[Realspace MODS] "STARS" - "XRSGE" - "REM" - various

[Folker]

I would not call it essential but surelly better. I suggest you copy the assets in the mod completed with components and folder, this way the mod has not to rely on the dlc. It is better also to have direct control on the future changes, to modify it etc.
At this point I expect every player to have at least all the major dlcs installed but there are also some who play without a dlc to have a smaller and more compact universe. Seems some of the lags we face with xrsge is common in vanilla too in an advanced game, reading the comments in the forum (I don't play vanilla since ages) so some REM users play without some dlc. This was also told to me in the nexus of REM.

Ok, I understand for the assets, I do that in the past for timeline bullet effect, but to be sure about the law and policies I ask egosoft, and KlausM give me an aswer, he say that is "copyright infringement" that why the terran use weapon pack mod effect.

But, I have an idea, I do an version of REM with no DLC requierement where I do all weapons independent of DLC.
And I do one version with DLC requierement but have better weapons effects.

What do you think ?

[Realspace]

XRSGE - Version 9.1.2 (Full pack)
(save-compatible, may miss some new stations and planet icons)

https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/1140

- removed various "far out" landmarks to avoid NPC building in zones too far away
- added planet icons (new game)
- fixed missing music in Maelstrom
- fixed gate Holy Vision to True Sight
- changed main planet in Holy Vision
- reworked following sectors for more density (more stations, more superhighways, more areas of interest): :
Grand Exchange, Path to Profit, Memory of Profit VI, Bright Promise, Pontifex's Claim, Holy Vision
- changed/added connections: Profit Center Alpha - Two Ground, Open Market - Zyarth Dominion
- removed gate Cathedral of Xaar to Home of Light (redundant)
- changed effects for the transit in superhighway
- changed some visuals for corona regions
- NEW custom Free Port stations by Hatikvah in Hatikvah and Argon space (requires a new game)

[Realspace]

-----------------------------------------
NEW BETA - SAVE COMPATIBLE
-----------------------------------------

Guys I've done an extensive update, I take a lot of efforts and time to make these big changes save-compatible, like f.i. redoing every superhighway I change from scratch instead of changing the values of existing ones.
So, I need a period of testing for every update because any error by my part means having to redo the process.
I simply put every update in a testing period before making it definitive. It means it won't be save compatible (it can be) before making it final. After all possible errors are fixed, it will be save-compatible with previous versions (it is already if no errors are found).
So, up to now every game is "officially" save-compatible up to version 9.1.2

Here is the testing updated version 9.1.3 BETA

https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations ... ?tab=files

Testing version is in loose files, so you can also see the files for any bug.
To test the changes at full extent (spawn of stations etc.) a new game is better. You will be able to continue the old save after the testing is over

Changes
- fixed accel to gate in Lasting Vengeance
- redone superhighways and gates on the holomap: icons, lines, text
- redone planets in Wretched Skies V
- redone backgrounds in The Boneyard
- redone giant's fog in Silent Witness
- redone giant's fog in Akeela Beacon
- redone Family Zhin as small orbital sector, no superhighways
- redone backgrounds and regions in Emperor Pride
- changed connection Tharka's Sun to Nhuut Patriarchy instead of Family Zhin
- reworked following sectors for more density (more stations, more superhighways, more areas of interest, more regions):
Lasting Vengeance, Cardinal's Redress, Bala Ji Joy, Getsu Fune, Oberon, Last Bastion, Wretched Skies V, Untainted Eternity, Nhuut Patriarchy, Family Nhuut, Thuruk's Demise, Split Fire, Windfall Aurora's Dream, Windfall Union Summit, Albion V and VII
- additional changes of: Grand Exchange, Akeela Beacon, Morning Star II, Black Hole Sun, Argon Prime
- added a Yaki-controlled hypergate

I may have changed others and forgot to log it

[ziplock815]

I've just played like a 5 hours in a new start and here comes Realspace with yet another update

I see lots of nice changes already in 9.1.2, so there're going to be even more?

