[script] Improved Kha'ak 1.1: Updated June 10, 2008

[Randon]

Man I really love this script, so as you asked here are some suggestions how to make the Khaak even more tougher oponent

- first some more balance to the game - I had the settings on normal, which made my universe together with improved Xenon a reall hell so I was forced to switch the sector take over off untill I will have some defense prepared. This lead me to an idea if that would be possible to lets say balance the script like asking whether it should start immediatelly - like when you already have some ships and defense, or whether it should start "in line" with the "growing power" of the player - this way if you start a new game you will be ready when they come

- and a suggestion for Khaak improvements - I play this together with XTM and some other scripts increasing the hostility of AI - Pirate improved behaviour, Improved Xenon and Xenon migrations; I dont know whether its a bug or not, but in some cases the Khaaks and Xenons allow me to align with their capital ship and let me to shoot it down without any increased defense - it would be good if they woul have something like a protection swarm that would just protect the capital ships

[7ate9tin11s]

@Randon

Yeah, I realize this is more of a late-game script and not really appropriate until you have, at least, a good size fleet of M3's. This is one reason that the improved mods start 'off' instead of 'on' . Until there is a decent way for the AI to handle IX and IK I will be leaving the default to off and when the player feels they are ready they can turn them on.

The idea about a defensive swarm is a good one and I have thought of it in the past. However, my view is that the Kha'ak don't care about individuals and the loss of one is like someone cutting one of your hairs to the overmind. The Xenon also do not care about individuals because they are all the same program. If I ever get it finished my planned improved races will be making use of this to varying degrees depending on how much individual lives are worth to the races.

@everyone

Kha'ak invader mode is 70% complete at this time. You can activate invader mode if the Kha'ak are friendly to you and it will cause the following effects:
1. When you enter a sector the overmind will automatically start swarming in that sector, if possible. Also the sector you start in will automatically get a decent swarm to help you get a foothold in the universe (and you get 5 salvage insurance!). The rest of the universe gets no free swarm and you must rely on the overmind to gather ships from close sectors.

2. When all ships and stations in a sector are destroyed a random ship from the swarm will be given to you for your next conquest. You will also get 2 salvage insurances for clearing a sector.

3. All of your Kha'ak ships will automatically be fully equipped with a jumpdrive, various tunings, scanners, missiles and a transporter device. Energy cells will be added slowly to your cargo bays to a max range of 5 sectors jumped or the capacity of the cargo bay.

4. Difficulty modes still work, but are reversed. If you set the mode to insane it will be quite easy to take over the universe, while easy mode will make life more difficult for you.

I'm enjoying testing this so far, but I keep accidentally killing scouts and losing rep then...boom. I may have to make your rep increase from taking sectors too . Look forward to it! It is a whole new game experience

[7ate9tin11s]

Version 1.0 Released!

This version fixed a few minor bugs and added one, very fun, new feature:

Kha'ak Invasion Mode
If you are friendly with the Kha'ak through the use of a custom start you can use Kha'ak invasion mode. In this mode your goal is to destroy the universe with the assistance of the IK overmind. Here is the introduction that you are given when invasion mode is activated from your AL menu:

Improved Kha'ak - 7ate9tin11s

Welcome to the Kha'ak invasion mode of my Improved Kha'ak scripts! A few little pointers to keep in mind:

1. While helping the Kha'ak take over the universe the difficulty modes are reversed. So if you have the difficulty set to insane it will be a very easy game for you while easy will be harder. I personally suggest hard mode, but I am not the best dogfighter in the universe.

2. When you enter a sector the overmind will automatically start swarming in that sector, if possible. Also the sector you start in will automatically get a decent swarm to help you get a foothold in the universe (and you get 5 salvage insurance!). For the rest of the universe the overmind may send a scout to you to start swarming in a sector, but otherwise no new ships will be created.

3. When all ships and stations in a sector are destroyed a random ship from the swarm will be given to you for your next conquest. You will also get 2 salvage insurances for clearing a sector.

4. All of your Kha'ak ships will automatically be fully equipped with a jumpdrive, various tunings, scanners, missiles and a transporter device. Energy cells will be added slowly to your cargo bays to a max range of 5 sectors jumped or the capacity of the cargo bay.

5. At this time you and your ships cannot use p2p jumping, but this may be added later. Until then I suggest using any of the other available p2p jump scripts. As a positive note though, you have the only Kha'ak ships that can jump with hull damage!

