readme.txt

SONATA

An FTL mod.

With cries of "Sic Semper Tyrannis", nearly a quarter of the United Empire's worlds have seceded to form their own nation. They call themselves the "Pilgrims". The Empire's legislature interpreted this secession as treason, and the overwhelming might of the loyalist fleet has fallen on the Pilgrims. Although the situation is militarily hopeless, your family and friends have all joined the resistance - and so you shall.

This mod is based on the lore of Endless Space by Amplitude Studios, although much (most) of it has been altered.


1 RACES
2 WEAPONS
3 DRONES
4 VERSION INFO
5 CHANGELOG

1 RACES
UNITED EMPIRE
The United Empire is a democracy, the capital being Earth; the vast majority of humans are citizens, as well as many aliens. The Empire, in fact, is quite liberal - and there is widespread sexual liberalism, drug use, and body modification. Its government presides over a population which is fiercely proud and expansion-hungry to the point of jingoism. 
 
The United Empire uses kinetic weaponry: rail guns, gauss guns, and drivers. Drivers tend to fire more quickly than the other types.

PILGRIMS
What does it take to drive an entire planet to secede from the United Empire, to seemingly turn their back on their race? In the case of the Pilgrims, it was shame. Shame at being part of an Empire that laughed at the gods, the Endless. Shame at being part of an Empire that allowed hedonism, all sorts of absolute moral depravity, within its borders. Shame, truth be told, at an Empire that would manipulate and conquer other children of the Endless to accomplish its goals.

In any case, almost 40% of the worlds of the United Empire seceded in the space of one year. This 40%, however, only included around 15% of the Empire's population, and an even smaller fraction of its industrial capability. The Pilgrim situation is militarily hopeless, although the Sophon (and a sizeable portion of the UE legislature) are seeking a ceasefire.

The Pilgrims use the same weapons that the United Earth and most other humans do.
 
SOPHON
The Sophon are a race of highly intelligent, highly cultured scientists with little actual government that seem to do just fine, nevertheless. Relations between the Sophon and humans have always been at least cordial, and usually are quite friendly; the Sophon government has elected not to recognize the Pilgrims diplomatically in interests of their relationship with the United Empire, but are certainly not on bad terms with the Pilgrims. Most Sophon are concerned with nothing but researching the hell out of whatever pleases them.

The Sophon use beam and pulse lasers.

SOWER
The Sower were created by an ancient race of beings called the Endless as advanced robotic terraformers, preparing worlds for future colonization. The Endless have long since disappeared, but these immense robots still fulfill their programming. Whether individual Sower - or possibly the race as a whole - are merely intelligent or actually sentient is unknown.

The Sower use massive cannon and autocannon.

HISSHO
A highly competitive race of tribal warriors, the Hissho resemble feathered pterodactyls. They are violent, but honorable, modern, and civilized.

AUTOMATONS
A race of organic robots, at one with nature. A minor galactic power with relatively primitive technology. Under conquest by the Hissho.

ENDLESS
An ancient race of beings with godlike technological prowess, long extinct. Many religions believe that they created the races that now populate the galaxy, or at least some of them: the Sower and Sophon. It is accepted as fact that the Endless created Dust, the miraculous material used for currency and technology across the galaxy. Humans are sharpely divided: some, including the Pilgrims, believe that the Endless created humans and worship them as gods. Some humans don't believe that. 

A sizeable fraction of humanity looks at the Endless, and think "give us a thousand years, and we'll do better than that." Do I detect a whiff of manifest destiny? This goes a long way to explain the United Empire's foreign policies.

2 WEAPONS
Weapons in Sonata are divided into 3 categories (Kinetic, Laser, Missile) and 2 classes (Racial, Generic). Within each category and class, there are 4 power levels (with some exceptions).

Kinetic Weapons:
KW map to the "shot" type weapons/non-beam lasers of vanilla FTL. Good at breaching.

High Isotope Slug Thrower: 1 bar, 1 damage, 8 second cooldown.
Caseless AutoCannon (Sower): 1 bar, 2 shots, 1 damage, 10s cooldown.
Mk 1 mod 3 Accelerator, linear (UE): 1 bar, 1 damage, very low breach chance, 8 second cooldown.
Mk 1 Driver, supercooled, mono-rail (UE): 1 bar, 1 damage, 6 second cooldown.
Rail Slugger: 1 bar, 2 damage, 10 second cooldown.
Focused EFP AutoCannon (Sower): 1 bar, 2 shots, 0 damage, excellent chance of fire, low chance of breach, 6s cooldown.
Mk 2 Driver, helical configuration (UE): 3 bars, 3 shots, 1 damage, 10 second cooldown.
Mk 1 Gauss Gun, relativistic (UE): 2 bars, 2 damage, pierces 1 shield, low breach chance, 11 second cooldown.
Plasma Slugger: 3 bars, 3 damage, very low fire chance, 12 second cooldown.
Mk 1 Gauss Gun, software-defined (UE): 2 bars, 3 shots, 1 damage, low breach chance, 11 second cooldown.
Mk 2 Gauss Gun, boson (UE): 3 bars, 3 damage, low breach chance, 13 second cooldown.
Unstable Slugger: 4 bars, 5 damage, very low breach chance, 14 second cooldown.
Anti-Baryon Mag AutoCannon (Sower): ???
Mk 2 Gauss Driver, proton exchange (UE): ???
Mk 2 Accelerator, tachyon (UE): ???

