BEAM mod 2.01b(incl.13 c. ships)[UPDATED:21.5.2005]Dloadable

[ShadowX]

UPDATED: May 21, 2005
BEAM 2.01b, download available at website

__________________________________________________

May 21, 2005 - Reduced projectile ranges in 2.01b. Version 2.01b downloadable at website

May 19, 2005 - Updated 2.01b info
May 18, 2005 - Version 2.01b info added below this section
May 13, 2005 - Changed Hornet missile specs, DOWNLOAD available, added one new screenshot to website
May 12, 2005 - Modified hull points for capital class and M6 class
May 10, 2005 - Added new features to general&ship modifications
May 9, 2005 - Added "Good to know" section at the end of this post, new feature added to weapon modifications
May 8, 2005 - New screenshots at website

__________________________________________________

Link to Beam mod 2 website

______________________2.01b update_______________________

-changed info screen pictures of new ships to look as they should
-changed TS and TP class to what they should be
-changed Holocaust beam turning rate from static to minimum possible
-modified Split Mamba MK II to fit Boron airlocks
-fixed Beta-IRE
-reduced range of IRE/PAC/HEPT
-added 190 empty ship slots


______________________BEAM MOD 2 main info______________________
Here is my second mod which is about 10 months late of originally planned schedule.
This is because I had some time off of X2 and when I came back I noticed that X3
is coming soon, which is actually good news. If/when I make a new mod it will probably
be for X3.
So if anyone is still interested in beams, here ya go!



X2: THE THREAT

BEAM mod 2 BETA


by ShadowX




This modification modifies several things in the game and also makes it very hard, this is
intentional. I made this mod because I want capital ships to be capital ships, which is: fearsome
war machines with devastating weapons. This modification suits best for those pilots who ace combat
situations and like challenges.

You cannot anymore enter Xenon sectors and destroy everything with your M3 and PSGs, on the
contrary - you will be vaporized quite soon. If you still want to destroy Xenon, I recommend
taking a fleet of many capital class ships and support ships. One thing is good to know also:
Khaak are even stronger than Xenon and you are required to take massive fleet in order to
survive in their sectors. Xenon & Khaak have new M1 class ships which could be classified
as M0 and have destructive firepower.

Why Xenon & Khaak are so superior?
They are BAD GUYS, bad guys always have more firepower and strength. Good guys on the other hand
have intelligence and smarts to beat the bad guys. You will notice that those monster ships
have their weak spots, they're very slow and have poor turning rate.




What this modification does exactly





General modifications:



-"modified" watermark removed
-Startup loading screen changed
-Load game loading screen frames changed
-Main menu outlook changed


Weapon modifications:


-Alpha PPC changed to Alpha Fusion beam(anti-fighter)
-Beta PPC changed to Alpha Graviton beam(anti-capital)
-Gamma PPC changed to Beta Graviton beam(anti-capital)
-All anti-capital beams use modified beam sound from Freespace 2 as an "ambient" sound
-Alpha PSG changed to Phased Flak-cannon
-Phased Flak-cannon has "flak cannon" like sound
-All IRE's, PAC's, HEPT's projectile speeds are 4 times faster than before
-GPSG has little increase in damage
-Mosquito, Wasp, Dragonfly and Silkworm missiles got increase in speed
-Lasertower has now double damage and range, color changed to blueish
-Gamma Kyon was altered to be more powerful, color changed to red-yellow
-New weapon: Holocaust beam, very destructive, only equippable by Khaak M1
-Changed IRE impact effects to same as PAC to improve performance and looks
-New specs for Hornet missile: 2,4xShield dam.,4xHull dam, 1/3 speed, 1/3 turn radius, 4x lifetime



Some information regarding beams:
Alpha Fusion beam is meant to destroy fast fighters, buzzing around capital ship.
It has low damage and short range, but the turret speed is fast.
Alpha Graviton beam is low-damage anti-capital ship beam which has mediocre range
and turret speed.
Beta Graviton beam is currently most devastating weapon known to man, which can be
only equipped by capital class ships. It has power to destroy other capital ships
at a good pace. This weapon has high damage, long range(~10Km) and very slow
turret speed.
Gamma Kyon is Khaak capital ship main weapon which is much more destructive and
has longer range than Beta Graviton beam.
Holocaust beam is Khaak super weapon which can vaporize anything in seconds some
people claim that it has over 20Km of range and destructive power of one fully
equipped M2.



Ship modifications:

-Capital ships have 20 times more hull points(eg. what was 70000ish, is now 1400000ish)
-Khaak Capital ships have 22 times more hull points
-TL class has 9 times more hull points
-M6 class has 3.5 times more hull points
-M3 class has +30% max engine tunings
-M4 class has +40% max engine tunings
-M5 class has +50% max engine tunings
-Added main guns to M2 class ships
-Modified shield amounts of all capital ships
-Modified look & properties: Xenon M1
-Modified look & properties: Khaak M1
-Modified look & properties: Boron M6
-Modified look & properties: Split M6
-Modified look & properties: Pirate TS
-Modified look & properties: Split M3
-Modified look & properties: Xenon M3
-Modified look: Pirate M3
-Modified look: Xenon M4
-Modified look: Pirate M4
-Modified look: Xenon M5
-Modified look: Pirate M5
-Modified look: Paranid M5
-Enabled Argon, Boron, Split and Teladi capital ships to carry Phased Flak cannons


Some information about ship modifications:
Capital ship main guns:
This mod adds main guns to capital ships, only heaviest weapons
are mountable on these mounts.

