Bailknight's Graphic Mod is undoubtedly the highest quality graphical makeover for Sins of a Solar Empire.  The following screenshot will testify to that.  Unfortunately, Bailknight has been gone from the forums for some time now.  In his absence, I've updated this impressive mod to include the gameplay changes introduced since Entrenchment 1.02.  And so I shall attempt to maintain Bailknight's work until the man himself returns.

Download Bailknight's Graphic Mod:

Release 1 for Diplomacy v1.01/1.011:
Full Download  34MB  mirror
Patch from v1.00  5kB  mirror
checksum: 5276234

Release 1 for Entrenchment v1.05/1.051:
Full Download  34MB  mirror
checksum: 5275988

Don't forget to read the README.txt!

High Definition videos of the mod:

TEC vs. TEC Starbase *
Vasari vs. Vasari Starbase *
Advent vs. Advent Starbase (coming... maybe?)

Changelog:

Release 1 for Trinity / Diplomacy 1.01:
2010 February 20th

 - Merged the patch's changes to pirate ships & defense platforms

Release 1 for Trinity / Diplomacy 1.00:
2010 February 10th

 - Updated mod for Diplomacy compatibility & stats
 - Found & deleted a few more redundant files

Release 1 for Entrenchment 1.05:
2010 February 6th

- Integrated documented changes from the Entrenchment 1.05 patch
    - Note: Vasari heavy frigate recieved an undocumented DPS buff in the patch
    - Vasari mines now use the correct explosion effects
      (neither I nor Mansh00ter noticed this bug before 1.05 fixed it  =p)

Release 3 for Entrenchment 1.041:
2010 January 20th

- Integrated Mansh00ter's mod Volumetric Explosions v1.2:
      - Added Mansh00ter's new explosion sounds -- but did not replace existing Sins sounds
      - Ship explosions now colored differently by race (TEC: orange, Advent: purple, Vasari: green)
      - Optimization of explosion effects to eliminate game slow-down when lots of ships are destroyed
      - Bodies now only jettison after explosions, not after damage effects (fires, air leaks, electrical arcing)
 - More realistic planet cloud texture & pipeline shader incorporated from EvilleJedi's Sins of a Galactic Empire mod
 - Fixed bug with Vasari Nano Weapon Jammer that caused it to constantly autocast without any enemies in range
 - Removed Bailknight's TEC Capital Ship Factory mesh since its textures were applied incorrectly
 - Reduced duration of Advent Bomber's hit effect, as using these bombers in mass could cause very artificial-looking grids on shields
 - Other minor changes:
      - Removed Bailknight's TEC Light Frigate mesh since it was exactly the same as unmodded Sins
      - Merged unmodded-Sins' glossiness values into the remaining Bailknight meshes
      - Fixed shield meshes triggering debug messages in developer EXE
      - Removed two unneeded .PSD files in the Textures folder

Release 2 for Entrenchment 1.041:
2009 December 5th

- Fixed texture for TEC carrier's missile turret that caused excessive bloom
- Deleted Vasari Enforcer mesh (and its shield mesh) since the textures were applied incorrectly
- Reduced opacity of the shield hit effect from 6x unmodded Sins to 2x

Release 1 for Entrenchment 1.041:
2009 November 7th

- Integrated all gameplay changes since Ent 1.02 patch
- Changed Advent Adjucator weapon projectile effect
- Deleted several unneeded files

*Note: These videos are from Bailknight's original mod, so the reduced shield effect is not shown, the broken Vasari Enforcer mesh is present, and the enhanced planet shader is not shown.