Updated mod: The Babylon Project

[PaddirN]

Well, this is basically an updated version of Psientist's very excellent mod 'B5 Shadowfall'. Things new to this version include:

- Version 2.60 -
* new ship: Frazi fighter -- replaces gorith as mainstay narn fighter, although the gorith is still around...
* new ship: Thunderbolt Starfury for the Earth Alliance
* new ship: Shadow Scout -- mid-sized shadow vessel
* new ships: Brakiri Avioki Cruiser, Brokados Corvette, & Riva Fighter totally redesigned from the ground up
* changed game messages for Omega mission, only reports halfway point and so on, feels less like having a mainquest everytime now. May add Earth Civil war as a mainquest at some point.
* Tirk and the Vree are now found on the map instead of offmap.
* slightly different image for Omega to show rotating section (note: does not actually rotate... yet?)
* Omega weapon slot sizes changed so that only large guns can be place din front
* Whitestar forward weapon slot changed so that only one very large gun can be equipped
* Centauri Primus now launches sentri fighters, why should the Narn have all the fun?
* the price of Dust has gone up
* The Well of Forever isn't just a myth anymore...
* scanners have been acting funny out near the rim, as well as reports of... "things" out there.
* an Apocalypse box is waiting to be found.
* quest naming structure changed to reflect FLAG value ('ally_', 'alws_', 'evnt_', 'game_', 'main_', & 'nevr_') just easier to organize. should not affect gameplay at all, checked & double-checked folder vs. game.ini file.
* Data crystal with jump gate no longer findable, but you may get it if you wish upon the cheating star

- Bug Fixes
* Vorlon beacon event *should* work now
* beacon allies (vree, tirk, rangers, vorlons) *should* show up on large maps

- Known Bugs
* Non-occurring event somewhere out there, possibly even one that crashes the game to windows
* there is an earth alliance ally buried in here, but it doesn't work for some reason so it isn't implemented yet in game.

- Version 2.55 -
* weakened shielding on most fighters, may compensate later by adding in more fighters
* Various changes to weapons to make them more in line with how they are portrayed in the series, includes: Omega x-ray guns, Drakh weapons, and the Victory main gun
* new graphics for weapons as well as a new weapon or two
* new items!
* new lifeforms!
* new GUI "beep" sounds!
* added a B5 icon pack from somewhere (forgot where I found it)
* alphabetized game.ini file, shouldn't effect gameplay, but will help keep things organized for me.

- Version 2.50 -
* New mainquest: the Thirdspace aliens invade! Can you stop them before its too late? (not a kawangi clone, I promise)
* New mainquest: the Shadow war comes to a head as the Shadows amass a fleet to break the back of the fledgleing Alliance!
* New race & ship: Thirdspace aliens w/ a Thirdspace Cruiser
* New sprite for Raider Zephyr
* Vorlon planet killer mainquest SHOULD work now.
* New targeting system: the Holographic chamber (note that I thought it was a stupid idea)
* Fixed the Vree "multiplying beacon" bug

- Version 2.45 -
* new vorlon ship: Vorlon Fighter
* new race & ship: Vree with Xill warship
* summon more allies into combat with Beacons. only one I'll give away is Drazi mercenary, Tirk! Can you find the rest?
* adjustments to the power levels of the shadows and the vorlons, slightly more manageable
* it pays in new ways to have some passengers aboard...
* new graphics for various races
* and yet Another attempt at jumpgates, this one is a bit of a cop-out on my part, but should appeal to the non-violent score junkies
* changed way the Primus is picked up, should be a tad more interesting.
* changes to the Jump Drive particle effects, should be more "realistic", also made Jump point generator drive as a findable item now, may have to add more items to make it less common
* numerous other changes/fixes which I completely forgot to write down

- Version 2.40 -
* new drazi ship: Sky Serpent
* merged Shadows with Drakh to remove "Shadow vs Drakh" battles, can't evil just get along?
* Victory Class: main gun is now only one use (per combat); possible problems if used with other ships in flotilla (?) (simulator still uses old style for obvious reasons)
* Victory Class: size changed after looking over the actual sizes of ships in the series, an Omega is actually smaller than the Victory
* added a "Minbari ECM unit" system item to Minbari craft, practically untargetable?
* added "Justin" to Lorien quest, an alternate event for evil players who visit Z'ha'dum. May follow up with additional quest on Epsilon.
* added Garibaldi drop-off at B5 for the uncurious.
* another change to 'virus' quest following revelation that "haveitem" command only applies to cargo hold.
* further changes to narn/centauri behavior, hopefully they will behave as expected
* changed weapon for minbari fighters, should look and feel more like the tv series (more of a gatling gun effect?)
* Raider Battle Wagon: changed size, as well as layout of systems, should work better now.
* changed graphic for raiders, that pirate face was making me sick
* increased size of Minbari Sharlin b/c it is also supposed to be bigger than Omega, also gave it improved combat computer b/c they're supposed to be bad-***
* changed sizes/speed/armor/turn of various craft after comparing and contrasting from data on B5-tech manual

So why the name change? A couple of reasons. First, because Shadowfall was Psientists mod and should he decide to come back and start updating again I would probably have to rename this thing anyways. Also, I wanted to give this mod a new direction of sorts. In the TV series the Shadow war played a prominent role, but it wasn't everything. The series was centered on the B5 station but a great deal more happened than just fighting the Shadows. In addition, should I decide to just drop this whole mod altogether I'd like to hope that somebody else would pick up the torch and run with it, so I see it as a continuing project of sorts, passed down from one fan to the next.

While I've tried to test the new additions out as much as possible, I can't possibly run through every scenario, so even though this is starting from v2.3, it may not be so stable. If you encounter any problems, e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll try and figure out where I f'ed up. If you have any suggestions, comments, improvements of your own, don't hesitate to send them all to me. I can't promise I'll update on a regular basis, as 2 jobs, a girlfriend, family, friends, and a 'zine all are competing for my time. But for the moment I've still got a lot of ideas for additions to this mod.