MOD: Privateer 1.2 Parallel Universe 1.0

Forum for discussing various mods for the VS-engine based upon Privateer. (Please play nice now, and extinguish all flaming materials.
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z30
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MOD: Privateer 1.2 Parallel Universe 1.0

Post by z30 »

http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/forum ... 9015#69015

You can download the files from the above sticky thread. Feedback should be posted here.

Discussion & development of patch can be found in :

http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/forum ... php?t=7101

Gosshawk did a superb job in the turret placement for the TarsusMk2 & the Orion Mk2. He's also working on a turreted Drayman :)
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Post by Gosshawk »

Sweet! I'm going to install in a fresh install.

As for the DCVL, The cost to effectivly opperate and maintain, not to mention the initial purchase price, will put this ship out of reach untill people reach the point where balance doesn't matter anymore. Besides, it's still just a really heavily armed sitting duck. :wink:

Cheers
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Post by z30 »

Gosshawk wrote:Sweet! I'm going to install in a fresh install.

As for the DCVL, The cost to effectivly opperate and maintain, not to mention the initial purchase price, will put this ship out of reach untill people reach the point where balance doesn't matter anymore. Besides, it's still just a really heavily armed sitting duck. :wink:

Cheers
My worry was that the modified turrets would have an unexpected effect on the other turreted ships but I've figured out a way around that.

Let's have a naming convention for equipment with modified stats - something like turret_large_laser_PRPU for example. This way the experimental DCVL can have variant equipment but the Galaxy or Orion will still be using the original versions.

Pasting your modified turret values onto the units.csv would be a safer and simpler process. I'd like to see how they perform on the Galaxy for one.
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Post by Spaceman Spiff »

I start to think we need an PR mod section or something like that... :?

Don't get me wrong. Your ideas are great and you guys sure do a lot of work.
But I'm kind of worried that newbies might have difficulties to distinguish between the core project an personal modifications.
You are a newbie and need help? Check out the Wing Commander Universe and Privateer Remake Library Project

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Post by z30 »

Spaceman Spiff wrote:I start to think we need an PR mod section or something like that... :?

Don't get me wrong. Your ideas are great and you guys sure do a lot of work.
But I'm kind of worried that newbies might have difficulties to distinguish between the core project an personal modifications.
Changing the title of the threads to "Personal Mod : <Original Subject>" should do it. Can't seem to change the titles anymore myself though.

imho, there aren't enough modders in PR to fill a separate forum - at least not yet anyway :)
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Post by Gosshawk »

My thought with replacing the stock turrets was to make them slightly more effective. Since the tracking AI is limited, I thought a higher volume of fire could compensate.
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Post by Spaceman Spiff »

z30 wrote:
Changing the title of the threads to "Personal Mod : <Original Subject>" should do it. Can't seem to change the titles anymore myself though.
Done ;)
You are a newbie and need help? Check out the Wing Commander Universe and Privateer Remake Library Project

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Post by z30 »

Spaceman Spiff wrote:
z30 wrote:
Changing the title of the threads to "Personal Mod : <Original Subject>" should do it. Can't seem to change the titles anymore myself though.
Done ;)
Thanks Spaceman :) We'll keep the discussion to the existing threads now worries.
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Post by z30 »

Gosshawk wrote:My thought with replacing the stock turrets was to make them slightly more effective. Since the tracking AI is limited, I thought a higher volume of fire could compensate.
OK, I'm convinced :)

I'm running into problems with the Jalkehi, any turret above a particle one in power drains the energy tank too fast. I want it to be as close to the JCF specs as possible and still be effective.

Will update the values - have you changed anything since the last time you sent me the Drayman DCVL & turret csv?
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Post by Gosshawk »

Nope, not yet.
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Post by Gosshawk »

I have an Idea to bounce off you. How about making this mod wholly post RF. Minesh(sp?) is dead, but the retros are still a threat and really pissed. They decide to go all out in gemini, and with the kilrathi desprate to do anything to cause havoc for the confederation, they decide to arm them with as many outdated ships as possible. And with the lessons learned from recent problems with the retros, the guilds, militia, and confed itself rearm and reequip to better handle a possible resurgence of a hostile force. For those on a budget, used tarsus ships are equiped with a turret, and so on and so forth all the way to the militia gaining a carrier and confed sending a small task force to the region.
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Post by z30 »

