[MOD TC/AP] Combat Mod 4 - v4.16 17/06/13 - AP 3.0 Compatibility

[Sam L.R. Griffiths]

WRT spawning by scripts, CMOD could do a Gamma PSP/SSC/MAML along the same lines as the Gamma PPC?

I did think of that too. They don't even really need the "gamma" prefix. The only time you'd notice is where stocks don't go up when you sell to EDs and you'd get two entries for each weapon in the compatibility lists.

Its certainly a possibility...

Well some kind of prefix would be useful as it would help identify them for MARS users (if they are planned to be exact replicas that is.

Alternatively, you could use CMOD in conjunction with AWRM.

[builder680]

Is there a way to turn off missile trails with this mod? They're killing my FPS in large battles (like the ones you get from Improved Races mod). There's so MANY of them.

[Sam L.R. Griffiths]

Is there a way to turn off missile trails with this mod? They're killing my FPS in large battles (like the ones you get from Improved Races mod). There's so MANY of them.

Yes, you need to edit the TMissiles file and set "Trail Effect" entry to probably something like -1 or 0.

[paulwheeler]

Is there a way to turn off missile trails with this mod? They're killing my FPS in large battles (like the ones you get from Improved Races mod). There's so MANY of them.

Yes, you need to edit the TMissiles file and set "Trail Effect" entry to probably something like -1 or 0.

Setting the trail to "0" will give you the default "black smoke" engine trail. Setting it to "-1" should get rid of them.

However, the trails are there in the vanilla game so I doubt that they would be making things any worse. The CMOD does extend the draw distance a little, but not much...

If you are using an SRM trail mod,especially the ones with Capital ship engine effects, then that is more likely to be the culprit. The new cap ship engine effects definitely hit fps a bit.

It could just be the sheer numbers of ships and missiles that you get when using a mod like IR. It can easily overwhelm a modest PC. My PC frequently gets bogged down in large battles. Getting rid of the trails won't make any difference.

[builder680]

Hmm, alright. Maybe it's just too many ships... But I really notice FPS slowdown at the same time I see about a zillion missiles get launched, even if it's just from one ship. I'll experiment. Thanks

[paulwheeler]

Hmm, alright. Maybe it's just too many ships... But I really notice FPS slowdown at the same time I see about a zillion missiles get launched, even if it's just from one ship. I'll experiment. Thanks

Keep in mind, that each missile has to go through the same scripted flight dynamics as any ship (minus collision avoidance). So if you fire, say, ten missiles, its like the equivalent of adding another ten ships into the fray. OK, the game won't have to render such sophisticated models, but I rather think that its the scripting side of things that slows the game down in large battles anyway.

I'd be interested to hear your findings though. If removing the trails does make a large difference, I could try simplifying the trails a bit more to see if we can gain back a few fps without losing the trails completely.

[builder680]

Hmm, alright. Maybe it's just too many ships... But I really notice FPS slowdown at the same time I see about a zillion missiles get launched, even if it's just from one ship. I'll experiment. Thanks

Keep in mind, that each missile has to go through the same scripted flight dynamics as any ship (minus collision avoidance). So if you fire, say, ten missiles, its like the equivalent of adding another ten ships into the fray. OK, the game won't have to render such sophisticated models, but I rather think that its the scripting side of things that slows the game down in large battles anyway.

I'd be interested to hear your findings though. If removing the trails does make a large difference, I could try simplifying the trails a bit more to see if we can gain back a few fps without losing the trails completely.

It's going to take me a while. I'm reinstalling, plus I've never unpacked a cat, I don't know where the resultant unpacked files are supposed to go after I edit tmissiles, or how to pack the cat back up instead of using the unpacked files. In fact, the only thing I do know is I need to use XEditor for something... I think.

Nor can I find tmissiles yet, though I've only looked in the last couple of cats (with Xeditor... or should I use X3 ModManager? I have both for some reason...).

If I can figure all that out, and I can find a big battle (I don't see them all the time) where the ships are also using a lot of missiles, I'll be sure to let you know. It'd be anecdotal though, as I'm not sure how to activate the FPS counter in X3, if there even is one. I have FRAPS, but I haven't looked to see how to do it in there either... shouldn't take too long though. I just know that when I see a bunch of missiles, my game goes from liquid smooth to stutter city. Can't say for certain if it's the trails themselves or not.

[builder680]

Just a minor heads up. In the OP, there is this sentence

"All CMod3 features are retained. For information view the original thread here."

I believe the word "here" is supposed to be a link to the old CMOD 3 thread, but currently it isn't. I mention it in case you wanted to change it.
_____________________________________________________________

Also, from the changelog of 3.0 - 4.0, I see this:

Removed Betty phrases “Alert incoming missile” and “connection to trading network established”

But I still hear those alerts and am reasonably confident I installed everything correctly. I guess I'm checking to see if anyone else hears those still.

