[SCR] MEFOS Weapon System [19th April 2010 X³:TC 3.2.03]

[Saetan]

MEFOS Weapon System is developed by Lucike, most of the translation of the manual is by darkfear. I just updated the manual to fit the actual version of MEFOS. This topic is released with Lucikes permission. darkfear's old manual can be found here: [SCR] CODEA Weapon System [09-06-03 X3TC 3.beta.19]

MEFOS Weapon System is also part of Lucikes Script Collection.
This topic is not up to date, most of the manual still applies to the recent version of the script, but you have to download the most recent version by downloading it as part of the script collection.

Content:

Part 1: MEFOS Weapon System

Part 2: Change of command-slots

Part 3: ( -- reserved -- )
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------


MEFOS Weapon System
(Medium Extended Fight Orbit System)
(Version 3.2.03 – 19th April 2010)


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MEFOS – The History

Capital ships of the M1 and M2 class, as well as corvettes and frigates of the M6 and M7 class are the most efficient and powerful weapon platforms in the universe. In the default operational mode, their fully automated turrets attack any enemy ship in range. The argon military developed a new weapon system, codename MEFOS, and has been recruiting computer scientists, technicians and gunners for some time now to manually control the turrets of their capital ships. Gunners, who are responsible for the switching of weapons, act independently and disburden the officer of the deck. On the other hand technicians are responsible for insuring an uninterrupted shot sequence and assisting the computer scientist in supervising the automatic turret targeting control. MEFOS is not only a training course for gunnery personnel, but also a software supported method of communication between the bridge and several laser turrets. MEFOS enables the storage of a fixed combination of turret armaments and attack commands, which can be selected with a single hotkey. This allows for a semi-automatic weapon or command switching of the turret without the need for dedicated personnel.

Only distinguished members of the argon federation are able to recruit trained turret personnel, although at a steep price. In recent times more and more TP class ships were seen transporting personnel to large argon battle cruisers. Argon equipment docks as well as trading stations have become the ports of transshipment for military personnel. Even civilians have an opportunity to acquire trained turret personnel there. It requires open eyes and ears because military transport routes are kept top secret. Known military transports have to be intercepted at their destination. In addition, a mayor part of the personnel is intended for argon capital ships, so speed is of the essence.

The ports of transshipment are in even more turmoil then the largest stock exchanges of the universe. The motto is to snap at the chance of trained personnel, while also looking out for all their different specializations.

Overview MEFOS Weapon System

• The MEFOS Weapon System assumes control of weapon management on capital class ships.
• The MEFOS Weapon System adds five new turret attack commands. These commands require gunnery personnel to assume control of automatic weapon switching.
• The MEFOS Weapon System can store up to eight fixed combinations of turret armament and attack commands, which can be accessed with several hotkeys.

MEFOS Weapon System Preparations

Download

Lucike left after he got temporarly banned from the X-Universe Forums and asked me to remove the direct download links. Of course I respect his wish, so I replaced the download links with links onto his own homepage.

-> MEFOS Weapon System (Version 3.2.03)
-> Befehlsbibliothek "Libraries" (Required, latest version during revision of the manual: 3.4.09, 19th April 2010)

-> Military Transport (Recommended, for full functionality)

Prerequisites: X³: Terran Conflict Version 2.5 or higher (not compatible with X³: Reunion) !!

Activation of the Script Editor

MEFOS doesn’t require the script editor to be activated. MEFOS includes a script, that automatically sets the game to “modified”.

With the script editor activated, additional technical information can be displayed. This can be enabled in the script editor menu (Script Debugging: Additional Information) but is recommended to be left "off" as it might be confusing to some players .It is possible to run unsigned scripts without activating the script editor. This requires a change in the scripts boot file. In any case the save game will become “modified”.

Installation

Simply extract the *.zip file to your X³ TC folder. The .zip file includes the folders “\scripts\...” and “\t\...” which also exist in your X³ TC folder. Any additional folders in the *.zip file are for maintenance and uninstalling and should also be extracted to your X³ TC folder.

