Sounds interesting. If I get some spare time I'll give this a try.
[Mod] Bulletmod 0.9 Weapons Rebalance
A not-so-complete rebalance of x3 weaponry, prompted mostly by my desire for capital ship combat to last longer.
Since the minimod applies only to weapons, missiles and shields, it can be installed and uninstalled without concern for savegame integrity. Feel free to try it out without risk.
Watch the trailer! This is just a neat video I put together. The footage is dated, but it's all from the mod.
Download Here and extract to your X3/Mods directory. Then start up the plugin manager, go to the mods tab, and click Add Profile. You should see Bulletmodv09 in the dropdown tab. Make sure that all the scripts you want to use (esp. including the XTM pack) are checked as part of the profile!
Alternatively, you can extract the RAR to the X3 directory, and rename both files to whatever number comes after the other stuff. This lets you use it with other mods, but is more difficult to manage.
Uses XTM 0.7.3 files as its base.
Features:
* Greatly prolonged capital ship combat
* Capital hulls actually matter!
* Graphics tweaks
* Lasertowers that dont' blind
* Dumbfires that don't suck
* Long range anti-capital missiles
*10gj shields can actually recharge this century
After months and months of on-again off-again playtesting and tweaking, I finally felt it was time to at least post this. Probably could have done it months ago - oh well!
There are a few graphical changes. I feel these improve the game but I can change or revert them depending on feedback. It is easy enough to do yourself if you desire.
Quick Guide to Bulletmod, in order of importance to gameplay.
* PPC hull damage has been reduced by roughly 80%. That sounds like a lot, and it is. However, the net effect is that it takes about as long to destroy the hull of a capital ship as it did to destroy the shields.
* PPCs fire about half as quickly. I did this for graphical reasons and because I felt that capital combat was still slightly too fast. Partially to compensate, PPC bullets are much faster than they used to be. GPPCs consume energy roughly as fast as before, but APPCs and BPPCs consume energy at a lower rate.
* This means that capital ship combat is more difficult in every respect. The AI is much less sensitive to hull damage than the player; it's harder to dodge and the player must be more mindful of weapons energy. Make use of missiles in order to finish ships off once the shields are down.
* PPCs use the CIG effect. I like it better. I can revert or post a version with classical PPC shots if this doesn't float your boat.
* HEPTs have had their hull damage reduced by a much lesser degree so that they don't obsolete PPCs. AHEPTs aren't badly impacted, but it does mean that it's tougher to destroy enemy fighter hulls.
* PBE bullets move much slower, but they still have about 100% hitrate. This change is mostly graphical.
* Lasertowers fire far more powerful beams, but they take a long time to recharge. This is mostly because I was annoyed with the blinding effect multiple lasertowers could cause.
* Dumbfires move at EXTREMELY high speeds, but self destruct quickly. This both makes them more useable and limits the annoyance of rogue dumbfires. Dumbfires have also had their damage increased, except for the Tornado which went down. The AI actually can hit you with them now, though it's still rare.
* Anti-capital torpedoes (Firestorm and Hammerheads) work much differently. They have top speeds of 500+, but their acceleration is poor. They are incredibly dangerous to use at short range, but at long ranges they move much faster. Firestorms accelerate slightly faster, but Hammerheads still do more damage.
* Rapiers are improved.
* Heavy Missiles (from HMGs) move very, very quickly. Their hull damage is also reduced, but to a far lesser degree than PPCs.
* EMP cannons have reduced hull damage, but they will still melt you pretty quick.
* Wasps use a different trail effect. I liked the standard XTM wasps, but you usually don't get to actually see it owing to optimization by the engine. This missile effect is less flashy, but far more consistent. Wasps also self destruct more quickly to prevent humongous wasp swarms from causing slowdowns. This limits their range to < 10km.
* Flaks use a bullet effect. The bullet lingers a bit while the flak explosions go off, but overall I like it better since you can see the projectiles.
* I'm sure there's other **** I forgot.
