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

[Falcrack]

Could someone fill me in on some of the specifics of the war scenario in XRM for AP? Specifically:

1. How are reinforcements handled? Are amounts of reinforcements based in any way on amount of territory held, factories in sectors, economy, etc?

2. Will military ships purchase and use supplies from the player, such as shields, missiles, and weapons, or will all military ships have such things scripted onto them from the start, negating any chance for war profiteering?

3. Can the war expand beyond the original 6 war sectors?

4. Can sector ownership actually change hands? If so, will the change of ownership actually be reflected in the name of the sector owner on the universe map?

5. Will there be a frontline, where the war and fighting takes place only on the borders between the two factions, or will it be like in AP currently, where random fighters pop up well beyond enemy lines?

I considered making a new topic for this, but figured some mods might not be too happy with me for creating a separate XRM thread.

[Falcrack]

Sorry, double post

[karabAs]

Hi Paul,

I'm getting ReadText-17:81002 error in my game. What is that ship SS_SH_KIL_LOW with # 553? M1?

[paulwheeler]

WW2 was probably the first and last cool war.

No doubt that's why we return to it for inspiration.

Hmm... I don't see how something that lead to the deaths of millions could ever be called "cool"...

[paulwheeler]

Hi Paul,

I'm getting ReadText-17:81002 error in my game. What is that ship SS_SH_KIL_LOW with # 553? M1?

That is a entry for compatibility with the KOG mod. Its not spawned by anything in the xrm, and since its race is set to "0" no scripts should spawn it either.

[Nick 031287]

you do Realise that an actuall space battle would span out for 100s of Miles? maybe even a 1000. im speaking of Realism here.

Paul just told you the game's engine limits projectiles to 10km. Realism isn't going to happen, at least not to the degree you're asking for.

Since realism is out of the question, the only thing left is fun. Turning every capital ship weapon in the game into a Gauss Cannon is the opposite of fun.

Sure, it might be entertaining for awhile, but ship balance and variety would be thrown out the window and most players would quickly tire of every capital ship fight playing out in the same exact way.

i know but im just stating a point to the guy refering to get up close as possible with slow velocity turrets lol

but with turrets with a slow turn rate will be unable to hit at fighters, an im not suggesting 100000 ms speeds, but Reasonable to hit ships easily once targeted so it may try take a shot off at a fighter but will most likley miss as it will not be able to keep tracking it while continuing to fire.

[A5PECT]

WW2 was probably the first and last cool war.

No doubt that's why we return to it for inspiration.

Hmm... I don't see how something that lead to the deaths of millions could ever be called "cool"...

I guess it would be more considerate to call it "the first, only, and most well-documented source of information on modern, large-scale military combat that can be used as a point of reference for hypothesizing the nature of armed conflict in the future."

Doesn't quite roll off the tongue, though.

but with turrets with a slow turn rate will be unable to hit at fighters, an im not suggesting 100000 ms speeds, but Reasonable to hit ships easily once targeted so it may try take a shot off at a fighter but will most likley miss as it will not be able to keep tracking it while continuing to fire.

This actually describes capital ship weapons in Reunion's CMOD4. Except back then, we didn't have frigates and heavy corvettes. If projectile speeds were turned back up on capital ship weaponry then those two ship classes would lose their speed advantage against larger capital ships, which is important to maintaining their usefulness in heavy combat.

[Nick 031287]

question, is it safe for me to remove the cockpit mod an replace with the one without the window tint?

p.s. how comes you not on steam tonight Klohunt3r?

[A5PECT]

how comes you not on steam tonight Klohunt3r?

Class.

[paulwheeler]

Could someone fill me in on some of the specifics of the war scenario in XRM for AP? Specifically:

1. How are reinforcements handled? Are amounts of reinforcements based in any way on amount of territory held, factories in sectors, economy, etc?

2. Will military ships purchase and use supplies from the player, such as shields, missiles, and weapons, or will all military ships have such things scripted onto them from the start, negating any chance for war profiteering?

3. Can the war expand beyond the original 6 war sectors?

4. Can sector ownership actually change hands? If so, will the change of ownership actually be reflected in the name of the sector owner on the universe map?

5. Will there be a frontline, where the war and fighting takes place only on the borders between the two factions, or will it be like in AP currently, where random fighters pop up well beyond enemy lines?

