A couple questions

Yes

Yes. You can add up to 5 abilities per entity. You can change the armor type and damage bonuses of weapon types per armor type, but you can't add new armor or damage types (They can all be renamed though in the string file to match whatever universe).

Titans are the only game engine enforced one unit per game type. There are "workarounds" though that many of us old school modders have developed. The most refined of those is now in the E4X mod with it's Hero implementation.

Yes

There's no limit to the insanity you can create. Where it ceases to become playable is mainly system limited. You'll either exceed the 2GB limit or your CPU/GPU processing power at a certain point. How many stars/planets that is I don't think has really been quantified. The end result is you'll have too many units doing to many things for your CPU to keep up causing Sins to play like a TBS instead of a RTS and possibly eventually crash. Basically, your not going to get some grandious star trek galaxy with thousands of stars and planets to explore. You might be able to get tens or twenties of stars with a hundred planets or so to play well. You'd need to play around with it a bit to find the right mix.

No, not possible at all.

Yes

Yes- via particle effects.

 

oh thanks a lot

and btw, no star trek galaxy with thousands of systems. around 600, perhaps.

9. also, can we make ships shift between different "modes"? like "lock wings, get X% more accuracy but X% slower"? again, like star wars and the X-wings, who could lock wings in S-foil (attack position) and unlock them at their leisure.

10. when I say custom art I also mean actual custom planet appearing in-game, a different planet surface.

lol, no. 600 stars with an average of 5 planets is 3600 orbit bodies... Think in the low range of 100-200 planets and 20(ish) stars for playable on the LARGE end. Again the difference is playeable versus realistic.

Sorta and probably not what you want. You can add toggle abilities to Frigates (not strikecraft). Also, sins doesn't support animations very well so changing the look of a ship in a toggled mod might be more complicated than it's worth.

Yes. all the mods I listed in the other thread add new planet textures as far as I know. The complicated thing with new planet meshes/textures is understanding the Planet/GalaxyScenarioDef relationship which is far more complicated than I'm willing to discuss with someone that hasn't modded the game yet.

not 600 stars, 600 planets

You can build a 600 planet galaxy... You can probably even play on it for a little bit. After a few hours the map will probably become unplayable or crash.

Like I've said the difference is between having a playeable map versus what you feel is a realistic map. The two don't always coincide.

 

can I create custom symbols and theme colors? black, for example.

Despite what Zombie is saying, from my many years of playing this game in my LAN group, and modding it, I'd say to make the maps no bigger than 75.  Seems to be the sweet spot for size while retaining competitiveness, discovery, and good length to the game.

TSOP does wonders for the game, and raw CPU power is the way to go.  Multicore means nothing to this engine.


Symbols are created using various image sheets.  Corresponding "cut out" coordinates for individual images are set up in the respective .window file under /window of a mod.

Some examples can be found here: https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/428154/page/13

In the color.color file of a mod (NOT THE CORE GAME, though you can use the vanilla file as a template to build off of) under the /window folder, you can do this.  Also, black would be a terrible color against the space background, but you can.

From my mod, Proxima, this is what I use (I notated the colors used for players):

