Weird Worlds: The Babylon Project
Version 2.60
by Graeme Henson (PaddirN - paddirn@hotmail.com)

Based entirely on:
Babylon 5 Shadowfall
Version 2.2
by Guy Hagen (Psientist - psientist@networkinsight.net)
12/4/06


################################################################################
Author / Contributors
################################################################################
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 - debugging: distribution.ini "DIFF" fix

ImUrOBGYN - debugging: max ships in game limitation (I never would have found
	that one)

PaddirN - Various quests/ graphics/ races added on

Fingers - Shrapnel Mod Forum tech support

And everybody else that has been playing through these broken updates, thanks for the patience!

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.



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



################################################################################
Play
################################################################################
Start Weird Worlds, then click the 'MODS' button on the startup menu; 
select 'Weird World: The Babylon Project v2.60' and then click 'START'.

Or alternately make a shortcut to the main program and add these commands after weird.exe 
"-skiplauncher -game babylonproject_v260"


################################################################################
About This Mod
################################################################################
This mod is intended to capture as much of the Babylon 5 TV series, movies, and spin-offs 
in one game as possible. Although I'll try to avoid as much of the more... questionable 
elements of the spin-off series/movies.



################################################################################
Version History
################################################################################

[Babylon Project versions - PaddirN]

Version 2.60
        - new ship: Frazi fighter -- replaces gorith as mainstay narn fighter, although the gorith is still around...
        - new ship: Thunderbolt Starfury for the Earth Alliance
        - new ship: Shadow Scout -- mid-sized shadow vessel
        - new ships: Brakiri Avioki Cruiser, Brokados Corvette, & Riva Fighter totally redesigned from the ground up
        - changed game messages for Omega mission, only reports halfway point and so on, feels less like having 
                 a mainquest everytime now. May add Earth Civil war as a mainquest at some point.
        - Tirk and the Vree are now found on the map instead of offmap.
        - slightly different image for Omega to show rotating section (note: does not actually rotate... yet?)
        - Omega weapon slot sizes changed so that only large guns can be place din front
        - Whitestar forward weapon slot changed so that only one very large gun can be equipped
        - Centauri Primus now launches sentri fighters, why should the Narn have all the fun?
        - the price of Dust has gone up
        - The Well of Forever is out there...
        - scanners have been acting funny out near the rim, as well as reports of... "things" out there.
        - an Apocalypse box is waiting to be found.
        - quest naming structure changed to reflect FLAG value ('ally_', 'alws_', 'evnt_', 'game_', 'main_', & 'nevr_')
                 just easier to organize. should not affect gameplay at all, checked & double-checked folder vs. game.ini file.
        - Data crystal with jump gate no longer findable, but you may get it if you wish upon the cheating star

     * Bug Fixes
           - Vorlon beacon event *should* work now
           - beacon allies (vree, tirk, rangers, vorlons) *should* show up on large maps
     * Known Bugs
           - Non-occurring event somewhere out there, possibly even one that crashes the game to windows
           - there is an earth alliance ally buried in here, but it doesn't work for some reason so it isn't
                      implemented yet in game.

Version 2.55
        - weakened the shielding for most fighters, may end up adding more fighters to fleets for play balance
        - changes in the color/shape of weapon effects for starfuries, the Victory main gun, drakh guns, 
                 and x-ray beams. After reviewing footage from the show I've made changes to make them more "realistic"
        - omega forward gun positions moved to front and arc range lowered.
        - drakh cruiser weapon positions changed after watching the Crusade ep. "War Zone". Apparently
                 the drakh pulse is fired from the rear... and its yellow.
        - added "dust", "Drazi sash", "holographic demon", and "an episode from "Dallas" items
        - added "mudpod", "stalker", "gulphog", & "skywhale" lifeforms to the mix
        - new gui "beep" sounds I found off an old B5 media CD, as well as new opening music
        - B5 icons I found off of a website which entirely escapes me at the moment (apologies). 
                 Located in the 'ico-bfiv.zip' file.
        - Jump Point Generator no longer findable. May add another quest later on to find it.
        - alphabatized the items/quests in the game.ini file... yeah, I'm That anal. Really just an internal thing,
                 shouldn't affect gameplay, though it may have messed up something somewhere...

