Fyron's Quadrant Mod Discussion Thread

[Fyron]

Fyron's Quadrant Mod

I have made a mod! That's right, me, Imperator Fyron, the eternal procrastinator! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Anyways...

The mod can be downloaded here:

FyronsQuadrantModv10.zip (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1024644057.zip)

Please view the ReadMe.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1024644418.txt) for more information. Thanks.

[ May 29, 2004, 00:46: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Atrocities]

Lookin Good. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif NICE READ - ME file. Very professional looking. One of the best I have seen. Nice work Fyron. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[ June 21, 2002, 09:01: Message edited by: Atrocities ]

[Fyron]

So... anybody else care to offer comments on my mod? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Gandalph]

Ok, I downloaded and installed it, used the mod picker to start a new game, chose medium, realistic midlife, added existing Corrian, start game, and BAM RCE, then on forced exit (ie - ctrl-alt-del) access violation.

[Fyron]

Hmm... did you get a RCE while generating the map, or afterwards? And you are using SE4 Gold, right? This mod is incompatible with SE4 1.49.

[ June 23, 2002, 18:59: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Atrocities]

Seems to be working fine for me. I had no problems using it.

[Gandalph]

Perhaps it's one of the many race files I have. I am using Gold 1.67 and I get the RCE after I start the game (ie. I start the game, the computer places empires and it fires up at my turn). I do not get, nor have I gotten, RCE's in any of the many solo, PBW, or TDM, games that I play. I am not sure of the problem, but will probably not check into it for a system mod, no offense Fyron. Perhaps I could just bring the changes in systems over to my normal game?

[Fyron]

No problem. Could you email a map that does this?

If you want to add this into your normal game, copy QuadrantTypes.txt and SystemTypes.txt into whatever mod you want. I would recommend the SystemNames.txt too, because it has 1000s of system names in it, so you'll always get something different.

[Fyron]

Fyron's Quadrant Mod v1.01

New Version!

FyronsQuadrantModv101.zip (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1024966443.zip)

Here's the Readme:

Readme.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1024966412.txt)

[ June 25, 2002, 01:54: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Fyron]

Come on, I know you guys want to make some comments here. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[tesco samoa]

here is my comment. Fryon http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif your mod is well written. It works really well. I am looking forward to playing a game in it. All my future PBW games will use this mod

And I have only one complaint

Home come your not working on Version 2 of this?

[Fyron]

Version 2? Already? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif Isn't it a little soon for such a big leap in Version numbers?

[Gandalph]

I just finished a game with this mod, very cool indeed. It is a little tougher to conquer a world that has 4 worlds and 3 moons under it. Nice work Fyron!

[Fyron]

Thanks!

Wow, finished a game? On what settings? I have never finished a game myself. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Btw, the "Test" quadrant type in v1.01 shouldn't be in there. I forgot to delete it. Oh well. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif It can show you all the new system types in the mod. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif And, it has none of those annoying "planetless systems" in it.

[ June 28, 2002, 19:20: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Gandalph]

Small galaxy, 3 AI opponents, no nuetrals, low tech cost, med tech start, 3 planet start, 3k racial. Took 185 turns to force final surrender.

I have to add that create planet is much more important in this mod with the zillions of asteroid fields floating around, and I definitely took advantage of that!

[Fyron]

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif That wasn't the purpose of the asteroids, but oh well.

[Q]

Very nice work indeed. I like the multiple moons and as already mentioned the high number of asteroids makes the creation of planets very interesting. And this is one of the few stellar manipulations the AI handles quite well!
Thank you again for your work.
Just for curiosity: why did you include all files (unmodded too)in your download data folder?

[Fyron]

Mods do not work unless they have all the files in the data folder. If I were to only include the altered files, SEIV would crash when trying to load the mod.

[Gandalph]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif That wasn't the purpose of the asteroids, but oh well.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It wasn't? Well, when I started the game and noticed a system next to my home system, which had multiple asteroids anyway, that had what 27 asteroids in it, the first thing I thought of was stellar manip. Once I got it, I handed control over to the minister and got 4 new worlds every turn. Incredibly resource rich beautiful worlds. I can see on this type of quadrant, claiming a lot of territory is not necessary to support even a large empire. With the many existing planets in each system, and the stellar ability to create more, even a small area can produce tons of all resources including intel and research.

[Fyron]

New Version in the works.:

Added more moons to some planets. Altered the stats of various moons. Added Threaded Spiral, Super Grid and Newborn quadrant types. Added Binary Star Systems with Asteroid Belts. Revamped Trinary Star systems. Added Quadruple and Quintuple Star Systems.

[ June 30, 2002, 11:31: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Schwarzbart]

Nice Mod!
Tested it today only downside is that the planet creation from asteriods become to powerfull in this Mod.

[Fyron]

Another teaser:

Added Quadruple Star Systems and Star Clusters. Added ruins that do not yield any techs. Revamped the Newly Formed star system.

Planned:

Ancient quadrants will have a higher chance for ruins.

[ July 01, 2002, 00:11: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Fyron]

Fyron's Quadrant Mod v1.02

Ok, enough teasers! Here it is. Enjoy!

FyronsQuadrantModv102.zip (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1025481244.zip)

Here's the Readme:

Readme.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1025481281.txt)

[Fyron]

Btw, if someone wants a 1.49 Version of my mod for whatever reason, I could whip one up in a jiffy.

[Fyron]

Ok, I have a word of warning.

I just created Adamant 005, for which I used my mod. It is to be played with the TDM mod. When I created the game with just the FyronsQuadrantMod folder, SE4 choked on it, saying that the data files did not match those used when the game was created. So, I copied QuadrantTypes.txt, StellarAbilityTypes.txt, and SystemTypes.txt into the TDM\Data folder and created the game. I restored the originals of those 3 files, and the game now loads just fine.

[Fyron]

I have begun work on a Fyron's Quadrant Mod 2.0, which I might decide to name Quadrant Mod, if I so choose. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

It will modify files that will cause maps generated with the mod to be incompatible with other mods or the standard game, such as SectType.txt and PlanetSize.txt. It will require the latest Version of the Planet Pack from the Image Mod, as it will make use of as many pictures from it as possible.

[Fyron]

Fyron's Quadrant Mod v1.03

New Version!

FyronsQuadrantModv103.zip (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1025822293.zip)

Here's the Readme:

Readme.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1025822332.txt)

[Fyron]

And here is a teaser for v2.00:

Alterded Population and Cargo values for planets. Made it so that Domed Colonies have 1/3 the facilites instead of 1/5. Added more Planet Sizes. Added Irradiated planets. Added many pictures from the Image Mod. Added Small and Medium Ringworlds. Added more abilities to Warp Points, Storms, and Asteroids. Added Green and Purple stars.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I need some help creating descriptions for a bunch of planets I am adding. If anyone wants to help, I'd appreciate it.

[ July 04, 2002, 23:59: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[tesco samoa]

2.0 eh ????

[Gryphin]

Fyron,
&lt;EDIT:&gt;
Fryon, how about "Haiku" style, or should I save it for my own list.
Description := Born in the Big Bang, Coalescing in this Quadrant, Brilliant Doth it Shine
&lt;/Edit&gt;
&lt;2nd Edit&gt;
Acknowledging Geoschmo for the idea of including Haiku in a mod and that I have a tough time doing anything in a "normal" fasion.
&lt;/2nd Edit&gt;
You got, (and I'll keep them non inflametory)
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ July 05, 2002, 14:30: Message edited by: The High Gryphin ]

[Gryphin]

(I could not resisit one more sample)
Description := Without Atmosphere, Active Volcanoes Spouting, Nothing Here For You

[Fyron]

Well... whatever floats your boat! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif It might offer a nice change of pace from all the "normal" planetery descriptions.

