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

[veronique]

I just felt I had to post here just to say a big thank you for X4RSGE. Now I had been keeping an eye on the mod, and have been using xpan and a bunch of other mods, but the vanilla game just wasn't doing it for me. I wasn't convinced with a packed galaxy with everyone treading on each others feet, all close and life made easy going from one side of the known galaxy to the other in a few quick jumps. Then I tried this mod.

Wow! How things changed, and after experimenting with several new starts I think I have gotten it right. Anyone sitting on the fence about this mod, make a copy of all your mods you are using right now and save them somewhere, then prepare yourself for something completely different on par with a galaxy that feels very similar to Elite Dangerous for sheer scale. Luckily my big thing is exploration and boy does this mod check all the boxes.

If you got any custom ships (I have several I use) you will need to adjust their physics with their counterparts in REM. You will need REM and I'll get to that in a moment or it's going to take you half an hours to pass through a system (some of them) on travel mode alone, you will need REM, the author explains this is a 3 part mod. You will need (all the ai too) REM or there's going to be problems.

So what do you need?

These are the mods you need from this page:
https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations ... ?tab=files

"STARS Background and Planets"
"XRSGE Ultimate"

Then hop over to this page:
https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations ... ?tab=files

and download "REM"

Due to the huge systems, you'll notice every 5 minutes or so the game spawns Xenon in front of you, so finally to get past this go to this page:
https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/333

download "Encounters"

Encounters changes the Xenon spawns into something a bit more immersive, read the info, but it will get rid of the game engine code spawning Xenons leaving them in their home systems where they belong
Most of you other fav mods will work, the only mods that will be affected are other mods adding new systems. "Horizons" is meant to be compatible but you won't really need it trust me.
If you like to start Argon (which I do) my advice is a custom game start in Black Hole Sun: Planet Styx. Reason behind this is it will be familiar with access to a wharf and many stations.
Start how you like, I usually up my faction relations to 10 with Argon (I don't want to cheat too much, yet again, this mod completely tames even the cheat engine. So you can dock and buy ships, if you don't use REM (It's really great once you get used to it and like I mentioned the ai will need it too) prepare for something completely different and expansive, the work that has gone into this imho underrated mod oozes love and care, you gotta think out of the box and not expect things handed to you and it's an absolute must for explorers out there.

If you use the cheat mod I absolutely recommend opening up all the systems, it will blow you away to actually see the glorious and beautiful map. You are now in a "real" galaxy, no more faking it.

I tip my hat to the author, this is something I was always trying to strive towards, adding xpan, horizons et al, but this is the real deal.

Issues I noticed:

There's a couple of issues to take into consideration, with REM the ai can have problems docking, don't get me wrong, they will eventually dock, but they try and Leroy Jenkins it and if they miss they will be travelling away from the station backwards while furiously attempting to boost to a halt. This is correct, but is probably going to cost precious time that will probably affect the market.

Market crashing? Could be something other than the ai, I don't know I had the markets crash twice in a 6 hours period.

REM is going to take some getting used to, you can pretty quickly take into account the new physics for travel, whereas a small Vanguard Scout could probably only travel at 600 m/s now the top speed is 6000, boost on top and you'll be going faster and travel mod tops out somewhere between 12k m/s - 14k m/s and this is with flight assist on, so here's a tip.

When you get about 2000km out shut down the engines, Flight assist on. At about 300km if your still going too fast, turn the ship 180 and BOOST baby!!!! You are going to need to stop and gently coast into the docking bay.

That's about it, a BIG BIG thank you to Realspace I hope to see more but as it stands, this has so far been an amazing experience.

[TheRealBix]

a bit confused on what to download and how to install only STARS.

do I download these two + the reshade ini (i know how to do reshade)

https://imgur.com/a/jWDqTEJ

if so, do I put stars + stars_patch in x4/extensions or do I overwrite stars_patch with stars?

Same confusion for me. The mod versions Realspace recommends are 3.01 and 3.11 patch. they are however not available anymore.

I'm trying right now to use the latest 3.4 version tho I can't find any graphical difference yet...

