[X3AP] LooManckstrat's Overhaul Mod V0.3 alpha

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Flippi
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[X3AP] LooManckstrat's Overhaul Mod V0.3 alpha

Post by Flippi » Wed, 16. May 18, 19:52

What is this?

LooManckstrat's Overhaul Mod is a rather large rebalance mod that does things differently than other mods. It's a more combat focussed, less annoying X3 Albion Prelude, that reduces some tedious game elements. Ships will come with pre installed components, ranging from shields, to weapons, to important software. Players are now not forced to deal with the economy, unless they want to use different weapons for their ships. The name comes from my Reddit account, where I firstly released the mod. There are also many more features listed below.



The Features:
  • Complete overhaul of all ships, missiles, shields and weapons. Apart from the visuals and names, there is not much left from vanilla.

    A mod based loadout system that gets rid of the tedious equipment searching spree. Ships now have installed software, shields and standard weapons. Engine, Cargo and Rudder tunings are a thing of the past too. Ship performance is now at peak from the moment you acquire it.

    Harder enemies due to the fact that there's no engine tunings and such. Ships will fly at top speed, and have full shields no matter what. Overtunings still work and have a greater effect, due to the base speed already beeing at maximum.

    A bunch of new sectors, complete with a player sector cluster so you can yell "Get off my lawn!" while blasting stuff. The computer also speaks the names, as I used unused Sector names.

    Every weapon and missile has a factory. You can build anything if you get access to those. No more RNG drop loot things to worry about. And yes, you can build Hammerhead missiles too.

    HQ overhaul. Ships are built faster than Vanilla, and don't need so many different resources. Race specific recourses are now a thing.

    Special HQ for stations. A special (currently too cheap) HQ let's you build basically every station in the game. It'll be easier to write a list of things you can't build, than the other way around.

    Dozens of smaller bits that I either forgot about or aren't newsworthy, like some new Terran factories.


Future plans:

-Blueprint synchronisation script. Thanks to Egosoft, the script editor now can select another HQ to put blueprints in.

-Automatic shield initialisation. Currently, players have to load and unload a single shield to scripted/built ships, so the game engine would activate the pre installed ones. I'll try to change that in the future.

-Some other things I forgot again.



The Requirements:

-X3 Albion Prelude in the newest version. No other mods installed for maximum installation safety.

-A new savegame. This mod is not compatible with any other mod or Vanilla.

-The Square Galaxy Map from SunBlade. If you want to see the new sectors on the galaxy map, you need this mod. I use it myself and it's actually awesome. That's why I didn't bother to do such a thing for my mod. People should use it anyway, no matter what. It doesn't conflict with my mod at all.



The Installation:

-Download rar file.

-Extract rar file.

-Put content into addon folder of your game installation.

-Rename the mod.cat and mod.dat to the next highest number of your other cat/dat files.

It's the fake patch method. I normally prefer loose files, but this also works. German and English Text files included.

The mod currently counts as alpha, which means that I cannot guarantee that savegames will be compatible with newer versions. It all depends on the feedback of people. If the general balance is okay, future versions will be compatible. If there are specific things that needs changing, you may have to start a new game.



The Download:

Download Version 0.35 alpha



Credits and Important notes:

This mod currently contains one script written by Striker304. It was part of the ETNO Mod that ceased development years ago. Striker304 also left the community, so there is a lack of an official Permission. If that's a problem for the Moderators, then please inform me. I will provide a version without said script, even though it's somewhat important (but not crucial) for the mod.

As a note, the mod itself is pretty stable. If you can run X3AP vanilla quite well, you shouldn't have any problem with this mod either. There shouldn't be any huge bugs in the game, but I cannot give any guarantees.

I hope people check the mod out and give feedback. I already released the mod on Reddit some time ago, which means you can find me there too.



Known Issues:

-Pre installed equipment is indestructible. The game engine simply lacks a proper damage model, so you have to deal with indestructible shields, weapons and such. Some people may find that cheaty, but if you lost your shields and the hull gets damage, you're in for trouble anyway.

-Certain ships have a cockpit position issue. Mainly the Excalibur and the Paranid Perseus/Yaki Susanowa with the new ship model. It's only the cockpit/bridge position, the ships themselves work as they should in AI hands and only have the problem in player hands.

