[Realspace MODS] "STARS" - "XRSGE" - "REM" - various

[Realspace]

For the joy of you dedicated testers...I've come up with the idea of making the third version of XRSGE...
I know I know..the neverending mod. Fortunally all issues are solved so this change won't introduce any bug tbat can't be corrected quickly. As for missing meshes for some users, I am using some safe meshes for background while also making them anew and "cleaner"..this is the zen version after all... hope this will solve that too..

I was unsatisfied by some aspects. If version 2 was Lite, this is the Zen version. I try to keep max compatibility with previous (almost no zones have been removed, at most displaced). But the galaxy has changed a lot. Your assets will remain, so the stations..but they could end in another ststem

I opened more the map. Each system is smaller...I considered that some systems had too many planets. Also, too much aggregation of old unique sectors. So I gave back to many old sectors an own system. F.i. Nopileous is now a system, separated from Grand Exchange and has 6 sectors too, a sun sector included.

This simple but effective re-organizing gives more space to the galaxy and probably makes factions a bit less protected, still they have systems. More systems.

After opening the map I made some changes,additions. As I am developing Frontier too, I came to the idea of playing a bit with the connections. Sectors that are managed by factions are all ok but some sectors that are abandoned can have issues like a superhighway working one way only. No dead ends of course.

Having more space between systems, and more systems, allows to 1) make connection have more sense and 2) play with secret connections among sun sectors...as it is in my X3-FL mod. 3) having space to add other sectors in future without further altering the map, so to be compatibile with saved games. The general perception is that the universe is bigger even if sectors are just a bit more.

While all new systems will be in Frontier mod, I added a few here too. I want to recreate the idea of X3 so I implemented another pirate system to the east of Argon. It will be an harsh territory with dificult transit. So on...while southern sectors, as they are in late X3, will be in Frontier (not exactly, sort of...)

@McWhopper, I'll answer you soon

[wanderer]

...
Btw, for those waiting for new systems, I made a patch for New Horizons Mod
This patch allows the mod New Horizons to work inside XRSGE galaxy
...

Well, sorry to say - not working...
The problem is your changed sector.xml. Here you changed (eg only one of the lines)

Code: Select all

	<add sel="//macros/macro[@name='Cluster_23_Sector001_macro']/connections">...

to

Code: Select all

	<add sel="//macros/macro[@name='Cluster_23_Sector002_macro']/connections">...

to set the new horizon gate not directly near yours.
But you forgott to change also the mod setup routine in 'Setup_NewHorizons_Mod.xml'.
Here in the 'NH_Setup' cue the new gates are set together:

Code: Select all

...<find_zone name="md.$ZoneC23" macro="macro.Zone003_Cluster_23_Sector001_macro"/>...

It seems to refere to the sector.xml macro definition.

After I reworked these changes (the numbers 002 back to 001) in sector.xml and zones.xml (not the positions and rotation), its now working.

One other remark: Well, we have 3 dimensions for positioning ... If you create an addon for x4rsge with new sectors, so wouldn't it be nice to have also gates/accelerator/... up or down the y axis? Meaning complete outside the 'normal' plane...

[Realspace]

It would, but unfortunally x4 map does not allow it. You can try, set a negative or positive y, it willl be ignored. Unless I am missing something. I did this extesivelly in my x3-FL mod, but 00749 bod file is much more versatile than galaxy. It accepts any coords. Galaxy does not. In this aspect, X3 is much more moddable

[ziplock815]

Since there's quite a pause in this topic, I'll refresh it with small bug report: in Brennan's Triumph Taurus and nearby sector the moon orbitong it disappears in some situations: for example when using external camera and moving it until the moon is positioned in the border/corner of the screen.

Looking forward to see Frontier mod and really hope that I don't need to start a new game since I've recently hijacked brand new Tokyo with a lot if Kukris and Gladiuses on board

For now I'm slowly moving to start a split plot and look if it works in my playthrough.

[Realspace]

Good, I will change the mesh. Happens sometimes and still have not clear why, simply copying the mesh again solves... anyway, I am close to release version 3.0, just a couple of days.

It is a much better map and looks much bigger after reworking the ststems. I am also redoing many connections to increase exploration and strategy. There is a new pirate system. Everything looks much better to me, and should also function better.

V3 should be compatibile with old saves but I can't say for sure. As told I tried to not remove zones or regions, only move. The engine generally updates these things, but I don't know what happens when they are so many.

..........................

