[X3AP] Collecting mods, scripts & ideas for a vanilla-friendly modpack!

[Getsune]

Greetings fellow pilots,

as I am preparing for a new save in X³: Albion Prelude, I figured I'd like to alter and fix some things before setting out for the universe once more.
Easily done, right? It doesn't need much to change the game to what you'd like it to be, which is great. However, I do want to collect those pesky
Steam achievements while doing so, thus getting a ***modified*** in my profile is not an option.

Throwing a bunch of vanilla-friendly fixes and changes together seemed the next best idea. While I started my search for the right ones,
I noticed that there's this vote going on recently and even though not many people participated so far, it does seem like many pilots still enjoy
the vanilla game. Seeing as I was about to collect this stuff anyway, I thought: why not share it?



[INDEX] List of Vanilla safe mods. by Aro
Features some of the mods I listed here as well as others that you can use if you have big problems with performance.

Official Packages
X³: Albion Prelude Bonus Package 5.1.00

Gameplay Changes
> Resized Aldrin Big Rock by someone else (Alternative Mirrors: cat/dat, .spk)
Resizes the giant asteroid in the sector Aldrin to half of its size, thus improving the AI's behaviour while you're In-Sector.
> Mission briefing fix for stock missions, vanilla-friendly by kurush
This fix makes many, if not most, mission briefings provide more details about the objectives (the enemies' race in Fight missions for example).

Performance Optimization
> Menu Background Disabler by Killjaeden
Removes all objects from the main menu background which allows the game to start much faster.
> No-Ad-Sign-Mod by Killjaeden
Removes all ad signs in the universe, granting a small performance increase in the process.
> BeamFix for PALC by Killjaeden
The Phased Array Laser Cannon is a powerful and rare weapon. Unfortunately, it devastates the performance on some PCs.
With this fix, the FPS hit vanishes from the game entirely.

Vanilla-friendly Scripts / Toolkits
> AP - Overtuning ships, the way of UFJD. Vanilla-friendly toolkit by kurush
With this toolkit, you're able to get the tuning crates in the UFJD sectors much easier.
> Long Range Cargo Scanner (for Jump Beacons) by DrBullwinkle
This script allows you to locate the ships that are carrying the super-rare Jump Beacons with them.*

Related Information
> Cycrow's explanation of what can be changed without triggering a ***modified***
> List of protected files by UniTrader



You know of other mods that don't trigger a ***modified*** in the player statistics? Or have other ideas that could help in improving the vanilla game?
Feel free to post your ideas or send me a PM about them, I'm curious!

[X2-Illuminatus]

The list of vanilla safe mods mentions some more mods you could use.

Also useful is kurush's Mission briefing fix for stock missions, vanilla-friendly.

Long Range Cargo Scanner (for Jump Beacons) by DrBullwinkle

This script will mark your saves as *modified*.

[Getsune]

Thanks for the links X2-Illuminatus, I will check them out this afternoon! I'm a little reluctant about the
No-Tubes-Mod though, as it takes away half the fun of planning a working and good-looking complex.

Long Range Cargo Scanner (for Jump Beacons) by DrBullwinkle

This script will mark your saves as *modified*.

You're right, the script would mark my save as modified as soon as I save it again. However, if you activate the SE,
run the script, take the data it provides and then reload, your save remains vanilla while you also got
the desired information. That's what I meant with this phrase at the bottom of my post:

(...) Scripts that could be useful without the need of using them constantly (like the ones mentioned above)? (...)

It's a bit poorly worded, perhaps. What I meant is that I'm searching for scripts that only need to be activated once
to get the information they're supposed to provide (displaying your pirate rank for example).