Rhapses,

0.43 (the next update) will have some adjustments to the tech trees, partially as course balancing and partially due to new content. Updated string files should help but there will still be a sharp learning curve till all the content is in place and the coarse adjustments give way to more fine tuned adjustments.

I do not like the "upgrade" bitbucket just implemented!

FWIW: The dependency of one tech to unlock them all, including techs on other trees, seems to cause problems with the AI too.

If an AI builds the wrong type of lab it cannot research this founding tech, eg Minbari "The Early Years" or EA "Dilgar Spec Ops", and then cannot research anything.

AIs in this situation tend to just dig in at their homeworld.

After working with it for a while I've come to like it actually.

Need to look at that. After my last cost adjustment the AI seemed to better build up though. But I always play on the hardest difficulty with SOTYR.

G_Bison, thanks.

Anytime, I may not have play your mod but I due respect you guys hard work to make a great experience. The time, effort, you guys have put a lot of work and should be proud of your accomplishments.

B5 and it's spin offs were great shows, so any reference that I can add to help, I'm more than happy to do...

Thanks, that's very welcome

A few ideas for artifacts

• The Great Machine : -15% research cost & time taken, large increase to that planet's health
• Triluminary : +2 or +3 relationship bonus, +3% growth rate for all planets in your control.
• Ikarran Vault: +10% hull, +2 armour, large bonus to hull regen rate (maybe Sins rate) to reflect organic tech , -1 relationship (Ikarra was somewhat xenophobic)
• Eyes of Z'ha'dum : Crews of hostile ships entering this planet's grav well are enticed into perpetual service to your empire. (10-20% chance say)
• Forge of the First Ones : An ancient, but highly efficient, Quantium-40 refinery reduces jump-gate construction cost by 20%

My initial thought was that The Great Machine could also use the Revelation's Clairvoyance, emulating the occupant's ability to "walk among the stars" with his mind. But I don't think planets can have abilities like that.

Forge of the First Ones could also reduce the cost of cap ships by 15% to reflect the lower price of expensive jump engines.

Is it also worth looking at fleet supply/cap ship crew numbers?

If you max out your cap ship crews there's not much fleet supply left for frigates/cruisers.

I like the ideas, except

as that would be immensly overpowered.

Not sure, but perhaps someone very good at buffs/abilities can look into this.

As said before, this is intended (not set in stone though). It is up to the player to decide how to assemble his fleet - only the best capitalships, mixed capitalships and a few frigates, huge numbers of small frigates,...

It's the players decision how to best use the fleet supply, not the games decision. It would be almost impossible to balance otherwise I think.

NewHorizons,

EA Hyperion BlackStar Killer mine ability uploaded.

I'm not sure where the artifact data is stored. I suspect in a planet bonus .entity but haven't had the chance to dig through and find out. I'm sure several experienced modders could point the way. Fellows?

Recommend opening tickets for each idea to be closed when populated and accepted or closed as unexecutable.

So much stuff to test and tweak... TobiWahn is making good headway clearing out or updating status on open tickets.

davroth the artifacts are 'hidden' by a leading 'RESEARCHSUBJECT_' in the file name

eg

RESEARCHSUBJECT_ARTIFACT_GALAXYTRAVEL.entity

RESEARCHSUBJECT_ARTIFACT_HULLREPAIROVERTIMEINCREASE.entity

RESEARCHSUBJECT_ARTIFACT_HYPERSPACESPEED.entity

RESEARCHSUBJECT_ARTIFACT_ORGANICAI.entity

RESEARCHSUBJECT_ARTIFACT_PASSIVEREGENANTIMATTER.entity

RESEARCHSUBJECT_ARTIFACT_PLANETBOMBINGSHIELD.entity

RESEARCHSUBJECT_ARTIFACT_RESEARCHARCHIVE.entity

RESEARCHSUBJECT_ARTIFACT_SHIPBUILDTIMEREDUCTION.entity

RESEARCHSUBJECT_ARTIFACT_STRONGCULTURE.entity

RESEARCHSUBJECT_ARTIFACT_TRADEINCOME.entity

RESEARCHSUBJECT_ARTIFACT_WEAPONBOOST.entity

&

RESEARCHSUBJECT_ARTIFACT_WORMHOLETRAVEL.entity

hope this helps

harpo

One question Harpo, are the Artifact entity names hardcoded or can they be changed? Thanks

GoaFan has altered and expanded the selection of artifacts in his Enhanced 4X mod, so I don't think they're hardcoded.

Harpo and SpartaSon21,

Thanks.

NewHorizons,

Feel like trying your hand at artifact .entity files? They look straightforward and ZombieRus's site: http://code.google.com/p/soaseplugin/wiki/ResearchSubject

Will serve as a good guide as to the parameters of the possible.

TobiWahn,

Recommend giving NewHorizons the researchWindowLocation fields or just code that part when adapting the new artifact entity file. From where I sit a productive week. Go team! Go!

The Planet files have an artifact path section but the mechanic of the random assignment to any particular planet is not obvious and could be an integration spot.

Considering that the only Ikaran units utilizing organic technology (which where absolute cutting edge technology for them) where the "infantry" guardians, maybe the Ikaran Vault should work like the current Ion field generator.

