SEV Mod questions
 

Sorry if some are noob questions, just wanted to get them all out.

1 Is it possible to make a mod that slowly moves planets, asteroids, ships and multiple stars (in orbits)?

2 Is it possible to make a mod that moves systems in the galaxy?

3 Is it possible to mod in systems (eg starless) that do not appear on the galaxy map?

4 Is it possible to mod in opening warp points to empty regions of the galaxy map? (unfortunately meaning creating new systems)

5 Is it possible to mod in unstable wormholes or tech that would allow crossed warp lines to be jumped? (hope that makes sense)

6 Is it possible to mod a tech/device that increases/decreases the size of planets (using mass driver or gravitational technologies)?

7 Is it possible to mod more planet types/states like water (hot ice), lava (hot terran), plasma (hot gas)?

8 Is it possible to mod in organic value to be dependent on the occupying race's atmosphere type?

9 Is it possible to mod in stuff like subterranean races (and variants for each planet type) or even a tech? (remember moo2, or a toned down SE4 advanced storage techniques)

10 Is it possible to mod warp points to require an additional special tech to use? or a warp sensor tech that allows scanning the destination sector?

Re: SEV Mod questions
 

Much of that is way out there...
Some things of note:

#9: you've just said yourself how to do it.

#10: This would be less modding the warppoints, and more adjusting the units (which can be specified whether they can warp or not) You could turn all the ships into units if you wanted, and work from there.

#7: Sure, see PlanetPhysicalTypes.txt

#1: Slowly? There aren't that many hexes in the close orbits.
Moving planets would make systems hell to navigate, too.

#3: Last I checked, unmapped systems do not appear on the galaxy map in SE5.

Re: SEV Mod questions
 

I am not an expert but am basing my hypothesis on what I would suspect would be possible.

I highly doubt it. I think have such things moving would take a much different program. If it was possible I believe it would only be by having it as part of the game to start with.

?. At first I thought you meant moving the system with planets etc to another area. Again probably not possible. Then I realised you probably meant the systems revolving around the galactic core. As with your first question I'd have to go on record as saying no.

No system appears on the map until you find it, well unless you are ancient. You should be able to make systems without stars. At this stage I would expect a map editor to become available. SE5 follows the SE habit of allowing you to mod practically anything except game mechanics.

Highly doubtful. You can't create systems in game and you need to have a target system to make wormholes. Let me just say I am basing my assumptions on my knowledge of the SE4 mechanics. As far as I know SE5 is an improved version, but still follows the basic rules.

It might be possible to have unstable wormholes. I've noted wormholes have different capacities. If Wormholes now have changeable statistics I'd be very interested to find they can collapse as with SE4 stars. You can make new wormholes. The lines showing wormhole passage don't stop another line crossing it if the new system is on the same level.

I highly doubt it. I suspect the closest is creating new larger planets. To increase the planet size would probably involve destroying it and then building a new planet and the rubble would be the same size as the planet destroyed.

Edit: Yeah, what Suicide Junkie said.

No. Atmosphere type is merely to differentiate the possibility to colonise a certain percentage of planets.

Probable. If Se5 follows Se4 a mod should certainly be able to introduce new traits.


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I am unwilling to hazard a guess. Doubt you can look in another system. You'd need to be able to see all of a new system to start with.

Re: SEV Mod questions
 

Slowly, maybe 1 hex every three turns or something... yes, it could be hard to navigate (it may even require orbital techs)... (I am trying to understand the limits of mod-possibility - not so much the practicality).

good point, but what about unmappable mystery systems or just removing systems from the map?

Re: SEV Mod questions
 

Actually I have my own question. One of my favourite books is the Starfire series (I have the Shiva Option). What I would love to be able to do is have closed warppoints like in the book. Practically invisible wormholes with a hidden ending so that unless you saw someone come out you would never know it was there.