Uninstallation

The folder “\scripts.uni-Istall\...“ includes the files “setup.plugin.mefos.weapon.system.pck”. Copy those two files to the script folder (\scripts\...). Start X³ TC and load your save game. The Uninstall process will start automatically and send a message to your log upon completion. The process can take up to 20 seconds from loading the savegame. Save the game.

Run the batch-file „Delete all MEFOS Weapon System Scripts.bat“ in the “\scripts.delete\...” folder. This will delete all the script’s files. The De-Installation process is now complete.

Important: Never simply delete scripts, because they are connected to your savegame.

Updating older versions

Simply extract the *.zip file to your X³ TC folder. The .zip file includes the folders “\scripts\...” and “\t\...” which also exist in your X³ TC folder. Any additional folders in the *.zip file are for maintenance and uninstalling and should also be extracted to your X³ TC folder.

The batch-files “Delete old MEFOS Weapon System Script.bat” in the “\scripts.delete\” folder takes care of deleting old and unneeded script files. This step is not required, but will keep your script folder organized.

In game nothing has to be manually restarted. All ships or station automatically restart their scripts.

MEFOS Weapon System Manual


Ship and Equipment Requirements:

• A ship of M1, M2, M3, M6, M7, M8, TL, TM, TP or TS class
• Fight Command Software MK1
• Fight Command Software MK2
• Cargo Bay Life Support System (optional: required for turret personnel)
• MEFOS Weapon System Software(optional: additional commands and extensions)

MEFOS Weapon System

The MEFOS Weapon System has eight weapon group storage spaces for a fixed combination of turret armaments and commands. Without the MEFOS software, only four storage spaces are available. A hotkey has to be assigned to every weapon group. Additionally a hotkey for the configuration menu has to be set.

After configuring the hotkeys, weapon groups can be created and stored. If no weapon groups have been stored, the first hotkey press saves the current weapon configuration and turret commands to the storage space. A weapon group can be deleted via the configuration menu.

Now you can switch between weapon groups. Confirmation is carried out by a spoken message (Weapon Systems Alpha to Theta).


Overview

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The overview displays all available weapon groups for editing. Already occupied weapon groups are displayed as well. It also provides a list of all the required personnel for automatic weapon switching on the current ship.


The Weapon Group

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Selecting a weapon group in the overview displays the weapon group menu, which allows for several options to edit the weapon group.

Select Weapon Group

You can select a weapon group in the Weapon Group Menu. Since this method of weapon switching is impractical during combat, hotkeys can be configured for each weapon group. This command was initially intended for testing purposes.

Set up or change weapon group

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The simplest method of storing a weapon group, is to configure all weapons via the HUD and then storing them with the corresponding hotkey to an empty weapon group slot. This menu item is first and foremost to complement or check an existing weapon group.

Delete Weapon Group

This menu item deletes a weapon group. After deletion a new weapon group can be saved in this storage pace with the corresponding hotkey.

Save Weapon config

This command is used to quickly store the current combination of weapons.


Maximum armament in all weapon groups

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In this overview you can see which weapons can be installed the same time as maximum. This can be useful to support the planning of future weapon configuration. If you select a weapon entry and your ship is docked at an own station, which has that weapon on stock, the amount of it will be loaded which is necessary to reach the maximum.



Guidelines for special command

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With this turret special command you can set additional guidelines fot the automatic weapon change. These include the primatry target class, an alternative target search and the turrent range. In addition for missile turrets, there are selections for the missile type and the firing type too.

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The primary target class can be set, that only ships of fighter-, big ship- or huge ship-class targeted. Additionally an alternative target search can be allowed, if no primary target can be found. The turret range limits the firing range of a turret. Of course the maximum firing range of the weapons can't be increased.

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In addition for missile turrets, the missile type and the firing type can be set. The command "Strength calculation" for the firing type will cause to fire as much missiles as will be needed for the target. The command "Broadside" will cause to fire a large amount of missiles to ensure a deadly hit of the target.


Turret Personnel

Turret commands:
Weapon System: Attack all Enemies (requires ship personnel)
Weapon System: Attack my Target (requires ship personnel and MEFOS Weapon System Software)
Weapon System: Protect Ship (requires ship personnel and MEFOS Weapon System Software)
Weapon System: Missile Defense (requires ship personnel and MEFOS Weapon System Software)
Weapon System: Special command (requires ship personnel and MEFOS Weapon System Software)


Turret commands are available in the command console of a ship. All commands include automatic weapon switching, although shockwave cannons and Ion disrupters are only used with the MEFOS software installed. Only available weapons are used.

