[SCRIPT] Apollyon Arms: Laser Weapon Switcher (LWS)

[Laureati]

Name: Laser Weapon Switcher (LWS)
Version: 1.4
Date: 07.07.2007
Scripter: Laureati (Apollyon Arms)
Command used: COMMAND_TYPE_SHIP_47
Text ID: 7447

KNOWN CONFLICTS:
- Version 1.4 of the LWS is not compatible with the Xtended Mod

UPDATES:

[Version 1.4] 07.07.2007
- fixed problem where Mass Driver turrets prevented IREs from loading when no additional Mass Drivers were available

[Version 1.31] 06.07.2007
- text ID changed from 3575 to 7447


DOWNLOADS:
Apollyon Arms Download Site
Apollyon Arms: Laser Weapon Switcher - v1.4 SPK or ZIP

LWS in action WMV movie files:-
Argon Nova Raider switches from HEPTs to PACs to engage an M4 - 0.92MB WMV
Argon Nova Raider switches to IREs with the LWS Automatic Energy Management System - 0.78MB WMV


Galactic News Network [GNN] report

Apollyon Arms adds More Bang into the Fight Mk.1 buck!

New-comer to the arms market, Apollyon Arms, is offering a free software upgrade to users of the Fight Command Software (FCS) Mk1. The new Apollyon Arms protocal refered to as the Laser Weapon Switcher or LWS will allow all FCS Mk1 equiped ships to automatically swap available lasers depending on the combat situation.

The LWS system features intelligent weapon selection, an energy management system and an all purpose failsafe - which loads the most powerful weapon available when ships are out of contact or targeting is unavailable.

"This has been something many people have been asking for for some time," says Lead program designer Lau Reati. "Working on it has been tough but I believe we've really come up with something that works! Of course the software still is in the beta stages and we'd love to receive input from people about how they think things can be improved."

--------------------------------------------

INTRODUCTION:

The Apollyon Arms: Laser Weapon Switcher (LWS) is an automatic weapon selection protocal written for the Fight Command Software (FCS) Mk1. Any combat serviceable vessel with forward bay guns (M7/M6/M5/M4/M3/M3+) can use the LWS to automatically load and switch weapons without pilot intervention. The system is "intelligent" and will select weapons suitable to engage the target and to situational conditions of the craft.

This system is in beta. Feedback from users will be appreciated.

User feedback can be sent via PM to Laureati or posted on the "[SCRIPT]Apollyon Arms: Laser Weapon Switcher (LWS)" topic on the X3 Forum.

TOPIC LIST:

I. Features Overview
II. Features Description
III. 4 easy steps to a LWS friendly ship
IV. Installation instructions
V. Troubleshooting
VI. Known issues
VII. Possible conflicts
VIII. Unsupported weapons
IX. Too much information


I. FEATURES OVERVIEW:

- Intelligent Weapons Switching
- Automatic Energy Management System
- OOS and 'No Target' Failsafe mechanism
- Voice notification upon activation
- Voice notification of Weapons Switch on Player's ship


II. FEATURES DESCRIPTION:

1. Intelligent Weapons Loading

The LWS will select weapons automatically based on the class of target. e.g. If the ship is targeting a Fighter Drone, the LWS will search for and load IREs, Mass Drivers, or Pulsed Beam Emitters into the laser bay. Only one (1) type of weapon will be loaded. If more than one (1) weapon type is available the LWS will select the most powerful weapon type of that weapon class.

2. Automatic Energy Management System

The LWS will periodically check the energy banks of the ship to ensure that sufficient laser power is available for weapons. Should weapon energy drop below 15% the LWS will automatically swap weapons out to a low energy consumption weapon (such as IREs or Mass Drivers) if such weapons are available. It will load more powerful weapons once the energy banks have returned to over 50%.

3. OOS and 'No Target' Failsafe

The LWS is directly linked to the ship's targeting system. In the absence of a target, the LWS will automatically switch to the most powerful weapons available. This is also done for ships Out Of Sector (OOS) to maximise the combat potential of the vessel.