I'll check the link thanks.

If you are still getting those phrases, then you have either not removed the default 00044.dat file:

Go to the "mov" folder in your X3TC director and rename 00044.dat to 00044.old


or you have another mod with a 00044 mov file which is blocking the CMOD/SRM one.



EDIT - Just realised these instructions are not in the main post. I'll add them now.

Ah got it. it was 00044.pck, not 00044.dat, for me. Not sure if that's important for instructions in the OP or not, just letting ya know. Thanks for the info though, it makes her stop saying all that junk.

P.S. Link to CMOD 3 still isn't isn't in the word "here" in the main post. Probably not that important, but the sentence looks weird when it says go "here" and there's nothing to click.

[builder680]

Full of ideas and questions I am... here's another if you'll entertain it.

Some of the beam weapons are pretty weird looking:

They're often solid colors. Probably more realistic but also kind of boring looking.
They go 'through' targets that aren't destroyed yet.
They 'end' too abruptly. I'd imagine a beam of light fading as it dispersed, instead of being perfectly continuous with no fading, then ending like a piece of string that just got cut by scissors.

I don't have any idea how much work it would be but I think they would look better if:

They had more effects to them.
They stopped on impact with another ship (unless that particular shot destroyed the ship).
Missed shots faded out over distance, rather then ending abruptly.

For some of the effects that could be added, something like Homeworld's beam weapons would be pretty cool. Again, I have no idea how hard it would be to do, I'm just throwing it out there to see if it's something you'd be interested in.

Here's a link to some Homeworld 2 lasers on youtube, they explain better with actual visual imagery than I can probably explain with words. At the time of this clip, you can see a laser that has 'tendrils' of power running along its course. You may have to pause it right away (about 1:01 to 1:03 is good) after opening the link to get a good look. That kind of thing. Something with more effect that conveys the enormous power being transmitted over several kilometers at the enemy.

Of course... I'm sure 'real' spaceship lasers wouldn't look like that, but honestly, I think 'real' spaceship lasers would be nearly invisible anyway.

[builder680]

Another issue (not adding to my 2 posts before this one because they deal with separate things).

I can't get my Vidar to install EMR's on its turrets. They go in, but the game switches them out with EMPC's or just empties the turret completely. It's not completely blocking me, the Vidar has two turrets with 2 bays each.

-START EDIT- It allows me to put EMR's in both bays for each turret, but in a few seconds it removes the one in the first bay, or replaces it with an EMPC from my freight bay. It tends to leave the one in the second bay for each turret alone. -END EDIT-

This is all while docked.

I'm using SRM 1.04, and I believe that's the only mod that messes with tships. Here is a link of all the mods I am currently using. For some reason, I forgot to include Bounce v1.61 on that list, so include that as well.

[Sam L.R. Griffiths]

...

The way beam weapons work in the game is hard coded. I do not think the fading of beams is feasible, but the "Homeworld 2" wavey lines effect may be.

[Sam L.R. Griffiths]

...
Here is a link of all the mods I am currently using. For some reason, I forgot to include Bounce v1.61 on that list, so include that as well.

Are you sure you are not using either MEFOS or MARS (or have used them previously in your current game)?.

Modification of the TShips file should not directly cause automatic swapping of weapons, but "under certain circumstances" it can stop turrets from being usable if applied mid-game.

[builder680]

...
Here is a link of all the mods I am currently using. For some reason, I forgot to include Bounce v1.61 on that list, so include that as well.

Are you sure you are not using either MEFOS or MARS (or have used them previously in your current game)?.

Modification of the TShips file should not directly cause automatic swapping of weapons, but "under certain circumstances" it can stop turrets from being usable if applied mid-game.

I'm positive, this is a fresh install I completed yesterday, and I specifically avoided turret scripts for now. I deleted all contents of all folders before reinstalling as well.

[Sam L.R. Griffiths]

...

I'm positive, this is a fresh install I completed yesterday, and I specifically avoided turret scripts for now. I deleted all contents of all folders before reinstalling as well.

I think I remember a similar issue (with Vanilla I think) being reported quite a while back but I do not recall what the resolution was... It may be worth doing a search of this forum.

[builder680]

...

I'm positive, this is a fresh install I completed yesterday, and I specifically avoided turret scripts for now. I deleted all contents of all folders before reinstalling as well.

I think I remember a similar issue (with Vanilla I think) being reported quite a while back but I do not recall what the resolution was... It may be worth doing a search of this forum.

Yeah, I found some things about it but didn't see if there was a resolution. Only three threads came up with paulwheeler and 'repeater' (for the EMR). The one we're writing in, another old CMOD thread from September with some dude calling people names in it (locked now), and the SRM thread. I really don't want to search through 295 pages of SRM thread and 53 pages of CMOD4 thread... unless I absolutely have to.

I edited my post above with some red text to more clearly describe what's happening.