[Moonrat]

Due to the huge systems, you'll notice every 5 minutes or so the game spawns Xenon in front of you, so finally to get past this go to this page:
https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/333

download "Encounters"

Encounters change the Xenon spawns into something a bit more immersive, read the info, but it will get rid of the game engine code spawning Xenons leaving them in their home systems where they belong

Having briefly chatted with Realspace on "Encounters" and now swelling with pride when others mention my humble mod as "a go to" ... I'm always keen to enhance the "Encounters" experience where I can for other major mods and accommodate them within reason. Encounter frequencies are specifcally set up for vanilla and altho' I have tried to adjust this sensibly for higher-speed ships I'm worried that perhaps the encounter frequencies & object variabilities might not be what it should be for those who use the "Realspace Engines Mod" and "X4RSGE - Realspace Galaxy Expansion". But this all really depends on what the consensus is for players using these mods as everyone will have a personal preference. In true Volkswagon tradition , it would in theory be quite easy for "Encounters" to recognise when the aforementioned mods are in-play and change its' behavior. I would therefore be grateful for feed backup on the Encounters page on what you think of the current frequencies of both ships and objects (using the Realspace mods) giving both typical frequencies, your ship speed and how far out from the sector center you are (approximately). For example, does space needs to be emptier (may be)? That's all folks

NOTE : Apologies for temporarily hi-jacking the thread and completely shameless plug for my mod... please post all stuff on this thread not here.

[TomRobinson]

a bit confused on what to download and how to install only STARS.

do I download these two + the reshade ini (i know how to do reshade)

https://imgur.com/a/jWDqTEJ

if so, do I put stars + stars_patch in x4/extensions or do I overwrite stars_patch with stars?

Same confusion for me. The mod versions Realspace recommends are 3.01 and 3.11 patch. they are however not available anymore.

I'm trying right now to use the latest 3.4 version tho I can't find any graphical difference yet...

I too would like to know this info please. Does anyone have any ideas?

[Glanzschurke442]

i Instaled STARS and X4RSGE normal and starded the mod...but in all sectors and systems are huge Shader Bugs. Everywea and i cant finde a solution.
please can you look whats the problem is...i realy wants to play this great mod.
i can show you the Problem on Discord...but please Help me

ps: I deinstaled all mods and deleted the files in my game foulder, and nothing changed.

ps: i am a german, sorry for the grammar and spelling.

[https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ ... rbox=false][/img]
[https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ ... rbox=false][/img]
[https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ ... rbox=false][/img]
[https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ ... rbox=false][/img]
[https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ ... rbox=false][/img]

[Realspace]

I've been in holiday from modding for a while I was getting exhausted and stopped playing too...

First of all I want to thank all you guys expressing appreciation for my work, especially Veronique who wrote a true review of the mod and I think really caught and expressed the view that is behind it and how it radically changes the game (and so the big issues I had to overcome).

Also thanks for all the bug reports that I hope are limited to small things. Btw I corrected the gate in Oum's memorial and added nocollision to the broken moon what should avoid any entering atmosphere...boom! , will be in next update
What concerns me more now is the damn Split's plot. I need more testing by you guys. I can try to rewrite the script in a less intrusive way since after last update all original sectors used for the Split plot are back to vanilla position so I don't need to change that part in mission md.

As for STARS, if not using XRSGE, you can download latest version but will miss some rearrangement of planets I made in the old one specifically for vanilla galaxy. Not a big deal, just use the latest

Moonrat, you can write here as you wish, always welcome. Encounters mod is very important to make the large sectors' encounters make sense. As Veronique wrote I'd consider it mandatory, together with Better Target Monitor mod. Also Kuertee's and DeadAir's ai scripts mod helps quite a bit, I think. I still did not test without but in my game some stupidity by npc that others report is very limited.

Edit: I've added the OPENMAP as separate mod, in the optional files. This opens the entire map at start without the need to use any cheat

[veronique]

The sense of isolation is real. One encounter was traveling into the Frontier Edge sector, I had my pilot fly the ship so I could just watch. We entered a system (can't remember which in Belt of Aguilar) and the ai pilot set us in travel mode and we were like flying through space for what seemed an age, then you could see the gate a far off spot, and as we got nearer and nearer by the gate was a lonely station, isolated in the big black. We docked at the station and it was the first friendly faces we had seen for a couple of hours. That journey across that system took us like forever.

You captured the feeling of insignificance, isolation and forcing the player to actually think ahead. There's a system in the Frontier Edge section that has a one way SH. I had to send one of my pathfinders the long way round to enter the "Northern" part of this sector, but yes it was just a one way SH not sure if that was a bug? I was planning on making these sectors my home. Having said all that I am the sort of person that like to role play, I set up a trader to go fetch some needed hull parts for my builds. So I just hop onboard and let them do their job while I watch or multitask on the map, take a trip and lol at the attempts to dock.

But it is what it is, for someone that just plugs and plays in a RP style, it's great and I don't really care too much about the vanilla quests. I hate that HQ
Have you thought about a custom quest to actually take this new galaxy into consideration? I would be up for that, food for thought.

Thanks again.