[Gryphin]

Imperator Fyron
Thanks, will do.
Um, "Well... whatever floats your boat",
There are those that would warn you against such an open invatation.
I think I will keep it PG. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
Ok, folks, go for it.

[Nodachi]

Here goes. Never claimed to be any good at this! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

It is much too hot
This corrosive atmosphere
Maybe this is Hell!

Pretty lightning here
Multi-colored clouds to see
If it weren't so wet.

Earthquakes aplenty
Mountains everywhere you look
On this barren rock.

Could it truely be?
Terraformed eons ago
This is paradise!

[Fyron]

Fyron's Quadrant Mod v1.10

New Version!

FyronsQuadrantModv110.zip (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1025919322.zip)

Here's the Readme:

Readme.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1025919338.txt)

[Fyron]

This is an HTML help file I created to help explain the quadrants in Fyron's Quadrant Mod:

Help.zip (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1025931876.zip)

After you download it, extract it to the folder where the mod is installed, and it should go into a Help subfolder. If you installed SEIV Gold to:

C:\Games\Malfador\Space Empires IV Gold\

then the mod should be in:

C:\Games\Malfador\Space Empires IV Gold\FyronsQuadrantModBeta

The help files should extract to:

C:\Games\Malfador\Space Empires IV Gold\FyronsQuadrantModBeta\Help

Open Help.html, and away you go!

[Fyron]

Fyron's Quadrant Mod v1.11

New Version! The only difference is that the Help file is included for convenience.

FyronsQuadrantModv111.zip (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1025981167.zip)

Here's the Readme:

Readme.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1025981206.txt)

[Gryphin]

I know I'm going to kick myself, (or let GrowLTigga do it).
Um, Fryon, how do I use your mod with TDM?

[Fyron]

You can load the mod, create a map, save it, and then load up TDM and load that map to use. There should be no problems at all.

Or, if you want to patch this mod directly into TDM, locate these files in the FyronsQuadrantMod\Data folder:

StellarAbilityTypes.txt
SystemNames.txt (unless you want to use one of your own)
SystemTypes.txt
QuadrantTypes.txt

Backup their equivalents in the Data folder of the TDM Modpack. Then copy them from FyronsQuadrantMod\Data to TDM-Modpack\Data. This can be done with pretty much any mod, btw.

[Gryphin]

Thanks,
I should have known it was that easy.

[Fyron]

I (with Master Belisarius' aid) have discovered a bug in SE4G that only crops up when using system/quadrant mods like mine.

&gt;2) I don't know why, but although I selected the option that everybody
&gt;should start with the same size planets... but always everybody got
&gt;different size planets! In fact, the race that I was testing was based on
&gt;Rock. Well, severat times, the game was started with 2 rock homeworlds and 1
&gt;GAS homeworld!
Ok... this almost never happens with Good planet starts. It happens with Average planet starts. It never happens with single planet starts. I think that SE4 finds random spots to place the extra homeworlds. If the sector that the homeworld is placed in contains one of the Huge Gas Giants that are specifically called for in SystemTypes.txt that have multiple moons, then it ignores the race's info, and makes the homeworld a Huge Gas Giant of the atmosphere that it had randomly picked for that planet. This is most definitely a bug, and I shall report it to MM immediately.

[Fyron]

Fyron's Quadrant Mod v1.12

New Version!

FyronsQuadrantModv112.zip (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1027202962.zip) - a 569 KB download

Here's the Readme:

Readme.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1027202978.txt)

[Q]

What is the difference between standard, sparse and dense quadrants in your newest Mod?

[Fyron]

The HTML Help document outlines that. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Basically, the systems in Sparse tend to have fewer planets (the distribution curve has 3-4 planets as the most common), and Dense systems have more planets (10-11 most common). The Standard systems have 7-8 planets as most common. Note that moons are not considered to be planets for this curve.

[Fyron]

Fyron's Quadrant Mod v1.13

New Version!

FyronsQuadrantModv113.zip (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1027754260.zip) - a 642 KB download

Here's the Readme:

Readme.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1027754299.txt)

[oleg]

Imperor, there is still a _huge_ problem with homeworlds: Several system types have a medium sized moons around huge gas giants. When SE seeds players (1, 3 ... planet start - does not matter)
it sometimes picks up these medium size planets as a normal homeworld. What happens next is ugly: SE "transfers" homeworld to number 1 planet - gas giant. As a result, you can often see rock oxygen player start on huge hydrogen gas giant. You can get lucky and get native atmosphere on gas giant ! Still, it basically makes game unplayable. I suggest to change medium sized moons to either small or even large size !
Alternatevely, change the order of planets and make gas giant to "orbit" potential home worlds.

[Fyron]

Yeah, I know. This is more of a bug with SE4. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif I guess I could do that. Have you noticed that it transfers the homeworld when playing with Small or Large homeworlds, or does it only do that with Medium ones?

[oleg]

I did not try it with other sizes, only medium. But I think it will do the same. I was trying to edit your systemtypes.txt and convert medium to small, but got lost in about 1/3 of the file. It is one HUGE list of systems ! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Fyron]

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif Yeah, and I plan on having more. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif You only need to edit Standard 1 AS I through Standard 12 AS II (at the bottom). Those are the vast majority of inhabitable systems used in all quadrants save Ancient and the Classic ones.

[oleg]

OK, I edited systemtypes.txt
Offending planets have been changed from medium to small. There are no more mistakes when SEIV generates homeworlds:

1028079875.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1028079875.txt)

[henk brouwer]

Originally posted by oleg:
OK, I edited systemtypes.txt
Offending planets have been changed from medium to small. There are no more mistakes when SEIV generates homeworlds:
[/URL]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Would it be possible to generate a new planet size class, with the same size and characteristics as Medium worlds but under a different name, something like "Medium moon". I think the AI looks for "Medium" worlds when assigning homeworlds and not for the actual size.

[Fyron]

Henk:
Yes, but that would make it so that the maps would not be compatible with any other mods or the normal game. That was not the goal of FQM. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Oleg:
Interesting, I'll take a look. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[oleg]

SE assign homeworlds to either to planets specified either as "medium" or "any" in systemtypes.txt. In case of "any" - it is most likely that SE IV first generates map and then converts randomly generated medium planets to homeworlds but may be not.

It is possible for SE IV to generate home worlds from vacuum: The "empty" system - just one sun and nothing else has a status "empire can start in = true". I once had a homeworld in such system - it was located in a sector 1:1. It seems that SE IV first assign races to systems that have "empire can start in = true" then it tries to place the homeworld. If there are no suitable planet, it may create one.

[geoschmo]

I have found that at least when using pre made maps the game will more often than not make homeworlds out of vacuum rather than convert exsisting ones. Unless you set starting points that are in the same sector with an exsisting planet.

Geoschmo

[tesco samoa]

Question. If your homeworlds appear in a sector cloaking nebula... How does your enemy find them...

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by tesco samoa:
Question. If your homeworlds appear in a sector cloaking nebula... How does your enemy find them...<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">They don't.

EDIT: I suppose they could get one of those neublae clearing devices, and then they should be able to see them.

