I apologize in advance because this is a large-ish post incoming, and it might not exactly contribute to discussion at hand directly, but I thought it could help and I like explaining things. I'm not really sure why I made it this big, it's not really a big deal in itself, but whatever.
It's been a while since I've played AP and have since just moved on to LU which seems to have ironed out most of the performance troubles. However, when looking for solutions to this issue I did find a modified "3.01 Generic Missions.xml" in my dropbox I sent to my friend while we were both playing through AP with TC Plots on, which helped with long-term performance some. Still never reached TC levels of performance, but there's a lot more going on in AP.
Here's the whole file (this one for Vanilla AP 3.0/3.1 only,
NOT TC Plots for AP) if someone wants to try it out.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kitwg363ehuvf ... s.xml?dl=0
Just download and place in your addon/director folder, but
see further below for considerations/effects, particularly the TL;DR section for the condensed version of this post and the instructions.
Here's what's different and why.
Mission Chance Weighting Section
Code: Select all
<!--KEEP THESE HEADERS UPDATED WHEN ADDING MISSIONS / ALTERING WEIGHTINGS-->
<!--TXXX trade missions - chance 440-->
<set_value name="this.L2M104A" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.TXXX}*100"/>
<set_value name="this.L2M104B" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.TXXX}*100"/>
<set_value name="this.L2M104C" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.TXXX}*40"/>
<set_value name="this.L2M116" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.TXXX}*100"/>
<set_value name="this.L2M130" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.TXXX}*100"/>
<!--XFXX fight missions - chance 700-->
<set_value name="this.L2M101" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XFXX}*100"/>
<set_value name="this.L2M108" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XFXX}*100"/>
<set_value name="this.L2M119" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XFXX}*65*0" comment="Escort Convoy. Disabled due to alleged performance issues."/>
<set_value name="this.L2M127" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XFXX}*70"/>
<!--<set_value name="this.L2M128" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XFXX}*80"/>-->
<set_value name="this.L2M134" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XFXX}*70"/>
<set_value name="this.L2M135" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XFXX}*65"/>
<!--<set_value name="this.L2M146" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XFXX}*100"/>-->
<set_value name="this.L2M183" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XFXX}*100*0" comment="Dual Convoy. Disabled due to potential performance issues."/>
<!--XXBX build missions - chance 100-->
<set_value name="this.L2M122" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XXBX}*80"/>
<!--XXXT think missions - chance 500-->
<set_value name="this.L2M103" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XXXT}*100"/>
<set_value name="this.L2M105" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XXXT}*100"/>
<set_value name="this.L2M113" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XXXT}*100"/>
<set_value name="this.L2M129" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XXXT}*100"/>
<set_value name="this.L2M133" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XXXT}*100"/>
<set_value name="this.L2M145" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XXXT}*100*0" comment="Scan Asteroids. Disabled due to alleged performance issues."/>
<set_value name="this.L2M180" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XXXT}*100" comment ="Repair Station"/>
<set_value name="this.L2M181" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XXXT}*100" comment ="Multiple Transport"/>
<set_value name="this.L2M182" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XXXT}*100" comment ="Tour Of A Lifetime"/>
<!--TXXX, buying offers - chance 400 - 500-->
<set_value name="this.L2M136" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XXXT}*100"/>
<set_value name="this.L2M144" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XXXT}*100"/>
<set_value name="this.L2M147" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XXXT}*100"/>
<!--<set_value name="this.L2M150" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.TXXX}*100"/> Disabled due to screwed up cues. Replaced with L2M150a-->
<set_value name="this.L2M150a" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.TXXX}*100"/>
<set_value name="this.L2M161" exact="1" chance="{player.sector.quota.XXXT}*100*{player.headquarters.exists}"/>
This is from the vanilla Albion Prelude "3.01 Generic Missions.xml" file for AP v3.1, except modified with a simple *0 next to the chances for the Escort Convoy, Scan Asteroids and Dual Convoy missions, effectively stopping any new ones from being created or offered, and I added comments to those three entries. This way if you know how to get to this file yourself or have a mod that has it's own version of 3.01 Generic Missions, you could either look to this post and see how to disable and which vanilla missions to disable easily yourself, but it's also commented in the download above, so you can see it with that file too. (I choose to use a *0 at the end of the chance value, so that it's easily noticeable which missions are being disabled, and what their original multipliers/chances are.)
