The standard Photon Pulse Cannons found in X3 posses, at best, limited use against anything smaller than an M2. Capital craft often need a wide assortment of weaponry to defend themselves against both capital craft and groups of fighters.
Many M1/2 ships lack adequate defense against small aggressors. We've all seen a capital ship taken down by a group of pirates or a Xenon or Kha'ak force, simply because every corner of the ship had PPC on it and thus could not fight back.
With the enhanced PPC weapons found in this mod, capital craft can now be armed with a lethal combination of defined weapons to protect themselves against almost all assailants.
On the flip side, you may wish to reconsider attacking capital ships without adequate protection with this mod installed. You can no longer hope to win against a capital ship without a capital ship of your own.
The Α Photon Pulse Cannon is specifically designed to be a potent anti-fighter weapon. A relatively short range is outweighed by superior accuracy, it can take down most smaller craft - and anything it can't is usually to small to be a threat.
- -1200m/s bullet speed
-4.2km range
-Bullet life of 3.5s
-89 rounds per minute
-240 energy usage per round
-2126 hull / 7284 shield damage per round
-Turret turn rate set at 0.246 (was 0.046)
- -800m/s bullet speed
-6.4km range
-Bullet life of 8.0s
-76 rounds per minute
-280 energy used per round
-3307 hull / 12140 shield damage per round
- -800m/s bullet speed
-9.6km range
-Bullet life of 12.0s
-89 rounds per minute
-288 energy used per round
-4252 hull / 24281 shield damage per round
INSTALLATION AND COMPATIBILITY:
Most users will find the .spk file the easiest way to install this mod. To install you will need the X3 Plugin Manager installed(?). Just double click the .spk file and the mod will run automatically.
However, if, for whatever reason you need to install as either a false patch or a standalone mod, you should download the .rar file.
Detailed instructions for installing as a false patch are available here.
This mod should be compatible with any mod or script which does not alter the TBullets or TLasers files. I haven't any experience with mods that do, so I can't tell you what might happen if you run this and another weapon mod at the same time.
To uninstall this mod, simply delete the appropriate .cat and .dat files from your X3 directory. All PPC weapons in use on all ships will safely revert back to the default specifications.
DOWNLOAD DETAILS:
A preview video of questionable quality can be found here. (Youtube)
Standard Version:
Plugin Manager install file: Improved PPC Mod 1.3.spk
.rar containing .cat and .dat files: Improved PPC Mod 1.3.rar
Low-spec Version:
Plugin Manager install file: Improved PPC Mod 1.3 (low-spec version).spk
.rar containing .cat and .dat files: Improved PPC Mod 1.3 (low-spec version).rar
PROTIPS:
This mod works exceptionally well with Mergelsberg's M6 Pocket Destroyer Mod . Most M6 class ships will mount A PPC and some even B PPC, making them extremely deadly and more than worth the 7-15 million you fork out to buy one. I cannot recommend this mod enough!
I strongly urge you to avoid heading into battle against a PPC-equipped foe until you have some experience using the new weapons yourself, else you may find yourself sucking space quicker than expected.
Enjoy!