[ August 01, 2002, 17:10: Message edited by: geoschmo ]

[Gryphin]

I'm trying to make a few good / evil maps.
Is the following correct:
1.5 = Optimal
1.4=Good
1.3=Good
1.2 = Mild
1.1=Mild
1.0=Mild
0.9=Unpleasant
0.8=Unpleasant
0.7=Unpleasant
0.6=Unpleasant
0.5=Unpleasant
0.4=Harsh
0.3=Harsh
0.2=Deadly
0.1=Deadly
0.0 = Deadly

Thanks

[Fyron]

Make planets with those conditions, and name them accordingly. Save the map. Load it in a game, and see what level each of the planets has.

[Gryphin]

That is how I got those values, I wanted to make sure I read them correctly http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[Fyron]

Ok. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Fyron]

&lt;&lt;&lt;BUMP&gt;&gt;&gt;

[Gorgo]

Just a few quick questions concerning this fabulous mod:

1) Is FQM v.1.13 compatible with Gold 1.78?
2) Is there anything else I have to take care of when I set up a game for PBW (I already have Oleg's modification to avoid trouble with starting planets)?

Thankies,
Gorgo

[Fyron]

1) Is FQM v.1.13 compatible with Gold 1.78?

Yes. Any mod that is compatible with 1.67 is instantly compatible with 1.78.

2) Is there anything else I have to take care of when I set up a game for PBW (I already have Oleg's modification to avoid trouble with starting planets)?

If you use large (good) homeworlds, you have nothing to worry about, and can keep the medium moons. There are no other issues that I am aware of. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Fyron]

Fyron's Quadrant Mod v1.14

New Version!

FyronsQuadrantModv114.zip (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1030419692.zip) - a 746 KB download

Here's the Readme:

Readme.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1030419623.txt)

[Fyron]

Ok... now that people have had plenty of time to play with FQM, does anyone have any suggestions for it (other than adding new planet pics and such)?

[Unknown_Enemy]

YEP !!!

I don't know if it was already asked, but I want some planetoid artifacts...

I mean some objects, that could be considered as planets with random values, but with good storage values (30 facilities ?).

Could be....the remnant of a sphereworld that drifted in orbit of a gas giant or whatever you want.

So nothing hudge, but it would be soooo cooool to colonize the ruins of a death star......

[Fyron]

I could do that, but it would require adding a new planet type. This makes the mod incompatible with the standard game, or other mods. So, that is not for this Version of the mod. I am working on a "deluxe" Version or something like that that will have lots of new planet types, and I could incorporate it into that.

[Fyron]

Gryphin, I could do that with the normal FQM. All I'd have to do would be to make a few extra quadrant types, and maybe a few more system types to go along with them.

[Gryphin]

Fyron, I would enjoy a hostile FMQ universe. Hm, I guess if I study your mod I could mod it for my own use, (I would not distribute it). Still if you wanted to test it, my sweetheart and I enjoy FMQ 1.13 or 1.14 where there is a system separating us that Draws ships 4! sectors toward the center and then crushes them. Interessting coincedence: It is on the only system connecting 2 halves of the quadrant, (aSmall Dence Threaded Spiral)

[Fyron]

That is a truly evil map! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Gryphin]

Fyron posted: "That is a truly evil map! "
Yes it is, Thanks.

I am now focused on Steller Manip
She now has Romulans coming up her six.
Should have seen my peace loving sweethearts face when three Romulan Frigates came through from the south and started dropping CSMs on her undeffended home world.
Should have seen her face when I could not stop laughing.
"Stop! Laughing and show me how to make weapons!" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif

[ October 16, 2002, 23:02: Message edited by: Gryphin ]

[Gryphin]

Fyron,
Do the astoroid fields that add to shields also shield ships without shields? I'm guessing the fields reduce the hit points of direct fire weapons.

[Fyron]

Originally posted by Gryphin:
Fyron,
Do the astoroid fields that add to shields also shield ships without shields? I'm guessing the fields reduce the hit points of direct fire weapons.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Every ship has a shield level. Some ships have a level of 0. So, if an asteroid adds 30 points to shields, an unshielded ship gets 0 + 30 = 30 shield points when fighting in such a sector. Some stars have the shield adding ability too, you know.

[Gryphin]

Maybe create a spin off of 1.14 that would be "For Humans Only". This would generate a very hostile universe. To survive it would be nessasary to develope armor, shields, larger hulls, and repair early,

[Gryphin]

Is it possible to create "Ruins Tech"
If so could you create a device with an incorrect decription?
Mabye it sayas destroys engines but it really does nothing, (becuase they don't know how to use it"
Maybe it says it acts as ECM but really it acts as a Meson BLaster V.

[Suicide Junkie]

The actual weapon effects are displayed in the right-click description window. Nothing you can do about that.

The text descriptions of the abilities can be changed to whatever you like, however.

The main problem will be that experienced players will know what the component really does, while new ones will be confused.

[Spoo]

I think you should make a galaxy type that includes an occasional ring/sphere world.

[Gryphin]

Would it unbalance the game If someone found and colonized the Ring or Sphere World?

[Suicide Junkie]

Probably...

You could balance it out by having random movement and/or a damaging center, thus making it extremely hard to defend. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[geoschmo]

You could also balance it by having them be fairly common. Not as frequent as gas giants, but ten or twenty per quadrant should prevent one player from getting a big advantage.

[Gryphin]

SJ,
Can you make a Sphere world with random movement or can you specifiy the type of system it would occur in?

[Fyron]

I can make new ruins techs, but that eliminates compatibility with the normal game, and so is not for this Version.

I do not know if the game will accept RWs and such in the data files for system types. I'll have to experiment.

[Suicide Junkie]

Can you make a Sphere world with random movement or can you specifiy the type of system it would occur in?<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Actually, yeah...
You just go into systemtypes.txt, and copy bits out of the blackhole entry, and other bits out of a normal system. Change a regular planet to size "Ringworld" instead of "Any", and see if it works http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Fyron]

I am making new warp point heavy quadrants. I was wondering what the best order to put the quadrants in is. There are a lot of them now...

Which is better:

Mid-Life
WPH Mid-Life
Cluster
WPH Cluster
Grid
WPH Grid

Or:

Mid-Life
Cluster
Grid
WPH Mid-Life
WPH Cluster
WPH Grid

[eorg]

second one - i care more about warp-points than what the quadrant looks like :-)


Which is better:

Mid-Life
WPH Mid-Life
Cluster
WPH Cluster
Grid
WPH Grid

Or:

Mid-Life
Cluster
Grid
WPH Mid-Life
WPH Cluster
WPH Grid<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

[Fyron]

Fyron's Quadrant Mod v1.15

New Version!

FyronsQuadrantModv115.zip (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1035066986.zip) - a 754 KB download

Here's the Readme:

Readme.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1035067044.txt)

[Fyron]

WPH = Warp Point Heavy. These quadrants have about 2x as many warp points in them.

[Suicide Junkie]

You might have to be careful with testing that one...

If systems have too many warppoints going in and out, the pathfinding may go nuts.
My FTL-map is a prime example of that, making it humans-only, and requiring some micromanagement of ship movement.

[Fyron]

Well... 1 of my PBW games is using a Cluster map where I made the same exact change to the number of WPs and the min angle between them, and I haven't had any problems with pathfinding in there.

