some one has used a  creature that can control gravity and redirecs asteroids  in the starwars books the black hole thing ismuch cooler

While we w8...can someone either link me to a good modding tutorial using any modding program (I have XSI SofImage ModTool 6), preferably the easiest actually or towards an already existing good mod (the ones you use) to SoaSE (but not 7 deadly sins...)! PLEASE!

1) Also for your XIN ships or any other race, I was thinking about introducing the Infiltrate ability which would allow any ship (to a maximum depending on research level) to be regarded as friendly by the enemy, thereby allowing it to actually join an enemy fleet and conquer with it! The difference between this and camouflage would get a bonus upon attacking that specific fleet after a certain amount of time. For example, at level 1, the technology would confere to you an extra, let's say, 75% damage for 120 secs, on every single ship located in that fleet!

Technically it would mean sending, let's say a frigate into a system WITHOUT ANY ENNEMIES IN IT, and activating the skill would camouflage the ship as being derelict, when an enemy comes by the ship regains activity and sticks to the group! Then when you feel ready to engage, you send YOUR fleet against the target and when the battle starts, you deactivate the skill, thereby granting your fleet the 75% bonus for 120 sec (which should be enough time to make considerable damage).  

 2) Second concept is the good old FIRESHIP. an extremely fast and light (i.e. CHEAP) vessel charged with explosives. Like a mine in a way but mobile and it's blast would create A.O.E damage to any ship located in a certain radius (friendly or foe)! Meaning the ship needs to be used prior to combat as a sort of primary offensive to weaken the enemy.

A strategy would be to designate your Fireship as an infiltrating ship and detonating it prior to your fleets arrival on the enemy flagship ! THE CARNAGE

3) You wrote earlier that Xin ships were slower but more heavily armored and thus had a significant boost in price. Right? In that perspective, how would a mobile repair platform sound? Either as an independant ship or a class ability (which would have a long cooldown time to avoid abuse), it would allow to deploy a mobile repair station which would well....euhhh.....repair ships (at an extremely slow speed) but that cannot be deployed during combat. Meaning you would need to carry multiple on your fleet during raids and invasions as back-up and alternate ships during battle...

Well that's some of my ideas, I hope I'm staying on subject ! Please tell me if you find this usefull, or you would just prefer if I were to shut up ! Now at least I can say I gave my 2 cents worth of help (love to give more though)!

The Yuuzhan Vong dovin basals can pull down moons on top of planets. But since we don't have moons in SoaSE, no worries.

ShadowMastiff:

There are plenty of XSI tutorials available through Google, too many to list here. Also, you can check out the built-in help file, which often contains useful information and even step-by-step instructions. If you want really high quality (and I daresay as high quality as you can get without actually attending CGI classes) video tutorials, check out Digital Tutors. Unfortunately, they tend to be on the expensive side so are only useful if you're serious about improving your handling of various tools (going pro, as they say) - however, they also have a forum which contains a lot of useful tips and tricks and also link to other information resources.

As for suggestions, go ahead, I always consider them.

Fireships is something that I have actually planned, but not for Xin - Clans Remnant, in Episode II, should find a lot of use for decrepit, cheap scaffolding fitted with tanks full of explosives and a pair of giant engines. Repair ability (along with a few extra defensive roles) is something I plan to include as a special ability for one of the as yet veiled cruiser types for the Xin.  Though, as everything Xin, it will come with a twist.

No.1 suggestion (if it can be modded in), I feel, fits again more with the Remnant, with their lightning fast fleets bent on outmaneuvering the enemy, where Xin are a defensive race and stealth and backstabbing don't really fit with that. They are more "go in there and steamroll over everything" strategists.

Well if all my ideas have already been planned in your future vessels then I guess I'm off to strip my mind and take out new and innovating ideas for new ships!

I'll leave the modding for you (though I did find some good tutorials...just gotta get the hang of them now !!!

