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About Babylon 5
Babylon 5 Plot Summary
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Overhaul page; updated links.
Re-stuffed version 2.6 with updated documentation and link
Tim's website is no longer available, download version 2.6 from the download section

Version 2.6 was been released by Tim Steer. All ship graphics are now 3D model renders! See the release history for full details; go to version 2.6's webpage to download!

Redirect download link to secondary page so I can accurately track how many people are downloading from this site (smack self on side of head--this got messed up the last time the page was updated, so who knows how many downloads have actually occurred since then).

As of this date, the former Tripod mirror has been redesignated as the official B5 Plug-in homepage. The Geocities site has proven too difficult to administer as a result of the Yahoo! takeover a few months back (this has resulted in a major overhaul of Geocities without improving any services relavent to the plug-in web page's needs, and at the same time throwing a lot of unwanted material and roadblocks in my way as I attempted, for over an hour, to change/reinitialize the Sign Guestbook page (eventually a cute javascript crashed IE; it also managed to mess up the guestbook signing page, so it no longer allows people to sign the guestbook, saying it needs to be reinitialized--which I can't do). I don't have time to fool around with their new system, I want things that work when I need to work--heck, that's why I got a Mac. Yahoo! Geocities has just gotten a little too Microsoft-ian (lots of legalese, not much substance, and forcing "options/features" that aren't wanted) for my tastes.

Welcome to Tripod, new home of the B5 Plug-in for EVO.

An update will be made to the documentation in the archive regarding this change, but for the time being the Geocities site will forward users here.

Version 2.5 of the Plug-in has been released. Barring major problems, this will be the final version of the plug-in by us. See what's new!

Notes:

1. Requires Aladdin's Stuffit Expander and possibly the Stuffit Engine (part of Aladdin's Dropstuff package) to decode and expand; it has been saved as a self-extracting archive in case anyone doesn't have version 5 of Stuffit Expander.
2. Please read the installation instructions while downloading. If you don't, you should read the file "Read me or CRASH!" that comes with the plug-in, which contains the same information.
3. Files are in Stuffit format

Two versions are available for download, the current version 2.6 and the older v2.5 with older graphics.

Other Sites:

Babylon 5 has been described by TV Guide as "TV's most complex and compelling sci-fi series," and has already won two Hugo awards for best dramatic presentation. Spanning a period of five seasons, the story focuses on the Earth Alliance Station Babylon 5, a 5-mile/8 km long space station located in neutral territory, and how the key people on board, command staff and alien ambassadors alike, knowingly and unknowingly change the face of the known galaxy--and not necessarily for the better, either. Unlike most TV series, the entire 5-year story had already been planned and mapped out in great detail by series creator/executive producer J. Michael Straczynski by the time he pitched the idea at studios. The contents of any particular episode tend to add more depth to the overall storyline; even some "minor" episodes that seemed independent of the overall storyline at first ended up making a difference to the five-year arc. Fortunately, most episodes are designed to stand more or less on its own, and new viewers should be able to pick up the essential storyline after watching only a few episodes. Watching more will, of course, enhance the overall viewing experience.

A word of caution: This plug-in starts off somewhere during the year 2259, but by the time you accumulate enough money and combat rating to take on the core missions, it will correspond to the events at the beginning of 2260, or the third season of Babylon 5. This plug-in therefore contains spoilers for the show, in the form of missions, for episodes up to the end of the fourth season (fifth season events to be added in a future release). If you're a B5 fan who hasn't had the opportunity to watch the original episodes to which these missions are based on, you may wish to watch them first. If you're new to the B5 universe, we hope this plug-in will pique your interest enough to start watching the show, if it's available in your area. The missions here, and by extension the entire plug-in, cannot begin to do justice to the episodes that make up what is arguably one of the best television series today, perhaps to date.

It was the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind. The Babylon 5 station was completed ten years after a devastating war between Earth and the Minbari, a race a thousand years more technologically advanced than the Humans. The two-year war, started because of a tragic misunderstanding during first contact that resulted in the death of their great leader, Dukhat, the Earth-Minbari War eventually claimed over 250 million Human lives. 250,000 were lost in little over an hour at the Battle of the Line around Earth, the last, desperate attempt to defend the homeworld itself against a fleet fully intent on wiping out the Human race to avenge Dukhat. After all but two hundred Earth vessels had been destroyed, the Minbari, unexpectedly and astonishingly, surrendered to the Earth Alliance. It is still unclear why they did, although some rumours have surfaced tying it to some ancient prophecy of theirs dating back a thousand Earth years. Perhaps because of this, the Minbari have become one of Earth's most powerful allies, though some on both sides continue to harbour a deep resentment against the other.