[AJC]

I have noticed the AI cannot handle the "Newly Forming" star system - ships sit over obscured planets and warp pts trying to colonize or warp through them everyturn.

The ai ends up with fleets and colony ships stuck in these systems repeating its Last orders but unable to comply because the object is hidden.

[Fyron]

Oh well. I guess the Newly Forming quadrant will be recommended for humans only.

[AJC]

I cannot play with any other maps now - the standard maps put me to sleep - you did a really good job with it.

I hope my comment to Aaron about the AI trying to use hidden objects gets his attention and he fixes it. That newly forming star system is cool.

I combine the TDM AIs , your maps and my mounts into a single mod. It makes for a pretty interesting game.

[ October 22, 2002, 05:38: Message edited by: AJC ]

[Fyron]

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

I would have prefered to be able to control the color of the sector storms, to either have all the same color in one system, or at least to have some sort of color scheme.

[AJC]

IMO - the randomness of the storms makes it interesting...

[Fyron]

The original Version of the newly forming system had lots of storms all throughout the system. It looked really bizarre, with the multitude of colors. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[Fyron]

Anyone else care to offer any suggestions?

[Fyron]

I wrote some planet descriptions Last night. More pics would always be of use though. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Gryphin]

Pics of planets, storms, or?

[Andrés]

Use pics from the image mod.

[Gryphin]

You have a great help file that explains the systems. What are the chances of including a lot of the Readme.txt in the help file?
It is not needed, but it might be nice.

[Gryphin]

Fyron,
I'm guessing you still need Planet Descriptions?
Do you need or could you use any additonal pics?
I don't know if I have time for this but maybe others do.

[Fyron]

I was more refering to other things than new pics, cause new pics remove compatibility with other mods and the normal game. And besides, I already have a beta Version of a mod using all the image mod picks. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Gryphin:
The link to the readme in the help file isn't enough?

[Gryphin]

Link to readme? oh, that link, mea culpa.
Thanks,

[Arkcon]

Imperator, on another thread there is interest in larger storms. Perhaps if you not only made a system storm heavy, but you also tweaked the system rings they appeared in, they would be more likely to be adjacent and look like one storm.

I'm simply too lazy to try this out myself, and your quadrant mod is so well done, maybe this is easy for you?

Don't let the fact that they'd be different colors and have different effects discourage you. Happens all the time on Star Trek ... the hide in a nebula, but have to avoid "pockets of illogical plot device" ^H^H^H^H^H^H metrion gas" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[ October 31, 2002, 22:17: Message edited by: Arkcon ]

[Fyron]

If they had different graphics and looked like they might be one big storm (even multi-colored), that would be cool. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

I am thinking of throughing a lot more storms into the systems though. 4-5 in a standard system sounds nice. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by Gryphin:
Is there anyway to control the number of systems or is it hard coded?
Idealy I would like to have a Medium Dence Spiral Thread that did not have any excess.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">You can't specify an exact number of systems, but you can play around with the Max systems in settings.txt and then use Large quadrants. Large just means a numebr close to the max listed in the settings file. So set that to 110 or something until you consistantly get maps that look like what you want.

Geoschmo

[Fyron]

Originally posted by Gryphin:
RE: Storms,
Is it possible to arrange storms like the astoroid belts? That may make for some interesting systems.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That's a lot of storms. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif I wonder what such a system would be called...

[Gryphin]

I love the Dence Spiral Thread. I don't like it when the systems get strung along the edge of the quadrant. Your help file mentions when there is more than 120 systems that is what happens. I have found using Small this does not happen. Using Medium I can almost get non edgy maps about 1/3rd of the time. Is there anyway to control the number of systems or is it hard coded?
Idealy I would like to have a Medium Dence Spiral Thread that did not have any excess.

[Gryphin]

RE: Storms,
Is it possible to arrange storms like the astoroid belts? That may make for some interesting systems.

[Captain Kwok]

I think you can have any physical type arranged like an asteroid belt. Just look at how the the asteroid belt system is created and just replaced it with storms, planets, etc.

[Gryphin]

Call it:
Stormy Skys?

[Fyron]

Stormy Skys... makes no sense, because ships go through space, not atmospheres. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Fyron]

That makes sense from the perspective of a race confined to one planet. But from the perspective of a star-faring race, it is my opinion that "sky" wouldn't be used to refer to space. I could be wrong though, as I have never met a star-faring race. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[geoschmo]

Call your stormy system "Badlands"? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Hey Fyron, how about adding another quadrant type to the mod? One where the systems are all heavily interconnected. Lot's of warp points. Raise the warp points per system and lower the angle between warp points.

Your mod would also be a great place to have premade maps. You could include a maps folder with special maps made by you and others.

Geoschmo

[Fyron]

Geo, have you looked at 1.15 yet? It has a lot of Warp Point Heavy quadrants that already have 2x the # of WPs and 1/2 the angle between them. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

The Badlands is a good name though, and pre-made maps are cool too. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ November 04, 2002, 20:13: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[geoschmo]

No, I had not looked at 115 yet, have now. That's the idea. Although I get crazy sometimes and like to play a game with a full ten warp points per system. Do that, raise the systems to 255, set the game to warp points located anywhere, and http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif .

If you want to include my Sphere Map (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1011460442.zip) in the next mod, go ahead. It's a grid map with wrap around warp points. No edges, and no corners. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Geoschmo

[ November 04, 2002, 20:34: Message edited by: geoschmo ]

[Fyron]

I like sphere maps, but I am too lazy to make a bunch of them. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[capnq]

Raise the warp points per system and lower the angle between warp points. <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">My Hypermaze quadrants are set at 8 warp points and 40 degrees. I usually play it in a large quadrant with not all connected. Systems with 5-6 WPs are fairly common, and I remember one game where my home system had 7.

[Gryphin]

I think of the sky, and the night sky in particular as starting someplace above the local trees and extending to infinty.
It never ocured to me that the sky was limited to atmosphere.

[Fyron]

Geo, what did you do when making your sphere map? Did you make all the WPs in the Editor, or did you cheat and make them in the game, and move them to the proper location?

Anyone:
Map files are big! 5 of them are 900 kB zipped. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif I think I'll put them in a separate zip or something, cause if I have a lot of them, the mod file will get huge.

[ November 05, 2002, 05:24: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Fyron]

*sniff*

I just made one sphere map, then accidentally saved over it when I was working on a second one. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

[Fyron]

Fyron's Quadrant Mod v1.16

New Version!

There are 4 new custom maps.

FyronsQuadrantModv116.zip (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1036480653.zip) - a 1,280 KB download

Here's the Readme:

Readme.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1036480627.txt)

[Fyron]

If you make them in-game and then edit them, you don't have to worry about getting all of the system names right. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif Just 1 HW with modded comps and no AIs is all you need.

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
Geo, what did you do when making your sphere map? Did you make all the WPs in the Editor, or did you cheat and make them in the game, and move them to the proper location?
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I made them all in the map generator. I started with a grid map and then added the wrap around warp points. I tried to do them in game, but it didn't work so well because the warp point would go to the right system, but be on the wrong side of the system. I suppose I could have created them and moved them, but I didn't see how that was much easier then just making them in the map editor to begin with.

That map editor really needs some changes. Need to be able to drag stuff. Ought to be able to click two systems and make a warp point between them, and then drag the ends in system where we want.