[ziplock815]

Glad you've returned. It's been a while. Started to think you've abandoned the mod. Such a relief you haven't
Yes, split plot doesn't work. Maybe it's because the cutscene isn't activated for some reason - the cutscene where split ship with argon slaves appears through the gate leading to split territories when you find one.
As for the galaxy, I agree with veronique. The sense of isolation and exploration are great.
Talking about immersion - maybe you could take a look to my "Galaxy News System" request. It seems nobody really cares, but maybe there are chances you could add something like that in the mod, X-tended style. Large immersion boost is guaranteed.
I also like the nebulae and some systems are just dark places which is nice, and I've noticed that the nebulae are mostly blue, green, red/pink, but mostly blue (argon,split sectors etc looks like the same most of the time). Maybe you could add some more variety to the nebulae, somewhere vivid orange like DeVries, somewhere purple and so on?
I know some systems are situated close to each other in the galaxy (Herron's Nebula and Argon prime for example) so there's a point to make them similar, but some distant systems could look more different and unusual - according to X-Universe lore jumpgate could connect different regions that could be very distant to each other, maybe even in another galaxy, so more variety to systems could be quite interesting to see

[Realspace]

XRSGE Ultimate VERSION 3.2 is uploaded
https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/507/
Bug fixes + an entire new system, Omicron C
Some gates have been changed for the new system to fit
STARS needs to be updated too (version 3.4.2) if you want the new nebula in Omicron C otherwise it will use the old one, no big deal

I've added an optional file for MAP WITHOUT SYSTEM'S BORDERS. Default has borders. Simply overwrite the ext_02.cat from the optional file inside the mod
For those who know how to manage the files, you can even unzip the ext_02.cat and then delete it. It contains the libraries folder. There you can edit params and regions at wish

BTW...frontier un-occupied systems as Omicron A and C or Sigma Tau can have missing connections. As explained in the descriptions, they may have collapsed due to lack of management or intentionally destroyed as in Omicron A.
It is intentional, these systems are rough ones, but there are no dead ends. If the way back lacks you can be sure there is another hidden gate etc leading somewhere else

[veronique]

The broken routing intentional or not is a real deal breaker. You can come from Black Hole Sun, down to Belt of Aguilar and into Frontier Edge from the "South". But you can only access 3 sectors as the only SH linking "North" and "South" is a lone SH with no way back up "North". To get to the top sectors you have to go all the way round to Antigone space. I spent several hours scouring that system for another route up, scanned it, had 5 pathfinders explore it including myself. It would very much be appreciated if this SH connection was "fixed" I really don't see any need whatsoever to do this, it doesn't make any sense, SH's should have both routes that's why I thought it was either a bug, you had forgot, or the mod just wasn't loading.

My plan was to occupy Frontier Edge, so are you saying there IS a way back?

EDIT: Absolutely loving Omicron C. You have made a fantastic set of systems here that link to almost everything most people would really like placement wise. All the major sectors, Black Hole Sun, Antigone, Frontier Edge and Omicron B which is a stepping stone to Terran sectors. Just been chilling with my captain taking in the scenery stopped off at the HAT Spacefuel factory and employed an engineer, now we're off to the pirate base to acquaint ourselves

Also the borderless systems are really immersive, fantastic job on that. Anyone on the fence, just save your complete extensions folder, duplicate it, and label it, I now have two sets of mod extensions on my desktop X4 mod folder:

Extensions_XPAN
Extensions_XRGSE

With this mod I have altered custom ships to line up with REM
I haven't tried the ReShade yet.

[Realspace]

I know, it can seem strange but if you think about it makes sense that abandoned sectors lose their connections. I've added several descriptions in the galaxy encyclopedia for each sector to explain what happened. In others they have been destroyed. For instance when a beta sectors leads to xenon space why should the other race build a way back that could lead to a xenon invasion? This works with sHWs and accelerators while gate, lore-wise, are independent.

The general idea is that these abandoned systems are indeed not easy to colonize. But I am open to revise the idea if the player gets frustrated. I need feedbacks bc of course I know every hidden way so can't figure out the experience of other players.

Btw no there is not a way back, there is a way leading to another system. No dead ends but yes you can't go back. Some rough systems can be crossed in a way only, as Sigma Tau and Frontier Edge and partially back too but have some isolated sectors from which you can go out to other systems

[veronique]

Well the real problem is I am trying to get to "Northern" Frontier Edge, but exploring as I go, the broken connections (and I do respect your lore and why you did this) but with no missions to fix them or anything I can't make it there via Belt of Aguilar and now I can't make it there via Omicron C. If Omicron B is just as broken, what's the point, and let's face it the galaxy is huge, it's not like hopping on a highway as in vanilla.

Something is going on in the system next to Arethys Beta, the stations are under attack and I can't get there. I spent a lot of time slowly going around the system hoping you placed a "secret gate" but there's nothing there. The only way to proceed is to edit your mod and turn those one way SH's into accelerators or gates. Yes it's frustrating, the systems, the mod is beautifully done, but as I said, this is a game breaker for me at least.