I considered making a new topic for this, but figured some mods might not be too happy with me for creating a separate XRM thread.

1. Reinforcements are handled by respawn times in jobs. I've deliberately kept things simple so as to save CPU cycles. Race response ships also exist to provide reinforcements.

2. X3 is simply not setup for that. There is no way the number of factories in the game can support the number of ships that exist, so everything is spawned with the ship.

3. Yes. The terrans will keep going until they destroy all argon stations in the sectors south of heretics end.

4. Sector take over is not facilitated at the moment. You can use one of the sto scripts available though.

5. The front line is essentially where the main terran command ship is and the bulk of the terran force. It is reported through the race military intelligence networks. However, Terran and argon forces will jump behind enemy lines to distract any race responce.

[paulwheeler]

question, is it safe for me to remove the cockpit mod an replace with the one without the window tint?

Yes.

[karabAs]

Hi Paul,

I'm getting ReadText-17:81002 error in my game. What is that ship SS_SH_KIL_LOW with # 553? M1?

That is a entry for compatibility with the KOG mod. Its not spawned by anything in the xrm, and since its race is set to "0" no scripts should spawn it either.

Thank you.

[nap_rz]

btw ATF Command on Forseti, any reason why capital ships can't dock there? what's the point of it selling jumpdrive if 1/2 the number of customers (M7, M2, M1) can't dock there anyway? same with Saturn research station that has trader MK3 other than that remote HQ... I'd rather go to PTNI HQ now...

Note: Applies to XRM:AP only.

You don't need to dock at that specific station in order to purchase it. If you dock the larger ship to the flight school in ATF Forseti and select the trade menu, and then select your ship from the upgrade menu, you should be able to purchase the jump drive from there.

The same applies in Saturn too, except you'd dock to the shipyard instead.

Easy.

Cheers,
M.

so wares can be transported between stations now? cool, then why do we still need to have TS now? thanks btw... to I'm going saturn then...

now I hope Paul can quickly integrate the new USC M2 from expnobody it would be great and I can just start over as a goner, slightly mad and revengeful goner I mean


edit :

can I uninstall Immersive Environment and just continue with my saved game?

[Gemini24]

Curious if anyone has tried using XSP ships with this yet?

Ive tried a couple, and while i can get them to work, ive run into an issue where they seem to cause docking capability to change. Main problem ive noticed is that i cant get fighters to dock with carriers or even a lot of different stations.

Should i just add the ships manually as XSP compatibility isnt intended or...?


Edit: Nevermind, just manually added it, though i cant seem to get the blasted docking to work on the carrier i added, but w.e lol

[deca.death]

On another subject, I've isolated a Xenon Z so I can board it but boarding pods seem to have ridiculously high priority for the anti-missile script (MDMK2). I jumped in a Pteranodon and fired the boarding pods from the same axis and the Xenon Z decided the pods were a bigger threat to it that the 24 gauss cannons shredding it's shields.

Hmm, yes I thought the same way myself /pods being prioritized but supposedly, I was wrong. Here is my conversation with script authors, both of them, smart turrets and MD mk2:

On XRM Boarding: Pods been shot ..? /SMART
On XRM Boarding: Pods been shot ..? /MD Mk2

As deca.death was saying a few pages ago, it's hard to think of any way to get boarding pods through given that they're the #1 priority and when launched every turret will stop what it's doing and focus on the pods.

As I was saying, it certainly seems that way but turret seems to divide attention between all missiles in range. I suppose swarm missiles whirling around ship are too fast for turret logic to pick up, so it attacks what it can: only missiles that are slow and have linear distant moving (easy to follow) in range - that is your(or mine :) pods.

EDIT: Interesting, later we realized that enabling smart turrets on NPC ships actually improving you chances of pods get thru, because they don't put pods on top of shoot list like MD Mk2. I also increased speed of boarding pods by 33% via Xeditor2, It's easier now, not easy, but easier.

Technique is simple. I just approach on same side as my cobra, 5km away (in my H.hydra or U.Object) and when pods are launched (20km away) I saturate same side with wasps or polters. Chances vary on different ships but mostly with several reloads I can force the pods thru. For tough targets I send in 5 pikes with 50-70% wasp launch chance to arrive just before pods, blasting missiles. I's not foolproof (yesterday I just gave up on privateer Tiger, damn those PALCs to oblivion : ), but it mostly works. I have nice ship collection.