4. Voice notification

When the LWS is activated (in the Addtional Ship Commands section) the ship's voice computer will inform the player "Laser Weapon System ready". Only one LWS per ship may be activated at a time. Trying to load LWS into both Additional Ship Commands will prompt the software to close the second activation.

Additionally if the LWS is active on the player's ship the player will be informed whenever the LWS changes the lasers on his/her ship.


III. 4 EASY STEPS TO A LWS FRIENDLY SHIP:

1. Choose your weapons

It is recomended to have at least one set of low energy weapons such as IREs or Mass Drivers on board. As well as an additional set of weapons.

Note: Although the LWS will work on a ship with only 1 set of weapons it will serve no function on the ship whatsoever.

2. Load an equal number of each weapon type

The LWS works best when you have equal numbers of each weapon type available.
(e.g. Nova with 4 Alpha HEPTS, 4 Alpha PACs, 4 Beta IREs)

Mixed numbers will cause uneven weapon loadouts and reduce firepower efficiency.

3. Empty your laser bay and load your turrets

Load your turrents before activating the LWS - LWS will ignore turret mounted weapons. Though it is possible, avoid loading turrets with the LWS activated. This MAY cause unwanted problems.

Initiate the LWS with the laser bay empty. The LWS will automatically load up weapons into the laser bay. This will also act as a test to see if the LWS is indeed working.

It is also possible to pre-load one set of the weapons into the laser bay before activating the LWS. The LWS loads weapons starting with bay 1 and works up towards bay 8 (or higher). To minimise confusion install preload weapons the same way.

(e.g. Above Nova loading Beta IREs into bays 1-4)

4. Activate the LWS

Go to the Additional Ship Commands menu and select "Weapon System: Laser Weapon Switcher [LWS]". You're good to go!


IV. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS:

INSTALLING/UNINSTALLING SPK:

Just follow the instructions for Cycrow's XScript Installer.


INSTALLING ZIP:

Simply unpack the 'apollyon_lws.zip' into the root directory of X3 program. The files will unpack automatically into the correct folders. There will also be a 'readme' folder with this readme file.

For manual installation copy the following files into the appropriate folders: -

"scripts" folder:
lib.apollyon.laser.selecter.xml
plugin.apollyon.lws.select.xml
plugin.apollyon.weapon.switcher.xml
setup.plugin.apollyon.lws.xml

"t" folder:
447447.xml

"readme" folder:
Apollyon LWS/readme.txt

"uninstaller" folder:
setup.remove.apollyon.lws.xml

UNINSTALLING ZIP:

1. Delete the following files from your X3 program:-

"scripts" folder:
lib.apollyon.laser.selecter.xml
plugin.apollyon.lws.select.xml
plugin.apollyon.weapon.switcher.xml
setup.plugin.apollyon.lws.xml

"t" folder: -
447447.xml

Note: 447447.xml is also used by the Apollyon Arms: Targeting Extensions. Do NOT delete this file if you still wish to use the Apollyon Arms: Targeting Extensions.

2. Copy the "setup.remove.apollyon.lws.xml" file from the "uninstaller" folder into your "scripts" folder.

The next time you start or load a game you will receive a message informing you that the "Apollyon Arms: Laser Weapon System successfully uninstalled..."

3. Delete the "setup.remove.apollyon.lws.xml" file from your scripts folder.

Leaving the file in the scripts folder will not adversely affect your game, though you will get the uninstall message each time you start of load a game.


V. TROUBLESHOOTING:

Should you have configuration problems after activation recheck your weapon numbers (one or more may have been destroyed in combat) and ensure that the weapons you intend to use can be loaded in your ship's laser bay. Remember to keep excess laser bays free of weapons. Disengage from combat, deactivate the LWS, empty your main laser bay, then reactive the LWS. If further problems occur, deactivate the LWS and contact Laureati via PM or the on appropriate X3 Forum with details of your problem.


