demonlord here is my standard advice for mods

assuming you have sins 1.191/entrenchment 1.051/diplomacy 1.01,  the Mods NEED to be placed here for xp
C:\Documents and Settings\'user name'\Local Settings\Application Data\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\Mods-v1.191
C:\Documents and Settings\'user name'\Local Settings\Application Data\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\Mods-Entrenchment v1.051
C:\Documents and Settings\'user name'\Local Settings\Application Data\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\Mods-Diplomacy v1.011

or here for vista/windows 7
C:\Users\'user name'\AppData\Local\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\Mods-v1.191
C:\Users\'user name'\AppData\Local\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\Mods-Entrenchment v1.051
C:\Users\'user name'\AppData\Local\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\Mods-Diplomacy v1.011

NOTE the first two folders after the 'user name' are hidden , so to see them you must first click on 'tools' then 'folder options', then 'view', then click on 'show hidden files& folders' then click ok, then you will be able to browse your want to the folder. I suggest when you find the folder that you create a shortcut to it on the desktop

NOTE 2 the 'user name' in the above paths is your WINDOWS login user name, eg Administrator

and if the mod you want to use is from an EARLIER sins/entrenchment version place the mod in the mods folder FOR THAT version eg mods-entrenchment v1.03, then download and run my mods updater from the latest version archive which will have the same number as the vanilla sins version number, and AFTER updating the mod(s) to the current version for any mods of pre 1.04 entrenchment ALSO run the manifest maker on ENTITY manifests on EACH of the mods EXCEPT for total conversion mods

hope this helps

harpo

Ironically it both helps and hurts.

I got the Mod to show up in the game, but when I tried to activate it I got a minidump.

I do have the 1.191 Sins game, so your advice helped me locate the right folder.

If you have any ideas for the minidump i'm open to suggestions.

Sorry for the trouble, but thanks for your help.

DS does not currently work with the Vanilla version. Sorry, we are attempting to update it as quickly as we can while finishing it for all three variants. I noticed you also said you have all the games. Try the Entrenchment or Diplomacy for now.

was the mod you tried the diplomacy version, the entrenchment version OR the old vanilla version?

if you tried the diplomacy OR entrenchment versions in vanilla then THAT IS THE cause of the minidump as mods from one expansion usually do not work well in a different expansion and will NOT work in the base game,

BUT if it is the old vanilla version for 1.181 then you SHOULD have created a mods-v1.18 folder and placed the mod there then run my mod updater to update the mod to 1.191

harpo

Ah, I see, my mistake.

I was fairly certain I used the right patch for the old Vanilla version, thought since it's been out the longest it might be more reliable, but I'll try again once I hear it's been completed.

The game itself is version 1.191, I have no idea what version the Mod is.

Thanks for the info, and harpo, I really didn't understand any of those instructions about Entity Manifests, like I said I'm fairly clueless.

I'll try running it in Entrenchment first since it doesn't get much use anymore.

I look forward to the completed Mod for the 1.191 Vanilla version.

Thanks again for your help.

Vanilla is 1.181 Compatible. You would have to run harpo's tools to make it work with Vanilla current or 1.191. Keep in mind many, many, many modding tools were added with the Entrenchment expansion so you would only see a little of what the Entrenchment and Diplomacy mods can bring. Highly Recommend the Entrenchment or Diplomacy for that reason.

Unfortunately it seems that the result will be the same regardless of which games I use.

I just finished putting the Mod files where harpo said they should go in Entrenchment, I just tried to activate the Mod and got another minidump, only it was Entrenchment this time with the Mod listed for it.

I downloaded the Mod for v1.051 since that's the version I have, but it doesn't seem I'll be able to use any of the mods.

Whether this is a result of my own incompetence, my PC being a 64x Windows Vista, or some other reson I have no clue.

If you have any ideas for this one I'm open to suggestions.

Sorry for the trouble, but thanks for your help.

did you make sure to patch? Try the Diplomacy version, it should have less issues. Also try to make sure that any and all other mods are shut off.

That might be the problem, I forgot to patch first.

Is there anything special I should do for the patch? I'm fairly useless when it comes to programming and mods.

I'll try Diplomacy as the last chance of the night, if that one fails as well, I think I'll just remove the Mods/Patches from my PC.

Thanks for putting up with me for this long, I'm sure the Mod is great but it Diplomacy fails too it's just not worth the trouble.

It's 2:05am here so this will be the last time I try to get it running for a while.

Thanks for your help and good luck with future endeavors.

Okay, help is here.  I've got a vista x64 system so I've basically got the same environment.

Like what has been said, the vanilla DS mod is out of date, it's done for the most part, just wanna try to trick the game into getting a few more things working before I hand it over to Nacey to tear it up and adjust the new numbers and whatnot unless someone wants to hand over an advanced copy to me to do the updates myself.    The high number is because it was the first to be worked on and the others are newer even though they have lower numbers.  If you have diplomacy, I'd recommend just using that version of the mod since it's the simplest to get going.  Entrenchment is roughly the same however you have to patch the patch (by downloading both the full download for 1.041 [linked to under both entrenchment sections] and the patch to make it compatible with 1.051, get the 1.041 stuff in place then copy over the files with the 1.051 stuff) which is an extra few steps and not worth the trouble if you can have better from the start anyway.

So you can do that or once you have the DS Diplo version downloaded, unzip the files to your desktop so that you can avoid any potential admin rights issues.  Something to be aware of is sometimes when you unzip, it puts an extra folder in place.  Meaning you'll have a folder named Distant_Stars_(D)_Beta_0.7[36951860] with another folder inside that named Distant Stars blah blah blah....   If you're in that situation, you want the inner folder.  you know the correct folder by the fact that when you enter it you'll see other folders like Gameinfo, textures, string, etc.

Then put it in your mod folder for version 1.011, Harpo already gave you the locations and you've already found them so you know where they are.

So once the correct folder is in place you should be able to start up your game.

Before you enable the mod, get into your options select the effects tab and drop the settings from highest to high or medium and you can turn off bloom and skyboxes if you are so inclined at this point as well.  Accept the changes, then click on the mods tab.

Enable the DS mod and apply it, verify that the checksum reads 36951860.  You can do this easily by pressing control + Shift + Tab to put your game into windowed mode and reading this post or the download link up above or the zip file you downloaded.  If it says anything different, then there's a problem and you need to redownload.

If it's all good and enabled and you have the correct checksum, back out to the main menu and quit your game.  I don't know why, but it's better to do this rather then to just play right away.  Probably because of the fact the reduced graphics aren't actually reduced until you quit, I don't know...

Anyway, start up the game again and you should be all good to go.  If you have any further issues or need a better more concise explanation to any of the steps, PM me and I'll do whatever I can.

Er, thanks for the info, I think.

I'm kind of braindead right now, been putting up with my family most of the day, so I'll get back to you later on the Vanilla version and Entrenchment information.

It's 2:30am here so I'm going to call it a night and mess with Diplomacy later.

Thanks for your help.

Don't bother with Vanilla DS, brain dead east coaster.    It's crappy by comparison to the other two right now.

Is there any way to get just the planet types and abilities?

We have nothing set up for that no. I do know we used Celestial Bodies and Sins Plus for the planets. After that the Abilities you would have to contact our fellow modder -Ue_Carbon for that.

Well, I just tried putting the Diplomacy Mod Files where harpo said they should go.

Looks like it worked, I was a bit confused when it crashed the game but it was working when I started it up again.

Thanks for the help, though I'd still like to get Vanilla version's Mod and Entrenchment's Mod working.

I look forward to trying Distant Stars in Diplomacy.