Beta link: Blueprint Analysis on github
To me, scanning stations has always been a repetitive, hardly-rewarding mechanic in X4. No longer.
With this mod installed, every ship and station module you scan will register as progress towards unlocking the blueprint for that object. Different modules have different costs, with connection modules requiring less than 100 scans, while production and build modules can cost 300+. Entering scan mode isn't necessary for modules (just need to be close enough to trigger the normal scan), but ships require a manual scan from the selection menu.
As a bonus, if the object you scan has equipment attached-turrets, weapons, shields, or engines-there's a small chance to increase progress on one of those objects at random.
This was the first mod idea I had for this game, but us modders didn't really have the capability to create our own menus. Thanks to SirNukes, this is no longer an issue. You'll need Simple Menu API installed, which you can find on his github here (you only need the first folder simple_menu_api, not the test).
To access the mod menu, go to Extension Options in the Esc. menu and select Blueprint Progress.
Should be compatible with new ships and modules provided by mods, assuming they aren't marked as 'noplayerblueprint.' This also applies to any vanilla objects.
Notes/Plans:
- The level of scan currently doesn't affect the amount of progress you make. Scanning from your suit gives the same progress as scanning from your ship. I believe you can double scan objects by doing ship then suit, but not vice versa. I plan to account for scan levels in a future update.
- If you look closely, you'll notice that storage module progress may randomly increase as you fly around. As far as I can tell, the game does a scan of each storage module right as it leaves your visible range for what I assume to be trading purposes. For now, storage unlock requirements are a bit higher than the others but should accumulate rather quickly. In the future I may attempt to handle this differently.
- Learning some objects like shipyard modules will probably never be possible with this mod alone because you probably won't find 500 shipyard modules. However, a supplement mod I've created called Blueprint Exchange will allow you to trade the salvage introduced by my Scavengers mod for blueprint progress. I expect to add more functionality here as well.
- Having said that, I will likely adjust the scanning costs based on feedback and more testing. I may also reduce the costs if you aren't running the Exchange to make the 'better' modules still achieveable. Increasing rewards for more in-depth scans will also help out here.
- This does not affect blueprints sold by faction representatives (unless you learn one, in which case you won't be able to buy it). It's possible I could set up some sort of discount, but that is unlikely.
- Ignoring objects marked as 'noplayerblueprint' should rule out any objects we aren't meant to build, but there's still the possibility that some things are unmarked when they should be. If I come across any of these I will disable them manually.