[ziplock815]

You could use Jumpdrive mod as a solution. Just drop some nav beacons and you'll be able to return any moment.
Personally, I use Jumpdrive mod only for capital ships. It makes sence since in X-Rebirth only capital ships and Albion Skunk could jump.

[veronique]

Well I found out the clusters are RS51 and noticed some commented out code in the zones xml. I uncommented it but now I completely broke the whole mod
I'll reinstall it, and hope Realspace can add an optional "gate fixes" patch.

[Realspace]

Well I found out the clusters are RS51 and noticed some commented out code in the zones xml. I uncommented it but now I completely broke the whole mod
I'll reinstall it, and hope Realspace can add an optional "gate fixes" patch.

I see..you have not to touch zones! Only the cluster.xml, don't touch the others. Commented out zones have a reason. Just reactivate the shw in cluster and it will show.

Btw what is the experience for other players too, is it challenging or frustrating having broken connections? As told, reactivating them is easy, I can even make two version of the mod
Also, I am in the process of doing Omicron D, please report any bug so I can correct in next update

[veronique]

Thanks for the tip with the clusters xml, I easily found the gate and it's all working. Been playing solid for about 6 hours now.
I don't think you need to make 2 mods, keep your vision and I hope continue to work on the project.
It really is something amazing.

Just had a big wow moment jumping into Ashley's Paradise Alpha

I haven't had a chance to test any of the vanilla missions yet, but the Windfall cutscenes played ok passing through.
There's this annoying Boron sent me a spam dodgy email

FAF army destroying a couple of Black Hole Sun stations, with a capital ship, joined in the fight there was really great. I managed to slow down to 2k and slew 90 degrees which allowed me to fire off a couple of missiles as I passed it heading into deep space sideways LMAO. By the time I got back into the fight ARG had pretty much settled the issue.

I got 3 miners, 3 traders all doing what they should be doing and making me money so far.
Couple of fighter escorts too.

If people want gates fixed maybe a "optional" file like the gate borders? Quick fix, I am sure one huge mod is enough and I can't thank you enough for making this diamond.

[ziplock815]

For now I experienced issues only with Split and Antigone plots. I'm moving through Terran plot now which worked fine in previous versions of the mod. Wonder if pirate and Paranid plots work as well. Will check.

[Gen.d.Pz.Tr.Seb]

Getting confirmation that the plot(s?) of the last dlc work would be great. I played all the others at least once so I could tolerate them not working, but the new ones would be completely new for me.

[Realspace]

For now I experienced issues only with Split and Antigone plots. I'm moving through Terran plot now which worked fine in previous versions of the mod. Wonder if pirate and Paranid plots work as well. Will check.

I found a stupid typing error in the split story setup I had patched. It prevented my patch to be used. Hopefully this should solve the split story not starting.

I jumped in Eleventh hour and a cutscene activated, there is an "escaped slave ship", is it the plot?

What is the antigone story? When does it start? Is it the covert operation?

Btw I've completed Omicron D so please report any bug before next update

[ziplock815]

For now I experienced issues only with Split and Antigone plots. I'm moving through Terran plot now which worked fine in previous versions of the mod. Wonder if pirate and Paranid plots work as well. Will check.

I found a stupid typing error in the split story setup I had patched. It prevented my patch to be used. Hopefully this should solve the split story not starting.

I jumped in Eleventh hour and a cutscene activated, there is an "escaped slave ship", is it the plot?

What is the antigone story? When does it start? Is it the covert operation?

Btw I've completed Omicron D so please report any bug before next update

"Antigone" plot mission is called "Second Assistant" - you need to talk to paranid scientist named Kuromanckami in the Void sector - there in the hazardous region you need to find nav beacons using your long range scanner, but uou can't find any.
Split plot mission is given to you by Dal Busta and is called "Reactivating jump gates", so when you locate jump gates leading to the Split you see that cutscene with "escaped slave ship". Maybe you fixed the issue because I didn't see that cutscene and no mission update as well.

Btw, don't think it's a bug but if you remember I wrote about music issue I had when terran and pirate dlc's soundtrack played in all sectors most of the time. I took a look into "sound_library.xml" and saw such lines: "Music for Argon/Paranid/Split... etc home sectors" and paths to dlc music files, for example: "<select weight="1" start="extensions\ego_dlc_terran\music\14. Alexei Zakharov - Insomnia"/>
<select weight="1" start="extensions\ego_dlc_pirate\music\Cluster\Alexei Zakharov - Blind Course"/>"
I simply deleted these paths for all races except of terran and pirates and now these tracks play only in terran and pirate territories