VI. KNOWN ISSUES:

On all ships

1. Ship does not load weapons at all. And it can't even attack targets!

This can happen in the rare circumstance when LWS is initiated on a ship that is already engaged in combat, and has an empty or 'naked' laser bay. The LWS is closely tied to ship's Fight Computer and because the AI cannot engage targets if no weapons are loaded in the bay, the LWS cannot reassign weapons into the bay either.

If IREs or Mass Drives are available in the ship however, the LWS Energy Management System should kick in, load up the IREs or Mass Drivers then reload to the Failsafe or appropriate target based weapons. (i.e. LWS can actually prevent this problem from happening at all - with a proper weapons loadout.)

To prevent this do not initiate the LWS for the first time on a ship that is presently engaged in combat.

2. OOS the ship doesn't swap weapons. What gives?

It is actually part of the Failsafe feature of the LWS. OOS combat happens rather differently from IS combat. When an LWS activated ship goes out of sector it simply loads up the most powerful weapon available for OOS combat into the ship's bay. It will not switch weapons based on target type again until it re-enters into IS combat.

3. Swapping between Alpha and Beta IREs/PACs/etc.

Right now the LWS doesn't choose between Alpha and Beta weapons of the same type (e.g. PACs). It just picks the most powerful one. So if you have both Alpha and Beta PACs on the ship, the LWS will always pick the Beta PACs. Features to identify specific weapons will be added as required by users.

4. I want my PSG!

The LWS library currently does not support "special" use weapons like the PSG and Ion Disruptor. Custom weapons are also not currently supported, however library updates will be made available as and when required.

5. Weapons are placed on funny parts of the ship!

That cannot be helped because of how the weapon hardpoints are allocated by the designers. The LWS simply fills the slots in numerical order. Think it looks funny? Then fill up ALL the weapon bays or talk to the ship designers.

ON THE PLAYERSHIP

Although the LWS can be run on the player's ship without problems it is not recommended for following reasons: -

6. Weapon icons do not change.

When the LWS changes weapons on the player's ship the weapon icons do not update automatically. This is a similar issue experienced by Bunny's Weapons Changer. Pressing the weapon presets button (1-4) or activating a menu will cause the icons to change. Unfortunately this problem cannot be addressed by script.

7. Voice notification is annoying!

The voice notification plays each time the weapons on the ship you are in changes. Because LWS currently does not support Identification Friend-or-Foe (IFF) recognition this may happen each time you target a station, passing freighter, etc. Over time this may get very annoying. (see 'Too much information')

8. My weapon loads are screwing up!

The LWS basically takes over your laser bays and loads them as it sees fit. This could have an adverse performance on customised loadouts.


VII. POSSIBLE CONFLICTS:

Lucike's Missile Defence Mosquito (MDM)
pre-Bonus Plugin version

The Apollyon Arms: Laser Weapon Switcher (LWS) uses the COMMAND_TYPE_SHIP_47 that was previously used by Lucike's Missile Defence Mosquito (MDM). Since the MDM is now available as part of the Bonus Plugin it uses COMMAND_TYPE_SHIP_12 instead. Those using the version predating the Bonus Plugin version will be unable to use the LWS.

No other known conflicts. There may however be configuration issues with Bunny's Weapon Changer, though this is unconfirmed.


VIII. UNSUPPORTED WEAPONS:

List of weapons not recognised by the LWS: -

- Gamma and Beta PPC
- All PSG types
- Ion Disruptors
- Custom (new) weapons


IX. TOO MUCH INFORMATION:

Possible future features:

1. LARGER LIBRARY

If need be I'll extend the laser library to include special weapons (i.e. PSGs, Ion Disruptors), custom weapons (from mods), and to have a more specific load management - like being able to use Beta PACs on one target type and swap out to Alpha PACs on another. Right now I'm trying to keep the library as general as possible. Weapon preferences can vary greatly between individuals but if there is a majority call for a library update, I'll gladly do one.

