Sword of the Stars Complete Collection

Sword of the Stars Complete Collection

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Mod Guide: BSOTS 4.0.2
By Mordachai
Introduction to BSOTS (B*stard Sword of the Stars) 4.0.2 mod for SOTS Complete Edition 1.8.0.
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Overview
BSOTS is a mod I've been working on since Kerberos released AMOC, the third expansion for SOTS.

BSOTS alters some rules, provides a new tech tree, adds many new weapons systems, and alters the flow of the game - moving some of the expansion features Kerberos added in AMOC or other expansions to be more integrated with the flow of a game - such as building stations and establishing trade routes.

The overall goals for BSOTS are:
  • More Weapons, Ships, Options, Technologies.
  • Expanded game story-arc, with an emphasis on exploring the tactics and strategies available in each technological age: Fission, Fusion, and Antimatter.
  • A focus on being more of a galactic space opera with a more epic feel to battles, and greater investment in ships and worlds so that developing and defending them is more substantial.
  • i.e. ship's aren't cheap throw-aways ready to build in the dozens without any lead time, and worlds aren't fragile nor easily glassed nothings to be ignored.
Installation
DOWNLOAD HERE: (updated)
https://github.com/lucky-wolf/BSOTS/archive/refs/tags/v4.0.2.zip

If you want to use "Mod Manager" of if this is new to you or confusing, please refer to this excellent steam guide for "Installing mods for Sword of the Stars" here:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=483178120

Once you have downloaded Everything

You will need to know where SOTS is installed at on your computer!

On mine, it is at:
C:\Steam\steamapps\common\Sword of the Stars Complete Collection

For you, it will be wherever you installed it to - wherever Steam is installed on your computer OR where you have told steam to put your games at (you can control this in Steam).

You must create a folder under your SOTS installation named Mods:
C:\Steam\steamapps\common\Sword of the Stars Complete Collection\Mods

Then the BOSTS repo that you downloaded to there, so that you end up with something like this:


Now that your mod files are in the Mods folder...

You will need to configure SOTS to actually use this mod!

You have two choices - either manually edit your Sots.ini file (see below), or you can install and run the ModManager (see above for the link to a download link and instructions on using ModManager).

If you are choosing to manually install this mod, then you'll need to follow these instructions:

Locate your Sots.ini - which is located in your sots installation folder, which is something like:

C:\Steam\steamapps\common\Sword of the Stars Complete Collection\Sots.ini

^^^ The exact location depends on where you installed Steam to - or where you have told Steam to store your games into. You will have to figure that out on your computer!

When you find Sots.ini, you will need to edit it (normally you can just double click on that file and it will open up in Notepad which comes with Windows which will allow you to edit this file).

Originally it will say something like:
[Modules] Mount1=sots_local_en.gob Mount2=sots.gob [Locale] Language=EN

You must edit it to add a mount reference to this mod, and "push-back" the standard mounts, like so:
[Modules] Mount1=Mods\BOTS
Mount2=sots_local_en.gob
Mount3=sots.gob
[Locale] Language=EN

That's it!
You do not need to change Language=, and you do not need to change Profile= if these are present - just leave the rest of that file alone. Only change the [Modules] section - and only really to insert a reference to this mod.

