XRM (1.29)-AP (3.0): Three Wise Men [DiD]

[Mythrantar]

Hello everyone!

I have finally decided to go ahead with any idea I had for a DiD game (my first one ever!). This is a heavily modded game, based on XRM 1.29c. I would like this to be both a creative outlet but also a showcase of some really awesome mods. Here's the complete list of mods:

- XRM 1.29
- XRM High Hulls
- XRM IEX
- Custom made "Anonymous Terran" start (a combination of XRM's versions of Anonymous Argon and Terran Defender starts, with only nominal Terran standing)
- LoCo for XRM+IEX
- Bounce
- Anarkis
- Pirate Guild (medium, neutral)
- Yaki Armada (neutral)
- Phanon Corp for XRM
- Improved Khaak v2 (initially deactivated; will turn on when further in the game if I make it that far)
- Revelation (using Alkeena's XRM adaptation - also for late game, so inactive at first)
- Abandoned ship spawner
- Blacklist Manager
- Cheat package (safety measure for any bugs/mod-related issues)
- Community Plugin Configuration
- Advanced complex hub
- Complex Cleaner
- CSecG
- Drone Carrier Software
- Detector 1.7
- Dock lock-up fix
- Emergency Jump
- Enhanced mission briefings
- Freight Distribution Network Light
- Free Jump for AIs (less cheaty version)
- Galaxy Explorer
- No rep loss on gate collisions
- Improved Boarding
- Marine repairs and training
- Optimized MK3s
- Mobile Mining MK2
- OK Traders
- Pure X HUD v2
- Quantico Marine Base
- Organic Boron Hulls
- Mosquito defense
- Missile safety
- Space Suit survival kit and ejector
- Xenon/Khaak/Yaki/Pirates Ranking
- Repair ships command
- Pandora tuning ejector
- Safe undocking
- Salvage Claim Software
- Salvage Commands and NPCs
- Smart Turrets
- Sector Take Over
- Slow notoriety (33%)
- Super Script Killer (in case there are script issues due to the large number of mods)
- Terran Revitalization Project missions (adapted by me to be enabled with XRM starts)
- Turbo booster
- Turret on/off
- Universal Best Buys and Sells

Although I have been playing for a while, I have never made it to mid/late-stage game due to various RL issues. However, I think this is helpful as I would like this DiD to be from the eyes of someone who started his career in space because of an inheritance; therefore a lot will be brand new to him.

Now the rules:

1. All career paths are open, though I don't think my character will be too eager to get into combat when he starts (he is a n00b afterall!).
2. Fighters can be repaired with the suit laser up to 75% (100% only with credits).
3. Medium sized ships can be repaired up to 25% with the laser (basically restoring force fields/bulk heads and basic power) but up to 100% with credits or marines ("engineering crews").
4. Large ships can only be repaired with credits or with marines ("engineering teams").
5. Reloads only if the computer crashes or due to autopilot stupidity.
6. Smart Turrets enabled for NPCs.
7. NPC Slavagers enabled (60min window).
8. NPC Boarding parties enabled.
9. NPC defending marines enabled ("few").
10. Phanon corp enabled from the start.
11. Revelation and improved khaak are for mid- to late-game stages so won't be enabled in the beginning.
12. Anarkis enabled for Pirate Guild and Yaki Armada.
13. Pirate Guild allowed to destroy stations and set to friendly with Yaki Armada.
14. XRM Terran-Argon war disabled.
15. Non-Terran ship purchases only after hitting at least Rank 5 with said race (the war has just ended, so plenty of distrust around). Of course, boarding is ok!

I think that's it for now. If anyone is interested enough to suggest any other rules, I am all ears.

Thanks!

[vukica]

make sure you use LoCo IEX patch
otherwise the new sectors will look silly.