6. Be very careful when using missiles and weapons, there is no way to increase your rep via script with the Kha'ak so if you lose too much rep you will become their enemy and invasion mode will end.

Within the next minute you will receive your first transmission from the overmind and your invasion will begin. Lastly, and most important of all, enjoy your universe!

Then you receive your 'free' swarm and the following message begins your career of destruction!

Kha'ak Overmind

Listen to me, my children. For I am the overmind and your place is to serve me. Life abounds in this feeble universe, life that should not exist. I have chosen to begin the invasion in Argon Prime and my eye will be ever upon them. Go now! Spread our cleansing beams to the smallest planet, the least asteroid, the most insignificant life!

, I speak to you alone now. For each sector you conquer a participating ship will be given unto you for your future conquests. Whether Destroyer or Scout it will merely be at my whim. Go now and bring glory to my name! May the universe no fear in the name of the Kha'ak and in the name of !

Have fun! I know I did in testing

[X2-Eliah]

Is it possible to turn this thing on/off?

Because I think some people would like to play Kha'ak invader as a tough start but get friendly with everyone, not annihilate everyone..

[Sandalpocalypse]

Presumably -

Here is the introduction that you are given when invasion mode is activated from your AL menu:

[7ate9tin11s]

Yup, it is just another AL toggle option. You can turn it off or on at any time (Though the introductory messages will only be sent once )

[Deathwalker1701]

Is this compatible with PilotAI by Azz

[7ate9tin11s]

As far as I know it is compatible. I seem to remember Pilotai completely replaces the normal pilot commands. As it is a replacement the new commands will just be used as needed.

If it is not compatible please tell me and I will put a note in the compatibility section.

[Algoran]

This new version is good So good, in fact, that ive turned it off after losing about 15 freighters in 20 minutes shortly after turning it on Damn khaak popping up all over the place like the insectoid plauges that they are!

So ive decided to turn off IK along with IX (which had taken over about 10 sectors at this point, including THREE teladi shipyard sectors) and build up my forces/defenses a bit before reactivating when i think i can handle it

All in all, im most impressed

[Deathwalker1701]

As far as I know it is compatible. I seem to remember Pilotai completely replaces the normal pilot commands. As it is a replacement the new commands will just be used as needed.

If it is not compatible please tell me and I will put a note in the compatibility section.

The reason i ask is because Pilot ai page says PilotIA use the 'signal-killed', and thus is more or less compatible with every script using this signal...
but i got your script installed already and when I install Pilot ai III after a little while game freezes.

[7ate9tin11s]

Hmmm...interesting that it would crash. If piloteai replaced my global signal killed for the kha'ak it would just have a harder time to start swarming it should not cause a crash in my scripts. Does it still crash if you set IK to disabled? It may be another script that causes the problems. I'm currently unable to use x3 due to my workload...anyone else use pilot ai and IK at the same time?

[Balto]

I've been using IK alongside PilotAI (and a billion other scripts) for weeks and haven't experienced any such crashes.

I should note that IK still provides a sadistic level of challenge even with the crippled swarm behaviour.
Maybe I'm a pansy but a few more (optional) nerfs would be welcome.

[7ate9tin11s]

Well good to hear that it works with PilotAI, it seems.

...more nerfs, eh?

Which parts of IK are giving you the most trouble? Changing items for difficulty is actually quite easy, I just have a set of variables that are in the scripts. You can see all of the changeable difficulty modifiers on the first post which includes everything from how often the overmind thinks to the charge time for the p2p jumps. Let me know which one should be adjusted and why . The only real guideline I have been following is to try an make each difficulty level twice as hard as the previous (and to make insane...well...insane )

Personally I find the Kha'ak to be really bothersome and require some strategy to take out now, which is what I was aiming for . As an example, my fleet will contain several small (m4/5) ships with mass drivers to quickly remove the p2p jumping ability, cap ships will focus on the Kha'ak cap ships using GPPC's, and I will have some m6/3 with ions set to destroy the inevitable missile swarms. When solo in a smaller ship it is almost required to use PSG's to clear out the scouts before they kill you with focus fire, and if there is a destroyer just jump away and hope your beam avoidance skills are good. Also note that all Kha'ak ships have a dead zone you can exploit for escaping: The range between their gun range and their minimum p2p jump range can only be covered by their slow missiles so you can get away fairly easily, especially since they p2p jump just outside their gun range.

Well, those are my strategies, anyone else have strategies to share?