Main guns for ships:
Teladi Phoenix(M2): 1 main gun
Argon Titan(M2): 2 main guns
Boron Ray(M2): 2 main guns
Paranid Odysseus(M2): 2 main guns
Xenon K(M2): 3 main guns
Split Python(M2): 4 main guns

Capital ship shield changes:
Teladi Phoenix(M2): 8x125MW
Argon Titan(M2): 6x125MW
Boron Ray(M2): 6x125MW
Paranid Odysseus(M2): 6x125MW
Xenon K(M2): 6x125MW
Split Python(M2): 4x125MW

Teladi Condor(M1): 9x125MW
Argon Colossus(M1): 8x125MW
Boron Shark(M1): 8x125MW
Paranid Zeus(M1): 8x125MW
Split Raptor(M1): 7x125MW


Ships:

Xenon M1(Xenon Y)

[ external image ]
[ external image ]
Xenon Y is large ship that can destroy small fleet by itself.
It houses 100 fighters and has 44 lasers in 6 turrets(40) and
main guns(4). Shield capacity 18x125MW. It is extremely slow
and has very strong hull.
[This ship is made flyable by the player, script it in if you want to try it]


Khaak M1(Khaak X)

[ external image ]
[ external image ]
Khaak X is like a ship built around weapon since it is the only
ship capable of holding Holocaust beam. It houses 120 fighters
and has 24 lasers in 6 turrets(21) and main guns(3). Shield capacity
19x125MW.
[This ship is made flyable by the player, script it in if you want to try it]
[Holocaust beam must be installed with a script]


Boron M6(Boron Hydra MK II)

[ external image ]
Hydra had a slight facelift and ability to house 4 M5 class ships.
Maximum turning rate was also improved.



Split M6(Split Dragon MK II)

[ external image ]
Dragon was made to be more Split-like: it has now 2 lasers in 1
front turret, 2 main guns and 1 rear turret.
Front turret can hold Alpha Graviton beams.
Rear turret can hold only Alpha IRE or Mass Driver.
Turning rate was slightly lowered.



Pirate TS(Pirate Warhawk)

[ external image ]
Pirate Warhawk replaces Pirate Ship. Warhawk has larger cargo bay
and more weapons. It has 4 main guns, turrets up and down and rear
turret. This ship is worth capturing!



Split M3(Split Mamba MK II)

[ external image ]
Improved version of mamba, can hold Gamma HEPTS and has frontal turret
which can hold Alpha IRE or Mass Driver. It has only 4x5MW shields.




Xenon M3(Xenon L MK II)

[ external image ]
L was improved to hold 3 lasers instead of 2.



Pirate M3(Pirate Orinoco)

[ external image ]




Xenon M4(Xenon M)

[ external image ]




Pirate M4(Pirate Bayamon)

[ external image ]




Xenon M5(Xenon N)

[ external image ]




Pirate M5(Pirate Mandalay)

[ external image ]





Paranid M5(Paranid Unicorn)

[ external image ]



Good to know:
_________________________
Because of the heavy modifications done by this mod you should start a fresh new game.
What happens if you do not start a new game:
-All existing capital ships have less than normal hull points, they're about 10% of maximum
-All existing capital ships and ships with increased weapon count have improper amount of weapons
-All existing ships with modified looks may look quite weird and not work properly
-All ships spawned or bought after loading a save game work as they should.
_________________________



All comments and suggestions about this mod are welcome!






More screenshots available at Beam mod 2 website

[milling_hordesman]

UPDATED: August 7, 2005
Current mod progress: ~90% done

holy schizm, it's august already!?

[ShadowX]

UPDATED: August 7, 2005
Current mod progress: ~90% done

holy schizm, it's august already!?

Not quite. My bad

[TheEvilSquirrel]

YAY BEAMS i LOOOOVE beam weap's *goes to site and click on download link....nothing looks at download link " NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I KNEED BEAM'S" breaks out into fit of histerical crying "why on why do you tempt us with such beautiful screen's and not deliver dam you ShadowX dam you"*

hehe

BRING ON THE BEAMS please

[ShadowX]

Downloadable version will be available soon, probably in 4-5 days...

[TheEvilSquirrel]

oh 4-5 days you say ah that shoud be a walk in the park *grab's quilt and procides to atempt hibernation*

[ShadowX]

More screenshots at website.

[Tsar_of_Cows]

Can I be the first to say "HOLY FRUBING SHIZZ!!!"
In other words:

Thats unbelieveably awsome!

[Galaxy613]

I like that "Xenon Y", really sw33t cap ship! I can't wait to play this mod!

[xalien]

Dragon was made to be more Split-like: it has now 2 lasers in 1
front turret, 2 main guns and 1 rear turret.
Front turret can hold Alpha Graviton beams.
Rear turret can hold only Alpha IRE or Mass Driver.
Turning rate was slightly lowered.

I may be wrong of course and I'll have to try it out before telling for sure, but being a Dragon lover I must say that there's a slight chance that you took out most of the fun from flying this ship. I too at first thought that it's not in the spirit of the split to have all their guns in the turrets, but later it turned out to be one helluva fun, especially against other M6's. You had to use it's speed and manouverability (and no strafe drive) to avoid incoming fire while your turrets were pounding your target with dual GHEPT's.

From what I see here, now it's more like M3 - you have to keep the speed the same or even lower as your target's, stay on it's tail and keep your nose constantly pointed at your target, because all of your weapons are up front. Considering this and that the steering has been lowered, fighting fast and manouverable targets (like all fighters) could be very frustrating. Of course you could engage them from afar with graviton beams, at least until you close the distance, but that's not really fun in that. I really think that it's original turret layout was perfect - you could use only one turret for any moving target (assblasting works only against stations) and each of them was powerfull enough to take out target of size up to M6. I'd like to try this mod, but nowadays I play X2 mostly for the ability to pilot the Dragon and since it's been so messed up....
I surely don't know how this new Dragon going to blend in with these new weapon stats but I still have my doubts. I guess I'll have to script it in and try it out.

BTW, do I need to start a new game to use this mod?

[Lutzie]

Frikkin Nora!

Having played with the one of your first beta mods I can say if I was impressed then I'm gobsmacked now!

Congratulations for many hours of brilliant work!

[ShadowX]

Thanks to all for your replies!

x2alien:
I agree with you that Dragon with it's normal weapon complement is very nice to fly and it works. However, due to radical weapon changes - like speeding up HEPT projectiles 4 times makes dodging bullets with Dragon quite hard to impossible. Adding hull points to M6 class balanced this to some extent. Engaging enemies afar with graviton beams is recommendable

I actually had a good opportunity to make this ship more "Split-like"(as described in the manual: The Split are typical warriors who if unable to eliminate enemy with the first shot, call away for a bigger weapon or more support.). What I'm saying here that if you fail to win the first charge in M6 vs.M6 battle you're in serious trouble... This IMHO brings a very welcome change to M6 class since it really doesn't have any ship like this yet.
The new Mamba is also first-strike-win-or-death like ship.

And regarding game restarting: It is recommendable, I added new section to the first post which covers this.

Lutzie:
You know, I scrolled thru the old beam mod post awhile ago and noticed that you suggested having 2 ACB:s instead of ACB and PDB then. So now it's happening and I can actually thank you for the idea . All what was planned before would be included in this mod if it would be possible to add new installable(without script)/uninstallable weapons..

[Lutzie]

Lutzie:
You know, I scrolled thru the old beam mod post awhile ago and noticed that you suggested having 2 ACB:s instead of ACB and PDB then. So now it's happening and I can actually thank you for the idea . All what was planned before would be included in this mod if it would be possible to add new installable(without script)/uninstallable weapons..

Hey no probs.
And if you want me to Beta test again just PM me. Although I will need a save file too, as my own game isn't advanced enough.

[BDStyle]

damn man.. this rocks..... i'm gonna have too restart again now grrrr lol.

Anyways cheers for the effort as this looks like fun

[ShadowX]

Did some tweaking on hull points as the difference between M6 and capital class wasn't big enough. M6 class had about 1/5 of capital ship hull points and that's not good.

Tweaking hull points is always a reason for restart, so I must get them right in the beginning.

Downloadable version will be available soon

[Galaxy613]

Theres a non-downloadable version? Can't wait!

|Edit| Yey! Next page ^-^

[TheEvilSquirrel]

*Yawn* ah that was a nice 4-5 day sleep ohh is the beam mod out ... nope back to bed then.

i cant wait for those prty beams those plus the isd = :D:D:D:D:D * 36.897

[ShadowX]

Changed hornet missile specs, and well... it's downloadable now!!!

Link to download page.


All comments and bug reports are welcome and I will update the mod if necessary...


EDIT:

Installation and uninstallation instructions found from included BEAM2readme.txt and I added them to website also.

[Tsar_of_Cows]

Wooo!

Cant wait to take that Khaak M1 hunting

EDIT: So, how does one use a script to install the Holocaust Beam? I cant find any scripts of the type, and I cant script to save my life.

[ShadowX]

Script is quite simple, this installs only Holocaust beam. You might want to add more lines to install weapons of your choice since Khaak X can hold Graviton Beams and Gamma Kyons. Also installing shields, engine tunings, etc. is good thing to do.

Code: Select all

001   $khaakx =  create ship: type=Khaak X owner=Player addto=Argon Prime x=5000 y=5000 z=5000
002   $a = $khaakx -> install 1 units of Holocaust Beam
003   return null