http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=373016
and it got me thinking about the very first stage building of space stations in X Rebirth.
The discussion is based on a Cell Fab matrix station with info taken from the Construction Plan conversation with the Architect
At the moment when this station gets built its to stage ['a',0] (Egosoft don't call it this but I need something to call the base station)
That gets you a Plasma Cyclotron - Stage 1 and what I am going to call a station hub or core or skeleton which the production modules and everything else attach to.
['a',0] The Plasma Cyclotron - Stage 1 gives you Liquid Spheroid, Tesla Duo-Charger, Bureau Security , Container Storage, Apartment Suite, URV Launcher and a Plasma Cyclotron
You can then extend this with stages
['a',1] 2nd Plasma Cyclotron, Apartment Suite and Bureau Security
['b',1] 1st Ion Cell Plant, URV Launcher, Logistics Bridge, Sensorium
['c',1] 1st A/M Cyclotron, Apartment Dock, Logistics Bridge and URV Launcher
etc
In terms of numbering ['a',1] is the oddity as its the 2nd Plasma Cyclotron and not the first
This is fine if you want a Plasma Cyclotron but its a real pain in the neck if what you want is two A/M Cyclotrons and zero Plasma Cyclotrons. First you have to find the resources to build the Plasma Cyclotron and then it pinches food and energy and must have its own freighter to supply its raw materials and then the freighter that is doing the selling decides to sell Plasma Cells not A/M cells
What I really want is either
The ability to pick which single production module gets built with the station core
Or
The ability to build only the station core initially and then allow it to be extended with whatever modules the station supports
I am not looking to be able to bolt any production module on, just the ones that the station curently supports. Lets keep it simple. I am also not looking to change any connectors.
What I am looking for is more focussed stations that don't run production modules that I don't need. The ability to turn off a production module completely without blowing a hole in it would also solve my problem in adifferent way although I would still have an expensive un-used production module.
I think that it might be possible to do either of these fairly straightforwardly as a mod by changing the station definition numbering a bit and moving the first Plasma Cyclotron out of ['a',0]
['a',0] Liquid Spheroid, Tesla Duo-Charger and URV Launcher
['a',1] 1st Plasma Cyclotron, Apartment Suite and Bureau Security
['a',2] 2nd Plasma Cyclotron, Apartment Suite and Bureau Security
['b',1] 1st Ion Cell Plant, URV Launcher, Logistics Bridge, Sensorium
['c',1] 1st A/M Cyclotron, Apartment Dock, Logistics Bridge and URV Launcher
In terms of minimum changes I think that the second option would be easier as it might not need any changes to the build scripts.
Obviously it might exacerbate the issue of odd bits of station floating in space by themselves.
I think that the admin, repair and entertainment docks are mainly attached to the station core anyway
Larger cargo ships need extra space and tend to dock at the modules and provided that there is a module present that should still be Ok. Obviously nothing will get produced until a production module is added.
Then it could get interesting ...
I hope that the API call to get the next available upgrade list would still work and it might even be save game safe as I don't think that the stage is in the save game at all, jsut the components that make up the station
It might get blown out of the water by how Egosoft have implemented the Teladi super station
Lots of assumptions in here but it might be worth the investigation time
Can anyone see any big gotchas that will kill this idea ? or anything extra that I need to look at ?
I might then look at turning it into a mod
Regards
jth
PS if this was done then it would be a small step towards swatti's totally modular stations