DevnullMod
From SEWiki
This mod is intended to make a somewhat faster-paced, though still epic-scale game of Space Empires V while addressing some of the balance issues that Devnullicus has found in the weapons, facilities, and the tech tree.
Contents |
Overview
Through the use of the principles of miniaturization (i.e. the higher the tech level, the smaller the component/facility) and durability (the higher the tech level, the stronger the component/facility), and balancing, this mod attempts to introduce a new feel to the game and give a somewhat faster pace to the timing. Research starts out a little slower, but has a much higher potential to build up, usage of minerals, organics, and radioactives is somewhat reduced in many areas and much more balanced in general (i.e. most things don't just use minerals any more, but a more balanced mix of resources).
DevnullMod is NOT a direct port of DevnullMod for Space Empires IV, but there are a few of the same guiding principles. The changelist is just as large, though. Suffice it to say, DevnullMod for SEV is a new mod that gives a nod to the previous mod, but is really a new and standalone mod.
This mod was built from a base of Captain Kwok's Balance Mod, V 1.09 and if many of the files look familiar, that's why. Devnullicus found Captain Kwok's work to be invaluable and a vast improvement over stock SEV and thus it was the best choice for a base to start from for DevnullMod. The readme.txt for the Balance Mod is also included in order to give the reader a better idea of the changes from stock that the Balance Mod introduced.
Mod Features
Tech Areas
- Changed: Most tech areas have been changed to some degree in both cost per level and max levels. This is mostly based off the changes in Balance Mod (in fact, a much older version of BM (0.99), so many of them probably need to be updated more).
Facilities
- Changed: Most facilities costs are balanced to use more resource types instead of all minerals, all the time (sheesh)
- Changed: All Planet Sizes multiplied by 10 and facility sizes are now variable.
- Changed: Most facilities max levels reduced significantly to be more in-line with new Tech Area limits.
- Added: Small Spaceyard Facility
- Added: Massive Spaceyard Facility. Size x 10
- Changed: Deleted Temporal Spaceyard and added Temporal Spaceyard Enhancer that enhances existing Space Yards.
- NOTE: There is currently no way to limit these to 1 per planet, but that is definitely the intent. Once SEV 1.52+ comes out, I will change this in the mod, but until then, if you build more than 1 per planet, I would definitely consider it a cheat.
- Changed: Space ports increased to 3 max levels (higher levels are smaller)
- Changed: Resupply Depot max levels to 11 instead of 100 (!) and supplies/ordnance provided increased significantly
- Added: Small Mineral, Organic, Radioactive, and Cargo Storage Facilties. Size x 0.1
- Added: Planetary Shield Generators (smaller and with "normal" shields)
- Changed: Massive Planetary Shield Generator produce many more shield points and are "phased" shields
Components
- Changed: Reorganized Component order to make shipbuilding easier
- Changed: Most components get smaller, stonger, AND more expensive with higher levels.
- Changed: Engines overhauled:
- Each type of engine starts at 20 tons and decreases to 10 tons at level 3
- Engines have 3 levels instead of 10 (might increase this somewhat as current BM does)
- Engines provide differing movement amounts per hull-size. Larger hulls require more engines.
- Standard engines can no longer be used on Bases
- Changed: Overhauled armor and shields
- Amounts for armor and shields much more balanced
- Shields now gain every level (no more interleaved)
- Each armor (and shield) type has a regular (20+ ton), light (approx 5 ton) and small (1 ton) version
- Protection for the various armor sizes are equivalent-per-ton and the only difference is how much tonnage space they take.
- Ships/bases/etc can use all armor, units can only use the small armor versions
- Added Small and Light armor to emissive, organic, crystalline, etc.
- Added Compact shield components (equivalent to armor plating)
- Fixed: Corrected seeker speeds for all missiles/torpedos/seekers to be within valid ranges
- Changed: Overhauled Point-Defense and missiles
- Did a lot of experimentation and value tweaking to balance point-defense vs. missiles. (range, missile-structure values, missile speeds, point-defense range, etc).
- Split up point-defense into a basic version which works against missiles, etc...but NOT fighters.
- Higher level versions of point-defense weapons that work against fighters are avaiable, but must be researched in conjunction with one of the following:
- Projectile Weapons (Flak Cannons)
- Energy Stream Weapons (Point-Defense Beams)
- Energy Pulse Weapons (Point-Defense Blasters)
- Missile Weapons (Bomblet Missiles)
- Changed: Changed damage, range, costs, firing timing, etc for many weapons based on balance formulas derived from using comparisons using damage-per-second (DPS), DPS vs. research cost, DPS vs. tonnage space, etc. Work is still in progress on this and not all weapons have been fully balanced yet, but the majority have been. Please feel free to let me know if you find an uber-weapon that seems unbalanced or is always the "optimal" choice to research.
- Changed: Overhauled Sensors and Cloaking
- rebalanced sensors vs. cloaking vs. detection ranges for all sensors.
- Changed: Small Supply/Ordnance storage available to ships, bases, etc
- Added: Large Supply and Ordnance Storage
- Changed: Fighter Cargo Bays now store supplies and ordnance to help carriers hold enough for more than a single battle
- Changed: More organic components regenerate besides just armor
- Added: Neutronium armor
- Added: Orbital Drydock
- Added: Orbital Habitat Module
- Added: Robo-Monoliths
- Added: Engineering Bays
- Added: Sprint Missiles (double the speed, half the tonnage structure)
- Added: External Mount Missiles (one-shot missiles). Wanted to make this a component enhancement but the abiltiy "Component - Destroyed on use" won't work with component enhancements. *sigh*
- Added: Supply Vat to Organic Technology.
- Added: Research Lab (not really working quite correctly yet)
- Added: Intelligence Outpost (not really working quite correctly yet)
- Added: Climate Control Module
- Added: Mineral, Organic, and Radioactive Transmutation Devices
- Added: Atmospheric Converter
- Added: Mineral, Organic, and Radioactive Storage Modules
- Added: Mobile Pacification Center
Component Enhancements
- Changed: Reduced number of tech levels in weapon mounts and made each tech level a larger change.
- Changed: Reduced overall tonnage and damage amount changes in many weapon mounts (usually at least halved)
- Added: Light Mounts
- Added: Extended-Range Mounts
- Added: Seeker Mounts
- Added: Massive Seeker Mounts
- Added: Fighter Mounts
Credits
Lee "devnullicus" Wilson (devnull at devnullsoftware.com)