FULL CHANGELOG, starting from version 0.1
If you like everything but one change, I can post a customized version or tell you what to change back pretty easily.
£ 0.00
Sounds interesting. If I get some spare time I'll give this a try.
This could be a dream come true, I always felt weapons in XTM were far too destructive, it seems kind of silly for a destroyer to go pop in 10 seconds flat. How does it effect OOS combat?
Last edited by Erius; 08-05-2008 at 10:29 PM.
Until Next,
Erius
THIS IS GREAT WHOA .WHEN I BROUGHT MY FLEET TO X 357 IT WASNT MINE IN 5 MIN BUT IT TOOK ME ABOUT 30 - 45 MIN TO BEAT THE HELL OUT OF THOSE X GUYS . when i was in point blank range (whith my titan) with a X K and my shields went out i was like "this is the end of me" but the hull was as much durable as the shields WOW .now flying a capital ship actually feels like handeling a HUGE piece of metal not just some kind of plastic. and the FAA great job it is so much better i also like the PPC they look great but they should glow a lil bit more . this is a great mod i recommend everybody try it , it is just awsome
CPU: Intel Core i7 Q720 1.60 Ghz
HDD: 500 Gb 7200 Rpm + 64 Gb SSD
RAM: 8 GB 1033 Mhz
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTS 360m
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Notebook Toshiba Qosmio X500-11z
@ Erius - I only did about 15-20 minutes of explicit OOS testing. It didn't seem too wacky, but I've always found OOS to be really luck dependent anyway..
@ pistino-1 - Glad you like it. I was hoping to really improve fleet combat with this. It's a little hard for me to test since I keep restarting about the point I actually get a fleet, haha. So mostly I test with cheated stuff and scrimmaged fights between the AI. Sometimes hard to get the proper feel. But it's certainly a lot more epic when capital ships don't explode in 30s.
I don't think I can change the glow on PPC bullets unfortunately.
***
Edit:
I'm really impressed with the Military HUD mod, I'll see about putting out a version that works with that. (Well, it works, but you'll get all purple PPCs. Heh.)
Last edited by TheDeadlyShoe; 09-05-2008 at 03:32 AM.
Not just another exploding patient to sweep under the rug.
the PPC fire isnt really a necessity .with or without the glow this mod is awsome
CPU: Intel Core i7 Q720 1.60 Ghz
HDD: 500 Gb 7200 Rpm + 64 Gb SSD
RAM: 8 GB 1033 Mhz
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTS 360m
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Notebook Toshiba Qosmio X500-11z
Ooh, this looks good, i shall download) Can you tell me how to change back please?
Edit: Also, when you say 'capital hulls matter' is that because of reduced damage from hept and ppc fire, or have you actually increased capital hull strength? I ask because i was thinking about khaak and Gkyons, if its the first they will shred capship hulls like they always have, right?
Edit some more: Nevermind the first bit, I found where to change the bullet effect. Nice and easy
Last edited by Algoran; 13-05-2008 at 08:22 AM.
Hi bud, noticed a flaw in the shield modifications, you write you've increased the power requirements (to boost regeneration rate I'm assuming). Problem is that your ships now need bigger power generators in order to supply the increased demand or else benefit is limited by max power output. Most ships have just enough juice to supply shields adequately as-is.
You'd do much better to increase 'shield efficiency', a much better way of increasing regeneration. 300% efficient means 3x faster regen, without any complex reworking of ships and power outputs.
Rep for content.
Sounds great! Downloading now... This is a great alternative to hull repair mods, as it negates the need to fix 80% of your hull as soon as the shields go down! good work
@ Ulfius: My primary concern was changing the 10gj shield so the Phoenix isn't quite so bad off in terms of shield regeneration. It has the powergen to support it. The 5gj and m10gj were just for consistency.
(For myself, I've modded the tships file heavily for certain other ships that use military shields, particularly paranid fighter craft.)
Not just another exploding patient to sweep under the rug.
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