TXT
positive ff89D217
negative ffff2a00
notAvailable ffCCCCCC
highlight ffFFC705
warning ffFF891D
unknown ffa8a8a8
normal ffffffff
normalInverted ff000000
subValue ff7E7E7E
playerColor:0 ffCC033C crimson
playerColor:1 ff0EADFF sky blue
playerColor:2 ff507642 fern green
playerColor:3 ffC96333 copper
playerColor:4 ffFFCC00 gold
playerColor:5 ff9C6963 bronze
playerColor:6 ffCC009C dark magenta
playerColor:7 ff9933CC dark orchid
playerColor:8 ff777777 dark gray
playerColor:9 ffFFFFF0 ivory
playerColor:NPC ffbdbdbd
chatTextContext:GameSystemMessage ffFFC705
chatTextContext:GameMessageToAllSent ffffffff
chatTextContext:GameMessageToAllReceived ffffffff
chatTextContext:GameMessageToAlliesSent ff0EADFF
chatTextContext:GameMessageToAlliesReceived ff0EADFF
chatTextContext:GameMessageToOneSent ff89D217
chatTextContext:GameMessageToOneReceived ff89D217
chatTextContext:GameMessageToOneAllySent ff89D217
chatTextContext:GameMessageToOneAllyReceived ff89D217
chatTextContext:ICOSentChannelMessage ffffffff
chatTextContext:ICOReceivedChannelMessage ffffffff
chatTextContext:ICOSentFriendMessage ff0EADFF
chatTextContext:ICOReceivedFriendMessage ff0EADFF
chatTextContext:ICOSentWhisper ff8FD81D
chatTextContext:ICOSentWhisperFailed ffFF0000
chatTextContext:ICOReceivedWhisper ff8FD81D
chatTextContext:ICOServerMessage ffFF0000
chatTextContext:ICOJoinedChannel ffb7b7b7
chatTextContext:ICOChannelAddedPlayer ffb7b7b7
chatTextContext:ICOChannelRemovedPlayer ffb7b7b7
chatTextContext:ICOFriendLoggedIn ff0EADFF
chatTextContext:ICOFriendLoggedOut ff0EADFF
chatTextContext:ICOFriendChangedChannel ff0EADFF
chatTextContext:IgnoreNameAdded ffFF0000
chatTextContext:IgnoreNameRemoved ffFF0000
minAllianceActivePlayer ff568211
maxAllianceActivePlayer ff8FD81D
minAllianceNeutral ff666666
maxAllianceNeutral ffCCCCCC
minAllianceFriendly ff0EADFF
maxAllianceFriendly ff0EADFF
minAllianceEnemy ff990000
maxAllianceEnemy ffFF2800
minHull ffFF0000
middleHull ffFFC705
maxHull ff8FD81D
minShields ffFF0000
maxShields FFFFC705
minAntiMatter ff0A79B2
maxAntiMatter ff0EADFF
minPlanetHealth ffffff00
maxPlanetHealth ffffff00
minConstruction ffffff00
maxConstruction ffffff00
minDeconstruction ffff0000
maxDeconstruction ffff0000
minUpgradePlanetModuleLevel ff0000ff
maxUpgradePlanetModuleLevel ff0000ff
researchPoints fff5f5f5
researchExperience ff0000ff
researchUpgradePercentage ffffff00
windowTextEnabled ffffffff
windowTextDisabled ff4d4d4d
windowTextHighlighted ffffd600
travelGridColor:SolarSystem 6fffffff
travelGridColor:Planet 6fffffff    
connectionColor 2Affffff
wormholeConnectionColor ffffffff
cultureConnectionColor 80ffffff
travelLineBaseColor:Moving 6f8FD81D
travelLineBaseColor:Hyperspacing 5f0EADFF
travelLineBaseColor:Attacking 6fff4848
travelLineBaseColor:TargetPosition 6fffd600
travelLineBaseColor:ArbitraryPosition 6fffd600
travelLineBaseColor:ArbitraryPositionOnPlane 6fffd600
travelLineBaseColor:ArbitraryPositionPlaneOffset 6fffd600    
travelLineBaseColor:RallyPoint 6fffd600    
travelLinePulseColor:Moving ffD3FF68
travelLinePulseColor:Hyperspacing ffffffff
travelLinePulseColor:Attacking ffffffff
travelLinePulseColor:TargetPosition ffffd600
travelLinePulseColor:ArbitraryPosition ffffd600
travelLinePulseColor:ArbitraryPositionOnPlane ffffd600
travelLinePulseColor:ArbitraryPositionPlaneOffset ffffd600    
travelLinePulseColor:RallyPoint ffffd600    
planetRangeColor:HyperspaceStart 3f0EADFF
planetRangeColor:HyperspaceVisibility 3fFFFFFF
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:AttackingMin 66FF0000
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:AttackingMax 33FF0000
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:MovingMin 5579D81D
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:MovingMax 5579D81D
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:HyperspacingMin 400EADFF
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:HyperspacingMax 660EADFF
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:DockingMin 400EADFF
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:DockingMax 990EADFF
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:PingMin 55bd6310
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:PingMax 99f1ab16
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:PlanetCultureTakeOverWarningMin 66FF0000
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:PlanetCultureTakeOverWarningMax 33FF0000
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:PlanetCultureTakeOverNotificationMin 400EADFF
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:PlanetCultureTakeOverNotificationMax 990EADFF
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:PlanetHyperspaceBlockedMin 660EADFF
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:PlanetHyperspaceBlockedMax 330EADFF
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:CursorOverGameEventMin 400EADFF
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:CursorOverGameEventMax 990EADFF
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:RalliedToMin 40FFC705
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:RalliedToMax 99FF7A00
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:WarningMin 44BB5500
isBusyEntityUnderlayColor:WarningMax 77BB5500
fancyBandBoxOutlineColor 7fFFffff
loadBarProgressColor:0 ffFF0000
loadBarProgressColor:1 ffFFC705
loadBarProgressColor:2 ff8FD81D
barOutlineColor FFFFFFFF
barGlowColor FFFFD600
barGlowAnimatedColor:0 0xFF999999
barGlowAnimatedColor:1 0xFFA2A3A3
barGlowAnimatedColor:2 0xFFAFAFAE
barGlowAnimatedColor:3 0xFFBCBBBC
barGlowAnimatedColor:4 0xFFCBCBCA
barGlowAnimatedColor:5 0xFFDAD9D9
barGlowAnimatedColor:6 0xFFE8E7E8
barGlowAnimatedColor:7 0xFFF4F3F4
barGlowAnimatedColor:8 0xFFFFFFFF
pipColor:Selected 0xFFAAAAAA
pipColor:SubSelected 0xFFFFFFFF
pipColor:BandBoxed 0xFFDDDDDD
textListSelectionBackdropColor 6629cce8
textListSelectionBorderColor 00ffffff
attackRangeColor 85ff5b00
abilityRangeColor FF8822b7
empireWindowBackdropColor 0x88000000
marketBuyPriceColor ffff2a00
marketSellPriceColor ff89D217