2. BLAH BLAH BLAH

The LWS was designed for player OWNED ships not the PLAYERSHIP, thus Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) was left out to streamline the weapon switching for ships. This results in the voice notification speaking whenever the player targets a new ship/station/etc., which may get very annoying. IFF may be included in a later version of the LWS to reduce this if players find they like using the LWS on their personal ships. (or we could replace the boardcomm voice with a really sexy voice that's nice to hear over and over and over... )

3. PIMP MY PARTICLE CANNON

Because the LWS doesn't work well with customised player loadouts in future I may program an exclusion feature, where LWS leaves some bays untouched. e.g. LWS will only swap in bays 1-4 and not touch bays 5-8 leaving bays 5-8 open to player customization. Again it's another feature that's planned only if a lot of players want to use LWS in their personal ships.

4. MIXED LOADS

If I ever figure out a way to remove weapons from the laser bay I'll make the LWS do it so that it can properly swap between a loadout of say 2 HEPTs and 4 PACs without leaving excess weapons in the bay.

-END-

[Xkaarj666]

Sounds like what i really need.
Not so long ago, i asked if my ships would do this, but soon it can .
Will the enemy AI benefit from this, and use a more variety of weaponry?
That would be cool. U see a lil yaki attavking u, first shredding ur shields wit a PBE and finisjing u whit HEPT or PAC or a hammerhead .

[al_main]

Might want to add that this script doesnt work with Xtended.

(Had a quick read through and noticed that you say it uses the same slot as unsigned MDM, which is also a slot used by Xtended)

[Laureati]

Haha, the system is not going to be THAT intelligent... yet. Yes I do have plans to include this for NPC AI, but right now I'm only allowing an on/off system for player and player-owned ships.

I'll begin to include the NPC AI version when I do some serious CPU load testing. If it's not too much of a hog then I'll include in my OCS version 1 (more on that once it's done).

The LWS system will not currently change weapons depending on the target ship's shield status. It merely chooses weapons based what weapons most players would use against a given ship. e.g. IREs against an M5 and HEPTS against an M6.

It's in my OCS version 1 that you'll see AI doing evil things like hanging on your 6 and sending a load of Wasp missiles up your backside at 500m (where Wasps do not spread, but fire in a tight group) after it's whittled your shields down to nothing with a pair of IREs.

However, there might be room for expansion of the logic system of the LWS.

Some people may not agree with the weapon choices I've had the system make so feedback at this time is critical. Changes for the laser selection would be simple to do, so OPINIONS ARE WELCOME!!!

[Laureati]

Might want to add that this script doesnt work with Xtended.

(Had a quick read through and noticed that you say it uses the same slot as unsigned MDM, which is also a slot used by Xtended)

Noted. I actually posted the Command type used near the top of the post so I could get informative heads up like this. Thanks.

[Laureati]

UPDATE UPLOADED

The new LWS v1.31 has been uploaded.

The links are in the top post. LWS v1.3 has been completely removed and is now no longer available.

For those that installed v1.3, don't worry. You do not have to uninstall, though that is preferable. You can simply overwrite all the older 1.3 files with the 1.31 files.

But please make sure to delete the 443575.xml in the "t" folder. This file has been changed to 447447.xml because of text file reservations.

Note: You cannot simply replace the 447447.xml file and NOT update the scripts to version 1.31. Version 1.3 does NOT recognise 447447 and will cause text errors to occur.

[ezra-r]

Oh noes another weapon switcher!! So much time looking for one, now I have 4!! now I cant decide! I want them all!!

My little treassssuressss..

Looks good, Im going to give it a try.

One of the most needed scripts for X3 no doubt.

[Laureati]

I've posted up 2 videos of the LWS in action. I kept them small WMV files (under 1 MB) which showcase 2 features of the LWS - the Intelligent Weapons Loading and the Automatic Energy Management System.

Videos are in the Downloads section of the top post.

Enjoy the preview!

[Sandalpocalypse]

nifty.