[Mythrantar]

01. Humble Beginnings

As I sit in the cockpit of my newly-acquired Sabre, I have to try my hardest not to feel overwhelmed by a combined feeling of awe, excitement and trepidation. How am I supposed to learn all this! I have not fired a fighter weapon ever before! What did I get myself into? And to think it all started 3 days ago...

After a long day operating an atmospheric lifter in Titan, Saturn's moon, I made it to my apartment in the orbital station. I went through my messages (the news that the Terran-Argon War had just ended was all over the news) when my eye caught a message from "B.A. and Associates, attorneys at law". I was about to delete it, thinking it was probably yet another ad to seek legal recourse in case I had been ran over by a car, bitten by an Agnu or had extreme perspiration from eating too many C-rations. However, something made me to actually open the message.

It turned out that it was a notice that I was the last living relative of an uncle thrice removed from my mother's brother side and as a result I had inherited a small number of credits, along with a privately-owned Sabre-class fighter. However, I needed to claim it from its berth in the USC Orbital Logistics Dock in Uranus within the next 72 hours, otherwise the Terran military would repo it. I read the message again and again, and even ran a tracer to confirm its origin (lately, emails from alleged Martian deposed Princes promising riches if you would only make a small friendly deposit are all the rage in the Galnet) but it all seemed legit.

"Why not?", I thought. I have always wanted to take a trip to Uranus so this was as good a reason as any. Three days later, here I am. The credits were indeed legit, as was the ship. The temptation to sell it an be done with is is great. It would fetch a really good price and would allow me to live a comfortable, albeit boring, life. And yet, as I sit here, Uranus starts filling up the viewport and I find myself holding my breath at the site.

The ship was reasonably equipped. Only 2 EMPCs and a couple of Poltergeists but fully upgraded engine and rudder, 20 KJ of shielding and a nice array of upgrades. Sure, I could cash out, but fate has thrown this opportunity at me. A wise man had once said that "One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes".

I punched a few buttons at the console and Betty chimed: "Transfer completed. Please stand-by for the launch sequence". I can't believe I am doing this...


Assets and standings:
------------------------------
57,205 credits
1x Sabre "Opportunity"

[Mythrantar]

02. Getting my bearings...

So here I find myself flying around the sector, trying to decide what to do next. It quickly becomes painfully obvious that if I really want to be able to do anything I need more credits. It is crazy how much things cost in space! But even if you have the money, you might still not be able to buy anything because you have not made it far enough into the state approval list. Therefore, the immediate goal become quickly obvious: 1. Raise money; 2. Raise my reputation with the Terran authorities; 3. ????; 4. Profit!

I use the ship's console to check the local market and I notice that there is a need for some energy cells and water in the sector. My Sabre does not have a lot of cargo space, but it is fast and agile. First order of business was to expand the available cargo to the max. Once that is done (and half my starting funds gone) I got to my merry way, ferrying cargo back and forth.

It does not take long to realize this is going to be boring and slow! Thankfully, a local was offering a mission to transfer a number of water bottles to their local station. I happily accept and a few minutes later I collect my reward, but most importantly a received a nice boost in my reputation. I guess she knew the right people ad put a good word out for me.

At this point, I decided to do some exploration. One of the good things about owning your own ships is that you can go anywhere you want without needing to buy tickets! Off I go then, to explore the outer Sol. The trip is mostly uneventful until I reach Jupiter. What in the name of...

A Khaak battle group in Jupiter?! So much for all the stories about the Khaak being all but defeated. An advanced destroyer and two frigates make this very painfully obvious, and the Terran Navy is nowhere to be found. As I feel cold sweat rolling on my back, I decided to take a looooooong detour, confident in the speed of my ship. The bugs seem to be happy to just sit in the middle of the sector swatting away at anything that gets within range and leave me alone as I leave the sector.

A few stiff drinks later at the local logistics station, I feel brave enough to continue my exploration. Next stop: Oort Cloud

The exotic beauty of this place is mind-boggling. I just spend a few minutes sitting there, taking in the sites. The heaviness of the insignificance of a single individual when compared with the vastness and beauty of the cosmos is almost unbearable. With some effort, I cleared my head and set course for the nearest station. It was time to call it a day.

