Fyron's Adamant mod is one of the more unique mods available for Space Empires IV. It melds together a couple of staple 'nerd' elements, the science-fiction and fantasy realms. Players choose 1 of 5 race paradigms to play: Physical, Organic, Magical, Energy, and Machine. Each paradigm is complete with their own set of technologies and style of play. Fyron began work on the mod around 2003 and has been steadily releasing beta versions ever since. The mod is currently undergoing some radical changes, so check back with new releases for my take on the mod's development.

Adamant Mod Overview

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Author: Fyron
Current Version: 0.16.xx
Website: http://adamant.spaceempires.net/

Modifications

The Adamant mod has some of the largest data files of any Space Empires mod. This partly stems from the fact that each of the five paradigms has it's own technologies, but also as a result of the many available tech areas to explore. The organization of the data files is impressive, and in fact, I stole a number of ideas to incorporate into the organization for my own mod.

Being one of the most experienced modders, Fyron makes good use of a number of 'cutting edge' modding techniques including leaky armor and shield schemes, quasi-newtonian propulsion, and space yard expansions. You'll also find most unique ruins rarely provide any new technology and that you'll need to pay more attention to your ship's supply management. There's some light tech gridding in the mod and lots of bonus technologies available through specialist racial traits. Lastly, Adamant incorporates Fyron's Quadrant mod deluxe and his strategy and design name file collection to round out the mod.

There are a number of race styles included with the mod, most of them being selected for their look and ability to represent one of the five paradigms. For the most part they've been equipped with a basic AI that lets them function with the mod. Even better is many have additional images that complement the mod's custom vehicle sizes.

The Adamant mod has a nice introduction image created by David E. Gervais and features some excellent magical images created by CovertJaguar and organic images by Atrocities, which are present in the Image Mod that is required by the Adamant mod. In addition, most of the interface has been enhanced with work by Kevin Arisa.

Gameplay

The solo-play of the Adamant mod is hurt by the lack of a highly developed AI. Unfortunately, Fyron finds this area of modding to be tedious, and has continued to advertise for help to bring this area of the mod up to par. Also, a lack of included empire files makes game setup a bit annoying, particularly if you want to customize your AI competition.

Playing the mod on PBW is rather fun. The unique paradigms make for some interesting interactions and allow for serious ship designing in an attempt to exploit weaknesses of other paradigms. It also allows the players to get into a certain mindset, which allows enhances roleplay possibilities with the mod. The overall attention to balance also results in even-handed battles, which keeps everyone happy.

The overall pace of the game is slowed down, but not quite to the extent of PvK's Proportions mod. There is an early emphasis on the homeworld and colonies require more attention in terms of facility infrastructure than regular SE:IV. There are many research areas to explore and they are generally more time-consuming to go through, so you'll also find the technological pace less rampant. From an economic perspective, each of the three resource types are more important as the costs of items tend to be more diversified - so don't expect to get by with just a few organics and radioactives facilities.

Combat is greatly overhauled with ship to ship battles being much more balanced for a number of reasons including a fair mount system, appropriate combat bonuses, and a wide array of viable weapons and strategies. With the difficultly in 'glassing' planets in the Adamant mod, Ground combat has become much more extensive and the process of capturing planets more engaging.

Overall Impressions

The Adamant mod is an impressive work in progress. Although some of the elements in the mod are not in my own personal tastes, I cannot say that it is poorly done. It's obvious that a lot of work has gone into Adamant and I'd imagine much more before it ever gets a seal of almost-completeness by Fyron. Be sure to check out the Adamant Mod website, which is by far the most comprehensive Space Empires mod website and also serves as a good beginner's guide to the mod.