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Babylon 5 Mod Ideas

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Babylon 5 Mod Ideas

from Sins Forums
So since it should be inevitable for a B5 mod to get made, i figure it couldn't hurt to talk some about it, and perhaps maybe plan and get a team going for it.

Major Major Questions...

1. How many playable races to attempt, and which ones?

2. How many ships per faction, should ship roles/designs and numbers be based off the existing Sins races or not care?

3. Which general era of ships to use for the Earth Alliance?

4. Should capital ship mechanics remain the same? IE should the current game mechanics be kept in more or less the same condition?

My personal ideas is that the general game should play about the same, but that many ships should be condensed into one for some races, or expanded for others, notably I am in favor of maintaining only 3 Capital ship choices, as I think finding 5 for each major race would be quickly silly.

I would say for the beggining 3 balanced major races would be best, in general I view the technical/qualitative tiers being as such

Lowest: League Worlds, Early EA, Dilgar
Medium: EA, Centauri, Narn
High: Minbari, Drahk
Godish: Shadows, Vorlons, Additional Ancients

The mod would preferably come with several maps, one of which would represent the B5 universe just before the shadow war, it would be nice if a timer was included so that perhaps 3 hours into the game 2 special pirate worlds (the Shadows and the Vorlons) launch massive and mean pirate strikes... regular Raider Pirates would otherwise conduct themselves normally.

Other special maps/scenarios: Dilgar EA war... Earth Minbari War, and Narn Centauri War (The Shadows should/could be present here as well.)

While some races would be playable in these scenarios, for example in the Earth-Dilgar war you could play these or the League worlds, as the Early EA faction would be balanced with them; but the Earth Minbari War should be a 2V1, with the Minbari being powerful enough to take on two players.

This means that in the generic game, the balanced races would be EA, Narn and Centauri. The Minbari, Drahk and League worlds would all be special militia or pirate forces, we could easily design new planets that corresponded to these races and would spawn with special militia units, thus you wouldn't have Minbar being guarded by Raiders or Drazi.

Ship wise, the most important is obviously the Capitals- My personal choices for the 3 main powers are as such, with the TEC similar ship noted.

EA: Omega Destroyer (Kol) Posideon Super Carrier (Sova) Nova Dreadnought (Marza)

Narn: Bin`Tak Dreadnought (Kol) G`Quan Heavy Cruiser (Dunov) (Third????)

Centauri: Primus BattleCruiser (Dunov?) Octurion Battlship (Kol) Balvarin Carrier (Akkan?)



Additional Scenarios: Psi Corp Rebellion, EA Civil War, Mars Rebellion, The Centauri-League War (with Drahk as Pirates?) The list goes on and on.

Oh and for the EA, I would use Hyperions as the basic combat unit, to give fans an iconic mainstay for their fleets, as opposed to the too awesome for Frigate Omega, and the lesser known Olympus, Tethys, Saggitarius, or Oracle... (or the others   )
modding
479,465 views 311 replies
Reply #76 from Sins Forums Top
I think you should just include all ships and races, then only get the better ships once you reached the top tier of research for them. Older ships would be available straight away. That way you can play any combination.
Reply #77 from Stardock Forums Top
Any way u can stick in the Victory Class Destroyer(IAS Excalibur) from "A Call to Arms" and Crusade series. That ship is AWESOME, and maybe the White Star even though these 2 ships we IAS ships not Earh or Minbari ships.
Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #78 from Sins Forums Top
[walks up to the talent agent podium]

And could I have a week with a certain PSI cop?

We need patiences guys he is still learning how to do it. Once the mechanical aspects are worked out then it is all good. Then we can begin the second coming for real.

[fade to black]
Reply #79 from Sins Forums Top
Any kind of mods to Beta4 are pure experiments and learning exercises, its not that the game may change it absolutely will change over the next few months.

So regarding a B5 mod to SoaSE what we need to do is form a working group of people prepared to actually make the mod whilst chatting to people who want to play the mod.

A few weeks ago I knew squat, a few days ago I imported a reasonably hi-res B5 model into SoaSE. So if you want to learn how then now is a good time to do so whilst SoaSE is still in development.

