Ok, a stupid question: which mods?

[Cipher7071]

I've played the TDM: the one that worked with version 1.49 (I haven't downloaded the updated version yet). Aside from that, I now hear Adamant, Carrier Battles, Star Trek...

The reason I ask is that I'd like to familiarize myself with a mod before I jump into a game that uses it, especially if I take over an empire. But I don't want to spend a whole bunch of time evaluating half a dozen mods before I do it.

I suppose everyone has their personal favorite.

Another question (which I will probably regret asking) is why is a particular mod your favorite?

[Fyron]

Discounting mods I made, I'd have to say that P&N is probably still my favorite mod. It has a lot of little fixes and tweaks to stock items to improve balance, has QNP, pirates and nomads (of course!), was one of the first mods to implement crossover racial techs (Devnull was the other one way back when, Dark Nova is working on adding some), a bunch of minor, but cool, racial traits, balanced resource costs, and so on. It's a very enhanced stock, and was my inspiration to get into SE4 modding. Note that SJ made an AI Patcher tool that can convert stock compatible AIs (including TDM!) to work in P&N, which can really give you a run for your money if you play as a pirate or nomad (and still challenging otherwise).

Devnull is another stock-enhancer, but strays much less farther from the tree than P&N does. It is primarily a "fixer" mod, but with some added features (space monsters!, some more missiles, other stuff I forget). Similar to TDM, it also has some killer AIs. Not all of the AIs are so highly tweaked though, if I recall correctly.

STM, though hindered by the restrictive Star Trek universe, is still a well thought out, fun mod. Each race has some special facilities and components to branch out from the core ST-flavored tech tree.

Proportions places great importance upon the homeworld, making it much more powerful than in stock. Colonies are small, weak and slow. They take a huge investment to get going, and never approach the HW (unless you are obsessive and play a few thousand turns ). There are lots of other features I forget these days. Definitely makes for a very different experience. AIC is a derivative, though with numerous added features of it's own, whose main goal is to provide killer AI in a similar universe.

I'll have to let someone else cover Carrier Battles, as I haven't played it much. One of the few things I do know is that Rollo recently made some reportedly stellar AI for it.

Well, I might as well say something about the other two:

FQM greatly expands map options and features. It is generally compatible with most mods, and can be combined with them if you so choose.

For Adamant, I'll just direct you to the features page. It has some working AI, but nothing to write home about. The focus was definitely on multiplayer gaming.

I'm sure I've missed some important things about these mods, so feel free to add more!

[bearclaw]

If you are looking for a mod for PBW to gather players quickly, Dark Nova seems to fit that bill.

currently, there are 2 PBW games using DN4 (different versions) that I am aware of, and most of these players are interested in other games using the mod.

I am still working on the next version which I hope to have out sometime in August. This one is a big upgrade.

[Suicide Junkie]

Carrier Battles mod... where to begin?

CB was written from scratch with lots of math done beforehand to ensure things were all balanced, unique and useful. It has the smell of old school naval battles, with carriers, battleships and other ships of the line.
There are not too many actual weapons, but every gun and every mount has a significant use. In fact, most weapon/mount combinations will show up in at least one serious battle during a competitive PBW game. A hearty mix of weapons in every battle is important if you want to win.
Combat is quite gritty, with leaky shields, armor and even point defense. (Missiles aren't overpowering, but they are still somewhat useful even when the enemy has overwhelming numbers of PD ships)
When you shoot the enemy in CB, they feel it! Steamrolling is very rare, and in any serious skirmish both sides will take significant casualties.

Planetary defense in the short term is far easier in CB. Most weapons either don't target planets, or do minimal to insignificant damage. A combination of fighters and troops can usually hold off a beseiging force long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

Racial setup is very different too. Most of the variety has been moved from the sliders to the cultures to allow it to be balanced carefully.
Everything from +100% build rate "Disposable society" to maintenance-free "Preservationists"
In fact, so far in the Favorite Culture Poll, opinion is quite divided.
I'm quite surprised that there are no votes for Efficient Workers at this time, since I see quite a few of those guys in my PBW games.

[Cipher7071]

that sounds quite different SJ. You may have sold me on Carrier Battles.

[Suicide Junkie]

There are currently two open spots left by Axel on PBW.
Carrier Battles #8, which currently has a big galaxy-wide war going on. Instant action, plus allies that will help you get a hang of the strategies and tactics being employed.

Carrier Battles Deluxe #2b is also open but since I'm not in it I don't know as much about what is going on. Almost certainly it will have a more stable political situation

You will probably want to read up on the tutorial page I have:
http://imagemodserver.mine.nu/other/.../CBmodTutorial

[Cipher7071]

The tutorial is too much to take in all at once, so I made it available off-line. I'll return to it later, thanks.

[Cipher7071]

Okay, SJ. I downloaded Carrier Battles Mod version 1.4a, only to learn that I still need the image mod. This is a sizable file, and I still have that same slow connection. I went searching for a torrent file, but got no results. Any chance you could make one?