Geoschmo

[Fyron]

So has anyone checked out the custom maps yet? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Fyron]

Aargh. The new Deluxe Version is 13 MBs. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif Too big to be uploading it and revisions to Shrapnel. Hey Geoschmo, do you suppose I could have it set up in the PBW file library? I recall that Users cannot upload files larger than 5 MB to the file library. And, I seem to recall that there was a way around this, but I do not remember it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[geoschmo]

To do this you need to get your mod uploaded somewhere on the net that I can get to it. You can upload large files to shrapnel, or use one of those free file sharing servers that are alkl over. But it needs to be in one piece and somewhere I can get to it, and you can't email it to me. Then make a text file that says bascially "This is the blah blah mod" and zip it up and upload that to PBW as a placeholder. When you upload fill out the name and description just like it's the actual mod, don't say anything there about it being a placeholder, but when you browse for the zip file select your placeholder file. Then let me know where I can get it and I will copy it to PBW so people can download it by clicking on the file library link.

Geoschmo

[Phoenix-D]

Why is the new Version so big, anyway?

Phoenix-D

[Fyron]

Hmm... you might want to delete the partial deluxe mod file I had uploaded to PBW then... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Fyron]

Ok, FQM Deluxe is now available to the public!

You can get it here: FQM Deluxe v2.00 (http://seiv.pbw.cc/Download/filelib/648/FyronsQuadrantModDeluxev200.zip) - a 12.0 MB download.

You can also view the Readme.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1037245339.txt).

You will need at least the Planet Pack of the Image mod installed to play with this mod. It can be gotten from here: SE4 Image Mod (http://www.geocities.com/hohoho611ca/imagepack.html)

You have to play maps made with FQM Deluxe with the mod itself; the maps will not work in other mods. This is because files were modded that remove universal compatibility.

[ November 14, 2002, 04:56: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Phoenix-D]

I still want to know why it's so big. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Phoenix-D

[Fyron]

View the Readme. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Phoenix-D]

Read. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the image mod though?

Phoenix-D

[Fyron]

How so? The Image Mod is not included in the download.

[Phoenix-D]

OK, then that doesn't explain why it's so big.

All I saw was this line:
Added many pictures from the Image Mod.

And assumed you included those images.

Phoenix-D

[Fyron]

- Added 10 new pictures for Nebulae systems.

System graphics are excessively large...

[ November 14, 2002, 04:35: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Fyron]

The original link didn't have the .zip in it for some reason. I have fixed it now.

[Captain Kwok]

Error!

Can Not Compute!

File does not download

[Fyron]

It downloaded just fine for me.

[ November 14, 2002, 04:57: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Fyron]

The second coming!

FQM Deluxe is now available to the public!

You can get it here: FQM Deluxe v2.00 (http://seiv.pbw.cc/Download/filelib/648/FyronsQuadrantModDeluxev200.zip) - a 12.0 MB download.

Or, you can download a smaller Version in which the huge system graphics have been converted to jpeg format. You will need to convert them back to bmp format for them to work in-game. Check the ReadFirst.txt file for the locations of the files. You can get this smaller Version here: FQM Deluxe v2.00 JPEG (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1037251642.zip)- a 2,856 KB download

You can also view the Readme.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1037245339.txt).

You will need at least the Planet Pack of the Image mod installed to play with this mod. It can be gotten from here: SE4 Image Mod (http://www.geocities.com/hohoho611ca/imagepack.html)

You have to play maps made with FQM Deluxe with the mod itself; the maps will not work in other mods. This is because files were modded that remove universal compatibility.

For converting those jpegs, you could get Irfan View, at http://www.irfanview.com/. It has a nice batch conVersion utility that will quickly convert a bunch of files from one format to another.

[ November 14, 2002, 05:41: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Captain Kwok]

Fyron:

I can only download the deluxe Version from the PBW site itself, but not through the link in your signature.

[Fyron]

Hmm... it works fine for me. Anyone else having this problem?

[Desdinova]

i am unable to download it either. it sends me to the pbw website.

[Fyron]

Maybe it has to do with the PBW cookie. I am techically logged in, so maybe it allows me to access the file, but not people that aren't logged in. Hmm...

[Captain Kwok]

I am also logged in. However, I get a 404 error when I click on the link. Also, after I downloaded it directly from PBW, it didn't have the .zip extension.

[ November 16, 2002, 05:16: Message edited by: Captain Kwok ]

[Phoenix-D]

I can get it fine..haven't downloaded the whole thing to see if the file comes through correctly, but I can start the download from here.

[Gryphin]

Your sig link works for me. I did not try the other.

[ArchAngel7]

I'm getting a 404 error when I click on the links in your signature.

[Fyron]

Well I don't know what to tell you guys that are having problems. The links do work.

[Krsqk]

The links work fine for me, but I'm using Download Accelerator, which takes over automatically for any link with a .zip extension. Maybe M$IE doesn't like it.

[Fyron]

I have M$ IE and it works fine.

[ArchAngel7]

When I click on the link it takes me to some page www.xupiter.com/error (http://www.xupiter.com/error) - whatever that is!

[Fyron]

That is most odd. I have never even heard of such a site.

[ArchAngel7]

Is it possible you could e-mail it to me directly?

[Fyron]

No. It is way to large for me to be able to email it.

You can go to PBW, log in, and then get the file directly from the Mod File Library.

[ArchAngel7]

Well, I went to the PBW site, logged in, and spent 20 minutes downloading this file only to realize it wasn't in a .zip format and I couldn't even open it or extract it to the SEIV directory! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

[Fyron]

Rename the file and add .zip to the end of it.

[geoschmo]

I have corrected the link on PBW so it will have the .zip extension on it when it's downloaded from now on.

[Lord Blam]

My apologies if this is a dumb question, but I've read an awful lot of Posts and not found a solution to my problem.

I am using SE4G 1.78 and installed both Fyron's Quadrant Mod Deluxe 2.00 as instructed, and the latest planetary image mod pak (ver 1.8) (apparently as instructed in its sparse documentation -- I extracted the zip into the /pictures/planets subdir).

When I generate a new quadrant map, everything works as expected in FQMD except that none of the 'new' planetary graphics show up on my system view screen. What am I doing wrong? Thanks for any help.

[Suicide Junkie]

When you unzip the planetpack you will get a file called "newplanets.bmp" You need to replace your planets.bmp with the new file.

You can delete planets.bmp and then rename newplanets.bmp.

I did it that way so that the zip wouldn't overwrite any files when it was installed. It seems to be too much of a hassle for the end Users, so I think I'll change that to automatically replace planets.bmp from now on.

[Lord Blam]

Thanks...an easy fix, and now I've got it working beatifully.

[ArchAngel7]

Great job IF! I have noticed a problem with missing pics/info. I created a dense cluster - 248 systems, 3005 planets. The following systems all had the same error. Planets X and XI were missing pics and under Atmosphere it said NA. The systems were: Aldron, Celestine, Cron, Da'Lush, Double Helix, Estonia, Hachioji, Legaer, Lermontov, Melcil, Morak, PiPowwed, Recalde, Seimei, Strackea, Tharsis, Ugrumph, and Wanduk. If this is something I can fix on my own please let me know. Thanks.

[Captain Kwok]

The missing planets etc. are because Fyron's Quadrant Mod uses the ImageMod, which you need to have installed to see the missing planets.

[ArchAngel7]

I'm using ImageMod Planets Version 1.6 with planet pics from 1 to 704.

[Suicide Junkie]

With an atmosphere type of N/A and probably a surface type of N/A as well, those sound very much like the Null-Planets I was having trouble with when I tried to make a new planet size.