[X2-Eliah]

Well, personally I find it weird that small Kha'ak ships can contact the overmind without any transmitter nearby (I mean, no fighter could have a transmission device capable of reaching place beyond normal, gated universe, where the overmind lies.

It is ok that they are given general objectives by the overmind, but I think it is highly unlikely that the overmind will keep track of every single small ship in real-time, and tell where it must jump...

What I propose, why not disable the P2P jumping of small ships when there is no Kha'ak station/capital ship in sector (or 2-3 sectors away).
When a capital ship/station would be in sector, they would act as transmitters alog with their primary functions, allowing the overmind to keep track on all ship P2P jumps.

That should also decrese the problems of un-intentional death in non-invaded sectors (where the occasional cluster may spawn).

Oh, and as for the Kha'ak invader, nice job, but I was thinking, and, you know, sometimes you want to keep on good terms with Kha'ak and one/two more races, so... Is there a way to tell/tag a setor for invading (or tag it as "invade later/do not invade") in the Kha'a Invader mode?

P.S. How's it going with the IX script? Personally I'm keeping it disabled until those invasions are scaled properly

[Tenlar Scarflame]

the really INSANE thing about the p2p, in my opinion, is having a Khaak destroyer jump on top of you out of nowhere and smoke you in 3.5 seconds. (yes, I'm having a persistent issue with this happening. )

My proposed fix would be to make only SMALL ships (fighter, interceptor, scout) do p2p jumping. The only way to effectively counter a destroyer/carrier in a smallship is to run away from it, or to be able to skirt it at maximum range where the kyons can reach, but are quite inaccurate. Once this is taken away, that's when the insanity begins.

I do appreciate a bit of insanity, but... well, you see where I'm going. ^^

[exogenesis]

@Tenlar Scarflame : fly a bigger ship with more shields

Lovin' this scipt/mod 7ate9tin11s, very nicely done.
Running Insane mode atm (no take over), now I go everywhere
in a Pandora'd Hyperion with a Phoenix in tow.
Much of my empire now destroyed, fallen back to Argon Prime
with 100+ Dragons & at least dozen destroyers, waiting for the final attack.

Also going to try JakeSnake's 'X3 KhaakFIX' mod for better Khaak visuals

[Balto]

Which parts of IK are giving you the most trouble?

p2p jumping has been the biggest problem for me.
My sector defense forces are considerable and have proven capable of handling most swarms,
but I prefer to fly solo in a corvette and (apparently) lack the skills to survive when a destroyer (and escorts) jumps on my back.
I often see "game over" before firing a shot.

I disabled the p2p jumping last night and tested on both easy and normal modes and found the challenge level to be optimal: fun but not frustrating.

I like Tenlar Scarflames idea of limiting p2p by ship class.
Fighter swarms and P's I can handle, but the M2's are brutal in a lone m6.
Reducing the jump range (at least for lower difficulty levels) might also be desirable.

I still haven't found an adequate method for defending my fleet of high level CAG's, but that was true even before I installed IK.

[7ate9tin11s]

Lots of responses below, but everyone please read and answer the @everyone section at the end to help me in making the next version even better!

@X2-Eliah

Well, personally I find it weird that small Kha'ak ships can contact the overmind without any transmitter nearby (I mean, no fighter could have a transmission device capable of reaching place beyond normal, gated universe, where the overmind lies.

You make a point. However, I was viewing the entire Kha'ak swarm as being a single organism, the individual Kha'ak are like fingers, arms, etc of the main being. The overmind is just the brains of the entire race and does not need a transmitter of any kind to move it's fingers .

I am not discounting your idea though since I like it, putting in a couple simple switches to let you choose if cap ships can jump or not sound like a good idea to me. It will take some work though since I will need to re-write the ai to choose targets correctly when in this mode. The most likely ai will be: The little ships jump around and clear out the smaller ships the big ships will be travelling to the nearest big ship/station to destroy it.

What I propose, why not disable the P2P jumping of small ships when there is no Kha'ak station/capital ship in sector (or 2-3 sectors away).
When a capital ship/station would be in sector, they would act as transmitters alog with their primary functions, allowing the overmind to keep track on all ship P2P jumps.

This is another very easy switch, but it will definately make the difficulty jump when a cap ship is nearby

Oh, and as for the Kha'ak invader, nice job, but I was thinking, and, you know, sometimes you want to keep on good terms with Kha'ak and one/two more races, so... Is there a way to tell/tag a setor for invading (or tag it as "invade later/do not invade") in the Kha'a Invader mode?

