OT: SEIV

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

Beorne said:

Wich mods are most widely used? Which mods do you recommend? I have played vanilla, but when I had to install some mods I was overhelmed by the huge amount so I didn't know which one (or which serie) to install to improve the game.

Almost necessary for some mods:
-Neo-Standard add-on - adds many new ship/unit pics for the stock races. Many mods use the neostandard pics.
-all Image Mods - a lot of mods use the Image Mod Packs which contain over 1400 new comp pincs, IIRC approx. 1000 facility pics, the Planet and Event Packs add lots of new pics to use, and the Combat pack adds new beam/torp graphics.

Recommended, because of widespread use:
-Proportions, which adds many new techs and several ship sizes. Introduced the famous Cultural Centers which give massive bonuses - and with whom your Homeworld is packed.
-Pirates and Nomads, also adds many new techs. You can play as a normal race, a Pirate who cannot colonize but is specialized in, well, piracy, or as a Nomad, who cannot colonize wither, but who are well adapted to life in space.
-Babylon 5 Mod - popular mod that emulates the TV series.
-Atrocities Star Trek Mod - also a popular mod that emulates the TV series.
-Adamant - a massive mod which adds Organic and Magical races.

And there are many more mods out there, some huge conversions like Adamant, some only small mods which can be used as add-ons. I'm (yes I'm shameless) currently working on two mods which both change gameplay, Capship where you get to have unbelievably huge warships which crawl through space and cost astronomical amounts of resources to maintain - not only because of the 50% maint cost, but also because the base cost of the hull is so huge, and Realism, in which you start with space travel technology which is actually slightly lower-tech than what we currently use. You later get solar sail ships for fast short-range interstellar travel, and sleeper ships which are slow but have a long range.

Check the SEIV forum sometimes for more info, and drop by the Won-Ton Violence Take-Out Hut for a nice drink & chat.

[Alneyan]

There is no widespread mod in the field of multiplayer SEIV games (quite surprisingly too, since the regular game could *really* use some improvements, more so than Dominions). A few other mods include, but are not limited to:

* PvK Balance mod, which makes Empire setups less of a no-brainer. There is literally *one* setup worth your time in the standard game, with a couple of variations, and everything else is... well, more expensive and weaker.
* Proportions does not merely include tech areas: it is rather a major overhaul of the game, which reduces the focus on reckless expansion and focuses instead on a more careful development (colonies take a long time to pay off, and the tech tree can actually last beyond turn 70).
* TDM for AIs with better scripts, and AIC for AIs with added assets. TDM is essentially the same thing as the regular game, while the AI Campaign is quite close to Proportions, and therefore offers a vastly different gameplay.
* Fyron's Quadrant Mods for a more varied galaxy.
* Adamant and the universe mods mentioned below.

That list mostly includes mods that have reached a certain level of development; there are other promising mods currently in development, but this would be another matter.

[Beorne]

But .. are the different mods compatible?
For example, can I install Proortions, PvK and TDM?

Thank you

[Alneyan]

Most of them aren't: only mods affecting a part of the game (like FQM for systems) can be used with other mods. PvK Balance changes Empire setup, but Proportions does that as well, and changes the actual balance between the characteristics; TDM requires the vanilla game to work, as it uses improved AI script, which would not work together with Proportions.

So, the general rule is that mods cannot be used together, though this is not always true, and you can always try to bend several mods if you have a bit of spare time. In the case of Proportions+TDM, the AI Campaign would probably fit the bill quite nicely, as it resembles Proportions with a tougher AI.