[mods] kuertee's (RPG, QOL, UI): 18 Feb 2024: Kuda: many bug-fixes; UIX: New callbacks for new mods; ATD: Ironman mode

[kuertee]

Updates, 9 Mar 2022
UI Extensions and HUD v4.2.0808: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/552
-New feature: new call-backs by Mycu for his new Custom Tabs mod.

Beta, 9 Mar 2022
Have played in 5.0 beta for several weeks now. All mods seem to be working with it.
Mods that require UI Extensions need this beta version of it.
UI Extensions and HUD v5.0.0008: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/552
-New feature: new call-backs by Mycu for his new Custom Tabs mod.

[Mycu]

Currently trying 5.0 RC3 with UIX v5.0.0008 and all SnD missions have Accept and Open Briefing buttons disabled:
https://i.imgur.com/kIC98aQ.png
https://i.imgur.com/QOoUVo0.png

Tried in two different sectors for two different factions and I also don't have this type of mission in my Mission Manager.
I can still use context menu though.

[kuertee]

Currently trying 5.0 RC3 with UIX v5.0.0008 and all SnD missions have Accept and Open Briefing buttons disabled:
https://i.imgur.com/kIC98aQ.png
https://i.imgur.com/QOoUVo0.png

Tried in two different sectors for two different factions and I also don't have this type of mission in my Mission Manager.
I can still use context menu though.

You're only allowed 3 SnD missions (whether they are active, completed, or failed) per hour.
It's a limit to tie-in with my planned Bounty Hunters guild for my Professions and Reputations mod.

[Mycu]

You're only allowed 3 SnD missions (whether they are active, completed, or failed) per hour.
It's a limit to tie-in with my planned Bounty Hunters guild for my Professions and Reputations mod.

Right - something was ringing but I didn't know in which church.
I thought I could have three missions taken at once. Thanks for the information.

[kmunoz]

Kuertee, is it possible to transfer rep/prof and social standing data from one save to another? I'm planning to do a custom start to recover from a softlock on my previous game (stuck at a Split story incoming message), which is straightforward enough but it would mean losing the data from those two mods. At one point I remember seeing that there's a save/load option for the data in rep/prof but I wasn't sure if that was transferrable across saves, or if there's a similar feature (or need for one) with the social standing mod.

[marlowe221]

Edit - Please disregard, I figured it out! For anyone else with a similar issue, the stations will use the little gold man icon on the map just like stations with vanilla faction representatives. That should help narrow it down, especially if you see a gold man icon on station that wouldn't ordinarily have one!

I have question and could use a little help with the Reputations and Professions mod.

I see in my reputations screen that I am eligible to join the Courier's guild. But I have never seen any of their missions on offer in any part of the map I have explored so far (roughly 20 sectors at this point). I have no idea what station I can go to in order to join this guild....

Does it spawn in a particular place? Is there anywhere I can go and be guaranteed to find the courier's guild? Oddly enough, the courier-type missions are some of my favorite missions in X4 so I would really like to get access to some expanded missions of this style!

Thanks!

[kuertee]

Kuertee, is it possible to transfer rep/prof and social standing data from one save to another? I'm planning to do a custom start to recover from a softlock on my previous game (stuck at a Split story incoming message), which is straightforward enough but it would mean losing the data from those two mods. At one point I remember seeing that there's a save/load option for the data in rep/prof but I wasn't sure if that was transferrable across saves, or if there's a similar feature (or need for one) with the social standing mod.

Yes, that's been suggested before and I did think of it when I first built SSaC. But because the data is derived from the physical locations of your stations, I decided not to build an export/import feature in SSaC. I'll have a look at the code and see if there's not much work making the data stick without stations (that won't exist in the new game you're importing from).

Edit - Please disregard, I figured it out! For anyone else with a similar issue, the stations will use the little gold man icon on the map just like stations with vanilla faction representatives. That should help narrow it down, especially if you see a gold man icon on station that wouldn't ordinarily have one!...Thanks!

Cool, that you found them. I had to recheck the read-me because i thought maybe i didn't explain how to get the guild missions. From the read-me:

Guild Network and missions: Up to three guild offices may be located in a station. When in the vicinity of a station with guild offices, the Guild Network becomes available. Connect to the Guild Network from the Bulletin Board System. When connected, guild missions will be offered. These missions are more varied and more galaxy-spanning than normal Generic Missions. Because guild members are subscribed to their guild's network, mission offers from their guild are directly available in the Bulletin Board System anywhere in the galaxy, without the need to connect to the Guild Network.

