[MOD] [TC/AP] X3 Rebalance Mod (XRM) - Total conversion - v1.30d (02.12.13)

[paulwheeler]

Help needed: Maintenance Pods - what they for and how to use them?

Thanks.

Maintenance Pods are for repairing your damaged ships.

- Buy one

- Equip the four Quantum Pulse Repair Lasers into the weapon slots

- Get some Quantum Tubes for ammo

- Fire at a damaged ship

[paulwheeler]

Does XRM have OOS combat reballance (required to make OWP not useless in OOS) and missile safety (required to make NPC missiles not suicidal) included? if not then do they work with XRM?

It does not have either included and both should work.

[Kadatherion]

Ships spawned via jobs use CWP to equip lasers. There is a degree of randomness about it so you will see some ships with less than top loadouts. I will be pushing the priorities up a little in the next release so you should see the big guns a bit more often.

The "install default wares" command from the SE does not work correctly with XRM. This was necessary to get all the new weapons into the game and racialise loadouts. This is generally not the preferred method of spawning weapons in scripts anyway.

For a script to spawn a decent set of weapons, it should ideally call CWP. I believe IR already does this. It might be worth checking if running IR:CE, that you have not overwritten the XRM CWP, as I think IR:CE also comes with CWP, but it will be for vanilla not XRM. If in doubt, just copy all the files from the "t" and "scripts" folder in the XRM part 2 download into the correct folders in your TC install. This should overwrite any CWP stuff added by IR:CE.

I am using PG and MBRR in my current game and they seem to have no trouble spawning decent weapons in their ships.

Ah I see, that's the reason then. I'm not using IR:CE, nor anything that could have overwrote CWP, and the jobs Boron ships are relatively fine (though as said not really smart in assigning weapons), the issue is mainly with script spawned ones. As my race invasions plugin is really simple it was not meant to call for CWP, and the Boron seem to have drawn the short straw (while the split are wicked... well, that's even kinda lore-friendly ^^).

Thanks for the info, I'll look into CWP to see if I can change that plugin so it calls for it when equipping its ships... and should I fail, I can always switch to IR and forget about it

[paulwheeler]

One of the discoveries I made about vanilla while creating the XRM is that there are quite a lot of weapon subtypes that are disabled for spawning - most notably (and worryingly) all the anti-fighter subtypes. Thats the reason that you never see flak or cluster flak in spawn in a jobs ship in a vanilla game. By just using the install default wares command, even in vanilla you are severely limiting the loadouts of ships. CWP is essential really, even in a vanilla game.

[surferx]

Yes the prices are a lot more in line with the economy now. The only part of the game that seems too easy is the repair laser. I bought a 60% hull mako for 90,000 (a steal) but then restored it in a few seconds to 100% at no cost. That's one of the things I liked about X-tended; no repair laser, unless your playing in easy mode.

Ive always felt that repair lasers should consume some sort of ammo. Like the quantum repair lasers do. The only script that I know that comes close to making repairs feel less cheatish is CODEA.

Help needed: Maintenance Pods - what they for and how to use them?

Thanks.

Maintenance Pods are for repairing your damaged ships.

- Buy one

- Equip the four Quantum Pulse Repair Lasers into the weapon slots

- Get some Quantum Tubes for ammo

- Fire at a damaged ship

An alternative to the spacesuit repair laser.
I'm using the repair laser in my game; but it still feels like a cheat. So is removing the spacesuit r/l up for discussion?

[paulwheeler]

I'm using the repair laser in my game; but it still feels like a cheat. So is removing the spacesuit r/l up for discussion?

Perhaps seriously nerfing it...

Not for the next update (in a few hours), but perhaps the one after.

[JrK]

Please don't nerf that thing. It already takes a lot of time to repair a lowly M4. You need something to fix your early weak ships.

[blspblackdeath]

Please don't.
It is no cheating, because it needs so much time to repair a huge ship.
And for the beginning its a good method to get money by repairing bailed ships. It would take a big opportunity from the game.

