[Mod] Noselessness + M6 Mod

[Gazz]

Nova raider before:
after:

I like to see where I'm flying...

Noselessness Mod:
Not all ships got the treatment - only the ones I was flying or felt like changing. I think I got all M6, too.
I honestly don't remember all the ships I changed the cockpit camera for. Take a look at the post date. =)
I just updated the file with my current version so it's compatible with vanilla 2.5.

M6 Mod:
Vanilla M6 are terrible. Yes, players with ze skeelz can use them but AI pilots can't. The ships are just too bad.

I modified all M6, changing the lasers per turret and sometimes adding an extra turret.
Total firepower was not increased by much because I did not want to radically change OOS performance.
They got more but smaller lasers so they would have a change against fighters.

M6 now have 4-6 shields because for their maneuverability and target profile their shields were woefully weak.

Argon and split M6 can turn some of their turrets far enough to fire at the ship's cockpit target.

This is an old school mod so no fancy single ship installation. =)
Select is as "the" mod or make it a false patch. Either works.
(ZIP)

[Galaxy613]

You do know that people will now cry out for a cockpit version of this? Feel free to combine my Cockpit Callback mod with this.

[Gazz]

Those who want a clear view like above can not want to fill their screen with static bitmaps.

That would be illogical, Captain!

Gazz

[Galaxy613]

You must be joking when you call X3/X2 cockpits static bitmaps.

[Gazz]

[qtv]

I wrote this a few days ago - when i first installed the cockpit - u really should try it for half an hour and switch ships to see the different pits and what it feels like, how much it adds to the game........definately not a static bitmap - its a 3d pit - it moves, it shows light along each of the multiple surfaces as you face a light source, it shakes.....


"Cockpits are fantastic - I finally feel as if I am flying in a ship in space!

The biggest sense of this is when you change from a fighter to a freighter like a mercury.....you actually notice a differnce, the lethargic controls that you feel through the joystick make sense and actually feel in place.

After half an hour play - I could never go back to the hud only view.

I've never played an X game so I look at the cockpits from a new view - they are definately functional, the way the light plays over them is great when you turn towards or away froma light source or fire your weapons, after a while you notice the guages etc in the cockpit aren't just pretty - they actually tel you your throttle, shield strength, enrgy level, missiles left etc, they change a little to simulate head movement and thrust and that adds so much "connection" with the view on screen.

All this blew me away - I thought it would just be a simple overlay - how wrong I was.

They are perfectly functional, look fantastic and add so much to immersion.

After holding off for a while thinking they were "only" a mod - i installed them and .... wow!!!!! Its a new game

= )"

[DJ | Wolf]

X3's cockpits are X2's cockpits basically, so you can see what they look like by doing a few google searches for screens.

http://www.manoir3portes.net/articles/pics/x2/X2%202004-08-06%2015-38-25-79.jpg

http://www.bjorn3d.com/Material/Images/416_x2_space_04.jpg

Just as an idea.

[Gazz]

Thanks but the one thing I'm curious about is WHAT the extra thing they are doing is. Galaxy613 insists that they are not just static bitmaps that take up useful screen space but hasn't yet replied with what the extra benefit is. Are there instruments that are missing from the HUD version?

Gazz

[nuclear_eclipse]

In actuality, the X2 cockpits perform not much else besides random light blinking and providing an environment-reactive 3D wrapper around the pilot. In X2, they were useful because they did offer SETA status, missile alerts, and weapon loadout. I'm not sure if they do the same in X3, but either way, everything offered by the X2 cockpits is already taken care of by the X3 HUD. Cockpits simply serve to give you the feeling that you're really inside a 3D ship, instead of taking a nap on the top of the cockpit canopy.

However, I personally prefer the noses of the ships where they were, and to be without the cockpits. I would think that in 400 years, we'd have decide it was better to not have a cockpit, since it simply limits our field of vision anyways, while seeing the nose of the craft simply helps with determing where your ship is.

[DJ | Wolf]

So you're thinking all the information is fed to the pilot's eye or helmet/visor mounted HUD then?

Gazz: Pretty much echoing the above, the X2 versions did offer weapon readouts and seta information, but they were really only an immersion/cool thing.

[Galaxy613]

And yes the X2 cockpit's completely work in X3. 'Cept theres only two slots in the weapon display so even if you have 8 guns it'll only show you have two.

[Gazz]

Yah, that's what I want. A virtualgizmohelmetthingycamera (I may have to add more buzzwords and trademark the term) that only shows you the things worth seeing but filtering all possible obstructions.

Apache pilots have something quite similiar. The FLIR is tied to the pilot helmet's orientation so if you look to the left, so does the camera (and the chain gun but I digress). Actually it's not a FLIR that way because it doesn't look strictly forward.

Actually, if I was that ambitious I would try to have cockpit gfx enabled when your hull integity falls below 40 % . Then the advanced system would probably fail and you are left looking out of the more or less practical glass windows - and at your real instruments vs the simulated ones in your helmet display.
Chances of that are low, tho. Eventually I may want to PLAY the game instead of making it more complicated. =)

[DJ | Wolf]

It is a dangerous circle you'll end up with more time tweaking/modding than playing...heh...but that's cool

[nuclear_eclipse]

[Cycrow]

i've only actaully properly played the game for 1 one day, the day it was released
since then i've just been scripting and testing