(TC 3.2 modded) HQ Q's, slow reverse-engineering and ship building

[Sturmer]

I bought my HQ (for 122 mil) and re-eng. the Solano. Was done in cca 20 minutes and is built in the same amount of time, quite cheaply at that.

Unfortunately the Solano is crap for OOS combat, it gets whumped by a Nova everytime even though it's faster and has the same shielding (I'm guessing the turret is the factor for Nova winning?). Same goes for Mamba's and another fighter whose name right now escapes me, possibly Barracuda. I have losses even though my CODEA sends 10 fighters against measly 4 Pirates, fighters that are on paper much better than those of Pirates (except for some of mine lacking rear turrets). For some strange reason, even Cutlasses and Scimitars are easy prey.

Anyway, had my HQ reverse-eng. a Cutlass and while the 4.5 hours to do it compared to Solano's 20 minutes were strange I was (too optimistically) hoping that building it would be faster.

Do all M3's take over 4 hours to reverse-engineer and the same to be built? Can the building be sped-up? I namely need a fleet of them.

I'm also namely now re-eng. a Nova Prototype to replace other fighters in the role of the main attack fighter and it's impossible to buy these Novas anywhere that I looked (maybe I didn't look everywhere?).

Was Solano so fast because it's an M4 and thus are all M4s so fast?

Why is there such a big difference between M4 and M3?

How long would it take for a Dragon or Vidar to be reverse-engi.? Three years? lol

Which is the best fighter for OOS combat?

Has anyone tried putting a carrier with it's escort on the "Galactic Explorer" duty? I imagine it would be quite an adventure for them.

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And is it possible to set my HQ so it can also offer upgrades (speed, cargo, rudder) to the ships it just built?

I namely dumped into the HQ's hold all the things I need for these Solanos (they're for my CODEA Argon One that's patrolling nearby sectors), but it's a bugger to have to send each Solano first to the local EQ to get the bigger cargobay just to be able to mount 4 Adv. PAC's (from AWRM mod).

Is it possible to connect HQ's and EQ's to a complex hub with the tubes or will the game crash if I try like it happens with some Terran stations?

Thanks!

[Axeface]

How long would it take for a Dragon or Vidar to be reverse-engi.? Three years? lol

Not sure about other m6's (I assume they are about the same) but the Hyperion took 21 hours to re-eng and the same to build (I've built 6 ).
This is with AP.

And is it possible to set my HQ so it can also offer upgrades (speed, cargo, rudder) to the ships it just built?

Not as far as im aware no.

[DrBullwinkle]

Which is the best fighter for OOS combat?

Falcon Hauler/Sentinel/Vanguard or Eclipse. OOS combat favors strong shields and heavy firepower. IS favors speed.

Has anyone tried putting a carrier with it's escort on the "Galactic Explorer" duty?

Ooh, excellent idea! I once joked about a Boreas Galaxy Explorer (but I never tried it).

However, the new flee routines would probably not work so well if your goal is a galactic patrol. For that effect, you would want an older version of Galaxy Explorers (maybe around 1.78, if memory serves?).

And is it possible to set my HQ so it can also offer upgrades (speed, cargo, rudder) to the ships it just built?

Yes: Player Workshops

[apricotslice]

Use one of the PHQ mods.

Mine for example eliminates the money factor and brings all tasks down to 10% of the original time factor.

Its easy enough to edit that file and set it to whatever is right for your game. Its just that after changing it, it will only apply to a newly added HQ. So if you already have one, you need to get everything off it, destroy it with the cheat pack, then cheat a new one into a TL and drop it again. Minor inconvenience, but then it will work the way you want it to.

[Sturmer]

Thank you to all!

Doc, will definitely be trying that script out!

I'm seriously thinking of sending that fleet out to explore the galaxy, but first I have to build it up. Since it'd be passing through Xenon, Pirate, etc. sectors it would need to have at least two or three M2s with several M7 escorts, full of heavy fighters. It will take a lot of money (boarded and sold ships) to equip this fleet.

