DDRS Docking Solution: Standalone Mod for M1, M2, M6 and TL docking

[Damar Stiehl]

DDRS Docking Solution 1.1
Models, Scenes and TXT file entries by DeadlyDa and Gazz
Exported and Re-Packaged by Damar Stiehl/STC

Download DDRS Docking Solution

+++THIS MOD CONTAINS ABSOLUTELY NO WORK OF MY OWN OUTSIDE OF PACKAGING AND CORVETTE VARIANT FIX+++
++++++++++++CREDIT FOR ALL MODELS AND TXT FILE ENTRIES GOES TO DEADLYDA, GAZZ AND DDRS+++++++++++

SUMMARY:

This is a standalone mod that uses components of DeadlyDa's DDRS mod to enable external docking for M1, M2, TL and M6 craft. The mod also includes an "upgrade" for M6 class vessels (corvettes) that was originally a part of DDRS mod. The mod does not alter anything other than all races' M1, M2, TL and M6s craft.

LIST OF CHANGES:

1.1 - Update/bugfix:

- Fix for Osprey side turrets having bad firing arcs (this is an original Egosoft bug, credit for fix to Gazz).
- Fix for Orca turrets having bad firing arcs (this is an original Egosoft bug, credit for fix to Gazz).
- Small updates to M6 class vessels to make them more useful and less gimped than they currently are in X3. For the amended corvette descriptions, see the post further in the thread.

1.0 - Initial Release:

SUMMARY:

This is a standalone mod that uses components of DeadlyDa's DDRS mod to enable external docking for M1, M2, TL and M6 craft. The mod also includes an "upgrade" for M6 class vessels (corvettes) that was originally a part of DDRS mod. The mod does not alter anything other than all races' M1, M2, TL and M6s craft.

LIST OF CHANGES:

- All TL vessels may now dock TS, TP and M6 craft externally.
- All M1 and M2 vessels may now dock TS, TP and M6 craft externally.
- All M6 vessels may now dock M3, M4 and M5 craft externally.
- M6 vessels have been upgraded with additional turrets and/or lasers to bring them in line with their X2 counterparts.
- Paranid Nemesis variants and Teladi Osprey variants now have different stats:
* Raider variants are 25% faster and more maneuverable, at the expense of 1 less shield slot and 10% less cargo space.
* Vanguard variants are 10% faster and more maneuverable, at the expense of 5% less cargo space.
* Sentinel variants are more heavily shielded (the Osprey includes an extra shield slot whereas the Nemesis' shields recharge much faster), at the expense of 10% less cargo space and 15% speed reduction.

KNOWN ISSUES:

- None

INSTALLATION:

This mod will function either as a modification or a "false patch".

WARNING: BEFORE INSTALLATION, IT MAY BE HELPFUL TO GO TO A SECTOR WHERE NO M1, M2, TL or M6 SHIPS ARE PRESENT, I.E. AN UNKNOWN SECTOR, AND SAVE YOUR GAME THERE. IF YOU DO NOT DO THIS, YOU MAY EXPERIENCE A CRASH WHILE LOADING YOUR SAVED GAME. IF THIS HAPPENS TO YOU, DISABLE THE MOD, FLY TO AN EMPTY SECTOR, SAVE YOUR GAME AND ENABLE THE MOD ONCE AGAIN. YOU SHOULD NOW BE ABLE TO PLAY NORMALLY.

To run the mod as a modification, place in "mods" folder under your X3 folder, and select the mod during the start.

To run the mod as a "false patch":

- Navigate to your X3 root folder.
- Take note of the latest dat/cat pair number.
- Rename the mod's files to the next number in sequence (for example, if your latest dat/cat pair is 10.dat/10.cat, rename the mod files to 11.dat/11.cat).
- Then place the renamed mod files into your X3 root folder and start the game.

COMPATIBILITY:

This mod overrides, and therefore is INCOMPATIBLE, with any other mod that alters TShips.txt, TCockpits.txt and Components.txt files. It is compatible with everything else.

SPECIAL THANKS:

- To DeadlyDa for his gracious permission to use the components of DDRS to create this mod.
- To Cycrow, for his Ship Installer, help and patience.
- To Doubleshadow, for his Mod Manager and X3 Editor tools, without which this would be a nightmare to make.
- To Klyith for his assistance with turret problems, and helping me get up to speed in X3 world.
- To Gazz, for his M6 and TL scenes and a much-improved turretdummy, as well as his patience.