-Pre installed weapons can get unequipped in case you find/buy that specific weapon and sell/eject/transfer it. It's a game engine issue which I can't fix. So remember to put your guns back into the slots in case you trade with the regular versions of those.

-Currently, the HQ's (all of them) are quite OP and too damn cheap. Things are the way they are for debugging purposes.

-CODEA likes to unequip the pre installed weapons when fighters land, so you have to buy and use weapons the old way to prevent that. Apart from that, CODEA should run fine.


The following files were harmed in the process:


-Globals
-HQ
-TBullets
-TCockpits
-TDocks
-TFactories
-TLaser
-TMissiles
-TShields
-TShips
-TWareT
-WareLists
-WareTemplate
-x3_universe
-8100-L0XX textfile for Striker304's script.
-1234-L0XX textile for the Sectors.
-COMMAND_TYPE_STATION_32 for new script command.

All mods that change one or more of these files are not compatible. If you want to add ships to the mod, you can just add them in the TShips, as there are no new entries in it. The TWareT also doesn't have any added entries, so you can add things from other mods relatively easy too.


Feedback, suggestions and complaints welcome.
Last edited by Flippi on Thu, 19. Aug 21, 16:50, edited 8 times in total.
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Flippi
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Post by Flippi » Wed, 16. May 18, 19:52

Changelog:

-13.09.2018: V0.35 released. New Script command added. Allows players to mass equip ships with standard equipment. Plus minor changes.
-18.06.2018: V0.3 released. Minor bugfixes and balance changes.
-29.05.2018: V0.21 released. Hotfix for Argon Plot. Triplex scanner replaced by duplex scanner on Argon Discoverer Advanced. Triplex Scanner cargo class reduced to M.
-26.05.2018: V0.2 released. Bug fix concerning Sector music. New games should now properly play music in said sectors. Added Sector descriptions.
-16.05.2018: Release V0.1


Script Recommendation:

-Lucike's scripts work fine, with the exception of Brennan's Triumph Tortuga. Ships don't spawn with shields due to the different Spawn routine from Lucike. Military Transports from Lucike also have this issue, but work fine.

-Custom Starts from Shimrod works fine without issues. Use it if you want a more specific game start.

-AI ship names from myself is also great. Use the alternative download, as the main link is broken. I lost the addon too, so you only can get the base version currently.

-Pirate Guild from Serial Kicked. Works without issues, except the pirate ships are now really brutal. Offers some ships that didn't receive any rebalancing yet (Mobile Pirate Base TL's).

-Activate Player HQ This Script has two versions. Version 1 installs a hotkey you have to assign. You then fly to the Sector of the HQ you want to activate, select it, and press the Hotkey. Version 2 changes Lucike's Blueprint Manager (which you need), so you can move Blueprints from one HQ to another one, and even copy those around. The script linked doesn't use any text file, so it should work with all languages. Lucike's Blueprint manager should have an english text file, so it should work for you too.

As a note: The Station HQ (called civilian installation) can't move or copy blueprints in Version 2. That is intended, as it isn't supposed to do that. However, this HQ can be activated. The blueprints you buy will disappear into Oblivion though, as again, it isn't supposed to build ships. So, if you have a civilian installation, make sure you won't buy BP's until you have an active regular HQ.


Most scripts should work relatively fine. Although I haven't tested out anything else yet.

Screenshots:

AP Gunner in player sector
View to another player sector
Odin firing "new" weapon
Last edited by Flippi on Thu, 13. Sep 18, 21:22, edited 8 times in total.
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Litcube
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Post by Litcube » Thu, 17. May 18, 17:55

Is this compatible with XRM?

Flippi
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Post by Flippi » Thu, 17. May 18, 19:10

Is this compatible with XRM?
Mods that change the following files are not compatible:
-Globals
-HQ
-TBullets
-TCockpits
-TDocks
-TFactories
-TLaser
-TMissiles
-TShields
-TShips
-TWareT
-WareLists
-WareTemplate
-x3_universe
This means, XRM and nearly every other mod is incompatible. Scripts, however, work fine with some few exceptions. Although I couldn't test that many scripts yet.