Btw no news about De Vries /Omicron lyrae?

[Realspace]

I see lots of nice changes already in 9.1.2, so there're going to be even more?

Yes but not so big...I hope. As I told before I am adding new zones and connections inside main sectors, to make the big space have a purpose (I can now survey the glacial age that started in Argon Prime...ahahah ). As I feared, I had put too many new sectors inside the mod, again...but my vision was to make the galaxy even having only vanilla sectors but each changed to a system...as I am doing. Well new sectors will stay of course. Adding new sectors is easy, making every sector a place you want to stay playing for hours is on another level of engagement
Let's say I have to decide putting a stop somewhere, because sectors could be redone even more adding new zones, new superhighways etc. What is superhighways in XRSGE is what was local highways in Rebirth, at 1000x the scale

[ziplock815]

Visited some sectors and really each sector feels like an xr system now - lots of things to see and to do.

Small issue in Grand Exchange - shw goes through the planet (one of the moons - Commerce core). Also there's a foggy subsector in the low orbit of the populated planet where fps is really bad. Well, it seems all subsectors in Grand Exchange are foggy
(Version 9.1.2)

Btw, I've been thinking... I have an idea, don't know how hard is it to implement really, but this smallthing could boost immersion greatly. If you remember there was BBS in X2 and X3 Reunion where we could read news and take missions. Was possible only when docked to stations and was removed in later games. Well, what if we could have Bulletin boards on stations so we could accept missions only after docking to them. There's a mod that adds bar to all stations, so Bulletin board with news and missions could be located somewhere in the bar. It would be much more immersive. I remember it was realized in freelancer, only there was very poor variety of missions.

I've just been intercepted in shw by pirates - wery cool..only now I have to travel 13000 kms to the newrest highway entrance\jumpgate

[Realspace]

I've just been intercepted in shw by pirates - wery cool..only now I have to travel 13000 kms to the newrest highway entrance\jumpgate

Great so it works I could test it only by setting 100% chance happening, but then the mod has of course a low chance so only playing can reveal if the chance is too high or low.
I set the disrupt quite early to avoid being teleported too far...will make it a bit earlier? Is the 2% chance too much?
Yes the bbs was cool in X3 (with no space legs) and it quite makes no sense that in X4, where player is on legs a lot, this disappeared
I also think about the kind of missions...I don't know the ratio why many cool mission were removed, probably due to the simulation level of X4 where everything is created at shipyards so f.i. the pirate/xenon attack missions were removed (they were spawn from nothing). A much better way to earn rep than shooting civilians ahah

Any suggestion on ways to spice up the adventure of the player? I could add random pirate attack even out of superhighways f.i. there are the normal encounters for npc, I mean something specifically for the player as is the shw.

[ziplock815]

I feel that current chance is okay, but you could increase it a bit to see the difference.
Btw I was interdicted close to the end of the shw (13000 km and much more distance to the entry point)
As for encounters, I'm not a big fan of X4 encounter mechanic where enemy ships (sca/khaak/xenon) spawn out of nowhere. Plus xenons in my game have already captured Gets Fune , almost captured Antigone memorial and built defense station in Asteroid belt + yaki are kind of active too, wrecking havok in Pioneer space, so it's okay without pirate encounters

[Folker]

Great so it works I could test it only by setting 100% chance happening, but then the mod has of course a low chance so only playing can reveal if the chance is too high or low.
I set the disrupt quite early to avoid being teleported too far...will make it a bit earlier? Is the 2% chance too much?
Yes the bbs was cool in X3 (with no space legs) and it quite makes no sense that in X4, where player is on legs a lot, this disappeared
I also think about the kind of missions...I don't know the ratio why many cool mission were removed, probably due to the simulation level of X4 where everything is created at shipyards so f.i. the pirate/xenon attack missions were removed (they were spawn from nothing). A much better way to earn rep than shooting civilians ahah

Any suggestion on ways to spice up the adventure of the player? I could add random pirate attack even out of superhighways f.i. there are the normal encounters for npc, I mean something specifically for the player as is the shw.

