[MOD] Core shields 1.10 (Boarding fix)

[Bobucles]

Download at nexusmods

Core Shields by Bobucles
Version 1.10 (Nividium fix)

Adds a weak hull shield to capital ships.
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To install: Extract to your extensions folder. It should be enabled automatically. EZPZ.

To uninstall: Delete.

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All capital ships have a hull shield in addition to their standard armaments. This shield is weak when compared to capital health, but it will prevent scratch damage and help keep your ships healthy. 6 types of shield were created and assigned as follows:
Large civilian ships: A tiny, pathetic shield that's only good for deflecting accidental fire.
XL civilian ships: A small, weak shield that can take some hits.
Large war ships: A medium, respectable shield with decent recharge.
XL war ships: A large, tough shield with good recharge.
Xenon: A heavy shield that regenerates quickly.
Arawn: A huge fortress shield to absorb torpedoes, with slow recharge.


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Version 1.10 notes:
- Shields are now "integrated" systems and should not show up as boarding mission targets.

Version 1.05 notes:
- Typo fix for nividium ship.

Version 1.02 notes:
- Archive fix for 1.01. Otherwise exactly the same.

Version 1.01 Notes:
- "save=false" tag added. Uninstall is now a simple delete command.

Known Problems:
- Shield data is not stored in the save file, causing shields to reset to full between saves. This bug is completely vanilla, and I do not know how or if I can fix it.

[Frumph]

put save="false" in the content.xml line so that it doesn't save the patch information inside of the save file so someone can just turn it off without having to edit the save file

[Scoob]

Lol, typical. I had a day off from Rebirth yesterday, though over the weekend I'd been working on my own shield mod, as the game isn't really playable at the moment.

I too have added a range of additional shields of varying strength, from light (it'll protect against like one volly from a single fighter before going down) to heavy (bring a cap ship or three) - was testing it myself over the weekend, not quite there yet though.

I had some issues getting the engine to recognise my new shields - modding existing ones was dead easy, but I wanted to create a whole range of new ones, so I'd not accidentally change something I didn't intend.

Must admit, I do LOVE playing with hull shields, makes my ships feel a bit more epic...especially useful when they're not firing back lol.

Scoob.

[Bobucles]

Haha, beat ya to it. It took a damn long time too, trying to figure out how everything fits together piece by piece.

The process seems to be:
Create a new shield_macro with your desired stats.
- I used generic_shield_generator, so no model or attachment concerns.
- Add the new item as an entry in "index/macros.xml" . I used the mod path.

Add a new component to ship file. Name doesn't matter much.

Define shield component in ship_macro file.
- Use the same name from the ship file.
- Choose your shield.
- Use a connection from the surface element or the game crashes (generic_shield_generator has 'Connection01' and 'rendereffects')


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I am currently having a problem with the game not remembering shield health between saves. This causes shields to reset to full every time you load. I don't even know if I can fix it, because capital shield generators do the same thing in vanilla.

[Earth Ultimatum IV.]

Capital ship shields are CRUCIAL for this game.
Without them, player has to play millions of credits if his destroyer meets a simple M5 scout craft and takes some hits. Which makes all fighter-oriented capital ships absolutely ineffective.

Iam totally sure that Egosoft has to implement this mod into their game.

[Fumblesneeze]

Well, if you use save=false, then your mod will obviously not save anything to the savefile. Try removing that and see if your shield-stats persist then.

[Scoob]

Haha, beat ya to it. It took a damn long time too, trying to figure out how everything fits together piece by piece.

The process seems to be:
Create a new shield_macro with your desired stats.
- I used generic_shield_generator, so no model or attachment concerns.
- Add the new item as an entry in "index/macros.xml" . I used the mod path.

Add a new component to ship file. Name doesn't matter much.

Define shield component in ship_macro file.
- Use the same name from the ship file.
- Choose your shield.
- Use a connection from the surface element or the game crashes (generic_shield_generator has 'Connection01' and 'rendereffects')


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I am currently having a problem with the game not remembering shield health between saves. This causes shields to reset to full every time you load. I don't even know if I can fix it, because capital shield generators do the same thing in vanilla.

I started off just extending an existing shield to cover the entire hull - a very simple change - however it didn't do what I wanted. Adding a new shield was the obvious way, so I did all that - took a while, different shields etc. - but I managed to break something. With patches coming out at quite a rate, I deleted all my stuff thinking it was likely out of date now anyway and started again. Doh.

In my version, I took the shield that protects the Jump Drive group to be the one I replaced, so my work is based on that rather than Generic.

