UDM4 (no longer in development)

Ultimate Dominion Mod; showcase and support/discussion/questions/suggestions/reviews

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xDx
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UDM4 (no longer in development)

Post by xDx »

As the heading suggests I am trying to start a discussion for a possibility of UDM4. First off no I am not trying to suggest to TC or anybody out there working on their own mod to work on a UDM4. I would like to know what people's thoughts are on this subject. Second is there interest from the community to see another in this series of mod? Third, and most importantly why I ask, what would you like to see in this mod? So many achievements and possibilities can and have come from the code masters for this game and so many detailed and beautiful models made by a very limited number of devout fans out there are available. Personally for starters, I would like to have a feel of All the Ages mod combined with UDM. Basically start from the early days of the Federation (2260s) and work up through 15 tech levels to TNG and beyond (2380s). The AI should be much harder and expand aggressively so AI impossible is impossible. Balance for MP as well so each empire has its own strengths but not be too powerful either low tech (Feds) or high tech (Cards). Maybe combine Dominion and Cards and make an all new major empire, but who? The possibilities are endless. I don't want everyone to think this is a wish list. With your ideas and suggestions I plan to move forward in making this mod. I have ideas of my own and hopefully it will be well received. So everyone, what do you say?
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Re: UDM4 Ideas, Suggestions... Interest?

Post by Deks »

In terms of what would be nice to see... well, 'All ages Mod' should probably be combined into UDM to allow for a more realistic 'Birth of the Federation' where you indeed start from the Enterprise NX-01 era and move forward.
We do know the Feds, Romulans and Klingons were given few designs from those early days, so they can be incorporated.

Next... the UDM3 has some issues during combat. Namely, Phasers and Shields seem to impact the FPS a lot (slow down to a crawl more like it), and both look much larger than they should be.
I think UltimateMod got this right and had phasers presented as thin beams, and shields as reasonably large (but not ship-large) blue appearance when impacting (right now they look too large and beams too 'fat').
Would it be possible to optimize the combat in order to increase the playability?
Why not also combine aspects from the Error Correction Mod as well into UDM4? Such as the Stars/Planets new graphics.

As for merging the Cardies and the Dominion... in a sense that does present an interesting aspect, however, why not simply make the Cardassians available at first and later on create an 'event' (such as when they reach a technological level) that allows them to construct Dominion ships as well?
This would in a sense at least provide an illusion of the Cardassian empire making an Alliance with the Dominion.

These are just at the top of my head.
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Re: UDM4 Ideas, Suggestions... Interest?

Post by xDx »

Sorry if my first post was a little ambiguous but to clarify I am in the process of creating UDM4. It is in its very early stages yet but I have been given permission by Thunderchero to continue this popular series of mod. After brainstorming some over the weekend here is what we can expect to see in this mod:

-an epic span of tech starts (from the 2140s (ENT) through 2380s (Nemesis) for a truly birth of the Federation feel leading to its darkest period of history, the Dominion War
-the five major empires will stay the same but with Cardassians more easily swayed by gifts and treaties to any empire (to resemble their backstabbing nature) I would like if specifically the Dominion could sway Cards easier but to my knowledge this kind of change is not possible yet
-AI Empires will be much harder (AI impossible might just be impossible)
-all new set of minors some more sympathetic to Dominion/Cards others to Fed/ Kling/ Rom
-minors will play a more crucial role with special buildings and high population and be harder to sway or conquer
-every minor will be able to build ships and since minor empires are not possible they will build a lot of ships some stronger than others to represent different "minor empires" strength throughout the eras
-new set of special structures of minors avaialble to specific empires (Bajor labor camps for Cards/Doms or Bajor Provincial Gov't for Feds/Kling/Roms)
-Techs 1-5 will focus on infrastructure and upgrading main buildings (expansion phase of techs)
-Techs 6-10 will focus on enhancing main buildings (no building upgrades but expensive structures that require lots of power to keep big systems competitive and yet smaller systems still can produce a reasonable output of resources (consolidation techs)
-Techs 11-15 a lot is still unknown so they will focus on tech bonus with no building upgrades or special structures: these techs will constitute 'philosophies' for each empire (i.e. Construction 11 or Weapons 12 is instead Free Enterprise and War Mongering respectively) (philosophy techs)
-the balance system for ships will be completely redone and each empire will have a clear advantage over another in a certain category
-Empires will have unique strengths more apparent as original game manual states (Feds- strong diplomacy and research and strong stand alone ships, etc)
-don't neglect an empire's weakest link and hope to win (Klingon intel structures may seem worthless (higher cost per level low output) to build compared to Cards (low cost high output) so don't build them and just build warships right? nope because you will handing those ships right to the Cards when they upgrade their intel with that extra level of building on tech 5, or build them and when the Monastery of Borath is built at tech 6 it will add +200% internal security! Keep them at bay and then assault their planets with you stronger troops
-GUI interface will not change much (graphics will be sharpened up (within 16 bit limit), territory colors changed and not be so hard to see on galactic map), new cursors added, new Empire and minor graphics will be added with completely new biography info (some needed with approval), new voice overs will be done for Dominion and minor races
-time permitting a canon map made for SP and MP from tech1 start (no teams) and a tech 5 start (with teams) all empires playable but that's a lot of work in its own

I would also like to use certain graphic files and models from different ship packs (requests will be coming via pm soon). But all that is a long way off. Well those are my ideas as of now obviously more to come and when a build is available I will let all try and see. So with all this said is there any feedback from the community? :)

And thanks Deks for breaking the ice here and posting first. As for your shield and weapon concerns UDM4 will have differently scaled models so shield impact, phasers, and torpedoes will all seem to be to scale as best as I can get it for better aesthetics. But IMO I believe the size of each rendered model (300+ kb some 400+) plus the fact of dozens of ships in a battle (even hundreds possible in UDM3) is what causes the slow battles. I've played MP games with dozens of ships on each side (actually about 160 combined ships). After an initial 30-45 second wait of both clicking turn the battle proceeds smoothly.
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Re: UDM4 Ideas, Suggestions... Interest?

Post by rugar85 »

wow i'm so glad to hear that people are still working to make UDM even better, i already love it as it is ^^ can't wait to hear more :))
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Re: UDM4 Ideas, Suggestions... Interest?

Post by SeaBee-T »

I would love to have UDM4 integrated with AAM as suggested by Deks as well. It's a good combination!
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Re: UDM4 Ideas, Suggestions... Interest?

Post by Gh0st »

xDx wrote:As the heading suggests I am trying to start a discussion for a possibility of UDM4. First off no I am not trying to suggest to TC or anybody out there working on their own mod to work on a UDM4. I would like to know what people's thoughts are on this subject. Second is there interest from the community to see another in this series of mod? Third, and most importantly why I ask, what would you like to see in this mod? So many achievements and possibilities can and have come from the code masters for this game and so many detailed and beautiful models made by a very limited number of devout fans out there are available. Personally for starters, I would like to have a feel of All the Ages mod combined with UDM. Basically start from the early days of the Federation (2260s) and work up through 15 tech levels to TNG and beyond (2380s). The AI should be much harder and expand aggressively so AI impossible is impossible. Balance for MP as well so each empire has its own strengths but not be too powerful either low tech (Feds) or high tech (Cards). Maybe combine Dominion and Cards and make an all new major empire, but who? The possibilities are endless. I don't want everyone to think this is a wish list. With your ideas and suggestions I plan to move forward in making this mod. I have ideas of my own and hopefully it will be well received. So everyone, what do you say?
Great ideas, wonderful & logical. I like the idea to split the the empire of cardassians with a later (tech-wise) appearance of the dominion/cardassian alliance. It's a realy smooth way to show the trek timeline. Every time when I take a look into this forum I hope to see a announcement of all those great modding-heads that they stick there heads together and start creating someting big! I'm talking about a major-base-mod for the good ol' botf. Something like Fleet Operations for ST: Aramda 2. One of the most qualitative projects out there. Most of the botf2 projects seems to go down - like supremacy (no realy update for a looooong time) or birth of the empire (they drop the trek content). Please Thunder, Flocke, Tribble, Gowron, Dafedz and all those I forget --- stick togehter and create something big for the future!
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Re: UDM4 Ideas, Suggestions... Interest?

Post by Gh0st »

Not mutch attention on this thread. Seems like we don't get another udm release.
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Re: UDM4 Ideas, Suggestions... Interest?

Post by xDx »

Gh0st wrote:
Not mutch attention on this thread. Seems like we don't get another udm release.
There will be another UDM however since it is just me working on this mod overall progress has been slow moving. Right now I am working on GUI for races trying to sharpen then up a bit and some minor graphical changes to set it apart from UDM3. I have not even begun to start the "actual" mod in regard to stat changes and bug fixes/options. Like I said work is slow moving due to a suddenly busier personal life plus I enjoy playing MP games too :) I am projecting and hoping to have an alpha version of the mod available before next year. When I am satisfied with the main screen background image I will make an "official" post for UDM4. I also had hoped more of the community would be a little more enthusiastic or at least receptive about this mod but alas not many of the vets on here have responded to this. :( But I will still make the mod and hopefully people will enjoy it as much as they and I enjoyed UDM3.
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Re: UDM4 Ideas, Suggestions... Interest?

Post by Gh0st »

I don't want to be rude or some kind of impolite but I don't understand why no-one of the old devs keep that project alive. Or even try to build a group/team of devs to bring out a bigger project. Not even UDM 4.0. Alot of guys try it in some kind of a one-men show. There is alot of potential and great ideas in the community but - from my point of view - most of this committed projects never came to birth because of overestimation. To combine all resources whut be a better way. Perhaps then it's possible to create a new major - mod for the whole community instead of twenty unfinished goods.
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Re: UDM4 Ideas, Suggestions... Interest?

Post by Taurus498 »

This is great news xDx :D

I had thought that development on UDM had finished, so this comes as a very pleasant surprise, as I really love this mod, and your ideas and plans for UDM 4 sound amazing, will definitely be keeping tabs on the future progress of this mod :)
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Re: UDM4 Ideas, Suggestions... Interest?

Post by xDx »

Taurus498 wrote:
I had thought that development on UDM had finished, so this comes as a very pleasant surprise
As it was a surprise for me lol that TC had allowed me to work on another UDM also but as I share your love for this mod I wanted to improve on it even more while still keeping to the core idea of the original UDM. But no TC is not helping in creating this mod at all except for some occasional troubleshooting when I have questions.

On another note I have a rough idea of the minor races to be added in UDM4. Does anyone else have any other suggestions? More are desired of course, but since max is 30 it is hard to decide which ones to use. Since UDM4 will have all eras combined, I tried to include minors from every period except the Delta Quadrant races are out since the mod will be confined to the other three quadrants (as such Species 8472 monster will not be in this mod). I have a (*) marked by models I would like to see created. I am not sure about a model creator just yet but if any of you vet modellers out there (Breen, RD, TC, Angel) could let me know if these models were made or are being made I would greatly appreciate it.

1. Tellarites (Tellarite cruiser from ENT: Babel One and In a Mirror, Darkly) *
2. Vulcans
3. Andorians
4. Rigelians (Rigellian Scout Ship ENT: United) *
5. Orions
6. Gorn
7. Tholians
8. Ferengi (Ferengi Marauder or War Cruiser) *
9. Bajorans
10. Dosi
11. Karemma (Karemma transport DS9: Starship Down)*
12. Son'a
13. Risans
14. Yridians (Yridian destroyer TNG: The Chase) *
15. Breen
16. Denobulans
17. Lissepians
18. Augments (a Klingon BoP Ent era... I could have sworn I saw this model somewhere on here but I cannot find it? :? ) *
19. Xindi
20. Coridans
21. Talarians (Talarian cruiser) *
22. Tamarians (Tamarian Defender) *
23. Trill
24. Betazeds
25. Nausicans
26. Wadi
27. Suliban
28. Bolians
29. Kriosians
30. Xepolites
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Re: UDM4 Ideas, Suggestions... Interest?

Post by gentle »

If all the minors will have ships maybe you may put more cloaked ships (Breen warships II are awesome in UDM3). That will compensate the lack of cloaked ships of the Dom and Card (maybe some cloaked cruisers or battleships 8) ) The klings should not have all the ships with cloaking abilities. And is it possible, as a personal request :) , to put on screen a special button that, when is clicked, the Dominion will win the game.. 8O aka "TheDominionWingameButton"? :P
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Re: UDM4 Ideas, Suggestions... Interest?

Post by xDx »

The Dominion did not have access to cloaking technology as far as I know so none of their ships will have cloaks. However IMO the Dominion don't really have a need for cloaked ships anyway :) as they will have very tough ships with the ability to be built in great numbers (as it was in DS9). Plus to give them cloaks with better stats will take the Roms and Klingon advantage away (this mod will not necessarily be balanced on all levels for all empires). I am thinking that since Cards and Dominion will not start as same race that in later techs (after tech 7-8 maybe) they can start building each others ships. In other words, after tech 8 Cards can build every Dominion ship and Dominion every Card ship with maybe a Breen cruiser that can cloak in there too. I havent really decided if I will keep the Breen as a minor or just have the two major races just build a Breen destroyer or cruiser (I do like the design of the ship). If I dont it will free up a slot for another minor though. Please everyone keep the ideas coming... with recent breakthroughs from our very gifted code masters my head is about to explode on what I can do with this mod. lol
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Re: UDM4 Ideas, Suggestions... Interest?

Post by jigalypuff »

I fail to see how anyone but Dafedz can give permission to work on this mod?
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Re: UDM4 Ideas, Suggestions... Interest?

Post by thunderchero »

jigalypuff wrote:I fail to see how anyone but Dafedz can give permission to work on this mod?
I think you are mixing up Ultimate dominion mod III by me, and Ultimate mod 4 by Dafedz. xDx is working on remake from scratch of Ultimate dominion mod.

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