[kmunoz]

Kuertee, is it possible to transfer rep/prof and social standing data from one save to another? I'm planning to do a custom start to recover from a softlock on my previous game (stuck at a Split story incoming message), which is straightforward enough but it would mean losing the data from those two mods. At one point I remember seeing that there's a save/load option for the data in rep/prof but I wasn't sure if that was transferrable across saves, or if there's a similar feature (or need for one) with the social standing mod.

Yes, that's been suggested before and I did think of it when I first built SSaC. But because the data is derived from the physical locations of your stations, I decided not to build an export/import feature in SSaC. I'll have a look at the code and see if there's not much work making the data stick without stations (that won't exist in the new game you're importing from).

Yeah, that makes sense. SSaC isn't too hard to build back up from, anyway. Does the reputations mod load/save work the way I think it does? Would I be able to essentially transfer the data from one save to another?

[kuertee]

... Does the reputations mod load/save work the way I think it does? Would I be able to essentially transfer the data from one save to another? ...

Yup. That was my intended use for it and tested it as such.





snipped the rest 'coz its just an announcement of my updates - which i have more of in the next post.

Spoiler

Show

New mod, 17 Mar 2022
Attack AI tweaks v5.0.001: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/839

• All ships avoid high-risk enemies.
• L and XL ships inch forward against high-risk targets.
• L and XL ships withdraw from high-risk targets when their shields fall below 90%.

videos: youtube youtube



Updates, 17 Mar 2022
UI Extensions and HUD 5.0.001: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/552
-Bug-fix: I missed adding the Reactive Docking support into the previous 5.0.x betas.

Emergent missionsv5.0.001: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/780
-Bug-fix: Data of ships that's been removed by the game was removed from your damaged and kills log - preventing you from receiving rewards for them. Note that this occured when you do not claim the reward for a long time after the your kills. In this version, the log is kept intact regardless of how long you leave the mission open.
-Bug-fix: Raid/patrol missions: When the lead ship that you're supporting is destroyed, the mission continues.
-Bug-fix: Raid/patrol missions: When the faction goal AI cancels their own mission, your mission continues. Also, the mission NPC doesn't get removed.

[kuertee]

New mod, 17 Mar 2022
Attack AI tweaks v5.0.001: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/839

• All ships avoid high-risk enemies.
• L and XL ships inch forward against high-risk targets.
• L and XL ships withdraw from high-risk targets when their shields fall below 90%.

videos: youtube youtube



Updates, 18 Mar 2022
9 mods: UI Extensions, Alternatives to death, Emergent missions, Reputations and Professions, Social Standings and Citizenships, Crime has consequences, NPC Reactions, Modification Parts Trader, Loot Mining

Spoiler

Show

UI Extensions and HUD v5.0.001: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/552
-Bug-fix: I missed adding the Reactive Docking support into the previous 5.0.x betas.

Alternatives to death v5.0.001: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/551
-New feature: More reactive HUD. High and increasing (or decreasing) damage per second (DPS) will be show on the HUD next to the countdown.
-New feature: Less destructive clones: Clones retain their relationships. In previous versions, new clones reset their relationships. Note that clones also retain Reputations (from my other mod, Reputations and Professions) and Social Standings (from my other mod, Social Standings and Citizenships). You can disable this in the Extensions Options.
-New feature: Clones are 3x more likely to be chosen when death alternative is random and it is available.
-New feature: "Teleported to safety by an employee" is 5x more likely to be chosen when death alternative is random and it is available.
-New feature: Support for Social Standings and Citizenships. When you lose properties, your Immigration Status will be recalculated.
-Bug-fix: Cloning labs are never found at player-owned stations.

Emergent missionsv5.0.001: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/780
-Bug-fix: Data of ships that's been removed by the game was removed from your damaged and kills log - preventing you from receiving rewards for them. Note that this occured when you do not claim the reward for a long time after the your kills. In this version, the log is kept intact regardless of how long you leave the mission open.
-Bug-fix: Raid/patrol missions: When the lead ship that you're supporting is destroyed, the mission continues.
-Bug-fix: Raid/patrol missions: When the faction goal AI cancels their own mission, your mission continues. Also, the mission NPC doesn't get removed.

Reputations and professions v5.0.001: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/636
-Bug-fix: Alternatives to death (ATD) support: Show factions that you have a Citizenship in the UI EVEN if you don't have a Social Standing (SS). Previous versions didn't list the faction unless you had an SS. But with ATD, player's descendants will have no SS but may have a Citizenship if their inherited properties meet the Citizenship criteria. Remember that only a poor SS prevents the player from getting Citizenship. A neutral SS allows Citizenships.
-Tweak: Alternatives to death support: new ATDs require the separate resetting of Professions and Reputations. E.g. clones do not reset their Professions, but descendants do.
-Bug-fix: Mining missions will not be offered in sectors that have sufficiently discovered mining locations.
-Tweak: Added these resources to the mining missions: ice, nividium, helium and methane. Previous versions only had the ore, silicon and hydrogen because they were copied from the base-game missions.