Hmm, not noticed the recharge thing myself, maybe using my technique the shield state is saved? I'll have to double check that. edit: You're right, shield state does not appear to be saved. The saved game only records collapsed or not, not the actual shield percent. That's quite an oversight!

I actually quite like your approach using generic, one assumes generic is here specifically to help modding? There are quite a few "test" type entries dotted around I've found.

Going to keep tweaking mine as I was fairly happy with it, but I'd likely just have used yours if I'd not started my own.

@Earth: Yeah, it shocked me it wasn't standard to have hull shields, however, it's looks simple enough to add in, just a lot of editing initially. The GOOD thing is, the way mods are set up now, we can simply add a load of new shields and tweak them individually without having to change each ship every time - we only need to do that bit once. So, it's a case of get the shields in there & fine tune - at least, that's what I've been doing.

Scoob.

[Bobucles]

Well, if you use save=false, then your mod will obviously not save anything to the savefile. Try removing that and see if your shield-stats persist then.

Already tried that. The bug is vanilla, so it's out of my hands unless someone can figure out a workaround.

I actually quite like your approach using generic, one assumes generic is here specifically to help modding? There are quite a few "test" type entries dotted around I've found.

I used "generic" because there's no 3d model, no special effects, no ship attachment stuff to worry about.

I did use a mk_3 surface generator for a bit, and it was possible to shoot it up while it protected the ship. But without a change to the ship model I don't think there can be a shield bubble.

[Scoob]

Interesting. So is your hull shield not also a surface element then when using Generic? I mean, I wanted to be able to take down the shield, then kill the generator, so (unless it's repaired) I don't have to worry about it for a while.

I might have a play around using Generic myself, so I can understand how it's different.

Btw: if we want a shield bubble, I think we'd need to creata a shield specifically for each ship to start with, then map it based on the hull shape. A little beyond me at the moment, but I'd love to see it done.

Scoob.

[Bobucles]

So is your hull shield not also a surface element then when using Generic? I mean, I wanted to be able to take down the shield, then kill the generator, so (unless it's repaired) I don't have to worry about it for a while.

It's an invisible standard surface element, pretty much what smaller ships use. Any more requires fancy 3d work, aligning the parts, and all that.

I do not know if the shield generator can be damaged, but it has a hull rating and shield recharge rates are pretty slow. Heavy damage can destroy your stuff despite it being untargetable, but I have no good way to test that on a cap.

I would only consider having a 3d shield generator on the Arawn (and maybe the Xenon). Other ships either don't have internals or have weak enough shields.

Capital ship shields are CRUCIAL for this game.

I don't mind that ships need professional repair after going through a battle. But currently the costs are extremely high and shipyards do not work that well. IMO ships should have a health and a "max health". The former gets repaired by "spare parts" and constructor drones on the field, while max health can only be fixed at a dockyard with full cost. Superficial damage wouldn't hurt max health much, but as a ship turns critical any hope of self repair goes away.

[astaldion]

Could you add a "shield" line at ships details "General Information" and another line at "Weapon systems" about the invisible shield generator?

[Grimm Spector]

I don't like the idea of having strong shields over the whole hull while also having component bases shielding.
Ideally a mod that used day the jump drive shield as a hull shield so it could be disabled or left off. And provided light shielding to civ ships (stop those single fighters random hits but not a real effort from 1 or 2 fighters to take it on). And moderate ones for military ships, something that requires 4 or 5 ships to burn through with basic weapons.

[Scoob]

I don't like the idea of having strong shields over the whole hull while also having component bases shielding.
Ideally a mod that used day the jump drive shield as a hull shield so it could be disabled or left off. And provided light shielding to civ ships (stop those single fighters random hits but not a real effort from 1 or 2 fighters to take it on). And moderate ones for military ships, something that requires 4 or 5 ships to burn through with basic weapons.

Actually, I did exactly that in my mod - Bobucles and I appear to have been doing a parallel development here - however, I actually switched to doing it a similar way to him. Reason being, it just seemed to work better. Plus, I hate adding things that only the Player seems able to take advantage of. I.e. the AI will in no way be able to target a specific component like the player can. I might re-visit this in case it IS possible to tune the AI for such behaviour - after all, I recall Egosoft saying how we'd be able to command our ships to take out specific systems and the like - but I'm doubtful.

I think the main difference between my mod and Bobucles, is that I've been a little more generous on the shielding, especially on Military ships. Still subject to balancing of course. It was actually quite funny sending my test Taranis against a station and it's ships when it had a 10gj shield fitted and I'd ONLY tweaked the Taranis at that point. Still, it was nice to see it not ripped apart in seconds by the stations own defences.