Happy Gaming!
Tech Tree
  • The technology tree is completely revamped - better organized, more interesting, new technologies and options.
  • Pace of technology acquisition in the middle and late game is slowed compared to vanilla.
  • Racial technologies are core.
    (e.g. Tarkas always have access to Living Steel).
  • Fusion age, and even more so Antimatter age, are much more expensive tiers, forcing players and AIs to explore more options in the current age rather than trying to "rush antimatter."
  • There are many finishing touches added to the tech tree to make it more self-explanatory and easy to learn.
  • There is a full tech-tree map included with this mod in the root folder so you can see what techs are where, and what prerequisites they each require, and which techs are core, and which are random.
Weapons
  • There are a wider variety of weapons within each class of weapons (more torpedos, more missiles, more ballistic weapons, etc.)
  • Weapons generally have longer ranges than in vanilla SOTS. So battles begin further out and can take on a more epic feeling to them.
  • Most weapons technologies are NO LONGER core. They're random. Each race is guaranteed to get at least one major weapons technology line. Everything else is random, or salvageable.
  • Using smaller weapons in larger mounts offers NO additional benefits.
    (e.g. a small mount pulsed laser cannon in a medium mount supplies exactly one small mount pulsed laser cannon.)
  • There are explicit techs to unlock turrets with multiple barrels for various weapons systems.
  • Dual barrel variants effectively increases the firepower of a given mount to 150% of a single barrel version. (you must redesign your ship to take advantage of this technology).
  • You have more control over what combinations of weapons you wish to use on your ships (there are no missile-only mounts, for example).
Ships
  • Are much tougher.
  • With intelligent management and judicious use of retreat, you should be able to keep your ships alive much longer.
  • Repair is available in fission age, and there is a standard version of the repair ship so that you can take advantage of repair regardless of which order you research ship size classes in.
  • It takes longer to build them.
  • This will tie up your worlds with construction duties longer.
  • This will reduce your income, as well as force you to have to build up your fleets more proactively, instead of reactively.
  • Ship Yards (formerly Repair Stations) offer a +25% ship construction rate bonus.
  • In tactical combat ships move faster and are more responsive than in vanilla SOTS.
  • You start with the ability to design scout ships and some non-combat ship types of standard size only.
  • You will have to research Combat Construction, Heavy Combat Construction and Mega Combat Construction to get access to combat oriented ships in various size classes.
  • You can research any level of Combat Construction in any order, assuming you have researched the appropriate prerequisites
    (e.g. you'll need Mega Construction before you can access Mega Combat Construction).
  • Hence, it is not required that you research Combat Construction before you research Heavy Combat Construction - it is up to you.
  • You don't have to get cruisers or dreadnoughts before improved or advanced CnC (due to new CnC rules).
  • Many of the specialized combat sections for your ships require a specific technology to be researched before you will be able to design a ship with that specialized section.
    (e.g. Strafe Engineering must be researched in order for you to design a ship with a strafe bridge section.)
Huge Ships (formerly Dreadnoughts)
  • Sport many larger weapon mounts than in the original Sword of the Stars.
  • Are extremely deadly to smaller ships due to having many medium, large, and huge mount weapons on them.
  • Are far harder to overwhelm with a swarm of smaller ships as compared to the original SOTS.
  • Do not have PD mounts and should be escorted by ships which do to defend against drones, missiles, and tracking torpedoes!
Flag Ships
  • You can build multiple flag ships once you've research Flag Command
    • They are bank-breaking expensive, however, so you're not guaranteed to be able to afford even one.
CnC
  • Each CnC tier is available for all ship sizes.
  • For example, once you've researched Advanced CnC you can design a standard, large, or huge CnC ship (assuming you've researched those ship construction techs as well), and any such ship will have the same capacity to command other ships regardless of its own size.
Armor
  • Two levels of deflectives - which are good against ballistics, but offer no other effect.
  • Two levels of reflectives - which are good against lasers (pulsed and beamers), but offer no other effect.
  • Two levels of advanced construction materials - which increase the strength of your ships, but offer no other effect.
  • You can combine each of these three technologies on a single ship (one reflective, one deflective, and one hull construction material).
Shields
Shields come in two basic classifications: Hemispherical and Enveloping
  • Hemispherical shields require a dedicated ship section, and come in two types:
    • Deflective - deflects or blocks most ballistic projectiles, including missiles and some torpedoes.
    • Reflective - reflects or blocks most energy based weapons, including lasers, beams, and some torpedoes.
    • Hemispherical shields are available for all ship sizes, including huge ships (but not satellites or stations)
  • Enveloping shields can be added to most ships as an option, and come in two basic types:
    • Two levels of "quick-recharging" shields, which offer fast shield cycle times but a pittance of the absorption capacity of a heavy shield.