[Fyron]

Originally posted by ArchAngel7:
I'm using ImageMod Planets Version 1.6 with planet pics from 1 to 704.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Try getting the latest patch of the Planet Pack (it's at 1.8). If that doesn't fix those planets, then there may be a problem. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[ArchAngel7]

Well 1.8 seemed to fix it. I'm wondering IF, if in your next update you might consider throwing in some random ringworlds or dysonspheres ( maybe cloak them so you'd need gravitic or temporal level 4 sensors to see them) and giant and titanic size planets. Just a wish list on my part! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Kamog]

How do you cloak a ring world or sphere world? What tech to you need for that?

[Fyron]

AIs still see and try to colonize cloaked planets, even though they can't colonize them.

You cannot cloak planets with the normal data files. You have to mod in the ability. I am not sure if it works when placed on a planet directly though. A sight-obscuring storm is still visible itself, even though it cloaks everything else in the sector.

[ November 23, 2002, 22:28: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[capnq]

And turning on Planet Names in (F11) Status/Empire Options will label the cloaked planets, even if you can't see them.

[Fyron]

So now that it has been out for a while... what are your reactions to FQM Deluxe? Any suggestions for future Versions?

[Captain Kwok]

Yes. The same one as always - fix the system names file!!!

[Fyron]

Hey, some joker deleted the first of the double Messages. It wasn't a double post; they were weeks apart. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

[Krsqk]

Well, no one can say that our spec ops don't ever take the initiative... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Fyron]

So am I to assume that other than the system names file, the mod is absolutely perfect and no one can think of any ways in which to improve it? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Spoo]

I already asked for this, but if you're dying to add new features, add a map type w/ one or two randomly placed ring/sphere worlds.

[Fyron]

Hmm... forgot about that. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif Does that even work?

[Spoo]

I know you can make them appear. The tricky part is making them appear in the center of the system.

[TerranC]

Use more of the imagemod pics.

[Phoenix-D]

"I know you can make them appear. The tricky part is making them appear in the center of the system."

Why is that tricky? Just use the postion entries used for stars..

Phoenix-D

[Fyron]

Originally posted by TerranC:
Use more of the imagemod pics.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I have used all of the imagemod pics that are decent enough to be used in-game. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Krsqk]

With no cube worlds? How can you say that when you don't use cube worlds? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

[Captain Kwok]

I wouldn't mind seeing some new planets as discussed before. How about more realistic placement of planet types?

[ December 17, 2002, 07:01: Message edited by: Captain Kwok ]

[Kamog]

Originally posted by Krsqk:
With no cube worlds? How can you say that when you don't use cube worlds? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">What is a cube world?

[Fyron]

No cube worlds.

I have considered more realistic placement of planets, but that would require a lot of work. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Wizarc]

Been trying for a couple of days now but the FQM Deluxe 2 does not work. Get a page cannot be found. The standard works fine.

[Captain Kwok]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
No cube worlds.

I have considered more realistic placement of planets, but that would require a lot of work. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Not really...

It takes no longer than it would just entering "any" entries. You just use rock planets more near the star, ice planets in ring 4 or 5, gas giants beyond those. Mix it up occassionally for variety and it should be fine.

[Fyron]

WizarC:

Try logging it to PBW, then going to the Files Library section. It is in there.

Kwok:

But that forces systems to have set numbers of each planet types. Randomness is more appealing to me. Although, I suppose I could make a few "Realistic" quadrant types to do that in. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Captain Kwok]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
Kwok:

But that forces systems to have set numbers of each planet types. Randomness is more appealing to me. Although, I suppose I could make a few "Realistic" quadrant types to do that in. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Not really. You still have all sorts of variety in sizes and atmospheres, it'd just be mostly rock planets closer to the star, etc. In addition, make several duplicates of systems with the same amount of planets, making various changes to create different looks.

[Fyron]

That would require even more work, for nominal gain. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif I'll think about it.

[Fyron]

Have you looked at the systems.txt file in FQM? There are about 30 "normal" system types! That is a lot of entries to go through and change, and it lowers the randomness of maps a bit. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Captain Kwok]

What a whiner!

Why ask for suggestions if you are not going to bother with them? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Gryphin]

Fyron,
I have tryed to make an install of SEIV where the TDM and FMQ are the "Normal". After some trial and error it works Great!
I tryed test:
Small Dence Threaded Spiral
I am getting large unbreatable planets with slots for 9 facilities. Is this what is supposed to happen?

[Fyron]

As per the readme, domed planets get 1/3 as many facility slots instead of 1/5.

[Gryphin]

Thanks and enjoy your holidays. I hope school is going well.

[Fyron]

Fyron's Quadrant Mod v1.17

New Version!

Medium HW bug is bypassed.

FyronsQuadrantModv117.zip (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1041471460.zip) - a 1,352 KB download

Here's the Readme:

Readme.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1041471488.txt)

There will be a new Version of FQM Deluxe incorporating the changes in a few days, plus some goodies. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Trailblazer]

Fyron,

I'm new to the forum and comparatively new to SEIV Gold, though I played the original SEIV and SEIII quite a bit. Since you asked for feedback, I thought I'd pipe in and say that I started using the deluxe mod a couple of weeks ago and have been having a bLast (no pun intended). I've been using it with the TDM modpack, the Ultimate Strategies Mod, and a few other minor things, such as a set of system names from Stars!, as many races as I could find (and many that I had to hack into shape for 1.78 though I haven't spent any time optimizing them), and even some custom CD music that I grabbed from X - Beyond the Frontier, which is great background for SEIV. Currently I'm having fun working on my own AI and seeing how it fares against those of the other races, some of which are very well-done.

When I initially installed FQM Deluxe, I did run into the problem with "file not found" mentioned by another person here. I think I tracked it down to the presence of several empty folders that are created by the straight extraction of the contents of the zip file. Since I deleted the empty folders, the problem hasn't re-surfaced, so that may have been it.

I'm looking foward to the new goodies you have, and I'm glad there will be no cube planets. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Thanks much for a fantastic mod!

[Fyron]

There were originally 4 maps in the Maps folder, but they became incompatible with Deluxe, so I deleted them.

The Maps and Savegames folders are necessary, because you can not use a map or savegame created with FQM Deluxe in the normal game or other mods, and vice versa.

[Phoenix-D]

The Maps and Savegames folders are necessary, because you can not use a map or savegame created with FQM Deluxe in the normal game or other mods, and vice versa."

That doesn't make the Savegame folder required. It's good for single player, but having all your games in different folders is a pain for PBW.

Phoenix-D

[Fyron]

That is why you use the Mod Launcher. Make a bunch of links in the savegame folders to the other savegame folders, so you can get to the quickly and effeciently. Then, it isn't much of a pain.

[Trailblazer]

I do still have both the maps and savegames folder; neither is empty, at it happens. I agree, the mod launcher is perfect for keeping the savegames separate, especially when using incompatible mods.

At the moment, I don't remember which folders I deleted. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif If I encounter the problem again when I install the soon-to-be-released update, I'll report back.

One other item of potential interest that I haven't seen mentioned; not a bug, just a quirk: If the player or AI produces colonizers in a system that happens to have random movement of ships, the colonizers will start off-planet. Any automated command, either by the AI or the player using the "send colonizer" button, that activates those colonizers will fail to load colonists and result in the creation of zero-population colonists which then have to be manually populated, as the transport minister never seems to do so, in my experience.