Turret personnel is required for these commands. If there is not enough personnel available, individual turret commands will be suspended.

Required Size of the Crew

One computer scientist is sufficient for the whole ship. Every turret requires a technician, as well as one gunner for every three weapons in the turret.

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Example M2: Standard ships of the M2 class have 4 turrets with 8 ordnances each, as well as 2 turrets with 4 ordnances each for a total of 6 turrets with 40 ordnances. This requires 1 computer scientist, 6 technicians and 16 gunners.

Example M6: A ship of the M6 class in the default argon version has 3 turrets with 1 ordnance each. That is a total of 3 turrets and 3 ordnances, which requires 1 computer scientist, 3 technicians and 3 gunners.

Example M3: A ship of M3 class in the default argon version has 1 turret with 1 ordnance. All instruments in an M3 fighter are accessible by one person, thus only the need for 1 gunner. Ships of the M3+ class generally have 2 turrets and thus need 2 gunners.

Crew Payment

The turret personnel is paid by the hour. The pay is automatically transferred to the argon military, which in turn distribute the money to the crew.

Computer scientists get paid 300 credits per hour, technicians 250 credits and gunners 200 credits. The crew is paid regardless of whether they are in action or on standby.

Example M2: 1 computer scientist is paid 300 credits/h, 6 technicians 1500 credits/h and 16 gunners 3200 credits/h. For the entire personnel of an M2 class ship you have to take 5000 credits/h or 120.000 credits per day into account.


Additional Information

None


Technical Data MEFOS Weapon System

Language FIle
8017-L039.xml (ID 8017)
8017-L044.xml (ID 8017)
8017-L048.xml (ID 8017)
8017-L049.xml (ID 8017)

Command-Slots
COMMAND_TYPE_FIGHT_18 (318)
COMMAND_TYPE_TURRET_16 (916)
COMMAND_TYPE_TURRET_17 (917)
COMMAND_TYPE_TURRET_18 (918)
COMMAND_TYPE_TURRET_19 (919)
COMMAND_TYPE_TURRET_20 (920)

Object-Task
Global (Hotkeys und restart)
Ship task turrets (Task 1 to maximum turret)
Ship task 43 and 44

Official abbreviations
"das MEFOS"
"the MEFOS"


Changes at MEFOS Weapon System

Downloads

-> MEFOS Weapon System (Version 3.2.03)
-> MEFOS Weapon System (Version 3.2.02)
-> MEFOS Weapon System (Version 3.2.01)
-> MEFOS Weapon System (Version 3.2.00)
-> MEFOS Weapon System (Version 3.1.01)



Changelog

26th October 2008 (Version 3.alpha.01)

• First version.

11th September 2008 (Version 3.alpha.02)

• Missies Frigates were unable to use their turrets.
• In addition to the MEFOS turret commands, the main command was suspended in the case of an insufficient amount of military personnel. Fixed.

15th November 2008 (Version 3.alpha.03)

• Logic bug in the AL plugin corrected.
• English language file corrected.

30th November 2008 (Version 3.alpha.04)

• Military personnel was replaced by gunnery personnel. Several different specializations are possible now. Existing military personnel is automatically converted.
• The costs for the ”MEFOS Weapon System“ software were reduced to 1.002.677 credits. Additional expenditures are credited to the player.
• MARS turret commands are stored.
• The total amount of needed personnel is visible in the overview.
• Argon Military Transports doubled.
• Recruitment of turret personnel vastly improved.

2nd December 2008 (Version 3.alpha.05)

• Recruitment of turret personnel balanced.
• Several small improvements.

7th December 2008 (Version 3.alpha.06)

• Added missile-defense turret command.
• Small bug in the payment of personnel fixed.

25th December 2008 (Version 3.beta.01)

• alpha-phase finished.
• The recruitment conditions of turret personnel were relaxed. The
  probability to get more personnel is twice as high..