Re: SEV Mod questions
 

So starting in a system with no warp points would make for a pretty bad SE5 game then? In fact, is any map that isn't completely connected even playable? There's got to be something along those lines of detecting other stars that the demo doesn't include.

Re: SEV Mod questions
 

In SE4 there were some games where you started without any warppoints but had to build your own. This was possible as you could see the location of every system. AS SE5 doesn't show the system until you find it I'd have to say that would be impossible. HAving a closed off system shoudn't stop the map being usable for all the systems you can reach, but it doesn't look like the closed system would ever be available. Unless it had an ancient race that eventually appears, since it can see all the systems.

Re: SEV Mod questions
 

The grayed out General Options for the demo includes "No Warp Points".

The invisible/cloaked warp points is an interesting concept (especially if you can hide those horrid little broken warp lines on the galaxy map). Maybe include a tech for revealing warp points.

Re: SEV Mod questions
 

It made for a different war in the book. You had to go through new wormhole stealthed so that the enemy didn't see you, in case it was closed and they were unaware of it, and never go through a closed wormhole unless you were 100% certain there wasn't another stealthed ship watching. An ally made that mistake and they lost one of their homeworlds. Later the good guys find a closed wormhole to one of the enemies 5 homeworlds and wipe it out. The enemy survive the war, unknown to the good guys, but they are in a closed system with only a single planet. If they ever come out they will be detected and their race exterminated.

Re: SEV Mod questions
 

oh right, I forgot about those. Yep i've been using them. I was wondering if I'd found all the warp points in a system then realised it showed all the directions it went.

Re: SEV Mod questions
 

Is that the 'bug war' you're refering too? I don't remember any text on any bugs surviving.

Re: SEV Mod questions
 

yep the bug war. On the Baen edition P587, in one of the systems that must be defended the bugs think on how their systems has 4 warppoints, not just the 3 visible. A new race appeared through it, thus giving away it's location, but the bugs only need 1 gunboat to conquer the enemy. They deem the new planet the planet which must be concealed. They send a colony to the planet but can't send more in case the allies see it. The colony must never use that warppoint again. Later as they are about to be exterminated the last bug planet learns of the hidden colony, and takes some hope that at least some will survive, albeit hidden away.

Re: SEV Mod questions
 

I remember that now.

I don't think the word 'hope' applies; they seem to be computer-like; emotionless, but not impulse-less.

Re: SEV Mod questions
 

Well it's described as a fragile emotion, but yeah bugs feeling anything is a bit out of place. When they lose battles the strongest they "feel" is being slightly annoyed. Even when it is obvious they will be exterminated they don't regret anything, yeah sure they might have made some slight changes in strategy but not for a second do they even consider that they would not have attacked the allies.

Re: SEV Mod questions
 

Here's more mod questions...
1) Should the BMPs for the planet models be saved as 24 bit (or 16 or 32)?
2) What needs to be edited besides StellarObjectTypes.txt (looks like one entry for each planet size has to be added there)?

I've begun making some planet textures... using a fractal terrain program. Sweet how the planets slowly turn on the map... never noticed that before.

Re: SEV Mod questions
 

I'm theorizing that you could just make alternative space background like WP graphics which would hide the WP, until someone enters the hex, but you would of course still have to use the warp command. Also I wonder if its possible to set up a certain level or type of sensor to the WP, that a certain component/level could detect said Warp Points...

Re: SEV Mod questions
 

The space background is parallaxed, so that won't hide them.
You could make the warppoint model invisible, but that won't stop you from viewing the object lists.

You could start by turning off the settings.txt value for WP seen at any distance = true.

Re: SEV Mod questions
 

The problem with invisible warppoints is that they need to be invisible to the AI, which could be really tricky, or impossible aside from cloaking (which is limited)... and the AI wouldn't be up to watching other players vanish to find warp points.

My new planet textures might be causing crashes when a star containing one of the textured planets is clicked on the minimap... weird. Never noticed such crashes before I tried making textures.