Social standings and citizenships v5.0.001: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/804
-Bug-fix: Calculation of Social Standings was preventing the Scoundrel SS if you had already established a Ranger SS.
-Bug-fix: Station built/destroy events were not getting identified in some cases.
-New feature: Alternatives to death (ATD) support: Allow resetting of Social Standings and recalculation of Citizenships from ATD.
-Tweak: Trades with any factions are counted at player-owned stations. Previously, only factions that have stations in the sector (i.e. a contesting faction) are counted. These trades do not count to the player's stats UNTIL that faction establishes a presence (i.e. as a contesting faction) in the sector.
-Tweak: Professions and Reputations (RAP) support: Only Defender Reputation, from RAP, actions are counted towards the Ranger SS. Previously Vigilante and Mercenary actions were counted also.

Crime has consequences v5.0.001: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/566
-Tweak: Player criminal record is now listed in date descending order.
-Bug-fix: An illegal scan crime will be charged by the faction you revealed rather than by their cover faction - if the scan was successful.

NPC reactions https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/497
-Removed feature: SOS Missions from NPC has been removed because it's been made obsolete by the same mission in my other mod, Emergent Missions.
-Bug-fix: Bar patrons were walking out of bars. They're suppose to walk around in the bar.
-Bug-fix: The conversation counter (which determines if an NPC has rumour to share) wasn't getting reset when you decline to listen to the rumour. This resulted in every NPC that you converse with having a rumour if you never activate the rumour topic.
-New feature: Bridge crew: Your last ship will wait where you last left it UNTIL you take control of another ship at which time they'll proceed with their queued orders. I know this was a feature in the base game, but I found it broken during the 5.0 beta. Egosoft might have fixed it since. Even if they had, this feature still works as override of it. Also, the NPC will never ask for you signal to them to proceed with their orders as in Egosoft's previous version of this feature. (Note that that previous version also gave an automatic and quiet signal when you took control of another ship - like in this feature. So why add this feature? Because I know it works and don't want to chase after my ship again in the future in case Egosoft breaks their feature again. )

Modification parts trader v5.0.001: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/721
-Bug-fix: 5.0.x support: The custom trade UI was (maybe?) unresponsive.

Loot mining v5.0.001: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/511
-Tweak: The Loot Mining mission will not activate unless you have an asteroid targeted. This will prevent that mission from distracting you when your ship accidentally breaks apart an asteroid - e.g. while in shooting at enemies in combat around asteroid fields.

[Mycu]

New mod, 17 Mar 2022
Attack AI tweaks v5.0.001: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/839

Updates, 18 Mar 2022
9 mods: UI Extensions, Alternatives to death, Emergent missions, Reputations and Professions, Social Standings and Citizenships, Crime has consequences, NPC Reactions, Modification Parts Trader, Loot Mining

Thanks a lot kuertee.

[friznit1]

I've been playing with AI tweaks and I have to say I think this is probably the most revolutionary mod for large fleet and carrier ops since CODEA for X3. Ships no longer suicide constantly or speedboat into stations in a misguided attempt to get to the other side. Large ships stay at range, fighters do actual fighter cover whilst avoiding the hostile station, bombers bomb until they're out of missiles then get out, gunships circle until it's safe(ish) to engage. Combined with the Restock Subordinates mod, carriers are actually useful.

Currently this only works against hostile stations but I'd love to see it extended to XL ship targets. And if there's a way to convince bombers/gunships to priorities turret submodule targets we'd be in business (maybe Submodule Targeting Orders once it gets updated)

[vadiolive]

yep combat.behavior its some main issue on X4 to me.....

They are stupid..... and stress me out.... keep going. tis exact X4 need
(beyond perfomace that something only egosoft can work out)

[kuertee]

...Currently this only works against hostile stations but I'd love to see it extended to XL ship targets. And if there's a way to convince bombers/gunships to priorities turret submodule targets we'd be in business (maybe Submodule Targeting Orders once it gets updated)...

The new behaviour of capital ships in last 2 versions have not been limited against stations. Try it out.
Also, fighters, corvettes and frigates actually do acquire surface element targets from the base game AI. The player just doesn't have control of that. But I'm sure there's a mod for that.

