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[MOD] Sins of a Solar Empire: INVASION (new screenshots, May 28th, 2012.)

[MOD] Sins of a Solar Empire: INVASION (new screenshots, May 28th, 2012.)

Previously known as "The Last Stand"

 

 

Sins of a Solar Empire: INVASION is an addon project aiming to expand upon the existing universe of the Sins of a Solar Empire, providing original and high-quality content on top of the original game. Aside from the new content, the addon will also include multiplayer-friendly gameplay changes as well as reworked or new visuals/sounds.

ETA: To Be Announced

Planned changes/content will include:

  •  A new playable race, created to the highest quality standards. The Xin are a race of utterly alien origin, and the massive fleets of their living, semi-sentient ships have been ravaging the galaxy for millenia. Countless races have perished under their onslaught - and now TEC, Advent and the Vasari will have to face this terrible enemy and win - or die trying.
    Assume the role of the defenders and try to stem the tide of death and destruction, or take command of the invading armada and destroy the impertinent insects wherever they choose to make their last stand. 
  • Volumetric Explosions & Damage Effects, providing not only greater excitement to your space battles by transforming all explosions and persistent damage effect into true 3D affairs, but also better visual cues as to how the battle is going, enabling you to spot at a first glance the hotspots and even the level of damage on particular ships.
  • Dynamic Battle System, where each ship class' strenghts and uses are not determined only by its stats and abilities, but also by its flight characteristics. Certain ship classes will be able to move during fleet battles, which, coupled with the reworked stats of all ship classes should prevent "cookie-cutter" or "spam" strategies.
  • New Ship Classes for the new faction, ranging from specialist ships such as the Warmaster or Emperor Battlecruiser all the way to Titans acting as mobile superweapons capable of facing down an entire fleet on their own or even destroying an entire gravity well in one powerful surge.
  • Reworked Balancing, aiming to further focus various ship classes on their roles, removing any overlapping advantages which ultimately make one ship type or the other the ship to produce. Changes will also include increased gravity wells as well as greater class difference in turning rates and top speeds in order to further accentualize fleet placement, strategic positioning of forward bases and other such details which a great admiral make.
  • New Planet Types, which will also be visually enhanced, primarily by increasing their size in order to make them a true centerpiece of a given sector. New planet types will provide greater variety without providing game-breaking advantages to players.
  • Enlarged Gravity Wells which, coupled with the dynamic nature of space combat, will challenge players to an even greater level, requiring careful placements of planetary defenses and orbital structures, as well as fleets.
  • Unique Structures for the new faction, ranging from formidable Heavy Defense Batteries to deployable Outposts which will be capable of guarding even sectors around otherwise uninhabitable astronomical bodies such as stars or gas giants.

==MEDIA SECTION==

 

==SCREENSHOTS==

 

==TRAILERS==

DRONE SPOTLIGHT I

A short ingame exposition of the Scout, Assault and Siege drones.

 

 

 

==BACKGROUND LORE==

Pangalactic War Timeline 

Clicking the above link will lead you to the download of a .pdf document detailing the rich and dynamic history of the factions which will play a major role in the Last Stand mod, so if you are into background lore, be sure to check it out!

 

==UNIT INFORMATION==

 Pending.

 

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Reply #651 Top

Well the Xin will not have "insta-backup" ability precisely because they are so powerful on their own turf. Instead, they will be able to build a network of nodes which will alter local space-time characteristics so that their wormhole drives can operate with vastly improved efficiency. So in effect, as long as they are fighting on their own turf, the Xin will be able to zip around quickly enough that getting outmaneuvered will not be an issue... at least when it comes to interplanetary travel. Their sublight speed will still be inferior.

Gamerking, I saw I didn't reply to one of your questions - the stars will be reinforcable. That means you will be able to use one of Xin capitals to deploy a starbase in any sector. The process takes time, but in the end you can get a powerful defensive structure anywhere, even in the gravity wells of enemy planets, provided they don't shoot you down while you're setting yourself up. ;)

Reply #652 Top

Time for another update! This time, I bring you the awesome:

Second Generation Genome Elite Drone, or simply, the Impaler Drone.

 High Quality renders:

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Although much larger than its cousin, the Shik'ra Attack Fighter, this drone shares the same principle - to provide a tough, compact and above all a powerful offensive package on any field of battle the Xin might find themselves on.

Size comparison between the Impaler and the Shik'ra Fighter

The Impaler Drone, named after its weapon which more often than not impales its enemies upon a spear of superheated plasma, represents the pinnacle of Xin bioforming technology. Available to players only when a number of disparate research topics have been fully upgraded, this drone is tougher, faster and offensively far more powerful than its more common counterpart, the Assault Drone. Capable of delivering nearly twice the firepower of its role predecessor, the Impaler Drone can sweep the field clean of opposition with unerring efficiency.

Ingame shots:

Basically, you get this after you complete the research line for ship upgrades, called Second Generation Genome. Which is, coincidentally, one of the prerequisites for Titan construction. A Xin player can thus unlock a powerful unit which can tip the odds in their favor late in the game, as the Impaler is one tough cookie with the pricetag of a drone.

