[SCR] MARS Fire Control (v5.25 - 16.02.13)

[Lancefighter]

How can I change (where in the files) golbin speed when hauling things?

So none knows how to do that?

Gazz uses a really unique carrot method of leading on drones - I believe he published it as a library sometime, I am not sure... Im also not sure if that is relevant.

I believe the nuts and bolts are within plugin.gz.mars.goblin.fly, but its not exactly 'well documented' (goblin.control is, but I dont think that is where the actual commanding goes on). Each of these scripts are like 2k+ lines long, and not exactly something I want to trawl through to figure it out.

In either case - He uses a very complex method of continually changing the flyto target, to specifically keep goblin speed below 100%.

[DrBullwinkle]

Gazz checks in every week or two -- perhaps he will help when he does.

In the meantime, I seem to recall that many of MARS's settings are done in the config script. It would not surprise me if there were some settings for the Goblins. (But I have not looked).

[Gazz]

I don't think there is an easy way because I had to arm-twist X3 pretty badly for it to work at all.

[zenofx]

Hi,

every time since I installed MARS (together with XRM), fighting against a Xenon capital in my Proteus M2 (Xenon J most of the time) my game reproducable freezes when I use Goblins. Turning them off, i.e. disabling decoy, missile defense and cargo collection, fixes the problem.

I tried ejecting the ore collector because I seem to recall that it worked some time without it, using only missile defense/using only decoy but it doesn't matter, it always freezes in that progressed savegame. Also this seems to happen exclusively when the Xenon capital is taking hull damage (this may be a coincidence though). And there are always Torpedo exploding animations going on the screen when the freeze happens.

It's a pity I cannot use a proper missile defense now

Edit: I am sorry - the culprit was the "Bounce" script from Litcube which is going rogue when there are massive amounts of player owned ships.

[Feloidea]

So, since I already outed me in the Changeling topic:

Is there some way a scripting amateur like me can actually get to merge the respective weapon data from AWRM AP (latest version of course) with MARS's 7047 data?

Changeling is doing squat for me, mostly because I have no clue how to use it there's no manual I've happen to find (not).

And I suppose I could try to manually insert the data, but frankly, all those numbers and IDs more or less guarantee me screwing with the wrong stuff in some weird way that'll break the game.


So what I need is either a short comprehensive guide how to correctly manually insert the required data (yeah, I read the manual from MARS and no, I still think I didn't really get it, the most my scripting skill allows is to spawn ships/objects in a sector, so forgive me for my insecurity here), OR someone with a gentle soul having the edited 7047 lying around and mirror it for me to download.


Thanks.

[Tritous]

Feloidea:

I'm currently working on a project to automatically build the MARS weapon data resource file from the TLasers and TBullets. I have an early excel based prototype: it will detect weapon flags, handle the damage rates accurately: all you do is plug in the two TFiles' data.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwKeBQW ... hQTm8/edit

Be warned that it's a work in progress: the next step is the autogeneration of the weapon min and max target sizes, a topic I'd like to talk to Gazz about since the balances of this depends a lot on how he is modelling this. As I can find no reliable way to handle multidimensional tables with simple formulae, I will start working on a Java based tool for auto-reading of the TShips file. I will also use that time to start trawling the resource files for weapon names, ammo names, etc.

The spreadsheet (and eventualy the tool) also autogenerates a simple weapon stat reference table. I plan to make an automatic ship stat table too, and if I can figure out the cat/dat compression system (pcks are easy) I want to make one that can simply scan your X3 directory and give you instant ship and weapon data, all based on your real mod data!

[Feloidea]

Feloidea:

I'm currently working on a project to automatically build the MARS weapon data resource file from the TLasers and TBullets. I have an early excel based prototype: it will detect weapon flags, handle the damage rates accurately: all you do is plug in the two TFiles' data.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwKeBQW ... hQTm8/edit

Be warned that it's a work in progress: the next step is the autogeneration of the weapon min and max target sizes, a topic I'd like to talk to Gazz about since the balances of this depends a lot on how he is modelling this. As I can find no reliable way to handle multidimensional tables with simple formulae, I will start working on a Java based tool for auto-reading of the TShips file. I will also use that time to start trawling the resource files for weapon names, ammo names, etc.

The spreadsheet (and eventualy the tool) also autogenerates a simple weapon stat reference table. I plan to make an automatic ship stat table too, and if I can figure out the cat/dat compression system (pcks are easy) I want to make one that can simply scan your X3 directory and give you instant ship and weapon data, all based on your real mod data!

First, thanks for answering. I will try to work myself into that, but I fear that is more or less the same thing as manually setting the data into MARS' 7047 file. As I've said, I'm a total scrub with such things and I'm not even sure I have all the relevant data I'd need to insert. DPS, range and RoF is easy enough, but for example when it comes to shipsize to attack ... no friggin' clue.


I might add in my defense, I have never before used either of those mods (it is quite some time since I last played X³TC anyway, I think one or two years in fact) so I have exactly zilch experience I could use and what I had is rusted.




