A collection of developer journals for the Battlefleet Gothic mod for Sins of a Solar Empire.
Bringing the Warhammer 40k universe to Sins
Published on December 8, 2008 By xthetenth In Sins Modding

The Battlefleet Gothic mod is now compatible with Entrenchment 1.041 as of 1/17/10, and has a new version (1.30) out as of 1/17/10


This mod contains the Imperial navy in a fully modelled state, and Chaos, the Tau and the Orks in a proxied state.

 

BE WARNED: THIS MOD IS STILL RATHER BETA AND IS MISSING MANY FEATURES, INCLUDING:

-A research tree (unlocks, colonization, fleet supply, cap ship crews and long range jumps are quite literally all that's there (well, there's a missile tech, but it doesn't do much, and you WILL be able to get late game ships early)

-GUI elements. some 2D icons aren't done yet, and the ones we have are a bit odd. They will be fixed eventually.

Things that we know about (IE we know about it and it's odd, but it's either a design decision which will be explained or something not implemented):

-Counter description text. It's wildly off and somewhat arbitrary, but the ship descriptions are pretty good and should give the player a decent idea of what to expect, and I'll write more on them on our forum (link here).

-Shield Mitigation. It's gone, but it says it's at 15%. Trust me, it's gone.

-The Emperor Battleship. As a compromise on its heavy dorsal armament that can be fired to either broadside, we made it have the strength of the dorsals and a broadside point forward, and slightly stronger broadsides. We think it works pretty well, but please tell us what you think.

-Chaos ships and tau ships in the Additional Races Compendium are odd. The chaos prow weapons are locked to fire left, so they can broadside well to one side without turning into brawlers and tau weapons are locked forwards so they can concentrate fire, but they lost their ability to fire at half strenth to the sides because multi-arc weapons are impossible in sins as far as I know.

-No stock sins races. GW wouldn't let us include them, and they have a very different gameplay mechanic anyway, and need a very different setup for damage types, much to my chagrin, seeing as I want to know how it'd end up .

 

Okay, now that that's out of the way, we can get to the fun stuff. The ships are working great. If you know the tabletop game you'll know the key things that I need to tell everybody else so they understand the game.

-Ships turn and fire SLOWLY. You need to think ahead, and you can fit in a lot of micro if you know what you're doing. This is intentional.

-Shields recharge VERY VERY VERY VERY FAST. This is a legacy of it being a tabletop game where focusing fire is a big achievement. Shields will fully recharge in the time it takes for you to fire a second salvo of your weapons. Firepower supremacy is big here, and so is using your weapons to their utmost. However, hulls repair rather slowly, so protect them.

-Ships will go up like popcorn, even caps if your fleets get big enough. A fully experienced cap has quite a bit of damage absorbing ability, but it isn't even close to invincible. They're about twice as valuable as a cruiser, and if you're careful, can absorb 3 times as much damage easily. It's a great bargain, but they will die, don't get attached to them.

-Oh right, cruisers. There are cruisers in this game, and frigates are now fragile scouts and flankers. Frigates are cheap, expendable, and surprisingly dangerous in numbers. Cruisers are a lot bigger, much tougher, and carry a good bit more firepower, but a really big price tag. Battleships come in on top, and are really durable, and host a lot of long ranged firepower.

-The weapons are different too. Weapons batteries and Lances are your basic weapons. Lances are focused beams of energy that do best against escorts (accuracy) and armored ships (penetration power, but with just the imperials that isn't that big an issue). Weapons batteries are massed guns that do best against battleships because they can actually be expected to hit a lot. They aren't that different, and the range and strength of the guns means more than their type. Torpedoes are great. They punch through shields 100% of the time, but tend to drop off against bigger targets, which boast the point defense turrets to shoot most of them down. They make great escort killers, and are your best weapon in smaller fights.

-Attack Craft (fighters and bombers) are also very different, they come in squadrons abstracted to one ship, and are much more fragile. They're also much more dangerous. They, like torpedoes pierce shields and can do a lot of damage, especially against smaller ships (including cruisers, battleships are nasty to them though). However, every ship has turrets that can kill them, but if they stagger their waves, they can hit home very hard. They also replenish quite fast until their parent ship runs out of antimatter, so they're really quite good. Fighters are quite capable at interception duties, if you have more fighters than the enemy, your bombers will be able to strike enemy ships while your ships are safe from enemies.

 

Please note!