Unfortunately the reputations on the Kha'ak race cannot be adjusted so there is no way to make them not react in certain sectors. What I can do though is stop the automatic swarming that starts in sectors of races you have marked as Friend though. While it won't prevent a random swarm from starting it will prevent you from being the initiator.

P.S. How's it going with the IX script? Personally I'm keeping it disabled until those invasions are scaled properly

The latest version scaled them back alot and removed the token overflow problem. The only thing I have left to do is making Xenon stations stop invading if they are more than 2 sectors from any valid target sector. This will prevent the ship overflow, but allow multiple stations to be more dangerous than singles. I'm kinda overloaded with rl work right now though so it will be next week at the earliest for me to release anything new.

@Tenlar Scarflame

the really INSANE thing about the p2p, in my opinion, is having a Khaak destroyer jump on top of you out of nowhere and smoke you in 3.5 seconds.

Hmm...I was sure they jumped in just outside of beam range. Perhaps I forgot to account for ship size, I will check that out.

My proposed fix would be to make only SMALL ships (fighter, interceptor, scout) do p2p jumping...

That would be two votes for this idea

@exogenesis
and after they take the universe start a Kha'ak invasion game and take it over with them !

@Balto

p2p jumping has been the biggest problem for me.

Safe to say everyone seems to have problems with the p2p, new p2p options will be in the next version when I get the time to work on x3.

@everyone

Lastly, I had a few more questions, please answer them to help me make the next version even better (Especially number 4!):

1. Has anyone seen/been the victim of the alternate target missile swarm behavior? This is when the ships are actively fighting other enemies, but all launch a missile at some other single target. I just want to make sure it is working correctly

2. Does the station building problems seem to be fixed? Or are you constantly finding sectors with no Kha'ak and lots of Nvidium floating out in space?

3. Ever been the victim of a suicidal scout? (They were made much nastier last version)

4. Have you successfully retaken any sector that was taken over by the Kha'ak? What kind of forces did it require for you? What was you losses? (I am trying to determine a good amount to reward for re-taking a sector)

[Tenlar Scarflame]

Whoo! Lots going on here.

@1- I have seen, but not been the victim of this missile behavior. The very unfortunate target was an escort Discoverer a few clicks away, minding his own business and trying his best to lie low with his transport. Poor, poor soul.

@2- not sure, no stations yet in my game (haven't been playing much lately ^^)

@3- to be honest, I've turned it off. Maybe I'll switch it on again and see what happens

@4- I attempted it once against a destroyer and carrier using myself and 13 assorted heavy fighters, mostly pirate Falcons. The carrier was quite close to death and the fighter/scout swarm was curtailed at the loss of a few ships, but then the destroyer jumped in... because there were still a few scouts moving around and distracting my ships, nobody could draw a bead anymore, and the initiative was quickly lost. (=we got served like a dinner ) I think if I'd had 1-3 corvettes as heavy gun/missile support, it might have been successful. Seriously, the carrier had, like, 10% shields left.

[Andraxxus]

Phewww it seems the khaak have really improved their tactics lately. Despite your warning, I left the Rapid response difficulty at "RRF warlord" and IK + IX at hard mode Now thats a challenge. I used to be a lone warrior, but since trying IK, I always have some escorts to cover my back Really nice script:D

1-no idea... everything burns up too quickly
2-I sometimes find them even if there is no station around. I collect them quickly, no idea if they disappear after sometime.
3-Nope. thanks to Flaks.
4-yes, 2 attempts, both succesful .
Attempt #1, Kao's Stronghold(XTM): I entered the system with 6 Tyrs, 4 Titans, a Python. I was instantly engaged by 8 destroyers 3 carriers, and... countless fighters forming a sphere around me . A second and a third wave, with 6 and 5 destroyers and a few carriers came, I called in 'some' support ships, 8 xenon Ks . I was victorious after losing 4 Titans(becouse I dont equip my titans with jumpdrives ), a Tyr and a K, but I had to withdraw most of my ships to prevent their destruction, some of my M2s engaged the enemy for a few seconds before I had to order them to retreat.. Only 4 Tyrs and 2 Ks were in the battlefield after khaak forces were defeated.
Attempt #2, Tkrs Deprivation: It was relatively easy with completely different tactics. I used a Tyr, a Raptor, a Hyperion, 14 LXs, 600 Fighter Drones, againist 6 destroyers and a carrier. I lost my raptor in the first few seconds, but after that It was a khaak genocide. I lost only Fighter Drones and 7 LXs(4 were lost before launch when the Raptor got wasted).