Gosshawk wrote:I have an Idea to bounce off you. How about making this mod wholly post RF. Minesh(sp?) is dead, but the retros are still a threat and really pissed. They decide to go all out in gemini, and with the kilrathi desprate to do anything to cause havoc for the confederation, they decide to arm them with as many outdated ships as possible. And with the lessons learned from recent problems with the retros, the guilds, militia, and confed itself rearm and reequip to better handle a possible resurgence of a hostile force. For those on a budget, used tarsus ships are equiped with a turret, and so on and so forth all the way to the militia gaining a carrier and confed sending a small task force to the region.
Sounds like a promising story & plot line, and the retro forces really have to beefed up. I just hope we can dig up some decent Kilrathi models from WCU, maybe a look at the dralthi variants there will turn up candidates.
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Privateer 1.2 Parallel Universe 1.1 alpha update

Post by z30 »

Here's whats been done so far and will definitely show up in the next 1.1 patch :

* WCU Hornet fighter ported to PR , will make its appearance as a militia light fighter and starting fighter ship (HornetCVL - 1000kps top speed, more missiles & 3 gun mounts). The latter is an alternative to the TarsusMk2 for those who want a pure fighter.

* WCU Ferret fighter ported to PR, despite it's unfinished state. The raw model is pretty well done despite lacking textures and storywise it makes a lot of sense

* new scramble fighters for NewCon & Perry - NewCon will scramble Hornets & Kukhri's , Perry will scramble Ferrets & Stilettos

* experimental expansion of guild missions. Merchant's Guild will now offer Defend missions & Hunters Guild Patrol missions. Eventually the new Militia Guild will be the one offering Defend & Patrol.

* merchant ship generation tweaked a bit lower, smaller groups and slower generation though both values are still higher than the ones in standard PR.

WIP (Work in Progress)

* Militia Raptor heavy fighter - Gosshawk has already ported it over to PR, now in testing stage. Its one beautiful ship and worth the effort

* new Orion Hunter - cockpit floor turret, rear turret - hull weapons all guns, level 4 shields, 2x standard jump capacity

* new militia Orion - cockpit floor turret, radar turret - 3 missile launchers in hull. 2x standard jump capacity

* WCU Banshee & Cutlass pirate craft being evaluated for inclusion

* Kilrathi Drakhiri medium fighter being evaluated for inclusion

* new turret energy bank values to be included & tested for compatibility with older saved turreted ships

* Drayman DCVL to be included

Under discussion

* additive armor to increase armor protection
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Re: Privateer 1.2 Parallel Universe 1.1 alpha update

Post by z30 »

Sorry, twice posted - parallel universe experience gah
Last edited by z30 on Fri Aug 04, 2006 7:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Gosshawk »

Quoting yourself is a sure sign of insanity :wink:
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Post by z30 »

Gosshawk wrote:Quoting yourself is a sure sign of insanity :wink:
Too late, I reached that state several years ago already :)
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Post by z30 »

Asides from the Goss's standardized weight & cargo hold values, we'll be tweaking the jump distances of each craft so that light fighters have a limited jump span (3 systems). Mediums will have the standard PR jump endurance.

One concern this will address is making the Centurion obsolete because of the introduction of the Raptor. The Raptor is 200kps faster (as fast as the Demon) though it's a heavy fighter. Since WC lore cites it's short range, we will implement in the upcoming patch by giving it the same jump distance as a light fighter.

Hopefully, this will give each ship it's own unique niche as nicely described below :
Gosshawk wrote: Various jump ranges would force the player to have a small fleet for various missions. It's a good thing.


Merchant craft, being what they are will have longer ranges than fighters in the equivalent class. The Tarsus will retain the standard 5-6 system jump capacity of PR. Heavier merchant ships such as the OrionMk2 & Galaxy will have a reach at least twice that.
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Post by micheal_andreas_stahl »

z30 wrote:Asides from the Goss's standardized weight & cargo hold values, we'll be tweaking the jump distances of each craft so that light fighters have a limited jump span (3 systems). Mediums will have the standard PR jump endurance.

One concern this will address is making the Centurion obsolete because of the introduction of the Raptor. The Raptor is 200kps faster (as fast as the Demon) though it's a heavy fighter. Since WC lore cites it's short range, we will implement in the upcoming patch by giving it the same jump distance as a light fighter.

