[MOD] Stronger Ship Hulls

[nidaren]

Hey Everyone!

Mod is savegame compatible and can be removed / added any time. However Titurel engine fix will only apply to newly built/spawned ships.

This mod strengthens the hulls of Large and Extra-large Ships, as well as fixes the engine legacy bug, causing Titurel to be slower than intended.

I have been toying around with the hull rates since the early release of 1.30 into beta and I wasn't happy with any ratios I've set. Finally, few days ago I have found a combination that seems to be working very well in the current game build, have been having tons of fun since then.

With few exceptions, I tried to keep Large ships below 3,5 mil hitpoints and XL ones above 6,0 mil.

There is also an optional mod that adds Shield Generators to these ships - Shields for Stronger Ship Hulls mod - requires this one to be installed as well.


Main Mod

• Large Ships::
  
  • Industrial Ships:
    • Mining Ships:- I felt these needed a bit of a buffage. New hulls will work very well, especially if you are planning to try mod that allows to obtain small/medium ships as escorts.
      • Boann new hull 3.2 mil (old hull 1.6 mil - 2x increase)
      • Midir* new hull 2.8 mil (old hull 1.4 mil - 2x increase)
      • Sequana* new hull 2.5 mil (old hull 1.1 mil - 2+x increase)
      • Fedhelm* new hull 2.8 mil (old hull 1.2 mil - 2+x increase)
      • Onil new hull 2.0 mil (old hull 0.6 mil - 2+x increase)
    • Freighters: - brought them all just above 3.0 mil (apart from DeVries models), they are a bit tougher, but still very susceptible for masses of small ships.
      • Rahanas [bulk/container/energy/liquid/hybrid] new hull 3.3 mil (old hull 1.3 mil - 2.5+x increase)
      • Hermod new hull 2.5 mil (old hull 1.1 mil - 2.2+x increase)
      • Lepton new hull 1.8 mil (old hull 0.6 mil - 3x increase)
      • Styrvok new hull 3.2 mil (old hull 0.9 -1.3 mil - 2.5-3x increase) [bulk/container/energy/liquid/hybrid]
      • Sanahar new hull 2.5 mil (old hull 1 mil - 2+x increase)
  • Combat Ships::
    • Carriers: - still feel these ones might need a bit of power, but sadly, they have lots of flaws in their design. I will apply some more shields for them later on.
      • Light Sul new hull 3.8 mil (old hull 1.6 mil - 2.3+x increase)
      • Heavy Sul new hull 5.5 mil (old hull 2.2 mil - 2.2x increase)
    • Frigate: - another one with some design flaws, I highly recommend the mod that totally revamps it
      • Balor new hull 2.0 mil (old hull 0.8 mil - 3.5x increase)
    • Destroyer:
      • Xenon K new hull 5.8 mil (old hull 2.9 mil)
      • Stromvok new hull 3.0 mil (old hull 1.4 mil - 2+x increase)
• XL Ships::
  • Industrial Ships:
    • Construction Vessels: - All construction ships belong to capital category and have close to none defences, they got minimal level hull from the capital bracket (apart from DeVries edition).
      • Construction Ship Albion / Omicrion Lyrae editions new hull 6.0 mil (old hull 1.4 mil - 4.2+x increase)
      • Construction DeVries edition new hull 4.8 mil (old hull 1.4 mil - 3.4+x increase)
    • Freighters: - My favourite category of all. Given some special treatment for Titurel (which engines are also fixed by this mod) - highly recommend using "Bulid Terran Ships" mod, works best with it. Especially if you are planning wandering off a bit from the storyline when gates to OL are still closed.
      • Scaldis new hull 6.0 mil (old hull 2.2 mil - 2.7+x increase)
      • Titurel new hull 6.3 mil (old hull 1.8 mil - 3.5x increase)
      • Super Freighter [/color] - new hull 5.7mil (old hull 1.1 mil - 5+x increase) Geometry has been added in last game patch, but cargo modules are still only placeholders. 3 versions present.
  • Combat Ships:
    • Sucellus - love this ship, will be defo buffed somehow with shields! new hull 6.8 mil (old hull 2.7 mil - 2.5+x increase)
    • Gangrene Chaser - 7.2 mil (old hull 4.3 mil - 1.6+x increase)
    • Taranis - 7.8 mil (old hull 2.1 mil)
    • new in 2.0 Olmekron - 8.4 mil (old hull 5.2 mil)
    • Arawn - 14.4 mil (old hull 6 mil)
    • Fulmekron - 13.3 mil (old hull 8.2 mil)
    • Xenon I - 44 mil (old hull 22 mil) 2+x increase

Optional Shield Gens - checking if still needed in 3.53

Just proceed to here Shields for Stronger Ship Hulls mod and subscribe after installing main mod.