Edit: I am redoing many backgrounds and noticed today something very off. Vanilla nebulae hit fps A LOT!
At first I thought it was bc I increased their size but tried without mod and they still make a huge difference.

Testing empty sectors, no fog, well if even high-res planets are in the scene my pc keeps 90-100fps, as soon as nebula enters the scene it is 50! This without Reshade.

The good news is that the other models I made from scratch, those you see in the background in X3 style, have a very low impact, on contrary. Funny bc these mine are a single big 8k texture while vanilla are a composite of smaller patches. Even if STARS doubles the size, they still are smaller textures. But I tested it without STARS and nothing improves. One would expect the opposite.
Seems gf memory is not so important while rendering can suffer from other causes. My card has 4gb so it'd show.

I will remove them all anyway, performance changes night and day

[Newinger]

I will remove them all anyway, performance changes night and day

Hm... I wouldn't. Nebulae are important for getting a sense of movement and scale, and hiding the fact that we are just in a skybox. Besides they look good. I can play Evochron if I want a huge universe where I stare at a skybox most of the time ...

And to be honest I am not sure I am willing again to test a new v3 of the mod anyway... It will introduce new bugs again, and again weeks of reporting and fixing.

I know that it is your mod and that noone has the right do demand anything from a mod developer. Still...

[ziplock815]

You mean nebulae in the background or fog in some areas? I agree that nebulae are important for immersion. In X3 and X-Tended and even Rebirth for example they were good. Can't say the same thing about X4 though, everything there looks.... artificial, I can't catch a feeling that I actually travel in space. However, this mod brings a lot of immersion so I think adding more X3 style into it is a good idea

[Arsaneus]

mh as he mentioned the nebulae in the background, I believe he is not referring to the volumetric fog. Hopefully.

As soon as XRSGE is "kinda" done I hope to add in more of those to achieve something like we see in Freespace 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5o8Y5ATtJM)

[Realspace]

No no, don't worry, it is just those horrible things ego put in the very backgrounds (except some nice ones that I reworked), you'll barely notice it. Or will notice for the better. I've redone nebulae even further, you'll see...

Volumetric fog on contrary is even more used now that fps gain allowed me to make it a bit stronger. Believe it or no, those background nebs were causing a lot of fps drop for no apparent reason. Volumetric fog is known to do it, but it is understandable. Those nebs not...anyway I made new ones, better looking ones. Remember to use RESHADE or increase the contrast. As example, in Black Hole Sun starting scenario, I had about 35fps average. That sector has a methane fog scenery that is quite heavy. But after removing the (ugly) background nebula, my fps went to 50. And I also made a new nebula...much better looking, for no fps drop or negligible. So it is a win win, more fps, better looking. It was worth the time..

Don't worry guys, you'll love the new version, it shines more in graphics and atmosphere compart. As for the layout, it is a different concept. More open, wider. I think you'll like it too, the galaxy looks much bigger. And allows to add other systems or sectors without altering the game. But I will continue to give support for version 2, bug fixes only.

I've already implemented some ideas that were meant for Frontier, like one directional SHways in strategic manner. Several new sun sectors with hidden gates and more Pink Friends there. There are also new systems that have the old X3 style, pirate etc. I've implemented soundtrack too, specific for those sectors in a more legacy atmosphere.

New ideas will go only in version 3 of course...I am uploading the files. Both STARS and XRSGE, since new nebulae need a new STARS mod.
I think you can continue old saves but can not guarantee everything will be in order.

I don't expect significant bugs because all those have been nailed in version 2, so plots, superHWs etc everything should work. Names are also double-checked. Of course some small bug can occour..

I've taken some time to also clean all meshes. Hopefully the (to me invisible) issue some users had will be resolved or at least just in few sectors that I can fix. I made a long work to set materials all in one cluster for any system. This should help..

Ok, here it is:

XRSGE Ultimate 3.0
https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/507

Enjoy..

MAP is hiddent at start. If you want it be all known from start, change the file mymod/md/known.map.txt into known.map.xml
Continuing an old save seems definetly possible. The map updates correctly but I except something like a gate that has to "re-allign" with new coordinates

[Arsaneus]

mh unfortunately 3.0 did not solve the issues I had with the meshes but actually made it affect even more systems

https://imgur.com/a/MtflMsd this is how Mars looks like for example. Makes me believe it didn't load stars. I already deleted and re-installed the mods again with the same result.

I do like how the universe map looks like though.