Incidentally, why doesn't the search function take you to the posts that your search generated, instead of just linking you to 200+ page threads that it 'might' be in... somewhere...

UPDATE: I undocked and made sure I had all EMPC's equipped in main gun slots. Then I tried again to put all 4 EMR's in their bays (2 top, 2 bottom). This time, it let them all stay, including the ones in both "Bay One's" that it was originally removing or replacing with EMPC's.

Hopefully when I dock again, or if I buy more guns, it doesn't change anything. I'll post if it does. In the meantime, this might be a resolution, just undock and make sure you don't have any guns that aren't actually equipped? We'll see.

[paulwheeler]

I am quite certain that there is nothing in the vanilla game or srm or cmod that enables any kind of weapon swapping.

However, I do recall an issue with messed up turrets causing weapons to be swapped out for IREs. This was caused by installing an update to the srm which increases weapon mounts. The new mounts don't function correctly until the ship is cloned.

So my first recommendation is use Cycrows cheat scripts to clone the ship and see if the new one works correctly.

Otherwise look for a script that's installed which handles weapon swapping.

[Sam L.R. Griffiths]

I am quite certain that there is nothing in the vanilla game or srm or cmod that enables any kind of weapon swapping.

However, I do recall an issue with messed up turrets causing weapons to be swapped out for IREs. This was caused by installing an update to the srm which increases weapon mounts. The new mounts don't function correctly until the ship is cloned.

I do not believe this is the same issue. There was a case quite a while back in the Vanilla section of these forums where a player was reporting problems with mounted turreted guns changing on the Vidar you gain as part of the plot. I believe it also could occur on any boarded ship (I think it was caused by scripts continuing to run after being boarded). In those Vanilla cases, I think the relevant vanilla scripts may have been fixed to detect the boarding incident.

[paulwheeler]

UPDATE RELEASED - v 4.8
----------------------------------

- Changed Gamma Kyon ware size to ST to mask it from new Kha’ak ships added in the SRM and Xtra mod.
- EMR/FPD Compatibility pack – changed Guardian cargo size to ST to keep its Gamma Kyon compatibility – Recommend that all mods that alter TShips do the same.
- Overhaul of Factory Pack. It is now a configurable AL Plugin, with random positioning of features and collision detection.
- PBC – Shorter beam duration, increase in fire rate, increase in shield damage, reduction in range – to help make laser towers more effective.


NOTE: I forgot to update the CMOD4 Weapons Dealer links in the main post for the last release so you may have missed the v1.4 release. I also mismatched version numbers so 1.3 and 1.4 are the same release. If you have already upgraded to v1.3 or 1.4 of the Weapons Dealers script (SRM users) then you are already running the latest version with random station locations and there's no need to switch it off. If in doubt it won't do any harm to switch it off and reinstall the WDs anyway.



PLEASE FOLLOW UPDATE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY:



- If still running Weapons Dealers v1.2 please switch the Weapons Dealers AL plugin off. SRM users already on v1.4 do not need to worry.

- Ensure you have no ships docked at any CMOD4 stations (e.g. EMR Forges, FPD Forges etc.)

- Find the following files in your "Director" folder and delete them: BEAM_FABS.xml; EMR_FABS.xml; FPD_FABS.xml

- Find the following files in your "Scripts" folder and delete them: setup.beamfabs.cmodr.xml; setup.emr1.cmod.xml; setup.fpd.cmod.xml

- Install the updates. Main CMOD4, Factory Pack (both), EMR compatibility pack, Weapons Dealers (if not already using 1.4), APPC pack and MARS data all require updating with this release.

After installing the update you will need to go to the Artificial Life options page and switch the CMOD4 Factory Pack plugin on (Weapons Dealers too if previously on 1.2).

You can then switch on or off CMOD features via Cycrow's Plugin Configuration.



NOTE RE: Gamma Kyon cargo size.

I have changed it to ST to mask it from Cadius' new Kha'ak frigate. It was very unbalanced that the frigate could mount so many Gamma Kyon's - far more than the Destroyer. Now it will only be able to mount Beta Kyons.

MODDERS - I highly recommend that you change the cargo compatibility of the Kha'ak Guardian to ST so it can use the Gamma Kyon. The Destroyer and Carrier are ST in vanilla already.

[Sn4kemaster]

Just to clarify, as a user of the SRM, i did up to this point have the latest version of it and all the add on pack including CMOD, now the question is....

After i have downloaded the new SRM etc, do i just need to update CMOD, weapon dealers and APPC pack to the latest version's.....or do i also need to delete the files from the director and scripts folders, or does that simply apply to xtra users etc?

Sorry if its sounds obvious......

[paulwheeler]

if you updated weapons dealers with the last srm release then you are already on the latest version of the weapons dealers.

You definitely need to delete the files detailed above.

You definitely need to update the APPC pack if you use it.