I thought the latest patch allowed for more multicore support?

They'd have to rebuild the game engine to do that.  You can't simply fix it with a patch.  If they could, it would have been done LOOOONNNNG ago.

It's not cost effective for Stardock or Ironclad to redo the game to add this support.  They'd only do this in whatever next proper (not Sins of a Dark Age) incarnation that Sins of a Solar Empire will involve.

Another beloved strategy, Supreme Commander, falls under the same overambitious design that Sins does (and that game DOES have multicore support, albeit poor).

Despite what XATHOS is saying about Despite what Zombie is saying- from my many years of playing this game on ICO (1500+ games) the engine quite easily supports the Huge Maps of 98 - 142 planets. I've also played several Random-Vast games online. The problem with late game lag online is usually somebodies shitty comp or internet connection on these maps.

Also, I was answering his question in regards to what the upper limit most likely is before maps simply become unplayable...

Your preference of 75 might not be his... I was leaving it more open ended

Despite Zombie's fascination with errr... zombies , I am accounting for a game that is PLAYABLE, from start to finish, without so much lag to discourage people from not wanting to finish it.  I do realize specs account for playability, and I can handle much more that (I have a 4+ Ghz CPU for Christ's sake), but I am accounting for those with lower specs, and making a good solid number to go by.

hmm.. which cpus do you guys have?

dark_ansem, with sins the cpu family (ie generation) is of help for the SINGLE core performance regarding the GHZ and ram speed of access, and in those areas I have several intel I series cpus running between 3.4 & 4ghz with the fastest ram I could get, but was STILL limited to the 75-100 planet range before the slideshow developed in the game partly from strikecraft, trade/refinery ships and the planet details with lower details for planets/ships increasing the galaxy size a small bit, and the biggest galaxy I have played with was approx 150 planets but got a slideshow (and a slow one at that) after approx 2 hours in the game against 6 ai

harpo

I see. thanks a lot anyway.

 

Playing with a reduced fleet size helps, too.  My mod has rescaled fleet requirements of ships and runs on 1000 fleet supply.  I also have rescaled strikecraft squadrens, trade/refinery ships, TSOP, etc.   I can generally go 3+ hours before I see any lag whatsoever (of course, clusterfuck battles do encourage lag if you're zoomed all the way in).

I'm using an OCed AMD A10 5800K.

ah, you mean ACTUALLY reduced smaller ships!

hehe, no.

Fleets are made up of points used for each ship, enlarging the fleet points for each ship will mean you can build less ships for the fleet, which helps reduce movement/pathfinding calculations.

slotCount 22.000000

is an example of how many fleet points or "Supply" this ship will use up out of your total supply. larger ships use more than smaller ones typically.

RESEARCHSUBJECT_MAXSHIPSLOTS

and 

RESEARCHSUBJECT_MAXCAPITALSHIPS

let you research upgrades to get more ships

oh, I see. thanks for clarifying that!

All the tiny ships.

how can I set a custom skybox for a Galaxy?

You can't, unless you make a special kind of Star that only has one skybox option. Skyboxes are randomly selected from a list based on what Star is in the solar system, but you can toggle between these by enabling and disabling the "Colored Skybox" or "Deep Space Skybox" checkboxes in the options until you have the desired skybox.

hmm, I think I need another lesson on how skyboxes works, and how much custom stars can be done.

Adjust the RGB on your monitor.  Done and done.

er, no.

If you're playing against 7 to 9 AI you won't want to play on anything over 80 planets because the AI fights to the death and builds things like crazy (resource bonus will allow for that I suppose). Against humans, more planets are possible because people know when they're doomed and would rather start a new game than endure a long, painful defeat.

tl;dr

Playing against AI. Less than 80 planets

Playing against Humans. Less than 125

 

Please note the numbers above are general guidelines and dependent on number and skill of players/AI as well as computer specs.