Assets:
---------
57,405 Credits
1x Sabre "Opportunity"

[Kirlack]

Good start, and nice story! Welcome to the Creative Universe

Wow. Your Oort Cloud looks amazing! Is that the IEX for XRM?

[Mythrantar]

Thanks for the welcome, Kirlack! Yep, that's IEX. It adds such an awesome dimension to the game that words cannot describe it.

[Triaxx2]

Added to the DiD list.

Is that the AP UI? Or from one of the mods?

[Mythrantar]

Added to the DiD list.

Is that the AP UI? Or from one of the mods?

Thank you! The UI is the Pure HUD v2. It works with both TC and AP.

[Triaxx2]

I'm going to have to give that a try. It looks awesome.

[Mythrantar]

03. The universe is a big (and scary) place!

After a nice rest in the heart of the Oort Cloud (I just had to splurge for a room with a nice view!), I was back again aboard "Opportunity" to continue my exploration and mapping of the Terran systems. The first half of the trip was pretty uneventful although I have to admit I was surprised I was allowed entry to McCallum relay - then again I was not much of a threat. A few hops over and I found myself at the Asteroid belt. The one thing I noticed was that despite the truce, the Argon and Terran Navy still are at its other's throat. You'd think with threats like the Khaak and the Xenon they'd know better than wasting resources like that...

Well, it worked for me because I found out that I can actually make a fortune from collecting salvage. Missiles, energy cells and the like make for some nice free credits and reputation to boot. Mars was no better, with more fights (and free salvage)! It's pretty clear that space is a dangerous place. The two EMPCs that came with the Sabre are too slow for my liking. Sure, they pack a punch but considering that I cannot yet aim and hit the broad side of a Valhalla they are completely useless. So, I sold them for a quad of EMRs: over 3 times the rate of fire of the EMPCs, at 2/3rds the damage for only a fraction of the energy consumption and a fraction of the cost. Selling the EMPCs left me with 600K credits: the seed money for my next ship upgrade.

Onwards and deeper into the inner Sol, through Venus (with a brief stop by Mercury), the Moon and finally Earth. I had not visited tha planet after the destruction of the Torus and it certainly invoked some painful memories. On the other hand, it seems that the reconstruction process had already begun, and that was a good thing.

At any rate, back to my mapping task; I remembered that there was a gate in Neptune that led to Althes and the Aldrin colonies so I figured I should head that way. I was starting to get bored, when in Aldrin 2 womething weird showe dup on my scanners: a "Fighter" with no other markings, off the beaten path. I decided to explore and steered "Opportunity" closer - soon enough I was within visual range and my jaw dropped...

An abandoned, deactivated Khaak fighter sitting there for the taking. At first I was wary of a trap, but after a few minutes of no activity I decided to take the risk. I hopped off the sabre in my space suite (and was almost barely able to hold down my lunch) and took over the fighter's control systems. Sure enough, control was fully transferred to me; I quickly headed back to the Sabre and used the console to see what kind of equipment came with the Khaak fighter.

I whistled softly: 3 Beta Kyons and 3 25MJ shields, along with 5 fighter drones and some missiles. This was quite the find and it would be sure to fetch a pretty penny, although I had no idea what its market value was. At any rate, I directed the remote systems to fly the ship back to the Saturn shipyard for safe keeping until I had time to look into this further. I could not wipe the grin off my face: things were looking up!

Regardless, a few more sectors explored (man, Aldrin is huuuuuuge) as well a bunch of lost colonies that were recently re-discovered by the Aldrin expedition (Hades Alpha surely deserves its name) I decided that I had enough and that I needed to go back into improving my standing with the Terran government; my initial plan was to purchase a Baldric, which required about 800K credits and Rank 4 but I decided to opt for the Baldric Super Freighter instead. Sure, it meant that I need to raise 2.4mil (not including any additional equipment) and get my Terran Rank to 5, but to me it made far more sense: bigger ship, bigger hold, better defenses and the ability to fit a jumpdrive (oh yeah!).