[kuertee]

Here are the Bounty Hunter Professions and Guild updates to the Reputations and Professions (RAP) mod and Emergent Missions (EM) mod. Crime Has Consequences (CHC) has also been updated so that you don't get charged with crimes on targets that are sanctioned by the guild.

Bounty Hunter Profession
The Bounty Hunter Guild manages Search And Destroy missions. Unlike the missions of other professions, these missions are never offered off-station. They are offered only at the station that owns the bounty, or a defense station in the same sector that owns the bounty, or at the headquarters of the faction that owns the bounty. Read more about the Bounty Hunters Guild below.

Note: that the generic kill missions are considered Bounty Hunter missions and count towards its proficiency and have bonus rewards on early completions. But they are never listed under the Bounty Hunters Guild list in the missions offer UI. They are listed as normal generic missions below all the guild missions. To get the most of this professions, you need to install the EM mod.

Bounty Hunters Guild
Additional to security keys and bonus rewards, as other guilds offer, the Bounty Hunters Guild can act on your behalf to prevent the faction of your Search And Destroy targets from retaliating against you. These treaties are available at any Bounty Hunters Guild.





Here are all the updates, detailed:

Updates
Reputations and professions v5.0.0013: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/636

• New feature: Bounty Hunter Profession and Guild: finding and destroying your targets increase your Bounty Hunters proficiency, guilds offer immunity from retaliation of the faction of your Search And Destroy (from the Emergent Missions mod) targets. Read both the Bounty Hunters Profession and the Bounty Hunters Guild sections below.
• Bug-fix: The points in the Professions UI and Reputations UI were actually wrong. They were showing their raw number as percentages rather than actual percentages. But the ranking of professions and reputations were always correct. It was just the number shown was incorrect.
• Tweak: Bounty Hunters Guilds are found in all defense stations. (Note that shipyards and wharves are defense stations.) They are scattered randomly in other stations like other guilds.
• Tweak: Spy Guilds are found in all pirate bases. They are also scattered randomly in other stations like other guilds.

Emergent missions v5.0.0013: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/780

• New feature: Search And Destroy: Support for Reputations and Professions (RAP) mod's Bounty Hunters Profession and Guild: Immunity from retaliation by target's faction, increase limits on missions allowed per hour, Bounty Hunter activities logged, etc.
• New feature: Search And Destroy: Notes on the mission description UI on mission limits and time left before new missions are allowed.
• Bug-fix: Search And Destroy: Some missions weren't getting offered.

Crime has consequences v5.0.0013: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/566

• New feature: Support for Reputations and Professions (RAP) mod and Emergent Missions (EM) mod of sanctioned attacks on Search and Destroy targets. The factions of these targets will not charge you with crimes if immunity is arranged by RAP's Bounty Hunters Guild.
• New feature: Illegal activities can be sanctioned. For modders: set $kCHC_isSanctioned to true on the ship's ".assignedaipilot" or ".defencenpc" entities.
• Bug-fix: Impounded ships were not reporting that they've been impounded either via video comm or on the player log.

Attack AI tweaks v5.0.0013: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/839

• Bug-fix: L and XL ships was acquiring the "stop kamikaze" behaviour (stop short of the target) against ship targets.
• Bug-fix: The "stop kamikaze" behaviour was getting applied on L and XL ships that are already in attack range.
• Bug-fix: One of the flee AI types was acquiring the avoid behaviour instead of just fleeing.

Social standings and citizenships v5.0.0013, 30 Mar 2022: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/804

• Tweak: New Migrant Immigration Status determination: Ranger and Entrepreneur ratings need to be more than 10% of all Social Standing scores.
• New feature: The mod will never remove the Outer Core Access, nor the Inner Core Access IF you have them when you first install the mod.

Modification parts trader v5.0.0013: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/721

• New feature: Buy modifications part. Enable this in the Extension Options. It's disabled by default.

Alternatives to death v5.0.0013: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/551

• Bug-fix: Damage to hull and shield events to detecting countdown - instead of only on attack events.
• Bug-fix: Don't destroy ship if there more than the set destruction hull points threshold.

Auto-camera, auto-pilot, and auto-pause v5.0.0013: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/734

• Tweak: Auto-pilot: disengages earlier better.
• Tweak: Auto-pause on entering enemy sector: only when autopilot is engaged.
• Tweak: Better camera positioning of several cutscenes: e.g. NPC camera during dock/undock, fly-by camera, etc.
• Tweak: Cutscenes will react better to combat: e.g. switches to combat camera immeidately instead of after 10 seconds, lingers on destroyed ships if the camera was already on the ship, etc.

