[Mods] First Person Gameplay Overhaul

[UniTrader]

These Mods intend to improve upon the current First Person Gameplay, but will not do things which are against the Intention of the Creators of XR. Since the Intention for all these Mods is the same and they are designed to be used together (or at least not to conflict) i will cover them in one Topic.

Faster Dialogue

Download: github - latest (Download ZIP on the right)

This Mod makes Dialogue menu Navigation faster by displaying the next dialoge choices immediately instead of waiting for the Characters finishing talking.
Note that i have not touched the Plot Dialogue, because these are very extensive and you usually only hear them once - oppsed to the regular Gameplay Dialogue.

this Mod does not require any Text Files or Translations - all Text is taken from the Game itself (except for the content.xml)

=====================

SkillWhatever (need suggestions for better name)

Download: github - latest (Download ZIP on the right)

This Mod makes use of the Skills the Player has (like all other Entities) - you start with 0 Skill Points in every aspect and will improve them with certain NPC Interactions, currently:
=> Hiring someone (1 Skill point more)
=> Smalltalk with Hireable NPCs (depending how you perform up to 3 Skill points more - 1 for regular smalltalk without mistakes, 1 for hard smalltalk without mistakes and 1 for very good hard smalltalk with a slight mistake)
-> more suggestions welcome
the Skill which is improved depends on the NPC you interacted with - it will always be one of his relevant Skills
When you gained a Star your current Skills will be displayed in the Info Window on the top right
Your Total Skill is currently capped at 25 Stars - you cannt get more, but you can re-distribute them when you reached this cap by performing the aforementioned actions (for every Star gained another will be lost )

when your Skill is the same or higher than the potential employees (only the relevant ones) you will know his Skills immediately when you speak to him personally. More Ideas what could be done with this welcome

this Mod does not require any Text Files or Translations - all Text is taken from the Game itself (except for the content.xml)

=====================

Platform/Bridge Commands

Download: github - latest (Download ZIP on the right)

Usage: Just dock at one of your Capships, look at the Direction of some PoI/Objects, Press the Sector Map Hotkey - and instead of the usual Sector Map you fet a Command Menu to give the Ship you are currently on Commands related to the Objects you are looking at
For better usage an updated Version of my Skunk Removal/Viewing Platform Micro-Mod has been included.
Commands available:
1 - Follow Ships
2 - Advanced Commands (independent of Target: Hold Pos; follow Skunk; Withdraw Battle; Patrol Zone)
3 - Attack - If no Enemies were selected it gives the possibility to Attack friendlies
4 - Move to Zone/Sector/Cluster
5 - Move to Station (Planned: bring up Trade Menu instead or something like this)
6 - Fly in this Direction

Each Option presents up to 6 Objects for the selected Action, if only one is found it will be selected immediately, otherwise the exact Object is asked for. (except for attack friendlies, this will always require a second confirmation)
To be included in the List Objects have to be in Radar Range of the Ship. For Command 1 and 3 Big Objects are preffered so small ships will be omited if 7 Objects or more are found.
For better Differentiation between Objects and Player Info a Distiance Indicator is now in front of the Object Name.
You can also Select other Zones and Sectors if they are known to you (and you know their Direction ) - the angle for detection are far bigger than for Objects so the rough direction is enough. for example looking anywhere on the Moon in Albion selects both Sectors inside.
To fly to another Cluster select the Gate connecting the current Zone with it.

=====================

Itemtrade Overhaul
Download: github - latest (Download ZIP on the right)

Usage:
Just do your Itemtrade as Usual and notice that the Stocks and Prices now follow a System instead of being completely random.

How it works:
Each Ware gets some Stations in the Universe assigned (currently completely Random, but the Code for adding Criteria for Selection per Ware is already in Place - just need some input what the criteria should be) which are either Source or Sink. The Prices and Stock Levels depend on the Distance from the nearest Source and the Distance to the nearest Sink. Also on the Source and Sink Stations you can find the best offers for the respective Ware.

ToDo:
-> Re-Shuffle Source and Sink Stations regulary (currently its only done once on Installation)
-> Add criteria for the Source and Sink Stations so they are chosen more logically (depending on Space (Sector/Zone/Cluster), Station Macro and/or Station Owner )
-> Add some further Bonusses for Item Trading? (like Efficiency Bonus for a Station)

[w.evans]

This is very cool. Thanks, UniTrader! Downloaded and shunted straight to the dissection table (cloned first, and the clone now resides in extensions).

[oliverjanda]

Wow! nice work!
Can't you bind it to the sidebar?

[UniTrader]

any delay would be counter-productive when you try to target fast things or the Ship is currently turning.. with my current approache the possible targets are aquired when opening the map and the selection is presented when closing it, but for the sidebar it would introduce a delay between when the sidebar is opened (and the look will be fixed) and the moment when the menu item is selected (which is afaik the earliest point it would make sense to aquire targets because it causes a very short freeze) - and also i know nothing about lua.