Any way u can stick in the Victory Class Destroyer(IAS Excalibur) from "A Call to Arms" and Crusade series. That ship is AWESOME, and maybe the White Star even though these 2 ships we IAS ships not Earh or Minbari ships.


I am focusing on getting one decent B5 ship up and running atm and I have selected the Shadow vessel. Once that is done to a reasonable standard with a good video clip I am hoping it will attract or inspire others to do the same.

You also have to remember I do not own the Shadow vessel model it is not my work, and if permission from the author is not given that particular model will never be seen outside screenshots/movie clips because I don't intend to steal it.

Can the Victory Class Destroyer be included? Sure why not I think nothing at this stage is discounted, I'm going to focus on the Shadow vessel though so I encourage you to have a go at it. You could have a Victory Class Destroyer in your game in a couple of weeks if you are passionate to see it who better to do it?



Reply #80 from Sins Forums Top
As was said, the movements are probably not right for a ship that size because it's using a scout stats. So movement speed, turning rate etc are all calibrated to fit a scout.

Other weird behaviors might be because there's a part in the mesh size give size info that I haven't quite worked out yet. So I copied the data from a medium sized ship to put there.
Reply #81 from Sins Forums Top


Getting there  :d

Time for a decent video....
Reply #82 from Sins Forums Top
Some hi-res videos for your viewing pleasure.

Shadow Vessel Phase Jump:WWW Link

Vasari Home Factories vs. Shadow Vessel:WWW Link

Pirate Frigate & Cruiser Battle:WWW Link
Reply #83 from Sins Forums Top
OMG!! That looks so sweeeeet! Great job. You are quickly becoming a hero to the B5 fans here to be sure.
Reply #84 from Sins Forums Top
TFL, could you PLEASE find a better host for that? Youtube would probably accept those, at the very least!
Reply #85 from Sins Forums Top
Hmmm, these links don't work.
Reply #86 from Sins Forums Top

Hmmm, these links don't work.


They do but it is very confusing and the obvious button only loads more pop ups and ads.

If he wants we can host them on our site to save people the pain of that host.
Reply #87 from Sins Forums Top
Yeah I probably picked a shite free file serving host, I wasn't paying too much attention sorry about that they were hot off the press last night and it was getting late  ;p

I'll try to find a better solution and talk to our TFL clan Web admin for advice.

Spartan you are welcome to host the files I assume you downloaded them and therefore now have them.
Reply #88 from Sins Forums Top
Yep I do and they are pretty cool and make me yearn for a B5 encounter so badly.

Here are the videos. You can watch them directly in your browser or right click and "save as" for local file storage.

Video Thread
Reply #89 from Sins Forums Top
That was FANTASTIC! Makes me wish they made sins an official b5 game =\ . But a bad ass mod will definately do.
Reply #90 from Sins Forums Top

That was FANTASTIC! Makes me wish they made sins an official b5 game =\ . But a bad ass mod will definately do.


I keep hoping IG will try to get a license from JMS to do exactly that, as a spin off product or even an X-pack (expansion pack) of sorts.
Reply #91 from Sins Forums Top
In order of preference :

Proffesional Development Team (B5 game design from the ground up)
Proffesional Development Team (B5 expansion)
Established Mod Community/Team (B5 mod)
Fan based Team (B5 mod)
Individual Fan (B5 mod)

A few concerns I have at this stage with the SoaSE game engine are:
1) How are animated models (i.e. 'spinning sections') going to work e.g. B5 station & EA Omega class Destroyer?
2) Can we get animated textures working e.g. Vorlon & Shadow vessel hulls?
3) Will we be able to adjust ship motion in 3D space?
Reply #92 from Sins Forums Top
I'm pretty sure there's going to be no spinning turrets but if I remember correctly you can have some spinning parts. As to how well that works, well I still have to work that out.

Animated textures: I've seen it on planets but never on ships, not too sure if we can do it, something else to look into I guess.
Reply #93 from Sins Forums Top
Those are good points and I was considering them as well. I tentatively concluded that it should be possible to use effects to simulate animation for the textures given what I have seen in game. Moreover given the planets are animated I assume we can do the same for the spinning sections although I'm not sure if the effect would be area specific or have to be the entire model. On the issue of motion, if I remember correctly from my attempts at modding the beta in the first part of the year we can adjust ship speeds so motion control should be possible as well.

