Sweet good idea at lest from what I read about it! You are going to balance the new fractions right? I got some ideas but I need to write them up first and clean it up(they are scattered all over my brain) so ill post some probably tomorrow!

"You are going to balance the new fractions right?" sure am. I've already done a lot of work on release 2, currently finishing off some new planets, after which I'll be optimizing and finally re-balancing.

A number of people have given some very good feedback, in particular chemical_art.

Your feedback is welcome!

the mod looks very good. Will try it with vanila Sins.

Is it intentional that the Psi dreadnought has only 220 starting hull points?

Thanks for pointing that out ... I dropped a 0! Makes it a good challenge.

My last game I colonized a Binary Planet, but due to build radius issues I couldn't build a single structure, which angered me to no end since it had the Cooperative Trade planet bonus for 200% trade income, and I needed the space for labs so I could tech up and fight off this Vicious TEC AI that was crowding me.  Money wasn't an issue though thanks to me having a Mineral World with the Motherlode planet bonus, but the lack of slots for labs was killing me.

You cannot place orbital structure manually ... try automatically.

The reason for this is to make the Binary hard to defend as you can not place your defenses optimally, i.e the game/AI places it for you.

Use auto-place structures there.

If you know how to mod a little you can try to fix that by copying the 3 bounding radius lines from the Planet_Terran_0.mesh and paste them in the binaryplanets.mesh if the planet is regular size. Worked for my binarys.

 BoundingRadius 4957.231445
 MaxBoundingExtents [ 4957.230957 4957.230957 4957.230957 ]
 MinBoundingExtents [ -4957.230957 -4957.230957 -4957.230957 ]

EDIT: Sorry I forgot the planets are on the same axis causing structures to pass through the planet.

All right here are some ideas!

this is only for the Replicators

1.  On the tech tree I would flip Extermination with aggerssion

2. Sound on buldings when clicking on them is just a tad to long

3. Scouts should not have auto attack on

that is all I got right now

btw I got the game to last a hour on desktops and hour and a half on laptop but still crashes ill what for version 2

Some further things to try

Showing trade ship Icons will slow your game down.
Keep your Empire tree trimmed (i.e don't have it autopin every little thing)
Planet Elevators can slow down your game.
Turning down your textures.

Also, check background programs such as
automatic updates,
anti-virus updates,
downloads,
and the like might be kicking in at bad times...

Your ideas are good. With regards idea 3. let me say that the concept behind the Rep's is that the Rep's are an aggressor - all their ships fight (I should put the colony on auto attack too! but it needs to colonize first)

hi,

I think that you should revise the balance of the strengths betwin eatch race, new and vanilla.

Replicator are too strong in face of nolamins and TradeAlliance, and even more than vanilla.

No update possible for Nolamins damage , the different beam power are too hight, juste an exemple : capital ship  average damage of Replicator 300 , nolamins 60 ; you don't think is too much ?

Not enough regen Hp  or Shield for helping other race to make some resistance.

Static beam : 800 dmg with extra long range than other.

Vanilla race can do nothing against Replicator .

This is a great mod, but need more balance betwen all race.

Hi welingen,

I agree and yes release 2 of the mods, which is coming soon, will see a re-balancing.

However, till then you might play as the original races and use the new races as a challenge. Or you can pair up with other players in all sorts of combination too. Sins has so many combination of plays.

If you play as the Replicators (or Norms, or TA), and you don't make friends (alliances, peace treaties), then very soon the other players turn on you. A pack attack of these players against you is always a challenge.

I played vanila SOSE with Nolamins (or so) against Replicators. about 6 hours on small system. The AI did not use the replicators very well, no difficulty. I just took the time to try things out. No technical problems.

I had increased the Dreadnought fleet cost to 100 and tripled resource cost but it had only minor impact. Even on the small system my resources went through the roof. I couldn't spend enough. Maybe reduce overall resources?

Regards and thank you for a great mod!

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, I have noticed the Replicators don't take off! Its typically the TA that grow the quickest followed by the Norlamins.

By the way the Dreadnought's were intended to replace starbases (i.e entrenchment)  hence the reduced fleet logistics to encourage the AI to build them ... which it doesn't. A human player can have a big advantage then in just spamming them. Something to revisit.

We are looking at economy re-balancing in release 2 of the mod.

this time I'm playing the replicators in a 3 vs 3 in Ancient gift (some vanilla map), The map is split into many small system with few planets. I did not recognized the huge extractor bonus from research, so I had a relatively hard start. But even with them it is quite difficult with standard systems. What keeps me over water is that I have few frontiers, my ships ability to replicate and AI battling each other. Also the big defense laser helps lots. Problem is that I get impossible missions from my partners and relations drop continuously. So soon I have 5 enemy's and I cannot see how to defend all fronts but that problem is not related to malestrom.

