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

[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.

[kuertee]

I've released this update - after playing the game for about two days straight.

The most prominent update is on Attack AI Tweaks which:
(1) allows you to set in the Extension Options WHEN fighters, corvettes and frigates start their attack. i.e. when they outnumber 50% of their target's weapons and turrets.
(2) adds a right-click Interact Menu command that disables the selected ships' avoid high-risk enemies behaviour. Basically, this is an attack now command.

This will likely be the last standalone version of this mod. The next releases will be the version merged with DeadAir's AI tweaks mod.

Updates, 3 Apr 2022
Attack AI tweaks v5.0.00151: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/839

• Bug-fix: Avoid behaviour for fighter craft v fighter craft were getting skipped on low-attention ships.

v5.0.0015, 3 Apr 2022:

• New behaviour: XS (except for drones), S, and M ships attack high-risk ship targets when they outnumber 50% of their weapons and turrets. It's still 75% against high-risk stations. These two values can be set in the Extension Options.
• New behaviour: L, and XL ships do not withdraw against high-risk ship targets unless there's another L or XL ship attacker.
• New feature: Enable/Disable 'Avoid high-risk enemies' on the ship's order panel or from the right-click Interact Menu. Disabling this will allow the ships to ignore their determination of high-risk enemies and forcing them to attack.

Emergent missions v5.0.0015: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/780

• Bug-fix: Search And Destroy (SAD) missions: The limit to offers was broken - allowing an unlimited number of missions per hour.
• Bug-fix: SAD missions: Bug-fixed the notifications on the limits that appeared under the mission offers description.
• Bug-fix: SAD missions: The navigation beacons had the wrong id code of the ship. Fake id codes should only be used on ships that are undercover (i.e. pirates).

Reputations and professions v5.0.0015: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/636

• Bug-fix: UI: The values shown, including those on mouse-overs, were still incorrect - fixed now, properly, I hope.
• Bug-fix: The percentages of the professions and reputations were getting rounded down to the whole number incorrectly.
• Bug-fix: Search And Destroy (SAD) missions (from my other mod, Emergent Missions) were getting listed as trade professional/entreprenuerial missions as well as Defender/Ranger missions. This version lists them only as Defender/Ranger missions.
• Bug-fix: SAD missions: only one immunity from retaliation can be purchased from the Bounty Hunters Guild even if you have several active.
• Bug-fix: Bounty Hunter guilds were STILL not getting added to SOME defense stations.
• Bug-fix: Spy guilds were STILL not getting added to SOME pirate bases.
• Tweak: Better sorting of Reputations: by Disposition (e.g. Trusting is best, Hateful is worst) first, then by Immigration Status (Militia is best, Undocumented is worst), then by Reputation (Defender is best, Pirate is worst), then by Social Standing (Ranger is best, Traitor is worst), then by faction name.

Social standings and citizenships v5.0.0015: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/804

• Bug-fix: The percentages of Social Standing scores were getting rounded down to the whole number incorrectly.

[shovelmonkey]

I've released this update - after playing the game for about two days straight.

The most prominent update is on Attack AI Tweaks which:
(1) allows you to set in the Extension Options WHEN fighters, corvettes and frigates start their attack. i.e. when they outnumber 50% of their target's weapons and turrets.
(2) adds a right-click Interact Menu command that disables the selected ships' avoid high-risk enemies behaviour. Basically, this is an attack now command.

This will likely be the last standalone version of this mod. The next releases will be the version merged with DeadAir's AI tweaks mod.

This is some straight up impressive stuff. Been using it in my game since you released it initially, what a difference. Can't wait to see what you and DeadAir come up with combined.

Also, glad to see you found some time to actually play the game!

[tiomer]

Hi kuertee, I want to make Chinese language files for your mod, how can I do that? Can I submit it to github?

[kuertee]

This is some straight up impressive stuff. Been using it in my game since you released it initially, what a difference. Can't wait to see what you and DeadAir come up with combined. ... Also, glad to see you found some time to actually play the game!

Yeah, me too. deadair's been active in committing stuff to the repo.
My current stuff is not on there yet. So it's still best to install the stand-alone versions of the both mods.

Hi kuertee, I want to make Chinese language files for your mod, how can I do that? Can I submit it to github?

hey tiomer! yes, please, for the Chinese language files.

as soon as i made the general repo for my mods public, i realised that i have egosoft's base XML and Lua files on it. these are the files that you use the extractor tool to get at from egosoft's cat files. anyway, i had to make it private again because of their files. sorry.

the best way is to just send the files to my email at kuertee@gmail.com. i'll add them to their nexus pages as downloads when i get them. but they'll be embedded into the download files properly on the next releases of each mod.

i think the Chinese language files are 0001-l086 and 0001-l088. that's a lower-case "L" after the dash and before "086" and "088". if they exist when the game loads, they'll be selectable languages.

A note about the language files: words in parentheses are not rendered in the game. they're just notes in the language file. e.g. "<t id="301">(column header)Proficiency</t>".

thanks heaps, tiomer!

[leoriq]

awesome mods, kuertee, egosoft should hire you!

[kuertee]

awesome mods, kuertee, egosoft should hire you!

hey thanks, leoriq! i've updated the autocam mod so that the mod's cutscenes do not interrupt game cutscenes.

[kuertee]

re: 5.1 and Attack AI Tweaks:
It looks like there is only one issue with the 5.1 update:
XS, S and M ships don't acquire my behaviours when their target is near high-risk enemies.
Basically, the attackers will continue attacking their target even if they're near high-risk enemies.
Expect an update by the end of the weekend.

Updates, 8 Apr 2022
UI Extensions and HUD v5.1.0001: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/552

• Compatibility: Updated ship configuration menu with 5.1 changes.

