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IP WARS---The Ultimate Mod

IP WARS---The Ultimate Mod

One of the strong points about community modding is that in exchange for doing work as a labor of love, and not for financial compensation, is the tremendous creative freedom you gain in return. Concepts that could never exist in the commercial world can be created and enjoyed by fans...helping to expand the paying fanbase of both the source game they were modded upon, and the Intellectual Properties they celebrate.


IN Gal Civ 2, we have a fantastic, successful game that we know will be supported by its creators. We know the game is highly mod-able, with great basic gameplay but also with highly accessible and interchangeable content. So why not take full advantage of our present situation to put together the game mod we know we all want, fans and developers alike, yet could never exist under any normal commercial circumstances.


I submit to you..."IP (Intellectual property) WARS, whereby the most beloved IP’s of the sci-fi Space Opera genre compete for Strategic Galactic Domination. We know we’ve always wanted to see what would happen if the Enterprise 1701-D mixed it up with an Imperial Destroyer. We have the unique opportunity here to make that happen.



I propose a mod in which we replace the unique GalCiv 2 races with both the main Protagonist and Antagonist from the major applicable space opera IP’s: The Republic and Empire from Star Wars. The Federation and Borg (I could say Romulan, but we know we want the Borg) from TNG era Star Trek. The Earth Alliance and the (Shadows? I’m sorry, I’m not up on my Babylon 5) from Babylon 5. The alt-Earth of Stargate command and the Goa'uld(with their Egyptian Mythology-themed ships) from Stargate. The Space marine Government vs. The Covenant from Halo. The United Colonies vs. The Cylons from Battlestar Galactica. And the Peacekeeper Alliance and Scarran Empire from Farscape.


That’s already a pretty large and ambitious list...you have to draw the line somewhere. There are certainly any number of IP’s you might want to see included, but some would be difficult to represent in game terms. For instance, the Xenos from the Alien Franchise don’t really have any signature technological structure. Dune and Starship Troopers are both more associated with Ground Campaigns. And I love Firefly as much as anyone, but it never really had the chance to develop signature protagonist/antagonist technology or Universal backdrop...there’s just nothing there to hang your hat on. (I expect to be arguing that one quite a bit )


Each faction would start with their determined strengths/abilities, starting techs and AI tendencies as normal. In addition, each faction would have access to some techs unique to them on the Tech Tree. For instance, the Republic would be able to research "Force manipulation" (Huge bonuses to "Luck") which would allow the building of "Jedi training Academy" super project (Huge Soldiering Bonus). The Federation could research "Replicator" technology (unlocking life support components with almost unlimited ship range), and have access to slightly superior shield technology. The Peacekeeper and Scarran Technological victory tree would be one tier shorter than the others, with the final tier being "Wormhole Weapons" (Weapons that essentially destroy entire sectors and their contents at once).


These techs could only be researched by their respective Factions , but could be traded , captured or stolen. You can argue that one, but I think with this sort of hi concept cross-over, you have to allow for the existence of Cylon Jedi


Each Faction would be able to unlock some of the signature ships of their IP as they research the appropriate techs, but in keeping with one of the great joys of Galciv 2, I think there need to be IP-specific "ship kit" component packages put together so that players can make their own ships that look like they fit into the technological theme of their faction. For instance, the Star Trek federation ship kit would contain many different federation style saucers and nacelles…the Borg get "techy" looking basic geometric shapes, etc..,)


Ideally, I would hope we manage to pull together some of the people that were looking to create some IP specific conversions, and break them into content teams like "Team Stargate", etc, coordinated under a main "administrative" team (some people much smarter than me ) responsible for incorporation/tweaks/balance and whatever alterations the Faction-specific Techs would require. This would in turn help people go on to do their own expanded IP-specific conversions, possibly benefiting from a standardized resource pool for all mods of this sort.


I’m sure you’ll agree, as far as pipe dreams go, this is a grand one, and deserves to see the light of day if anything does. If you’re interested, and have relevant skills or resources you think could be applied, post here, message me, or come drop by the Galciv IRC chat in #Galciv on irc.stardock.com …or through the "Chat" section of your Stardock client.


I’m a quasi-professional 2d/3d artist with a broad range of applicable skills and tools to bring to the table, but as I said, this is just a pipe dream without a lot of other people with a varied skill and experience set that believe the concept demands to exist. I’m not looking for it to be "my" project…quite the opposite. I just believe the concept cries out to see the light of day, I believe the opportunity is here with Galciv 2, and I just want to play a part in bringing it to life.
32,531 views 30 replies
Reply #26 Top
While we don't need to go into specifics of certain Sci fi properties. (like trying to have 'The Empire' itself)

Why not just take the concepts.

One thing I'm dying for is large capital carrier ships, which house hundreds of one seater fighters.
Reply #27 Top
While we don't need to go into specifics of certain Sci fi properties. (like trying to have 'The Empire' itself)

Why not just take the concepts.

One thing I'm dying for is large capital carrier ships, which house hundreds of one seater fighters.

Edit: Sorry for all those posts, my explorer kept d/c and all those posts only got shown 10 mins later :\ Can a mod please delete the extras. Thanks!
Reply #28 Top
IM not entirely sure Ive manged to communicate my notion of things here. Perhaps some are reading more "ambition" into it than I intended. With few exceptions, most of the modifications I propose here are purely cosmetic. Art assets are easy, albeit time consuming to do.

The only area Im over my head in on is the adding of the race specific techs. That would likely require additional material, like an sdk beings released by stardock. But theyve already mentioned that additional functionality like this, and the adding of custom opponents might be in the pipeline.

Oh, and just to clarify, Im not talking about entirely different tech trees, Im talkign about largely the same tech trees that exist right now, but with a few signature techs availiable for each faction, much like the alignment techs are now.

Im pretty sure I was respectful and tried to address the issues raised..but there comes a point when it becomes clear that someone is not onboard with what youre doing, and thats ok. But theres nothign to be gained by nitpicking someone else to death because they dared to have an idea YOU cant see any possible way they could pull off. We all have varying levels of imagination and talent. At some point you have to just move on.

Crossovers dont make a lot of sense in terms of consistency and continuity...theyre just entertaining, the way games are supposed to be.
Reply #29 Top
I think it's a great idea.

I can't help on the design front, but i'm behind the concept.

I am able to step back far enough to enjoy seeing the Borg and Federation fight, even if it means a big cube can get taken out by a smaller better armed fighter.

Go for it!

Yakumo
Reply #30 Top
Im with you!! Lets code it up!!

Umm oh ya.... My coding sucks...

Im with you anyway!! we will figure out something