I mean if it feels like cheating, DON'T USE THE REPAIRLASER!!!

[omega1953]

yes every thing I looked for the hot key setup script from the original download and as far as I could tell it wasn't in there, though I am using the spk version and haven't check the manual version yet to see if they have the same number of scripts. I don't know a whole lot about scripts I am a graphics design person so could easily missed it. The only reason i think its missing is cause i previously used srm and the srm shipyard pack had a script for adding and activating the OWP I believe they were "plugin.XTra.owp.activate.xml" and "setup.XTra.scripts.xml" these scrips are not present and any that i looked at in game didn't appear to add anything but the par hot key, but like i said could easily have missed it.

Edit: Those scripts are missing from the spk version

And thanks for your help this is a great mod

[surferx]

Please don't nerf that thing. It already takes a lot of time to repair a lowly M4. You need something to fix your early weak ships.

Seriously? It takes maybe one to two minutes.

Please don't.
It is no cheating, because it needs so much time to repair a huge ship.
And for the beginning its a good method to get money by repairing bailed ships. It would take a big opportunity from the game.

I mean if it feels like cheating, DON'T USE THE REPAIRLASER!!!

If not a cheat then the repair laser is a crutch. The same argument could be made for needing a vanilla (M sized and low cost) jump drive. You would stick one in any bailed ship and warp it back to a SY to sale- easy money.
But a XL sized and more expensive JD makes you think, adapt and improvise.
If you have a huge ship you surely have enough credit to afford Jdrives and those Quantum Pulse Repair Lasers in a maintenance Pod.
Paul has gone a long way in removing the "easy button" from the game. At least nerfing the space suit r/l would be a step in that direction.
Think, adapt and improvise. The game becomes more fun, accomplishments more rewarding.

[JrK]

Seriously? It takes maybe one to two minutes.

That's a lot of time if all you are doing is pressing the mouse button.

If not a cheat then the repair laser is a crutch. The same argument could be made for needing a vanilla (M sized and low cost) jump drive. You would stick one in any bailed ship and warp it back to a SY to sale- easy money. But a XL sized and more expensive JD makes you think, adapt and improvise.

Think, adapt and improvise. The game becomes more fun, accomplishments more rewarding.

The analogy is fallacious, and you'll notice that because I agree with you on the JD. The JD in vanilla is only affordable for those who already got their cash flow started. I'm talking about the first few hours where you are struggling getting 10.000 creds for the precious first upgrades. If you get in a fight you should be able to repair your only ship without spending more than a few minutes on it.

I'll improvise if you tell me a way to repair my only ship when i have less than 50.000 creds. You know, so I don't have to trudge around with <50m/s. The less time we spend on repetitive tasks the better.

[blspblackdeath]

I like the part when I go up in the Spacesuit and repair some ships.
It would make the spacesuit needless and remove a very fun part of the game.
And it is not easy, because you are unprotected in the far space. Don't know how many pirate ships have kiled me, while I was repairing.
IT would be a huge loss for the game and for me a gamebreaker.
And it has nothing to do with Think, adapt and improvise. Because this part would be LOST. And you would never get out of your ship.

I like the unprotected engenering out in the dark. Don't take it away from me.
Please...

[paulwheeler]

I'm certainly not going to take it away. It may be a touch too powerful at the moment, especially if you're not using a hull pack. Its much more powerful than the vanilla RL and uses less energy.

Anyway, I'm undecided at the moment.

[Halconnen]

Chaplain88: If you are still reading this, out of curiosity, what language version of the game are you using?

paul's marsdata only includes an English language mars datafile, the newest MARS download includes them for all languages.

I'm assuming that the problems you had (and that are now solved) stem from having the MARS version from before Gazz adding XRM laserfiles, and using paul's MARS data on a non-English game. The game won't be able to read the file, so it loaded defaults instead.

[paulwheeler]

UPDATE RELEASED v1.03
---------------------------------

NOTE -- If wishing to continue a v1.02 save game, please read the special notes below.