Thanks for everything!

what about.... a death star... type weapon.  for example, what faction would be most like the empire in sw.  whichever one give them superpowerful superweapon capable of destroying planets from across a star system, but it can onldy destroy it if it is in its gravity well.  as well, it is a space station so it has a large fleet that will follow it aruond and land in it when it phase jumps.  it can also shoot its laser at frigs and cruisers and destroy them but if it hits a cap it will only do damage, due to it having to take aim at the target rather than to just blast away.  and only one can be made, mua hahahahaaaaaa... ever.  so if it is destroyed, none can be made again the rest of the game.

Huh.  You know, that sounds like a Xin superweapon to me.

Interesting.....what other valuable ideas do you guys have to offer?

Seeing as the Xin race seems to be complete...time to generate ideas for the next faction!!! The Nephil

oh and i forgot to mention, to destroy it you just destroy its fleet, but the fleet repleneshes over time...

1)Now that would be an interesting idea...I had the idea of a salvage ship that would recuperate a certian percentage of ressources out of a destroyed ship, friend or foe, (you know why let all those pretty space debries go to waste when you can put them back together and form a new ship (the idea behind the salvage ship...capable of, with the resoources he gathers to create, a makeshift ship (which can be from weaker to stronger depending on the amount of ressources you carry))).

2)Or how about a ship that would shoot a high frequency beam inside space, creating a vortex which would over time grant vessels (a little like returning armada but more manageable)...!

3)And also, the prototype Turtle Ship, which would have the 'irresistible target' special ability, meaning every enemy in the gravity well would automatically attack him and only him until destroyed. Thus you could send him ahead and thanks to his INCREDIBLE shields (which would have a fast recharge time) would take the bulk of the initial assaults while the other ships destroy as much as they can free of harm...

Anyhow, just a bit more ideas...hum..cant give too many ideas away..gotta keep some for my Nephils LOOOL

hay dont all xin ships heal?

Indeed they do, since they are semi-organic, and they do it better than Vasari ships self-repair, although you would need tech upgrades to reach full potential. That's why I said the repair ability would come with a "twist".

The turtle ship sounds like a good idea for Episode III and the Hegemony, actually. I am looking to make the three factions as diverse as possible, so am toying with the idea to make the Hegemony a faction for master strategists and those who like to milk their fleets for all they are worth with micromanagement, where every ship class would have a distinct and clearly defined role, relatively vulnerable on their own, but deadly when used in properly combined fleets and with someone who is not afraid to get down and dirty their hands with some furious commanding.

Gamerking, what about a ship which can generate a black hole powerful enough to produce gravitational tidal waves which can snap the backbones of battleships? I think that's way cooler than Lucas' "giant lazerball" idea.

The titans will have a large fleet following them - if you build one, that is. As is, they will, in addition to their main superweapon, also be equipped with some anti-ship weaponry of large caliber for regular spearheading duty, but will cost so much that you really would be better off building several battleships, you'd get more conventional firepower. Titans are meant for one thing only - to go in and crack tough defenses. This will *especially* be felt if you get the new Entrenchment mini-expansion, which promises to add powerful defensive starbases and minefields to vanilla races.

Of course, the Xin starbase (both variants) will look cooler and kick more donkey ass.

YEAH...I am so getting entrenchement and your mod !!! The perfect combination for ultimate space strategy battles !!!

1.500 ships on the screen at once here we come!!!

Damn forgot to ask...is their no way to alter the game mechanics in the way that ships would continue moving when they engage instead of stopping and just shooting at each other??? (I know it helps to coordinate fleets during the battle...but from a cinematical point of view...it would be soooo much sweeter!)

lol. lets add the scarheads just so we can kill them lol!

on a serious note, is there any timeframe for release? and are you going to release for 1.1 or just 1.05?

Seeing ManShOOter works alone...the're is no timeframe but he is expecting to finish for Christmas time (Episode I only)!

As for version..I suspect it will work on all the most up-to-date software!

wtf happened with that?? ahh well. i love the idea

Your post did the freak out.

Hehe.

Xin > Yuuzhan Vong.

