Battlestar Galactica

[Drake113]

I've been playing around with the game and I've started working on a Battlestar Galactica mod. I haven't really thought too much on the story, but I think it's probably going to be a prequel to the series-- you command a Battlestar participating in the 1000 yahern war against the Cylons. I've managed to get low-poly models of a Battlestar, a Viper, a Cylon Raider, and a Cylon Baseship, and they all look great in the game except that I don't have textures for them (actually, I do, but there is more than one texture per model, and Starfury doesn't seem to like that). Texturing has always been my achillies heel in 3d graphics; can anyone lend me a hand in getting these things properly skinned?
For what it's worth, even seeing an untextured Battlestar flying in the game with a wing of Vipers proceeding it as the Galactica theme plays in the background is pretty freakin' awesome.

Take care,

Drake

[gregebowman]

Cool. Count me in when it comes time to d/l the mod. Can't have enough Battlestar Galactica.

[Drake113]

WOOHOO!!! I finally figured out (sorta) how to texture stuff. The Galactica mesh looks pretty darn good, if you ask me; check it out:

Battlestar Galactica (http://www.frailart.net/members/drake113/bsg1.jpg)

Now to get those pesky Vipers working...

[gregebowman]

That picture looks awesome. Can't wait to see the final product.

[Drax]

Wow - looks pretty sweet! Keep it up, i'll be watching you http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[macjimmy]

Your ship looks great http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Drake113]

Thanks! Here's a closeup of a Viper returning to the ship (http://www.frailart.net/members/drake113/bsg2.jpg)

I think I've managed to get all of the essential models in and more or less correctly textured (I think I'll take another pass at the Galactica, because that was the first one I did, and I'm not entirely satisfied with it yet). I've also got the first mission of the mod working, the intro text, and so forth. Once I have about 10-15 missions put together (not to mention coding out the 12 Colonies, Cylon territory, and so forth... yeesh) I'll try to release the mod to you folks.

[Wardad]

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[General Woundwort]

WHOA!!!

http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung0903/liebe/love-smiley-069.gif

Now that's good.

You wouldn't be interested in doing some Star Trek ships, would you? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon6.gif

[XenoTheMorph]

I must say I am really looking forward to this. Its looks great!
Carry on with the good work http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/icons/icon14.gif

[Drake113]

Well, I've been working pretty hard on the mod, and I've got some more screen shots:

Battlestars on Patrol (http://www.frailart.net/members/drake113/bsg4.jpg)
A re-skinned Cruiser (http://www.frailart.net/members/drake113/bsg5.jpg) (I changed the texture map to make it more Galactica-ey)
Taking on a Cylon Basestar (http://www.frailart.net/members/drake113/bsg6.jpg) (If you look over on the left, you can make out a Cylon fighter)
Opening Screen (http://www.frailart.net/members/drake113/bsg7.jpg)
First Mission Text (http://www.frailart.net/members/drake113/bsg8.jpg)

In other news, I've managed to program a whopping 3 missions so far, but I'm starting to get a handle on the code and I've got a pretty good idea on what I want to do, so hopefully I'll have something approaching a workable mod soon.

[Suicide Junkie]

Nice!

I did note that "Kobol" and "Korbol" apparently are referring to the same place in the into screen.

PS:
Feel free to use P&N components if you like. Especially the Bridge/Lifesupport/Crew Quarters http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[ November 02, 2003, 03:04: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]

[Drake113]

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:

I did note that "Kobol" and "Korbol" apparently are referring to the same place in the into screen.
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Sonofa---Good catch; Fixed now... Thanks! Where the heck were you when I was handing in English paper in high school?


PS:
Feel free to use P&N components if you like. Especially the Bridge/Lifesupport/Crew Quarters http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Thanks! I most likely will-- every little bit helps (heck, I'm even using this guy (http://www.frailart.net/members/drake113/bsg9.jpg)). I really like the idea of the Core Worlds having higher/cheaper tech, as well as Crew Quarters directly influincing the amount of crew, and I did up torpedo/bolt speeds by 50% based on your comments (didn't even know that was a possibility until you mentioned it! Thanks!).
In short, you're doing fantastic stuff, SJ; keep up the great work!