Immediately after the war, the Babylon Project was conceived. Its goal was to prevent another war by allowing various races to gather in one place, deep in neutral territory, and work out their differences peacefully. A noble objective&emdash;one which, unfortunately, a few Human fanatics didn't share. The first three stations were sabotaged and destroyed shortly after construction began on them. The fourth had been completed and online for 24 hours when the station and its crew suddenly vanished in a burst of light and energy, leaving behind no evidence that it had ever even existed. The fifth (and last, should something else go wrong) has survived and prospered. Its hope of lasting peace ended in 2259, however, as the Narn Regime declared war on the Centauri Republic following an unprovoked and devastating attack against their largest civilian colony in Quadrant 14.

By the start of 2260, the Narn, free from a century of subjugation by the Centauri for only a few decades, has been re-conquered by their blood enemies after six long, bloody months of war, and is now a protectorate of the Republic. How the Centauri were able to successfully defend their main supply line at Gorash 7 against the entire Narn fleet while still having enough warships to attack the Narn homeworld, bombarding the planet from orbit with mass drivers, remains a mystery. It is entirely possible, however, that the Centauri had help from a third, very powerful, and currently anonymous party.

Some wonder if this third party has any relation to the infrequent sightings of huge, spider-like ships, their hulls almost entirely black, that have been reported in both normal space and hyperspace lately. All of these reports had been dismissed as hoaxes--until the recent broadcast of an actual visual record of one of these ships on Earth's primary news channel, ISN. Originating from an Earth Force starfury's gun camera, the record shows the spider-like vessel moving against the orange and black background of hyperspace. After a few seconds the vessel notices the fighter tailing it, turns to intercept and fires what appears to be a particle beam of immense power at the fighter. Ejected from the fighter moments before, the recording unit had continued receiving the visual data until the fighter was destroyed by the beam.

Other recent events seem to indicate that trouble is brewing on the horizon. Earth Alliance President Morgan Eugene Clark, sworn in after the tragic death of President Luis Santiago aboard his ill-fated transport, Earth Force One, has instituted several disturbing programs and organizations including the Nightwatch, as well as the Ministry of Peace and Ministry of Truth. Nightwatch in particular, created to handle reports about suspicious behaviour that might be harmful to the Earth Alliance, has begun arresting people disagreeing with the President's decisions and policies, even minor ones like new import and export regulations, and charging them with disloyalty and sedition. In a couple of instances, these people have not been seen since. Other policies include removing as much alien influence on Earth as possible, on the assertion that their presence is hindering human development on the galactic scene. In light of these and other developments, some people have started to wonder, in secret, of course, whether the explosion that destroyed Earth Force One on New Years Day 2259 was really an accident, or an assassination carefully orchestrated by then-Vice President Clark, who had conveniently disembarked a day earlier due to a supposed viral infection.

Besides the growing problems within the Earth Alliance, other problems include the fall of the Narn Regime... the beginning of military expansionist policies by the Centauri against bordering colonies and outposts belonging to members of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds... the beginning of unrest between League member worlds... even the Minbari Federation, the most powerful of the known races after the Vorlons, has begun to turn in upon itself, isolating itself from the rest of the known galaxy as the political landscape of the known galaxy quickly destabilizes. Another item worth noting is the small, but slowly increasing, number of humans wearing Minbari-like clothing (perhaps uniforms of some sort) that have been seen in odd places throughout the Earth Alliance, perhaps in other sectors as well. Though they simply seem to be quietly gathering information, they did start appearing shortly after the spider-like ships were first reported and dismissed as hoaxes. What relation, if any, these two items have is unclear.

The only race that seems to have been unaffected by everything is the Vorlon Empire--but only because so little is known about them, despite almost three years of diplomatic contact, in the form of Ambassador Kosh, on Babylon 5. Wearing an encounter suit to hide his (its?) true form on the rare occasion that Kosh is seen in public, and speaking only in riddles accompanied by an oddly melodic translator unit, the Vorlons seem to want to keep themselves as much of a mystery as possible. No ship entering Vorlon space has ever returned; their fates remain unknown. The spider-like ships are not believed to be Vorlon in origin, though a careful examination of the exteriors of both the unknown and Vorlon ships reveal the possibility that a similar level of technology was used in the construction of both kinds of ships. Possible organic hull design, amazing speed and manoeuvrability for ships of their size, and extremely powerful weaponry--all indicative of technology far beyond what Earth and most of the other races have. Fortunately, the Vorlons seem benign enough, although there's always the possibility of a hidden agenda.

It is in this setting that you begin your journey to the stars for the first time. Starting on Earth, your newly registered Mark IV cargo shuttle will help propel you into the galactic scene... and to your ultimate destiny. For better or for worse.