NPC reactions v5.0.0013: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/497

• Bug-fix: Taxi: Reveal the sectors the Taxi you're in traverses unknown sectors.
• Bug-fix: Bar Patrons: They were constantly moving from one part of the bar to another.
• Bug-fix: Taix: Some M-sized taxis were not detecting when you've entered their cockpit.
• Bug-fix: Bridge Crew: Do not target the enemy after interacting with the alert unless you're in control of the ship.

Friendly fire tweaks v5.0.0013: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/708

• Potential bug-fix: Just in case the previous query on what you have targeted fails, I changed it to another method. But code-wise, they produce the same result.
• New feature: A debugging tool to check if the mod works or not. Read the Debugging section below.

Loot mining v5.0.0013: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/511

• Bug-fix: The mining session was ending early, prevening the More Efficient Inventory Loot feature to work.

[DeadAirRT]

...Currently this only works against hostile stations but I'd love to see it extended to XL ship targets. And if there's a way to convince bombers/gunships to priorities turret submodule targets we'd be in business (maybe Submodule Targeting Orders once it gets updated)...

The new behaviour of capital ships in last 2 versions have not been limited against stations. Try it out.
Also, fighters, corvettes and frigates actually do acquire surface element targets from the base game AI. The player just doesn't have control of that. But I'm sure there's a mod for that.

I can take a look into this.

[Realspace]

Hi!
I wanted to ask you about an AI implementation I'd like to add to my mod that makes ships have real inertia and no top speed.

The AI seems to behave decently, still I'd like to implement the dog fighting a bit more in a simple way. I thought that commanding the AI to match player's speed or other opponent's speed would make the trick (maybe it already does but I don't know?). Or just keeping a lower top speed when attacking, something like that.

Can you suggest something very simple? I've no idea how to mod the AI, never did in X3 either

Thank you!

[kuertee]

... I wanted to ask you about an AI implementation I'd like to add to my mod that makes ships have real inertia and no top speed. ... The AI seems to behave decently, still I'd like to implement the dog fighting a bit more in a simple way. I thought that commanding the AI to match player's speed or other opponent's speed would make the trick (maybe it already does but I don't know?). Or just keeping a lower top speed when attacking, something like that...Can you suggest something very simple? I've no idea how to mod the AI, never did in X3 either ...Thank you!

hey realspace!

I believe that the actual actions performed by the ship when they actually attack (i.e. approach their target and fire weapons at their target) are handled in the EXE of the game.
all we can do as modders are: tell the ship were to go - i.e. move.
even the various attack orders in the ai files that we can mod only gives the ships a position to move to (i.e. their target is a position to move to). of course, target selection is moddable - but that's not really an attack action.

the only way i can imagine how inertia can be simulated is to make the ship fly past their target while enforcing travel mod.
I don't know how to force travel mode. it's probably a flag that can be set.
they'll fire their weapons when they get close to their given target IF the EXE triggers their weapons to fire.
HOWEVER, if that ship is hit by incoming fire, that fake inertia is broken as the ship's travel mode (if it was enabled) will disengage.
i don't even know if any of the above is feasible. the ship will at least be flying with its nose forward - rather than being able to pivot as they travel one direction, which breaks the illusion of inertia.

[Realspace]

Thank you for the quick answer!
I managed inertia at physics's level for all ships so it is already a thing for NPC too in my mod. All ships actually have a lot of momentum, regardless, except autopilot does its tricks (at least for player's ship) and teleports you when engaged. This is actually useful to avoid too wasted time.

My "issue" was to give the AI some more hint to manage the existing inertia introduced by my mod and avoid the high speeds in fighting, like not going too fast when attacking, not shooting when too far away, etc.

As for now, the ai seems to work decently, I tried many dog fights that are ok. They defend and are dangerous.
Of course I also had to increase gun's range otherwise fight is impossible. Still as it is now, you fight "from the distance" instead of kind of dog fighting

[kuertee]

...My "issue" was to give the AI some more hint to manage the existing inertia introduced by my mod and avoid the high speeds in fighting, like not going too fast when attacking, not shooting when too far away, etc....As for now, the ai seems to work decently, I tried many dog fights that are ok. They defend and are dangerous. Of course I also had to increase gun's range otherwise fight is impossible. Still as it is now, you fight "from the distance" instead of kind of dog fighting

excellent! good that the ai can adjust to the new speed.

as for attack speeds, you can add a move order to a position just before the target. that would slow them down.
i use that method in my attack ai tweaks mod to stop capital ships from ramming station targets.
also with that extra move order, the ship reevaluates their actions instead of relying on possible old data from before that "stop short of target" move.