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.

 

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Reply #1551 Top

Quoting ManSh00ter, reply 1550
SURPRISE!

Was that big enough?

End of ManSh00ter's quote

The OP says that there are new screens today. And today is 03 April 2011.

WHERE ARE MAH SCREENIES?!?11!?1

Reply #1552 Top

Quoting ManSh00ter, reply 1520


Guess what these do.
End of ManSh00ter's quote

The Atlantians have asked me to file a letter of complaint regarding the above vessel.  They claim the only ships to have 'tagging' on them.  They hope you finish the mod soon so battle may settle this.  There are no lawyers anymore in the 7DS universe -the KohrAh ate them- so a duel it must be.

 

Heehee.  I love your designs and look forward to playing the mod.

Reply #1553 Top

Quoting Whiskey144, reply 1551

Quoting ManSh00ter, reply 1550SURPRISE!

Was that big enough?



The OP says that there are new screens today. And today is 03 April 2011.

WHERE ARE MAH SCREENIES?!?11!?1
End of Whiskey144's quote

 

It was March 4 that he updated the screenies. he does the date in day-month-year format, not month-day-year.

It's not a big mistake, but more screenshots would have been amazing.

Reply #1554 Top

Quoting NHD-151, reply 1553
It was March 4 that he updated the screenies. he does the date in day-month-year format, not month-day-year.

It's not a big mistake, but more screenshots would have been amazing.
End of NHD-151's quote

Ah. I had assumed month-day-year, since that's how most clocks/calenders/what-have-you (to my great annoyance, ironically) work.

Reply #1555 Top

Quoting ManSh00ter, reply 1550
SURPRISE!

Was that big enough?
End of ManSh00ter's quote

Yes, but I was expecting pretty pictures with it.  But that's okay - a year later and still awaiting this heavenly mod.  Wish I could help -.-

Reply #1556 Top

Meh, compared to Black Mesa, the wait for this has been paltry - which is startling considering the quality we've seen come out of it. Keep it up ManSh00ter.

Reply #1557 Top

Quoting NHD-151, reply 1553

It was March 4 that he updated the screenies. he does the date in day-month-year format, not month-day-year.

It's not a big mistake, but more screenshots would have been amazing.
End of NHD-151's quote

Month/day/year is how its done in US; in Europe (and most of the world) its day/month/year. Sometimes it can get confusing like this. Should have used the full month name. :)

But, new screenshots and much more are coming, so sit tight!

Reply #1558 Top

and much more? ARE YOU GOING TO RELEASE?

it's a stretch, but i still hope so...

Reply #1559 Top

YES.

All shall bow before the Xin.

Reply #1561 Top

My first post to say how good your mod looks so far. It's really a great job your doing and I can't wait to play it .
Keep up the good work !

Reply #1562 Top

Thanks Zacharys!

Just one screenshot this time, I'm still setting up weapon particles and there'll be a full feature post for the Emperor later on.

For now, suffice to say that the Emperor is a wholly new class of ship, a battlecruiser. It doesn't have the usual stuff capital ships have, like fighters or the ability to attack planets, but it can chew through other ships like few other can. Also, it is considerably faster than your average capital ship.

Reply #1563 Top

Quoting ManSh00ter, reply 1562
Thanks Zacharys!

Just one screenshot this time, I'm still setting up weapon particles and there'll be a full feature post for the Emperor later on.



For now, suffice to say that the Emperor is a wholly new class of ship, a battlecruiser. It doesn't have the usual stuff capital ships have, like fighters or the ability to attack planets, but it can chew through other ships like few other can. Also, it is considerably faster than your average capital ship.
End of ManSh00ter's quote

I take it said speed is also fairly unique amongst the Xin?

You did, after all, say that the Xin were going to have very tough, but rather slow-moving vessels.

Reply #1564 Top

Yes, precisely so. Xin ships are generally slow, but the Emperor, being a fairly expensive investment both in research time and resources, has boosted performance geared towards plugging holes in the frontlines. 

Reply #1565 Top

That looks awesome Mansh00ter, and I love the thought you are putting into the Xin's racial dynamics and weaknesses. This will be an excellent addition to Sins when it is finished.

Reply #1566 Top

the quality of this mod is amazing, it really could be a full blown expansion to the original game.

Reply #1567 Top

Well FredLed, that's the idea. ;)

Here's a couple of new ingame shots:

Above you can see the new Tyrant battleship which I redesigned from the old "hammerhead" version because I felt a bulkier vessel would be more appropriate since it can't move as fast as a shark-shape would suggest. In the background there are a couple of Emperor-class elite battle-cruisers, an Overlord carrier and a lot of assault drones, some siege drones and a few long range ones.

Second image is the underside with drone bays. The Tyrant also has eight plasma missile launchers, two rapid-fire plasma cannons, two electron beam projector surfaces and a high-energy plasma main weapon to be used when necessary (requires power).

Reply #1568 Top

For a second there, I thought that little indention on the front was some sort of mouth and that it's special ability would be to ingest lesser vessels (IE: All other ships.)

 

Great looking stuff, Mansh00ter.

Reply #1569 Top

Quoting ManSh00ter, reply 1567
Well FredLed, that's the idea.

Here's a couple of new ingame shots:



Above you can see the new Tyrant battleship which I redesigned from the old "hammerhead" version because I felt a bulkier vessel would be more appropriate since it can't move as fast as a shark-shape would suggest. In the background there are a couple of Emperor-class elite battle-cruisers, an Overlord carrier and a lot of assault drones, some siege drones and a few long range ones.

Second image is the underside with drone bays. The Tyrant also has eight plasma missile launchers, two rapid-fire plasma cannons, two electron beam projector surfaces and a high-energy plasma main weapon to be used when necessary (requires power).
End of ManSh00ter's quote

PURE WIN.

Reply #1570 Top

How bout this, next to Rebellion, your mod has cause excitement like no other, hundreds of people are waiting. Could you at least post some vids on youtube for all to see in motion your fantastic creations. I'm sure others like myself would love to see the Xin in action...

Reply #1571 Top

Sorry G_Bison, but i think DOV has caused just a little more. no offense ManSh00ter.

Reply #1572 Top

None taken, DoV is a high quality piece of work to which I don't mind losing some noise.

Of course, I haven't yet started with proper trailers and updates, so its not over yet. ;)

To answer your question G_Bison, there will be spotlight videos coming soon for all frigates, cruisers and capitals (and more) and there is going to be plenty of action footage in those!

Reply #1573 Top

Hopefully this is not a double post due to the forums going boom.  Anyways...

ManSh00ter, are you planning on releasing this before Rebellion comes out? :P

Reply #1574 Top

Proud to present some new eyecandy: the Drone Spotlight trailer no.1

 

Featuring the Scout, Assault and Siege drones in flight and action. Enjoy!

Also in other news:

MOD HAS BEEN RENAMED

The new name is Sins of a Solar Empire: INVASION

I decided for a name change because the overall goal for the mod has changed pretty dramatically. Instead of the originally planed three factions, due to the still existing engine constraints, only one faction will be released for now: the Xin. This enables me to focus more on that faction and thus deliver a far higher quality content in the end.

Plus it sounds kinda official, which is a great way for me to autoinflate my massive ego. :p

Reply #1575 Top

fantastic lookin trailer, lookin forward to release.