    • Two levels of "heavy" shields, which offer slow regeneration cycles but many times the stopping power of the quick-recharge version of shields.
    • Enveloping shields are available for small and large ships, but not for huge ships nor any other non-ship structure such as satellites.
Cloaking
  • Is potentially available very early in a game.
  • There is a deep-scan satellite technology available near Quantum Sensors which will offer local visibility of cloaked vessels (This is not available until Fusion age, however).
  • You have been warned!
Drones
  • Start with 2 small weapons, and can be improved to have 1 medium weapon + 2 small.
  • There are two additional types of drones available starting in the fusion age:
    • Minelayer Drones
      • Lay miniaturized versions of any space mine technology you have researched.
    • Torpedo Drones
      • Fire miniaturized versions of any torpedo technology you have researched.
  • Such miniaturized versions of mines and torpedoes offer scaled down versions of such weapons both in size and explosive power, but are still quite powerful, and have a very versatile and rapid deployment system!
Conquest
  • Orbital bombardment destroys more infrastructure than in vanilla SOTS.
  • ...but much less population.
  • Bombardment is ineffectual in the early game against even a moderately well established enemy colony world.
  • With fusion and antimatter weapons it is more effective, but you'll risk destroying the habitability of the world in the process.
  • For these reasons, planetary invasion plays a more core role in conquest.
  • Alternately, you can use biological weapons to eradicate an unwanted enemy population.
Worlds
  • Homeworlds start at 200 infrastructure, as in vanilla SOTS.
  • However, all worlds can grow to 200 infrastructure if they are unmolested long enough.
  • It takes 1 year (game turn) per point beyond 100. So after an additional 100 years, any given world can grow to become a "Trantor" or "Earth".
  • Zuul do not get this feature - they must expand rapidly or they will be dealing with enemies who are extremely well established (although Zuul can conquer such worlds and if accomplished without too much orbital bombardment, they will benefit from the extremely high infrastructure on such a world).
  • Population growth factors are slower than in vanilla. This will slow world-growth, and give a longer period of time in which they are vulnerable for most races (Zuul, and to a lesser extent, Hiver, will see little change due their natural high reproduction rates).
  • Standard colonizers are slightly better than in vanilla in order to reduce micro-management a bit.
Trade
  • Is a Morrigi-only feature
    • I simply found trade as a whole destroys one of the most fundamental features and game-design pillars upon which SOTS stands: minimal micro management.
    • So I reverted all races except the Morrigi to pre-AWOC where there was no trade
    • This also eliminates whole classes of exploits and game-engine problems with using trade-sectors to violate basic movement rules of the game.
    • And improves the game's AI, making your enemies stronger and less stupid.
  • There is only one size of freighters
    • Hence you don't need to redo your trade routes with a larger set of freighters later in the game.
    • You still have access to Q-freighters, but those only require a single tech, if you wish to use those instead.
    • Because your worlds grow in population over time, and your technologies allow further flung trade networks, you may still wish to expand and fill in your newly opened trade routes as the game progresses.
  • Each trade route requires one freighter to operate it (not 5).
    • So 1 route = 1 freighter (either Q or standard).
  • Trade sectors are larger.
    • There are fewer of them (less micro-management).
    • You'll have to control more space to setup your trade.
    • They'll be easier for enemies to disrupt.
  • Trade Stations
    • Provide one maintenance-free trade route each.
    • Boost trade income by +15%.
  • Overall, trade will offer a smaller % of your income compared to vanilla.
    • This is to help balance out the other changes that will boost your overall income.
    • All races have been adjusted to balance for these changes.
Orbital Stations
  • Orbital Stations are available earlier in the game.
  • Depending on the conditions of the games you set up, you should be able to build up your core worlds more extensively into fast-ship production centers or science centers or defensible positions.
  • They require only 1k civilian population so you can build them sooner on a developing world compared to vanilla SOTS.
  • However, they require 750M population threshold for each additional one.
    • Meaning a system with < 750M population can support at most 1 station.
    • A system with < 1.5B population can support at most 2 stations.
    • and your home system can support at most 3 stations.
  • Construction ships are considered standard civilian ships, so you can design and build your stations much earlier in the game.
  • Be warned however that they are quite expensive and you should be thoughtful about what you build and where.
Artificial Intelligence
  • Is wickedly more expensive as compared to vanilla SOTS.
  • This increases the time you will be forced to spend researching it, and thus increases significantly your risks of getting an AI rebellion.
  • They are organized in such a way that you can research whichever one becomes available to you directly, without having to be forced to always start with AI Research (which vanilla refers to as "AI") - hence if you unlock AI Fire Control first, then you can start there.
  • There is no guarantee of any particular AI techs opening up. All are random, but there are multiple avenues to each one.
Racial Affinities
  • Hiver: mines, drones, COL, missiles (esp. standard and small), ballistics (esp. bursters), armor, stealth, plasma torpedos
  • Humans: pulsed lasers, missiles, emitters, drones, photon torpedos, heavy beams
  • Liir: pulsed lasers, plasma cannons, emitters, quick shields, energy torpedos
  • Morrigi: drones, COL, beamers, heavy beams, plasma cannons, disruptor torpedoes, disruptor & deflector shields, cloaking
  • Tarkas: ballistics, missiles (esp. corrosive & nanite), armor, heavy shields, gluonic torpedos
  • Zuul: beamers, combat beams, missiles (esp. corrosive & nanite), disruptor torpedoes, disruptor & deflector shields
Additional Options
  • I have included a couple of alternate game options (these are under TechTree folder):
    • MasterTechList.tech (also in MasterMasterTechList.tech)
      • This is the standard tech tree starting in the fission age.
    • MasterTechList (100% Chances).tech
      • This is the same tech tree, but every race can research all possible technologies (as if you rolled every possible tech you could).
      • Cost is normal, so you still start in the fission age as normal.
    • MasterTechList (Fusion Age).tech
      • This gets you started as if you'd just researched Fusion power.
      • You start with any fission age technology that you rolled (normal chances).
      • This is a great "get the game rolling faster" option if you give everyone say 5 worlds to start with and maybe 2-5m cash.
    • MasterTechList (All Tech).tech
      • This is really for debugging purposes: you start with every tech already researched.
    • MasterTechList (End Game).tech
      • Similar to all tech - it's as if you researched all tech available to you (but normal chances for any given tech).
  • In order to use an alternate tech file - you just need to backup your current one, and then copy the contents of the one you want into MasterTechList.tech (not MasterMasterTechList.tech!)
    • To restore to the standard BSOTS tech tree, either use your backup, or copy the contents of "MasterMasterTechList.tech" to "MasterTechList.tech"
    • NOTE: don't change your tech file during a game. Make sure you stick with the same one for the duration of a game.
      • If you really want to switch around, make sure you have the correct file installed as "MasterTechList.tech" when you load and play any specific game (same one you used to create the game with).
      • If you switch them up, your game will become very odd, and you may crash the game.
Credits
  • Mordachai aka Alpha Centauri - The core design, coordination, bulk of data file changes, game balance, new weapon effects, sounds, etc.
  • Warcat - 3D modelling of tech tree, ship sections, and some turrets; plus ideas and help & feedback throughout this process!
  • Foraven (Rayp) - FRB Mod - Inspiration, balance, ideas, and AI generated ship-names.
  • R2dical - Hi-res Planets, Skybox, and Nebula effects; plus his AI thread in forums on AI modding.
  • BlueInstinct - Combined Mod - GUI face lift ideas & art (might integrate more later!)
  • Okim - ACM Mod - Some 3D turret models, artwork, and general ideas & proof of concept.
  • Eleahen - Custom maps I love to play on!
  • pRev - Ultimate Starnames collection.
  • Valerian - Non-flashing note indicators.
  • Drages - Icon art & ideas.
429 Comments
Mordachai  [author] Mar 27 @ 1:46pm 
not sure if that's visible. just google "sword of the stars mod manager"
Mordachai  [author] Mar 27 @ 1:45pm 
I'm just not that active in this space - but a google turned up:
moddb.com
downloads/bromocs-sword-of-the-stars-mod-manager
Rytram Mar 26 @ 5:13pm 
could you add a folder in your Mod that contains the Mod Manager? the link to the manager is broken or otherwise inactive.
Tyee Feb 17 @ 7:45am 
FYI Kerberos Forums are back up, but they seem to be read-only at the moment.
Mordachai  [author] Feb 4 @ 12:18pm 
Not a bad idea. Feel free to create such a section - dm me, and we can get it added.
Nevermore Feb 3 @ 3:03pm 
Hey Mordachai, what do you think of having a part in the Guide about something like "Known Problems".
For example the scenario "The End of Flesh" starts with a bugged tech tree. You start that game with a few advanced techs, but I guess Meson Torpedos and a few others are a bit too high.
Nevermore Jan 28 @ 4:29am 
Attention Sol Fleet Personnel!
Our frontline commanders found another bug: Direct Fire Rocket Pods have the turretclass missile!

This gives them slow tracking rate and locks them at a 45° incilination upwards from the direction the ship is facing (the turrets always aim up). Thus making direct fire impossible.

The easiest fix is to open the .weapon files of the mis_dfire weapons and replacing the turretclass missile with turretclass standard .

Thank you for your attention and may god have mercy on the souls of the crews that died because they couldn't aim their weapons at the enemy.
Nevermore Jan 26 @ 10:19am 
I never tried those mini-torps on Drones and it's about time I do!
Nevermore Jan 26 @ 10:18am 
Yes you did, I went back through the comments and here is what you said:

Mordachai [Autor] 22. Okt. 2020 um 20:33
@nevermore - I removed human node missiles in order to use that "mount type" for the mini versions of some weapons on drones.
Nevermore Jan 26 @ 10:14am 
Well, I checked the Mod files. Not sure if I understood it right, but tell me if this rings any bells.
You seem to have used the turretclass nodemissilerider to make the Mini-Torpedos on Drones.
The rules.txt states:
Nodemissilerider A: nodemissilerider - commandeered for use by drones as "mini torps"