Or is there a way to change missions? If yes, please reduce attack mission and penalties from failed mission. It makes games with many AIs impossible. Best would be to have the AI less serious with mission depending on the number of partners or balance it for ~6 AI that you don't become enemy after failing to destroy civil buildings of an enemy on the other end of the galaxy (while being busy battling two others).

I looks like the huge resource income at the first game came from the new planets, not the races. Even after all the replicator resource upgrades I'm nowhere near the first game income.

From the replicators I would expect more small vessels like fighters and bombers. I would expect a fighter to be much easier to replicate than a cruiser.

One little thing: I get a minidup every time I close the game. One time when I tried to load, but the second try loading worked. So only minor issue.

Even if I repeat myself: I like this mod very much! Thank you.

It's behavior that has been noted. The problem is how Sins (original) handles large number's of texture files - I think I might be over the maximum limit. I will be looking at this issue soon, for release 2 of the mods. Note that this is not a problem in Entrenchment or Diplomacy.

I'm glad you like it. Stay tuned for release 2 of the mods ... nice things are coming!

(NB: the more feedback you give, like you have been and other too, the better well can make the mod. So thanks!)

I don't want to play around with the game foundations too much i.e original players or game constants.

Have you, or are you, playing Diplomacy? Making friends is all to easy in Diplomacy.

sorry I don't have diplomacy. I have little time to play and original sins (even more with your mod) has alot to do with. Also from experience and player reports it looks to me like to many options and opening even more traps for the AI to fall in. I like the simplicity of original sins and take the limitations of diplomatic options as challenge. I have looked at the changes in diplomatic missions from other mods and it looks not to complicated, like simple probability values for certain missions. Maybe I try it myself.

I change diplomacy by tripling the time between missions assignment and also tripling the time to complete mission while reducing the required target number and the relation level for peace treaty to 10%.

I started another game on ancient gifts with replicators + 5 AI (1 of each race) and this time managed resource research and had good income. Also I could make peace with all other races early one by completing relatively simple "give resource" missions. Later on I got attack missions and relations dropped when I had to decide which side to take. But I had already fully build out all planets and done all research. So the direction is right (no "automatic" war with all AI) but it took to long.

I'm thinking on the dreadnoughts and how to fit them into the game in an "AI comfortable" way. Maybe keep the build cost close to average capital ship but increase the fleet support to 200?

i like this mod it really mixes things up a bit but there are a few minor things that i dont like about the factions

a few of there units are to similar the main ones ive noticed are

The bombers: they all use a beam like advent. so 4 teams use beams and 2 use 2 different types of missiles could  a few be changed to use a different weapons like. just an idea but maybe make a gunship strike craft instead of a bomber for 1 so instead of bombing runs it circles the target and firers none stop, have better HP but have less DPS compared to a bomber squad.

Mines: again there like advents but TEC and vasari use 2 unique methods to lay them

starbases: all new ones move ( i think) like vasari maybe make 1 immobile

The Pacts: is it possible to make a few new ones unique to them since it would add more diversity. like maybe

replicators

replication pact (reduce construction costs)

propulsion pact (increase ships/starbase movement speed)

Nolamins

Logistics pact   ( increase logistic slots),

Protection/sanctuary pact  ( reduce bombing damage or increase planet HP and max pop)

 Trade Alliance

refinery pact (boast refinery income), 

jammer pact  ( reduce hit chance on ships).

this are a few i could think of which fit in which there themes, 2 for each team

Capital ships: with 1 or 2 teams a lots of the ships share ability's which other ships from the same team. the Trade Alliance has all there ships with the same abillitys ether having embargo or a strikecraft upgrades. the other 2 have 1 ability shared with every ship but this isnt as bad.

Nolamins capture ship upgrade: isnt that a bit to good you can spam them and steal your enemys fleet and turn it against there capital ships

strike caft: it think that Trade Alliance and Nolamins use the same models for there bombers and fighters but i cant remember 

btw ive only had sins a few days and have only had about 1 or 2 games with each team including the originals so i may be wrong about a few things but love the mod still

Thanks for the feedback.

I must admit that I typically ignore opponent (AI) relations. My most played and tested maps are: Gaian Crescent, Maelstrom, Huge Random Single. With the new races, and knowing their strengths, gives me a good advantage i.e this implies the need for re-balancing. Also, the new planets can give your opponents, or yourself,  the advantage ... its never simple.

For the Dreadnoughts, I agree with your suggestion and I am considering a few other alternatives.

Hi Volgun,

Thanks for the detailed feedback.

The bombers:

Yes, will do. The same has been said about the defense platforms.

Mines:

There are only 3 methods of laying mines so I could share it among the new races. However, I want to de-emphasis mines are they ruin the Sins experience, i.e if they are used in large numbers they will bring the game to a stand still.

Starbases:

The Replicators starbases move x5 faster than the Norlamins and TA Starbases.

The Pacts:

The total number of different pacts, as far as I know, is hard coded into Sins. However, I can mixed them up a bit more.

Capital ships:

This is intentional. For the TA I am trying to emphasis - strike-craft  superiority, and also economy. I could vary it a bit further within those themes.

