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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Distant Worlds 1 Series >> Design and Modding >> Babylon 5 Mod

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Babylon 5 Mod - 6/28/2014 12:32:37 PM

Imperius

Posts: 26
Joined: 6/25/2014
Status: offline

Well, I made this mostly for my own sake, but there's no reason not to share I figured ;)

It's a Babylon 5 mod, based originally on the shipsets done by Simulation01 (can't post a link to the thread, as I'm still a new user).

Races include:

Abbai
Brakiri
Centauri
Dilgar
Drakh
Drazi
Gaim
Grome
Human
Hyach
Markab
(Mechanoid)
Minbari
Minor Races (Catch-all group for all the minor races...)
Narn
Pakmara
(Securan)
Shadows
(Shakturi)
(Sluken)
Vorlon
Vree

The races in parenthesis are in just because I needed 21 races to avoid redoing the racebias.txt files and such.

I've also done race files and policy files for each one.

Shipsets as mentioned are mostly from what Simulation01 posted on his thread, and for the blanks, I filled them in as well as I could, using the shipsets available in DW: Extended. For those, I'll copy the credits from that mod:

Thanks to Kalthaniell for the use of his ship sets.
Thanks to WoodMan for the use of his ship set.
Thanks to Robocrab for the use of his ship sets.

For characters, I made a few custom ones (Sheridan, Garibaldi, Bester, etc) and then used the images from another character mod which I unfortunately can't seem to find here on the forums anymore? If anyone knows who deserves credit for that, let me know, and I'll post it here.

The mod includes a base scenario called "In the Beginning..." - it is right before Earth meets the Centauri, and are given advanced hyper drive technology. So keep an eye out for those Centauri ships sailing around the Sol-area - once you meet them, an event fires, and you get hyperdrives and a free trade agreement with the Centauri! You also start with a colony on Mars, and a few mining stations around the solar system, but it's basically an "Age of Shadows" start for humanity.

I made the galaxy map based on a Babylon 5 map of each race's sphere of influence, so it should be (more or less) accurate. I did take some creative license and made a "Union of Border Worlds" based on minor races to the "south" of the humans, otherwise that area of space would have been too easy to colonise and expand into.

I don't want to post unnecessary spoilers, but basically the Vorlons and Shadows are both tech level 8, the other races tend to be tech level 1 & 2, the Narn and Centauri are tech level 3, and the Minbari tech level 4 IIRC with a few select extra military/shield techs for the major races. Earth also starts with some ship-size techs, so their max size is 400.

But yeah, keep an eye on the Shadows in the far north! They start very weak, but they ARE an expanding empire, and as their population and fleet grow, they could be serious threat to the galaxy.

I can't seem to post links or upload files larger than 10mb since I'm a new user, so here is the link from sendspace:

sendspace dot com/file/7alkgn (you'll have to figure out how to write that in your browser as I can't post links directly, as mentioned)

(Do not download the accelerator if that is an option, de-select that, and just download the file itself - and be careful of clicking on the right link, there may be some ads that pretend to be download links). If anyone wants to re-post from a better link, I'll include it in this first message.

Oh, and this mod is pretty much "as is" - I'm posting it because it's playable and I think DW definitely needs a B5 mod, and I enjoy it so far. I doubt I'll put much more extra time and effort into it, however, so anyone else is welcome to post updates or improvements to it as they like :)

Post #: 1

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 6/28/2014 2:46:11 PM

Vargius

Posts: 16
Joined: 6/21/2014
From: Norway
Status: offline

Great work. Will definitely check it out when I have time to test it.

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Post #: 2

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 6/29/2014 1:27:43 PM

Imperius

Posts: 26
Joined: 6/25/2014
Status: offline

Hmm, strange - 20 years into a game with this mod, it seems like its laggier than usual. Ships do not move smoothly at all, either zoomed in on system view, or even on galaxy view.

Could it be because some of the ship sizes from the Babylon 5 shipsets I used are larger than 300x300 - sometimes up to 1200x800?

Or is it because I set the AI to build lots of troops in their policy files?

Is anyone else experiencing this if you've tried this mod?

Edit: Oh, and when I attempt to resize the ship images to 300-range, they end up with white background in game, oddly enough...

2nd Edit: Hmmpf, turns out that sometimes new pirate factions spawn with up to 2000 ships! I saw at least one in my latest game; guess it's a bug, not sure if its localised to my Babylon 5 map though. Just keep an eye on the pirates, and if you see one with thousands of ships, go into the editor and delete that entire faction. It seems to have solved the lag problem at least.

