ManSh00ter ManSh00ter

[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.

 

4,165,093 views 1,794 replies
Reply #1726 Top

I see.  I also downloaded the program in your image there--very nice.  Now I can retopologize too.

Reply #1727 Top

Quoting Sinperium, reply 1726
Now I can retopologize too.
I've been telling you could do that for years! :D

+1 Loading…
Reply #1729 Top

Yeah, Sculptris is awesome, and it's free (at least for now). I find it much better than sculpting in ZBrush, you work faster and there is much less hassle. And you can always switch directly to ZBrush and back for those special tools which Sculptris lacks, like punching holes in your models or hard surface sculpting.

Although if you want to retopo, you need to do it by hand in another tool, like ZBrush, or any 3D package (there are many techniques). Personally I use a great tool called 3D Coat, which has a pretty robust automatic retopology feature, then just fix the trouble areas on the mesh in Softimage. That way I can have a game ready model which would normally take a few days of work in an hour or so. Very efficient workflow.

Reply #1730 Top

thanks for the new teaser pics

harpo

 

Reply #1731 Top

Just wondering ManSh00ter, and you may have already addressed this question, so do forgive me, but how do you plan on integrating this mod into Rebellion (or do you at all)?  How will you be able to synchronize with the system-wide graphical and engine improvements in Rebellion?

 

Thank you!

I've been watching this mod since its inception four years ago, and it still seems really quality.  Keep up the good work! :D

Reply #1732 Top

I am already studying Rebellion and how it works, and I think the Xin could be incorporated rather nicely in the whole dual faction system - they already have two kinds of Titans and I could easily make two distinct factions within the Xin Hierarchy.

The only problem could be memory requirements, but for that I need the official release. Before Rebellion is released I will not begin porting the Xin in earnest since the unit stats and abilities are probably not final. In the meantime, the development continues for Diplomacy.

But I definitely intend to have a go at Rebellion too. :)

Reply #1733 Top

Here's a few screens of yet not shown ships, to tide over the wait before the official release date announcement:

 

Reply #1734 Top

Quoting ManSh00ter, reply 1733
to tide over the wait before the official release date announcement:



 

 

:drool: \o/   woohooo! can't wait (well, obviously i can, cause i have been for a few years now, but meh)

Reply #1736 Top

Quoting Redlightning, reply 1735
How much longer until I can ravage the galaxy?
obviously when it is done, but like you I would like to at least try manshooter's mod as it look wonderful, and it one of the few things that is still keeping me active in the sins community.

harpo

 

Reply #1737 Top

:grin:

Reply #1738 Top

He better share!

Reply #1739 Top

Have we been tided over enough for a release date? :pout:

Reply #1740 Top

ManShooter is hiding his toys from us.  We need him to appear again.

Reply #1741 Top

obviously the tide has run out, and all we can do is hope that it will return without us getting swamped or waved

harpo

 

Reply #1742 Top

I bow my head at the incomprehensible multitude

but with resolve take another starfish from the sand

and return it to the sea.

Reply #1743 Top

:pout:

Reply #1744 Top

ManSh00ter...darn you!

You better not burn out and not release this!!

Reply #1745 Top

Hey ManSh00ter..come back and tell us if you are still alive.  Everything going ok out there in RL?

Reply #1746 Top

:pout:

Reply #1747 Top

perhaps manshooter got shot by the rebellion.

 

I hope not, but who can tell with a rebellion in progress as rebels usually shoot anything that moves in their area.

harpo

 

Reply #1748 Top

I think he might not realize this is a highly anticipated mod and the positive comments and otherwise complete lack of  criticism or any negative comments regarding it should show that.

Even if he is Rebellion challenged or just not wanting to go there, I KNOW for a fact several modders would update it for him just if he simply asked.

Let us know ManSh00ter...we'll pitch in whatever we can.

Reply #1750 Top

:cylon: