Topic: Rise of Kingdoms SFC3 Mod now available  (Read 1874 times)

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Offline Red_Green

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Rise of Kingdoms SFC3 Mod now available
« on: August 16, 2004, 02:08:16 pm »
It uses build 531. Get the mod here and Enjoy! Check out the read me below pics befor you download.

http://www.stcd.sgnonline.com/downloads/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1651

Get patch 531 here.

http://starfleetcommand3.filefront.com/file.info?ID=29206

You need WINRAR to extract the mod. Get the trial version here.

http://www.rarlab.com/index.htm


Just a few notes about the mod not listed in the readme. There are 3 type of shuttles in the mod. Each race will
have only 1 of the types. Feds and Lyrans have PF's. Hydrans have fighters and Pirates have shuttles. Here is the basic loadouts of the 3 types.

Peusdo Fighters  (PF)-------------- have 3 primary arcs and 2 Heavy. The heavies are Tachyon Beams. They do little damage but prevent
escape by warp.  They have armor and shields.

Fighters (FTR) --------- have 2 primaries and 1 heavy. Again the heavy is the Tachyon Beam. They have armor but NO shields and have cloak.

Shuttles (SH) --------- have 1 primary and 1 heavy using the Tachyon Beam. They have shields but NO armor.

Here is a table that show the quantity of each type of shuttle  available depending on hull type.


                        SH                      FTR                      PF

FF                      1                         1                        0
DD                     1                         1                        0
CL                      2                         2                        1
CA                     3                          2                        1
BCH                   4                          3                        2
DN                     5                          4                        2



Thanks to Sandman3D for hosting the pics below









Title : Rise of Kingdoms Mod
Version : 1.1 for SFC3 patched to version 531
Date : 8/12/04
Mod Author : red_green




Thanks to: Krenark for missions
Queball for NiHydron ship
ToastyO for wallpaper
Darkdrone for SFC2 conversion of NiHydron
and port of Delta Flyer from Elite Forces

More detailed credits listed after Overview. Ship credits also appear
in each model folder as well as in the visual library.



________________
Mod Installation
________________


1: Uninstall your current SFC3 version. Remove the Activision folder then reboot the
computer.

2: Reinstall SFC3. Then install Build 531 Full Patch. This patch is available here.
http://starfleetcommand3.filefront.com/file.info?ID=29206

3: Extract ROK_MOD.rar to your hard drive. Click on ROK_MOD folder, select SFC3
folder and copy this folder and its contents to your Activision folder. Allowing
files to be over written.

4: Unzip this file into your SFC3 directory.

5: It is of the utmost importance that you do all 3 steps above before you play the game.
If you play a game and then add the mod, the new missions won't show up. This is
because the 1st time the game runs in makes cache files for the missions. Then
it loads the files directly from these cache files.

___________________________________
The Future of this mod is up to you
___________________________________

If I get enough feedback I may release an expansion pack for this mod in the future.
Feedback about race balance would be appreciated. The more specific the better. Weather
an update will include more Klingons/Romulans or other minor races depends on what I hear
back. The mod is not currently available online. Setting up servers is unfamiliar to me.
Nor do I have the resources. However, if someone has the means, feel free to set one up.

My contact info: redgreen99@hotmail.com Put ROK mod in the subject for faster response time.






Mod Overview
___________________

The ROK mod was inspired by the Hydran's. Wanted to feature them in a TNG
era mod. The mod replaces all the stock races except the Federation. I decided
to replace the stock races rather then just throw in a few SFB ships. The reason
is weapon textures, sound, voices, intro story, ship and officer names have all
been modded to portray the new races. Hydran, Lyran and Orions. I thought it
would look odd to have Klingon ships firing purple disruptors. Though towards the
end I found a way to include a single Klingon and Romulan ship while giving it
unique weapons that only they will have. These ships won't be able to equip any
Hydran or Lyran weapons. This will keep them appearing Klingon/Romulan. The
drawback is there weapons can't be refitted.


Getting Feedback from SFC Players:
------------------------------------

I picked up ideas from what people in forums were complaining about regarding SFC3
game play. One complaint was that its fun to take on a battle where the odds are
against you, but even if you win, you still lose because it cost more to repair than
the prestige you receive. What I did was make repairs cost 1/4th of what the stock
game charged. This makes Karnak's 5 vs 4 mission real fun to try early on with only
a DD. About the best you can do is capture 1 ship and once your hull is down to
50% its time to leave. You end up with a defeat but get enough prestige to improve your
ship for the next time.


Another complaint was that CA class or higher ships were being built with no
armor/shields and moving around like fighters. I lowered the mass of shields to
1/10 of stock approx. Also lowered armor mass, but not as much. You won't see
ships with no shields or armor in this mod. The base weight makes the CA and
above behave more like capitol ships. The are sluggish from a dead stop and take
longer to stop once they have momentum. Turn rates are now slower, similar to
those in SFC2.



The basic purpose of the mod was three fold.
----------------------------------------------------------------

1) A complete race substitution featuring minor SFB races and pirates.
This meant not just adding ships to existing races, but entirely
swapping them out. The Hydrans replace the Klingons. The Lyrans
replace the Romulans. Pirates replace the Borg, while Feds remain
in their original slot. This was done partly to give SFB races
the spotlight, but also because it allowed more freedom to change
weapon arcs, textures, cloak availability and other ship characteristics.

2) As much as possible I have tried to add 'fog of war' to the game.
This was done in part by allowing shuttles to drop mines to clutter the battlefield.
It also introduces friendly fire. As the AI sometimes will drop mines
in your path. The shuttles have been divided into 3 basic classes.
Fighters, PF's and shuttles. Giving more variety to the game. It also
makes the shuttle class more important and able to stick around long
enough to disrupt the battlefield. Shuttles can be captured, PF's
will have enough offensive capability to make this effort worthwhile.

3) The ships have more base mass and slower turn rate. Making the ships
slower, more sluggish from a dead stop or change of direction and
with slower turn rates. This is more noticeable with class CA, BC and
DN. This helps make the Cl and DD classes have a more important role.
Laying antimatter mines is now easier and an effective use of a DD vs
a DN. This is helped by all ships being equipped with tractor 4. Tractor
5 is unavailable. This means any class ship can repel the tractor
of any other ship. Provided enough power is used. If the warp is damaged,
especially in FF and DD classes, there may not be enough power to operate
the tractor at level 4. So warp power needs to be monitored. Also putting
power in your tractors means less power available for shields. So there
is a trade off. The game is meant to play at speed 7 similar to SFC2
at the same speed 7. The slower speed effects game play by allowing more
time for shields to charge, reducing angular velocity and making
positioning of mines more effective.


Ship characteristics and weapons available to Hydrans
-----------------------------------------------------

Hydran ships have the fastest turn rate of any race's ships. They have
narrow weapon arcs. There heavy weapons are comparable in strength to
Federation ships, more powerful than Lyran but less powerful than Pirates.
Shuttles are replaced with fighters that feature armor but no shielding

Primary weapons=Disruptors
Heavy weapons=Ion Canon, Poleron Torpedos

Ship characteristics and weapons available to Lyrans
----------------------------------------------------

Lyran ships have medium turn rates and very wide weapon arcs. Primary
arcs are 240 degrees while heavy arcs are 180 degrees. Both primary and heavy
weapons are weaker damage wise compared to other races. However there
heavy weapons are the most accurate and either do significant damage to shields
or stun enemy weapons, both causing the enemy to repair often and prevent the
enemy from firing at the ideal time. PF's replace shuttles featuring
both shields and armor.

Primary weapons=R-Disruptors, Phaser XS
Heavy weapons=Shield inversion Beam, Mytronic Beam.

Ship characteristics and weapons available to Pirates
----------------------------------------------------

Pirate ships are slow turning and have narrow arcs. They feature the most assorted
and powerful weapons. They are equipped with shuttles.

Primary weapons= R-Disruptor I, light, medium and heavy cutting beams.
Heavy weapons= medium and large Plasma, Photon torpedos

Ship characteristics and weapons available to Feds
----------------------------------------------------
Feds have the strongest shields and medium turn rates. Their heavy
weapons are comparable in strength to Hydran ships. There weapon arcs on average
cover more area than the other races except Lyrans. They often have 1 or 2 more arcs available.

Primary weapons=Phasers (Pulse phasers available only on the Defiant)
Heavy weapons=Photons, Quantum Photons.



Other changes made to game
--------------------------

1: Cloak is unrefittable. Each ship carries a single CL variant that is equipped
with the cloak. This makes cloaked ships more uncommon, thus more of
a surprise when one is encountered. It also gives all 4 races an
opportunity to use cloak. The Federation ship with cloak available
is the Defiant.

2: Changes were made to make the battles last longer. Some classes of
ships will now be almost inoperable when they reach 25% hull integrity.
Namely DN's.

3: Both AI and player ships now carry 50% more mines and now come equipped with full
compliment of mines, shuttles and have 50% more marines as well.

4: How many officers are available at bases and planets has been reduced. The maximum
officers displayed was changed from 8 to 6. This speeds up game play when in the map
area.

5: The news is updated less frequently for same reasons as above.

6: EEK missions by Karnak were added to conquest mode.

7: Only conquest mode is playable. Story line of single player is unavailable.
The reason is those missions look for specific Klingon and Romulan
ships which are not available.

8: Each race has an option of doing the conquest campaign using just 1
mission. Squadron action by Karnak. This is perhaps the most interesting mission
available and makes conquest mode similar to skirmish.

9: All races except Federation have story/art boards. These are displayed
in the Visual Library. If you buy the model associated with the story,
it is an Asteroid Base. These stories give some background to the races
and other information.

10: The sun is now red instead of yellow.

11: New textures included are for: disruptors, cutting beams, tactical display,
tractors, mines, the sun, tactical overlay and planet atmospheres.

12: AI Pirate frigate and cruiser have been given more weapons. Ferengi
Cruiser is also stronger offensively.

13. The Borg Sphere has replaced the puck model for the Intruder alert mission.

14. The Defiant is the only Fed ship equipped with Pulse phasers. It also has cloak.
It is much stronger than the Stock version but it cost went up as well.

15. Story boards appear in 3 of the 4 race slots. Using art from SFC1 and SFC2.
Some background comes from the SFC1 manual but there is also some original fiction.

16. The music is triggered by events now. Raised shields and dropped shields trigger music.
Only 1 will play at a time. Going to yellow alert will trigger theme music. This will
play in addition to the other triggers. So is best used when not in combat or not near
aliied AI ships at the start of the mission. I think you will get used to it.

17. The stock Fed cursor is replaced with the Hydran one from SFC1.

18. You only get moved out of the hex after a devastaing defeat. Stock game is draw, defeat
and devastaing defeat.

19. Mines have glows added. The rings dont start expanding until they activate. Standard
and antimatter have the color rings. Though antimatter mines do 50% more damage.

20. Planets atmospheres have been tinted light blue.

21. The refit for Armor has been changed. Instead of 5 types per race, each race now has 10
types to select from.

22. Starting ships are now CL for easy level and DD for both medium and difficult levels.

23. Officers level up a bit faster. They need too cause they die more often in build 531.

Mission Credits
_______________

Nine new missions were added. They are all by el-Karnak. They are listed below.

Kar_ConvoyRaid.scr
Kar_HomelandDefence.scr
Kar_DeepSpace.scr
Kar_HoldtheLine.scr
Kar_Skirmish.scr
Kar_SquadronAction.scr
Kar_JointOps.scr


Story Board Credits
___________________

Each board in the visual library has the credits listed at bottom. Credits include SFC1
and SFC2 for art and background information. One of the backgrounds used is by ToastyO.

Music/Voice Credits
___________________

Music and voices were added to replace the stock ones for the Romulan, Klingon and Borg slots.
These all came from SFC1 and SFC2.

Ship Credits
____________

Nihydron is by Queball, ported to SFC by Darkdrone.
Delta Flyer is from EliteForces2, ported to SFC by Darkdrone.
All Hydran and Lyran ships are by red_green.
U.S.S. Raven is by red_green

Regarding my Lyran ships and station. I don't want them leaving this mod. So please do not post them
at any site or include them in any future mods. Thanks. The same goes for my Hydran Hunter
ship and Hydran station. My remaining Hydrans have already been released so they can be in mods, but only SFC2
or SFC3 please.

This version of my U.S.S. Raven is also exclusive to this mod. This version has 2000 fewer
poligons than the original release. It also contains damage maps and proper UI placement.

Texture Credits
______________

Disruptors, cutting beams, tactical display, tractors, mines, the sun, tactical overlay and
planet atmospheres all are Taldren textures edited by red_green.












Known Issues
____________

1: Only single player conquest mode is playable. The storyline is not playable
because it uses Klingon/Romulan ships that are now unavailable.

2: Picards voice overs will not be available. The number of sound files would make the mod gigantic.

3: Certain ships have unique weapons. These ships can't load any weapons other then the ones
they come with from the shipyard. These ships include the Defiant, the Klingon BOP and the
Romulan Escort Destroyer. Please note that if you remove weapons from these ships, they
will not be able to be refitted with new weapons. These ships are marked by REFIT ALERTS in the
ship description. If you forget you can re-purchase the ship in a shipyard. You get full credits.

4: Much like item 4. Cloaks work the same way. Only a very few ships come equipped with them.
Cloaks can not be refitted. The only way to get a cloak is to buy a ship that has one in the
shipyard.

5: The story boards in the visually library are not ships. They are Asteroid bases.
They cost the same as the regular ones and are equipped the same.

6: This mod was built on my 800MZ Athalon computer. This mod needs a computer equivalent
to that or higher for best performance. The models I make are limited to 1 or 2 bitmaps
to reduce the burden put on the graphics card. All ships and missions have been tested
on this machine.






Copyright and Distribution Permissions
--------------------------------------
THIS MODEL(S) IS NOT MADE, DISTRIBUTED, OR SUPPORTED BY ACTIVISION OR INTERPLAY.
TM & (C) INTERPLAY & PARAMOUNT PICTURES.

Copyright notices:

Star Trek, Star Fleet Command, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation,
Star Trek: Voyager (and the various logo devices used in them) are copyright Paramount Pictures,
as are the characters, related images, and sound from the productions.


This mod is intended for non-profit personal use only.

Read me author: red_green




« Last Edit: August 16, 2004, 02:26:13 pm by red_green »


The most creative person hides his sources the best!

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Spoken by Harper in a 1st season episode of Andromeda.

"Pesimism is not a survival trait"