[Maian]

Sounds pretty cool - I'll try it out

[Kitch]

Liking it

I do have a small problem though. while I could get a fighter to dock with an M6, my M1 wont allow m6's to dock. it allows the command, but the M6 just sits about 2.5km away. I've tried moving around, but it just follows me.

I'm not running any scripts or mods except this.

[Damar Stiehl]

Odd. Were you able to dock anything else to an M1?

Also, is there anything else docked externally to the said M1?

And finally - this will only work on new ships I believe. Ships bought/spawned before the mod might not work.

[Gazz]

KNOWN ISSUES:

- The Osprey side turrets are still bugged (they have trouble shooting perpendicularly to the ship's hull).

I altered all M6 a long time ago, adjusting/correcting turret placement as well.

The issue you describe is what you get when the camera is positioned behind the turret, not in front.
If it is behind the turret it can look into an area that the actual turret can not fire into because it can not turn that far.

My M6 got more turret lasers, too, but I put up to 3 in a turret instead of adding lots of single gun turrets. Saves on the 3D work. =)

This is how I set up the turrets on my Ospreys. (teladi_M6_scene.bod)
Without blind spots, of course.
9 right, 11 bottom, 13 left.

P 9; B ships\props\cameradummy; C 2; N Bships\props\cameradummy_2b; b // idx 11
{ 0x2002; 5450; 4709; 16600; 0.222222; 0.000; 1.000; 0.000; -1; 1; } // 0
P 10; B ships\props\turretdummy; C 2; N Bships\props\turretdummy_2b; b // idx 12
{ 0x2002; 4800; 3509; 16600; 0.222222; 0.000; 1.000; 0.000; -1; 1; } // 0

P 11; B ships\props\cameradummy; C 3; N Bships\props\cameradummy_3b; b // idx 9
{ 0x2002; 0; -11910; 2650; 0.335; 1.000; 0.000; 0.000; -1; 1; } // 0
P 12; B ships\props\turretdummy; C 3; N Bships\props\turretdummy_3b; b // idx 10
{ 0x2002; 0; -10710; 2594; 0.335; 1.000; 0.000; 0.000; -1; 1; } // 0

P 13; B ships\props\cameradummy; C 4; N Bships\props\cameradummy_4b; b // idx 13
{ 0x2002; -5450; 4709; 16600; 0.222222; 0.000; -1.000; 0.000; -1; 1; } // 0
P 14; B ships\props\turretdummy; C 4; N Bships\props\turretdummy_4b; b // idx 14
{ 0x2002; -4800; 3509; 16600; 0.222222; 0.000; -1.000; 0.000; -1; 1; } // 0


Also an unrelated suggestion for the cockpit position of the Osprey.
Like with all my M6 it is chosen to allow recognition of the craft you are in while not obscuring a large part of your view port with... your own ship. =)
ships\teladi\teladi_M6;1;
NULL;0.00000;0.030;0.81;0.000;0.000000;0.000000;

[neumanf15]

Kitch, sometimes smaller ships dock to the external docking points (I had this issue with a DDRS Base Star). Tell all your fighters to undock and then try again. Once the M6 is docked, you can redock the fighters and they'll all go to the internal bay.

[Damar Stiehl]

Using Gazz's work, I was able to fix the Osprey turret bug as well as the Orca turret bug. Thanks, Gazz!

The new version is 90% complete. Corvettes have been tweaked some more (since the mod alters them, might as well polish up the ole' rust buckets a bit). Each corvette now fits its racial profile and its supposed role better. Here's a rundown:

Argon Centaur - the Ultimate in Utility

The new Centaur follows the Argon philosophy of building "workhorse" ships. A versatile, well protected and sturdy corvette, this M6 is designed to provide heavy support or harden fighter assault wings. It is able to keep up with the Nova, and mounts a versatile array of weaponry. Aside from the mainstay Beta HEPT cannons, it may also carry mass drivers and ion disruptors, as well as mobile drilling systems and tractor beams.