There are several things I have in mind. The first is for miners: when the player extracts a certain amount of ore, the Khaaks may attack them (depending on how full the storage). There is a quest like this in Timeline, which could serve as an example.
For players who trade, the more valuable the cargo hold is, the more likely they are to be harassed by pirates.

Otherwise, it's true that I miss the missions in X3. I think it would be good to add station protection missions by spawning enemies. Although this goes against the simulation, it's much more fun. Or assassination missions. Then there's Kuertee, who made a great mod called Emergent Missions, and there's also Head Hunter by Chillmatica.

--------

I have a great news : I've managed to implement ammunition weapons, such as the M/AM launcher from X3TC. I had already made the weapon and balanced it a few months ago, but now I wanted to make it consume ammunition, and it works.

I'll adapt the mass driver I made so that it consumes ammunition too, as well as the future energy bolt chaingun that I'll make when I've finished the boron weapons.

I also plan to add weapons that have projectiles that slightly track the target

[Realspace]

Good...I think you could open a new thread with the WIP tag (work in progress) and some details on what you are doing, so we can speak extensivelly about the project.

Also, I know you are doing the mod depending on REM but be free to insert the assets required by your mod so it can work even if REM is not installed, as complement. Recycle the commonly used assets of REM if needed, I authorize you. So you can test the mod alone, always better

[Folker]

Good...I think you could open a new thread with the WIP tag (work in progress) and some details on what you are doing, so we can speak extensivelly about the project.

Also, I know you are doing the mod depending on REM but be free to insert the assets required by your mod so it can work even if REM is not installed, as complement. Recycle the commonly used assets of REM if needed, I authorize you. So you can test the mod alone, always better

Yes, you're right, I should create a dedicated thread. It would be much better for sharing ideas or finding solutions if I need help. It would also allow me to keep this information without having to search through a thread from X amount of time ago.

Regarding REM, thank you for giving me this authorization, but the ultimate goal is to implement everything in REM so that you can share it if you like what I'm doing. That way, everyone wins: me, because I'm doing something that fits with our vision and has an artistic touch that I like, and it also allows updates to be centralized in a single file rather than spread across several, and players get an all-in-one pack.

Only if you don't like it will I make it into a separate mod, but in my opinion, that would be a shame.

[Realspace]

Ok, yes we can merge the new features of course.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Two updates for the end of the year

REM Overhaul - version 8.0.2

https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/848

I've fixed an "error" that caused many ships to be created without engines. Since REM has racial specific equipment (no Argon ship can mount a Terran engine...why should it anyway?), all those ships of another race (say Argon) that are created in the shipyard of another (say Terran) will miss the engines.

Seems that ships of this kind are quite many in the game, I got almost 1000 errors. In vanilla you'll probably see an Elite mounting Terran engines.
XRSGE adding many minor faction's shipyards will worsen the issue.

I've so added the production of basic engines to all factions, also Terran and Pirates with their own production method.
This makes also sense, a blueprint for basic engines is known to all and is used for exotic ships. While more advanced engines remain race-specific and require higher rank.
I hope this was the cause of the lag some players reported.