I could try up close, but I don't have any hull packs installed so without a working 'attack shields' command it's going to be very difficult to keep shields below 5% (incidentally, is that an XRM change? I'm sure it used to be 10%) without also blowing the ship to Kindgom come and Cycrow's improved boarding script doesn't recognize my boarding ship as being capable of boarding, so I'll also have to launch the marines through the menu.

Yep, lot of problems for prospective boarder, but I believe shield percentage is vanilla thing. 5% for M2, 10% for M6. Or something like that. You don't need hull packs to get close though, this game will make you very creative about your boarding techniques, here is one;
Novaldemar's Troll guide to boarding - XRM

And here is other, mine. I need to elaborate and write down my current experiences /I'm even thinking of writing special XRM boarding guide but this is the core;
XRM boarding: Flailstorm

The Z 'only' has Dark Matter Beams and Quantum Shockwave Cannons installed so at least the refire isn't that great and if I can get close enough it only had to miss once.

Beam is deadly. It doesn't need to hit, your pods will enter beam by themselves. I had tremendous problems with Ion cannon armed ray, that ship shots down pods with uncanny precision. I don't even want to start with PALC problems :) but PRG is also podproof. Classical AA weaponry (flak, CFA) will shoot at least one of your pods on 19 out of 20 cases too ;) Drones, swarm missiles and all possible distractions help only partially, if at all. XRM boarding is hobby for very patient /persistent people :)

What ship do you currently use as your boarding ship deca.death? I'm wondering if I should buy a Carrack for the attempt or just take the reliable Brigantine instead.

Brigantine is awesome ship, lean, mean and maneuverable + gauss cannons = epic win (I've stolen one from hostile territory without loosing rep recently, it was a hell of a venture) but for boarding? I wasn't aware that it could launch boarding pods, same goes for Pteranodon. You probably using some kind of mod, right? Carrack is certainly interesting choice. Still was unable to get my hands on one /I'm tying in keeping my pirate rep on at least neutral basis. My hunting grounds are in their territory, so that my satellites can live longer.

But to answer you question, I'm using good old and reliable Cobra for launching pods, I bring in griffon, he tows my distraction team of 5 wasp armed pikes, and my main attack and control shield vessel is either H.Hydra (IPG has shield stripping power of PPC :) or U.Object, it's an ultimate shield suppress vessel although liiiitle hard to acquire ;)


EDITED: links, typos, added few things

[Nick 031287]

question, is it safe for me to remove the cockpit mod an replace with the one without the window tint?

Yes.

thanks the window tint keeps flickering on corvette cockpit and its annoying me.

question for everyone, my corvette left and right turrets can take 1 laser, but i dunno what be best, phased repeater, concussion impulse or mass driver? which one you think be best for it

[deca.death]

question for everyone, my corvette left and right turrets can take 1 laser, but i dunno what be best, phased repeater, concussion impulse or mass driver? which one you think be best for it

What vette? CIG is for big targets and rest is for small.

[Nick 031287]

question for everyone, my corvette left and right turrets can take 1 laser, but i dunno what be best, phased repeater, concussion impulse or mass driver? which one you think be best for it

What vette? CIG is for big targets and rest is for small.

well maybe phased repeater gun then? something fast that can hit small fighters?

[NOValdemar]

Paul,

I dont want to put ideas up on your plate to extend your work but wouldnt it be rather simple in theory to add missions to supply weapons or shields to an NCP in the same way that there are missions currently to supply energy cells or bofu? That way the player could technically pay as a profiteer and it would give pirates who cant sell wares a nice place to off load items!

[joelR]

Paul,

I dont want to put ideas up on your plate to extend your work but wouldnt it be rather simple in theory to add missions to supply weapons or shields to an NCP in the same way that there are missions currently to supply energy cells or bofu? That way the player could technically pay as a profiteer and it would give pirates who cant sell wares a nice place to off load items!

This is actually a brilliant idea. It makes perfect sense in the XRM universe as well.
It doesnt even need to be pirates. Just a random mission asking for 25 200mj shields or something. You get rep and credits.

Its this sort of gameplay idea that makes the hub plot so enjoyable for me. It gives one another reason to build up an empire.