[YorrickVander]

Tidy, saves me redoing copilot convo for the newer command style in 3.0+

If you'd like a sidebar made for it, do say. It's easily done and doesn't need to be tied to any other mods. Changing the menu options depending on location - on skunk, cap, station etc - or other variables from xml is a little more involved but pretty easy to achieve and understand your end for future changes.

[UniTrader]

well, the point of this Project is to simply give commands without first having to navigate through a Menu to make clear that you want to give a Command - some kind of hotkey is imo the only suitable method for this. Also i doubt that the Hotkeys on Platforms will be that demanded whe EGO implements custom Hotkeys, its probably the Space or General ones for which you wish you hade a bigger Keyboard

and regarding Copilot Convo: i wanted to look into that anyway at some point in the near fututre because i will concentrate on First Person Gameplay Mods for the next Weeks and having the Copilot and other Crew also disembark the Skunk when docked is planned at some point.. and also to make the Copilot more useful by making her do more than just hold up menus ^^

[UniTrader]

***Added something new***


i am re-using the Topic of my Bridge Command Mod since it was the first in a Series of Mods i want to work on to improve First-Person Gameplay - since they will be designed to be used together (or at least not to conflict) i will cover them all in this Topic together.

[UniTrader]

Bridge Commands Updated (proper Release, no longer a Demo):

New Features:
-> Hotkey now properly Stolen, no longer opens the Map
-> Implemented Fly To Position and Follow Commands
-> Added Distance Indicator to all Objects to differ between them
-> Object Scan Distance and Fly To Distance depends on Radar Range

not implemented / ToDo:
-> Sorting by Distance - EGO should provide proper Sort Functions first
-> Station Interaction instead of Fly To
-> EDIT: proper Language File - all Text is Hardcoded for now

next Project is to make the Crew of the Skunk disembark when you are Docked so you wont feel lonely


PS alls Projects here are Debuglog-clean - they just spew a few unavoidable messages on Startup, but are silent after that. When you notice any more Errors from an Extension here in the Debuglog please let me know because i really care about this
Unavoidable Messages (Note: also includes my Faction/Player Logo Mod ):

Code: Select all

Logfile started, time Mon Apr 06 01:58:48 2015
[General] XCreateD3DDevice()
[General] Creating universe from map 'blackgalaxy_macro'
[General] XCreateD3DDevice()
[General] Creating universe from map 'xu_ep1_universe_macro'
[General] ======================================
[=ERROR=] CheckGzipHeader() not a gzip source buffer, magic bytes don't match!
[General] ======================================
[General] ======================================
[=ERROR=] Error loading MD file extensions\UTBridgeCommands\md\MainMenu.xml: Ignoring root node 'diff' in XML file 'extensions\UTBridgeCommands\md\MainMenu.xml'.
[General] ======================================
[General] ======================================
[=ERROR=] Error loading MD file extensions\UTFactionLogos\md\Notifications.xml: Ignoring root node 'diff' in XML file 'extensions\UTFactionLogos\md\Notifications.xml'.
[General] ======================================
[General] ======================================
[=ERROR=] Error loading MD file extensions\UTItemtradeOverhaul\md\GenericMissions.xml: Ignoring root node 'diff' in XML file 'extensions\UTItemtradeOverhaul\md\GenericMissions.xml'.
[General] ======================================
[General] ======================================
[=ERROR=] Error loading MD file extensions\UTItemtradeOverhaul\md\NPC_Itemtrader.xml: Ignoring root node 'diff' in XML file 'extensions\UTItemtradeOverhaul\md\NPC_Itemtrader.xml'.
[General] ======================================
[General] ======================================
[=ERROR=] Error loading MD file extensions\UTPlayerLogos\md\NPC_Engineer.xml: Ignoring root node 'diff' in XML file 'extensions\UTPlayerLogos\md\NPC_Engineer.xml'.
[General] ======================================
[General] ======================================
[=ERROR=] Cannot match path '/aiscript[not(interrupts)]/init' in patch file 'extensions\UTFactionLogos\aiscripts\engineer.ai.xml'. Skipping node.
[General] ======================================
[General] player start zone: 'tzonecluster_b_sector04_zone31_macro'
[General] Global Memory Status:
[General] Virtual memory avail/total: 8793821212672/8796092891136
[General] Physical memory avail/total: 11044950016/17177956352
[General] Page File memory avail/total: 10650587136/17176047616

[Scoob]

Ooo! I spend a lot of time on the bridge of my capital ships, this'll be interesting! Waaayy too late to try it out now though, I needz bed!

Scoob.