[Fyron]

I could give new colonies a starting population of 1 million. Empty colony ships will create colonies that have 1 million pop instead of 0. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Fyron]

I recently learned that the 30 MB limit on Shrapnel is per file, not per user. So I have uploaded the Deluxe Version of the mod here on Shrapnel.

The link in my sig now links to the file on Shrapnel, not PBW. Happy downloading! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[Trailblazer]

Actually, starting the colonies with 1M by default would be great! Or maybe 4M to simulate a colonizer with no cargo pod, if that wouldn't be a conflict and would be safe from potential abuse?

Another quirk I noticed Last night while testing my AI which I can't explain yet is that for some reason, the AI was repeatedly attempting to colonize a specific sector with two storms and no planets in a one of the few "newly-formed" systems on the map. I didn't take any notes, but if you'd like more info, let me know.

[Fyron]

That means there is a planet there, and it is behind a cloaked storm. AIs will still try to colonize cloaked planets, even though they can't.

[Captain Kwok]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
That means there is a planet there, and it is behind a cloaked storm. AIs will still try to colonize cloaked planets, even though they can't.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It must be that "Storm C" planet system. You should edit that out...

[Fyron]

I know what causes it. As long as they only waste 1 colony ship, I don't see it as that big of a deal.

[Trailblazer]

Ah, of course; I should have read further back in this topic. Not a big deal to me.

I would like to add a vote for the occasional derelict ringworld/sphereworld system, if it's doable.

Thanks!

[Fyron]

It might be doable, but would only be included in something like the Ancient quadrant type. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Fyron]

Fyron's Quadrant Mod Deluxe v2.01

Here is a new Version of FQM Deluxe!

You can get the patch here:
FQM Deluxe v2.01 Patch (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1042261355.zip) - a 408 KB download.

You can get the full Version here:
FQM Deluxe v2.01 (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1042261123.zip) - a 12,420 KB download.

Or, you can download a smaller Version in which the huge system graphics have been converted to jpeg format. You will need to convert them back to bmp format for them to work in-game. Check the ReadFirst.txt file for the locations of the files. You can get this smaller Version here:
FQM Deluxe v2.01 JPEG (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1042262741.zip) - a 2,941 KB download

You can also view the Readme.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1042261249.txt).

You will need at least the Planet Pack of the Image mod installed to play with this mod. It can be gotten from here:
SE4 Image Mod (http://www.geocities.com/hohoho611ca/imagepack.html)

You have to play maps made with FQM Deluxe with the mod itself; the maps will not work in other mods. This is because files were modded that remove universal compatibility.

For converting those jpegs, you could get Irfan View, at http://www.irfanview.com/. It has a nice batch conVersion utility that will quickly convert a bunch of files from one format to another.

Ooops! I forgot to include the readme from USM in the FQM Deluxe zip! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

Here are the pertinent files:

USM Readme.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1042263262.txt)

USM Credits.txt (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/newuploads/1042263278.txt)

[ January 11, 2003, 05:35: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Fyron]

Who let this slip to the second page? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon6.gif

[geoschmo]

Hmmm, possible bug here. I can't seem to use the map editor at all when using the FQMD 2.01. I get an error about not being able to insert a line and the physical type boxes are coming up blank. That comes form the stellar abilities.txt file does it not?

Geoschmo

[Fyron]

The map editor is broken. It doesn't work very well with mods. Did you try selecting FQM from the Mod Launcher list, and then hit Edit Maps?

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
The map editor is broken. It doesn't work very well with mods. Did you try selecting FQM from the Mod Launcher list, and then hit Edit Maps?<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yes. I don't think this is a map editor problem I am seeing. I think it's specific to your mod. I thought it might be at first, casue I know it has trouble finding images and stuff for mods. As a test I made a new install of SEIV on my pc and copied all the FQM files into that. So for the purpose of the test FQM was default, not a mod. I still have the problem when I try to edit systems in the map editor. And I don't have this problem with other mods.

Geoschmo

[ January 16, 2003, 16:54: Message edited by: geoschmo ]

[Fyron]

That's because very few other mods make changes to files that FQM changes.

Do you have the Image Mod installed?

[geoschmo]

Yes, I have the image mod. That's not it. Although on my other computer now I am not seeing the problem, so it may be that my mapeditor.exe got corrupted on the other machine. May not be the mod at all.

Geoschmo

[Fyron]

Can't be the mod, cause I can edit maps with no problem. Can't generate them in the editor, but that's just cause the editor doesn't like non-default mid-life quadrants. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Gryphin]

Fyron,
You have probably seen this but it is a nice piece of eye candy for your mod if you have not.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030121.html

[Krakenup]

Originally posted by Gryphin:
Fyron,
You have probably seen this but it is a nice piece of eye candy for your mod if you have not.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030121.html<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That's a great site. That's where I got the nebula pictures that appear as Nebulae 6 - 15 in this mod.

[Fyron]

I was thinking that FQM Deluxe could use a custom intro screen. Anyone want to make one for it? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[mlmbd]

Fyron, an Intro screen. Are you serious?

<font color=purple>mlmbd http://www.shrapnelgames.com//ubb/icons/icon6.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif </font>

[Fyron]

Yes. Why would I not be serious?

[mlmbd]

fyron, I was just making sure. So, what type of Intro are you looking for?

<font color=purple>mlmbd http://www.shrapnelgames.com//ubb/icons/icon6.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif </font>

[mlmbd]

If you don't have an idea. I 'DO'. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

<font color=purple>mlmbd http://www.shrapnelgames.com//ubb/icons/icon6.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif </font>

[Fyron]

Then make it and show me your idea! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif It has to say Space Empires IV Gold or whatever the normal one says, and then Fyron's Quadrant Mod Deluxe in it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Suicide Junkie]

How about a montage of galaxy maps and system maps strewn about behind the letters?
That could be pretty cool.

[mlmbd]

fyron, do you want your real name in the credits? Would you like all the info in your sig in the screen as well?

<font color=purple>mlmbd http://www.shrapnelgames.com//ubb/icons/icon6.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif </font>

[Fyron]

You can edit the credits?

And besides, that has nothing to do with the Intro Screen.

[mlmbd]

If I can't then I can create a file to generate a new list. So, Yes! One way or another.

And besides, that has nothing to do with the Intro Screen. <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It does with my Intro Screen!

<font color=purple>mlmbd http://www.shrapnelgames.com//ubb/icons/icon6.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif </font>

[ January 29, 2003, 16:01: Message edited by: mlmbd ]

[geoschmo]

Well mlmbd, If you are talking about the scrolling credits that come up when you hit the credits button, I believe the only way to edit the credits is to change the se4.exe. Doing so would possibly make distributing the mod illegal depending on whom you ask, and regardless will make it extremely upopular. Not to mention unusable for play on PBW.

Geoschmo

[mlmbd]

geo, I am talking about making a 'new' Intro screen. It has nothing to do with the SEIV exacuteable. I am not going to send out a hack. Not that I couldn't, but fyron said he wanted a 'new' Intro for FQM Deluxe.

<font color=purple>mlmbd http://www.shrapnelgames.com//ubb/icons/icon6.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif </font>

[Fyron]

The credits are not part of the intro bmp. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by mlmbd:
geo, I am talking about making a 'new' Intro screen. It has nothing to do with the SEIV exacuteable. I am not going to send out a hack. Not that I couldn't, but fyron said he wanted a 'new' Intro for FQM Deluxe.