Hopefully, this will give each ship it's own unique niche as nicely described below :
Gosshawk wrote: Various jump ranges would force the player to have a small fleet for various missions. It's a good thing.


Merchant craft, being what they are will have longer ranges than fighters in the equivalent class. The Tarsus will retain the standard 5-6 system jump capacity of PR. Heavier merchant ships such as the OrionMk2 & Galaxy will have a reach at least twice that.
Will a heavy ship take longer to jump than a light? I think it should as a Paradigm has more surface than a talon.
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Post by z30 »

micheal_andreas_stahl wrote:
z30 wrote:Asides from the Goss's standardized weight & cargo hold values, we'll be tweaking the jump distances of each craft so that light fighters have a limited jump span (3 systems). Mediums will have the standard PR jump endurance.

One concern this will address is making the Centurion obsolete because of the introduction of the Raptor. The Raptor is 200kps faster (as fast as the Demon) though it's a heavy fighter. Since WC lore cites it's short range, we will implement in the upcoming patch by giving it the same jump distance as a light fighter.

Hopefully, this will give each ship it's own unique niche as nicely described below :
Gosshawk wrote: Various jump ranges would force the player to have a small fleet for various missions. It's a good thing.


Merchant craft, being what they are will have longer ranges than fighters in the equivalent class. The Tarsus will retain the standard 5-6 system jump capacity of PR. Heavier merchant ships such as the OrionMk2 & Galaxy will have a reach at least twice that.
Will a heavy ship take longer to jump than a light? I think it should as a Paradigm has more surface than a talon.
That's a very good question, and frankly I don't have the answer. It really depends if the WC jump drive is mass dependent - maybe someone well versed in the lore can give us a definitive answer.
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Post by z30 »

micheal_andreas_stahl wrote:
z30 wrote:Asides from the Goss's standardized weight & cargo hold values, we'll be tweaking the jump distances of each craft so that light fighters have a limited jump span (3 systems). Mediums will have the standard PR jump endurance.

One concern this will address is making the Centurion obsolete because of the introduction of the Raptor. The Raptor is 200kps faster (as fast as the Demon) though it's a heavy fighter. Since WC lore cites it's short range, we will implement in the upcoming patch by giving it the same jump distance as a light fighter.

Hopefully, this will give each ship it's own unique niche as nicely described below :
Gosshawk wrote: Various jump ranges would force the player to have a small fleet for various missions. It's a good thing.


Merchant craft, being what they are will have longer ranges than fighters in the equivalent class. The Tarsus will retain the standard 5-6 system jump capacity of PR. Heavier merchant ships such as the OrionMk2 & Galaxy will have a reach at least twice that.
Will a heavy ship take longer to jump than a light? I think it should as a Paradigm has more surface than a talon.
That's a very good question, and frankly I don't have the answer. It really depends if the WC jump drive is mass dependent - maybe someone well versed in the lore can give us a definitive answer.
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Hornet CVL update

Post by z30 »

The Hornet CVL will be classified as a light Hunter ship in the next patch and will provide the player with a (very) decent light fighter till the Demon becomes available after the Palan missions.

It will be updated to carry 2 five round missile launchers.

We'll be discussing a consistent missile load system in the WCU ships thread so new ships will come into PR with good missile loads for players yet follow a good scaling system for balance.
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Yet another Update

Post by z30 »

* Missile Turrets are going in. Each turret will carry 100 FF missiles and will have a 10k price. The turrets are not reloadable hence the quantity. Once (and if) Goss and I figure out how to reload them then the number of missiles will drop to something reasonable.

Turrets can only fire one missile at a time, it looks like it's something in the code that enables turrets to fire dual guns. Whatever it is, it doesn't work for dual missiles :)

Missiles with radar lock times are not effective, one factor is that the PR lock times for HS & IR are at least one second longer than the times listed in JFS.

* Raptor is almost in. It accelerates like a (good) heavy fighter now and turns like one. You still have a good chance of keeping a Talon in your sights so this isn't another Centurion.

Because it's supposed to be pilotable, it follows the norm Goss and I agreed on for heavy missile capacity (ie. 30 max for heavy ships)

The Raptor now carries dual 10 round HS missile launchers (also capable of medium missiles) and one dedicated 5 round launcher for Proton torpedos.

