[MOD] Variety and Rebalance Overhaul (VRO) 4.x

[Knjaz136]

This is out of scope for VRO

I see, thanks for reply. Will have to use other means then.
A bit sad, these assets would really enrich the "pirate" gameplay.

Though there is 1 pirate Shipyard in the game - from Yaki faction, but by the time player can use it he wouldn't need any pirate ships anyway.

[Max Bain]

I often see stations seriously damaged on the map and when I fly to them there are often 1 to 3 xenon fighters attacking the station. It seems that the station defense can not hit the fighters and therefore the little fighters nearly kill huge stations on their own.
In sector of course they die in a few seconds. This might not be specifically a VRO problem because I dont know how it is in vanilla, but of course it is something that feels broken and should be analysed and maybe fixed.
(Or am I the only one with this problem?)

[Shuulo]

I often see stations seriously damaged on the map and when I fly to them there are often 1 to 3 xenon fighters attacking the station. It seems that the station defense can not hit the fighters and therefore the little fighters nearly kill huge stations on their own.
In sector of course they die in a few seconds. This might not be specifically a VRO problem because I dont know how it is in vanilla, but of course it is something that feels broken and should be analysed and maybe fixed.
(Or am I the only one with this problem?)

half of steam yell that stations are OP, others say that they cant kill anyone. Its OOS thing, unless Egosoft gives me stations modifiers i cant do much about it. Now that OOS considers the projectile speed type of weapon plays huge role here. Check vanilla techsupport especially during beta, there are numerous reports about issues with stations damage in OOS, nothing i can fix.

[Max Bain]

OK I observed it a bit and placed a satellite near the shipyard that seems to be under constant fire.

The problem is not the defense, but the lack of repair drones it seems. The shipyard can destroy the xenon ships but it does not repair. So even a single xenon who does just a couple hundred damage will slowly destroy the station if it happens for a long period of time.
I guess it has something to do with the lack of drone components in my game.

[Phiolin]

Started a new game to see how Xenons would behave with a fresh start. I started with FOCW increased Xenon miners and fighter and over the first few hours adjusted it to enable all FOCW Xenon options at full strength. I even adjusted the thresholds to add even more miners, frigates and destroyers.
However even after only a couple of hours it is already visible that the Xenons don't stand a chance. Factions have sooooooooo many ships at each Xenon gate, that whatever comes through is destined to die within a few minutes. This might be more like a Faction Enhancer but a VRO issue maybe, as factions just seem too good in defending their properties. There are literally 6+ faction destroyers plus several M class ships and loads of fighters at each gate that instantly annihilate most ships. Until now I didn't even support the factions in any way, no big trading fleets and most of my stations are not yet fully operational. So it's not like I'm pushing the economy too much.

On the plus side, so far Xenons have not lost a sector, so they seem to be defending their things as well. We'll see how it goes...

Nevertheless, the balancing still doesn't feel right, especially OOS.
OOS, a single Argon Cerberus should probably not be able to take out 5 Xenon M fighters without losing any shields?
Also, saw 5 Xenon P unable to take down a Mokosi L freighter because of shield regeneration (again, OOS) and they would've probably died over time to the Mokosis turrets, given that they already all had lost their shields when the Mokosi was still basically untouched.

This seems like extreme cases, but I see those regularly and it makes the Xenon really appear weak OOS with their weapons mostly unable to breach the shield regeneration of their enemies.

[Trajan von Olb]

Hi,

because it fits into the current discussion, a question before I start a new game:
I would rather have LESS xenon activity! At least at the beginning of the game, it's all going too fast for me, so I feel pressured to do economy right away instead of exploring the universe in peace first. In my last game, the Xenon took over a lot in a flash....
So for LESS xenon activity / more strength of races, should I install the Faction-Enhancer-War module or not? All other FE modules are active for me, as well as the DeadAir mods (except for the additional sectors)...
Thanks for the answer, I hope it is clear, which was not the case when researching on the net...

Greetings Schmollo

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[BlackRain]

Hi,

because it fits into the current discussion, a question before I start a new game:
I would rather have LESS xenon activity! At least at the beginning of the game, it's all going too fast for me, so I feel pressured to do economy right away instead of exploring the universe in peace first. In my last game, the Xenon took over a lot in a flash....
So for LESS xenon activity / more strength of races, should I install the Faction-Enhancer-War module or not? All other FE modules are active for me, as well as the DeadAir mods (except for the additional sectors)...
Thanks for the answer, I hope it is clear, which was not the case when researching on the net...

Greetings Schmollo

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

If you want less Xenon activity, I would not install FE at all, that would increase Xenon activity.

[Scoob]

If you want less Xenon activity, I would not install FE at all, that would increase Xenon activity.

FE, while great, is certainly the one that poke the Xenon with a large pointy stick and makes them very angry lol. Fantastic if that's what you want, but perhaps a little overwhelming if you don't.

Note: I was using a combination of VRO, FE and XR Ship pack as my main mods, with a few others such as TaterTrader and Mules as well. Xenon were always a major threat. I've now substituted FE for FOCW and Corporations Revised and the Xenon have been slower to get moving. They've seemed satisfied to defend their space - they've not lost any sectors by Day 3 - while sending out the odd invasion. However, I've just gone past the third day and the Xenon are certainly stirring, and they seem to be launching attacks that are a lot more serious, involving Xenon I's and a couple of Destroyers.

Scoob.

[Trajan von Olb]

If you want less Xenon activity, I would not install FE at all, that would increase Xenon activity.

FE, while great, is certainly the one that poke the Xenon with a large pointy stick and makes them very angry lol. Fantastic if that's what you want, but perhaps a little overwhelming if you don't.