For space-ship armor and/or regeneration, maybe you could take the secret laboratories that the EA had working on adapting shadow technology.

The majority of them was destroyed during the EA civil war, one was destroyed when the Hybrid they build went out of controll and in the script of a not-filmed episode of Crusade, Galen and Gideon where to infiltrate a still working shadow tech research base (which Galen would have ended up destroying).

Another idea I had might be the "Vault of Souls"; one of the places the Soulhunters use to store the soul globes. The accumulated knowledge of all those great people there could give a culture  or research bonus.

I like the Vault of Souls planet bonus idea. I also like the Ikaran Vault idea ... though it would need to be nerfed quite a bit I believe we should keep it in.

Guess I did sort of drop my self in it there.

Norbert's secret Shadow tech lab has merit - you'd get ship bonuses, but at the cost that everybody else hates you 'cause you've turned to the dark side (or nicked their tech).

Ikarran Vault could apply a bonus to planet health (empire wide) to reflect improved emergency facilities and/or improve the hulls of defensive structures like turrets & starbases :- "Protect!!"

The intent of EA would have been to incorporate this tech into their ships & structures.

Not so sure about the connection of organic armour for infantry - troops aren't a lot of use against the orbital bombardment that's employed in Sins & B5.

I've no skills for 2D art-work, so any entity files I create would use existing Sins icons - just like the few planet bonuses I did. However, it shouldn't be too hard to change the artifact's entity file if/when new icons are created.

The easiest artifacts to implement would be Ikarran Vault / Shadow tech lab, Triluminary & Whisper Gallery (soul vault) as they just apply straight bonuses.

The others require mechanisms that I'd have to research, eg ZombieRus's site, and, as I am the modding noob here all this may take some time to learn....

Should we add, or replace, artifacts? Some of these proposed B5 artifacts are similar to those in Sins itself.

Eg

Triluminary ~= Manifest Dominion

Ikarran Vault (MkI) ~= Resilient Metalloids

The Great Machine ~= Data Archive (with added clairvoyance)

Any suggestions, eg  bonus values, are welcome, so that I don't unbalance things.

Some Minbari AI player names.

Fragment of English.str:

Fragment of PlayerMinbari.entity:

I've used "3rd" instead of "Third" etc to minimize the overrun in the diplomacy screen.

I would have liked to have used clan names from the Warrior Caste, but they're already used for names of techs.

Maybe when SotYR moves to Rebellion this could be changed as these two castes would be logical factions for the Minbari.

Not sure (lore wise) how the Narn, Vorlons & Shadows would be split up, but the EA (Clarke vs Sheridan) & Centauri ('reformers' - Turhan, Vir, Urza vs 'hawks' Refa, Catagia) are believable.

Narn would have a militant revenge faction and a fatalistic faction.

I don't see either the Shadow or Vorlon having factions as they are their own mutual enemies.

Artifact suggestions

A technomage coven - a diplomacy bonus and a modest research time bonus.

An abandoned elder race colony world, oh the wonders... several possible combinations of weapon speed, damage bonuses, armor bonuses, bonuses for ship tactical speed or turning rates. Many possible things.

Not all artifacts need have benefiticial properties or are a mixed bag.

A plague world would be a good reason to abandon an otherwise useful world.

Still working Narn Thenta Makur but I don't think the mechanic I'm exploring will work. After that need ideas for ship abilities. Narn and Centauri are the least complete. 

The Vorlons do have two factions.

There is the one faction that Kosh Naranek belonged to, that want to protect and guide the younger races. Since this was the original goal of the Vorlons, they would naturally be the loyalist faction, or maybe "Guardians".

And then there are the extremists, like Kosh Ulkesh, for whom prooving the Shadows wrong has become more important than their role as teachers and protectors. Since these Vorlons lost sight of the true purpose for which they remained in our galaxy, they are the natural rebel faction. Maybe you could call them "Extremists" or "Fanatics" (blowing up planets and all that does sound pretty fanatical to me).

While this split is only hinted at in the actual series, the second and third books of the "Passing of the Technomages" Trilogy "Summoning Light" and "Invoking Darkness" specifically mention this division, with one group being more moderate, while the other is demanding the outright and merciless destruction of anyone touched by the shadows, with the latter faction gaining more and more support and ultimately gaining the majority with Kosh's death.

For the Narn, there would be those that prioritise rebuilding Narn and those that advocate the destruction of the Centauri above all, though it's hard to tell which ones are the rebels in this case. Maybe they could be called "Militarists" and "Preservers".

For the Centauri, the "Old Guard", lusting for a return to their old glory would make up the loyalist faction (Londo during the first three seasons, Cartagia and Refa being good examples), with the more peacefull faction (like Turhan, Londo between "And the rock cried out no hiding place" and his surrender to the Drakh or Emperor Cotto) making up the rebels.

The EA is pretty obviously split between the democratic pro-alien group and the xenophobic dictatorship of Clarke. The problem is, which are the rebels. In the series itself, Sheridan & Co where the rebels, but they remained true to the actual mandate of earthforce, while Clarke betrayed everything Earth and Humanity stood for, which would make him the rebel...

If there is ever going to be a Drazi faction, they would obviously be split into green and purple.