26th May 2009 (Version 3.beta.02)

• Bug Fix: Player ships without fullfilled requirements operated too.
• Bug Fix: Partially wrong weapons got installed if the ship was OOS.
• Commands of Missile Defence MK2 get saved too.
• Several undocumented small improvements over the last months.

26th May 2009 II (Version 3.beta.03)

• Bug Fix: ReadText message in the turret personnel selection.
• MEFOS configuration is now available over the fight commands too and so reachable for any player owned ship.
• Overview of all possible weapons and their maximum amount at the same time added.
• Weapon groups configuration optically revised.

31st May 2009 (Version 3.beta.04)

• Recruitment of new personnel rebalanced.
• Several small improvments.

20th September 2009 (Version 3.beta.05)

• Helmsmen and navigators can now be recruited.
• First step to seperate MEFOS and military transports.
• Italian language file added.
• Several small improvements.

25th October 2009 (Version 3.1.00)

• Bug Fix: The military transports haven't been reachable from the beginning of the rank "Fighter Chief". Fixed.
• Bug Fix: The check routine on ships with active MEFOS turret commands hasn't been shutdown, when the MEFOS turret commands got quit. Fixed.
• Second and final step in the seperation of MEFOS and the military transports. The extensions will be offered separately in the future.
• Helmsmen in action get highlighted in color now. This will help to prevent to accidentially transfer an active helmsman to another ship.
• Beta-Phase finished.
• Several small improvements.

28th October 2009 (Version 3.1.01)

• MEFOS Weapon System is completely independant now.
• Several small improvements.

18th March 2010 (Version 3.2.00)

• New turret command: "Special Command", which allows a selective target search. Also missile frigates will be enhanced with that command.
• The standard turret commands "Attack Fighters" and "Attack Capital Ships" get saved too.
• Information and flight plan of military transports got completly removed.
• Several small improvements.

8th April 2010 (Version 3.2.01)

• The turrets will hold fire respectively don't search for a new target if a friendly station is in the line of fire.
• Polish language file added.
• Several small improvements.

11th April 2010 (Version 3.2.02)

• "Special Command" for missile frigates optimized.
• Several small improvements.

19th April 2010 (Version 3.2.03)

• The hold of fire near friendly stations optimized.
• Several small improvements.

[Saetan]

Change of the Command-Slots
(After an idea by SymTec ltd.)

The MEFOS Weapon System uses five command-slots in Fight Commands and Turret Commands. They own to the groups 300 and 900. You have to search five unused slots inside these groups.

To change the command-slots you just have to modify the language file. The scripts don't have to be modified themself. The language file "8010-L044.xml" can be found in the language directory (..\t\..) which is placed inside the X³ main directory. First open the language file with an simple text editor. Notepad.exe of MS Windows® is best for it. Don't use MS Word® or MS WordPad® for it.

The command-slot settings have to be changed at five positions (marked in yellow: page id's 8010, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2022). The standard slots are 318, 916, 917, 918 and 919 (marked in red). You can find them easily at the end of the language file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<language id="44">

.....<page id="8010" title="MEFOS Weapon System" descr="">

..........[...]

..........<t id="20000">318</t>
..........<t id="20001">916</t>
..........<t id="20002">917</t>
..........<t id="20003">918</t>
..........<t id="20004">919</t>
.....</page>

.....<page id="2008" title="Script Object Commands" descr="">
..........<t id="318">COMMAND_MEFOS_WEAPON_SYSTEM</t>
..........<t id="916">COMMAND_MEFOS_KILL_ALL_ENEMIES</t>
..........<t id="917">COMMAND_MEFOS_PROTECT_SHIP</t>
..........<t id="918">COMMAND_MEFOS_ATTACK_TARGET_OF_SHIP</t>
..........<t id="919">COMMAND_MEFOS_MISSILE_DEFENSE</t>
.....</page>

.....<page id="2010" title="Script Cmd Names" descr="">
..........<t id="318">Console MEFOS Weapon System</t>
..........<t id="916">\033RWeapon System:\033X Attack Enemies</t>
..........<t id="917">\033RWeapon System:\033X Protect Ship</t>
..........<t id="918">\033RWeapon System:\033X Attack My Target</t>
..........<t id="919">\033RWeapon System:\033X Missile Defence</t>
.....</page>