XRSGE The Expanse Reborn - version 9.1.4

https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/1140

Version 9.1.4 (Full pack)
(save-compatible, may miss some new stations and zone's names)
- fixed superhighway in Grand Exchange
- fixed superhighway in Windfall III
- fixed low-orb zone's bad position in Aladna Hill
- fixed module hack mk1 not unlocking basic modules
- set superhighway's disrupt by pirates happening a bit earlier and chance a bit lower
- changed gas region around planet Ceo's Retreat in Grand Exchange for better fps
- changed background (planets) in Memory of Profit II
- added new superhighways and zones to the following sectors:
Ocracoke's Storm, Belt of Aguilar, Empire's Edge, Tharka's Ravine XVI, Rhonkar's Fire, Profit Center Alpha, Memory of Profit, Bright Promise, Morning Star V, Wretched Skies Family Phi, Antigone Memorial V, Omycron Lyrae, Cloudbase South East
- NEW: "Jump Encounters" - added random placement of xenon and derelict ships when player directly jumps if very distant from gates/stations/etc. + random pirate attacks when jumping not far from stations
- NEW: "Zone Encounters" - added random placement of derelict ships in specific zones, especially close to gas/ringed giants
- NEW: - added random Xenon ships patrolling around the abandoned ships and mine fields (requires new start).
- REMOVED ONE SECTOR IN THE EXPANSE (EX CLOUDBASE SOUTH EAST) - please remove all your assets there before updating

Please remove all your assets from old CLOUDBASE SOUTH EAST in the Expanse system before installing 9.1.4, that sector is removed

New encounter system added: it reasons around zones not sectors. So if you venture out of the main zones (those signaled by the blue box) you'll probably find some derelict ships to recover.
The threasure hunt is not that easy thou, every abandoned ship is surrounded by a xenon minefield and Xenon explorer ships studying the technology. There can be Xenon patrol ships which, depending on the level of the ship, can be also destroyers.
This feature is added also to the other abandoned ships that are spawn at the start of game.

There is also a new feature: jump encounters.
When jumping using the portals (player only) depending on the distance you jump-in from the closest gate/station/etc. you can either be attacked by pirates or (if jumping very far from "civilized zones") you can find Xenon ships. If there are Xenon ships it is highly probable to also find abandoned ships that were attacked by the Xenon. If you defeat the Xenon you can claim them. So if you want to "intentionally" hunt for ships you can use the portal to perform a free jump and select a place very far from the civilized zones.

These things require a new game to be set in place, but you can continue and old save without issue

[Realspace]

I am having a lot of stuttering and errors lately, I suspect it is my RAM dying more than modding issues.
Can someone check in the log if they have this kind of error recurring a lot at stat, with XRSGE (and STARS) only, please?

Code: Select all

 failed to create/update all VertexBuffers!

Edit: Nevermind, it was some other mod. I tested XRSGE and STARS alone and the game is very smooth, no errors...something to test further

[p6kocka788]

I have to confirm that my game with latest rem and xrsge is smooth as butter.

[Realspace]

Thanks, good to know!...I've spent a lot of time nailing every little error (some few fixed also for next updates) which for such a big mod with hundreds files is hard.
Was almost giving up, then removed all other mods and boom, good performance back.
I suspect that all mods depending on sn API can mess the game. Not by their fault but because of how deep they interfer with the ui, but may be wrong, that is a part of X4 modding I don't know. Maybe the cheat mod too, which oc I have to use to quickly test the game.

......................

I am working on various versions of rewritten move.gate and move.generic files. These are the pillars of AI and particularly stretched by xrsge that reshapes the space in zones instead of sectors. The convoluted AI needs instructions on how to calculate the pathfinding in a universe that is not split in sectors but sectors AND zones. So I have to rewrite the whole routines.
I already saw a 10-15 fps gain but have to make several tests.
I've also added the XR sector of Omicron Lyrae but it is renamed as Dark Horizon and is a far sector in Split/Xenon quadrant

[Realspace]

XRSGE The Expanse Reborn update
https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/1140
Version 9.1.5 (Full pack)
(save-compatible, may miss some new stations and zone's names)
- fixed missing superhighways in Argon Prime and Albion
- fixed missing background in Three Worlds
- fixed missing Luna patrol close to gate to Venus
- fixed missing reaction to no license when crossing venus-earth gate
- added Xenon Hypergates in sectors: Xenon Hub and Maelstrom
- complete rewriting of move.gate and move.generic to have better usage of intrasuperhighways by AI
- reworked following sectors for more density (more stations, more superhighways, more areas of interest, more regions):
Earth, Jupiter
- removed vanilla betty message if entering the same sector (with portal jump or others)
- added betty message when leaving superhighway (instead of a gate)
- reworked god engine to spawn new stations not too close to resources (new game required).
- NEW: added Omicron Lyrae from XR, it is called Dark Horizon (no further spoiler)