The Centaur is also the only M6 that is capable of carrying Alpha Flak Artillery Arrays in its side turrets. Resourceful Argon engineers also adapted its front mounts to possibly carry Alpha and Beta Kyon emitters - of course, these are not available for purchase and may only be captured from the Kha'ak invaders.

Boron Hydra - the Rapid-Fire Fury

In keeping with Boron philosophy of shipbuilding, this M6 is more of a pleasure yacht with bite than a true combat craft. Armed with eight front laser emplacements and a three-cannon rear turret, it is fast, well-protected and elegant. The ship may mount a rather impressive array of weapons, including a full complement of Beta Pulse Beam Emitters for rapidly shredding multiple targets, or Alpha PPCs for long-range defense.

Paranid Nemesis - the Short-Range Brawler

The Nemesis is the third fastest M6, and does not to sacrifice performance for protection or firepower. This is the only corvette that is capable of carrying Gamma PSGs in its front mounts, and Beta PSGs in its two turrets. The result is a ship that is nothing short of brutal at short distances - however, care should be taken so as not to run down its weapons power too quickly when conducting an assault.

Rare Sentinel, Vanguard and Raider variants of this corvette are known to exist.

Split Dragon - the Long-Range Hunter

Split Dragon remains the fastest, and the least shielded corvette of all - however, its firepower has grown significantly since the new developments were made by Split engineers.

This M6 is able to mount the devastating Gamma PPCs in its front mounts, and augment their already impressive firepower with two three-gun turrets that can carry Beta PPCs. The corvette is geared towards long-range battles and keep-away strategy; however, for closer-range engagements its armaments may be swapped for a full complement of Mass Drivers or Alpha PBEs.

Teladi Osprey - the Battlewagon of Corvettes

In keeping with Teladi tradition, the Osprey is a mishmash of different races' technologies, liberally "borrowing" from pretty much everyone to create a highly versatile, but also the slowest M6 of all.

This corvette's weapon mounts can accept the widest variety of weapons, including the ability to mount captured Kyon emitters - a technology that "somehow" "accidentally" fell into the hands of the Teladi after being developed by the Argon shipwrights. The ship may also carry Ion Disruptors, Alpha PBEs and even Alpha PPCs in its front mounts - although it is somewhat hamstrung by weaker-than-normal weapons energy generator, which makes it somewhat difficult to produce sustained barrages. The Teladi also eschewed Mass Drivers on the grounds that the ammo took up valuable space in the ship's vast cargo hold.

The price, as usual, is paid in speed and maneuverability - the Osprey is barely able to keep up with even TS-class ships, making it a rather subpar hit-and-run vessel.

The extremely-rare Raider, Sentinel and Vanguard variants of this ship exist. Of particular note is the Osprey Sentinel - a beast of an M6 that alone in its class may carry a single 1GJ shield in place of the traditional six-bay array of 125MJ shields. As expected, this version is even slower than the stock Osprey.

Xenon P - the Killing Machine

Not much is known of the Xenon P, except for the fact that it is a fast and well-protected ship able to outrun Paranid Nemesis and almost keep pace with the Boron Hydra. It is more maneuverable than an average M6, and appears to be equipped with three turrets in addition to its forward mount. Xenon Ps observed in combat carry at least a full complement of Beta PPCs, which makes them quite dangerous at longer ranges.

It is speculated that the ship is extremely utilitarian otherwise, and most likely possesses smaller cargo hold than what is typical of M6 craft, and most likely cannot mount weapons whose effect is not readily geared towards destruction, such as tractor beams.

[Damar Stiehl]

New version posted, download from the link in the first post.

[Damar Stiehl]

Bump, because people were interested in it.

[solxiger]

Good work>
[ external image ]

[Peekaboom]

Thank you! This mod is excellent.

I just started playing X3 about 2 months ago and I got enough money to buy my first M6. I was assuming they were comprable to M6's from X2, and I was really let down by all the stock M6's.

This mod addresses the problems perfectly. I was really reluctant to use the full DDRS mod, not wanting all the other extras, so this fit the bill perfectly.

I can say that Xenon P's are a LOT more challenging now. I think the balance is pretty good too, I can take on larger swarms solo in my Dragon than I could with my LX, but I still need to be very careful.

Thanks a alot, keep up the good work.