[Mailo]

Impressive. Nice touch posting the videos. Will have to give this a shot if I can get it to work with XTM. Also I haven't decided if I need Bunny's Weapon Changer script ... my Spitting Cobra is great, but it has only 4 front guns ...

[Laureati]

Thanks for the good words guys.

I'm assuming here that XTM is the abbreviation for the Xtended Mod. I've taken a look through the available COMMANDS and the ones Xtended uses, and I think I may have a fix... but I've been staring at code and wracking my brain already for the past few days writing the LWS... I wanna take a little breather first and enjoy some mindless entertainment this weekend.

Of course it someone else finds a nice open COMMAND that I can use to make it compatible with Xtended then that's just fine by me.

[Laureati]

GLITCH FOUND

There's a minor glitch involving turrets. This is most apparent in ships using a Mass Driver in the turret and having no other mass drivers on board. This prevents IREs from loading in some circumstances.

I've already written a fix for this, but will only release it after more testing. I'm hoping in that time a COMMAND number that's compatible with Xtended and most other scripts will come to light. (it seems the community mod sticky hasn't been updated in 6 months! sigh...)

So look out for version 1.4 which will be out soon. In the meantime avoid activating the LWS on Mass Driver turreted ships.

[Laureati]

VERSION 1.4 RELEASED

Version 1.4 is out and available for download. This version fixes the turret glitch. The LWS should now be completely problem free if proper loadout procedures are followed.

Hereafter, unless there is a technical problem with the LWS I'll focusing on the LWS weapons library.

The library determines which weapons are loaded and when. The library updates will depend heavily upon user feedback, so please let me know which weapons you think fit best for a given target.

Thank you.

[OrionTaltos]

It gave me the installed message in game (used the .spk because of laziness). But then I couldn't find it in the additionals. Took me awhile to think 'oh right there is a way to check' =\

The plugin manager is telling me there is a conflict at Ship_47 between the LWS (7447) and JMCorp's Auto Freight Scanner (7550).

Switched off the auto scanner and started again. And yup, found LWS in there. Tried removing the guns he was using and he kept putting back them, so good to go. Now I have got to find a place to test this pirate falcon wingman pack 4 AHEPTs, BPACs, and BIREs. MMD(c) to cover me, hornets in his tubes, and FCS Mk3, let's see if I can go make my computer explode when I have time to kill some OCS enemeis

[OrionTaltos]

Every time I load a game, I have a message that LWS was installed. It's been working great so far. I am simply wondering if I've fiddled with something that is causing it to repeat the install message each time.

My test wingman has been doing great. Though are there any situations in which LWS would choose Mass Drivers over a minimal power using weapon like BIREs?

In most cases my tester will blow through the shields of the target with AHEPTs or BPACs before his energy starts failing him and he switches to impulses to keep it up. (Though it makes it easier for me to cap a ship, and is kind of effective combined with Bail Signal Extension, lol).

[Laureati]

Every time I load a game, I have a message that LWS was installed. It's been working great so far. I am simply wondering if I've fiddled with something that is causing it to repeat the install message each time.

Yes, the message logs into the logbook at each startup. I didn't program in a redundancy checker for it, so it's working right. If it's a real bother I'll look into a way around it.

My test wingman has been doing great. Though are there any situations in which LWS would choose Mass Drivers over a minimal power using weapon like BIREs?

In version 1.4 the LWS will pick Mass Drivers instead of IREs in nearly every situation. Do you have mass drivers installed? It should be using them if you do.

In version 1.5 (WIP) it will have more features to enhance Mass Driver and HEPT use, but that'll have to wait a bit as I'm still working out the numbers.

[Dan]

Any news about using this script in XTM?

[Laureati]

I haven't received any information about an available COMMAND number that's compatible with XTM. XTM uses quite a lot of the available COMMAND numbers so it's a very time consuming process finding an available one that's also compatible with other mods.

If someone can give me an available COMMAND number then an XTM compatible version can be out in a few days. Otherwise I don't really have the time these days to trawl through all that information, sorry.