Titurel Engines Fix - checking if still needed in 3.53

Titurel is expected to perform at 70 m/s - sadly it never happens, due to the fact that it has been supplied with different types of engines:

1 x 70 m/s (correct one)
4 x 28 m/s (mistake)
1 x 40 m/s (mistake)

it also uses L boosters instead of intended XL ones.

here is the confirmation from the Egosoft representative Kelthur in the thread discussing this issue.

"The Titurel using engines with different properties is a mistake. The engine_size_l_03_macro.xml and engine_size_m_03_macro.xml macros are deprecated and will be replaced with proper engines (the fix will likely be delayed and part of an upcoming balancing patch)."

This bug causes Titurel to perform at half the speed and maneuverability at best, as game averages the properties of all engines and only after results with the outcome we can observe in game. The UI information in the details menu is also wrong, as it only gives the specs of the mainsail engine, while the real performance is much slower. You can read more on it in the thread linked above.

The best way to observe and reproduce this behavior is to compare Titurel with ship similar in performance -Scaldis (64 m/s)

Mod changes:

• unifies the engines properties used in Titurel, to ensure nominal performance (and as originally intended by Devs):
  • creates new, Titurel specific, M engine type (in place of not intended 4 x 28 m/s), not to conflict with other ships that may use the same macro of the replaced one. New engine follows the specs of the mainsail.
  • replaces the L slow engine with the mainsail XL engine (fits perfectly as the space was originally planned for it)
  • Not really a big change, but you can now observe all the animations from rear engines as both XL mainsails are present.
• fixes the booster type to the correct XL one.

I have been testing the ship for several days and being very happy with it.

Please, do let me know if there is anything in the mod that needs changing.

Q: How to get Titurel ?

• You can capture it in game and Build Styrvok Ships and Titurel

Download

• Steam Workshop

My other X-Rebirth mods:

• Steam Workshop

Hope you will have fun!

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

Thanks

I enjoyed using this mod with your optional shield mod over the weekend.

A suggestions for future consideration: If you come to look at the K, perhaps it could have an XL tank like the Gangrene Chaser/Raptor. The new K looks awesome but it seems to have been nerfed a bit.

[nidaren]

Thanks

I enjoyed using this mod with your optional shield mod over the weekend.

A suggestions for future consideration: If you come to look at the K, perhaps it could have an XL tank like the Gangrene Chaser/Raptor. The new K looks awesome but it seems to have been nerfed a bit.

Thanks for the PM - I have fixed the Download mention in the post body

As for the K ship - seems like a good idea. I also need to figure out the proper one for Xenon ships. Probably a new category of shield generators, I just don't want to make them too OP.

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

You're welcome, and thanks for thinking about the K

[Wana]

Hi nidaren.

I admit you make a nice job with those shields on capitals.
I use your stronger hulls/shield mods, plus the tougher stations and other standards.

But i'm also used to play with fight reloaded main features (removed mission part, cause i have butter mission/reward)

when i come to comparison, i admit i prefer hulls on FightReloded side, it's even higher and stronger, and also because Xenons are not a threat with your mod.

today, i merged those two mods. It means it get all the hull, fx, range and propulsion engines from fight reloaded, with your titurel's fixes, and Shields generator.

For the K, i tweaked this ship a little more, giving it 14M hull (11M in F:R) and a nice military shield from your mod.
Now any Taranis should be afraid of solo-engaging Xenon Capitals.

So Thank you for making this game harder and funnier

Oh, i almost forgot, i'm not using Egosoft Rebalance mod. Capitals ships are still carebears.

[nidaren]

Updated the mod to 1.03, adding xenon ships as well as securing compatibility with 3.53.