Sandbox Balancing Mod

Based on the various threads around here about rebalancing Sins, it seems that there are a number of abilities out there that need improving in some way to make them usable or better for normal play. However, there is often quite a lot of debate (and little consensus) about exactly how these improvements should be implemented, so this mod hopes to help with this by allowing us to test out suggestions to see if they make a difference in the game.

You can download the current version (1.00) from here.

As the name suggests, this mod is designed to allow testing of a number of different suggestions for improvement of the various abilities that are considered less useful in normal play. Please do test out the changes and report back comments, criticism or improvements here; we can't judge any of the improvements if there is no testing or feedback! More suggestions for balancing are always welcome, and given sufficient support/reasoning, should be no problem to add or change. I do not claim ownership of the ideas or concepts in any of the suggestions in this mod, although it is also not possible for me to attribute suggestions to specific people here either, so hopefully there are no hurt feelings!

To the Developers: I hope this mod and the potential feedback it garners will help you in deciding how to improve Sins further. SoASE is a great game and it deserves to be polished until it shines brighter than the Gamma Burst. 

Instructions

To Install: Copy the "Sandbox Mod" Folder and its contents into the default mod folder. Its location will depend on your computer settings and operating system, but Sins can tell you where this is if you can't find it. Open the game, then click the following: "Options" > "Mods" > "Show Mod Path", and a window will pop up with the correct path. The pre-assembled mod contains the changes that are considered most recommended or interesting, at least from my point of view, and you can find details on these changes in the changelog below. There are various tutorials about how to install mods if you need more info, such as here.

To Modify: Since not everyone will agree about the best way to go about balancing Sins, I have tried to provide a compromise that will allow you to choose or remove the changes as you like. You can find a selection of options for each changed ability in the "Pick-n-Mix Entity Files" folder, categorised by the in-game name of the ability. Within each ability folder, you will find a number of sub folders labelled "Current", "Option 1", Option 2", and so on. The "Current" folder contains the ability unchanged as it is in the most current version of Sins, in this case 1.82 Beta. Each "Option" folder contains a different variant of the ability, all of which are described in the changelog below. To swap in a particular variant, simply open the folder containing the correct option and copy all the contents to the "GameInfo" folder inside the "Sandbox Mod" folder where you installed the mod. When prompted, you need to replace/overwrite the files already inside the GameInfo folder. If you want even finer control over your mod, all the entity files (which contain the necessary info to describe each ability) are provided in text format, which you can edit directly.

WARNING: This mod is probably incompatible with most other mods for standard Rebellion because there are extra entity files for some of the abilities. It is recommended to swap abilities in and out by overwriting the entity files by copying them, not deleting, or you may upset the entity manifest.

Changelog

Version 1.00 (10/01/2014)

Note: Bold text indicates the option included by default into the assembled mod. Short notes about the improvements are provided afterwards in normal text.

[TEC]

Kol Battleship

• Flak Burst
• Current: All SC and Corvettes in range when the ability is used take damage.
• Option 1: [Balanced] Ability now fires 6 times over 3s, allowing additional units that move into range to be hit. (Otherwise identical to original effect but micro is now easier)
• Option 2: [Buff] Ability now fires 6 times over 3s, allowing additional units that move into range to be hit, and also reduces the Chance to Hit for 10s: -25%/33.3%/42.8%/53.8% (Debuff cannot be stacked but can be refreshed. Absolute weapon damage is reduced to 80%/75%/70%/65%)

[Advent]

Radiance Battleship

• Animosity
• Current: Affected enemy units attack Radiance for the duration.
• Option 1: [Buff] Affected units in addition have reduced weapon damage: -25%/-50%/-75%/-100% Damage Output (Absolute weapon damage is reduced to 80%/67%/57%/50%)
• Option 2: [Buff] Affected units in addition take more damage: -25%/-50%/-75%/-100% Damage Reduction
• Option 3: [Buff] The Radiance has increased weapon damage each time it is hit: 1%/2%/3%/4% Damage Output per hit up to 50 times (= max Damage Output 50%/100%/150%/200%), lasts for 10s after hit.
• Option 4: [Buff] The Radiance has increased weapon damage per taunted unit: 5% Damage Output per unit (= max Damage Output 40%/90%/135%/185%)
• Energy Absorption
• Current: Unit gains antimatter from a fraction of the damage caused by energy weapons: 5%/9.1%/13.2%/17.3% and has extra armor: 2/4/6/8
• Option 1: [Slight Buff] The Radiance has increased shield mitigation instead of armor: 1%/1.9%/2.8%/3.6% (Balanced at 5.4 base armor and 76% SM; improves slightly with increased ship armor and durability research)

Halcyon Carrier

• Telekinetic Push
• Current: All SC and Corvettes in range when the ability is used take damage, take a penalty to movement stats and are thrown away from the Halcyon.
• Option 1: [Slight Buff] Ability now fires 6 times over 3s, allowing additional units that move into range to be hit. (The repulsion effect and damage can be stacked by multiple Halcyons and reapplied if the unit moves back into range but the debuff cannot be stacked although it can be refreshed).

Revelation Battlecruiser

• Clairvoyance
• Current: Places a Remote Sensor at the targetted planet.
• Option 1: [Buff] In addition, reduces current max allegiance value at an enemy planet sharply: 5%/10%/15%/20%. (This effect simulates max allegiance reduction but has less effectiveness at planets with no culture. If the planet allegiance is already below the simulated maximum, it will increase until it reaches this maximum.)
• Option 2: [Slight Buff] In addition, reveals all mines at the planet for the duration of the ability.
• Guidance
• Current: Reduces Ability Cooldown of all units around the Revelation: -25%/-30%/-35%/-40%
• Option 1: [Buff] In addition also reduces Antimatter Cost of non-ultimate abilities: -25%/-30%/-35%/-40% (Absolute antimatter cost is reduced to 80%/76.9%/74.1%/71.4%)

Seeker Vessel

• Martyrdom
• Current: Seeker Vessel rams into target, killing itself and dealing 250 Damage. This ability autocasts when hull is less than 50%.
• Option 1: [Balanced] Now autocasts when hull is less than 99%. (Micro is less necessary, although the ability still does not stack, so multiple Seekers suiciding at exactly the same time still only deals 250 damage).
• Option 2: [Buff] Now autocasts when hull is less than 99% and ability can stack. (Every Seeker that hits will deal damage)
• Lingering Presence
• * Changed ability so it can only stack once instead of infinitely. It otherwise works the same way as before.

Iconus Guardian

• Shield Projection
• Current: Iconus shares 33% of incoming damage with all friendly units in the area.
• Option 1: [Slight Buff] In addition, Iconus gains 100% block of shield bypass for the ability duration. (This is to stop shared phase missile damage from damaging the Iconus' hull and so prevent it suiciding. It will tank 33% of the damage boost from shield bypass.)
• Option 2: [Buff] In addition, Iconus gains 100% block of shield bypass and all units sharing damage also get a 10% block of shield bypass for the ability duration. (This prevents Iconus suicide and also provides the Advent with a portable buff against phase missiles. It should not have any effect on TEC balancing.)

[Vasari]

Skirantra Carrier

• Microphasing Aura
• Current: All strikecraft within range have a chance to be made briefly invulnerable and teleported towards their attack targets.
• Option 1: [Buff] In addition, all enemy units within range have a percentage of incoming weapons damage bypass the shields: -1%/-2%/-3%/-4% Weapon Block (Despite the name, all weapons will partially bypass shields. At 57% mitigation (frigates), this equals a damage boost of 1.3%/2.7%/4.0%/5.3% and at 76% mitigation (Cap Ships), this equals a damage boost of 3.2%/6.3%/9.5%/12.7%. The effectiveness is boosted with higher enemy SM and is linearly additive with PM bypass research)

Antorak Marauder

• Phase Out Hull
• Current: Makes the targetted unit invulnerable but also shifts it into Phase Space, preventing it doing most activities. Also heals 200 shield on firendly units and inflicts 200 shield damage on enemies.
• Option 1: [Slight Buff] Instead of dealing 200 shield damage, deals 80 unmitigated hull damage to enemies.
• Distort Gravity
• Current: Increases linear speed, acceleration, turn rate and decreases phase jump departure distance for all units near to the Marauder when the ability is cast.
• Option 1: [Slight Buff] Instead of decreasing the phase jump departure distance, it now decreases phase jump charge-up time. The ability is also adjusted so that it is applied only to units that remain within range of the Marauder. (The phase jump distance and charge-up time are probably comparable to each other in terms of charge up time being similar to linear movement time).
• Option 2: [Buff] In addition to Option 1, if the jump is made before it expires, the ability also restores Antimatter on all affected ships: 30/45/60/75 (This effect simulates jump antimatter loss reduction under most circumstances, which is linear, e.g. -75% loss = only 25 AM cost to jump instead of 100. The ability does have an advantage by giving net antimatter under two situations: the ship has less AM than it costs to jump, and the player's AM cost reduction is greater than 100 - [AM restoration value]).
• Subversion
• Current: Adds a Remote Sensor to the planet and increases ship and structure build times.
• Option 1: [Buff] Adds a Remote Sensor to the planet in the same way. Also drastically slows ships phase jumping to the planet for 30s, although this effect can only be activated once every time period: 120s/110s/100s/90s (The ship slowing does not need to be microed and is triggered off by the first ship that enters phase space).
• Option 2: [Buff] In addition to option 1, the ability also causes 1/s damage to the planet for the duration. (This effect is primarily to prevent planetary recovery during a hit-and-run attack).
• Option 3: [Buff] In addition to option 1, the ability also reduces extractor income rates: 11.1%/25%/42.9%/66.7% (Absolute extraction rate is reduced to 90%/80%/70%/60%)

Other Improvements to Consider

These are potential ideas that have been suggested, but do not have enough support or fleshing-out to be included in the mod. Please feel free to discuss these. I'll update the list with further ideas as they are suggested.

• The Rankulas Battleship and all of its abilities. Some major discussion about the various options available can be found here.
• Shield Regeneration (Progenitor Mothership) does not improve with level in proportion to Repair Cloud (Skirantra Carrier)
• Adaptive Forcefield (Kol Battleship) is perhaps better as a passive, or at least requires lower AM consumption on the Kol to be useful.

 Edit: <sigh>. Posting complicated things on this forum is not trivial. But it is corrected now.