-Planet capturing is quite different from in standard sins. The transport is your one stop shop for planetary warfare and colonization. They land troops instead of bombarding. The whole idea is a little bitcomplicated, and I encourage anybody who's interested to read the thread I'll post on our forum shortly. The short version is that you build transports, use their bombardment ability to pound your enemies into dust, and then return them to the munitorum depots (they have the advent antimatter recharger icon for now, shouldn't be hard to find on the screen) to refill. It should especially suit the Imperium's style of defend and counterattack.

 

Now that you know the basics of the game, you can download the mod here:

DOWNLOAD (7ZIP, 109 MB) (This should work properly but I've been having lots of problems with it, if not, please tell me so I can remove the link while I fix it. )

7zip or winrar both can open 7zip files, and both are available for free, and much smaller than 50 MB.

DOWNLOAD (ZIP, 162.63 MB)

And please visit our forum at Modcraft if you want to learn more about the mod and what to expect, volunteer or give detailed feedback:

OUR FORUM

 

Dev Journals: These guides will help you know what to expect in the future and understand the current state of the gameplay.

Dev Journal 1: Ships of the Imperium It explains all the imperial ships and their fleet's way of fighting. Should be useful.

Dev Journal 2: Fleet tactics of the Imperium It focuses on the use of the Imperial ships in a fleet. Definitely good food for thought, may apply more to tabletop than the mod, I need to test the theories some before I fully endorse them.

Gratuitous screenies:

Gothic class cruiser pummeling a dictator class cruiser

Gothic class cruisers pummeling a Dictator class cruiser with lances and torpedoes

 

Retribution class Battleship firing at an enemy cruiser

Retribution class battleship firing its prow lances and torpedoes at an enemy cruiser.

Finally, the trailer for the Imperium (thanks again, Thrawn!)

 


Comments (Page 3)
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on Dec 08, 2008

maybe you can make them like planets?  i know the Solar Sins has planets with abilities, you could make the Blackstones captureable, and make them shoot planets and ships etc.

and alo, it sounds like the Imperial Navy and the Space Marines have been merged. is this the case?

on Dec 08, 2008

and alo, it sounds like the Imperial Navy and the Space Marines have been merged. is this the case?

No, why would this be? They have different command structures, fleet composition, ship design, and their fleets don't really complement each other. Also, Space Marines have 6+ armor, so they're rather unlikely to be put in the mod until way way later if ever. We're out of armortypes, and 6+ isn't one of the ones we're making.

on Dec 08, 2008

i'll be the first to say i have no idea about BFG tabletop

on Dec 08, 2008

man you guys fix things fast i downloded it last night this this morning before school i went to and got that buged one(I'm proud owner of the limited edition!!!!! i love limited editions) then i get back this afternoon and it's fixed

on Dec 08, 2008

Archaon6044
i'll be the first to say i have no idea about BFG tabletop

Fair enough, but I wanted to make my reasons for not merging them clear. Anyway, the Imperial Navy already has more ships than anybody else (when we're done that'll include stock sins races, because the Armageddon ships make for three/four more depending on whether we add falchions) so adding marines would be a bit much.

 

man you guys fix things fast i downloded it last night this this morning before school i went to and got that buged one(I'm proud owner of the limited edition!!!!! i love limited editions) then i get back this afternoon and it's fixed

Thanks . It wasn't all that bad a fix, accidentaly had one too many lines in the transport's mesh file. Stupid mistake.

 

EDIT: Just got the first dev journal written, it's about the Imperial fleet, how they fight, and how to use their ships best (IMHO, just suggestions, but I am the code monkey so I've probably put in more time than anybody else with these ships with the possible exception of prezo). It should be a great help to those who aren't familiar with the tabletop game. You can read it here, please give feedback.

on Dec 08, 2008

its suprising how little time i put into em, emmiterising is a quick process when you streemline it down but i also play the IN in table top so mabye i do =P

on Dec 08, 2008

Yeah, and I had to run the entities through their paces a lot, but unfortunately that kind of saps my interest to play a long game with the computer. Anybody want a game for the upcoming christmas season? I really want to play a game with a human now that we've got a version publicly available.

on Dec 09, 2008

Is any one else having the problam where strike craft spawn a million miles away from any planetary system and only return to the carrier when it jumps?

 

on Dec 09, 2008

Oh god, not this again, I thought this wasn't happening to the Imperials. I'll try to figure it out as quickly as I can, but it's been giving me a hard time for chaos.

on Dec 09, 2008

Have you given thought into how you can integrate Fleet Admirals into the mod? Off the cuff and tying into the base mechanics of purchasing levels in Sins, you could link each class of Admiral to a designated experience level. ie Purchasing a Vice Admiral directly levels your Flagship to lvl 2, an Admiral takes it to lvl 3 and a Solar Admiral takes it to lvl 4.