Nolamins capture ship upgrade:

I agree, however it also depends on how the capture ability is balanced. Further. it is a late game ability with a lot of research in between. It is also vulnerable to the number of research platforms you have, i.e if your opponent takes out your platforms you loss the ability.

Strike caft:

I don't think so.

Overall, I think your feedback is solid and will attempt to include a lot of it in the new releases.

is there a galaxy scenario file for the updated version? with the dyson swarm in particular?

The new planets, as seen on the ModDB website, are for Issue 2 of the Maelstrom mods.

The release dates for the new Issue is in the next month or two.

Hello again,

I upend the fleet cost for dreadnoughts to 200 and set the building cost to normal capital. It realy makes a difference as fleet support hits you on overall resources and building dreadnoughts only you cannot support other ships.

I had a very nice game playing TEC. Not sure if TEC dreadnoughts are weak or if the AI just had so smaller ships but it was a hard game and I had to retreat and build repair stations to keep my dreads alive. Once the economy kicked in it became easier but still I always had to decide how and when to increase my fleet. A big difference to before where it was always best to buy dreadnoughts first (even with build cost) and the AI never had a competing fleet.

I would recommend you try this setting.

Interestingly in another game the AI TEC where dominating the other AI races.

About the fighters, I find the Replicator fighter (I think the same model is used for "Hord frigade"?) somehow unfitting. Maybe swap it with the Nolamins fighter?

About hord frigates: Once I had some fleets with Dreads cruising around and they were all over the place. What about making is an active ability and give the frigates a limited live time?

Just some thinking

just to expand on last post on a few thing and add a few

Mines

the main problem isnt really there all like advent it the fact that the AI like to waste stikecraft space on them and they never scuttle them so they have a lots of mine few bombers and some fighters. so if they where like TEC or Vasari they wouldnt have that problem. so maybe keep TA they same since there strike craft heavy, Norlamins could be like TEC since there more defensive/peaceful, and replicators like vasari since there more aggressive but that would mean a new model unless its added to an exiting unit

the capital ships

TA

excelsior is ok

Galactica is ok even though is nearly the same as first

Warhammer is ok if it is the only one with embargo since i don't think you will ever need 2 ships with this

Thunderbolt just needs embargo changing. also it would look better if it used a laser instead of bombs to siege a planet since the bombs come from a spike which looks like a laser weapon

Excalibur needs embardo changing and have ether adaptive screen or armistice, maybe change adaptive screen to ion bolt or somthing like that  since they dont have an ability like that

idea embargo could be changed on 1 ship to a passive(or active) ability that increase extractor and/or tax income/ trade income in the current grav well Lv1 5% lv2 10% lv3 15%. if its an active ability then the ship cant leave the grav well for 30/60/120 secs and its still to do with economy

the other teams are ok but im not very keen on capital ship engines for replicators on every ship 

Strike craft models

never mind that was me being an idiot i was TA and the AIs was random and i thought the fighters were from an Nolamins ship since i was fighting them but there was a TA carrier at the edge

Replicate ability

the thunder bolts that spawn after its used has enough antimatter to use replicate again but other ships dont and need to recharge first 

NEW planets

The extint planet. since there extinct im guessing there like dead asteroids with no pop but with logistics slots and a lot of metal?

The dyson swarm. Idea phase jumping from it cost no antimatter since the planet supplies it and increased anti matter regen(or shield regen), and phase jumping takes longer due it interference from the planet. this would make it an excellent staging ground, but as a draw back it cant have stikecraft in orbit(and maybe no starbase ether) so its harder to defend.

Another idea if its being bombarded it has a chance (3-10%) to destabilize which detonates antimatter(or stun) on all ships and structures in range  

legendary planet. looks kind of stupid maybe make it asteroid size with golden and rocky debris in orbit

and ideas for a non cognizable area. A neutral trade port ,refinery and phase inhibitors (since vasari found them in space) which can be captured and maybe a few nebulas with a variety of effects like healing/disables shields/ slows speed/ damages hull/ amplify shields 

Hello, I jsut got this game the other day. I thought jsut want I had was amazing after spending about 12 hours straight learning factions and jsut getting the general hang of it. Hands down one of the best games I've played to date.

Then I find out of the mods that people and different groups have developed, putting this over the edge. I Dl'd Maelstroms MOD a few mins ago, had a crash but I pretty sure it was due to graphics, being I had everything set to highest from playing it regular. This has completely put things on a new lv, at least for me. It took me some time figuring out how to actually use the mod being I'm not that fluent with all aspects of compter lingo, but figured it out.

Everything I've played so far in the MOD is exceptional down to the last detail, which a lot of groups/designers don't always think of, just getting the game out so people can play. Very nice job guess, I will and have recommended this game and this MOD to all my friends.

I'll be going through as I learn, giving my opinons, what I think about this comparing sins and this. I know im new but this can also have its advanges. Thanks

Frenzzee