Reply #94 from Sins Forums Top
Never really know what Babylon was all about. A linky I say, a linky for my kingdom :D
Reply #95 from Sins Forums Top
Well from what I know the planets texture anims are just the texture's uv being changed so that it scrolls in one direction.
Reply #96 from Sins Forums Top

Look really cool already, the battlecrab.

Concerning Turrets, animated ship hulls, jumpgate-simulation, turning parts...maybe the developers can answer that already? I mean it's really good for them too if this game gets THE Babylon 5 mod (since there's no official game).

Just my 2 cents,
Stefan Bergert
Reply #97 from Sins Forums Top

Never really know what Babylon was all about. A linky I say, a linky for my kingdom


Some food for thought....

The official site: WB

Some sites of of special interest to this community:
A B5 Tech Only Site
Models
3D Model Downloads
Google's 3D Collection
AP3D B5 models
Parallax 3D
Models (Gernam language)
B5 TechNet Models
I've Found Her (Mod Project)




The Wikipedia page: Wiki


Then there is the definitive site which is the only really needed link for B5:The Lurker's Guide


I hope you find the prior resources educational and enjoyable.

..Making it so because inquiring minds want to know...

Reply #98 from Sins Forums Top
Firstly I’d just like to say thank you to all those willing/wanting to undertake the task of doing a B5 mod!

Unfortunately I haven’t participated in the beta phases so my suggestions are purely speculation and hope that they can be done.

With B5 you want to cover just about everything however trying to take it all on at once is ill-advised and that’s what the majority are saying, categorising events within the B5 universe, making it easier to manage.

Personally I recommend that there be two chapters or at least start off with the two and then following releases could cover other themes...



First beginning with the major races.

Earth Alliance, Minbari, Narn and Centauri

Highest tech being just before the shadow war. Obviously the Minbari in this section are the most advanced race, with the stronger ships. To balance this out you could simply increase the cost of their units as most have suggested.

You could even add the league of nonaligned worlds here but due to the lack of ship designs and extremely dramatic designs at that! I believe they’d be best included as pirates, for this section anyway.

Even though this section would have very limited choice of ships (bar EA) I think this section is especially important as it allows players change the history of the show somewhat... What if the Centauri didn’t go to war with the Narn? What if the Minbari and EA didn’t come to blows, etc



Second chapter/theme

The shadow war and beyond.

Sides: Interstellar Alliance and EA(Shadow)

Ideally you’d be reusing a lot from the other chapter and just adding to it, the big difference is that you’d condense the amount of playable sides but in doing so you allow a lot more ship options and tactics... build the cheaper Vorchan cruiser to explore and patrol until you have a stable and good enough economy to build the Sharlin class or go into mass production with the whitestars...

I think of this section akin to playing with super units in other RTS games, as you’d have access to all the big toys (eventually.)



That’s the way I’ve envisioned a B5 mod anyway, as I’ve said, I haven’t had the chance to play the beta so I don’t know what can be done with tech trees. If by selecting something then another section can be cut off, if so, then great...That would open up a whole lot of choices and directions on how to develop the sides and mod.

Best of luck to you!


Reply #99 from Sins Forums Top
@Talynsun - nice post. It is very much along the lines as some of us are thinking.

Additionally, I'm curious as to your impetus to post here. I noticed you just singed up for an account that is why I'm asking. Are you a model maker or a B5 project person for another franchise or even the great JMS? :p
Reply #100 from Sins Forums Top
No, sadly I’ve never been involved with any B5 projects, I have been involved in other mods, literally many years ago, for games of a very different genre.

The reason why I decided to post and try to involve myself, is purely because I didn’t post, share ideas and generally get involved with B5 modifications before, I sat back, watching them come and go without bringing forth my ideas, which might have helped or not but as a B5 fan, that is something I should have done.

So I’m just here, sharing ideas, however minuscule they may be, a source of ideas if the well should ever run dry. And who knows, somewhere down the line I might actually be of some use in development. :)

And did anyone else think that the B5 mod for Armada one was better than two?