Some lasers also act like kinetic weapons:
High Energy Low Frequency Electrojet: 1 bar, 1 shot, 1 ion damage, 8s cooldown.
Radiothermal Burst Maser (Sophon): 1 bar, 2 shots, 1 damage, very low chance of fire, 11s cooldown.
Quantized Photonic Burst Xaser (Sophon): 2 bars, 2 shots, 1 damage, good chance of fire, 8s cooldown.
Contained Higgs Pulse Beam (Sophon): ???

Missile Weapons:
MW map to the missiles of vanilla FTL, where missiles have been gernalized to mean any sort of special or expensive ammunition. All require 1 missile unless noted.

Ion Torpedo: 1 bar, 1 damage, ignores 5 shields, very low chance of fire/breach, 11s cooldown.
Liquid Propellant Cannon (Sower): 1 bar, 1 damage, ignores 2 shields, doesn't require missiles, 10s cooldown.
Plasma Torpedo: 2 bars, 2 damage, ignores 5 shields, 11s cooldown.
Kinetic Chaff: 2 bars, 2 ion damage, very low chance of fire, 12s cooldown.
Fluidic Projectile Cannon (Sower): 2 bar, 2 damage, ignores 2 shields, very low chance to breach, doesn't require missiles. 10s cooldown.
Positron Torpedo: 3 bars, 3 damage, ignores 5 shields, very low chance to breach, 13s cooldown.
Mag Cannon (Sower): 3 bars, 3 damage, ignores 3 shields, low chance to breach, doesn't require missiles, 12s cooldown.
Compensated Mag AutoCannon (Sower): 3 bars, 3 shots, 1 damage, low chance to breach, ignores 2 shields, doesn't require missiles, 11s cooldown.
Non-Baryonic Torpedo: 4 bars, 4 damage, low chance of fire, very good chance to breach, ignores 5 shields, 15s cooldown.
COLD BASIN (UE): ???
Baryon-Gravitophoric Cannon (Sower): ???

Laser Weapons:
Beams. Good at setting fire.

Chemical Laser: 1 bar, 1 damage, 45 length, very low chance of fire, 12s cooldown.
Gas-Dynamic COIL Laser (Sophon): 1 bar, 1 damage, 45 length, good chance of fire, 11s cooldown.
Synchrotron Laser: 1 bar, 1 damage, 70 length, low chance of fire, 13s cooldown.
Supercooled Titanium-Sapphire Laser (Sophon): 2 bars, 1 damage, 55 length, low chance of fire, 7s cooldown.
Phased Plasmic Laser: 2 bars, 2 damage, 50 length, very low chance of fire, 12s cooldown.
Prototype Lepton Beam: 2 bars, 1 ion damage, 45 length, 11s cooldown.
Thermophotonic Xaser (Sophon): 3 bars, 1 damage, 95 length, pierces 1 shield, excellent chance of fire, 16s cooldown.
Disruptor Beam: 3 bars, 2 damage, 45 length, pierces 1 shield, very good chance to breach, 12s cooldown.
Bose-Einstein Particle Beam (Sophon): 3 bars, 2 damage, 35 length, insane breach chance, 15s cooldown.
Condensed Anti-Neutrino Beam (Sophon): ???

3 DRONES
In Sonata, drones are known as USVs - Unmanned Space Vessels. They come in many shapes and sizes; some are large enough to be considered enemy starships.

Combat:
Sower "Roc" Drone
Sower "Robin" EFP Drone
Maersk "Kinetic" Gun USV
Izhmash "Bison" Gauss USV
Almaz-Rafael "Arsenic" Missile USV
Raytheon-Denel "Manta" Laser USV
Boeing "Moray" Anti-System USV
Bofors-Hitachi "Invader" Heavy Anti-System USV

Defense:
SpaceX "Sulu" Point Defense USV
Almaz-Rafael "Prizmat" Advanced Point Defense USV
MAKE INDIGO Secret Point Defense USV

Other:
Dyson-Honda "Ant" Hull Repair USV
Yamaha-Indra "John Henry" System Repair Droid
Rheinmetall-Apple "Chesty" Anti-Personnel Droid
General Dynamics DES (Dynamic Entry System) Boarding Droid


4 VERSION INFO
Matt Alioto, mod concept & development
"Dream Team", lore development
Sam Pottle, Sophon A, Autocannon, & Xaser sprites
Spiteful_Crow, UE Frigate rework
Jeremy McCellips, main menu art
Bren Tenkage, testing