The numbers made my head spin. 5 days ago I was a lowly atmo-lifter operator and now I am thinking in terms of millions of credits! Anyhoo, off I went playing taxi. The Sabre's speed was very useful and I was able to soon hit Rank 4, although I did have a couple of cases were the potential customers refused to use my services because it was too cramped. Well, I am sure they are still waiting!

While driving people around, I got the appraisal report for the Khaak fighter from Saturn: it was worth a cool 3.4 million, even though it was at 75% hull! I rubbed my hands in satisfaction as I already had the capital I needed to grow my operation. I was not going to sell it right away, but if I needed to I knew I had a fallback plan.

I was getting close to Rank 5 and I could already visualize me piloting the Super Freighter (Trucks in Spaaaaace!) when a setback occured: I decided to accept a mission from a random guy who wanted his abandoned Baldric delievered from Saturn 2 to Uranus. However, the damn thing was heavily damaged and it did not make it to the target destintion in time (only a few minutes short!) and the owner send me an angry message about failing him. I was not too heart-broken about it, but then to my surprise the police showed-up and obliterated the Baldric. I could not help but cringe at the action: so that guy would rather have his ship destroyed than delievered late; what a moron! However, the nasty side-effect was that this cause my reputation with the Terran government to drop by a whole rank!

I was livid, but I decided not to let my anger get the best of me. So, I decided to take a break from driving people around (the last thing I needed was another accident involving paying customers) and I headed south to Heretic's End with the aim of checking out the Argon space further out.

Once again the Argons and the Terrans were duking it out at Heretic's End (truce, yeah right...). Still, it meant plenty of salvage for me which I put to good use. With the area clear, I jumped into Circle of Labor where more fighting was goign on (what a surprise!). Again, more salvage to be had and the opportunity to establish some trading realtionships witht he local station. Once more though, my scanners picked up something strange. Stories of UFOs have been part of humanity's lore since time immerial but I would never though I would actually see one!

Slighlty rattled, I headed back to Terran space and dropped off the last of my salvaged cargo at the USC Defense Station in Mars. There, I decided that it was time for a few drinks and some rest. Still though, dreams of an empire had begun to form in my head.

Assets and standings:
----------------------------
1x Sabre (M4) - "Opportunity"
- 5x 5MJ Shields
- 4x Electro-Magnetic Repeaters
- Max tunings
- Assortment of extensions

1x Khaak Fighter (M3) (75% hull)
- 3x 25MJ Shields
- 3x Beta Kyon Emmiters
- 5 fighter drones
- Assortment of missiles and extensions

709,862 Credits

[vukica]

moar!

makes me wanna hava a terran restart.

[Mythrantar]

04. Who wants to be a millionaire? (Me!)

A new day, another task. This time I was deteremined to make the Terrans happy enough that they are willing to sell me a Baldric Super Freighter. Hence, I once again wore my driver's hat and scoured Sol for people looking for a ride. Thankfully, I was able to find some and soon enough I hit the coveted Rank5. Great success!

With the goal accomplished, it was time to strat raising capital for the ship, equipment and first haul. I was tempted to sell my salvaged Khaak Fighter but I just could not bring myself to do it. So, I'll have to do it the old-fashioned way. Now, ferrying people around isn't such a great money maker, and good ol' "Opportunity" does not have enough cargo space to make transporting goods anythning other than an exercise in frustration. Therfore, I went back to what I found works wonderfully: salvager!