Greetings Flippi
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Ketraar
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Re: [X3AP] LooManckstrat's Overhaul Mod V0.1 alpha

Post by Ketraar » Thu, 17. May 18, 19:25

Flippi wrote:-The Square Galaxy Map from SunBlade. If you want to see the new sectors on the galaxy map, you need this mod. I use it myself and it's actually awesome. That's why I didn't bother to do such a thing for my mod. People should use it anyway, no matter what. It doesn't conflict with my mod at all.
Using a bod that contains new sectors is quite mandatory, for example if you want to use jumpdrive in them, since the sector selection map wont open if you are in a sector that is not "listed" in the bod.

Also creating map bod for custom maps is pretty easy, you just need DIMOUSUS map tool

https://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=299553

It will make a 00749.bod with all the sectors and connections based on the map you select.

Just thought I'd give these two pointers and leave you to having fun with your project. :-)

MFG

Ketraar

PS:
Flippi wrote:
Is this compatible with XRM?
Mods that change the following files are not compatible:
I'm inclined to read this as a jab to the usual first question related to new mods/scrips/projects. :-D

Flippi
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Post by Flippi » Thu, 17. May 18, 20:40

Using a bod that contains new sectors is quite mandatory, for example if you want to use jumpdrive in them, since the sector selection map wont open if you are in a sector that is not "listed" in the bod.

Also creating map bod for custom maps is pretty easy, you just need DIMOUSUS map tool
Of course there are ways to do a custom one. But since SunBlade already did the work, why not use it? His mod and thae one here aren't really big, so not an issue for people in my opinion.
I'm inclined to read this as a jab to the usual first question related to new mods/scrips/projects.
Yeah maybe. But I still answer such a question. That's better than no response at all.
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BlackArchon
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Post by BlackArchon » Thu, 17. May 18, 21:12

Litcube is a well-known troll in this forum. He even claims having created a mod called "Litcubes Universe", while in reality a man with the same name did that.

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joelR
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Post by joelR » Sat, 19. May 18, 19:28

Litcube wrote:Is this compatible with XRM?
[ external image ]

Flippi
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Post by Flippi » Sat, 26. May 18, 16:04

Version 0.2 alpha available!

Fixed an issue with two Sectors not having any music. The fix will work on new games. Old saves that were started under v0.1 aren't fixed, but since it's only some missing sector music in two sectors, it shouldn't be a big deal.

Also added Sector descriptions to the new sectors.
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GageDragon
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Post by GageDragon » Mon, 28. May 18, 17:19

Liking it so far. Took some getting used to with weapons and shields, I kept equipping them lol. It is nice having the extra cargo space now. Always thought it was silly that installed weapons and shields took up cargo space.
Only 5mj shields on m3s is scary and weapon energy burns out way before shields are down alot of the time in the small amount of combat I have tested and I cause my own problems since I dont like using missles lol but I figure not buying weapons and having the extra cargo space is the tradeoff for the fast drain.


Have a few mods going with it that work and some that dont obviously. Didnt bother trying mars or smart and advanced jumpdrive menu isnt accessible because nav com is preinstalled and I cant buy it. Its_cockpit mod works so thats nice I just wish it was complete (Boreas has none for me even in vanilla) but those problems arent your fault anyway. Resurrection graphics mod works so far as well as no ring gate mod.

Good work :D


edit: forgot to ask if we should be doing a custom start or if the other game starts are fine

Flippi
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Post by Flippi » Mon, 28. May 18, 18:53

Took some getting used to with weapons and shields, I kept equipping them lol. It is nice having the extra cargo space now. Always thought it was silly that installed weapons and shields took up cargo space.
The main idea was to keep equipping ships reasonable. Stuff is pre installed, unless you want a more specific loadout. Then you have to go old school. The increased effective cargo bay is just the icing on top.
Only 5mj shields on m3s is scary and weapon energy burns out way before shields are down alot of the time in the small amount of combat I have tested and I cause my own problems since I dont like using missles lol but I figure not buying weapons and having the extra cargo space is the tradeoff for the fast drain.
M3's were (pseudo) nerfed. Their shields are now shared with the M4, the main dogfighters. The 5MJ shield has a capacity of 25MJ actually. I just wanted to keep stuff betty friendly. Weapon energy consumption was also reduced on many weapons, but the whole damage balance is currently far from perfect. (IRE's too weak against shields, other weapons slightly underperforming, etc.) If you are looking for some really decent player weapons on fighters and smaller ships, get some Mass drivers or Energy bolt chainguns. They are... fun. Really fun....