Take care,

Drake

[Suicide Junkie]

Only some of that was from me...
I only discussed a major planet vs run down backwater planets type thing back in the beta forum.

[Mephisto]

Drake, this mod looks very impressive!

[Baron Munchausen]

Wow... add me to the list of people eagerly waiting for this to become available. Those are very nice looking battlestars.

[Wardad]

I can't wait. It will be fun.

[Drake113]

Ok, I'm pretty excited because I was just able to complete my first run-through of the campaign (except for the Last mission, which still needs to be programmed). So I've got to code in the Last mission, work out two or three more systems, and retexture the Last of the Terr-- er, Colonial ships, and I think this puppy might be ready to go beta!
Speaking of beta, do any of you folks with access to the Beta forum have a copy of that mod document Aaron mentioned in the chat that you could lend me? Sure would help a great deal...

[David E. Gervais]

Originally posted by Drake113:
Speaking of beta, do any of you folks with access to the Beta forum have a copy of that mod document Aaron mentioned in the chat that you could lend me? Sure would help a great deal... <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Sorry, aaron has not posted it yet, but I'm sure it will pop up soon. (within the next few weeks or so)

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Drake113]

Well, I have good news, and I have bad news.

The good news is that I'm almost ready to release a beta of the BSG mod.

The bad news is that it's 117 MB in size.

Most of that is music, which I can just take out of the mod altogther. The rest is mostly new graphics, event protraits, and revised landscapes. I may make the landscapes a seperate download- only a few of them are specific to the mod, the rest are just in there because I think they're prettier than the ones in the game. Basically, it's around 23MB with the landscapes, 11MB zipped without. What do you guys think?

[Baron Munchausen]

Post everything, but in seperate files. Some people with broadband will grab the music. Most people will probably only pick up the game config files. You might split the music into several files so it's easier to handle.

[Instar]

Gotta love broadband... this mod looks fun, even though Ive never done any Battlestar stuff before (TV show?)

[Drake113]

Ok, here it goes. Be gentle, folks, it's my first mod. Insert Standard Disclaimer Here.

BSG Mod (http://brique2.intelli.com/vhosts/tre/media/BSG/Colonies.zip) (11 MB)

Unzip it to your Campaigns folder and enjoy.

REQUIRES STARFURY V1.08 TO WORK PROPERLY!!

Known issues:
After the campaign is completed, it will try to load the next one, which doesn't exist (yet)
Some of the warp points may be in the wrong places (particularly in the Alpha-Epsilon chain)
Bizarre occasional Range Check Error (cause still unknown)

Landscapes (http://brique2.intelli.com/vhosts/tre/media/BSG/Landscapes.zip) (12 MB)

This is the optional landscapes pack- Overwrites most of the landscapes in the game and adds a dozen more. It shouldn't be necessary to run the mod; but it is possible that in some system somewhere there's a reference to one of these...

Unzip to either Starfury/Images/Landscapes folder (will change graphics in all campaigns) or to Starfury/Campaigns/Campaign 4 -The Colonies/Images/Landscapes for just the mod.

[ November 14, 2003, 01:18: Message edited by: Drake113 ]

[Drake113]

For those of you who just love the downloading, here's the music for the mod, broken up into 3 files. Unzip to your /Music directory in Starfury.

Music 1 (http://brique2.intelli.com/vhosts/tre/media/BSG/Music1.zip) (17 MB)
Music 2 (http://brique2.intelli.com/vhosts/tre/media/BSG/Music2.zip) (30 MB)
Music 3 (http://brique2.intelli.com/vhosts/tre/media/BSG/Music3.zip) (20 MB)

[Mephisto]

Outstanding work! Looks great and plays nicely (still collecting fighters, so). One thing I found: Fighters have the tendency to explode on my aft when I recover them. Is this a problem with the ship model?

