[Mod-AP][In-Dev] X-Timelines: The Syndicate

[TrixX]

We have plan's for drones, lots of plans

As above we currently have a test build however it's very incomplete due to a slight issue we are having. However that should be cleared shortly.

There is a fair bit of work to balance missiles, you have to deal with turret turn rates, missile hitpoints, weapon fire speeds etc...
That's before you get to the damage
So yeah they can be balanced within the current framework. Will be looking at creating more that require a lock on (only torp's will be dumbfire) with a couple of heatseekers. If you invest in heavy ordinance, it should be relatively powerful too, so there is the cost vs size vs use aspect too. The way I look at them is they are more a high burst damage weapon rather than a sustained DPS weapon. Something to be used to take down something larger than the your current ship size.

So yeah I'm putting a lot of thought into them

[Jack08]

[Falcrack]

So, just curious, how are things going with XTL? Care to comment on some of the stuff you've been working on with it recently?

[TrixX]

Currently we are mostly helping XTC, but Zeron and Solek are making some great stations for us as we wait for a solution to our current delay (can't say more I'm afraid!). Also Lazar is producing some epic new ships for the Patrol (M6) and Destroyer (M7) class ships along with making the Zenith a reality.

I have a lot of missiles that are giving me a headache, but they should be all good in a week or two. The main issue is weapons and a few scripts that are delayed. Will have a big update once they get sorted

[UberWaffe]

I wasn't going to buy AP, and rather just skip to Rebirth. But I think this mod has changed my mind.

Sounds awesome. If you need help with anything, I am willing to help as far as I can. [EDIT]Once I get AP, in a week or two[/EDIT]
Have done some scripting, cat/dat editing (ships, lasers, missiles, etc.). But no modelling, and never released anything public.

Anyway, definitely grabbing this once it is available.


Questions on Economy:
1. Given the dll code being added, and the mention that the economy (production at least) is no longer dependant on RelVal... What determines a station's production speed and quantities (both consumed and produced)? (I assume the station size obviously still plays a role, but what else?)

2. Given the limit of 2 shipyards per race. How would a race 'expand' its economy into newly conquered sectors?
I am assuming ship production rates don't scale up the more sectors they annex (and thus economy 'demand' does not scale up), as that would make a race too dominant in the war once they gain ground. How will new demand (product sinks) be created?

[Attempt to sneak personal idea into mod]
(I was thinking more along the lines of a civilian/non-military line here, but...) I'm imagining that perhaps there would be some sort of trade station (product sink) equivalent (I vote for 'planetary docks' simulating planetside consumer consumption), that slowly consumes ('deletes') stocks. Say, one such dock per 4 sectors a race controls?
If its stock levels are above average (demand met), then its race gains a small bonus (like slightly higher pilot morale, or slight bonus to number of domination points they start with during a contested sector battle, or some such). Similarly, below average (demand not met) would imply penalties.
That way, an empire could 'overexpand' itself if it conquers too quickly (read player actions here), without building up its infrastructure, leaving it more vulnerable. (Again, I am thinking more a civilian/non-military economy here, as it would not influence chaos ship-eater economy.)
Personally, I would even make these stations consume products more rapidly according to how many sectors the race controls, making them eat very little when a race is weak, and massive loads when the race rules most of the galaxy. Simulating the 'we-are-weak-and-just-want-to-survive' vs. 'we-are-so-awesome-we-want-whatever-luxury-we-can-think-of-and-lots-of-it' mentalities.
Also, I really like the idea of pretending that there actually are colonies down there on the planets.
And yes, I realise this doesn't actually solve the expanding demand problem for the military side of things.
Though I would consider making these also consume some of the products needed for ship production (though very small amounts), so that an expanding empire without an expanding economy would actually be detremental to ship production as well.
And it will also solve, to some extent, the expanding demand problem for military economy. Which you probably fixed long ago anyway.
Anyway, I'm probably monologue-ing here.
[/Attempt to sneak personal idea into mod]

That is all for now.

[TrixX]

Wow lots of info there

Jack08 also wants to bring in planetary recognition/usage for economic reasons, but it's still in the 'if it can be done' stage. There are other aspects far more important than including planets in the economy.

As far as product sinks go, we are developing the mod in a way that has minimal need for them. Even with expansionistic Races it's not going to affect the economy of the races while expanding.

Relval's are Jack08's territory so I'll leave that explanation to him

[UberWaffe]

[TrixX]

No need to be like that, ideas are always welcome as are questions

Jack08 is in control of all economic coding and decisions, so I'll leave any explanation there to him.

[Falcrack]

I don't reember if you said Xenon will be in this mod or not. Anyways, I had an idea about a simplified economy for them.

Even though Xenon do not deal in petty things such as credits, they still must be able to make their ships out of something. However, being the highly efficient machines that they are, they only need 2 factories to make everything they need. First, they have mining ships to get ore from asteroids. Then they take the ore to a Xenon station. Goods from the Xenon station are shuttled to the Xenon shipyards, and assembled into ships there. The Xenon station is essentially a ore refinery and factory complex capable of making all of their ship and weapon needs. Ore in converted directly into such items as shields, lasers, and generic "Xenon ship components". The station has multilple production slots (maybe 10-15) which can be used to produce any item. The items chosen to be filled by those slots are the items which are lowest as a percentage of storage space available for it in the station inventory. So, items that are lowest in the inventory due to high demand at the shipyards will have an increasing number of productions slots devoted to their manufacture at the Xenon station.

Such an econimic model would, I think, work well with how the Xenon would likely operate. Or the Zenith.

[Jack08]

For the first release, The Xenon are just making ships from nothingness, but with the same timer restrictions as the rest of the races, is not totally unfair. This is how they will stay for now, they may be changed in a future release.

[Falcrack]

I don't wanna sound pushy, but is there any hope for a first release by the end of the month? My wife and baby are going on vacation for a couple weeks, leaving me at home with no one to ask me to get off the computer

[TouchMyNipple]

Jack, i wonder if it is possible to script in a smaler shipyard spawn for every, say, 5 new sectors ofr each race/corp. That could realy make for those new production lines.

[UberWaffe]

[Maeyanie]

[UberWaffe]