Suggestion for a future mod:

Make a mod that works ontop of this one that adds in a M7 (frigate?) class ships for each race (aside from the paranid) to really make a nice half-way mark between M6's and M2's.

Cheers

[warpdriver]

This is a great mod. The ability to dock M3's to a M6 was something I missed from X2. The added bonus of docking an M6 to an M1 or M2 is awesome! The improved M6's prove a more formidable challenge when pitted against them in battle.

However, I have a few questions. Is the mod compatible with X3 version 2.0.02? Can M3's dock with M7's? Will the mod be compatible with any of Cycrow's mods in the future?

[Ezuku]

Ah, fantastic mode. This is just what I wanted. At last, the incredebly ugly M7 is now no longer the "only choice".

Btw warpdriver, it seems to be 2.0.0.2 compatible, at least that's what I'm running it with

Bit of a silly question, is there any way you could automate replacement of current M6/2/1s (since you need a new ship to get this working it seems)?.. either player owned or NPC?

Just don't like the idea of either having to replace all my M6 using a cheat script, or having my own M6 as vastly superior to the NPCs (even if I never really fight them)

[Damar Stiehl]

The mod is indeed Bala Gi-compatible.

You can dock 2 ships externally to the M7, but I think that's the way it's always been.

I don't want to add new ships to the mod, it's supposed to be fairly minimalistic... if I add too many things, I'll be crossing into DDRS/XTM/etc. territory. This isn't what the mod is intended to do.

As to autoreplacing the existing ships... I don't really know how to do that. But if someone wants to write me such a script, I'll happily include it in a re-release.

Thanks for your kind words, I'm glad the balance worked out. I was a bit worried about that TBH

[warpdriver]

Is the M7 shields supposed to drop by half when you undock it from a M1, M2 or TL? Also, I just recently upgraded my combat rank to Conqueor and I got my M1 blasted to bits by the Dragon escort protecting an enemy Raptor. With 4 enemy Dragons equipped with Gamma PPC's, that's like 4 to one odds against an M1. I find that a bit unbalanced because I could just buy a fleet of 12 Dragons for the price of an M1 and clear out a Khaak or Xenon sector with minimal losses. 96 Gamma PPC's all firing at one M1 at the same time? You be the judge on the outcome.

[Ezuku]

No offence meant, but I can't help but think a carrier is supposed to be able to win vs 4 M6s anyway...

TBH I find this elevates the M6s to slightly weaker than a M7, rather than something you buy because you like the looks. I remember the other day, flying along in my M7 doing an assassination mission when I saw an osprey. I thought "easy prey", big wallowing thing armed with a feather duster, and then was vaporised by its beta kayon emitters. Actually getting killed by a M6 if you're careless?... lovely...

I've been trying out the Dragon, and I find it performs really well in its defined role (killing cap ships). Managed to clear out an half full xenon sector with it. With the far increased turn speed, could actually stand a chance vs them, had to be careful with them though (especially LX). The P seems awesome though, really a nasty beast. Can't wait to get one (stupid treasure hunt missions).

All in all, I think it increases the ship choices from "M7, easily outclasses the M6 class". The fact that the AI gets ships that are just as good I guess also makes things more fair than "I have a super ship and nobody else has one". *shrugs*... just my 2 cents

[Damar Stiehl]

I completely agree with Ezuku here.

There's no way in HELL an M1 should be able to win, all by its lonesome, against multiple M6s.

In fact, 4+ M6s should be able to successfully threaten an M2... maybe not beat it EVERY SINGLE TIME, but definitely put more than a few dents in the hull.

[McItoshi]

Hi all I'm wondering if you can help a newbie here. I’ve only been plying for just over a month, still much to learn.

I like the look of this mod but I’m hesitant to install it because I also have Cycrow’s ship and scrip installers going with a few “goodies” I don’t want to mess up.

I just can’t get my head around the order of things to make it work, do I:

Uninstall the scripts & ships > install mod > reinstall scripts & ships on top of the mod

Or

Install mod > point the current scripts & ships to the new mod in there respective programs and hope for the best ?

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Aliens62]

I assume this does not require a restart??

[xalien]

I assume this does not require a restart??

No, but ships created before the mod will be somewhat buggy - no extra docking, buggy turrets etc.