Coming up, the new and improved Assault Cruiser, the menacing Xin Overlord and the rock-grabbing-and-digesting-into-useful-minerals, the Masticator (I'm quite proud of that name, it should get the Best Name for a Mining Facility award)!

Reply #653 Top

I foresee them being called BFDs. :grin:

Reply #654 Top

too many dirty jokes.....too little space:rofl:

Reply #655 Top

2) 7 Deadly Sins has something like that already
End of quote

not only do ships in 7ds have that, the vassari utility cruiser has it.

Reply #656 Top

Quoting Soor, reply 3
I foresee them being called BFDs.
End of Soor's quote

They're not *that* powerful. :p

Reply #657 Top

did you intentionally make this thing so ... uhh... so you could laugh at it when a whole fleet of them goes and attacks a vassari phase gate?? ^_^ :grin: *_*

Reply #658 Top

Ah you lost me now. Am I missing something here? I mean, one of the concepts I had for one capital ship ended up looking like a flying space dildo, but I am pretty sure I haven't accidentally copied any sex toys with this one. And having a bunch of fanged... things... attack your phase gate is *not* funny.

So please, enlighten me as to what's so "uhh" about the newest addition to the Xin fleets... try as I might, I can't see it! :)

Reply #659 Top

"Your eyesight is bad! Must be bad ..."

Reply #660 Top

Quoting ManSh00ter, reply 8
try as I might, I can't see it!
End of ManSh00ter's quote

Thank God, I thought I was the only one! ;) Looks pretty awesome, ManSh00ter!

Reply #661 Top

Yeh, I guess our minds are still innocent and uncorrupted. :p

All I see is an uber drone designed for some serious space carnage.

Weirdos. :p

Reply #662 Top

Don't worry your not the only ones.  all I see a really big ship that looks cool and looks like it could take out a fleet or something.

Quoting ManSh00ter, reply 11

Weirdos.

End of ManSh00ter's quote

They sure are :P  

 

 

Reply #664 Top

Quoting top, reply 12
Don't worry your not the only ones.  all I see a really big ship that looks cool and looks like it could take out a fleet or something.

 
End of top's quote

Same here

Reply #665 Top

Heh, it's not that big actually. A bit smaller than your average frigate. But its got really big spikes in front, and that's all that matters. Well, that, and the fact that it can eat average frigates for breakfast, after it roasts them with bursts of hot liquid mag... I mean plasma.

Reply #666 Top

Interesting...everyone I pop something new and exciting has been laid out!

Damn this will kick Stardocks entranchement BAD!!!!!!!! Even though I REALLY want that expansion!

5*  XD   Perfect mod (as it has been since the start)! Keep it up

Reply #667 Top

Heh, it took me all this time to figure out what have I been doing wrong with my textures, since they suffered from pixelation which was noticeable on everything, from normal mapping to details... so I'll have to re-import all the textures to fix it. As a result the ships will look even better, and since I'll have to do that anyway in order to make the mod compatible with SoaSE 1.1, it bothers me none. ;)

Reply #668 Top

Sweet! Brilliant, just brilliant!

As always...only the best from ManShOOter...PS: you gotta implement your mod into 7 DS?

Reply #669 Top

tho with the entrenchment expansion some parts of this mod may get easier, wasnt there talk of minefields in this modor did i just make that up?

Reply #670 Top

Yes, there will be mines and starbases in this mod. However, I have yet to see whether it will be possible to use assets from Entrenchment in a way that would allow players which do not have the expansion to play the mod properly. If not, then the mod will be constructed using workarounds instead of expansion material (like the AI use of mines, for example).

I still do not know how their content-locking system will work (for example, what if one of the people playing the mod in multiplayer has Entrenchment and the other one does not). So its a bit too early to speculate, I'll know more once the Entrenchment goes live and I get to poke it.

As for merging with 7DS, Danman and I discussed it and I expressed the desire to keep the mod unmerged untill release of Episode III, so that it has a chance of establishing its identity. After the final episode release, merge away. :)

In the meantime, I am making a little something that, I hope, will be a welcome addition to every mod out there, including 7DS.

Reply #671 Top

Interesting!

Can you tell us more about this 'little something'?! Is it the mesh scaler that I saw advertised a few posts back...?

Reply #672 Top

Na.  I think that "little something" is scaled-up planets and gravity wells for more realistic battles.

Reply #673 Top

Wrong on both accounts. :p

Reply #674 Top

im going too go crazy, the whate is killing me XO

 

can u plz give us an demo :pout:

Reply #675 Top

No demo just yet, still a ways to go until the assets are play-ready.

Until then...

 

This Kodiak is currently suffering from... lemme see. Ah. There is a catastrophic breach in the turret bulkhead through which volatile gasses are escaping at jet-flame velocity, not helping the situation. An electrical failure on the front left side, I hope nobody was standing there when the arcs went flying. There seems to be some sort of fire going on in the back section and the bridge is spewing smoke. Oh and some of the plating just went off flying into space. Those Disciple vessels are real nasty in numbers...

Can you say... volumetric... damage and explosion... effects! Ladies and gentlemen, this is what makes watching space battles fun. Lighting things on fire and watching them explode.

Coming Soon (tm)