I'm sure if enough XTM users request for it the XTM development team will contact me about an available command number, or maybe just incorporate the script themselves.

[sorry, but I've got a massive workload until April 2008 and shan't be doing much on the mods until then]

[(----____JEFF____----)]

Well I've changed the script for use with XTM. I don't know about compatibility with other mods or scripts, but I have a lot of scripts so I think it should be compatible with most of them.
I've also added more weapons to the switcher and it takes distance and strength (vs hull as well as shield) into account. All weapons are included except the area effect weapons (ION, and the psg's) and the concussion impulse gen.
The only problems I have is:
1. Which weapon is the best to use versus what ship? I have made lists of all weapons in order: from worst to best. But I don't know if they are listed in the right order.
2. Maybe some optimizations for the library, it now consists of huge lists with "gosub" and "labels" to choose the best weapon, but I think there should be a better way. (I always thought that branches are to be avoided at all costs).

If someone can help me with that and testing it would be nice.

Only if Laureati allows me to release it of course.

PS: the cmd slot I use is ship_46. It is working but when the cmd is in use it shows up as the Otas ECM (don't know for sure about the ECM part). I have not tested a ship with that ECM thing to see if it conflicts, but the script editor says it shouldn't.

Edit: I've checked the "used cmd slots" list, and the only scripts that are using that slot are: Task Force Command by Myros / TerraCorps Fleet Package by Siath70. Both of which I don't have.

[Laureati]

I'll allow a release but please attribute as appropriate. So my guess here is that's it mainly a library update, with the actual working script still being the Apollyon 1.4?

If that's the case then why not do a full library release (under your name) for the LWS? I'll even host the library (it'll be attributed to you of course).

about your points.

1. Which weapon is the best to use versus what ship? I have made lists of all weapons in order: from worst to best. But I don't know if they are listed in the right order

1) weapon list in the original library was placed in a special order. Changing the order - I'm sure you're aware now - affects the system.
(I'm actually sitting on the 1.5 pending library feedback - which as you can see Jeff, was not a request many people came back to me on)
(1.5 also had a library update with a range system added)

2. Maybe some optimizations for the library, it now consists of huge lists with "gosub" and "labels" to choose the best weapon

2) I toyed with a few systems for the weapons library and found that the "gosub" branches was the most efficient for what I had in mind. I took into account the probability of mass amounts of LWS systems being run simulataneously, simplicity of use, effectiveness of the system, and streamlining the code as much as possible. If you check how the script actually runs you'll find it runs much shorter than it looks (about 1/10th of the actual script length). This system is actually the 3rd system I developed for weapons switching and it allowed every ship in the game to run the LWS (non-player AI included - over 1000 ships total in my test runs) without a performance problem. Of course if you find an even more efficent system that's great.


The problems you listed above were the very same problems I was tackling with, however it's hard to come up with a system that everyone's happy with without feedback. That's another reason I hadn't made an XTM compatible one (as a. I don't presently use XTM b. Without feedback I'd have to test all the new weapons myself... which would take forever).

PS: the cmd slot I use is ship_46. It is working but when the cmd is in use it shows up as the Otas ECM (don't know for sure about the ECM part).

Erm... that seems like a problem to me. It may just be a text problem though - did you change the text for ship_46 to "LWS"? Before doing that though I suggest to check if the Otas is part of XTM or just some left over relic from something else.

I've also added more weapons to the switcher and it takes distance and strength (vs hull as well as shield) into account.

If you've read the readme for the LWS I believe I mentioned something about the Apollyon Ballistic Computer (ABC). Here's what I propose -

The LWS was intended as a basic system for automatic weapons management, which is what it came as default on the FCS. The ABC was intended as a higher level system upgrade that included shield/hull calculations, higher level power control and ballistics (i.e. which weapon to use vs. target's shield strength vs. power drain vs. target speed to weapon speed ratio). Since I don't have the time right now... and since you're already working on something including shield calculations why not expand the LWS into the ABC?