[MOD iP] New Dimensions [Alpha 4.2] (Update 06/09/10)

[X2-Illuminatus]

There ought to be a way to artificially increase the tester 's credits so that he/she can afford an M7 or above to test capital ship fights.

As said in the OP it's okay if you use a cheatpack for testing purposes. Which means that it's okay, if you cheat some money or a ship (for example with Cycrow's Cheatpackage) to test the built limitations or the fight part.

[Bothersome]

I'm interested in this Mod, but I'm wondering if the Hub/HQ missions are still available? Were they added back in?

If not, then what long term goals are there left?

In Vanilla, the main reason to build an empire was to complete the Hub/HQ for the materials needed. Now what?

[VincentTH]

I believe the Mod has the Hub missions disabled, and they have something else in place.

[dillpickle]

Alpha 3.5 over 2.5 install.

First off I must say I like the direction this mod is going, and looking forward to getting immersed in it.

A couple of possible / potential bugs, and some observations:

Where jump gates are added for the new unknown sectors, East / West orientated gates are facing the wrong way round in the original sectors, so you have to fly around to what is normally the back of the gate to fly through it the right way. North / South are 'normal'.

The Pirate bases I have found in the new unknown sectors are just 'shells' - they offer missions, but have no wares to trade.

The back end of the North TOA in Loomankstrat's Legacy is embedded in an asteroid - might need moving above the asteroids. Think I saw another, but can't think where now!!

S, M, & L versions at shipyards are showing the same price, for example the Mistral SF (which now holds 1 x 200mj shield) has 1 x 200 mj shield fitted on the S, M, & L version - surely this should be something like: S - 1 x 1mj (or 1 x 5mj), M - 1 x 5mj (or 1 x 25mj), and L 1 x 200mj?

I've noticed that all the ship variants (raider, vanguard, etc..) have been removed from the game, along with the prototypes you normally find as 'high tec traders' and am wondering how this will effect the Corporation missions? - probably related to he lack of reward from Tormented Teladi start that has been reported.

I have had a brief look at some of the ship 'rebalancing' on some of the bigger ships, and am not sure about some of them.
The ones I have so far looked at are the M7M's. The Kraken and Minotaur have had their shields slashed to a third of their original stats, whilst the Ares, Gannet and Cobra are as original. Giving the Gannet six times the shielding of the Minotaur and Kraken, whilst at the same time having received the largest speed increase, so it is now only 8 m/s slower than the now fastest Ares.

Split ships were typically the fastest - sacrificing shields, the Cobra is now neither, whereas the Teladi were slow and heavily shielded, the Gannet has retained it's heavy protection, but also got speed!!

Some questions regarding general game play:

Jump drive availability. At the moment there are (providing you've finished the Terran Plot) only four places in the universe to purchase jumpdrives, which means there will be long trips to fit jumpdrives (the Aran would make things easier, assuming it's still in the game.)

Tweaked the relations between races (you wont be friends with everyone at the same time)

Does this mean that if I'm friendly enough with the Split to buy, say a Panther, I won't have the rep to buy a jumpdrive frm Queen's Harbour, but instead will have to send it across Pirate sectors to Legend's Home?

No more Self-sustained Complexes! Mines and SPP are not connectible to complexes

Not been a big fan of self sustained, so not a problem, however, if I were to drop say half a dozen silicon mines in Ore Belt, could I join these mines into a mineral complex? Likewise could I join 2, 3 or more SPP's together in a complex?

Finally... Am I correct in thinking that te new information on the Universe map about Farms, Bio Industrial and Ranches, indicates which L1 factories can be built in that sector?

Many thanks, and keep up the good work.

[dreadmessiah]

Nevermind it is working now! I am now entering kid in a candy store phase.

[Gavrushka]

I’ve had a few battles in a standard Nova armed with 8 PRGs and a PAC in rear turret set to missile defence.