AndreaLoko (Beatpick), soundtrack
Chiwawa (Beatpick), soundtrack
Dhruva Aliman (Beatpick), soundtrack
Feorm (Beatpick), soundtrack
Going After Zen (Beatpick), soundtrack
Lehtmojoe (Beatpick), soundtrack
Mokhov (Beatpick), soundtrack
Proteus Noir (Beatpick), soundtrack
Paul Ruskay (Relic), soundtrack

Ships based on concept art by Amplitude Studios

The latest version/build of the mod can always be grabbed from github at this URL:
https://github.com/mja2637/Sonata/archive/master.zip

5 CHANGELOG
7a		  
		  - Added SOPHON_A: "Verne" (by DCChuckles)
		  - Remixed the weapons load of unimplemented ships (have fun)
		  - Added UE Frigate enemy
		  - Added custom UE weapon sprites (all 16)
		  - Added custom Sower/Sophon weapon sprites (some)
		  - Added custom projectiles for all current weapons
		  - Several new sound effects		  
		  - Added 8 new music tracks
		  - Tweaked Ranger mount points
		  - Shrank mini ship icons to avoid overlapping border
		  - Added several new drones & ion weapons
		  - Added spiteful_crow's new UE Frigate sprite (currently unused)
		  - Removed some lower-quality backgrounds and added replacements
		  - Reshuffled sound tracks
		  - Changed Engi/Mantis references to Automaton/Hissho		  
		  - Event edits
		  - Tweaks & balances
7
		  - Added Sonata drones
		  - Added EFP projectile
		  - Added custom backgrounds
		  - Added custom musics
		  - Added new events
		  - Finishing touches on UI
		  - Sower/Sophon sprite recolor
		  - Custom Human/Sophon/Sower crew weapons
		  - Updated in-game and readme credits
		  - Polished weapon/projectile placement
		  - Added Sower Surveyor & pirate skin
		  - Added Sower Builder & pirate skin
		  - Added UE Gunship & pirate skin
		  - Gibs for everything
		  - Added Slugger 1/2/3/4 custom weapon image
		  - Added Missile 1/2/3/4 custom projectiles
		  - Customized "Last Stand"
		  - Test/balance
6a
          - Fixed text encoding issues
          - Filled inner transparencies in /map button .pngs preventing them from showing up as black boxes
		  - Converted /storeUI
		  - Converted /upgradeUI
          - Fixed manning defect in UE Frigate engine room
		  - Fixed size/locked tile in Sower medbay
          - Correct graphical glitch in UE Destroyer weapons room
          - Correct global weapon title positioning (planned)
6
	UI overhaul:
		- /combatUI
		- /customizeUI
		- /generalUI (exit button)
		- /map (buttons, boxes, overlay, destination icons)
		- /numbers
		- /optionsUI
		- /statusUI (buttons)
		- /tutorial/button_continue
		- /upgradeUI (buttons, half of the overlays, half of /equipment, all of /equipment/tabButtons)
		- graphics in /img
	Weapon balancing (Sower)
	New weapon sounds (public domain/royalty free)
	Converted "Scrap" to "Dust" as far as possible
	Fixed rebel_long weapon mounts
	Re-added Sower sector events (crash fixed)
	Reshuffled sector mix
5b
	Re-added transparency to hangar graphic
5a
	Reworked ship interior room graphics
	Reworked crew placement
	Fixed nerfed medbay in UES Ranger
5
	New hangar background
	Reworked weapon prices and rarities
	Removed vanilla weapons from random spawn
	Added rebel_long sprite and pirate variant
	Removed last of vanilla references to rebels/federation/rock/zoltan
	Added new tooltips
	Reworked weapon description box for readability
	Several small tweaks and bug fixes
4
	Added layout/floor for UE destroyer; fine tuned
	Added image/layout/floor for Sower ship 1
	Added hit animation for Sower Cannon 4 (from Obsidian Cruiser)
	(Bug fixes)
3b
	Gave kestrel_2 kestrel_1's layout/floor
	Altered kestrel 1/2 layout so that thrusters are no longer visible
	Set new weapon images/projectiles to the closest vanilla equivalent
	Tweaked a few weapon values
	Fixed an error in the UE Driver animations
3a
	Updated Main Menu graphic
	Created this document
3
	Kestrel 1 finished
	Kestrel 2 graphic
	Changed Kestrel shield color
	UE, Sower, Sophon weapon stats added
	New weapons added to enemy ships based on race
	New Main Menu BG courtesy of A9 (Jeremy)
	Gauss 1 projectile created, added
	UE Gause 1, Driver 1 graphics created, animations complete
	Sower Cannon 1 graphics created, animations complete
	~75% of events files modified with altered text, new stories, lore, etc
	All references changed Rocks->Sower, Zoltan->Sophon changed in context
	Mod added to Git repo
	All material from diversityMod removed
	Mod released on FTL forum