.....<page id="2011" title="Script Cmd Shorts" descr="">
..........<t id="318">Mefos</t>
..........<t id="916">M.Att.E</t>
..........<t id="917">M.Prot</t>
..........<t id="918">M.Att.T</t>
..........<t id="919">M.M.Def</t>
.....</page>

.....<page id="2022" title="Command Info" descr="">
..........<t id="318">Argon Military has developed a new weapon system called MEFOS and trains personnel to become gunners or battery engineers being able to man capital ship gun batteries.\n{2022,99999}</t>
..........<t id="916">\033RMEFOS Weapon System:\033X Attack Enemies. Fire at all enemies that are in the turrets firing range. The gunnery crew changes automatically the necessary weapons.\n{2022,99999}</t>
..........<t id="917">\033RMEFOS Weapon System:\033X Protect Ship. Command a turret to fire on ship that are attacking the ship. The gunnery crew changes automatically the necessary weapons.\n{2022,99999}</t>
..........<t id="918">\033RMEFOS Weapon System:\033X Attack My Target. The current target of the ship is the primary attack target of the turret. The gunnery crew changes automatically the necessary weapons.\n{2022,99999}</t>
..........<t id="919">\033RMEFOS Weapon System:\033X Missile Defence. Does the same as Turret Protect Ship, but also shoots at incoming missiles. The gunnery crew changes automatically the necessary weapons.\n{2022,99999}</t>
..........<t id="99999">\n\033B© Machiel Software Corporation\033X\n\033BHerrons Nebula\033X</t>
.....</page>

</language>

After you replaced the command-slots with the unused ones at these five positions simply save the file. After that, start your game.

Information: If the language file is packed, that mean the file extension is ".pck" you have to unpack the language file first. It can be unpacked by every packer software which handles GZ-compression. For example, such programms are WinZip, WinRAR or 7-Zip. After the change you can pack the language file again. If you don't want to pack it, save the unpacked, modified language file with the file extension ".xml" inside the language directory. You have to delete the packed one then, because X³ prevers packed versions of the files.

[Saetan]

( -- reserved -- )

[DarthVain]

Just a question with the MEFOS system if I may, do the gunners improve over time in regards to reacting to enemy threats?

The reason I'm asking is that at present whether the weapon system is set at "Attack Enemies" or "Protect Ship"mode, the turrets seems to only concentrate on the fighters and forget about the biggies.

Is there some way a priority system can be implemented so that the gunners will prioritise the bigger threats when they are in weapon range?

[Saetan]

Gunners and other MEFOS personnel don't improve. They are as they are.

For attacking capital ships I suggest the "Attack My Target" Command while you target a capital ship.

As far as I know, Lucike used the standard egosoft commands für this script and added only the weapon switching capability. I don't know how they priorize the target selection.

I asked Lucike about a new command for capital ship priorization. He may do it a later time, first he makes a command to attack th shields of a target which already was asked quite a long time ago.

But this all will need time. He has a lot of work with his other scripts and mods he is working on at the moment. Because of that and it is already full functional as planned, MEFOS has lower priority at the moment.

[DarthVain]

Thanks for the heads up Saetan.

[garchan]

what exactly do the helmsmen and navigators do?

[Saetan]

Navigators will be used in a future CODEA version. A Navigator will be able to control two jump beacons for p2p-jump after placing them.

Helmsmen will increase the maneuverability of a (capital) ship, similar like ruder optimizations. He needs about two hours to set up his working place before the benefit will be usable.

Both have to be recruited by the player himself. The trick with a TP and a lieutnant won't work for Navigators and Helmsman. Also they are quite rare.


edit:
I compared the maneuverability of an Argon Collosus and an OTAS Aquilo with and without a helmsman on duty:

Spoiler

Show

Argon Collosus (M1):
normal maneuverability: 0,7rpm -- with a helmsman: 1,1rpm (increase by about 57%)

OTAS Aquilo (M7M):
normal maneuverability: 0,8rpm -- with a helmsman: 1,3rpm (increase by about 63%)

[Dricks2222]

Hi, and great script.

