[MOD] Miscellaneous IZ Combat Tweaks

[Nemesis_87]

Hi, finaly got around to testing those drones, only used over run so far

And i have actualy noticed them launching missiles , But after ahwhile i noticed they did start to just fly around the target or do they run out of ammo?

Also how does the repair ship work? is it useful for repairing captured ships which have had everything destroyed? seeing they wont have drones

thanks in advance

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

Work and vanilla-testing have kept me away from mods but hopefully I'll get a chance at the weekend to fire up and feedback on some w.e. work

Sorry to hear you've been in the wars and all the best getting better.

[birdtable]

First run through using fresh start with Sparky's save, no mods only Mict and euclids jump drive.
Assigned Light Sul with 2 Balors to Rahanas C+E.
Sent a Rahanas C and Rahanas C+E to Serpentine Haze on multiple trades.
Light Sul + fleet followed becoming strung out, all arrived within Serp Haze when Rahanas C came under attack from 1 of 3 Cartel Marauders...Rahanas C was quickly destroyed, attention was then focussed on Rahanas C+E.
Light Sul + 2 Balors engaged 2 attacking Marauders.

Have to admit was a treat to watch combat play out....

Result Rahanas C+E survived, Light Sul destroyed, both Balors survived with the destruction of both attacking Cartel Marauders.

Problems.
Flight travel time for Rapid R F too long and become strung out.
How does Captain of RRFleet decide to leave assigned ship in danger zone to defend other ships under his protection.
Not sure how the targeting of enemy ships work, do they choose the most powerful or Fleet Captains ship....if they choose Fleet Captain should he have the most nimble ship using avoidance tactics instead of attack.
Sorry cannot be of any assistance on technical side but as a game player observer ... Very enjoyable....Will continue testing and enjoying.

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

Makes me happy to know that save has been used

A downside of it being vanilla is that the stats of the crew of the ships in the save are generally not high enough for MICT/MOCT functionality* since I didn't have the patience to find skilled crew.

If not already tried, I'd recommend mods that help finding better-skilled crew like "Show me your skills".

*4 stars needed in each major skill.

[w.evans]

And i have actualy noticed them launching missiles , But after ahwhile i noticed they did start to just fly around the target or do they run out of ammo?

That still uses the vanilla drone script at the moment. Added some checks to make them go home if they aren't doing anything useful, but other than that, haven't changed the drone attack script.

Which means, er, I don't know. I don't think they use ammo, but there could very well be an ammo value that's only reset when they dock and relaunch. I'll try to play closer attention to overruns.

Also how does the repair ship work? is it useful for repairing captured ships which have had everything destroyed? seeing they wont have drones

Should be useful for that purpose. I actually wrote them as fleet repair and resupply ships (although haven't worked on the resupply part. Yet, maybe.), but they will certainly repair any captured ships in the same zone.

If the ship being repaired has construction drones, they'll use those.

If the ship being repaired does not have construction drones, but the repair ship does, AND Engineer Drone Fix is installed, the repair ship's drones will accelerate repairs, although you won't see them launch.

That said, having multiple repair ships speeds up repair considerably since they all do repairs separately, so the effect adds up. Sometimes they'll each repair different sub-components, sometimes they'll all just repair the hull and speed up everyone's work.

...

Light Sul + fleet followed becoming strung out

If this happened OOZ, that's normal, I'm afraid. If it happened IZ, then it doesn't sound like they acted as a MICT Squadron. In that case, a MICT Squadron should move in pretty tight formation around the ship that they're escorting. Please make sure that at least the Squadron Commander's ship (in this case, I think that's your Sul, if both Balors were following it) has an entire crew with at least 4 stars in all primary skills.

The civilian ship's crew doesn't need a 4+ star crew, unless you want it to work as a repair ship.

How does Captain of RRFleet decide to leave assigned ship in danger zone to defend other ships under his protection

If the ship that they're escorting isn't in danger (has full shields, hull over 50%, and no hostiles within radar range),
and a civilian ship that you own is attacked with enough severity to bring shields down to below 90%.

Not sure how the targeting of enemy ships work, do they choose the most powerful or Fleet Captains ship....if they choose Fleet Captain should he have the most nimble ship using avoidance tactics instead of attack.

Depends on ship type. Primarily long-ranged ships (Balor and Sucellus) target the most powerful ship in the vicinity, while other combat ships hit the target that is closest to the ship that they're protecting.

Glad you're enjoying, and thanks for the feedback!

