Babylon 5 Shadowfall
Version 2.1
by Guy Hagen (Psientist - psientist@networkinsight.net)
8/4/06


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Author / Contributors
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Guy Hagen - Design, graphics, overall mod integration, everything else except where noted

Csaba Steidl (aka. Chabex) - Grylor, Nakaleen Feeder, Vindrizzi, Eth plant, Pak'Ma'Ra dialog / planet

Blargue - distribution.ini "DIFF" fix

Please see the file "ResourceLinks.txt" for a list of references to web sites that contributed underlying content and original graphics for this mod.  I wouldn't have even been able to begin without them, they get the real credit.  Also, the Google image search was critical.  Special recognition to the Voltayre, SadGeezer, and B5Tech web sites for their great and comprehensive content.



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Installation
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Place the 'B5 Shadowfall' folder from the ZIP file into your Weird Worlds 
folder.  Make sure you've removed any previous versions first.



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Play
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Start Weird Worlds, then click the 'MODS' button on the startup menu; 
select 'B5 Shadowfall' and then click 'START'.



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About This Mod
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This mod is intended to capture as much of the Babylon 5 TV series, movies, and spin-offs in one game as possible.



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Version History
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Version 2.0
	- Added Narn race and fleets
	- Added "virus" quest, just because
	- Added Brakiri, Pak'Ma'Ra, Hyachi, Gaim "conversion" races (e.g., I didn't 
		create new fleets for them, or new quests).
	- New item graphics for a few star drives.
	- Restructured "First Ones" quests and other major item/assistance-giving
		quests as EVENTS - they won't ALWAYs appear now
	- Added "Eth Plant" item
	- Wonderful new levels of stability, which will hopefully be cross-platform
	- Some whimsical ship names that I accrued during playtesting

Version 1.1
	- Added "Grylor", "Vindrizzi", and "Feeder" creatures
	- Added "Soul Hunter Orb" and "phase spore" items
	- Added "Buried Battlecrab", and "Thirdspace Artifact" quests
	- Added Minbari race and fleets, and Drazi race.  Also race-related quests.
	- Dropped "Dureena" and "Londo" passenger quests to make sure player never
		exceeded maximum passenger capacity
	- Adjusted distribution.ini, hopefully to reduce PC crashiness
	- Fixed "black hole" bug.  Stupid insidious typos!
	- Fixed "First Ones" quests and added "debris field" planet type - really
		nifty kludge to allow players to drop items inside certain black holes

Version 1 (normal): Third public release (7/18/06)
	- Added "Organic Hull Armor" system item
	- Added "Neutrino Sensor Array" system item
	- Added "Subspace Detonator" weapon (just for fun)
	- Added "ranger" and "morden" quests to replace lame "vorbeacon" quests
	- Added two new "first ones" encounters
	- Added "technomage" and "Minbari Fleet" quests
	- Moved "Walkers" quest to black holes - more rare
	- Moved "Lorien" quest to Z'ha'dum
	- Fixed mission size selection bug, and installed extra-large maps.  Game
		will no longer crash upon selecting the "small" and "large" maps.
		The "Large" map has 64 stars and takes 40 years.
	- Fixed Centauri race file.  Homeworld is now guarded.
	- Adjusted Drakh Pulse Cannon strength.
	- Adjusted Babylon 4 strength.
	- Adjusted Omega Class ships to have nebular sled drive (no faster, but
		not slowed down by nebula on dense maps...)
	- Added custom "gameover.ini" quest

Beta 3: Second public release.  (7/15/06)
	- Added "Dureena" quest and item
	- Added "Book of G'Quan" item
	- Added "Triluminary" item
	- Added "Lifegiver" item (thanks, Voltayre, for the idea)
	- Added "Lorien" quest and item
	- Added "Keeper" quest and item.  I'm proud of this one!
	- Added "Arisia" quest (converted the Epsilon quest, really)
	- Added "cursed" Sardonion Optimizer, to see if I could.
	- Added "Nashabban Hiddenbeast" (icon is actually one of Godzilla's enemies)
		"Zarg" and "On" creatures.  Thanks again, Voltayre for the info and
		descriptions!
	- Implemented "vorbeacon" quests to randomly take away the Vorlon beacon 		
		once used.  It's too powerful to be able to use continually - and I 
		still haven't found a way to instantly remove it after one use.
	- Graphics: intro screen, end screen, navigation map, nebula map
	
Beta 2: First public release.  Contains roughly 50% of envisioned mods,
	not entirely stable. (7/12/06)
	
Beta 1: Pre-release (6/1/06)



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Known Issues
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1. Sometimes, on startup, the map reveals a black hole somewhere, and the Terran homeworld iniation files are lost.  You cannot retire, so the only choice is to quit right away.  Not sure what is causing this.

2. Not a bug with this mod, but this mod can reveal a bug in the game - if you are given a quest item, and your hold and ship capacity is full, and you are in a system with no planets - game over.  You cannot drop the item (no where to put it), and you can't leave the system.  So - READ THE DESCRIPTIONS OF ITEMS RECEIVED DURING EVENTS AND ENCOUNTERS!!!



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About The Ships
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There is a hierarchy of ship strengths that I've implemented based upon the TV series and gameplay.  The result may *not* necessarily true to the series, but I've done my best within the restrictions of the game.

From weakest to strongest:
	Shadow fighter
	Drakh Raider (two of which should almost be a match for a whitestar)
	Narn capital ships
	Centauri capital ships
	Omega class destroyers (roughly equal to Centauri capital ships)
	Minbari capital ships
	Whitestar class ships
	Drakh cruisers (roughly equal to whitestars, perhaps a little stronger)
	Victory class ships (with inherent flaws, however)
	Shadow battle-crabs (by a long shot)
	Vorlon star dreadnaughts (slightly tougher than a Shadow battle-crab)	
	

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About the Races
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Time has limited my implementation of races, and I've played fast and loose with the various governments and alliances.  This was my guiding intent:

	Narn:  Neutral (ally or hostile), possibly hostile (maybe future).
	Centauri: Neutral (ally or hostile), possibly mercenaries
	Minbari: Allies and traders (like Klakar)
	Drakh: Hostile, wandering
	Shadow: Hostile
	Vorlon: Ally, but not a generated race / homeworld
	Brakiri: Random neutral
	Gaim: Random neutral
	Pak'Ma'Ra: Random neutral, wandering
	Hyachi: Random neutral
	
	

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Things I haven't Implemented / Wish List
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This is a list of some of the things I simply hadn't had time to do, but wanted to.
	Vorlon fighter
	Some other race ship as a derelict ally ship (Centauri Primus for now)
	A hypergate system around random stars
	More captain and ship names
	Vree as traders?
	More Babylon-5 specific items, events and quests to replace default
	Drakh "mothership" as homeworld

	

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Things I have given up on
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There are a few things that I have tried hard to implement, but just couldn't figure out how to do.

	- The Narn G'Quan Heavy Cruiser Fighter Bay.  Why oh why won't those little
		Gorith fighters come out?  Are they shy?
	- Make the Victory main gun a one-shot weapon.
	- Make the Victory main gun muzzle effects not "track" (looks funny)
	- Make the Drakh pulse weapon have "twinkle" or rotating particle EMIT 
		effects or do something else unique
	- Make the Vorlon beacon one-use only (see "ranger" and "morden" quests)
	- Make Bester give some combat advantage against Shadow vessels.
	- The "Lorien" quest should undo the "keeper" curse.  However, the "REMV"
		page command doesn't seem to work on passengers, unfortunately.