I'm actually NOT posting my mod up as I planned, Bob beat me to it by a few hours and I don't want to upload something that's so similar out of respect to his work...and him being a jammy git beating me to it of course

Scoob.

[csaba]

- Capitals when boosting between zones will instant recharge this shield.
- Don't buff the Arawn even more ... That ship is already brokenly over 9000 strong.

Otherwise I love this mod thank you!

[Scoob]

- Capitals when boosting between zones will instant recharge this shield.
- Don't buff the Arawn even more ... That ship is already brokenly over 9000 strong.

Otherwise I love this mod thank you!

There seems to be an engine bug there, shield state does not appear to be stored as you'd expect and it looks like you've found another instance where they recharge.

Oh, these shields are designed to protect those lovely 9,000 points of hull

Must admit, capital ship battles are MUCH better with shields. Even having the larger trade ships protected somewhat from pirate attacks is nice. I'm not sure I want to attempt to do a ship capture with this in place mind! Not sure how marine pods would react to a shield...I suspect ignore it.

Scoob.

[csaba]

- Capitals when boosting between zones will instant recharge this shield.
- Don't buff the Arawn even more ... That ship is already brokenly over 9000 strong.

Otherwise I love this mod thank you!

There seems to be an engine bug there, shield state does not appear to be stored as you'd expect and it looks like you've found another instance where they recharge.

Oh, these shields are designed to protect those lovely 9,000 points of hull

Must admit, capital ship battles are MUCH better with shields. Even having the larger trade ships protected somewhat from pirate attacks is nice. I'm not sure I want to attempt to do a ship capture with this in place mind! Not sure how marine pods would react to a shield...I suspect ignore it.

Scoob.

Well true boarding Arawns was too easy money anyway I just don't like them at the point they are now having 3x the hull and 2x the weaponry any other vanilla XL destroyer.

Yeah Reveirs were annoying me to hell always chipping away that hull %. I use the improved engineers mod but that is well balanced and wont allow full repair so repair bills are quite high.

[Scoob]

@Bobucles:

Quick question for you...

In my own Hull Shield mod, I notice that the game doesn't "layer" the shields as some might expect. Rather the Hull shield just protects the Hull from damage while surface elements are still exposed. I.e. I can still attack and disable say the jump drive or individual weapons on a given ship, once I've brought the local shielding down.

This isn't what I expected initially, though it does preserve the balance well I think. My initial mod, which actually replaced the shield that protected the Jump Drive, by its very nature made it impossile to destroy the jumpdrive while the Hull Shield was in place.

I envisage the Hull Shield, in its current form, as purely to protect the hull from being slowly whitled away to nothing over time. This fits in well with Engineers (when they actually work) just being able to fix Surface Elements. If your hull gets damaged, you have to go to a station to get it fixed in vanilla play, this is still true, but you're less likely to suffer from hull damage in the first place. Plus your engineer should get other components at least working, well, buggy engineers aside.

The great thing is that all prior boarding mechanics still work - with Yisha deciding what you HAVE to take out to proceed (hate that incidentally) - I think it's a must to preserve balance

My ultimate goal for Hull Shields was really to make them a proper bubble shield protecting everything. I think it might be possible in this engine, just beyond me at the moment.

My next task in my shields mod was to give fighter and little trade ship shields a bit of a boost, as they're pitifully weak at the moment. Next I was going to look at giving the various surface elements a buff. So, shields quite a bit stronger and certain surface elements armoured, but I still need to ponder that a bit more. My concern was that in my only paritially upgraded Skunk, I take out surface elements in seconds...seems a little over-powered to me.

Scoob.

[Cyllie]

If I want to change the recharge rates, is there anything I should modify besides the value in the XML's stored at:

Core_shields\assets\props\SurfaceElements\macros

[Scoob]

If I want to change the recharge rates, is there anything I should modify besides the value in the XML's stored at:

Core_shields\assets\props\SurfaceElements\macros

That should be all you need to change. Note though that if you increase a shields stats, it'll affect ALL ships that use it of course. However, you could use the existing files as a template for your own customisation potentially.

Scoob.

[Cyllie]

If I want to change....

That should be all you need to change. Note though that if you increase a shields stats, it'll affect ALL ships that use it of course. However, you could use the existing files as a template for your own customisation potentially.

Scoob.

Thanks Scoob....mostly I was thinking I might want to lower the recharge rate on a xenon ship if I decide to try and board one....if I ever get a marine officer to rank 5

Capital ships are far too easy to beat w/o hull shields