The shield steps are 10MJ, 25MJ, 75MJ, 500MJ, 2GJ, 5GJ. Makes cap ships infinitely more resilient against all but the heaviest weapons. TS, TP and TM received a rather huge buff, especially the more expensive + versions. M5 survive hits, but die the moment, dedicated anti fighter weapons shoot them. M4 are supposed to be dogfighter kings, while M3's are more general purpose ships with heavier firepower against M8 and TS, TP, TM and the like. TL's received a good shield buff, as they are now using 1GJ shields (in this mod 2GJ capacity). Due to the shield changes, weapons seem to be weaker, especially fighter weapons.
forgot to ask if we should be doing a custom start or if the other game starts are fine
You can use any vanilla start as you want, they all work. Although some more difficult ones are now easier, since equipment is already installed. The custom game start script I recommended, was used by me for debugging. And it's also quite a good script.
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Post by GageDragon » Tue, 29. May 18, 08:19

I see well that explains some things then. Other than I just suck at combat lol even with mass driver or energy bolt chaingun it takes forever to kill even an m5 although those are mostly because im just not hitting them.

Missiles are a problem for me as well even with turret set to defense and using mdm its about a guarantee if I get the missile warning im dead. Have not tried fighting in an m4 am still using the nova prototype I started in but I think the deaths would be even more frequent then anyway.

Dunno if the plots are intended to be completed but the preinstalled extensions are causing problems if so. Says to obtain triplex scanner for the m5 but its already installed so doesnt update.

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Post by Flippi » Tue, 29. May 18, 10:40

Missiles are a problem for me as well even with turret set to defense and using mdm its about a guarantee if I get the missile warning im dead. Have not tried fighting in an m4 am still using the nova prototype I started in but I think the deaths would be even more frequent then anyway.
The missiles were made better, So it isn't exactly easier to survive battles. But wingmen should reduce the problems in combat a bit.
Dunno if the plots are intended to be completed but the preinstalled extensions are causing problems if so. Says to obtain triplex scanner for the m5 but its already installed so doesnt update.
What specific point in the plot are you referring to? I want to check that myself. Haven't played the Argon AP plot in a while, but I remember to receive an advanced Discoverer for some recon mission. If that's the mission, I could check what the problem actually is.

Edit: I updated the mod to fix the issue. The Discoverer for said mission now uses Duplex scanner, and Triplex scanner can be bought and installed on the M5. That fixed the issue in my tests.
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Post by GageDragon » Tue, 29. May 18, 17:36

I posted that last one just before I went to sleep but looks like you got to it already. Tried it myself and yep all good now. Thanks.

Is the HQ supposed to have all blueprints or no? it definitely does not have the Boreas lol and a few others but I dont recall which ones, so many to look at on that huge list. If it isnt meant to have thats fine am just letting you know.

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Post by Flippi » Tue, 29. May 18, 17:56

Is the HQ supposed to have all blueprints or no? it definitely does not have the Boreas lol and a few others but I dont recall which ones, so many to look at on that huge list. If it isnt meant to have thats fine am just letting you know.
The huge amount of Blueprints were for debugging purposes. I will probably change that in the future, although older saves will keep the BP's. I'm also not sure if it would be possible to get all ships "normally", like the Kha'ak ones, so I will probably keep them in or do something special with them. The HQ with the stations, however, will keep its BP's, as there would be no way to gain Station blue prints normally. Some needed resources to build stuff may not make sense, but my idea was to use underused wares as secondary ressources.

The next patch is supposed to be a balance patch. But I'll take my time and gather more information on the topic. Although it's quite safe to say that there will be shield damage buffs, and even some energy consumption buffs.
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Post by GageDragon » Tue, 29. May 18, 20:12

Sounds good. Looking forward to it then 8)

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Post by Flippi » Mon, 18. Jun 18, 12:36

Version 0.3 released.

Minor bugfixes were done and a larger change in balance happened.
I'm also currently testing a script that allows HQ's to move blueprints around. It's a script made by Klaus11. If the tests are succesful, I'll put a link into the recommendations.

In the future, I may add some new gamestarts, and maybe(!) one or two actually new ships. But nothing definitely.


Greetings Flippi
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