< Message edited by Imperius -- 6/29/2014 8:21:55 PM >

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Post #: 3

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 6/30/2014 8:58:31 PM

CyclopsSlayer

Posts: 583
Joined: 2/11/2012
Status: offline

Check your hosting service please, clicking the download button I get 2-3 virus reports both of the times I tried it.

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Post #: 4

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 6/30/2014 9:04:17 PM

Imperius

Posts: 26
Joined: 6/25/2014
Status: offline

You have to be careful what you click on, like most free download links. I've heard other report like this from sendspace, but it's the ads or the optional download accelerator software (de-select that). There should be an underlined text link for the file itself, linking to sendspace - do not click on the ads.

< Message edited by Imperius -- 6/30/2014 10:05:51 PM >

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Post #: 5

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 6/30/2014 9:24:55 PM

CyclopsSlayer

Posts: 583
Joined: 2/11/2012
Status: offline

Only clicked the B5 DL link, see the file progress in the lower left. Then got this...

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Post #: 6

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/1/2014 8:19:53 AM

Imperius

Posts: 26
Joined: 6/25/2014
Status: offline

It says the filename is setup.exe - there is no setup.exe in the mod file I uploaded.

De-select the option for the download accelerator, I'm 99% sure that's the issue.

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Post #: 7

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/1/2014 8:38:45 AM

Imperius

Posts: 26
Joined: 6/25/2014
Status: offline

New download link, in case I'm wrong about sendspace:

gamefront dot com/files/24326979/Babylon+5.rar

I'm actually very pleased with the Babylon 5 map/scenario I made :) 28 years into the game, and besides having had to delete 3 pirate factions that had too many ships, it's working out great!

It's very challenging, as for some reason, population growth is much lower than in other games (1-4% on average, though on Earth due to a medical academy wonder, I get 16%).

I'm a pretty good Distant Worlds player, and at this point, I usually am by far the strongest empire - but not so for the Earth Republic here.

Besides having skipped the Dilgar War (they're too powerful for me at the moment, I've got money problems and can't support both a huge fleet AND a huge army), the Narn and Centauri are about twice as powerful as me also. The Minbari about 4 times as strong, and the Vorlons and Shadows with their tech level 8 ships I doubt I can even touch yet.

It's looking to be an epic galactic conflict... I may have to take on the Dilgar next, even though they outnumber me on every level (economic, military) once I get a tech advantage with new shields and torpedoes. Their 30 billion population should double my tax revenue, and then at least I'll be on a par with the Centauri and Narn... the Minbari are starting to covet my lands and resources, however, and while I have a trade treaty with them, I'm not sure how long that will last.

But yeah, starting scenario as Earth Alliance is highly recommended, it came together very nicely. I like a challenging game, and this is definitely a challenge... for the first time in ages, I think I might actually lose, or at the very least, get some severe defeats inflicted on me before Earth finally rises to the top over the next few decades ;)

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Post #: 8

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/1/2014 3:33:54 PM

CyclopsSlayer

Posts: 583
Joined: 2/11/2012
Status: offline

Started playing with the B5 mod. The 'setup' was trying to be installed from a blank unnamed window, even though I had pop-up blockers installed. Sorry to be a pain

Always loved the B5 universe and a B5 mod will likely get heavy play. :)

Maybe you might want to send a message to 'Simulation01', http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2466692
They had some of the B5 ships sets at least partly finished.

(in reply to Imperius)

Post #: 9

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/1/2014 9:10:19 PM

Imperius

Posts: 26
Joined: 6/25/2014
Status: offline

I based my mod on Simulation01's shipsets, and gave credit in the first post :)

We have Babylon 5 shipsets for Earth Alliance, Shadows, Narn, Centauri and Minbari. The rest are scrounged together from other mods and vanilla.

And enjoy! I'm having great fun with the mod/scenario so far - into year 54, got my economy stabilized finally but wow... it's a challenge :) Minbari have gone mad and are the galactic superpower; the Narn beat the Centauri more or less, before going on an expansion spree as galactic contender number 2 (if we exclude the elder races), before the Minbari stopped them... and the Shadows and Vorlons have been engaged in an intergalactic struggle forever now, with neither side gaining ground.

The Dilgar must have had like.. 1000 ships atleast, they just kept coming, and in the end I had to orbital bombard their 40k size 45 billion population homeworld down to 16 billion just to secure my "western" front :(

Let me know how your playthrough goes, if you get around to it!

