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[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.

 

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Reply #301 Top
Time for little criticism on the part of the willing; I need feedback for sound design.

Here you can find a test sample I've mixed together for the generic Xin cruiser affirmative response. What I am interested in is:

-can you understand what is being said
-does it feel like a big bad alien talking (too deep, not deep enough, other suggestions)
-likes and dislikes

I am asking because it will help me determine a template for the sound editing. Right now, chief concern is whether the words are distinguishable, since the original voicework has been *heavily* modified. I can't be totally objective since I *know* what I said so its automatically easier for me to understand the end result.

Thanks in advance to all who participate!
Reply #302 Top
I like it, but I don't think it fits for the organic feel of the Xin. It sounds almost robotic. I couldn't really understand it either. It does feel like a big, bad alien, but more of a big, bad alien robot.

My thought of how the Xin would sound is kind of a raspy sound. Or at least something a little more organic. If you're doing the kind of, Star Wars bounty Hunter helmet voice change thing, then that's cool, but just make it understandable.
Reply #303 Top
im not sure if its really needed that its understandable.
I would like it if the Xin speak an alien language that you cant understand, gives a much better immersion.
Reply #304 Top
Hmm... yes, I think I might try something along those lines. Drop the reverberation (robot thing) and add some more throaty warbling... might just work. And if get the inflection right, it really does not matter what is being said... as LinkesAuge said, it might actually be more immersive to have aliens speak Alien. ;)
Suggestions still welcome, I'll post the new results when they are ready.
Reply #305 Top
Yea..I thought about that. The thing is, make sure that the 'sounds' they make can be clearly identified as affirmative or negative. You want the player to have a pretty good understanding of what the alien words mean, even though they can't understand it word for word, so to speak. What I'm getting at is, don't say affirmative phrases in a negative tone. Don't say 'yes' while shaking your head no, basically. Does that make any sense at all?
Reply #306 Top
Yes, very much so. Basically, if you get the inflection right, so that the player can discern affirmative, negative, aggresive and inquisitive audio cues (something like R2D2 from Star Wars), then actual words are not really needed.
Reply #307 Top
That sounds like a really good plan (Kind of like Zerg in Starcraft and some Protoss sayings are in their language.) Keep up the great work, this mod looks sweet!
Reply #308 Top
Yea. Sounds cool. Can't wait to hear the finalized versions.
Reply #311 Top
Very Nice. I think it really fits in with the whole Xin feel. Keep it up.
Reply #313 Top
i say give it a more reptilian voice, possibly somthing like the vasari but much deeper and also more raspy
Reply #314 Top
I've never played Sins with any sound, I've always turned the audio right down and just played music instead; my point being, I've never had any trouble with worrying what is being said; surely it's obvious because you've just told it what should be done/ the game's UI tells you if something can't happen. For that reason, I think understanding what is being said shouldn't really be an issue.
As to the files you've posted, they're very good, still slightly robotic, but I may be confusing throat clicks with machinery. For a one man project, you're work is far superior to that of ten men, I'm surprised, with huge respect to you for it being so, that the quality is as high as it is.
Reply #317 Top
Thanks Asiriya, doing my best. :) And yeah, those are throat clicks. Spent most of one morning growling, clicking and squealing into the mike for that. :p And I am satisfied with how the end result turned out... considering I am using a 5$ microphone and a free (but very nice) audio mixer.

David2150, some Xin ships will have an auto-regenerative capability, but not all. Also, the defense stats will be slanted to shields, with the exception of capitals which will be balanced in shields and armor.

For example, Xin Drones, the frigate-class ships of that race, will have an average strength, but using an 80% shields 20% armor ratio. All of them will have a fairly efficient regenerative capability and also some of them will have other defensive abilities, such as Membrane Hardening which instantly repairs some internal damage.