Short version:
Many thanks, will try, still hope someone has a working merged file.



Thanks

[Gazz]

I'm currently working on a project to automatically build the MARS weapon data resource file from the TLasers and TBullets. I have an early excel based prototype: it will detect weapon flags, handle the damage rates accurately: all you do is plug in the two TFiles' data.

In the FAQ there is a link to an OO table that does that already.
(I know, I know. Nobody reads FAQs. =)

[Tritous]

Oh I have seen that table (although no I don't read FAQs, I read manuals!). OO doesnt work under excel though, and I'm less certain about your table than mine simply because I know how I constructed mine.

The bit I'm less certain of is how you've derived your min/max sizes. The AOE flag settings are easy, weapon data is easy to calculate too, but the min/max size is something that depends on the TShips, which you've not imported there

[Feloidea]

[...] but the min/max size is something that depends on the TShips, which you've not imported there

Which is why I am keeping my hands off doing any changes to files until I get to know how exactly I should do this, too.

The MARS manual seems to require a certain prificiency in basic scripting/modding that I simply don't seem to have to the best of my knowledge. Or it has some weird way of making supposedly easy edits look difficult, either ain't quite my thing

[Gazz]

There is a ship size list on my script download page.

The number given is the diameter of the ship's "bubble". This is double the unaltered radius that the SE (and MARS) uses.


Also fixed the link for Video 1.
The others seem to have gotten lost.

[Tritous]

question/request for Gazz

How have you calculated the positions for the sat deployment? I tried nosing around the script and I have to admit I can't figure it without spending a few weeks analysing it...at least...

There are a few sectors in XTC which are truely huge. While I'm generally trying to get a 64 sat coverage in most sectors there are a couple of home sectors where i want to put a lot more to get a full coverage. I'm thinking 128, or maybe even 256 sats! I was trying to figure how they were placed, I suspect the goblin range become a limit after a while hence some of the stretched shapes when I placed my 64s. I could have been happy if it just placed the 64 in a formation around the ship point and i could have laid 8 64 clusters. However, it seems your script is more intelligent than that, and i can't bully it

I get the impression that your sat placement script places sats based on their illumination range. Is it possible to have a custom input: lay X satellites?

[Gazz]

plugin.gz.mars.hk.sat.dep.xml
048 $scan.range = $Dummy1 -> get scanner range

The pattern has to scale with satellite range because there are some mods that boost it substantially.
Deployment in huge sectors is a problem all of it's own because the dinky drones run out of fuel all the time. But that's hardcoded. =)

[Tritous]

no problems with the fuel, it adds a sense of rationality to it anyway. I can easily position 8-9 ships with MARS in a spread to boost range. As it is I have 7-8 ships in a group so i can get all the sats going in 1 go with the 8 drones they have each. I do satelites on an industrial scale!

Is there anyway to have a multi-shelled sat pattern? I really am in need of some serious sat spreading

[Gazz]

Have you tried the MARS config menu?

[Tritous]

Of course, but the options go to 64 Sats + trade lanes + gates (which seems to really mean just 64 sats). Problem is this is my hypercomplex sector, its a huge sector and i know there are some roids somewhere in the outskirts that I can't find, and I want to be really sure I've seen everything. 64 isn't enough for this one

[Gazz]

You could use a setup script to keep every asteroid and station "known".

Or edit the deployment script where the box positions are determined.

[Tritous]

the second option is what i'm looking at, but I can't seem to quite figure it out.

What I'd like to do is make a copy of the sat deployment script, have just a manually run super deploy version. However, I don't see the 64 limit anywhere in the script, and I don't know how I can force the positions further. I can probably do a "second shell" approach by suppressing the scan for existing satellites and doubling the "scanner range", but it will need a lot more than 64 sats.

I'd also have to figure out what options to feed the script, may have a look for the command that feeds it.

[Gazz]

In plugin.gz.mars.get.sat.pos.xml in 384 I define the grid positions to be filled with satellites. In this case for 4 sats to a side.
Just append more like -5, 5, etc.

It's the step positions in half satellite ranges.

Had I made that an option I would of course have made that a loop to construct the desired "depth" but with only 2 options, there was no point.


I won't make that an option, though. Don't think that so far anyone else has complained about too little satellite overkill. =)

[Tritous]

ah, the 64 is from a 3 tiered loop of 4? now that is figured....wish me luck. I've made a first attempt at a 216 sat and a 512 sat pattern (6^3. 8^3). Now to see if it works or not.

And while others may not have complained about not enough overkill, I am the ones that came up with the idea of a nested undock and destroy script. Overkill is underdoing it in my eyes!

wish me luck

edit: no success. I guess MARS is far too integrated into itself to successfully extend it without modifying rather a lot. That or you've already pushed it to the limit. Either way it will be easier to just scrips the sats into place, given how much time I've spent juggling ship positions and fighting the editor.