COMPONENTS THAT REQUIRE UPDATING:

XRM PART 1
XRM PART 2
HULL PACKS

Ensure you recopy all scripts and text files from Part 2.



Changelog:

Fixed - incorrectly aligned gates
Fixed - Demeter Miner rear gun not firing
Fixed - Incorrect gate ID in McCallum Relay*
Fixed - Griffon weapon loadout
Fixed - Removed blank Xenon wreckage models in Dark Space Cluster*
Fixed - incorrect owner of trading station in Pilgrims Casino
Fixed - Put special weapon subtype back onto fighter drones
Fixed - Adjusted Boron weapon subtypes to improve loadouts
Fixed - CWP priorities tweaked for better ship loadouts
Fixed - Moved all sounds and textures into Part 1 so updating in future will be even quicker
Fixed - Missing OWP hotkey script from SPK version
Fixed - PPG description

New - Two new sector links in Terran space*
Added - Sound effect for Dark Matter Beam Cannon


* These will only be available when starting a new game.





SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS IF CONTINUING A V1.02 GAME
-------------------------------------------------------------------


EDIT - IF YOU HAVE RUN THIS SCRIPT ALREADY FOR V1.03 AND HAVE JUST UPDATED TO V1.03a PLEASE RUN IT AGAIN.


There are no fixes above that require a game restart, but you won't see them all unless you restart. However, I have written a script which performs some of the universe fixes so you can benefit from them if continuing with your save.

This script rotates the incorrectly aligned gates and changes the ownership of the trading station in Pilgrims Casino.


- Update all XRM components required

- Load your save

- If not already enabled, enable the script editor (change pilot name to "Thereshallbewings")

- Open the script editor and scroll down to the following script: "temp.xrm.1.02to1.03patch".

- Hit "r" then enter twice to run the script

- The script can be deleted once the patch is complete



---NOTE--- This only needs to be done if continuing a save. A new game does not require this script to be run.

The CWP changes will only affect newly spawned ships. Existing ships will still have their current weapons until they are destroyed or the job finishes.







IF EXPERIENCING STATIONARY SHIPS WHEN ORDERED TO FOLLOW, OR IN MISSIONS

I have included the vanilla version of the "!move.follow.template" script in the Part 2 zip only, in a folder called "vanilla scripts". If required just copy this file into your scripts folder overwriting what is there.

If you are not experiencing any issues then I suggest you keep the altered version as it takes a huge load off of the game engine, giving you better performance.

[Halconnen]

Yay~!

Hm, the part 2 dat for this update is less than a megabyte in size?

Did you move more rarely-changed stuff to the part 1?

[paulwheeler]

Yay~!

Hm, the part 2 dat for this update is less than a megabyte in size?

Did you move more rarely-changed stuff to the part 1?

Yes. So hopefully the next update will just be a couple of megs download.

[Scoob]

Hi,

Thanks for the update, downloading now...

Regarding the repair laser, for me it's a great thing early game when you have a small ship as many have already said. It can give you a path to easy money when it comes to repairing bailed or 2nd hand ships to improve their value. However, when using hull-high you do need some patience... plus you could likely make more by doing a quick mission than undertaking a long repair & selling the ship!

I tend to only use the repair laser early game - late game I let my trained marines (Marine Repairs script) do the job for me. By then I have at least a TM class vessel so I can repair fighters. It takes quite a while and the Marines need to be mechanical/engineering trained to be effective, but it works well for me. They can, given LOTS of time, even repair larger ships when on board which is cool.

Also, if the repair laser makes things too easy what about the Maintennance Pod? That thing is awesome when loaded with quantum tubes! Ok, you need 2 million or so to buy one and enough money to pay for Quantum Tubes but that's a drop in the ocean vs. its benefits... How about a script so we can order several of our Maintennance Pods to repair a single ship while we SETA?

Cheers & keep up the great work all involved!

Scoob.

[Halconnen]

Ah, good.

Now I just gotta wait for the part 1 DL~.

[paz3r]

There's something wrong or missing in part 2 spk (game won't start). Manual version works fine. BTW, congrats on the release.