The Xin would be pissed off at the Vong's feeble imitation of true starships, and decide to kill the Vong for giving organic starships a bad name.

Yes, the mod will be kept up to date with the latest version of the game. Expected release is still around Christmas, even though I am trying to iron out some normal mapping problems which popped out since I started using ZBrush in my workflow, but it should not cause a significant delay.

To shorten the time between the actual updates, here is a sketch render of the unit I am currently working on, the Graviton Uplink.

Also, here are a few ingame shots of the Anti-Fighter drone, replacing the old version (the sphere with a lot of spikes) to be more in line with the organic look of the species' ships. The old version will be relocated to the role of a module builder, so no time is wasted in replacing it.

Armed with six protuberances capable of squeezing out a single guided plasmid missile each, this drone is the bane of all things small and fast. Disproportionately large head houses a very extensive nervous system, feeding the data from the drone's large eyes and spatial distortion sensors directly into an oversize brain capable of juggling a host of smaller creatures called "spear plasmids", living missiles which track their targets with uncanny agility and then impale them upon impact for a few grueling moments before blowing up.

Coming soon, and faster as I iron out the kinks that inevitably arise when you start using new tools, the new and improved Attack Cruiser, Assault Drone and the second in the line of capitals, a giant carrier dubbed the Xin Overlord. Also, hopefully, a few slow-motion action shots to show off the "impaling" effect of the abovementioned spear plasmids.

Edit doesn't work... anyway, keep in mind that the anti-fighter drone is actually my first ever texture and normal map made in ZBrush, so the fugly blue dots around the collar will go. Must go. Ugh.

i jut got one other idea... what about, a shp, that is a factory.  like one faction does not have a "factory" so to speak but instead builds a ship that will build bot frigates/cruisers and caps. Like perhaps a faction that is more offensive oriented, as it builds ships though, its guns and shields take a toll so it is actually less powerful, it is built by construction drones and can go from system to system. however, research is required to get it mobile and once it gets mobile, it will act as a superheavy carrier, with an extreme amount of armor and some heavy weapons and shields, but like mentioned earlier, when it is building units, it will be able to move, but not as powerful.

sorry for the double post but my edit button isnt working and i have to correct somethings jut=just, bot=both, and by carrier i mean strikecraft.

Don't you think that's getting a bit into the extreme! It's like stripping the essence away of the whole planet domination idea... IF you put it inside an existing faction (like a mobile factory with the strenght of a capital ship is WAYY disproportionate)!

But as an independant race...Who CANNOT colonize planets (a little like the worldships from the tyranides in Warhammer 40K), the idea could go a long way!

Let's say, that BLOODY BIG ship, would contain everything, (from frigate factory, construction drones to labs) needed for a 'regular planet construction'! The way he would get his ressources would be to create 1 symbiose (represented by a structure) which would 'suck' all the ressources located inside the gravity well of a planet...

A very good idea from gamerking...which has lots of potential...but I guess would be extremely hard to implement in soase! That was my 2 cents worth...

Initial concept of the Clans Remnant, due to appear in Episode II, has them as a highly mobile race. As such I am considering the possibility to downplay planet roles to the minimum for the Remnant, instead focusing on mobility, even with production units.

The trouble is that you cannot have more than three abilities per unit, or so I remember. So one way around this would be to have a sort of "tiered" construction process. You would have a Fleet Mobile Yard, which would produce a, say, Master Skirmisher Platform (I'm making the names up as I go), Forward Fleet Support and Giant Huge Scaffolding, which would in turn produce frigates, cruisers and capital ships, some of which could produce lowest-tier ships like scouts or such.

So in theory this could be doable, a completely mobile race. I doubt that you could actually drop the planets entirely though, as you need them for resources. But you could certainly minimize their importance for that particular faction. The Xin, however, are a territorial race - they like to grab a planet and then dig in. Where the Remnant can just pack up and leave and be back five minutes later, the Xin are expensive to set up but are then really hard to drive off too.