Recently I've been boarding so much that my complex can't keep up with producing enough hammers and flails. Earned a sweet 120 mil with a single Woden (the only thing it had onboard was the front battery full of M/AML's). Have last night stolen and set up a patrol with the following: Astreaus Hauler, Tern (it can dock six M6's), Panther, Agamemnon and that Griffon I've been given. They all will take part in that galactic adventure when the time comes. With my being OOS when they pass through dense asteroid sectors, does that mean they won't be dancing around asteroids and get their shields knocked down?

Just have to start building better fighter squadrons first - I'm still at that mental point where every single fighter counts.

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Apricot, which file exactly has that option? I'm guessing "X3TC-Apricot-Extended-PHQ-Patch-v4.zip"? Can I select (turn on/off) the stuff from it that I want to use and the stuff I don't? Like creditless building... while I'm not against occasional shortcuts (like using cheats to dock when I'm in a hurry), getting ships for free would spoil the game for me.

EDIT: okay, I opened it, what do I put in place of money in
repair time="10" money="0" resources="100">

-

Here's hoping I can make them work. My game has been a real b-tch lately, standing in the corner, pouting and refusing to cooperate when it comes to adding stuff. Whenever I tried to install a script, it would freeze on the new load with sound looping (I thought I had that fixed, guess not). And I'm actually working with a lot less scripts than I worked with once (only about 60 scripts and about 10 mods) so it can't be overloaded.

[Sturmer]

Which is the best fighter for OOS combat?

Falcon Hauler/Sentinel/Vanguard or Eclipse. OOS combat favors strong shields and heavy firepower. IS favors speed.

How far behind are Chimera and Nova Prototype in regards to OOS combat?

Cause my Cutlass (6x25 MJ shields) just got vaporized by a freaking Harrier. Other Nova Raiders also don't have any problems killing my Nova Raiders OOS, hm.

[Sturmer]

UPDATE:

Yay, Apricot's PHQ patch works for me, no freezing!

As for Player Workshop, no dice, the game freezes, with both SPK and ZIP.

--

Hm, that brings this idea:

Apricot, is that PHQ patch V4 moddable in a sense that I could add into PHQs the possibility to buy upgrades; by editing the hq.xml file?

[DrBullwinkle]

Nova Prototype has half the shields of a Falcon Hauler. One eighth of the shields of a Falcon Sentinel. Chimera has less than that.

Nova Prototype is a great fighter if you pilot it... it might even be my favorite. But it is lackluster for OOS, especially in TC.

my Cutlass (6x25 MJ shields) just got vaporized by a freaking Harrier.

Yeah, that happens. I have had M7's killed by Harriers in TC. It is annoying.

Gazz wrote a couple of OOS Rebalance scripts. The two TC versions each had limitations. AP has OOSR Version 3 built in, which works better.

[Sturmer]

Thanks, Doc!

Hopefully Apricot will soon be up here to clear up my confusion whether I can add upgrades to the list by just editing his hq.xml file, since Player Workshop seems to conflict with something I have installed.

[DrBullwinkle]

I think that you can add equipment but not tunings via hq.xml. Apricot should know.

Player Workshops is one of the few scripts that adds cargo tunings correctly. You could probably figure out what it conflicts with, if you try.

[Sturmer]

Previous conflicts I had were when I tried to installed CODEA. There were conflicts with ohter Lucikes' scripts, but now I've only got the skeleton crew of his scripts. I'm half sure it's AWRM or X-tra ships and stations pack, but since they're mods it's impossible to do anything without a new start.

[Sturmer]

This is my list of SPKs.


