Hello everyone, new to SiS, which I found recently on GoG, so glad I found it, love it already. I'll keep this post as short as possible:
1. I see there is a fairly active modding community. I am computer/tech illiterate, so this question is extra naive: If I download a mod from a user here, I must paste it into the SiS mods folder I'll find somewhere under GoG, presumably -- right? Do I have to activate the mod somewhere? If I do so, can I play already started games with those mods or will they "break" the save game and I must start a new game? I'm particularly keen on the AI mods I have glanced at here.
2. I love the ship editor so far, but have run into this small problem: I enjoy having 2-5 versions of some few hull types based on need and context (e.g., some with missiles and some with warp lane amplifiers, etc.) which is all fine except for the fact that they almost always look identical. I know it would be too much to ask to allow for additional artwork or multiple graphical models for a hull type, but wouldn't it be fairly easy to be able to change or select the hue / color of the same model? So there could be, say, a blue, pink, or greenish destroyer I could easily tell apart?
3. I really love the tech tree, so refreshing in comparison to, say, GalCiv -- could it be updated so that the components that it displays give more information as to their exact usage? How much power, for example, does a Black Hole generator generate?
4. I enjoy the pace of the early and mid-game, and like the fact that the late-game is not nearly as tedious as other 4x games, but instead find that by the time I reach the end-game, two things happen: a.) If I'm still alive, I'm much more powerful than others, and just need to count the turns until I win. But making the global settings any harder means I can't survive midgame. I'm still seeking an end-game challenge without ruining the early- or midgame. Would AI-mods help here? b.) I like the pace of research until endgame as well. I've been playing on "normal" speed, and enjoy the speed at which techs are discovered, I wouldn't want it too much slower - until endgame. Then, it goes a bit too fast for me. Since the research speed is global at game begin, could someone help me mod the research costs of late-game tech to be more expensive?
5. In tactical battles, I sometimes cannot click on my own ships because they are "hidden" by enemy fighters or missiles or such. Is there a workaround? Is there a hotkey that lets me switch between ships?
6. I like the hotkey in many turn-based 4x games that toggles between idle units or idle cities. Is there one in SiS I am blindly missing?
7. Finally, would it be possible to request that the global settings for starting a new game differentiate between research and production? I wouldn't mind having "longer" research times, but would hate to have even longer production times.
THANK YOU!