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Post #: 10

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/4/2014 5:04:25 AM

Ross_145

Posts: 4
Joined: 7/4/2014
Status: offline

Was looking forward to your mod but its crashing on load screen when I try to run your map. ive tried both download locations but im getting the same result. this could be because of an update to the game what version did you create your map with? if it was 1.9.5.5 could you attach another copy of your map I want to see if I can swap it out with the download file

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Post #: 11

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/4/2014 9:00:22 AM

Imperius

Posts: 26
Joined: 6/25/2014
Status: offline

I'll post an updated scenario file tomorrow or the day after, with the new patch :)

Just had a 60-year run-through with the old version, and I identified some things that need fixing. For example hte Vorlons were the galactic bullies, while the Shadows were saints in comparison. Also, the Minbari were overpowered, it seems, and the Centauri under-powered.

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Post #: 12

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/4/2014 4:15:57 PM

Isimiel

Posts: 18
Joined: 1/7/2013
Status: offline

see if this guy will let yeah use his ships http://humonb.deviantart.com/gallery/44328982/2D-pictures

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Post #: 13

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/4/2014 5:00:52 PM

Imperius

Posts: 26
Joined: 6/25/2014
Status: offline

Wow, those look great!

Unfortunately, though I'm pretty experienced with most kinds of modding, graphical modding escapes me :(

And I don't think it's as simple as just making a 300x300 png file to get ships to show up properly in-game. But if anyone else wants to make the shipsets, I'll be happy to include them in the mod.

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Post #: 14

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/6/2014 12:22:33 PM

Imperius

Posts: 26
Joined: 6/25/2014
Status: offline

New scenario with minor tweaks based on my last playthrough; Vorlons less expansionist/psychotic, Centauri a bit stronger, etc.

Also made with latest patch, so it should work for those who couldn't get the old version to work.

http://www.gamefront dot com/files/24336068/Babylon+5+v0.2.rar

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Post #: 15

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/6/2014 4:42:45 PM

robske

Posts: 59
Joined: 12/10/2010
From: The Netherlands
Status: offline

Imperius, thought of posting your mod on ModDB?

For the rest, I'm about to try your mod. I love B5, and I'm very interested in how this mod plays and feels like :)

Also, if you didn't see it yet: http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3627355&mpage=1&key=

Very useful tool for modding :)

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The universe has its mysteries which can only be solved through the curiousity of intelligent life...

My lesson about life:
Keep the past in mind, act in the present, look to the future.

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Post #: 16

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/6/2014 9:07:45 PM

Imperius

Posts: 26
Joined: 6/25/2014
Status: offline

I'd post it on Moddb, but this is kind of a half-hearted attempt at modding...

Made a B5 mod for my own use, and decided to post it... but I've just spent the last year first helping to make a Lord of the Rings conversion for Crusader Kings 2, and then a Birthright (D&D) conversion for CK II also - so I'm not about to embark on another major modding project at the moment :)

I just thought DW:U needed a B5 mod, and when I saw that Simulation01 had many of the shipsets, it took me 2-3 days to put a decent version together.

It plays pretty well, imho, though of course with only a "starting" scenario things can get a little off track.

If anyone wants to take over and make a scenario for the Shadow War, that'd be great, I'd like to play it also!

(in reply to robske)

Post #: 17

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/6/2014 9:12:30 PM

robske

Posts: 59
Joined: 12/10/2010
From: The Netherlands
Status: offline

I'm getting some weird error about nullreference to an image. Had that with prev version too. Its tryin to load a Babylon5old theme on loading the preset galaxy. Any clue what that's about?

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Post #: 18

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/6/2014 9:25:35 PM

Imperius

Posts: 26
Joined: 6/25/2014
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Oh, right!

That's cause I had 2 versions of the mod while working on it, the one I use to play is called "Babylon 5old" (long story, but it had to do with one folder being buggy, and I had to retrace my steps and work on the old functional version).

I just changed the folder name before I made the .rar file to Babylon 5, to avoid confusion... guess that messes it up! I had no idea that would be an issue.

For everyone trying to play, change the /customization folder name to "Babylon 5old", and that should fix it ;)

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Post #: 19

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/6/2014 11:22:22 PM

robske

Posts: 59
Joined: 12/10/2010
From: The Netherlands
Status: offline

Yep that fixed it :)

Also, I swapped my human race pic to this:

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Post #: 20

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/7/2014 8:22:01 AM

Imperius

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Joined: 6/25/2014
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Ahh yes, I had that at first, but there is also an Ivanova character (ship captain, IIRC) that appears later for humans, so I didnt want the same race image as that of a character.

As for the future of this mod, like I said, I'm hoping someone else will take over and improve it from here :)

(in reply to robske)

Post #: 21

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/7/2014 8:27:17 AM

robske

Posts: 59
Joined: 12/10/2010
From: The Netherlands
Status: offline

Didn't get to the point. Also, early game the Centauri took a heavy hit. They first got into war with the Narns, but also shortly after with the Minbari and Vorlons. They are still alive and kicking, but yeah. In my direct surroundings I am nearing into war against the Vree it seems. They are being warmongers right now, being at war with the Drazi, Pakmara and Markabs. Curiously though, the Shadows decced the Drakh, and are actually absorbing the Drakh into their own empire (causing a massive increase in their numbers, strategic value and military power).