EDIT: just read your last comment again and realized that you were asking about the marauder captains! They focus fire on the first freighter or miner that they see. Could be hard to shake off because, once they've acquired a target, they ignore ships attacking them and just focus on their target. It's very similar to patrol behavior, except they focus exclusively on civilian shipping unless attacked before they could acquire a target.

...
Hi Sparky!

[Nemesis_87]

ah thats pretty cool then, well i have engineer 100% which has the fix so should be good, will test it out

[birdtable]

Well ...installed a full 5 star crew on a Balor and assigned to Rahanas.
Had a Titurel available so sent it to purchase in Verdant Profit,,,, got attacked by 4 Marauders.....
Sent the Rahanas to Verdant as well with the Balor following.
The Titurel destroyed 3 Marauders without breaking into a sweat.
Balor arrives in Zone, so order Titurel to attack Freedom Condor and 8 supporting Falcons....Titurel gets obliterated slowly ... Balor watches from afar not getting involved.

Question,,,,,
1. Is the Titurel classed as a Trade Ship..?
2. Have I possibly not assigned correctly..?

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

Yeah, Titurel is classed as a Trade ship (see ship info screen). I'm afraid I have lost track of how that could matter here though.

[birdtable]

Sorry Sparky but I was not sure if Marauders only attacked trade ships or not (different classes of U or Cartel Ships, carrying cargo space) and if W.E's Rapid Response Fleet was set to defend Freighters only.
If I sent for example a Arawn into battle would the Rapid Response Fleet desert the Freighters to defend/assist Arawn....?

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

No apology necessary!

My understanding is that Marauder Phoenixes will attack any ship currently carrying wares that is designated Trade or Mine in their encyclopedia entry (also on ship info page IIRC). They don't attack Mauruder Phoneixes since they are the only Combat-classified ship with a cargobay for wares.

[w.evans]

Balor watches from afar not getting involved.

Question,,,,,
1. Is the Titurel classed as a Trade Ship..?
2. Have I possibly not assigned correctly..?

The Balor was assigned correctly. And the fact that it stayed far from the action tells me that it positioned itself to attack. That it didn't attack tells me that it probably wasn't authorized to fire torpedoes. If it wasn't attacking, the Balor would've stayed close to the Titurel.

Please make sure that the Balor's Defence Officer is set to both:

Attack Enemies,
and Manage Ammunition Resupply.

Both set in the Defence Officer's details.

If I sent for example a Arawn into battle would the Rapid Response Fleet desert the Freighters to defend/assist Arawn....?

Rapid Response ships won't leave the ship that they're escorting to help that Arawn. However, if the ship that they're escorting wanders within radar range of the ship that's attacking the Arawn, they will attack because MICT Ships escorting civilian ships ALWAYS actively look for hostile ships and attack when they find something. Partly because this is the only way I found to get Marauders to focus on them rather than the freighter that they're escorting.

Rapid Response Fleet was set to defend Freighters only.

Yup. Well, traders and miners. Difference from the example above is that if the ship they're escorting is safe, and any other civilian ship comes under attack, they'll switch assignments and actively go to, and defend, the ship under attack.

[birdtable]

I doff my cap to you W.E
Changed what needed to be changed from your advice.
Created Fleet of Light Sul with 3 supporting Balors and given the task of protecting a Titurel which had been sent on multiple purchases in Verdant Point.
5 Marauders targeted the Titurel..... and battle commenced...
I rode on one of the supporting Balors, to ride into battle on a support ship was something special to behold.
Regretfully the Titurel was destroyed but the enemy suffered the loss of all 5 Marauders without any further loss to my fleet.

Sparky was right about his Officers, I think he hired them in some Banana Republic nightclub when after a few beers any Officer looks good.

Still not been able to test break away by RR Fleet to protect unassigned tradeship, maybe tomorrow ... foggy I believe.

The loss of the Titurel and cargo represents a fairly substantial loss to my trading fleet of 5, whereas the loss of 5 Marauders is of no consequence to the enemy just magically re-created....it would be nice if some form of salvage of the derelict Marauders could be introduced to celebrate a victory and atone for any financial loss....stops it becoming pointless frustration.

Bloody marvellous experience ..

[Nemesis_87]

I think i would have left x rebirth alone if it wasnt for w.evens mods

[w.evans]

The loss of the Titurel and cargo represents a fairly substantial loss to my trading fleet of 5

Sorry for the loss of your Titurel. I'll make sure that your MICT crews don't miss their appointment with the floggers, erm, indoctrinators next time the boys and gals are over for a fleet conference.

Yeah, I hear ya. Started over myself a couple of days ago, and my entire merchant fleet consists of the plot Rahanas and 4 Titurels that I captured today. Losing one of those is going to really suck.

Balors are heavy-hitters, but can take a while to whittle away opposition, so I often use them as support ships. Would be a good idea to squad them with something close-ranged like a Stromvok, plus maybe a Sequana or two loaded down with Construction URVs to help get the close-ranged ship(s) back in action quicker. Taranis or Arawn would be better, of course, since they could attract attention and take a beating, but they're hard to come by early-game.

One thing that could help your Sul survive longer is if you put one of the Balors in charge of the squad. Squad subordinates tend to go back to their commander after they retreat and, since your Balors will stay at range, that should give your Sul a fairly safe point to run to if it gets in trouble. Wouldn't have helped your Titurel survive longer, though, especially against that kind of opposition.

Then again, putting the close-ranged ship in charge means that they get in the hostile's face quicker, thus increasing the chance of marauders focusing on the escort rather than the freighter. Trade-off's something to think about.

@Nemesis_87, good to hear that you're having fun!

[w.evans]

To all Beta-Testers of X-Rebirth

Please be advised that MICT_supp2 is not compatible with the X:R 4.00 beta. While there is a fix ready, it will break compatibility with 3.61, so I have decided to delay uploading of the fix until 4.00 hits stable.

For do-it-yourselfers, the fix is simply to change both instances of:

Code: Select all

@value='$target.isclass.ship_m or $target.isclass.ship_l or $target.isclass.ship_xl'

to

Code: Select all

@value='$target.isclass.ship_l or $target.isclass.ship_xl'

in \w.e_mict\aiscripts\move.escort.xml

and change both instances of:

Code: Select all

<create_formation object="$target" formation="$MICT_formation" param="$formationparam" param2="$formationparam2"/>

to

Code: Select all

<create_formation object="$target" formation="$MICT_formation" param="$formationparam" param2="$formationparam2" rollformation="false" rollmembers="true"/>

in \w.e_mict\aiscripts\MICT.move.escort.capital.xml

Surprisingly, all of my other mods, and parts thereof, don't appear to have any compatibility issues with X:R 4.00.

[UniTrader]

For do-it-yourselfers, the fix is simply to change both instances of:

Code: Select all

@value='$target.isclass.ship_m or $target.isclass.ship_l or $target.isclass.ship_xl'

to

Code: Select all

@value='$target.isclass.ship_l or $target.isclass.ship_xl'

in \w.e_mict\aiscripts\move.escort.xml

is this for a sel path based on an attribute? and could you try this one instead:

Code: Select all

@value='$target.isclass.ship_m or $target.isclass.ship_l or $target.isclass.ship_xl' or @value='$target.isclass.ship_l or $target.isclass.ship_xl'

and change both instances of:

Code: Select all

<create_formation object="$target" formation="$MICT_formation" param="$formationparam" param2="$formationparam2"/>

to

Code: Select all

<create_formation object="$target" formation="$MICT_formation" param="$formationparam" param2="$formationparam2" rollformation="false" rollmembers="true"/>

in \w.e_mict\aiscripts\MICT.move.escort.capital.xml

aren't both attributes you added here already available in 3.60? according to my xsd they are, and both are optional (you just explicitly set them to their default settings here)

[w.evans]

Oh cool! Didn't know that we could use expressions in sel paths. Thanks!

For the second, actually didn't check the xsds yet. Just compared the old move.escort with the new one in 4.00b2, and noticed that change so assumed, for safety's sake, that specifying it is now mandatory.

Will update MICT_supp2 accordingly, then. Thanks again, UT!

[UniTrader]

well, sel paths are XPaths and they are pretty universal for locating one or multiple nodes in xml (you can even select multiple Nodes which dont have anything in common except the root node), here an explaination of them:
http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath/
we only use a small subset of their posibilities (and for the most modding stuff more is not needed), but for compatibility under multiple possible circumstates it helps to know a bit more

[w.evans]

6.November.2015 - MICT_supp2 updated to v0.41 and v0.41x

Compatible with X:R 4.00 Beta 2 and X:R 3.61

v0.41 does not have Rapid Response Squadrons
v0.41x does

Thank you to UniTrader for enriching my knowledge regarding sel paths.

[Nemesis_87]

Hi just a quick question, how can i tell Mict 8 is working? i have a titurel with the required crew and has plenty of drones, Obviously the drones cant be seen but would it say they r in use ect?