[UniTrader]

and a Preview Version for the next Part is here - thats now the 3rd day straight i released something new

This Mod makes Crew Members on Board of the Skunk Disembark when you Land somewhere. Currently implemented is only the very Basic, there is still a lot which needs to be done. Its mainly meant to catch Compatibility Issues with other Mods early and to figure out a Compatibility Interface.
Download: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3r3n9rhzfz48 ... ks.7z?dl=0
What needs to be done:
=> Add a NPC Slot for the Copilot on all Platforms (currently only the Repairdocks are compatible/show Yisha because they have a Slot for her from the Plot)
=> Fix NPC Dialogue on Platforms (they assume they Work there or show other broken Parts of their Dialogue Tree)
=> figure out and Fix all Plot Issues (i can imagine there are many, but i havent testet it yet -> Feedback very welcome)
=> Add Proper Diadlogue to Yisha
=> Fix Menu Issues related to Yisha being Absent from her Seat (NOTE: other Mods may require Fixes here, too: Include this cue in the root of some MD-Script:

Code: Select all

    <cue name="Copilot_constant" checktime="5s" checkinterval="5s">
      <conditions>
        <cue_is_complete cue="md.Setup.Start"/>
        <check_value value="player.copilot.exists"/>
      </conditions>
      <actions>
        <set_value name="md.$Copilot" exact="player.copilot"/>
      </actions>
    </cue>

and change all references of player.copilot to md.$Copilot - this should fix the related Issues )

maybe i put the Yisha Part of this Mod into another Mod where it fits better, but Compatibility requirements will stay the same


EDIT: improved Compatibility Code Snippet
EDIT2: further improved. if you may have cases which fire in the 5s-window reduce the time or check for <cue_is_complete cue="Copilot_constant" /> in your <conditions/>

[antoniut]

I would like Yisha follows Ren inside stations. If feasible, I think there is no NPC walking animation (correct me if I'm wrong)

PS Unitrader, you seems now a mod factory! (Cheers n thanks)

[UniTrader]

i doubt thats possible, but if yes thats out of my league currently. Also the walking Animations are only statically used for Deco NPC so far and they always follow the same path... but i keep it in mind in case i ever encounter something related to it It would be possible for Yisha to plop to other Places when out of view so it looks like she follows you, though - but thats MUCH work to do...

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

I don't know if it could be applied to other NPCs but some stations have an NPC walking at the first junction after the Skunk's hanger where arcade machines can be seen.

[oliverjanda]

Are these mods samegame compatible?
Would you mind putting them on steam (its so comfortable to get updates)?

[UniTrader]

Bridge Commands - Yes, both Adding and Removing should work without problems (removing may kill the current command since i implemented some myself, but no further complications)
Itemtrade Overhaul - Yes, both Adding and Removing work - may leave some data in the Save when removed though, but nothing you should worry about
Crew Disembarkment - No idea, its not yet intended for usage anyyway since function is still broken ^^

Regarding Workshop: maybe later.. maybe never.. dislike it a bit since its not trivially possible to customize Mods. (not yet related to these ones, but there is another mod of mine which would really need this..)

[Requiemfang]

curious about itemtrade, does it affect the wares ships can buy and sell that stations need or is it the items the PLAYER picks up and can sell to merchants?

[UniTrader]

only Player related Itemtrading. i may add some effects of this to the Stations Factory Modules in the future maybe (Production Boni), so it also affects the big economy, but currently not.

[Vim Razz]

Ah, cool -- Crew Disembarkment is already a thing.

I've got some ideas for managing dialog, as I mentioned in the HR thread, but I'm still at work right now.

I'll kick out a concept test or two for dialog management when I get home tonight if you haven't sorted that out by then already.

[UniTrader]

still sorting out the best method - the Upload was just a first working Version, i made some changes since then and i think i figured out the best approach to handle this.. i will use the MD Var md.$PlayerCrew which is a List of all currently disembarked Crewmen instead of writing to their Blackboard - this way there is no unnecesary redundancy Also i give them some $PlatformSlotTags but this is not a requirement - will omit it ocassionally for more variance ^^ so if you implement a soft-"Work-Here"-Order please remove this Var so they use the usual Slots

[Vim Razz]

Redundancy isn't always a bad thing.

Blackboard tags are easier to use for diverting dialog and managing compatibility between mods than checking against a list every time a conversation starts, but having a list somewhere is pretty important, too.


Mod compatibility is another question worth thinking about. Off the top of my head, you've currently got my mod, Station Engineers, Capital Ship Bridge, the "stay here" versions of J3ANP3T3R's Station Population 2015, the Skunk Turret/Katana playership mods, and bradines Pro Mining project that are going to be affected by this to one degree or another.

Over-stuffing the Skunk when there's no-one on board is also a thing.

Some potential problems can be easy to avoid. Others less so. Playing around with a few variations and seeing how they interact with things -- and thinking about what conflicts are worth the trouble of dealing with -- might be worth doing.