 10% chance ), directory C copied if second are 5,6,7 ( 30% chance ), directory d copied if second are 8,9 ( 20% chance )...

I have mod SOASE since before the original release of the game and believe me, same if other modders or the game devs say that something is impossible, it is not always true... during the beta of the original game, i have mod it so that missile and torpedo can be shoot down... since, i was able to make animated mesh, moving texture, stealth effect ( glass like ship ), break the harcoded 50k poly limit by model, render over 6.25 million poly onscreen without slowndown ( http://www.love-from-russia.be/g4_swarm-6.25_million_poly.avi , 125 golan 4, non canon model made for a other Star Wars mod, mobile star base with over 200 weapons hardpoint, with animated part, greatly inspired from canon model like force harvester/galaxy gun/medical station/trade federation droid control ship/etc )...

Point is that i am ready to help if Corey Tream hit some "brick wall"... i will try to make the impossible become possible ( not always working )... i am a modeler/texturer but i am short on free time for modeling due to real life but i am ready to share years of experience with SOASE modding if help is needed... the "thrawn's revenge" mod is my prefered mod and it will please me to see something with equal or more quality on SOASE.

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4

Sins of a Solar Empire / Re: Just got Rebellion.

« on: November 02, 2012, 07:58:27 AM »

...Is there no way you can have one titan for free at the start of the game?

A late reply... there is a tools that modders and dev use who can allow almost everything... first, take a look at http://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/410160 ... it is a old post about the dev.exe but about 99% of it remain true for the actual version... second, for the next play of SOASE, launch the game via "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\sins of a solar empire rebellion\Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion Dev.exe"... you can build everything everywhere, switch side with a AI and more...

It is not a cheat tool but a dev one... for each play, huge log ( plain text ) are created where devs or modders can find critical or non critical errors... by example bad vertice in a model ( non critical ) or the amount of hardpoint for hangar on the model who don't match in the amount in the entity file ( can be critical )... 

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5

Sins of a Solar Empire / Re: SoaSE:R Modding Info Dump

« on: November 01, 2012, 11:25:15 AM »

Having mod SOASE from before his initial release, i can say that you will not really saving RAM with stacking mod when it is criticaly needed...

A single mod allow to have some shared part who in turn allow to use less ram when needed ( let say 3 major race and 3 minor )... if you use stacked mod, each mod need to have everything included ( sound, mesh, texture, planet, music, GUI, ability, particule effect, etc ... ) who will allow them to be independent of each other...

A other thing is that stacking mod can be confusing for the end user ( player )... need to inform wich mod need to be activated and in wich order for a specific map... not really a big issue for single player but important for multiplayer ( online or lan ) where checksum need to be identical...

If the Corey's team give the same quality of work for these new SOASE mod that for Thrawn's revenge, main memory will be spared by optimised mesh, UV and texture map...

Memory and CPU will only become a issue on huge map with hundred of planets in late game, single player ( multiplayer/online is more fast and use smaller map )... In the past, the TSOP mod ( The SOASE Optimization Project ) have greatly improve the memory and cpu use of the game but most of these optimization was included in Rebellion by Stardock/Ironclad!!! And included in several other mods too...

Since the title of the topic is "modding info dump", a little info about mesh : the harcoded limit of mesh for SOASE is 800. A max of 800 mesh for everything ( ship, planet, particule effect, etc )... 

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