What are your thoughts on the destroy planet ability Z? 

You've been quiet Zombie... hows things? 

Surviving a lay off... Working lots of overtime... Son is having issues in school...

It's been hectic.

I thought 1.83 was going to release and had moved the code and patches to that version. 

I also reached out to see if I could get someone to texture the new model, but not sure if that will gain any traction.

Right now the mod is sorta on hold until 1.83 releases or I back out those changes.

Ok... Sounds like things have been pretty full on!! 

Yeah I thought that I.83 would be out by now. 

I'll put the feelers out soon to see if I can find someone to texture the model as well. 

Quoting Mord_Sith84, reply 2700

Quoting ZombiesRus5,

reply 2699

I'm good with this approach, and since they are delaying on 1.83 for steam... I'll work on the changes for this and don't see any issue getting it folded in.


I do have a 1.83 compatible version working, however it's not backwards compatible with 1.82 due to a ability/buff changes made.

Thanks Z, that's great. 

As previously mentioned, I've been working on the Envoy abilities, which were never completely finished off. I've modified the "Sharon Boomer Valerii" (Loyalist) and "Number Six Model" (rebel) abilities in The Plan trees, which I've emailed to you. You'll obviously need to add "BuffCylonNumberSix.entity" to the manifest. May seem a bit odd for Envoy abilities, however these new abilities actually infiltrate/sabotage allied planets. I'll give you some background so that it makes sense... the Cylons are a deceptive/conflicted race who have the potential to "fake" peaceful agreements and to spy on/sabotage even their own allies. These new abilities allow the Cylons to weaken other races from within to ensure that they are dominant over their own allies (so that they have the upper hand). The abilities do not have autocast turned on automatically, so it is the players decision to activate this ability if they choose. These new abilities covertly reduce construction rates and steal production.

New strings:

StringInfo
ID "IDS_RESEARCHSUBJECT_CYLON_THEPLAN_NUMBERSIXMODEL_DESCRIPTION"
Value "In times of peace, prepare for war. Number Six model's infiltrate this allied planet to sabotage construction and drain production credits."

StringInfo
ID "IDS_RESEARCHSUBJECT_CYLON_THEPLAN_SHARONBOOMERVALERII_DESCRIPTION"
Value "In times of peace, prepare for war. Boomer is sent down to this allied planet to sabotage construction and drain production credits."

As you know, even though I have very limited modding skills, I try to do as much as I can for the changes that I want to introduce, so that the amount of work that you have to do is reduced. However, for a few hours I was trying to swap the position and abilities for the Number Two Model and the Number Eight Model in The Plan tree (Cylon Rebel), but I simply couldn't get it to work. I'm sure it would be easy for you to do, but not for me!! This is what I was trying to do: 

Reduced 47%

Original 1201 x 768

 

Needs to look like this, with these abilities: 

Reduced 44%

Original 1278 x 685

- The ability that "Number Eight" previously had (culture resistance) needs to be given to "Number Two", and 

- The ability that "Number Six" used to have (halting planet bombing) needs to be given to "Number Eight" 

The Rebel Envoy should therefore have Number Eight and Number Six abilities. 

New Strings: 

StringInfo
ID "IDS_RESEARCHSUBJECT_CYLON_THEPLAN_NUMBERTWOMODEL_DESCRIPTION"
value "Number Two's prophetic visions inspire faith in your populace, making it harder for enemy culture to gain a foothold in your territory."

StringInfo
ID "IDS_RESEARCHSUBJECT_CYLON_THEPLAN_NUMBEREIGHT MODEL_DESCRIPTION"
Value "Number Eight hacks into enemy planetary assault systems, halting all bombing damage for a period of time."

Thanks Z. 

End of Mord_Sith84's quote

Hey Z, Yarlen has said that version 1.83 won't come out until late April at the earliest. Wondering if it would be at all possible to include the above changes considering that we have a bit of time before the release? 

I'm also ready to send through the new abilities for both the Hades and Guardian caps (and a few other minor changes to some other abilities). I've done all the work, so you should just be able to import it into the game and hopefully the abilities etc will work. I want to gradually send through my changes so that you can update the mod in steps so that I don't bombard you with too many changes at once (and so that you can keep track of them). 

The texture for the new Guardian ship is almost complete. I am also creating 2 new cap ships for the Cylons, including the basestar from Blood and Chrome. 

The above changes should be in my local version. Send me the changes to Hades and Guardian and I will include them if I don't see any issues.

I received the texture for the Guardian ship and will check it out. If it all looks good I'll wire it up in XSI. No worries on XSI as I've done 100% of the XSI work in Sins of the Fallen and Fall of Kobol.

Ok, so I’ve created new abilities for the Hades Basestar and the Guardian Basestar (and I’ve made a few other minor changes to some of the other capital ship abilities). I’ve attached all the modded files Z, all you need to do is add them in plus the new icons etc, and the strings which I’ve also done below. Also, the Hades, Guardian and Guardian MkII capitals didn’t have the resurrection ability? I’ve now added those in as well.

