[MOD] [TC/AP] X3 Rebalance Mod (XRM) - Total conversion - v1.30d (02.12.13)

[paulwheeler]

Would XRM teleport some angry Yaki on top of me after capping their capital ships or something?

If this is not doable in XRM, I can implement it in LIFE, (I really like this idea, hence my reply).

It's not possible to detect if a ship is currently being boarded in the MSCI, but it is possible in the MD. In LIFE I would simply build up a list of ships currently being attacked by the player in the MSCI, hand that list over to the MD, the MD would then check each ship within the list using "{object.boarding@object}" in an instanced boarding handler, (exactly the same way as my News Representatives and Ship/Pilot missions work now). If a ship is found to be currently boarding, then the MD would call an appropriate RRF script to the boarding ship's position and voila, no more easy monies and a potential torrent of player tears.

Ooh, me and my big mouth.. Boarding actions should still be possible, though. Perhaps RRF script should try to retake the ship? In any case, ships shouldn't teleport on top of you, that's just gamey cheating. Nearest jumpgate/beacon should serve.

Well its doable with the XRM - but ive already got a backlog of chances and fixes so it would be a long time before id get round to it.

[Binesi]

I'm trying XRM again and happy to see it has been still worked on while I was away. My understanding (maybe wrong) is that problems with ammunition based guns where fixed in AP. If I edited the ammo based guns back to their vanilla values will this cause any problem with AI loadouts? Will job ships carry ammunition if they require it? Trying out XRM I find a minor immersion breaker to see ammunition still exists while no guns (that I have seen) require it. Also I miss the choice of using ammo based guns for ships with weak generators in exchange for the hassle and expense of keeping them loaded. Can I add it back without breaking all the balance?

Also, the universe in XRM is in a pretty constant state of war with Xenon and what not. While fun, I find myself defeating massive invasions only to see them spawned again in a short time - which defeats my sense of accomplishment. Also, the invasions are not real. They can destroy a whole sector and the sector will just respawn like nothing happened. What would be the best way to remedy this? Should I edit the jobs file to double the respawn time on all roaming hostile factions? Add MBRR to AP and allow the battles to impact the universe?

[paulwheeler]

Ammo based weapons were rebalanced to take into account their lack of ammo (in vanilla they are better than non-ammo equivalents), so adding the ammo back in will make them underpowered. Having said that, I think ammo still spawns in ship loadouts if required.

As for real invasions... depends on your definition of "real". As far as I'm aware, no script creates "real" invasions where ships are built depending on resources and actions have significant consequences. Enemy ships simply respawn in vanilla and all the other scripts out there that I've seen. The only stations that respawn automatically are docks - this is hard coded into GOD and can only be stopped by spawning these stations initially via script rather than via the universe map. Having a dynamic universe where races make incursions into enemy territory and wipe out sectors simply isn't compatible with having plots that rely on certain objects existing. You'd have to have a pure sandbox for that to work with no pre-scripted plots.

In the XRM, the respawns will take into account sector take overs. So if you want to stop Xenon invasions, get yourself a sector take over script and take over Xenon sectors - the Xenon will then stop spawning in that sector. Its perfectly possible to wipe out the Xenon in the XRM if you take all their sectors.

However, if you want real invasions where strength depends on resources and the enemies employ actual "tactics"... well I think you want another game - X3 just isn't that deep.

[Barleyman]

Actually improved boarding mod lets you put more marines into NPC ships and enables NPC boarding too. So you can make it tougher to make money fast.

[Aven Valkyr]

Thanks for this mod! It has totally changed this game for me :)

One thing Ii have noticed though is the military presence is almost TOO strong now. Whenever I take a "kill target" mission the target gets dumped into a swarm of military capital ships. EVERY TIME! And then those capital ships go ahead and torp the crap outta my target. 90% of the time I have to reload the game like a dozen times till I finally get a sliver of chance when my swarm missiles just *happen* to finish the target off a split second before the military does. It makes me want to throw my keyboard at my TV. Is there any way to reduce the amount of times military ships use their torpedo's?

I'm not sure if this is a vanilla thing or an XRM thing but it's insanely aggravating. There are a couple other annoyances but they are interface related. Is there some way to fix it? Thanks.

[Zaknafein]

i just wondered what the range of the military scanner in xrm is?
i kinda remember it was 50km, is that right? in my game only targets within a range of 30km are visible. i cant remember having a mod that alters this. is it 50km or 30km?

[DrBullwinkle]

Whenever I take a "kill target" mission the target gets dumped into a swarm of military capital ships. EVERY TIME! And then those capital ships go ahead and torp the crap outta my target. .

That is vanilla behavior. The enemies are generated because of your fight rank, and the target-poaching is RRF.

I got tired of the RRF poaching my mission targets, as well, so I made this:

RRF Attack Player Only (for AP).

It changes one script in RRF so that RRF will only attack the player... not the player's targets (or other races). I know that Paul has made some changes to RRF as well, so I do not guarantee that this script will not un-do some of his work, but it should do the job. In any case, it is easy to uninstall if you don't like it. Just install and uninstall with the Plugin Manager. Simples.

[hourheroyes]

Would XRM teleport some angry Yaki on top of me after capping their capital ships or something?

If this is not doable in XRM, I can implement it in LIFE, (I really like this idea, hence my reply).

It's not possible to detect if a ship is currently being boarded in the MSCI, but it is possible in the MD. In LIFE I would simply build up a list of ships currently being attacked by the player in the MSCI, hand that list over to the MD, the MD would then check each ship within the list using "{object.boarding@object}" in an instanced boarding handler, (exactly the same way as my News Representatives and Ship/Pilot missions work now). If a ship is found to be currently boarding, then the MD would call an appropriate RRF script to the boarding ship's position and voila, no more easy monies and a potential torrent of player tears.

I WANT THIS

[paulwheeler]

Whenever I take a "kill target" mission the target gets dumped into a swarm of military capital ships. EVERY TIME! And then those capital ships go ahead and torp the crap outta my target. .

That is vanilla behavior. The enemies are generated because of your fight rank, and the target-poaching is RRF.

I got tired of the RRF poaching my mission targets, as well, so I made this:

RRF Attack Player Only (for AP).

It changes one script in RRF so that RRF will only attack the player... not the player's targets (or other races). I know that Paul has made some changes to RRF as well, so I do not guarantee that this script will not un-do some of his work, but it should do the job. In any case, it is easy to uninstall if you don't like it. Just install and uninstall with the Plugin Manager. Simples.

I expect this may well cause problems with the XRM RRF - I changed the vanilla scripts quite a bit.

[paulwheeler]

i just wondered what the range of the military scanner in xrm is?
i kinda remember it was 50km, is that right? in my game only targets within a range of 30km are visible. i cant remember having a mod that alters this. is it 50km or 30km?

The military scanner should be 75km. If you're not seeing that then something is wrong - perhaps a non-XRM globals file somewhere.

[DrBullwinkle]

I changed the vanilla scripts quite a bit.

You could make a similar change in your scripts, at least as an option. I have had over a hundred downloads without ever posting the link. It is fairly popular.

It is pretty simple, and I documented my changes (as usual). Just search for "bw:".

[paulwheeler]

and I documented my changes (as usual).

You're a better man than I!

[DrBullwinkle]

In RL, I am often called upon to fix other people's broken code, usually after they are no longer available. If they called me in, it is typically because nobody else can read the code.

I learned, a long time ago, to write my code so that other people can maintain it. Every line I write is intended to be read by other programmers. It has become second-nature.

[Zaknafein]

The military scanner should be 75km. If you're not seeing that then something is wrong - perhaps a non-XRM globals file somewhere.

and again i bow to your infinite troubleshooting-wisdom
it was a comm-range changing mod id totally forgotten i have installed. well now its at 50km which is fine for me, dont need 75km or codea will get a bit weird.

[Eriodas]

Sorry if it was asked before, but is there a chance to include the Awesome Station looks of the Xtended mod in XRM?, can you talk to the guys?..

[Binesi]

Thanks Paul for the detailed response. It is a pleasure to see mods so well supported over time. Your suggestion to add a takeover script seems reasonable. I hacked Military Base Response Revamp to work with AP and XRM. Changed the command slots and prevented spawning Terraformer ships by Terrans. Also I changed the jump code to be compatible with the advanced universe. If anyone wants my version please PM.

Must say I really enjoy playing in the advanced universe. Jump drives just seem too overpowered for the player when the AI barely uses them. Even in sector you can jump gate to gate to avoid enemies. Now I have to actually try to survive trips through hostile territories and I need to provide escorts for my traders - that is so much more fun.

So one more little question if I may. With the advanced universe there is often ships spawning in sector using a jump visual affect. Since there is no such jumping allowed seeing this feels wrong. I edited jobs to force all spawns to be from shipyards or out of sector or in a few cases, gates. However now I have capital ships piling up in the shipyards and refusing to undock. I assume this is why in your jobs file version shipyard spawning is rarely used. Am I correct in thinking this doesn't work properly?

BTW, I realize X isn't that deep as I would like, but I need to stay up all day and night taking care of a newborn for now so I'm just trying to put together something to pass the time. There is nothing else really that fits the niche.

[Aven Valkyr]

ok thanks for the reply Unfortunately I don't have AP and if this is vanilla behavior I will just have to deal with it. It takes several tries but eventually I am able to kill the target by firing many swarm missiles and hoping that the last blow will be due to one of my missiles hitting. Thanks again..

[paulwheeler]

The military scanner should be 75km. If you're not seeing that then something is wrong - perhaps a non-XRM globals file somewhere.

and again i bow to your infinite troubleshooting-wisdom
it was a comm-range changing mod id totally forgotten i have installed. well now its at 50km which is fine for me, dont need 75km or codea will get a bit weird.

The XRM makes a few changes to globals so if you only want 50km, I suggest you start from the XRM globals as a base and edit it to suit.

[unit757]

Edit - Nevermind, apparently it's McCallum and Mars that need to be hit. I hit Mars, but mistook ATF Forseti to be the other target, so I'll go ransack McCallum >.>

[agleave]

I am having something a little annoying happen within the Shady Business mission.

I am at the part where I have just entered Elysium of Light, and spoken to a Goner there. He wants me to get a TP ship and go pick up a Terran and Argon person to try to convince them to work together to fight off the impending Xenon invasion. The Terran person is marked as being at the Stock Exchange in Mars, however there is no guidance option available for the Argon person, so I cannot complete this mission as I do not know where to collect him.

I have the option to speak to the Goner guy at any stage, but he does not reveal any additional information. I have already reached the relevant rep ranks so I just need to know where this Argon is?

Any ideas?