[Mephisto]

Ok, first report back. The Cylons could use some more fighters and beter ECM/ECCM so they can hit you. Second, the Base Star weapons are not firing from the displayed model but a bit away from it.

[Drake113]

One thing I found: Fighters have the tendency to explode on my aft when I recover them. Is this a problem with the ship model?

Hmmm... Now that you mention it, the sorta do... Never noticed that before. I guess I need to monkey around with the SpaceObjects_X.text file and figure out what does that. Anyone have any ideas? Could it be Base Model Radius?

Ok, first report back. The Cylons could use some more fighters and beter ECM/ECCM so they can hit you. Second, the Base Star weapons are not firing from the displayed model but a bit away from it.

Thanks! I'll increase the min/max fighters for the Cylons, and reduce the XYZ coordinates on the firing points for the basestar by like 10%... That should do it, I think. As far as ECM, all races are supposed to have ECM according to the Main_Enemies.txt file... I'll have to see if there's some way I can boost them or force them to have better targeting sensors...

Anyway, glad you're enjoying yourself and thanks for the feedback!

[Suicide Junkie]

I thought the Cylons were supposed to have horrific accuracy, (at least vs Vipers)
but that the occasional shot that did hit would take out a fair chunk of your fighter's internals.

[ November 11, 2003, 23:46: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]

[Fyron]

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
Only some of that was from me...
I only discussed a major planet vs run down backwater planets type thing back in the beta forum. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Yeah... you should have seen the speed of missiles in the early stages of the game! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon6.gif

[DarkStar]

Any chance of getting some screenshots of this Mod in action? Sounds pretty cool... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[DarkStar]

Sorry for the double post http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

[ November 12, 2003, 06:24: Message edited by: DarkStar ]

[Drake113]

I've got a bunch of pics on this thread you can check out (just go back a page or so). Also, I just re-skinned the Terran Starbase to make it look more Colonial-- Check it out:

Starbase (http://www.frailart.net/members/drake113/bsg10.jpg)

It's not in the mod yet, but should be in there in the next day or so. Or, if you've already downloaded the mod, you can just put this in the Images sub directory of the Campaign 4 directory:

New starbase skin (http://www.frailart.net/members/drake113/HUM_STRB.bmp)

[rothas]

Help! The mod crashes just after I pick the colonial Battlestar. Exception Error: TDirect3Dxfile.Start-Can't find xfile

Any Suggestions? The regular game plays just fine.

[Drake113]

That's odd. The only thing I did that was kind wierd with the Battlestar was increase the resolution of the texture map. Here's a smaller one that should require less memory:

Smaller skin (http://www.frailart.net/members/drake113/COL_BTLS.bmp)

Replace the COL_BTLS.bmp in the images directory with this one and try again. Please let me know if the problem continues.

[Drake113]

Wait, wait... It just hit me: you have to have the patched Version of the game or else it won't read the contents of the xfiles directory in campaigns, which is where the campaign-specific xfiles are located (Say, the Battlestar mesh, for example). I'd just about bet money that's the problem.

[Rogue]

Looks really sharp Drake!!!!

[Sefter Aruna]

Drake!!! Cool Mod!!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif I have not downloaded it yet but i plan on doing it soon.

do you have just the ships for download anywhere? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon6.gif

[rothas]

That did it! The game looks amazing. I can tell you are a real fan of the series. This will get me ready for when the new series starts.

[Fyron]

You should be able to have Music and Landscape folders as subfolders of the campaign folder.

[Rollo]

This is a great mod! Thanks Drake.
I love the amount of detail in the plot and background. Nice job on the missions. Perhaps it was a bit too easy, though. Still the new graphics and music make for a very enjoyable journey.
And boy, what a cliffhanger... Hope to see more in the future http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif .

[Suicide Junkie]

Possible mapping bug:
In the Canceria system, the warppoint to Aeriana is in the middle of the system, right next to Canceria II.