Version 2.50
        - New mainquest: the Thirdspace aliens invade! Can you stop them before its too late?
                 (not a kawangi clone, I promise)
        - New mainquest: the Shadow war comes to a head as the Shadows amass a fleet to break
                 the back of the fledgleing Alliance!
        - New race & ship: Thirdspace aliens w/ a Thirdspace Cruiser
        - New sprite for Raider Zephyr
        - Vorlon planet killer mainquest SHOULD work now.
        - New targeting system: the Holographic chamber (note that I thought it was a stupid idea)
        - Fixed the Vree "multiplying beacon" bug

Version 2.45
        - new vorlon ship: Vorlon Fighter
        - new race & ship: Vree with Xill warship
        - summon more allies into combat with Beacons. only one I'll give away is 
                 the Drazi mercenary, Tirk! Can you find the rest?
        - adjustments to the power levels of the shadows and the vorlons, slightly more manageable
        - it pays to have some passengers aboard...
        - new graphics for various races
        - and yet Another attempt at jumpgates, this one is a bit of a cop-out on my part, but
                 should appeal to the non-violent score junkies
        - changed way the Primus is picked up, should be a tad more interesting.
        - changes to the Jump Drive particle effects, should be more "realistic", also made Jump point 
                 generator drive as a findable item now
        - numerous other changes/fixes which I completely forgot to write down

Version 2.40
        - new drazi ship: Sky Serpent
        - merged Shadows with Drakh to remove "Shadow vs Drakh" battles, 
                 can't evil just get along?
        - Victory Class: main gun is now only one use (per combat); possible 
                 problems if used with other ships in flotilla (?) (simulator still uses old style for obvious reasons)
        - Victory Class: size changed after looking over the actual sizes of 
                 ships in the series, an Omega is actually smaller than the Victory
        - added a "Minbari ECM unit" system item to Minbari craft, 
                 practically untargetable?
        - added "Justin" to Lorien quest, an alternate event for evil players who
                 visit Z'ha'dum. May follow up with additional quest on Epsilon.
        - added Garibaldi drop-off at B5 for the uncurious.
        - another change to 'virus' quest following revelation that "haveitem" command only
                 applies to cargo hold.
        - further changes to narn/centauri behavior, hopefully they will behave as expected
        - changed weapon for minbari fighters, should look and feel more like the tv series (more of a gatling gun effect?)
        - Raider Battle Wagon: changed size, as well as layout of systems, should work better now.
        - changed graphic for raiders, that pirate face was making me sick
        - increased size of Minbari Sharlin b/c it is also supposed to be bigger than Omega, 
                 also gave it improved combat computer b/c they're supposed to be bad-ass
        - changed sizes/speed/armor/turn of various craft after comparing and contrasting
                 from data on B5-tech manual

Version 2.35
        - Removed Jumpgate ally... just too awkward
        - New Earth Alliance Ship: Hyperion class
        - New "weapon" against the Shadows
        - More work with Narn/Centauri conflict
        - The Vorlons up the ante! (prepare to be mega-screwed... I may have to tinker with this one)
        - New Items & Quests
        - First Ones behave slightly differently now, hopefully removing potential "double wish crash"
        - More passengers added (or re-added in Londo's case) to the roster and some passenger quests touched up
        - Pak'ma'ra ally now befriends Pak'ma'ra (in theory)
        - Different color scheme for Centauri Primus, Antique still looks the same (its an antique)
        - Change to "Virus" quest which may actually make it occur (untested, though I suspect it doesn't work)
	- A Conspiracy Revealed! and more fun with data crystals...
        - Various minor Graphic and Text changes to races and items

Version 2.3
        - Name change
        - Updated files to take advantage of Weird Worlds v1.2
        - Added Jumpgates
        - Added Starfuries
        - New quests
        - New allies
        - Two new races: Raiders and Earth Alliance
        - New graphics and text for mission briefings
        - Fixes and updates to the previous versions that either weren't working or hadn't been implemented yet.


[Shadowfall versions - Guy Hagen]

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)



################################################################################
Known Issues
################################################################################
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!!!



################################################################################
About The Ships
################################################################################
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)	
	

################################################################################
About the Races
################################################################################
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
	
	

################################################################################
Things I haven't Implemented / Wish List
################################################################################
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

	

################################################################################
Things I have given up on
################################################################################
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.
