Huh, how weird. Curse the randomness of Computers. So many hours have I wasted trying to fix problems that only fix themselves after you've given up. At least it was after the first try, and not the 20th eh?

I would hope that the developers would note the difficulty in adding new planet research development and rework the code to allow for it in 1.4. Have you ever had a direct conversation with them on this. I personally find your work so far adds the most to the game play experience and would like to think they would assist if possible.

@ crazyewok
Vista? *shudders*

I have thought about adding more textures to the already existing planets, and after 1.2 is up and running, I will start creating additional ones. The new planet types are more important, and a higher priority to get out to the masses, but soon the number of new planet types will start to dry up, and each update will include more textures.

I am still open to custom textures that anyone wants to include in my mod, and full credit (in-game as well as the credits in the README) is promised. I already have had 2 textures donated to me, and another one which is just being finalised, as well as another member who claims to have an incredible 30 textures he would like to include.

So if you ever feel up to texturing yourself, just check out the Vanilla textures for the planets, or the ones from Sins Plus, and give it a go.

@ Grizzlee
So far, I have to say, I'm slightly disappointed by the devs input with regards to modding. Before I receive a salvo of abuse, I completely understand that they have work to do, and have just completed making this game, which was a huge task in itself. But, I have yet to see one helpful post in this section with regards to modding. I've seen a few answers to the basic questions about where to install it to, and where's the directory, but so far, nothing of any use to the modding community.

So, no; I, or anyone I have been in contact with (pretty much all the authors of the major mods out now) as far as I know, have not been in contact with the devs. I got a small bit of info on the new patch on its own thread, but that was with regards to the patch itself, and not directly a modding question.

There are many, many questions that need answering in this section, and if the devs want a long term community, they should really start answering a few, or at least make the occasional appearance. Once they start integrating with the modders, then maybe they will address issues like the one you pointed out.

@ Naraxel
They should work together, but I am unsure on what is included in his mod. The best thing to do is try it. Backup everything you need, then give it a shot. I may speak to him in the future about including his textures, but at present, I have more pressing matters to attend to.

Thanks for all you input, its much appreciated.

Ok, just before I log off tonight, I'll post a little preview of two of the planets for the next update.


The top one, as you can probably guess is the Toxic Planet, Textured by Davedon, a big 'Thank You' to him for his help so far.
And the bottom one is, as you can probably guess too, the Paradise Planet. Textured by me

The Industrial Planet is near completion, just cloud adjusting now, and the Military Planet is very similar to the Forest world, although slightly more mountainous and with smaller urban areas/Bases.

As there isn't a list of planet bonuses, I'm not sure if this has been done already or if it is even possible.

I'd like to request a planet bonus, "Sector Capital". This would act like a mini-capital planet with higher allegiance and causing the surrounding planets to have higher allegiance. Preferably, this wouldn't be as good as a normal capital (say 70-80% starting allegiance), but would help out on some of the huge games.

It'd preferably something that would show up on the planet after you occupy it similar to "Tundra Farms", or other bonuses that only show up after occupying, but not requiring exploration to uncover it. Then again, you may want to leave that to the map maker if map makers using galaxy forge can manually place planet bonuses (I'm not sure on how much control modders/mapmakers have over planet bonuses).

I'm very much enjoying your mod in the combined Mars Effect 1.5 package. For my personal use I grabbed the Sins Texture Pack 1: Stars and Planets mod and merged it with yours. I only had to modify the Icons_planet.tga file in photoshop to include the few changes as there is otherwise no overlap. If you are interested, I can upload a copy.

@ CaptainHardcore
Mmm... I may darken the glow slightly, but other than that, its supposed to be strange.

@ Caedwyr
Its a good idea, but I don't think it could be incorporated. I have seen no ability that individually changes the allegiance of a planet. And making it a bonus would also be impossible at present. Perhaps if there is an ability in-game that does this, even for a brief time, please tell me. But other than that, sorry man, it can't be done.

Thanks for the comments, I'll keep you posted.

Well, how about a solution? Or something you'd like changed? I can't fix something when I don't know the problem. I appreciate your feedback, but a one sentence criticism/observation is a little lacking.

I wouldn't actually download this, because if it was meant to be in the game it would be. I'm not much of a "mod" player but I do appreciate the work that wannabes and n00bs put together. I was just pointing out an observation that became immediately obvious. A planet with 10K population seems like it would fluctuate your economy up to ten times.

We don't need people like you here then, goodbye. And one thing before you leave, it has a maximum population of 1k, which can be written as 1,000. Not 10,000 or 10k as you put it. You didn't give me a solution, you gave no helpful input to something that was "obvious", and you insulted every modder here, by calling us "n00bs" and "wannabes".

If you didn't like this mod, give your criticisms and offer helpful improvements to be made. There was no need to throw out abuse like that. Goodbye sir, and I hope we don't meet again.

Here you go Abisha, the original menu texture file.

Rapidshare.com

If you have a site that will freely upload a file of about 1Gb, and you don't mind downloading a 1Gb file, then sure, I can do that.

The readme is as clear as I can make it. Follow it word for word, and you should be able to do it.

Until Sins is updated to 1.03 this is the ONLY way to do it. A simple way that explains how to install it is on the very bottom of the first post in bold red letters.

The textures are what causes this, and that is why other mods have an "easy way" to install, because all they do is change text files which are very small and so can all be thrown into the download.

If you continue to have problems post back with what you are stuck on, I will try and help you out further.

my texture file is 1.19 after doing all your instructions say!
Using Vista I am..

this sound correct?

also when your mod is enabled it makes sins go to not responding a fair bit !

new issue: your new planets the forrest and baron ect show as squares when i zoom out but when close up are normal!