Note: I was using a combination of VRO, FE and XR Ship pack as my main mods, with a few others such as TaterTrader and Mules as well. Xenon were always a major threat. I've now substituted FE for FOCW and Corporations Revised and the Xenon have been slower to get moving. They've seemed satisfied to defend their space - they've not lost any sectors by Day 3 - while sending out the odd invasion. However, I've just gone past the third day and the Xenon are certainly stirring, and they seem to be launching attacks that are a lot more serious, involving Xenon I's and a couple of Destroyers.

Scoob.

All right, so if I understand this correctly, it is actually ONLY the FE-War module that is responsible for the Xenon and their aggressiveness. Maybe the catch-up module as well. But I need that for the other factions (as I said, I want to start in great peace, thereby I want the security that factions don't disappear before I have all their blueprints And the other modules are very useful for the economy.
On the other hand, apparently you can set EVERYTHING with FOCW (which I didn't even know about because it doesn't seem to show up on Nexus and Steam), right? So also neuter the Xenon, at least temporarily.... Yes?
Would the following therefore make sense?
VRO + XRShipPack(+vro) + WeaponPack + FE (without war module) + deadAirFill + FOCW?
Because FOCW should actually overwrite all Xenon settings and make the Xenon hand-tame for a while, even if their economy somehow runs better through FE, right?
I don't have anything against Xenon either, I just don't want them to constantly overrun whole sectors with 4xI (or even U through the shippack) + masses of fighters without the races having a chance. In my last config with all FE, Ianamus Zura was always gone after a very short time, while I had just one destroyer...
Thank you very much.

Schmollo

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[Scoob]

I think so, I can only share my experiences using various mods combined. I don't use DeadAirFill, but I think it's effectively a resource booster. If stocks at Trade Stations get low, they get topped up, so an otherwise resource-poor faction might get a boost...well, any Faction that can buy from it might get a boost.

In my game, after three days, Xenon aggression really is ramping up now after a relatively quiet time. This evening alone (about two hours play) I've personally dealt with FOUR Xenon I's. Poor old ANT in The Void and Frontier's Edge are getting the brunt of it. Xenon are coming in via Savage Spur I into Getsu Fune and bypassing the TER and ANT Fleets there. Also having Xenon from Atiya's Misfortune I entering Frontier's Edge. Still, hopefully they'll be quiet for a bit now lol.

Scoob.

[EtherealZucchini]

Terrans don't seem to have cruise missile turrets, is this an oversight or intended?

[BlackRain]

Is it just me or are missiles only using commonwealth resources? I loaded up on supplies for my supply ship and was wondering why it wouldn't restock missiles, seems no missiles use terran resources?

[Xarvos]

Great mod!
After 1.3k hrs of vanilla gameplay I decided to install few mods(faction war enchancer + focw+vro) since 4.0 broke xenons and they kept getting wiped out around 6-8 days of playtime without any help from player.

I think it's very hard to go back to vanilla anymore feels really fresh and now I actually have to kill some xenons again. Only 10hrs or so into the save atm and having a blast

[CrimsonBlade]

Hey. Am I the only one where all of the Terran ships are painted pure white instead of white and red? -because from the few videos I've checked out I'm not the only one experiencing that issue...

[CrimsonBlade]

NVM. It appears to have been a deliberate choice on the part of the author. One that can relatively easily be undone by extracting .cat files, deleting the file called "themes", then re-packing it and overwriting the old vro data. Huzzah! Having a blast, BTW!

[Shuulo]

Is it just me or are missiles only using commonwealth resources? I loaded up on supplies for my supply ship and was wondering why it wouldn't restock missiles, seems no missiles use terran resources?

all VRO missiles have terran production method, its vanilla issue with carriers and aux ships, also check your settings for default production method

[Shuulo]

Hey. Am I the only one where all of the Terran ships are painted pure white instead of white and red? -because from the few videos I've checked out I'm not the only one experiencing that issue...

its not an issue, i changed it to white paint so they are closer to X3 all-white terrans. They were to similar to argon/antigon, who are also red/blue

[BlackRain]

Is it just me or are missiles only using commonwealth resources? I loaded up on supplies for my supply ship and was wondering why it wouldn't restock missiles, seems no missiles use terran resources?

all VRO missiles have terran production method, its vanilla issue with carriers and aux ships, also check your settings for default production method

yeah my default production was terran and my supply ship loaded up on the terran goods but they could not resupply the missiles. Not sure what was going on but once I switched to universal and got commonwealth resources, they could resupply.

[Halpog]

Is it just me or are missiles only using commonwealth resources? I loaded up on supplies for my supply ship and was wondering why it wouldn't restock missiles, seems no missiles use terran resources?

all VRO missiles have terran production method, its vanilla issue with carriers and aux ships, also check your settings for default production method

yeah my default production was terran and my supply ship loaded up on the terran goods but they could not resupply the missiles. Not sure what was going on but once I switched to universal and got commonwealth resources, they could resupply.

@blackrain. default prod methode .. can u shortly explain what it is plz ?

[BlackRain]

all VRO missiles have terran production method, its vanilla issue with carriers and aux ships, also check your settings for default production method

yeah my default production was terran and my supply ship loaded up on the terran goods but they could not resupply the missiles. Not sure what was going on but once I switched to universal and got commonwealth resources, they could resupply.

@blackrain. default prod methode .. can u shortly explain what it is plz ?

You can choose between Terran and Universal for building ships and resupplying ships, etc. This way it uses either Terran resources or commonwealth ones.