Community Plugin Configuration :: Cycrow :: 1.51 :: 03/01/2012 :: Library :: Yes :: No
Hotkey Manager :: Cycrow :: 1.21 :: 03/01/2012 :: Library :: Yes :: No
Plugin Manager Library Scripts TC :: PluginManager :: 1.50 :: 16/12/2011 :: Library :: Yes :: No
Ware Manager :: Cycrow :: 1.10 :: 28/8/2011 :: Library :: Yes :: No
Salvage Command Suite :: TECSG :: 4.07 :: 11/1/2012 :: Ship Upgrade :: Yes :: No
Comms Ambient - Terran Conflict :: Ulfius :: 1.0 :: 02/12/2008 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Pirate Starts :: TEKing66 :: 1.20 :: 27/07/2010 :: General Mod :: Yes :: No
Military HUD for Terran Conflict :: Ulfius :: 1.0 :: 25/10/2008 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Signal Boost for TC v1.4 :: Ulfius :: 1.4 :: 11/01/2009 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Apricot Salvage Pack :: Apricotslice :: 2.4 :: 20/03/2010 :: Ship Upgrade :: Yes :: No
Cheat Collection Package AP :: Cycrow :: 1.62 :: 18/12/2011 :: Other :: Yes :: No
JSON parser library :: ThisIsHarsh :: 1.1 :: 05/09/2010 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Chem String Functions Library (lib.chem.strings) :: Chem aka ChemODun aka Chem [EG] [ru] :: 2.97 :: 21/01/2009 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Salvage Commands and NPCs :: ThisIsHarsh :: 1.5 :: 20/11/2008 :: Piracy :: Yes :: No
Salvage Insurance Contract :: Cycrow :: 1.00 :: 28/11/2009 :: AL Plugin :: Yes :: No
Satellite Early Warning Network :: Cycrow :: 1.22 :: 03/06/2009 :: Combat :: Yes :: No
XTendedGalacticNewSystem :: i :: i :: 8/1/2012 :: Custom :: Yes :: No
Add Disruptor Fabs to WT :: TEKing66 :: 1.20 :: 05/08/2010 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Advanced Weapon Research Mod (AWRM) :: Roger L.S. Griffiths :: 0.33 :: 1/4/2011 :: Extension Mods :: Yes :: No
Cargo Delivery Service :: Klaatu :: 2.02 :: 01/02/2009 :: Trade :: Yes :: No
Debris Utilize and Repair :: X420TokeAlot :: 3 :: 24/01/2009 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Display Ranks :: Carlo The Curious :: 0.5 beta :: 8/6/2011 :: Custom :: Yes :: No
Extended Communication System :: d :: d :: 8/1/2012 :: Custom :: Yes :: No
Frontier Wars :: Roger L.S. Griffiths :: 0.3 :: 02/01/2011 :: Other :: Yes :: No
gates_no_rep_loss :: h :: h :: 8/1/2012 :: Custom :: Yes :: No
gz_msl_display_tc :: f :: f :: 8/1/2012 :: Custom :: Yes :: No
Imperial Librarys :: Lord Vader :: 2.6 :: 10/11/2010 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Improved Boarding :: Cycrow :: 1.23 :: 30/06/2010 :: Ship Command :: Yes :: No
Invasion_Defence_Mission :: k :: k :: 8/1/2012 :: Custom :: Yes :: No
Invasion warnings :: ThisIsHarsh :: 1.1 :: 28/11/2008 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Marine Training Manager :: Grax :: 2.0 :: 25/11/2008 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Marine Repairs :: Tatakau :: 1.02 :: 03/03/2009 :: AL Plugin :: Yes :: No
Menagerie Shipyard :: j :: j :: 9/1/2012 :: Custom :: Yes :: No
Mobile Ship Repairs :: Graxster :: 1.7 :: 06/11/2008 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Move To Coordinates :: Cycrow :: 1.00 :: 10/05/2009 :: Ship Command :: Yes :: No
numeric_ranks_tc :: i :: i :: 8/1/2012 :: Custom :: Yes :: No
Pandora :: Teladidrone :: 0.2 :: 15/11/2008 :: Other :: Yes :: No
pirate.guild :: k :: k :: 8/1/2012 :: Custom :: Yes :: No
