The setup is you have two "team leaders" on opposite sides of the map who can recruit team members, but about half the players are "neutrals" who are not on either team, but can make or break any alliances they choose. Since the two warring teams will need to negotiate (or force) their way through neutral space to get at each other, a lot of diplomacy and intrigue will be involved.
Mod is the DJAS mod, v49+, description of which is here:
Join up if interested!DJAS mod is built from the Balance Mod (what isn''t?), but completely overhauls the weapons, vehicle sizes, and armor / shields.
Weapons, armor, and shields have quasi-infinite tech trees with 100 levels, but with 2 research Breakthrough techs that usher in powerful new weapons and defenses. The breakthrough techs are expensive, though, so a player must be careful when to research them. Too early and one will be left wide open to an early rush. Too late and you will be facing an opponent with hyper-advanced tech.
A starting player has access to all ship sizes right away, and they all get bigger together. Bigger is not necessarily better, but you will need big, small, and medium ships to win. Every vehicle type is countered by another, and there is no one size that will carry a player to victory by itself.
There are a host of other features in this mod, such as sensor arrays, capital cities for homeworlds, a new take on mines, and a variety of customized mounts.
DJAS now has WORKING AI, so go kick some computer behind!
DJAS now also has racial weapons and armor that progress through all three tech trees, so get your mold on!
Versions labeled 49+ will be savegame compatible with version 49. If a new version is still labeled 49+, you can update without breaking your savegame.
See this thread for ongoing discussion: http://www.spaceempires.net/ftopict-7880.html