Knowing that the Terran and Commonwealth fleets were going to be at each other's throat (this 'peace" was shorter-lived than matter/anti-matter co-existence), I set course for Circle of Labor. While in Venus, my IFF console started blinking red. A Tanditech Vulture TS had been marked as a foe, which meant that I was marked as foe on their IFF transpoder. I found this most curious as I could not think of any reason whay that would be the case, unless my good ol' uncle had a history with them. At any rate, I decided to read their latest financial report: 3 military assets, 4 industrial assets and about 1 million liquid credits. I should keep an eye out for these guys; I have a feeling our paths will cross again in the future.

Moving on, as I expected, there was plenty of salvage to be found i Heretic's End and Circle of Labor which I collected and dropped off at the Mars Orbital Defense Station, over the course of the next few hours. Once these sectors were clear, I decided to venture deeper into Commonwealth space: enter Omicron Lyrae.

Aparrently, the Argon were more busy trying (and failing) to get into Heretic's End than trying to fend off the combined USC/ATF Taskforce laying waste to Omicron Lyrae. Upon entering the sector, I was greeted by a the bright light of an exploding Argon station. I couldn't help but feel both awed and terrified at the destructive power of the Terran ships. I should also admit that I felt slighlty proud of the performace of my compatriots' fleet, even as as I was appaled at the loss of life. Ah, the joys of the human condition!

Regardless, as the Terran taskforce continued its rampage in Omicron Lyrae, I carried on with my task. Once the hold was full I set course back to Mars, full speed. Thankfully I made it in one piece (while also passing by that same Tanditech hauler) with my precious cargo. I hit up the weapons delare then who was more than happy to purchase my assortment of missiles. At the end of the transaction, I checked my balance and a could not help but grin like an idiot: it was a 7 digit balance - I was a millionaire!

Assets and standings:
----------------------------
1x Sabre (M4) - "Opportunity"
- 5x 5MJ Shields
- 4x Electro-Magnetic Repeaters
- Max tunings
- Assortment of extensions

1x Khaak Fighter (M3) (75% hull)
- 3x 25MJ Shields
- 3x Beta Kyon Emmiters
- 5 fighter drones
- Assortment of missiles and extensions

1,124,259 Credits

[Kirlack]

Congrats on breaking the 1 million mark!

[Sabrina Bergin]

my advice keep the khaak fighter.

once you get a phq you can re then its yours forever.

[Mythrantar]

05. On the shoulders of titans

With a cool billion in the bank, it was time to redouble my efforts towards acquiring the Baldric Super Freighter. I needed to raise the required capital and I needed to have sufficient standing. To that goal, I spent a few hours travelling around Sol and the near Argon Space looking for salvage jobs and courier missions. Sure, they were not the most glamorous jobs, but they sure paid well and made the Terrans and Argons like me more. As I was flying around I realized that I had gotten used to the speed of my Sabre. The prospect of flying a space truck at 68 m/sec hauling stuff around started to sound a lot boring that I thought initially. Of course this meant one thing: I would need to hire someone. In other words, I would have to create my very own corporation!

As I mulled over this exciting idea, I found my way at Treasure Chest. The USC/ATF Task Force was once more laying waste to whatever crossed its path. After a couple of salvage ops I then hopped over to Black Hole Sun, a veritable fortress. Suddenly, my IFF started beeping an alarm about a new contact that had just entered through the North gate. I activated my video goggles for a visual inspection: Mother of god…
The massive Xenon capital ship lazily moved through the sector although surprisingly enough it did not engage anything. Instead, it made a beeline to the Southern gate and soon disappeared through it. I stood there staring at the screen, my thoughts back to the Argon-Terran war and how wasteful it was, instead of focusing their efforts to stopping the real threats in the universe. I had not quite finished my ruminations when the Terran task force entered the sector as well. Sure enough, another skirmish ensured, although this time it pitted the Terran flagship against the Argon one. Despite a valiant effort, “Atlas” finally succumbed to the withering fire of the “Lasting Vengeance”, although not before causing severe damage to the Terran ship. It seemed that once more the USC/ATF fleet would go on a rampage unchecked, when a new threat emerged.

