[WIP] SE V Overhaul

supersolid · Space Emperor Joined: Feb 21, 2015

Hello everyone,

i'm a big SE IV and SE V fan. I'm heavily interested in Game Development and Graphics and thought it's a good start to look into a finished game to learn a little more about game mechanics. Luckily SE V seems to be exceptionally open for modding, playing around and learning with.

So i decided to make a little Project here.

The main goal will be to create a different look and feel (like any other mod Razz

)

Talking about the look, SE V vanilla has it's flaws but offers alot of room for improvements.

- Tech Areas look very similar. During late game i found myself scrolling up and down and up, searching for the tech i want to research. Default grouping doesnt help alot. One of the most annoying problems for me.
Goal: -> create variation to Tech Area icons and make em more obvious in progress
create more obvious tech groups completed (9 groups)

- Some component icons look a little poor or are hard to recognize. e.g. i've never been able to tell what the bridge- or crew quarter-icons are showing in the vehicle-design-screen.
Goal: -> improve some component icons. in progress

Example:

improved visibility of Bridge in Design-Screen, made Shield-Module look more Sci-Fi, a replaced Tech Area icon.

- Buttons_Main.bmp: Buttons look very similar, relation between look and function not very obvious, style outdated.
Goal: -> fully replace by modern icons. completed

- User Interface: I'm not a big fan of the desert-like look of the interface. Not very Sci-Fi. Sad

the style of the big background images and buttons is outdated. This is probably the most ambitious part and requires alot of 2D and 3D work.
Goal: -> Create a new and more modern interface concept within size and placement restrictions. to do

- Planets: Some Planet textures are very blurry and boring and don't make good use of the given resolution.
-> Goal: replace boring textures and create more interesting textures. in progress

Example: old

new

- Nebulae: By playing around, i accidently created a multi-colored nebula which looked alot more interesting than the standard nebulae. Still need to figuere out how the textures work together.
-> Goal: Play around a little more in progress

Talking about the feel now. To make this a full mod and not just a graphic kit, i want to try out a concept that might feel different than other mods.
When i played different Mods i always find that ship weapons are very strong compared to the durability ending up with 1-shooting enemy fleets with a few big ships. I want to flip it around and make big ships very durable and costly, based on the Idea that a Carrier should be very hard to take out, very costly to build and maintain and very dangerous due to their fighters.
So i will create a big gap between capital and small weapons with their own advantages and disadvantages. A Battleship will only have 1 or 2 long range capital weapons and many "Turrets" for short range attack and fighter defense. "Turrets" will have low accuracy, short range and a high reload, unleashing the hell when enemy fighters come in range. Like a Battleship in WW2 being attacked by some divebombers or the Galactica being attacked by few Cylons. Wink

- Heavily modified Tech Tree in progress
- Weapon/Defense Concept from scratch in progress
- New Tech in progress
- Ordnance and Supplies balance. should be critical during long, exhausting battles. Early on and late game.
- Economy will be adjusted to fit the concept. in progress
- Maintenance for Big Ships and Research/Intel will become more critical (game pace will probably become way more epic).
- Fighters/Drones will be relatively cheap.
- Station Drydocks get a bonus over Planetary Spaceyards.
- add more goals in progress Razz

- a Mod-Name

Not yet sure about working on Empires and AI. There is enough work for now.

I still want to do a little work on the "feel"-part before i upload a first build for you so it doesnt feel too "vanilla". Probably within a couple days. Feel free to add your ideas, critiques or wishes meanwhile.

Fyron · Galactic Guru Joined: Aug 04, 2003 Location: CA, USA

Take a look at the Multimedia Pack for some extra assets you might be able to use. It contains a lot of new planet textures, for example. If you want to use the MMP, you should generally refer users to download the MMP separately in your mod's readme, rather than bundle them into the mod download. If you want to share original artwork with the community, we would be happy to include new stuff in the MMP.

Regarding multi-colored nebulas, take a look at FQM5 for some more examples. I was never really happy with SE5's style of nebula texture, but I did manage to create some neat effects with coloring.

DXM · Space Emperor Joined: Mar 20, 2012

Are you sticking with the stock planet texture size of 256x256?

supersolid · Space Emperor Joined: Feb 21, 2015

ekolis · Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2015 6:22 pm Post subject:

I am looking forward to playing this mod! Very Happy

One recommendation: Go with "small systems", as some mods (DJAS, Stellar Warfare, Balance Mod 1.20) have done. This means fewer (but larger) sectors per system, and reduced sensor ranges and ship speeds. This reduces clutter on the system map, as well as turn processing times.

supersolid · Space Emperor Joined: Feb 21, 2015

A possible UI-Style (not finished). Feedback?

Anyone knows by chance where to change the color of the Progress- and Spending-Bars?

DXM · Space Emperor Joined: Mar 20, 2012

Mmm, fancy... Easier on the eyes than the stock UI. Are you using the same fonts as stock?

..\Pictures\UI\Bmp_Research_ProgressBar.bmp
..\Pictures\UI\Buttons_Research_Slider.bmp
These appear to be the only relevant pictures for what you're talking about.

supersolid · Space Emperor Joined: Feb 21, 2015

marhawkman · Space Emperor Joined: Mar 24, 2008

It might be a good idea to make a mini-mod that's just your UI changes. It seems like the sort of thing people might want to use in other mods.

Also: you forgot 4. I am curious why you moved All to the bottom. the number of other buttons varies by mod. In Warp 10, I took what was categorized as "applied science" and separated out the tech areas devoted to ships into "ship science".

supersolid · Space Emperor Joined: Feb 21, 2015

marhawkman · Space Emperor Joined: Mar 24, 2008

Is All fixed to that location? In stock it's at the top rather than the bottom. Will it automatically move down when you add tech category 4?

supersolid · Space Emperor Joined: Feb 21, 2015

marhawkman · Space Emperor Joined: Mar 24, 2008

Oh, I see. It's at the bottom because the others start with numbers in your version.

Have you pondered changing the yellow/black bar?

Actually I'm not sure of the overall aesthetic you're trying for.

supersolid · Space Emperor Joined: Feb 21, 2015

marhawkman · Space Emperor Joined: Mar 24, 2008

Hmm... the tree picture is supposed to be the colony list right? Maybe add a building? As-is it looks like an uninhabited planet.