Pirate Fence :: Pelador :: 11 :: 16/04/2009 :: Trade :: Yes :: No
plugin.freight.drone.transfer_beta07 :: i :: i :: 8/1/2012 :: Custom :: Yes :: No
Race Invasions :: Xiriod - Using the Kha'ak Invasion script by TTL as a rough template. :: 1.0a :: 22/06/2009 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Scan Target Object :: Korval/Clevider :: 1.2 :: 28/04/2009 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Sector Scanner :: Nividium :: 1.30 :: 26/11/2008 :: Ship Command :: Yes :: No
SectorTakeOver_v1_56 :: o :: o :: 8/1/2012 :: Custom :: Yes :: No
shiploot_v1.04 :: j :: j :: 8/1/2012 :: Custom :: Yes :: No
Shipyards Combined :: AMurph0 :: 1 :: 19/12/2008 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Skill Up Notification :: Cycrow :: 1.00 :: 29/03/2011 :: AL Plugin :: Yes :: No
super_tractor_tc :: i :: i :: 8/1/2012 :: Custom :: Yes :: No
The Marauder Shipyard :: Teladidrone :: 0.5 :: 23/01/2009 :: AL Plugin :: Yes :: No
The Traveling Mechanic :: Teladidrone :: 0.2 :: 03/12/2008 :: Other :: Yes :: No
turret-on-off-tc :: j :: j :: 8/1/2012 :: Custom :: Yes :: No
Unknown Terran Pirate Base :: eldyranx3 :: 1.4 :: 22/9/2010 :: Mission :: Yes :: No
Wing hotkeys :: Cycrow :: 1.20 :: 09/06/2009 :: Ship Command :: Yes :: No
yaki.armada :: k :: k :: 8/1/2012 :: Custom :: Yes :: No
Asteroid Fusion :: mark_a_condren :: v4 :: 13/06/2010 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Centauri Republic Balvarian (B5) :: Balogt / Cycrow :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Basilisk :: DeadlyDa :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
EDD Thunder (Buck Rogers) :: Balogt / Cycrow :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Cetus Mk2 :: DeadlyDa :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Chukker :: DeadlyDa :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Darkship :: DeadlyDa :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Electra :: DeadlyDa :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Grendel :: DeadlyDa :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Hammerhead (SABB) :: Balogt / Cycrow :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Terran Hulk (X3) :: Cycrow :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Boron Hydra MK2 :: Balotg / Cycrow :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Invicta :: DeadlyDa :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Narcissus (Alien) :: DeadlyDa :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Asguard O'Neill (SG1) :: Balogt / Cycrow :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Centauri Republic Primus (B5) :: Balogt / Cycrow :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Prometheous X303 (SG1) :: Balogt / Cycrow :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Ranger :: DeadlyDa :: !.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Roger Young (Starship Troopers) :: DeadlyDa :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
USS Saratoga (SABB) :: Balogt / Cycrow :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Sulaco (Aliens) :: DeadlyDa :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Torath Raider :: Balogt / Cycrow :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
Centauri Republic Vorchan (B5) :: Balogt / Cycrow :: 1.00 :: :: Ship :: Yes :: No
MarCon Clone Station :: mark_a_condren :: 3 :: 9/8/2010 :: Custom :: Yes :: No