1: I took on an easy patrol sector mission and battled 2xm5 Harrier, 2xScorpion and 1xBuster- The additional Hull seems to result in more pilot Bails and a Scorpion and a Harrier did and left me fairly intact ships (plus the slower hull erosion allows you time to respond to AI message saying pilot bailing) – I took little shield damage and quickly despatched the remaining ships (an M4 hull seems to erode like m3s did previously).

2: On a 1v1 with a Pirate Chimera armed with PBEs it was very one sided and fairly quick destruction – The Chimera, even with PBE couldn’t land more than the odd stray hit on me and the only limiting factor to its death was my lack of remaining laser energy.

3: I took on a full Khaak cluster of a fighter and around a dozen scouts. – I allowed them to chase, took out stray scouts until engaging 7 or 8 with the fighter together. – I ignored the scouts whilst engaging the fighter which took around a minute to destroy (again limited by my lack of laser energy) – I lost no more than half my shields and insta-killed all remaining Khaak scouts.

Battling is more fun, but from the kind of encounters above it does seem easier than Vanilla- And I think this is down to one thing alone: Speed – I’m now in a ship with 3x25mj shields that’s as fast as a Mamba Raider- The AI struggles to control faster ships but a human doesn’t – I get hit far less than I had expected, even against Khaak.

Dog fighting became over-hard in Vanilla TC according to many – I think you can now take an M3 and challenge the Universe again – albeit slowly – I think it would be doable to take on an M7 in an M3 now for far more people – Just allow a fair few hours to conclude it.

I think Group attacks where there are several M3s could be different – And there a powerful laser recharge will be more desirable as it take far more hull hits to take an opponent down- I would imagine the Mass Driver is now a pretty pointless weapon unless the damage were upped.

It’s always a struggle to balance battling and anything that increases speed I imagine would favour the player over the AI. – This Mod, to me, is more about the economy and I was delighted to see my Cormorant (whilst I was in sector in another ship) take on several Khaak and destroy them without much effort.

[Ketraar]

Where jump gates are added for the new unknown sectors, East / West orientated gates are facing the wrong way

I'll look into it.

The Pirate bases ... have no wares to trade.

This is a known Vanilla MD bug. For some reason MD crated docks dont have wares (see Goner Temple). We'll find a solution, one way or another.

The back end of the North TOA in Loomankstrat's Legacy is embedded in an asteroid

Noted, thanks.

S, M, & L versions at shipyards are showing the same price, for example the Mistral SF

This is known.

Regarding ship balancing.
ND ships are now in balance to each other, that there are difference to what is "usually" known is a direct result of that.

Some questions regarding general game play:

only four places in the universe to purchase jumpdrives

yeah there might be more in future.

Tweaked the relations between races (you wont be friends with everyone at the same time)

Does this mean that if I'm friendly enough with the Split to buy, say a Panther, I won't have the rep to buy a jumpdrive frm Queen's Harbour

Well I don't have the figures from top of my head, but in general it means that you can have a average rep with most, but if the rep towards say the Argon rises, it inevitably drops the Paranid rep.

could I join these mines into a mineral complex? Likewise could I join 2, 3 or more SPP's together in a complex?

No, Mines and SPPs are standalone stations.

...indicates which L1 factories can be built in that sector?

Exactly.

@Gavrushka
Thanks for the feedback, notes taken

MFG

Ketraar

[VincentTH]

I believe the next task for the dev is to rebalance corporate and starting missions. Say, OTAS missions are needed to get the Venti and the other M7M ships (Wonder how they look like after the rebalancing). The problem is that most corp missions require you to jump to action. For example, OTAS and Terracorp's first missions are protect convoy missions, that starts some 3-4 sectors away from where the mission is given. WIthout a jump gate, one surely cannot do the OTAS/Terracorp series of mission at all, because soon after the convoy is started, it would be wiped out before you can arrive to the scene. The same goes for Final Fury escort missions. In order to start Final Fury and/or corp missions, one must have a M7 that can carry ships. (And even then, without a gate nearby, you are still out of luck!).

Also I wonder how the Unfocused Jump Drive works after the change. Does Ketrar have to disable his own ANH mission because it requires a jumping TM into the Teladi sector?

Also, like stated above, the first mission with special ship reward need to be fixed (Tormented Teladi, Poisoned Paranid). I don't know why those ships are removed in the first place.

[Yulric]

I cannot sat anything about all the other stuff you mention above but -- as for the Terracorp first mission -- you can get to them without jumpdrive. I took the mission and think I was to meet them in Emperor Mines. I had no jumpdrive - was new, learning still - and had no credits to buy it anyway. I met them in Cloudbase SE -- could not tell if they had already been attacked or not -- but within 1 minute of me getting in step with the convoy -- we got attacked and mission went downhill from there.

Anyway - just wanted to say - did not need jumpdrive to get to the convoy itself.

Yul

[X2-Illuminatus]

I believe the next task for the dev is to rebalance corporate and starting missions.

Yeah, Corp. missions and rewards will need some further adjustments.

WIthout a jump gate, one surely cannot do the OTAS/Terracorp series of mission at all, because soon after the convoy is started, it would be wiped out before you can arrive to the scene. The same goes for Final Fury escort missions.

IIRC in FF either the convoys start or the attacks begin, when the player arrives in the current sector. Should be similar in corporate missions.

Also I wonder how the Unfocused Jump Drive works after the change.

The unfocused JD works as in the Vanilla game. You will need the UFJD itself and a normal jump drive to use it.

Does Ketrar have to disable his own ANH mission because it requires a jumping TM into the Teladi sector?

Please don't post L3 information in L1 forums. But as all missions in TC are created with the MD, they can be changed.

[VincentTH]

I believe the next task for the dev is to rebalance corporate and starting missions.

Yeah, Corp. missions and rewards will need some further adjustments.

And some of the regular missions too. I am now at Merchant/Prefessional, and assassination missions require me to kill an M6 4 sectors away within 10 mins. The dilemma is, if I use an M5 or M4 (an Asp) I can make it there in time, but I can't kill the target. If I use the Medusa, I cannot reach the target sector within the time limit.

WIthout a jump gate, one surely cannot do the OTAS/Terracorp series of mission at all, because soon after the convoy is started, it would be wiped out before you can arrive to the scene. The same goes for Final Fury escort missions.

IIRC in FF either the convoys start or the attacks begin, when the player arrives in the current sector. Should be similar in corporate missions.

SOme OTAS missions require you to defend a station in Clarity End. As soon as you accept the mission, the pirates are generated. Once you get to the target sector, the station is gone.

Also I wonder how the Unfocused Jump Drive works after the change.

The unfocused JD works as in the Vanilla game. You will need the UFJD itself and a normal jump drive to use it.

So then UFJD can only be used by M7 or bigger ships. That would negate the Aldrin series of missions where you have to use the UFJD on a miner. IMHO, make it so that a UFJD would not require a regular JD, and most missions would work.

Does Ketrar have to disable his own ANH mission because it requires a jumping TM into the Teladi sector?

Please don't post L3 information in L1 forums. But as all missions in TC are created with the MD, they can be changed.

OK, my apologies. I hope all of the core (blue book) missions got reviewed and modified to fit the MOD. (pun intended ).

Thanks for the explanation.

[Ghost-1-0-1]

Fight Feedback:

i got argon nova, managed to come up against split m3, forgot name lol...tired ...but yea..won...my nova was equipped with 2 HEPT,2PRG,4MASS DRIVER.....the fight did last lil bit longer than in vanilla..but for some reason the Split m3 didnt do much damage against me, hadly touched me...but it did survive quite long without shields....so erm only thing i can say yea the increase of hull is def betta dan vanilla...thats it...i dont think the mass driver is useless now, because ive always used the mass driver, to have a fight advantage, hit their hull hard > enermy ship speed drop> easier for targeting>target destroy...
so didnt notice any difference of using mass driver, it's still efficient.....but ill test out mass driver again once i purchase the m6....


i did come up against xenon q with nova, again the fight lasted longer, the q did managed to get my hull to 9%...but was still happy at the rate the hull dropped....it wasnt 1 shot kill...

Shipyard Ships Feedback:

OTAS SUPERFREIGHTER
200 x 1 mj shield
175 speed
10.000 Default Cargo Bay
15.000 Maximum Cargo Bay
1.5 million (roughly) Selling Price

ARGON QUAESAR
200 x 2 mj shield
170 speed
18.000 (roughly) Default Cargo Bay
20.000 (roughly) Maximum Cargo Bay
8 million Selling Price

i agree with argon quaesar and the other split,paranid,boron equivalent selling price...but i think u should up the otas superfreighter price, to like 4mill....cause 1.3 or 1.5 mil...is too easy to acquire ..plus it makes the quaesar look overprice...there's very little difference in speed, shield and at maximum the cargo bay for both ships, the difference is 5.000 which is also little...

[Gavrushka]

That was rough - My one and only trader came under fire in the Vault and I had to fly there from Cardinals Domain - I see the need to invest in defensive infrastructure for sectors you are trading in - The Chimera that attacked just loitered outside the factory he'd hidden at so I couldn't just wait him out - I think this is one of the best features of losing Jump Gates. - I will not be able to spread my factories about for sure..

I do think that you need to up Pirate Morale in defend station missions - I just had another 3 out 5 bail without actually trying to cap (8xPRG firing at them) - One a Falcon with 2x25mj shields and 2xHEPT still onboard. - It's just it forms a loophole making for easy money which doesn't fit in.

Taking on Capital ships in an M3 is great fun again - With the help of the argon military I took down a J (but never scored the final shot for the kill) - The only impossible for me in an M3 combat wise is grouped Ms and Ls with PBEs - I am looking forward to jumping into an M6 now - They do look like they'd be more main stream (utilitarian) than in Vanilla.

[VincentTH]

Gavrushka:

The ships in Station Def mission have low morale for a reason: The rewards for Station Def mission come from those ships that bail, given that they yield the lowest reward in terms of credits, or any mission of the same combat level.

[Gavrushka]

Yes, I realise that - The issue is now, with the additional hull (so checks for bail over longer period), half of all ships bail, even with shields and weapons intact - The rewards are too high and not in keeping with the financial struggle that is cornerstone to this mod.

I appreciate your opinion may differ, but I'd really like morale increased!

[VincentTH]

Yes, I realise that - The issue is now, with the additional hull (so checks for bail over longer period), half of all ships bail, even with shields and weapons intact - The rewards are too high and not in keeping with the financial struggle that is cornerstone to this mod.

I appreciate your opinion may differ, but I'd really like morale increased!

I've got to question the 50% bail ratio. You know that how they bail does not depend on how much hull they have (well, I mean below 87%). In my tests, only like 10% or even less bail.

[Gavrushka]

Understood - I've had 6 from 15 bail which is actually 40% - I'd jumped to the conclusion that the added hull meant there would be more checks for the bail script. Therefore a higher % jump ship.

I'll do a few more missions and check the stats with a larger sample size. I feel the rewards for the missions are adequate without the 2,000,000 I gained from the last one selling three ships!!

[VincentTH]

I'd jumped to the conclusion that the added hull meant there would be more checks for the bail script. Therefore a higher % jump ship.

Nobody outside of Ego's devs circle know how that work, but according to the dis-assembly routine, the probably of ship bailing decreases over time, ịe. the longer you shoot at it, the lesser the chance. That refutes the hypothesis that more hull = more likely to bail. Of course all of this is just speculation.
I submit that the 40% chance you see is just an anomalie. You would have stretch of station def missions where no ships bailed. That is exactly what I am in right now

[Fearose]

how do i revert my save game back to having the gates and so i dont have to restart.

[Gavrushka]

@Fearose, I don't see how you could revert the gates in your current game - That's just one of the more visible changes.

VincentTH - You are right, 6 out of 15 is not statistically significant, and I will take on a few more missions and see how it goes -I believe the PRGs I use does increase the chance of a bail - But I guess everything is just hypothesis without further results.