[MOD] Manual Command Extension v0.20 (Updated : Jun 28, 2014)

[Berserk Knight]

No rest for me, eh?
Laptop got busted completely and my desktop was not in a good shape either.
I needed to backup stuff on the desktop, update the desktop, THEN backup stuff from the laptop.
Backup of the data in the laptop happened just last weekend.

[BlackRain]

As one of the few modders creating what I need, NO REST FOR YOU!!!! :cracks whip: hehe

[NZ-Wanderer]

Looks forward to getting this one too (leaves the whip cracking to BlackRain..)
Any chance you could also look at shipyards after this please (pleading look) - or maybe let BlackRain post his changes he made so I can try to get it working

[Berserk Knight]

Looking at the new commands they included in 2.0...

The commands they put in have a minor problem.
After ordering your ships to take an action, you need to cancel the order first if you want to issue a different order.
It doesn't help that opening comms twice takes MUCH more time than moving down additional layers in the radial menu, thanks to the VO.
(This is worse with Teladi NPCs.)

So...the MCE commands "hold position", "move to my position" and such that just got vanilla equivalents? They're staying.

[BlackRain]

By the way, Berserk, have you looked at mad jokers UI for his fleet mod? I was curious if you might implement something like this, it makes it so much easier to set up fleets.

[Berserk Knight]

Right now, the priority is getting it to WORK.

Some commands aren't working right now, and some are "sort of" working, but are bonkers compared to what they used to be.

Doesn't help that the one going bonkers is the vanilla "attack" script...
Closes distance just fine (this part's my code), starts attacking just fine (if it fails to even RUN the attack script, then there's a serious problem), then immediately turns around and flys off into empty space.

[Berserk Knight]

v0.17 for XR 2.0 uploaded.

The issue with the attack command resulting in the capital ship running away from the target is still there.

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

If you could add some Benny Hill music, I suspect people would be happy for it to be a feature

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

Hi there,

Sorry if I've missed the obvious but please could someone explain where I should place the following directories? I've very little experience with Rebirth and mods on Nexus.

ManualCommandExtension __(MCE 0.17 directory)
BKUniversalCommMenu _____(required BK Universal Menu System)

Thanks in advance,
Sparks

[A.Persyn]

When I install this, I immediately get two new missions: MCE Target [Trivial] and MCE Mass Selection [Trivial] both have the objective: Wait. The manual provides no explanation of these. What are they, why are they there and how do I get rid of them?

Also Patrol Zone, Move to Zone, and Holding Position at...My Position don't work. Issue command, the menu closes, and nothing happens.

[BlackRain]

Just so you know, when using manual command extension, Balors do not seem to use their torpedoes. Balors do use their torpedoes with vanilla scripts though.

[Berserk Knight]

Working on combat scripts, and I'll tell you, it's a mess.
All of them are fundamentally flawed to the point where I'm suspicious if they thought it through, like, at all.


Capital ship scripts
-When set to "defend", only retaliates to the first ship that hits them. First attacker's a fighter and the rest are destroyers? "Screw the destoyers! We're going after that fighter!"
-"Attack" commands effectively only works on THE single target designated. Once the main target is dead, the captain's side of the script shuts off the DO's combat script, even if it still has other targets.
-Once the main target goes down, the DO doesn't even bother to designate other high-value targets as the new main target.
-Even if it does set a new main target, it won't do much good because the captain has no f***ing idea what the DO is targeting, thus can't maneuver accordingly.
-Captain side of the script just moves generically, no matter what ship they're on. (Sucellus, anyone?)

Fighter scripts
-If the current target ever goes out of range, the script abruptly terminates even if there are other targets.
-If they ever get hit by any enemy, they ignore all previous orders and go after the attacker (and ONLY the attacker) until either of them are dead or out of radar range. (18km. Doesn't really happen.) This override happens EVERYTIME they get hit by a different attacker, so until every attacker that took a shot at the fighter is dead, the original primary targets are completely ignored.
-(If, for some reason, it's NOT called through fight.attack.object) "I'm getting shot at? So what?" Has no handlers for being shot at.


Trying to solve all those problems with the new scripts...

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

Thanks very much for trying to wade through all that!

[Hardcard]

Working on combat scripts, and I'll tell you, it's a mess.
All of them are fundamentally flawed to the point where I'm suspicious if they thought it through, like, at all.