[DrBullwinkle]

That is quite a list, Sturmer. I got tired just reading it.

I would be surprised if Lucike's scripts conflict with each other. If you had problems getting them to coexist, I would first suspect improper installation or a version mismatch. Use his Script Collection to get all of them at the same version level.

When I said that "you could probably figure out the conflict", I meant *you*. Not *me*.

It is a debugging job. You have to be aware of what you have done; what the scripts do; and which things could possibly conflict. Read complete threads. At minimum, skim them looking for people with problems; then see what was the solution. Read all of the posts made by the author. Search Google for more information.

Finally, if you get really stumped, post clear *details*, with the steps required to reproduce whatever error you encounter. Saying that you had "a freeze" is useless to anyone trying to help you. What do you mean by a freeze? Do you really mean "the game is very slow"? Do you hear music or sounds? Does the mouse pointer move? Does Alt-Tab work? Post a screen shot if you can, and the exact text of any error messages.

We cannot see your screen. You are the only person who can do that part.

That said, I cannot, off hand, think of a potential problem with Player Workshops.

[Sturmer]

I don't expect you to do my work, but was hoping a bright idea might come to you or a memory of a problem you heard of with these.

I suspect it's either a conflict within the fake patches/mods, or AWRM or I must messed something up when installing all the scripts and mods. I've uninstalled everything that I figured could be and that I don't necessarily need, but nothing.

Under "freeze" I understand this:
- mouse not moving
- nothing ingame moving (I have Shawn's cockpits and the moving "text" on display's freezes too)
- sound looping every 3 or so seconds
- no chance to alt-tab
- can get out only with ctrl-alt-del

I tried various ways to get it to work and find out why it didn't, but had no success and gave up because I didn't want to break the little that I still had.

Well, when I get bored with this playthrough and start a new one, I'll just do a clean install of everything, without any fake patches or mods that even look like they could cause troubles.

It's just a shame that with this game, unlike others I've played, you're stuck with a mod once you install it.

[DrBullwinkle]

It's just a shame that with this game, unlike others I've played, you're stuck with a mod once you install it.

Depends on the mod.

For example, you can uninstall THE LAST ship if there are no ships of that type in the universe. You cannot uninstall a ship if you are flying in it. Sometimes uninstalling a ship can cause problems even if you are not flying it, but one exists in-sector.

Your description sounds like a real freeze; not merely an infinite-loop problem (bug in script). My first thoughts are about your Windows setup rather than a script.

As an experiment, try turning off all hardware acceleration for your sound card. If that solves the problem, then re-add some acceleration until you get the freeze again.

If that does not help, you might try asking in the Tech Support forum. However, they are going to ask you to start a new game for their test purposes. Just save your saved games in another folder so that you can switch between installed versions of the game.

[Sturmer]

HUh, deleting scripts I wasn't using yet, seems like I found the problem because now two scripts that didn't work before (Player Workshop and Equipment Research and Development) are now no longer freezing. Haven't tried more yet. Was not a problem of mods or fake patches or even hardware acceleration.

Had to be one of the following scripts that I deleted, not just disabled (am happy enough with the end result not to go back to trying to find out which):
stock exchange
npc bailing addon (was just disabled, now deleted)
add disruptor fabs
asteroid fusion
debris utilize and repair
move to coordinates
pirate fence
plugin.freight drone transfer
scan target object
sector scanner

Strange... Still, I'm not quite dumb enough to argue with the results.

[apricotslice]

Can I select (turn on/off) the stuff from it that I want to use and the stuff I don't? Like creditless building... while I'm not against occasional shortcuts (like using cheats to dock when I'm in a hurry), getting ships for free would spoil the game for me.

EDIT: okay, I opened it, what do I put in place of money in
repair time="10" money="0" resources="100">

As you can see from the file, EGO made it absolute, not changeable.1 step short of hardcoded, but at least they did this. Adding script commands to change the variables would have been better, but they didnt do that.

So what you put here is permanent, and it has to be done before you build a PHQ. This gets accessed by the game only when you drop the PHQ. So if you have a vanilla PHQ in the game, then change this file, it wont change. But if you add a 2nd one, the 2nd one will have the new configuration.

The 10, 0 and 100 were originally all 100. So repair time of 10 means 1/10th of the normal time. Money being set to zero means it doesnt use money, if you set it to 10, then 1/10th the normal money amount would be charged. Resources works the other way, as far as player benefit goes. If you reduce it, you get less, if you increase it, you get more. So since they dont return all that went into making a ship, if you increase it to 150, you get more resources back when you scrap ship.

But, these are set and forget values. They cant be dynamically changed in the game.

I think that you can add equipment but not tunings via hq.xml. Apricot should know.

Actually, no. I've never actually looked at Player Workshops, so I dont know how its done. Personally, I just scripted around the problem. I have a fitout script for my mod, and everything gets added automatically and charged as a bulk job.

I guess its something I should look at.

[DrBullwinkle]

I meant that you would know about hq.xml; not Player Workshops (which is just a script).

[Sturmer]

Thanks for the answer, Apricot!

Well, in the end I used hq.xml as it was instead of playing with it and now my HQ works as advertised. Great job on the script!

And since I actually managed to fix my freezing problem I'm now also using the Workshop, so there's no pressure from my side for you to try to figure out the adding.