Also, the left and right firing points on the Colonial BattleStars are on the wrong side (mirror imaged)

-----

Quite a nifty mod so far.
The battlestars are so painfully slow, though. Hard to complete those long mission runs...

I have yet to learn how to accept losses http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif so I don't use my fighters as much as I should.
I think I need to bug Aaron about friendly fire a bit... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

For the fleet command jobs, I noticed "Cylon Terrorist attacking ships ..."
These could probably be reworded to something like "Cylon ship X is ravaging the Y system and reinforcements are required"

[ November 16, 2003, 20:33: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]

[Drake113]

Thanks for the comments everyone-- you have no idea how much it means to me that you're enjoying the mod. SJ, thanks for the heads up-- I'll implement those changes ASAP. Now I just gotta figure out why the $#*&% cylon basestars aren't stocking fighters like they're supposed to. If I can figure it out, I'll have a patch posted early this week.

[Suicide Junkie]

Perhaps they need more cargo bays to hold the fighters in...

BTW, feel free to use ideas from my mod...
- Shield Generators provide a small amount of regen (1/500th of the "shields maximum" each second for P&N)
- Crew quarters increase crew capacity and provide hull repair points.

Those were the things I missed most.
I can't stand watching the enemies coast around with permanent shield damage after combat. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Rollo]

There is not enough space to place the fighter bays on the Basestars and thus the fighters. (edit-> clarification: if no bay is present, no fighters will be placed).
Lower the percentage of shields and armor. I tried 25% for shield and armor and that yielded 2 fighter bays on a Basestar at average difficulty, and 1 fighter bay at easy difficulty.
Perhaps even better would be to use the overrides for baseships to place more fighter bays, so you would still have high shields/armor for the Attackstars. I do think though that 90% for weapons+shield+armor is a tad too much and that leaves no room for other goodies.

I also noticed that you call for fighter bays on 'Attackstars 1', but there is no such design. Not sure if that is a relict or a typo.

Hope that helps,
Rollo

[ November 16, 2003, 23:57: Message edited by: Rollo ]

[Drake113]

That did it! You're the man, Rollo!

Oh, and yes, I did catch that Attackstar business. It's now Attackstar 2 C that carries fighters.

[ November 17, 2003, 00:31: Message edited by: Drake113 ]

[Rollo]

well, I am glad that helped http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif .

some more stuff:
</font> <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">There are two typos with the Basestar Layout. the slots for Armor 2-2 and Armor 3-1 have a facing of 1 instead of 2 and 3 respectively (you can blame Slotmodder http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif )</font> <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">The firing points for the attackstars are way off. Use the SHOWFIRINGPOINTS cheat to check.</font> <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">The Epsilon system doesn't show in the sector map after it has been visited. I suspect that has something to do with bad linking of warp points. (<--- edit: not true. see reason and fix in next post).</font> <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">When you leave Delta to the north, you arrive in Hades at the southern WP instead of Epsilon. (edit: fix also in next post)</font> <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I tested the Attackstar 2 C. It doesn't have fighter bays. If you want to use that as a small carrier, you'll have to use the overides for this design in Main_enemies.txt</font><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[ November 17, 2003, 02:06: Message edited by: Rollo ]

[Rollo]

okay, got it figured out http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif .
In Campaigndata.txt this fixes the WP:

Map ID := 19
Map Name := Delta
Map Display Name := Delta System
Map Map Filename := Maps_Delta_Map.txt
Map System Type := Cylon
Map Enemy Appearance Group := Cylon System
Map Music Filename := BSG6.mp3
Map Number of Connections := 2
Map Conn 1 Entrance ID := 1
Map Conn 1 Destination Map Number := 18
Map Conn 1 Dest Entrance ID := 2
Map Conn 1 Connection Type := Two Way - Always
Map Conn 2 Entrance ID := 2
Map Conn 2 Destination Map Number := 15
Map Conn 2 Dest Entrance ID := 2
Map Conn 2 Connection Type := Two Way - Always

To fix the display of the Epsilon system correct a typo in Main_QuardrantMap: Epsilon instead of Epsillon

Hope that helps to get a new Version sooner http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif ,
Rollo

[Drake113]

Thanks for all your feedback, folks. I've posted a newer Version in the same URL, which is here (http://brique2.intelli.com/vhosts/tre/media/BSG/Colonies.zip) (11 MB), and for you guys who have already downloaded the mod, you can get the patch here (http://brique2.intelli.com/vhosts/tre/media/BSG/patch.zip) (.5 MB). As always, feedback and bug reports are appreciated!