I decided that it was time I left. I headed towards a nearby station for a quick resupply, and I docked just as the Terran command ship went up in flames, right after the Xenon capital ship’s hull buckled. I then hightailed it back to Treasure Chest. Once more I felt sick to my stomach at what I had observed. It had become painfully obvious to me that I had to something about this situation and that I could not rely on the USC or the Commonwealth to provide an effective counter against the menace of the Khaak, the Xenon and the Pirates. In the span of a few moments, I had become a man on a mission: I would establish a corporation that would become a financial and military powerhouse that would bring peace an order in a lawless universe. Peace and stability though superior firepower…

I was getting close to my goals, however the universe kept mocking me. While near Saturn, a recently bought ship upgrade (the “Detector”) started beeping that it had located a curious signature. Triangulating the signal I was finally able to get close to the source, which soon filled my viewport: a ghost ship. What was this Yaki Ryu abandoned? How did it find itself so deep within Terran space? Regardless it was just sitting there ready for the taking. I suited up and went on a space walk, hoping to find a hatch that would allow me to enter the ship and take control, and yet despite my best efforts it was shut tightly, sitting there and mocking me. I shook my fist and made my way back to “Opportunity”. It did not matter, I told myself; it was only a minor setback.

I found a few more abandoned ships in Commonwealth space with the Detector: another Khaak Fighter, a Demeter Tanker, a Marlin bomber, and a Dolphin Tanker. I used the remote control systems to send to the Mars shipyard as I was not in good enough terms with the Argon to sue their facilities, however only the Dolphin and the Khaak fighter made it; the rest of my acquisitions fell prey to marauding pirates (they will pay for this!). The Dolphin though was a prize as it contained a full set of anti-boarding defenses and more importantly a Mk3 trade software!
While I was waiting for the Dolphin to make it to Mars shipyard, I spent time interviewing pilots for my soon-to-be had Super Freighter. After a few failed ones, I eventually found my pilot: Marelle Sillarn, a highly experienced freighter pilot that was looking a job outside of the major corporations. We spent a lot of time chatting and she told me plenty of stories. We agreed on the salary and all we needed was the ship.

To make a long story short, the Dolphin Tanker made it to Mars intact. I transferred the equipment to the Khaak fighter temporarily then sold it for a 6 million credits. Finally! I walked to the showroom and bought my Baldric Super Freighter. I splurged on the full upgraded model sporting 1GJ of shielding, a pair of Starburst cannons and fully tuned. Thus was the “Flying Dutchman” created, and was soon headed to Neptune by Marelle to begin its trading runs.

My corporation had been established, but I needed a name…

Assets and standings:
----------------------------
1x Sabre (M4) - "Opportunity"
- 5x 5MJ Shields
- 4x Electro-Magnetic Repeaters
- Max tunings
- Assortment of extensions

1x Baldric Super Freighter – “Flying Dutchman” (Pilot: Marelle Sillarn)
- 5x 200MJ Shields
- 2x Starburst Shockwave Cannons
- Max tunings
- Assortment of extensions, including Trade Software MK 3

1x Khaak Fighter (M3) (75% hull)
- 3x 25MJ Shields

667,272 Credits

[vukica]

is this still alive?

[Mythrantar]

It is, just a combination of crazy busy life and also the fact that the start is too slow and I don't see the point of a sries of posts saying "Hey, I now have my 2nd Super Freighter" etc. So, I am giving it some time for things to build so I can have a worthwhile post. I am glad I have at least one reader though!

[Poseidon]

We're here! We're reading! Looking forward to a new chapter once meatworld responsibilities are mitigated. :-p

[jo_dus]

Same here. Really looking forward to the next chapter.

[Stockinger]

Hi Mythrantar,

I'm really looking forward to your next chapters.

Your DiD is the reason why I'm finally planning to start a new campaign with AP 3.0 & XRM.
May I ask you to share your adapted Terran Revitalization Project missions as i want to build my game according to your modlist!?

I would really appreciate it!