Jump range is just 3 systems long - our implementation of the Raptor weakness described in JFS (short range).

Top speed is 1200 kps - heavy fighter jocks will enjoy driving this baby.
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Stackable armor

Post by z30 »

Goss discovery of how to stack armor has been implemented in the alpha patch. Medium and Heavy ships can now stack tungsten armor on top of plasteel, the Orion fighter in particular is now noticeably tougher.

Raptor is done. Krant is being tweaked. Orion Mk2b - militia heavy fighter is also being integrated.
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Weapon Balance

Post by z30 »

I finally gave in and adjusted the weapon balance for the usermod. Here are a couple of issues this modification addresses :

* lasers are too strong - Damage has been downgraded from 6 MJ to 5 MJ
* mesons are too weak - Damage has been increased from 10 MJ to 11 MJ

Killing a target with two mesons was too difficult before and several stock WC fighter configs have two meson guns (including the Stilleto) as their primary armament.

Now dual mesons have a bite but still don't overshadow the next gun, the particle cannon.

* missiles are too slow and killing targets with just one missile nearly impossible.

- Heatseekers now have 1250 kps speed, 1.75 lock time & 2.5 seconds reload time. I've made this the dogfighter's missile of choice for short range combat. Damage has been downgraded from 27 MJ to 25 MJ.

- Image Recognition missiles now have 1500 kps speed, 3 second lock time & 4 second reload time. Damage is now 40 MJ. This is the long range missile, capable of doing substantial damage at range.

- Adjusted FriendOrFoe missiles to do 33 MJ of damage (formerly 30MJ) and run at 1000kps. Dual FF missiles used to fail target kills frequently, now they have a good chance of nailing Talons with one salvo.

Mesons & HS is a killer combo on the Tarsus Mk2 btw :)

The Krant fighter is very tough to take down, may have to downgrade it just a bit

Oh, and I also boosted Proton Torps damage a bit.

Lastly, bigger missiles now take more space.

A 10 round launcher will carry :

10 Light Missiles
6 Medium Missiles
5 5 Heavy Missiles

The file weapon_list.xml should be installed in your main Privateer directory over the old file if you're interested in testing the new balances.

Please back up your old file before doing this, it's always good to have a fallback.
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Update

Post by z30 »

* Goss' Hunter Galaxy & Drayman CVL integrated and showing up properly on ship inventory lists

* Stackable armor available for all ships (no choice really, it's either on for all or none)

* New weapons values for lasers & mesons to address imbalance.

* Faster lock times and missile speeds for HeatSeekers. Damage reduced by 2 MJ. Shorter range to make this a good complement for close in dogfights

* Longer lock times but faster missile speeds for IR - this is the long range killer. Improved damage values.

* Improved Damage values and faster speeds for Friend or Foe. Two missiles of this type now kill more frequently than before

* Boosted Proton Torpedo damage a bit

* Missile Turrets now loaded with HS now that shorter lock times make this missile viable for this.

* Larger missiles occupy more space. Light missiles need 1 unit of launcher volume space, Medium need 1.5 and Heavy missiles need 2.

A 10 round missile launcher will carry 10 light/6 medium/5 heavy projectiles

* Militia have Hornet CVL (now with 1100 kps speed and 3 missile launchers) plus Raptor heavy fighter

* Hunters have GalaxyGS hunter , Orion MK2H

* Merchants have Tarsus Mk2, OrionMk2 and Orion Mk2b (two turrets)

* Confed have Ferret light fighter

* Kilrathi have Sartha light fighter. 2 Neutron guns, 1200 kps, level 1 shields and level 2 reactor. Interesting to fight :)

* Retros have Kilrathi Krant medium fighter. Heavier on missiles and tougher than the Talon

* Perry has Ferret & Stilleto scramble routines

* NewCon has Hornet & Kukhri scramble routines

* Wingmen charge 1/3 of what's displayed on Mission Computer

* Faction ships module generate ported WC ships and ship variants for PR universe

* Merchant Guild offers Defend, Escort and Cargo missions

* Mercenary Guild offers Patrol, Bounty and Escort missions

..and more that I've forgotten. Repulsors work great on Turrets fyi - I'm thinking of introducing Repulsor equipped variants for the available turrets.

They really keep Talons off your tail :) Too tired to make final patch test, will sleep on it and (hopefully) post the alpha patch tomorrow (zip file).
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