However, i was wondering if it was possible to set an "auto OOS bay" and an "auto IS bay" for weapons, so that you can safely jump out of sector and automatically having the best OOS weapons without having to care (for example, you set bay 0 as the auto OOS-bay, and equip it with full PPC) for your OOS efficiency.
Same for IS, you see that a carrier has engaged battle with ennemies, you jump in, and the carrier switch to IS bay (that you set as Bay 1), with better IS weapons than "all PPC"...

Hope this is clear

[Saetan]

This will already be done. If you use the MEFOS turret commands, MEFOS will install the strongest lasers available while OOS. If IS it will use the available lasers which should best fit the target.

If you have enough MEFOS personnel to have the commands activated of course.

[DarthVain]

Well, ever since the upgrade to v2.5 of X3-TC, I cannot obtain personnel as no military transports exist in-game. When I check MEFOS, no routes are shown up.

[Saetan]

Did something change in your savegame? Something like loosing argon rank or the rank for fighting? Are your ranks high enough to hire the personnel?

AL Plugin for MEFOS still enabeled?

Else just try to install MEFOS again.

[Dricks2222]

This will already be done. If you use the MEFOS turret commands, MEFOS will install the strongest lasers available while OOS. If IS it will use the available lasers which should best fit the target.

If you have enough MEFOS personnel to have the commands activated of course.

Ok, you mean laser switching just like MARS?

Seems that i missed the point, i thought that the player was defining up to 8 weapons setup, and could change which setup to use "on the fly" with hotkeys.

[Saetan]

The player can switch the main-lasers by hotkeys. The turret commands change their lasers by themselves. Not as MARS, but similar.

For turret switching MARS would be more powerfull as far as I know, but MARS is also more performance hungry.

[Targ Collective]

Something's definitely up. Just hit Fighter Chief, no flight-plan. Hero of the Federation. Now I think on it, it has been a while since I saw any military TPs around too.

---

False alarm. 25% Fighter Chief, found both a TP and flight plan.

The system must take a while to update, that or the fight rank requirement is s mite higher than Fighter Chief 4-6%.

This is worth noting at the top, regardless.

[Saetan]

MEFOS Weapon System
(Medium Extended Fight Orbit System)
(Version 3.1.00 - 25th October 2009)


[ external image ]

[ external image ] [ external image ]


-> MEFOS Weapon System (Version 3.1.00)
-> Befehlsbibliothek "Libraries" (Required, last update: 24th Oct. 2009 !!)


Required: X³ Terran Conflict Version 2.1 or newer (not compatible with X³ Reunion) !!


25th October 2009 (Version 3.1.00)

• Bug Fix: The military transports haven't been reachable from the beginning of the rank "Fighter Chief". Fixed.
• Bug Fix: The check routine on ships with active MEFOS turret commands hasn't been shutdown, when the MEFOS turret commands got quit. Fixed.
• Second and final step in the seperation of MEFOS and the military transports. The extensions will be offered separately in the future.
• Helmsmen in action get highlighted in color now. This will help to prevent to accidentially transfer an active helmsman to another ship.
• Beta-Phase finished.
• Several small improvements.

[@fon]

[*]Second and final step in the seperation of MEFOS and the military transports. The extensions will be offered separately in the future.

Can you explain this feature?
Doesn't it mean that we don't need to look for military transports for recruitement?

[Saetan]

That means, that the Military Transports get their scripts released as a stand-alone version. So you don't have to install the whole MEFOS script, if you want to use all features of CODEA, but only the AL-plugin for the Military Transports.

On the other hand, I think you will have to install that AL-plugin for the use of MEFOS too, as it won't be contained by the MEFOS release-package anymore.

[@fon]

That means, that the MEFOS military transports get their scripts released as a stand-alone version. So you don't have to install the whole MEFOS script, if you want to use all features of CODEA, but only the AL-plugin for the Military Transports.

On the other hand, you will have to install that AL-plugin for the use of MEFOS too, as it won't be contained by the MEFOS release-package anymore.

So, if I'm correct:
1)MEFOS from this version onward won't have military transports.
2)Military transports will be a separate script.
3)For MEFOS to fully function you need the Military transports.
Am I correct?

[Saetan]

Nearly ... in this version, the military transports are still included. In the next version, they will be a seperate release.