<font color=purple>mlmbd http://www.shrapnelgames.com//ubb/icons/icon6.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif </font><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Dude. You asked if he wanted the credits changed. Since you were talking about the intro screen, and the only credits on the intro screen are the scrolling credits that come up on the right side when you hit the credits button, and the contents of the those credits are contained in the executable as far as I am aware, the only two possible conclusions one could draw from your comments are:

1. You were not aware the credits were contained in the executable. If that's the case then I have informed you of the fact.

or

2. You are aware and were planning on modifiing the executable.

I wasn't jumping on you about it. If that's what you were planning that's your business. I was merely pointing out that it would limit the popularity of the mod if Fyron were to add it in.

Geoschmo

[Fyron]

Not to mention that I wouldn't consider adding a hacked exe in the mod in the first place. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by mlmbd:
Geo, look in the folder Space Empires IV Gold\Pictures\Game\Screens\1024X768 at Intro.bmp. It is not an exacutible. Just a bmp. I can add all I want to it without hacking anything. I can 'recreate' the look of the buttons, the way things scroll and so on.

Geesh!!!

<font color=purple>mlmbd http://www.shrapnelgames.com//ubb/icons/icon6.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif </font><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">mlmbd, I know how the intro.bmp works. And yes, while you can change the look of the buttons, they are not part of the intro.bmp. And no, you can not change the way things scroll at all without changing the executable. The scrolling credits have nothing to do with the intro.bmp. And you cannot add new animated elements to the intro.bmp. You would know that if you knew how the intro.bmp works. You keep saying you aren't going to change the executable, yet you keep saying you are going to change things that I know would require a change to the executable. Like I said, I presonally don't care whether you change the executable or not. It makes no difference to me. But if will severly limit the usefullness of the mod.

Be that as it may, I did qualify my original statement to say "If you are talking about the scrolling credits that come up when you hit the credits button..." If you weren't talking about that, then the rest of my statement doesn't apply. Perhaps you should read what people say before you get all defensive.

Geoschmo

[mlmbd]

geo, I was not talking about altering the buttons on the SE IV intro. Or the things you access with any of the buttons on the bottom of the screen. The screen is a bmp. It can be layered, as not to effect anything from the original screen. Something like the intro screen from 'TDM', with text at the top right corner.

I would be a lot less defensive, if you didn't keep telling me what I don't know. I was only attempting to help fyron. So, why on earth would I even think about doing something that would be questionable? Please, give me a little credit!

<font color=purple>mlmbd http://www.shrapnelgames.com//ubb/icons/icon6.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif </font>

[ January 31, 2003, 13:25: Message edited by: mlmbd ]

[geoschmo]

Well that's fine mlmbd. I will appologize if my tone offended you somehow. However to be fair the whole confusion could have been straigtend out if you had simply explained more clearly what you were going to do. What you are suggesting now is not adding fyron's "real name in the credits" as you originally said, but adding text to the intro.bmp. And you are unable to "create a file to generate a new list", or change "the way things scroll" by simply making changes to the intro.bmp. These are your comments mlmbd. I submit that in the absence of any further qualifying statements your comments showed a lack of understanding of what was possible to change in the intro.bmp and what wasn't. I was merely trying to correct that perceived lack of understanding on your part. I doubt I was the only person that took them that way. In the future if you would be more clear about what you are saying perhaps these misunderstandings could be avoided.

Geoschmo

[mlmbd]

Geo, look in the folder Space Empires IV Gold\Pictures\Game\Screens\1024X768 at Intro.bmp. It is not an exacutible. Just a bmp. I can add all I want to it without hacking anything. I can 'recreate' the look of the buttons, the way things scroll and so on.

Geesh!!!

<font color=purple>mlmbd http://www.shrapnelgames.com//ubb/icons/icon6.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif </font>

[F Te antKe]

I asked this in "The Best Mod for solo play but it probably got overlooked in the paragraph. It is probably more appropriate here. I only play against the AI and a few close fiends. There are always Ais in the game.
It just occurred to me.
Which Version of the FQM is the most "AI Friendly"?
Or to put it a different way: Which FQM will generate the least difficult systems and sectors for the AI? Perhaps it is an older Version.

[gregebowman]

Ok, I have a question. I loaded the mod using one of the available mod launchers. For some reason, when I tried to pull up any existing races, there weren't any. I then tried to change directories, using the standard races folder, but nothing would load. What am I doing wrong? Do I need to add a pictures/races directory in the mod folder, or there some other factor that's causing this? This happened to another mod I tried to use also.

[Fyron]

F Te antKe:
Both mods make stronger AIs because there are more planets for them to colonize. If you want a very AI-friendly quadrant, use the Paradise type in either standard or deluxe. It has no deadly systems (spatial rupture, black hole, etc.), and only a few nebulae.

Greg:
Do you mean empire files, or ship sets? Which Version of the mod were you using?

[ February 06, 2003, 20:10: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[F Te antKe]

Fyron, I'm sorry. That is right in your help file where I have read it at least 3 times.
Thanks again.
I hope it is made part of the next CD release. I also hope they make you a beta tester if you want it.

[Fyron]

No need to be sorry. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

I don't think any new beta testers will be added for SE4. I do hope to get on the beta team for any new games MM makes though. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[gregebowman]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
[
Greg:
Do you mean empire files, or ship sets? Which Version of the mod were you using?[/QB]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">As far as I can tell, the mod I'm using is v2.01. But like I said, when I try to load any exiting races, there aren't any. since there isn't a pictures folder in the mod, how do I get any races to choose?

[Fyron]

If the mod has new system nebulae pics, it is FQM Deluxe (2.01).

Load existing races, as in "Add new empire" or "Load Empire"? If the latter, there might be an empty Empires folder in the FQM folder that is causing a problem.

Also, because there is no FQM\Pictures\Races folder, SE4 will look in the default Pictures\Races folder. That does not cause any problems (unless you have no races in your default races folder, which would have required you do have deleted them or renamed the folder http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif ).

[Dralasite]

Edit: I didn't see the "FQM & TDM" post before I wrote this. Tinstructions from that post are nicer, they could go in the readme (but replace TDM with "most other mods").

I suggest you should include something like this in your readme file (from an ealier post by Fyron):

You can load the mod, create a map, save it, and then load up TDM and load that map to use. There should be no problems at all.

Or, if you want to patch this mod directly into TDM, locate these files in the FyronsQuadrantMod\Data folder:

StellarAbilityTypes.txt
SystemNames.txt (unless you want to use one of your own)
SystemTypes.txt
QuadrantTypes.txt

Backup their equivalents in the Data folder of the TDM Modpack. Then copy them from FyronsQuadrantMod\Data to TDM-Modpack\Data. This can be done with pretty much any mod, btw. <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

[ February 09, 2003, 16:04: Message edited by: Dralasite ]

[Captain Kwok]

If I remove all the stupid names from the systemnames.txt file, would I get a credit in the readme file?

[Fyron]

Yes Kwok. I have been implying that you do that for a while now. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Dral:
Since you already saw the TDM + FQM thing, it will be included in all future Versions of FQM, and is mentioned in the readme. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[ February 09, 2003, 22:34: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Ed Kolis]

What, you finally got tired of "Sir, our scoutships have explored the Fritolai system", too? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[Fyron]

I didn't, but Kwok did. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif