[Mod-AP][In-Dev] X-Timelines: The Syndicate

[Mad_CatMk2]

the funny thing is rebirth is not what any of us wanted, except me, in one way.

My god the scripting capabilitys of that engine are so far beyond X3AP its not funny, i fell in love with rebirths engine after about an hour...

right now im working on restoring at least a little bit of X-ness to XR by adding proper ship commands...its so bloody easy...

if we do resume XTL, after its release im going to take a long hard look at the entire rebirth engine and see what we can do with it - but fear not, i promise that's not going to happen before XTL's release if we start the modding cycles again, as i don't feel like starting another 3 year + project until the first one is finished!!

man I do hope you can work wonders with that engine!

[sms_747]

Hey guys... just popped in to say hello.

am learning C# for Unity and Uscript for UDK at the moment at uni, so heavy stuff. I just wanted to see if you were still making Timelines, since I stupidly ordered the £50.00 version of X Rebirth and have had the worst weekend of my life as a result (waited years for X4 like the rest of you and then had my heart ripped out by what is basically Freelancer 1.5). At one point I thought there was actually something wrong with my heart because I had such a pain in there. Well, perhaps the dream is not yet over because when X Rebirth goes in the bin I can still play Timelines; good on you guys for keeping it going. An awful lot of people are going to be looking to you to fill the hollow void that Rebirth has created.
Jack, don't start thinking about porting over to the Rebirth engine because it will delay the release again and nobody wants that
You can always make Timelines 2 later...

Hey Trixx, hey Litcube *waves*

oh, btw check out my funky avatar... dead funny eh

[Shuulo]

Im eager to play XTL even more after XR failure. I believe that Jack will b able to make a nice tasty candy from XR, but till then we dont have good X series successor.
I do hope to test some alpha builds in nearest future.

And thank you Trixx and Jack08 for thinking about continuation of work on XTL, you are both awesome

[Litcube]

Hey Trixx, hey Litcube *waves*

Hieeee!

[TTD]

I really hope this mod gets off the ground.
Been waiting a long time.

Leon

[Jack08]

Work has resumed, thats all the update i have for right now. We will release the moment we deem it a playable public alpha.

[TrixX]

Yup work is indeed back under way

My god the scripting capabilitys of that engine are so far beyond X3AP its not funny, i fell in love with rebirths engine after about an hour...

you know, you saying that gives me some sort of hope that the game is not a completely lost cause

The game itself is (in my opinion), but the engine is not (hopefully, from what it sounds like). Hopefully none of the awful gameplay is hard-coded; if it isn't then a mod team *hint hint* could even make an X4 with more dynamic economy, trading system that works, more than one ship, etc.

Unfortunately it looks like there is a lot of hardcoding for the singular ship. Which isn't very helpful. Personally I haven't found X:R worth it yet. Everything I've seen and read has kept me looking elsewhere for interest. This is also the reason I'm really looking forward to getting my teeth back into XTL

[alex4501]

YAY

[bluenog143]

Yup work is indeed back under way



Unfortunately it looks like there is a lot of hardcoding for the singular ship. Which isn't very helpful. Personally I haven't found X:R worth it yet. Everything I've seen and read has kept me looking elsewhere for interest. This is also the reason I'm really looking forward to getting my teeth back into XTL

Oh well, as long as you guys can do what you're planning for XTL with the X3 engine, then I personally don't mind (and I'm sure many others don't also).

Nevertheless I've been wanting to play XTL for a long while now so it's great news to hear that work on the mod has resumed.

[all_other_names_taken]

Unfortunately i cant make that assurance anymore, life has hit the project pretty hard, still working slowly but i don't have a time frame.

But you DO find the time to tinker with that abomination of a game?
Shame on you!

Translation:
However tempting the X:R engine seems to you right now, please put it aside for a while and get to finish XTL asap

I've been patiently waiting for your mod for two years now, without ever pestering you about it. No more!
I honestly think you could make XTL part of "life", if there was a way for you to sell the mod (I don't know what's the acting policy on that). Even if it was not officially supported, you could setup a donation link on your web site or something.
I would gladly pay the price of X3AP for this mod without blinking an eye. I'm sure I'm not alone.
This mod is the only hope of a proper space SIM (emphasized) in the foreseeable future.
Though I pledged for Elite: Dangerous, that game scratches a different kind of itch. Similar can be said for SC.
What might be close to what I would like to play is Limit Theory.

Anyway, just dropped here to +1 all the requests for finishing this mod. Good luck.

[Jack08]

Unfortunately i cant make that assurance anymore, life has hit the project pretty hard, still working slowly but i don't have a time frame.

But you DO find the time to tinker with that abomination of a game?
Shame on you!

Translation:
However tempting the X:R engine seems to you right now, please put it aside for a while and get to finish XTL asap

I've been patiently waiting for your mod for two years now, without ever pestering you about it. No more!
I honestly think you could make XTL part of "life", if there was a way for you to sell the mod (I don't know what's the acting policy on that). Even if it was not officially supported, you could setup a donation link on your web site or something.
I would gladly pay the price of X3AP for this mod without blinking an eye. I'm sure I'm not alone.
This mod is the only hope of a proper space SIM (emphasized) in the foreseeable future.
Though I pledged for Elite: Dangerous, that game scratches a different kind of itch. Similar can be said for SC.
What might be close to what I would like to play is Limit Theory.

Anyway, just dropped here to +1 all the requests for finishing this mod. Good luck.

We may put up a donation thing on our website when the mod is releaesd - its not really my times thats the deciding factor.

Ive given up on X:R - MCE is staying at 0.10.1 in all likelyhood, not sure if ill even finish the rewrite the game has just annoyed me so much

for XTL, at the moment im placing asteroid fields... lots and lost of asteroid fields...

by the way, incase anyone was wondering, the current custom command-set of XTL is (constnatly changing - incomplete, and still needs merging):

Code: Select all

<!-- Misc XTL Commands -->
 <t id="2000">autosave game</t>
 <t id="2001">%0 set ship property menu hidden state to %1</t>
 <t id="2002">%0 play animation id=%1</t>
 <t id="2003">%0 set asteroid yield to %1</t>
 <t id="2004">%0 send DLL message: pipe=%1, opcode=%2, data=%3, expectresponse=%4</t>
 <t id="2005">%0 query DLL message pipe: pipe=%1</t>
<!-- Table XTL Commands --> 
 <t id="2006">%0table alloc</t>
 <t id="2007">%0table get size: table=%1</t>
 <t id="2008">table set %0\(%1\) = %2</t>
 <t id="2009">%0table get %1\(%2\)</t>
 <t id="2010">%0table get keys: table=%1</t>
 <t id="2011">%0table remove key: table=%1, key=%2</t>
 <t id="2012">table clear: table=%0</t>
<!-- Mission XTL Commands -->  
 <t id="2013">register XTL mission catagory %0: DLLTextID=%1 callback script=%2</t>
 <t id="2014">set XTL mission catagory callback script: catagory=%0 script=%0</t>
 <t id="2015">set XTL mission catagory DLL sector registration range: catagory=%0 range=%1</t>
 <t id="2016">%0create mission: catagory=%1</t>
 <t id="2017">%0 set home object to %1 primary=%2</t>
 <t id="2018">%0%1 get home object: primary=%2</t>
 <t id="2019">%0 set mission catagory to %1</t>
 <t id="2020">%0 set DLL mission property %1 to %2</t>
 <t id="2021">%0%1 get DLL mission property %2</t>
 <t id="2022">%0%1 is mission accepted</t>
 <t id="2023">%0%1 is guidance mission</t>
 <t id="2024">%0%1 is mission registered with DLL</t>
 <t id="2025">%0%1 get user data</t>
 <t id="2026">%0 set user data to %1</t>
 <t id="2027">%0 add required reputation: race=%1 value=%2</t>
 <t id="2028">%0 remove required reputation: race=%1</t>
 <t id="2029">%0%1 get require reputations</t>
 <t id="2030">%0%1 requires reputation: race=%2</t>
 <t id="2031">%0 trigger success</t>
 <t id="2032">%0 trigger failure</t>
 <t id="2033">%0 register with DLL mission manager</t>
 <t id="2034">%0 unregister with DLL mission manager</t>
 <t id="2035">%0 set periodic callback interval to %1</t>
 <t id="2036">%0 set periodic callback script to %1</t>
 <t id="2037">%0 set periodic callback enabled to %1</t>
 <t id="2038">set guidance object for mission %0, object=%1</t>
 <t id="2039">%0 visualize objective: Text=%1, Icon=%2</t>
 <t id="2040">%0 get guidance object for mission %1</t>
 <!-- Misc XTL Commands Cont. -->  
 <t id="2041">%0chance %1 in %2</t>
 <t id="2042">%1%0XTLPatrol Targeting Code: CurrentTarget=%2 DeAcquisitionRange=%3 EngageRange=%4 AcquisitionRange=%5</t>
 <!-- Mission XTL Commands Cont. -->  
 <t id="2043">%0%1 get mission type</t>
 <t id="2044">%0%1 get mission owner race</t>
 <t id="2045">%0 set mission owner race to %1</t> 
 <t id="2046">%0%1 get mission internal name</t>
 <t id="2047">%0 fire custom event: EventName=%1 EventData=%2</t>
 <!-- Table XTL Commands Cont. -->  
 <t id="2048">%0 table get next key: table=%1 currentkey=%2</t>
 <!-- Mission XTL Commands Cont. --> 
 <t id="2049">%0%1 calculate XTL mission reward</t>
 <t id="2050">%0 add mission reward: credits=%1</t>
 <t id="2051">%0 get route length from %1 to %2 in metres</t> 
 <t id="2052">%0 add signal callback: signal=%1 object=%2</t>
 <t id="2053">%0 remove signal callback: signal=%1 object=%2</t>
 <!-- Event Log Commands -->
 <t id="2054">add event to eventlog: ShortMsg=%0, Message=%1, Catagory=%2, Icon=%3, Notify=%4</t>
 <!-- Table Commands Cont. -->
 <t id="2055">table set %0\(%1\)[%2] = %3</t>
 <t id="2056">table set %0\(%1\)\(%2\) = %3</t>
 <t id="2057">%0 table get %1\(%2\)[%3]</t>
 <t id="2058">%0 table get %1\(%2\)\(%3\)</t>
 <t id="2059">%0[%1] = table get %2\(%3\)</t> 
 <!-- Entity Commands -->
 <t id="2060">%0 Read Entity Data: Directory=%1 KeyName=%2 Header=%3</t>
 <!-- Production Modules -->
 <t id="2061">%0%1 get production modules</t>
 <t id="2062">%0%1 get module with uniqueid %2</t>
 <t id="2063">%0%1 add production module: template=%2</t>
 <t id="2064">%0%1 add custom module: script=%2</t>
 <t id="2065">%0 remove production module %1</t>
 <t id="2066">%0%1 get module cycle time</t>
 <t id="2067">%0%1 get module cycle time remaining</t>
 <t id="2068">%0%1 is production enabled</t>
 <t id="2069">%0 set production enabled to %1</t>
 <t id="2070">%0%1 get module product</t>
 <t id="2071">%0%1 get module products per cycle</t>
 <t id="2072">%0%1 get module resources</t>
 <t id="2073">%0%1 get module resources per cycle for ware %2</t>
 <t id="2074">%0%1 get module template name</t>
 <t id="2075">%0 set module cycle time to %1</t>
 <t id="2076">%0 set module product data to %1 units of %2</t>
 <t id="2077">%0 clear module product data</t>
 <t id="2078">%0 remove module resource requirement of ware %1</t>
 <t id="2079">%0 set module resource requirement to %1 units of %2</t>
 <t id="2080">%0 set station base store amount for %1 to %2 units</t>
 <!-- Floating Ware -->
 <t id="2081">%0%1 get inbound ware recovery object: Race=%2</t>
 <t id="2082">%0 set inbound ware recovery object: Race=%1 Object=%2</t>
 <!-- Ware ID -->
 <t id="2083">%0 get ware code from ware id: %1</t>
 <t id="2084">%0 get ware id from ware code: %1</t>
 <!-- Commands -->
 <t id="2085">%0 get turret command script from command id: %1</t>
 <!-- Production Modules Cont. -->
 <t id="2086">%0 set module name to %1</t>
 <t id="2087">%0%1 add refinery production module: Ore=%2</t>
 <t id="2088">%0%1 get refinery module ore type</t>
 <t id="2089">%0 set refinery module ore type to %1</t>
 <!-- Command Console Toggle -->
 <t id="2090">%0 set command console mode to %1</t>
 <!-- Misc Cont. -->
 <t id="2091">%0 set hidden state to %1</t>
 <t id="2092">%0%1 turn ship turret %2 to face asteroid %3: timeout=%4</t>
 <t id="2093">%0 set sector map special sorting enabled to %1</t>
 <t id="2094">%0 set hidden from find results to %1</t>
 <t id="2095">%0%1 get is hidden from find results</t>
 <!-- Module Templates -->
 <t id="2096">%0 get module template info for module name: %1</t>
 <t id="2097">%0 get factorys for module template name: %1</t>
 <t id="2098">%0 get refinary data for ore %1</t>
 <!-- Production Modules Cont -->
 <t id="2099">%0%1 get module type</t>
 <t id="2100">%0 set module production modifier to %1</t>
 <t id="2101">%0%1 get module production modifier</t>
 <t id="2102">%0 get module template info for station ware: %1</t>
 <!-- Turret and Weapon Masking Commands -->
 <t id="2103">%0 get race mask of weapon %1</t>
 <t id="2104">%0 get race list of weapon %1</t>
 <t id="2105">%0 get racemask of race %1</t>
 <t id="2106">%0 get military variant of ware %1</t>
 <t id="2107">%0 get advanced variant of ware %1</t>
 <t id="2108">%0 get turret laser mask: shiptype=%1 turretid=%2</t>
 <t id="2109">%0 get subgroup mask of laser %1</t>
 <t id="2110">%0 get standard variant of ware %1</t>
 <t id="2111">%0 get galaxy subtype of ware %1</t>
 <!-- Environment Patrol Commands -->
 <t id="2112">%0%1 is patrol auto sync enabled</t>
 <t id="2113">%0%1 get patrol wing leaders from sector: race=%2</t>
 <!-- Math -->
 <t id="2114">%0 get angles of vector %1</t>
 
 <t id="1812">%0%1 get station best buy price: ware=%2, jumps=%3, reject price=%4, flags=%5, exclude=%6</t>
 <t id="1813">%0%1 get station best sell price: ware=%2, jumps=%3, reject price=%4, flags=%5, exclude=%6</t>
 <t id="1814">%0%1 request station trade lock: station=%2, ware=%3, buy-sell=%4</t>
 <t id="1815">%0%1 is station trade locked: ware=%2, buy-sell=%3</t>
 <t id="1816">%0 free station trade lock: ware=%1, buy-sell=%2</t>
 
 <t id="1830">%0open custom menu: title=%1 description=%2 option array=%3 callback script=%4 args=%5</t>
 <t id="1831">%0open custom info menu: title=%1 description=%2 option array=%3 callback script=%4 args=%5 maxoptions=%6</t>
 <t id="1832">add dynamic trade bar to menu: %0, text=%1, min=%2, max=%3, current=%4, return value=%5, left text=%6, right text=%7, enter sets=%8</t>
 <t id="1833">add custom dynamic menu item to array %0: text=%1 returnvalue=%2</t>
 <t id="1834">add value selection with match to menu : %0, text=%1, value array=%2, display array=%3, default=%4, return id=%5</t>

[firestorm79]

how does this mod relate to this? are they two seperate universe mods in the works??

[Jack08]

how does this mod relate to this? are they two seperate universe mods in the works??

Litcube's Universe is an upgrade to the existing features of the game (jobs, god) - whereas XTL is a complete and total rewrite of most of the games systems (Jobs is gone, god is gone, entirely rewrote the economy, changed the class system, etc) to create a living world (the same promise XR tried to make, and then continued to use jobs and god >.>)

XTL isn't released yet because of its huge scope an the fact that we are practically a two man team most of the time. XTL is designed as a sandbox where actions do have an effect, and not a single ship in the entire universe is "spawned" from nothingness.

[all_other_names_taken]

XTL is designed as a sandbox where actions do have an effect, and not a single ship in the entire universe is "spawned" from nothingness.

Now THAT's what I want from a space game. I don't give a **** about fancy graphics and eye candy if the stuff mentioned above is not in the game.

And if the two of you can do it (and I'm sure you can) working on it as a hobby for a couple of years, why couldn't 20 people at ES do it as a full time job for 7 years??? That's just mind boggling.

[Jack08]

Ah python, without you XTL would have been lost so long ago - Python, i am lost with you

[firestorm79]

how does this mod relate to this? are they two seperate universe mods in the works??

Litcube's Universe is an upgrade to the existing features of the game (jobs, god) - whereas XTL is a complete and total rewrite of most of the games systems (Jobs is gone, god is gone, entirely rewrote the economy, changed the class system, etc) to create a living world (the same promise XR tried to make, and then continued to use jobs and god >.>)

XTL isn't released yet because of its huge scope an the fact that we are practically a two man team most of the time. XTL is designed as a sandbox where actions do have an effect, and not a single ship in the entire universe is "spawned" from nothingness.

holy mother of jesus and all that is good on this earth... I will go buy a hat (just so that I can take it off to you guys).

But can you enlighten us plebs, what are jobs and gods and how does X function without jobs/gods... I mean I understand the very basic - jobs are 'scripts' for npcs, and god is the 'script' that controls the X universe... but that's as far as my comprehension goes... of course even my vague understanding might be completely off the mark at best, and plain incorrect at worst...

[alex4501]

Was jack drunk when he posted this..... i think he was not that i don't agree hehe

[Hector0x]

hey boys, just started my post-rebirth-x3mod-search

So glad, that we still have a glimpse of hope left. After going through the timelines-threads i think u will get this show on the road sooner or later.
respect

[Jack08]

how does this mod relate to this? are they two seperate universe mods in the works??

Litcube's Universe is an upgrade to the existing features of the game (jobs, god) - whereas XTL is a complete and total rewrite of most of the games systems (Jobs is gone, god is gone, entirely rewrote the economy, changed the class system, etc) to create a living world (the same promise XR tried to make, and then continued to use jobs and god >.>)

XTL isn't released yet because of its huge scope an the fact that we are practically a two man team most of the time. XTL is designed as a sandbox where actions do have an effect, and not a single ship in the entire universe is "spawned" from nothingness.

holy mother of jesus and all that is good on this earth... I will go buy a hat (just so that I can take it off to you guys).

But can you enlighten us plebs, what are jobs and gods and how does X function without jobs/gods... I mean I understand the very basic - jobs are 'scripts' for npcs, and god is the 'script' that controls the X universe... but that's as far as my comprehension goes... of course even my vague understanding might be completely off the mark at best, and plain incorrect at worst...

Actually, neither are scripts.

The Jobs engine is the engine used in X to spawn ships, it is based on timers and weights - when certain conditions are met and there are not enough ships currently in the universe, the engine spawns more to take the place of ones that were lost.

The Jobs engine does indeed start jobscripts on the entitys it spawns, however the scripts and the engine are two separate things.

GOD is the hardcoded station and universe management engine, it creates and destroys stations in an attempt to keep the economy working (most of the time it doesn't do a very good job of it) - seeing as the economy is mostly fake in X, this had to be disabled too.

XTL Shuts both of these systems down, and replace them with AI logic - The AI will requisition fleets from shipyards, based on the amount of space they on, there military alert level, if they need additional traders, etc. Jobs creates a static unchanging universe whereas XTL's systems can change the amount ships in an area dynamically based on need.

While similar to god, XTL runs on a supply-demand mechanism to determine what needs to happen in order for the economy to stay alive, however unlike god XTL wont purposely leave holes in the economy for the player to fill - Instead to make a living on trade the player has to be careful where he places his stations, or build the end products (Ship Components, Weapons, Shields, Missiles) and sell them to shipyards.

Because of the amount of money can be made in the trade systems, the cost of stations in XTL is very high, however - XTL will in the future feature full fleet management relieving you of alot of the micro currently required by the game to keep your empire alive, meaning the loss of a capital ship will no longer be a "oh crap, reload save" moment.

Elimination of all of the "reload save" moments is a primary goal for XTL, as such in the future we plan on removing the Game Over screen and replacing it with an escape pod, allow you to, if necessary start over. Unlike other escape pod mods, XTL's version doesnt rely on you to be on the ball and jump into it, it will be automatic and happen when your ship explodes - there are also some random events that are tired to this system, however this is a feature for the future not for the first release.

Now, back to work.

must...place..asteroid...fields...in...xtl..map... MUST... There's like 80 left and they take 5-15 minutes each...

[bluenog143]

This mod is going to be such a boss when it's released it could pass as an X5 for GoDsakes.

I'll make sure to keep checking this thread for any further updates.