Originally I decided on disabling Escort Convoy from several hours of searching other forum posts and threads, and threw in Destroy Convoy and Dual Convoy just in case. Now, I'm going to stick with Owen's post in this thread and disable Escort Convoy and Scan Asteroids, as well as Dual Convoy on the chance it faces the same problem as Escort Convoy (hence the "potential performance issues" vs "alleged performance issues" in the comments). I imagine he has much more insight on this issue than I do, especially considering I didn't do any extensive, scientific experimentation nor do I have empirical evidence not even among other forum members, I just winged it based off word of mouth and others findings. The file did help though.
This is still just as much of a workaround as the other fixer file that's being passed around, in that it aims to remove the offending missions from the game rather than fixing them directly, but I believe this method is slightly more elegant.
What's the difference?
By adding a *0 to the chance value of missions, they are prevented from ever being offered to the player, and in theory, they won't cause any cues to stack up this way. Commenting out all the references to those missions would achieve the same effect. No new ones would be offered.
However, if you comment out most of the 3.01 Generic Missions file and then use said file on an in-progress game with some of those missions already generated and being offered at a station, it's probably going to leave "ghost" missions at the stations. You'll still get the icon for a missions, and when you comm the station, there will still be an NPC there with a mission icon, but upon talking to them, they will not have a mission for you. In my experience, this will last for a
very long if not indefinite amount of time.
By reducing the chance to 0 instead of commenting out lines, the currently generated affected missions will remain, but no new ones will be generated. In time, the offered affected missions will start to disappear, and you will get no ghost missions that stay forever.
The downside, is that since these missions are still out there and still being referenced, any previous performance issues since before using this modified file, will still exist until the cues/references/whatever all clears up, which could take a long time. A few in-game days maybe? I'm not really sure myself. Best use of a file like this, is with a brand new, fresh game.
Alternatively, this file could be used
after using something that comments out all of the missions, breaking references and cleaning up the MD, like the "3.01 Generic Missions.xml.fixer" that's located in the thread referred to by Space Traveller. Theoretically, one would save the game in a sector with no mission offers/icons, close the game, install that file, start and then save the game, close the game again, and remove that file and replace it with one like what I'm using, then finally just continue playing the game as normal. You'll still get generic missions, they won't just all be gone, and you should no longer have to periodically apply a fix to the game. The only difference is that the game should have less performance rot, you will obviously no longer have any Escort Convoy, Dual Convoy, or Scan Asteroids missions, and there's a chance you might still have some ghost missions leftover.
I'm not aware of any surefire way to get rid of those ghost missions or to ensure they never appear, which is why I say a fresh new game would be best. That being said, I understand well the amount of time and effort that can go into a trading empire / band of pirate raiders / drugz and booze monopoly, so I know that's not often an option.
TL;DR / Abridged Version / "That's a nice post and all, but just tell me how to try this out."
I might have a band-aid fix to the AP problems that doesn't break the game as much and still leaves most of the generic missions in, and doesn't require as much if any periodic maintenance. Messed around with the 3.01 Generic Missions file for me and my friend, it seemed to work, here it is.
If you're starting a new game, simply take that file download up at the top of this post, and put it in your addon/director folder. You may have to create the "director" folder.
If you're in the middle of a game, you have two options
Option 1: If you want reduced performance rot over time, and can deal with currently reduced performance in your save, then same as if starting a new game. Just throw the file in there. Over time you will no longer get Escort Convoy, Dual Convoy, or Scan Asteroids missions. Performance should gradually improve, or at the very least, not plummet as much. Depends on how long you've played so far and how many missions you've been offered/taken. This shouldn't break anything or cause "ghost" missions.
Option 2: If you want reduced performance rot over time, and want better performance right away, but don't mind possible "ghost" missions go grab that file in the thread linked by Space Traveller as well. Should be called "3.01 Generic Missions.xml.fixer". After saving your game in a sector with no stations or mission offers and closing the game, rename that file to just "3.01 Generic Missions.xml" and throw it in the addon/director folder. Start the game up again, save again preferably in the same sector, and then close it, again. This time, take the file I linked, and replace the one in the director folder with it. That's it. Just play the game as normal from then on out. You can repeat this if needed, but theoretically the game won't get quite as bogged down.
And once again I apologize for this stupidly large post. I hope it's helpful.
![[ external image ]](http://download.urdenbach.de/TOTT-Banner1.jpg){kind=link}