Just bought the game and really am impressed. Fun game, and helluva hard one at that! I have used a few mods and think they are a driving feature of making this game great and ensuring its popular longevity among fans.

- All mods should be required to include a Readme file with explicit instructions on how all the features of the mod works, game version required, etc. I installed around 10 mods and had a hard time figuring out which crashed the game.
- I've heard there is a fan made mod manager. Does it check compatibility of mod with current game build? This would add a lot to game experience, without having to use trial and error method. Could mod manager be released in official version?
- Mod page in forums has what appears to be hundreds of mods, many outdated and potentially game-breaking. Can we get a sticky list of currently working mods with links to their topic and brief description?
- The mod I use the most is the Ultimate Bunker Module Pack, but there seems to be a lot of repeats in there and tons of items with no description of how they work or where to use. For example, I tried a cool looking blast door, and could not figure out how to open/close it. Lots of small items that I have no idea what they are or what they are for. Also, many of the premade bunkers are way too big. I have found a small tower and waterfall base which are fantastic, but the rest are either way too big, or not practical.
- Why are there so few premade bunkers and vault rooms? These seem of critical importance. The game is very unforgiving and many times you get assaulted right when touching down to planet's surface. Small premade bunkers would be a big time saver and give some initial protection while mining gold. The official game release only includes a few vaults. When I think of a base, I think barracks, armory room, etc. and would appreciate more typical pre-made vault rooms. A larger subset of small to medium sized bunkers, premade bases, and typical base rooms would help new players to survive.
- No shield generators or force fields? I get mown down often from off screen and even with heavy troops and sniper rifles cannot seem to stop these attacks.
- No ability to create a small field outpost with defenses unless in campaign mode? My guys are always out in the open and easy targets for the enemy.
- No "builder" unit who can build items outside of build turn in campaigns?

I don't have a lot of time atm to try and learn modding, but I would like to try to make some premade bunkers. Can anyone point me to a specific thread that would help? I'm talking very basic small structures with no scripting, special features, etc. An example would be the "Top Thing" or "Bunker A." Thanks!

To address a few of these:
Readme file: The problem with this is, depending on what assets a mod uses, it could be for version b18 and work perfectly fine on 1.0. There is no surefire way to know besides attempting to use the mod. The current system where a mod maker puts the version that the mod is made for into the topic icon is a pretty good compromise.

Mod manager: I don't remember how long ago that thing existed, it's been quite a while though. If I remember, it did a bit of version checking but required an active maintenance team to keep it up to date with the new versions of Cortex, which fizzled after one or two versions.

Sticky list: Oh lord, that's a lot of work. If you want to volunteer to try them all out, I'd be happy to put that list into a topic, but the whole process is rather labor intensive.

Premades: I guess because people like to make their own bunkers? You can always do this yourself, it's not too difficult in reality.

Shield generators: Oh there's plenty of shield generators. Just use the search feature for "bubble", you should get a few.

Making bunkers: It's very easy. Take a look into base.rte for the .ini side of things, and the only other thing you need to think about is putting your images into palette, which this handy dandy tutorial can help with.

With regards to v1.0 compatibility, just look for the v1.0 icon next to the thread title.

If it's marked as an earlier build, it's obviously not going to work.

Chances are if it isn't marked for any build it won't work either, but there's a veeeery slim probability you'll get lucky and they just failed to put up the v1.0 icon.

Well, this is not always true, it depends on the mod. If it does not use any reference to files, chances are that it will work. For instance, the mod "Void Walker Amalgam", created for B23, works with 1.0 without any kind of fix.

So, before asking for a mod to get "converted" to 1.0, check if it works. If it doesn't, post the error. In that way, things will work more fluidly.

Okay, I will give the game some time and try and make some premade bunkers myself. I love the mod aspect, it adds immensely to replayability. Thanks to all for your input/suggestions. I may have more questions later, but will postpone for a busy upcoming week at work. Cheers!

If it's crashing before the game even starts [ie, that long load time in beginning], check the CC folder for an 'abortscreen.bmp'
It'll take a pic as the game crashes, so you can see what was loading when it happened. It's really cool.

I'd be happy to start/collaborate on a master list of mods with a brief description, status, etc but it's the sort of thing that would need help, especially from the mod devs themselves. If I start a post in mod releases will you sticky it Duh?

i would love to help in making 1 topic that has a list of all the 1.0 mods! if you want i could help and PM you some descriptions for some 1.0 mods and maybe play test a few of the old ones to see if they work. just PM me if you want help and i will try and get to work.

PM me with requests for stickies and such, I don't read every topic so I rely on PMs or IRC conversation to keep in the loop around here.