Made several fixes to AI to increase performance and avoid ships wanting to cross long distances if a superhighway is present or stuck at calculating. Much quicker response by the AI and fps gain (here at least, with REM and all my mods, no others)
If you play normally, please remove the debuglog from the exe, I added many error reports to nail every ship stuck in deep space. If you test the game, enable it and look for the XRSGECheck* in the log. It will probably regard only a few left "hardcore" ships lost in deep space

At this turn I gave some love to the Terran system: Jupiter and Earth redone

About Dark Horizon (ex XR Omicron Lyra)...yes I remade Radiant Haven and...yes you can enter the planet
It was a pain to do, several visual tricks but it eventually works, all with intra-sector superhighways in a huge sector and a blue planet to "land" on from the sky.
Sector is completely re-imagined, even if using a few XR assets, I had to redo everything.
Btw, I also added atmospheric friction, so ship will fly with difficulty, lacking the wings (like the space shuttle entering the atmosphere), thrusters have less power due to the air. I could not implement gravity, but if you go down to surface expect kaboom.
Don't ask me to do others like this

[ziplock815]

Nicely done! Thank you. I was waiting for this for ages and finally it's here. Next is De Vries?
Why didn't you make this sector part of the Omicron quadrant though? It's a shame it neighbours xenon sectors - now I have to clear them out to keep the sector for myself.
Btw I don't see any NPC stations there. Are they spawning onyi the new game?

[Realspace]

Yes they spawn in a new game, it is an Hatikvah outpost far in Split space, but so as Maelstrom some parts of the sector are controlled by others at start: xenon and split families..I am preparing a custom start there with the aim to help hatikvah keep the sector. I wish writing new missions was easier to make something like hatikvah revolution. But roleplay is nice with the right premises: ship and blueprints and hq in Radiant Haven.

[Realspace]

XRSGE The Expanse Reborn
https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/1140

Version 9.1.6 (Full pack)
(save-compatible, may miss some new stations and zone's names or new ships)

- changed gate's positions in Profit Center Alpha and Nhuut Patriarchy to fix pathfinding issues
- reduced distances for Torrid Veil and Power Circle in Argon Prime
- reworked jobs for plunder ships, they are closer to zones instead of deep space (new game required)
- remade sector Two Ground (STARS patch required)
- remade sector Pontifex's Claim to prevent any pathfinding issue
- remade sector Holy Vision and True Sight
- NEW: added new feature, player can exit the superhighway by sending a long range scan (with encounters)
- reduced AI and autopilot's speed in superhighways
- reduced player speed in superhighways (1/4 vs. AI/Autopilot, player can even stop if going to the borders)
- NEW: added custom start as Hatikvah mercenary in Dark Horizon

I fixed all the known pathfinding problems due to double ways to a destination for the AI.
It was reported that the new Encounters system I added can cause too many Xenon ships to be built at game's start. This issue is not a problem if you continue and old game. I will fix it for the next update.

I added a new feature: the player can exit a superhighway at any moment, just has to activate and then use the Long Range Scan (as always, effects, messages and voice to signal it).
I also managed to reduce the speed inside a superhighway for both player, autopilot and AI (while the player who enters manually has a bonus of 1/4 speed so more reduction).
So you have plenty of time to "feel" the distances or to exit the superhighway where you want...I still have not developed a way to re-enter it at any point so be aware. Encounters happen if you exit.

STARS patch is required for the new planet in Two Ground (custom gas giant instead of ugly orbital planet):
https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/507

[Saga286]

The Proximity trigger doesn't work. I had REM Hyperdrive and thought that was the issue. I turned off REM Hyperdrive, but still not getting a Proximity trigger.