Xin Cruisers and Capitals will not have the ability to regenerate quickly however. These classes will be roughly twice as tough as other faction counterparts, with cruisers having a 6:4 favor for shields. And while they will be able to repair hull damage *slowly*, they will have to rely on fixed repair structures for faster repairs, as well as on a support cruiser class (currently in the process of being made) capable of emitting a Shield Pulse Charge which instantly restores some shield power in an area at the expense of antimatter.
Reply #318 Top
ugh I can't wait for this ManSh00ter! It's so tempting!!!
Reply #319 Top
If you want to kill Xin, you have to shoot them dead. They are a bit too advanced for Holywood tricks like viruses and, khm, computer hacks (he who guesses the name of the movie I am referring to first will get in the credits)
End of quote


Independance Day? lol. We got the drop on the aliens with computer viruses in that flick. strange movie. but anyways, i am damn thankful that you will not be adding computer warfare here, lol. i enjoy explosions and laser blasts a lot more than clicking a button and hearing a line of dialogue "hacking into the mainframe, sir."

and as for voices, i would say they should sound as freaking strange as possible...and then some. I can't sample those audio files because i don't have the right sofware, but im sure they are strange. i see the xin as extremely odd creatures that should have totally weird voice acting. i've been listening to all sorts of aliens chatting about politics in Mass Effect all week, lol. Strangely enough, i can't think of any voice in that game that would fit the xin...i guess that's a compliment!
Reply #321 Top
Wow this mod looks incredible so far. Anyway thanks for saying that you would edit the Sins Plus planets that you would add in as I agree that certain planets like the old naval base are just stupid. Others like the Toxic swamp and Oceanic planets I find great. Also glad to hear you say that this mod will have unique everything. I can't stand when someone releases something before it's finished like the Atlantians (no offense Danman I like them it's just I think you should have waited till it was more complete at least everything except the models to release it.) I have a few more questions though that I forgot to ask. Oh ya the sound for the ship you posted first (comment #301) sounds great but it would be nicer if it was a little clearer so you could make out what it's saying but still have that seance of mystery of what type of thing is inside if you know where I'm getting at. (kind of like the Vasari voices)

1. Will you be doing any texture work on any of the planets or stars not just resizing them? Or even on asteroids and special things like plasma storms and worm holes or planet rings?

2. Will this mod be supported once it is released like 7 deadly sins is or will you leave it how it was when it was released.

3. Will you be doing any work on moons as well (probably in a patch) as the moons in 7DS are awesome but they feel like they're lacking things like the ability for the moon to be treated like a planet and have those car things and planet elevators going around them and not being able to click on the and upgrade them feels wrong too.

4. Will you be adding any more planet bonuses or artifacts or ship types for current races?

Once again I realize you are doing this yourself but I am really curious with this mod as it looks very very good and would like to know what you have in it. Also I realize this mod focuses a lot on the new race over the gameplay changes so the questions regarding things other than the race would be released as a patch later after the release I would think. Good luck on the mod.
Reply #322 Top
#301 sound got scrapped. #309 and #320 posts have new sounds, and it doesn't really matter anymore what is being said since I decided to go full tilt with the alien language. Now you can *really* wonder what sort of creature can make those sounds! ;)

As to answer your questions:

1. Not right now. I find Uzii's work on textures is pretty good, so that's very low on the list for the mod.

2. Of course. In fact, since I plan to have three separate releases each covering one race, the support will also continue through that. Plus, I would like The Last Stand to be decent at multiplayer as well, so that will most certainly require support and balancing.

3. Not right now. I consider moons to be "frills"... nice, but do we really need them? Plus, the scaling in the game is not really supportive of the idea. You either end up with a miniature moons which messes up the perspective of how big other things are (which is the reason I want to resize the planets) or you end up with just another type of planet...

4. Nope. Some vanilla ships will receive minor upgrades, like interdiction ability and mine laying, but aside from that I have no intention of modifying them extensively.
The goal is to have the vanilla races, when all the new races are released, feel like galactic upstarts, while also having them fully playable and balanced. That is why they are not going to get some of the more awesome units the new races will sport, such as deployable battle stations and Titans.
But it should still be interesting to play with them... with that proper "odds are stacked up against us, but we are *still* going to mop the floor with their big, bad, alien asses!" feel. ;)
Reply #323 Top
It's five minutes of work for me, so:Affirmative 1Affirmative 2Affirmative 3InquisitiveAggressive.wav format so you should be able to open them with anything. Anyway, I hardly think I can get any stranger than that. Crysis aliens had a stranger-sounding language, but a bit too blaring for my purposes.
End of quote


Holy...shi- that scared the heck out of me when i listened to it. That is just madness i tell you. Keep it up ^_^ I cant wait to see it come out.

Reply #324 Top
I like the phasey noises that mark the beginning and end of the speech. :LOL:
Reply #325 Top
Yeah... I figure, if alien radio (or whatever they use) had clicks, that would be it. :p