Changes--
*Fixed Basestar firing points (Attackstars... well, they're better)
*Basestars now have proper tonnage capacity and carry fighter bays
*Resolved Battlestar flipped weapons
*NPC Battlestars now have standardized loadouts
*Cosmetic fixes to Warp Point locations
*Colonial and Cylon fighters have more authentic-looking shots
*Reskined Colonial Starbase
*Moved Data folder to campaigns for more authentic ship naming
*Next Campaign name changed from "Behind Enemy Lines" to "The Secret of the Cylons"
*Shield Generators now regenerate
*Crew Quarters add to crew size, hull regen
*Delta-Epsillon warp connection fixed
*Fleet Command mission text now more accurate

[ November 18, 2003, 05:51: Message edited by: Drake113 ]

[Fyron]

Do you think you could not name it Campaign 4? There is little reason to do so, and it might lead to confusion about it being meant as taking place after the 3rd campaign... That, and if everyone starts doing that, there could end up with a lot of Campaign 4s. Also, if MM ever releases a new campaign, it might well be entitled Campaign 4. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif Arbtrary names are allowed.

[Drake113]

Point taken, IF. I'll change the titles accordingly.

In other news, I spotted a problem with the Main_Components.txt file in the patched mod, specifically with the stuff I stole-- er, borrowed, from SJ. The Life Support systems are underpowered for the ammount of crew on a Battlestar, and thus, your crew will start dying off when the game starts (!). I'll revise the patch tomorrow, but until then, if you can open up Main_Components.txt and change the part under "Life Suppport" that reads this:

Effect 1 Type := Prevent Crew Death
Effect 1 Base Amount := 1.0

To instead read this:

Effect 1 Type := Prevent Crew Death
Effect 1 Base Amount := 2.0

your crew will thank you for it.

[Mephisto]

There are still some references in the Main_Job and Main_DisplayText files to the Abbidon. I had fleet command thank me in the name of the Abbidons once. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Suicide Junkie]

The better way to fix that lifesupport issue is to include a second lifesupport component on your ships http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Then you can leave the little destroyers and stuff only needing one. (Make sure the appropriate settings are in the purchaseships.txt files)
Adjust "Base Crew death rate" if need be. With the lifesupport providing 1 one ability point, you need the amount specified in BCDR to keep 'em alive.

[Drake113]

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
The better way to fix that lifesupport issue is to include a second lifesupport component on your ships http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Yeah, but Battlestars are a little cramped as is, layout wise. I'd rather free up the extra slot (yes, I'm aware I have two 50k Tylium Energizers on the ship when I could get away with just one 100k, but I liked the symetry there http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif ) Besides, I'm thinking a situation might arise in the Third campaign when you might need to get a second LS...

Anyway, I have the new new patch up, which fixes the Basestar armor, the life support issue, and has some massaged text in the mission text area. The full Version is now called "BSG 1 - Colonial Crisis" instead of "Campaign 4" (hokey name, I know, but I was on like 2 hours of sleep at the time). Unfortunately, I haven't made the changes to the Job and Mission text for references-- those will be addressed in the next larger patch, which will also hopefully address the total mess of the basestar layout (arrgh! So ugly! So cluttered! So non-sequential!!!)

[Suicide Junkie]

You could also create a new component, for double-size lifesupport (still one slot, 2x the size, 2x the effect)

[Drake113]

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
You could also create a new component, for double-size lifesupport (still one slot, 2x the size, 2x the effect) <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Now that I like http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif