DEFCON Mod

Short version: this is the polar opposite of a "disable superweapons mod".

Download:

The current version is available to download here.

Description:

This mod happened as a byproduct of me messing around with faction tech trees to see how the AI would respond. Among other things, it does the following:

• Superweapons now cost 1% of their original cost (so basically free, but not technically), no longer need to be researched, and no longer have a limit per player based on the number of owned gravity wells.
• Superweapons now all have the same stats (Advent superweapon has more shield mitigation and a smaller collision size in vanilla) and fire the same warhead, which is a cross between a weaker, slightly modified Novalith warhead and a Kostura warhead that does not spawn a phase lane connection. The actual numbers are as follows: the warhead deals 2950 bombing damage (up from 1500), removes 125 population (down from 150), applies the vanilla Kostura damage-and-disable effects to ALL ships and structures (not just enemy ones), and applies an almost vanilla Novalith debuff of -40% maximum population and -50% population growth (instead of -100% trade income).
• Superweapon warheads now have a much faster maximum speed (50000, vs. vanilla Kostura/Novalith max speed of 10000), but accelerate much slower (100, vs. vanilla Kostura acceleration of 400) and have a slow starting speed (300). This means they are just as viable on multi-star maps as on single star ones, and give you ample time to react to sudden barrages.
• Superweapon firing abilities now have a 10 second cooldown and cost 60 AM (down from the vanilla 360 second cooldown and 200 AM), but superweapon structures have their AM regeneration reduced to about 12 AM per minute. This roughly keeps the vanilla settings for how often superweapons can be fired, but lets you save up for barrages should you choose to do so.
• To still make the game somewhat playable, starbase construction no longer requires research, and all starbases deny loss of planet ownership from bombardment by default, though you will still need to buy the module to deny colonization of planets. Also, don't forget that starbases still take damage from the Kostura effect of warheads, so planets with starbases can still be taken out if you aren't careful.
• Players start with a superweapon and an unupgraded starbase already built in Quick Start.
• Due to how often superweapon activations happen, how important it is for you to know about them, and how easy the vanilla voiceover notification is drowned out by the game's other sounds, I opted to replace the superweapon activation notification sound with an "alarm" sound. You can't miss it.

Since the AI doesn't adapt as well to the new conditions, you'd ideally want to play this in multiplayer. The AI will still put up a fight, so if you do choose to play against it, I recommend the Fortifier preset and turning on Quick Start.

Though I haven't tried it in multiplayer, from what I can tell playtesting against the AI, the game is significantly changed. For one, you are much more paranoid about your army and spread them out more, as well as constantly being aware of possible superweapon barrages heading in your direction. This reminded me a lot of how sessions from a different game, DEFCON (by Introversion Software), tend to go, hence the name of this mod and the main menu music replacement. You rely a lot more on the Black Market for credits, as a primary credit source, taxes, is constantly reduced by enemy superweapons, to the point where you might have a higher metal/crystal income than credit income. Due to how easy it is to lose planets and how quickly buildings can be destroyed by just a few warheads, non-combat starbase upgrades become even more important than in vanilla. Endgame researches are much harder to come by, as a single warhead will disable all labs in a gravity well for 3 minutes. Capital ships are much more valuable in a fleet than before due to their resilience; you can have a 4000 supply fleet of frigates and cruisers, but it only takes 3-4 warheads to completely destroy everything.

Hopefully this mod will inspire some interesting design choices for other Sins mods in the future. At the very least, it should provide you with a few hours of entertainment, and break from the traditional Sins playstyle without having to learn about new tech trees, factions, 4X-style systems, etc.

PS. The reason I didn't make a similar mod for Titans, even though I really wanted to, is because I am afraid of completely breaking the way experience and leveling works for Titans. Imagine the hilarity if someone were to pull it off...

Changelog:

v1.0
Initial release