Auto-camera, auto-pilot, and auto-pause v5.1.0001: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/734

• Bug-fix: Game cutscenes (including pilot video comms) will now stop this mod's cutscenes - allowing game cutscenes to play. 10 seconds after game cutscenes complete, this mod's cutscenes will continue.

Emergent missions v5.1.0001: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/780

• Tweak: Search And Destroy missions: mission offers limiter. In previous versions, you could take a mission near the end of that 1 hour timer and then take 3 more as soon as that time completes - seemingly allowing 4 missions for that hour. In this version, you can have only 3 missions (active and/or completed/failed) in any one hour block.
• New feature: Chinese localisation file by Tiomer. Frence localisation file by Natalshadow. Thanks, guys!

Reputations and professions v5.1.0001: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/636

• Compatibility: 5.1 compatibility for sanctioned attacks.
• Bug-fix: The Torus nor the Paranid Temple will never be a mission target/destination. (I hope my fix works. Let me know when you see either stations as mission targets/destinations.)
• New feature: Chinese localisation file. Thanks, Tiomer!

[leoriq]

Is it possible to remove black bars from autopilot view? I want to observe X4 universe in all it's glory!

[kmunoz]

Re: the DeadAir Tweaks merge. Is there any way to deactivate the crew leveling (and level requirement) changes? I strongly dislike crew leveling mods and I really don't want to end up with a fleet of 5 star pilots before I even get to the crew training part of the game. If not, would you consider putting in a toggle for Extensions Options?

[kuertee]

Is it possible to remove black bars from autopilot view? I want to observe X4 universe in all it's glory!

actually ... i don't know. i don't think so. i've not looked into it. that's just how all cutscenes play. i'll investigate

Re: the DeadAir Tweaks merge. Is there any way to deactivate the crew leveling (and level requirement) changes? I strongly dislike crew leveling mods and I really don't want to end up with a fleet of 5 star pilots before I even get to the crew training part of the game. If not, would you consider putting in a toggle for Extensions Options?

i'll check with him. but i don't think the "Increases capabilities of 1,2,3,4 star pilots" feature is crew levelling. as far as i understand it, he's upped the base capabilities of pilots. e.g. 1-star pilots have capabilities of a 2-star pilot with the mod turned on. they'll still level up based on what they do in the game. i'll check with him. regardless, his tweaks mostly change the parameters/values of various lines of code of the base game ai - rather than add new logic (like my changes). it'll be difficult to add a setting in the Extension Options to disable them.

[kmunoz]

Re: the DeadAir Tweaks merge. Is there any way to deactivate the crew leveling (and level requirement) changes? I strongly dislike crew leveling mods and I really don't want to end up with a fleet of 5 star pilots before I even get to the crew training part of the game. If not, would you consider putting in a toggle for Extensions Options?

i'll check with him. but i don't think the "Increases capabilities of 1,2,3,4 star pilots" feature is crew levelling. as far as i understand it, he's upped the base capabilities of pilots. e.g. 1-star pilots have capabilities of a 2-star pilot with the mod turned on. they'll still level up based on what they do in the game. i'll check with him. regardless, his tweaks mostly change the parameters/values of various lines of code of the base game ai - rather than add new logic (like my changes). it'll be difficult to add a setting in the Extension Options to disable them.

Slightly down the list on his readme it says that leveling speed was increased. It's unfortunate if there's no way to set a toggle for that, but everything else is so crucial that I'll live with the crew leveling speed increase just to keep the rest.

[DeadAirRT]

Re: the DeadAir Tweaks merge. Is there any way to deactivate the crew leveling (and level requirement) changes? I strongly dislike crew leveling mods and I really don't want to end up with a fleet of 5 star pilots before I even get to the crew training part of the game. If not, would you consider putting in a toggle for Extensions Options?

My bad, didn't realize you were the luckiest person in the world


edit: also, you can just delete libraries/experiences.xml

[kmunoz]

Re: the DeadAir Tweaks merge. Is there any way to deactivate the crew leveling (and level requirement) changes? I strongly dislike crew leveling mods and I really don't want to end up with a fleet of 5 star pilots before I even get to the crew training part of the game. If not, would you consider putting in a toggle for Extensions Options?

My bad, didn't realize you were the luckiest person in the world

Not really sure what I'm looking at here; and luck hasn't anything to do with it. I'm not saying I'm already leveling fast enough; I'm saying I don't want to level any faster than I do. That's largely down to the fact that I don't play the game with an expectation of high levels of automation - so things like autotrade and automine are nice but their functional unavailability for a long stretch of the game doesn't bother me.

[kuertee]

Slightly down the list on his readme it says that leveling speed was increased. It's unfortunate if there's no way to set a toggle for that, but everything else is so crucial that I'll live with the crew leveling speed increase just to keep the rest.

ahhh yeah, i missed that line.

i am the same, actually. but for spending cash on seminars - primarily as a cash-sink. also, i like the "downtime" spent in the Personnel Menu to batch-level-up staff.

edit: also, you can just delete libraries/experiences.xml

thanks, deadair!

[DeadAirRT]

Not really sure what I'm looking at here; and luck hasn't anything to do with it. I'm not saying I'm already leveling fast enough; I'm saying I don't want to level any faster than I do. That's largely down to the fact that I don't play the game with an expectation of high levels of automation - so things like autotrade and automine are nice but their functional unavailability for a long stretch of the game doesn't bother me.

X4 leveling doesn't accrue experience like you would expect, it is purely chance based. The chart above describes the different "experience categories" with their chance to level and the maximum level you can attain via that event/category. Each star is actually 3 levels and goes up to 15 as you can see.

The increased rates affect the AI and the player.

If you don't want it, delete libraries/experiences.xml but it is unlikely to become an option in the UI due to the massive amount of work it would take.