[Realspace]

This appears as a problem of the engine loading the meshes. It happens to me only when using cheat to jump. But not for the backgrounds, they always load. Planets thou can happen as in the pic if you jump in the sector. or looks like that when starting the mod without STARS.
Mars has identical meshes as other terran sectors so this really makes no sense. I will inspect further mars cluster. Mars is n position zero, while ore belt is in position...million kms from center. So this excludes the issue of too far from center. I corrected some clusters having a limit at the size, but you see it only at very big distances. And what happens is the white bubble bc out of the lighting, not that.. that looks as another thing: not loading meshes at all. Like memory leaks? Is the mod installed in documents? is the game folder protected etc. Maybe win 11 has the same issue win 7 had at start with Program folder? Just guessing..

[Arsaneus]

Would be interesting to see if Carath will have the same issues as I have with 3.0.

As for location of the extension: It's in the normal game location in the steam folder and not protected. How can I pack all that stuff into a .cat / .dat file like the other mods do? Maybe that makes a difference with Win 11? I can't reproduce the issue on my wife's Win 10 machine but all three of my Win 11 machines won't load the meshes.

[Realspace]

Packing you say..mm maybe that helps. I will do in next update, soon. Maybe it also reduces size. I did not up to now bc my mod is much bigger than others so patching is easier with loose files. But now it won't be necessary any longer.

By your report I'd say that it is definetly a win11 specific thing so maybe memory usage? Mars has quite a big texture...well other terran planets have too. Skybox too is a large one even if only a portion is used. I can think of a reason being the dds format maybe? Some large textures are in the old dds5 bc otherwise the engine discarded them in my pc. Must check

----------------------------------------------------

I've repacked both mods, STARS and XRSGE. They are in ego cat files
STARS is identical, version 3.4, no need to upgrade if you have no visual glitch

XRSGE is updated to version 3.02.
I made some corrections, gate in Black Hole Sun was in alpha instead of beta and two gates instead of accelerators. Made the layout better for south-ovest systems. Added 2 new sectors in Frontier Edge. No game changers
I forgot to set the thick border of systems back to zero, will do in next update.

[Arsaneus]

Packing it does seem to make a difference. The backgrounds and texture load now. When teleporting to Mars I can still see that orange poo I had in the previous screenshot but only for a second or so. Then it looks like this:

https://imgur.com/a/ZH71MeL - That does look much better Doesn't solve my initial issue but meh - I'll take what I can get.

[Realspace]

Is it only in Mars? Can you see what textures those are? There is a milky way, is it there? Stars? Background is made of several parts, a backbackground of stars+ star patches + milkyway. Can you spot what is causing the triangles.
Anyway, we now know is a problem of memory, of some kind. Not of corrupted meshes.

Is it only mars or asteroid belt too???
Asteroid belt is in the same cluster, same identical meshes. Since v.3.0 it is identical also in venus, mercury and earth. With identical I mean the same, not a copy

[Newinger]

When teleporting to Mars I can still see that orange poo I had in the previous screenshot but only for a second or so.

That's normal. I have that in most vanilla sectors even, because planet textures can take very long to fully load, depending on hardware and resolution.

[Arsaneus]

No, not just Mars. It is quite widespread. I'll record a few frames and analyze once I find the time.

[Realspace]

Btw people do you have a significant fps increase? I do, like +15fps average. Just for getting rid of those bg nebs. And hope you like the new ones... starting from that in Black hole sun..
Forgot to write: there is a totally new soundtrack list. Just give a try without other music mods. They'd not work anyway bc music is changed in the map.
I must take the time to write a list of all features already included in the mod that make the add of many little mods obsolete

[Arsaneus]

Asteroid Belt and Mars have the same issues.

Here's what I can see when I look at a frame. There are two meshes that don't display correctly. (I overexposed to help with the visibility)

1.) https://imgur.com/AqQPHX4 While it doesn't add anything, the mesh shape will cause issues in step 4
2.) https://imgur.com/Uo6UBeJ the Nebula BG gets added to the frame - or it should - as it doesn't shop up? (or does it? There is a lightly green haze in the BG), the mesh wireframe however is visible in the end result. Is this the milkiway? (You can see the input mesh on the right)
3.) https://imgur.com/KWaGXwx Here the stars bg gets added. This one shows up without any apparent issue (to my eyes)
4.) https://imgur.com/G39enG0 The fog gets added - it shows up but it "overlaps" with the mesh from 1.) (the wireframe matches the triangles "missing" in the fog)

[Newinger]

No time to really play, but two things I like:

1. Thanks for making archives. Extracting the zip files is much faster now.

2. The new galaxy layout is great.