Hades Basestar

1. Pulsar cannon (New ability)

2. Launch AB Raiders (Existing ability)

3. EMP (New ability, no new ability icon needed – have used one that already exists)

4. Invasion (Existing ability. Please replace ability icon with the one I’ve sent you)

Strings:

StringInfo

            ID "IDS_ABILITY_CYLON_PULSARCANNON_NAME"

            Value "Pulsar Cannon"

StringInfo

            ID "IDS_ABILITY_CYLON_PULSARCANNON_DESCRIPTION"

            Value "Fires a high velocity slug at the target, which deals a high amount of physical damage and cripples its engine                        systems.”

StringInfo

            ID "IDS_ABILITY_CYLON_EMP_NAME"

            Value "EMP"

StringInfo

            ID "IDS_ABILITY_CYLON_EMP_DESCRIPTION"

            Value "An electromagnetic pulse emanates from this ship, knocking out the engines of surrounding enemy ships and causing               them to drift.”

Guardian Basestar

1. Raider Swarm (new ability. Have provided an ability icon)

2. First Hybrid (new ability. Have provided an ability icon)

3. EMP (same as Hades ability)

4. Invasion (same as Hades ability)

StringInfo

            ID “IDS_ABILITY_CYLON_RAIDERSWARM_NAME”

            Value “Raider Swarm”

StringInfo

            ID “IDS_ABILITY_CYLON_RAIDERSWARM_DESCRIPTION”

            Value “Numerous squads of raiders are all launched at once to overwhelm the enemy.”

StringInfo

            ID “IDS_ABILITY_CYLON_FIRSTHYBRID_NAME”

            Value “First Hybrid”

StringInfo

            ID “IDS_ABILITY_CYLON_FIRSTHYBRID_DESCRIPTION”

            Value “The Guardian Centurions view the First Hybrid as their god, and will fight furiously to defend it.”

Basestar Class

I’ve removed the “Disorientation Virus” ability. It didn’t really represent the Cylons ability to shut down enemy ships (Disorientation virus only disabled their engines). I’ve now given the Basestar capitals the “Lockdown Virus” ability, with red eye effect that you created Z. Lockdown represents the Cylons ability much better, and it was also removed from the Hades and Guardian so makes sense to move it over to the Basestar.

I have kept the Disorientation Virus icon for the ability though, which is better than the existing Lockdown virus icon.

Guardian MkII

Didn’t have a resurrection link, which I’ve now added.

Have updated the Enhanced Nanorobots ability, which needed to be more powerful than the Basestars “Organic Armor” ability. I'm also going to add a new effect, which I haven't done yet. 

StringInfo

            ID “IDS_ABILITY_CYLON_HYBRIDUPGRADES_NAME”

            Value “Hybrid Upgrades”

StringInfo

            ID “IDS_ABILITY_CYLON_HYBRIDUPGRADES_DESCRIPTION”

            Value “The hybrid is upgraded with the most advanced technology available, resulting in faster repair rates, weapon range                 and FTL jump speed.”

Resurrection Ship

I've created a new icon for the “Resurrection” ability (Ships 4^th ability, not the “Extend Resurrection” ability icon!)

New Guardian texture: 

Blood and Chrome basestar: 

Just an in game test...

Quoting Mord_Sith84, reply 2708

New Guardian texture: 

Reduced 44%

Original 1280 x 720

 

 

Blood and Chrome basestar: 

Reduced 44%

Original 1280 x 720

End of Mord_Sith84's quote

Wow, really great job on these!! The textures are amazing.

I know, aren't they!

Z, as mentioned in my email to you, the guy that is creating them for me actually worked for Ironclad/Stardock to develop the ship models for Rebellion. 

I've emailed you the texture for the blood and chrome basestar just now. 

He's working on another model now to replace the Guardian MkII. The current model doesn't fit with Cylon ship design at all, so it is going to be replaced with a much better model. Additionally, all of the cap ships are getting a bit of a make over and will have improved textures, as will the envoy. 

Another developer is also working on a specific ability effect for the new Guardian MkII model. 

These new textures are amazing! Lots of detail. Cant wait to try them in-game. 

I do agree that the existing Guardian MkII model doesnt really fit with canon, but I think it would be a bit of a waste to completely get rid of it. Could it be used as a cruiser or something?

I think we'll evaluate the existing models and possibly shift some things around depending on how many new assets we get.

Sounds good. I'm not a big fan of the old Guardian MkII model but I'm sure we could find a use for it. A new cruiser perhaps...

Zombie any chance that you could post a pic of the Blood and Chrome basestar in-game? 

oh yeah, I'll get to a quick test as soon as I can.

Awesome, thanks 

I think replacing the commandstar model with it might work well too. That model is pretty fugly right now.

Model looks great, thanks Z. 

I also agree about replacing the Commandstar with the old Guardian MkII. The current model is crappy. 

Yeah, it's always been a placeholder...

My plan is to get the new models in by the end of this month. 

I need to fully wire the mesh in XSI (tangents, hard points for weapons and abilities, etc).

I also will create new hud icons, main view icons, info card icons to match the new ship models.

I don't think a lot of recoding of the entity files will be needed other than adjusting weapon layouts to match the new models.

For the commandstar I'll have to rework the hard points to match the frigate setup then shift the icons around. A little busy work but not to bad. The old model will be lost and never used again.

So excited about these changes! 

Sounds good!

And how did you go with all of this Z? 

There has been a delay with the new Guardian MKII model because the modeller has just had his first kid. I'll keep you posted on developments.