Also, I might make some adjustments in the near future, which I will post as unofficial extra content in this thread. I haven't got the willpower to consistently keep pushing out updates right now, but can do some small fixes like race potraits (the drazi one needs a small fix if i saw it correctly). I might even try to include the Earth Alliance flag (which I pm'd to you) and add race flags for most other races in here.

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Post #: 22

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/7/2014 8:51:36 AM

Imperius

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Joined: 6/25/2014
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Yeah, races seem a bit unpredictable in how they evolve power-wise!

In my current game, the Centauri ended up being the superpower, and once my scouts discovered Zha'Ha'Dum the event kicks off which gives them a defense pact with the shadows and hte Way of Darkness government which only made them more powerful.

The Narn in my game were almost wiped out, down to 3 worlds, while the Vree had discovered an insanely powerful abandoned capital ship and were among the major powers also. In my game though, I managed to get a mutual defense pact with the Vree.

I forgot to give the Drakh and Mutual Defense Pact with the Shadows in this version of the scenario, so that explains why theyre not cooperating as they should.

But yeah, any updates are welcome, and if you manage to get them done, I ll post a link to it on the first post :) If you wanted to go further beyond a few graphical tweaks, you're also welcome to make your own thread.

(in reply to robske)

Post #: 23

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/7/2014 9:29:59 AM

robske

Posts: 59
Joined: 12/10/2010
From: The Netherlands
Status: offline

I made some small changes myself. First of the bits is the soundtrack:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oxbxebemn8iecfg/Sounds.zip

Extract into the theme's folder, and it should work :)

It's not hard to make, and I think it could use some improvements. Changes the Dw main theme to the one of the movie in the beginning. And the rest are scrapped together from series OST and some other sources :)

/edit:

Played for a bit, and indeed, shadows got an alliance with the centauri now. I was on amiable terms with the Centauri, but since now they've been acting quite strangely.

Right now the major superpowers are the Shadows, Vorlons, Pakmara and Dilgar. But I'm a rising star now:

Shadows decced narns. I thought let me save them from being annihiliated by the Shadows by integrating them into the Earth Alliance ;)

< Message edited by robske -- 7/7/2014 11:33:52 AM >

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Post #: 24

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/7/2014 12:56:30 PM

Imperius

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Joined: 6/25/2014
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I had to take the Narns in my game too just now, in the same time period :D

Except I took it intact - I couldn't help noticing that someone had "softened it up" (literally) and that it's now only a quality 41% world, haha.

Playing with your new sound track too, it's great, I'll include it with the next version I post, or should I wait until you upload yours with the flags also and then just copy it to the first post?

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Post #: 25

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/7/2014 10:47:42 PM

robske

Posts: 59
Joined: 12/10/2010
From: The Netherlands
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Well, I did try to include the flagshapes. But somehow flagshape id 1 refers to flag 04. Not sure where that comes from, so I hope it works out fine.

Download link (incl. soundtrack): https://www.dropbox.com/s/j2l1v86v5cbwu80/sounds%20and%20flagshapes.zip

I also managed to change DW's intro movie (also not hard at all), but, for obvious copyright reasons I won't post the entire movie file here, save for 2 screenshots:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=282761599
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=282761531

I'm also thinking of changing some of the sound effects. Like the alarm thing like when a ship is under attack. Could replace that with the sound effect of the alarm of Corwin's console in s3e10 when the reinforcements from clark arrive.

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Post #: 26

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/8/2014 2:57:52 PM

Imperius

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Joined: 6/25/2014
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You're welcome to take over the mod from here, Robske if you like.

Turns out that during this summer heat my computer crashes and burns when DW gets too many ships in mid-late game, so I'll have to take a break from it for now!

Anyone else can tweak and modify it as well, it's not only allowed, but strongly encouraged :)

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Post #: 27

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/8/2014 7:44:41 PM

robske

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Joined: 12/10/2010
From: The Netherlands
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Well, I'm still thinking wether I will :) I'm not really able to push out frequent updates, and I also want to make the content I add in optional, so people can mix it up however they wish.

I am thinking of taking a peekaboo at the races and remove all non b5verse ones.

And overheating problems? That seems very very annoying. I don't have that with my APU luckily :D

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Post #: 28

RE: Babylon 5 Mod - 7/20/2014 10:47:09 PM

Keston