 

Alternatively or additionally, your flagship (with admiral) could gain certain passive bonuses ranging from moderate experience gains for neighbouring capital ships to combat or economic gains depending on the relevant race (combat or negative culture for chaos[forget each mark of chaos!], combat for orks, economics for tau?). Forgive me if this is beyond the means of coding and modding in the game as I have no idea what the hardcoding restricts you boys to but i figured i might as well give you a few small things to consider.

 

Finally, just one last nuisance for you lads! Will the Deimurg make a cameo for the Tau? The Bastion and the Gothic are pretty much the only true direct combat ships in the Tau's (indirect) possession. Sorry for the barrage of questions but I haven't played BFG for years and the prospect of the first true BFG mod has perked my enthusiasm levels.

 

Thanks in advance!

on Dec 09, 2008

Have you given thought into how you can integrate Fleet Admirals into the mod? Off the cuff and tying into the base mechanics of purchasing levels in Sins, you could link each class of Admiral to a designated experience level. ie Purchasing a Vice Admiral directly levels your Flagship to lvl 2, an Admiral takes it to lvl 3 and a Solar Admiral takes it to lvl 4.

Not sure about that, because in many ways, to keep it fair we'd have to up the training time for higher experience levels, but what I was thinking was that because in this mod we're using antimatter to represent leadership (special orders use it and if you use too many you run out, and AC go through it rather quickly it's a good bit like leadership), researches that boost antimatter could be considered one half of the admiral's benefit, as the global effects are felt. His local presence is represented by higher level caps getting more antimatter, and all that remains is an ability for the battleships that increases another ship's antimatter, to represent rerolls. The other abilities will only get one level, and this ability will be the main ability point sink if we get it working right, if not there'll be two different leadership abilities to level.

Alternatively or additionally, your flagship (with admiral) could gain certain passive bonuses ranging from moderate experience gains for neighbouring capital ships to combat or economic gains depending on the relevant race (combat or negative culture for chaos[forget each mark of chaos!], combat for orks, economics for tau?). Forgive me if this is beyond the means of coding and modding in the game as I have no idea what the hardcoding restricts you boys to but i figured i might as well give you a few small things to consider.

This sounds good, to be honest, I like those ideas, and I'm thinking pretty hard about giving battleships a passive ability with effects along these lines (I'll see what I can and can't do) and that active to restore a ship's antimatter. Together, they should do a nice job of mimicing how a good admiral can really help your fleet use special orders when they need to.

Finally, just one last nuisance for you lads! Will the Deimurg make a cameo for the Tau? The Bastion and the Gothic are pretty much the only true direct combat ships in the Tau's (indirect) possession. Sorry for the barrage of questions but I haven't played BFG for years and the prospect of the first true BFG mod has perked my enthusiasm levels.

We're not sure what the Tau will get at the top of their tree, because we're going to have one unlock at the top of the tree that'll be really potent. Chaos will get the Planet Killer, the Imperial Navy gets the ever awesome Ramilies Star Fort, when we get orks done they'll get the space hulk, but the Tau (and Eldar) we're not as sure about. The deimurg are a definite possibility for the tau, if so, that'll give the 'lil blue guys an actual combat battleship, which would be very very interesting at the end of a big game. That is a definite possibility, and quite possibly the most likely.

 

Also, you're not a nusiance in any way, I appreciate any comments and suggestions, and they're a great help to ensure the mod is as good as possible.

 

Did you try the mod, by the way? If so, what'd you think so far?

on Dec 09, 2008

Hey it's a very interesting mod and I'm looking foward to more content

You asked for bugs, and my strikecrafts have this funny idea that deep space is great place to good, with the side effect of them not being able to return to the fight. This mostly happens with the Emporer battleship, but that might be because it is the carrier i use the most.

Hope it helps

on Dec 09, 2008

Why oh why can't the strike craft behave? I know I've seen this before, I just don't know where. Maybe if I put a comissar in all the fighters they'll behave properly...

 

Hopefully I'll get that sorted out, and as I become free over christmas break I'll be able to add in the Warhammer 40k planet types, which should be good. I've got all the stock textures to draw on as well as all of the ones from sins plus (thanks danman!), so I should be able to faithfully portray all the most important planet types in 40k. That's the next big change, as well as adding proper defensive buildings (hangars and turrets are already done) and all the bug fixes I can get together. Glad to hear you like the mod.

on Dec 09, 2008

Can't wait for Tau

on Dec 09, 2008

Yeah, me neither, they'll be a lot of fun for me to design and if my plan works out, a lot of fun to play.

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