Capital ship scripts
-When set to "defend", only retaliates to the first ship that hits them. First attacker's a fighter and the rest are destroyers? "Screw the destoyers! We're going after that fighter!"
-"Attack" commands effectively only works on THE single target designated. Once the main target is dead, the captain's side of the script shuts off the DO's combat script, even if it still has other targets.
-Once the main target goes down, the DO doesn't even bother to designate other high-value targets as the new main target.
-Even if it does set a new main target, it won't do much good because the captain has no f***ing idea what the DO is targeting, thus can't maneuver accordingly.
-Captain side of the script just moves generically, no matter what ship they're on. (Sucellus, anyone?)

Fighter scripts
-If the current target ever goes out of range, the script abruptly terminates even if there are other targets.
-If they ever get hit by any enemy, they ignore all previous orders and go after the attacker (and ONLY the attacker) until either of them are dead or out of radar range. (18km. Doesn't really happen.) This override happens EVERYTIME they get hit by a different attacker, so until every attacker that took a shot at the fighter is dead, the original primary targets are completely ignored.
-(If, for some reason, it's NOT called through fight.attack.object) "I'm getting shot at? So what?" Has no handlers for being shot at.


Trying to solve all those problems with the new scripts...

Yep, that sounds like XRebirth, lol
If you succeed in fixing the combat system, you'll be the man.
Thanks for your work

[Berserk Knight]

Scripts have been made and I've been testing them for a while.


Fighter scripts : Works fine against capitals and stations, mainly because I didn't change much of the copied script.
Against fighters, I'm going to need to do some more testing. ...With about 50 enemy fighters.

Bomber scripts : Made specifically for Drostan torpedo bombers, and as such, utilizes the ship's abilities to the full.
Given enough Drostans, not even a Xenon I stands a chance. (Aww, and we just barely got to know it!)
Drostans currently have a record casualty rate that's below 1% against capitals and stations.
(The casualty rate isn't 0, because I specifically remember seeing this single log entry for a Drostan. ...That's the only one I saw over a course of over 20 test runs with more than 20 Drostans per run.)
Not having any guns, the Drostan script is designed to run away if anyone attacks them and is inside their "comfort zone".
Thus, they become totally useless when enemy fighters start attacking them.
(Hey, that's what's supposed to happen to unescorted bombers!)

Capital scripts : Starting to look good. Capitals with weapon systems integrated to the chassis now use them properly.
(Now NOT macro specific. If ES adds more of these types of ships, they'll all be covered.)
Sucelli and Balors sit at 7~8km and unleash IHC and Novadrones until the target dies, but only if the target is a capital or a station.
Maneuvering still seems to need a little bit more tweaking, but it works.
Regular capital ship maneuvering...hasn't really been tested yet.
The "invulnerable station parts" problem had arised, but has been dealt with on the script side.
(However, the modules being invulnerable looks utterly ridiculous in-game and I intend to make a fix for this as well. Don't worry. This one's simple.)

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

Vanilla plot URV Warf under construction....after plot I can't wait to try these - tyvm!

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

Hi BK,

Quick question: Is the bit in bold OK or a typo by any chance? Only the version at the link still reads v1.1.

---------- Updates ----------
v0.17
Requires BK Universal Menu System v2.0 (updated for XR 2.0) to work.
http://www.nexusmods.com/xrebirth/mods/372
...
v0.16
Requires BK Universal Menu System v1.1 (renamed from BK Universal Comm Menu) to work.
http://www.nexusmods.com/xrebirth/mods/372

Will also just re-quote this earlier post as I didn't notice a reply.

Hi there,

Sorry if I've missed the obvious but please could someone explain where I should place the following directories? I've very little experience with Rebirth and mods on Nexus.

ManualCommandExtension __(MCE 0.17 directory)
BKUniversalCommMenu _____(required BK Universal Menu System)

Thanks in advance,
Sparks

Thanks!
Sparks

[BlackRain]

Sparky, put both folders into the "extensions" folder in your install directory

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

Cheers!

[Stonehouse]

A nice work...we get closer to the "Fight", thanks to you

But...just a question, i get a Balor to escort me...bad idea cause of longe range ship or is it possible? (because it didnt catch up to me, most of the time its flying around or sits somewhere) or did i may use wrong values for order? (5km, wall, escort me)