MOD: Privateer 1.2 Parallel Universe 1.0

[z30]

Killing ejected pilots would be murder would it not? That COULD get you to be disliked. Why doesn't change you rep with confed and militia when you kill a ejected pilot. that's what the kilrathi do.

Good point , I'd probably have to go into the code to fix that though and I'm not yet brave enough to dive into all those C/C++ programs lines to do it

[micheal_andreas_stahl]

TCS Tigers Claw had a bar on it. Same with the Victory and the Concordia.

Bars it is then

Btw, Tilias weapons document is correct. I was able to fix the Proton Torpedos :

---------
<Bolt name="ProtonTorpedo" mountsize="heavy-missile">
<Energy rate="0" stability="6" refire=".3" >
</Energy>
<Damage rate="0" phasedamage="30" longrange="1" radius="2" radialspeed="500" >
</Damage>
<Distance speed="1200" pulsespeed="15" range="1000000" detonationrange="50" volume="2">
</Distance>
<Appearance file="weapons/proton_torpedo.png" soundwav="torpedo.wav">
</Appearance>
</Bolt>
----------

The trick was to transfer the damage value from Damage Rate to Phase Damage. I tried the corrected torps on a Galaxy, three hits and the ship blew up - with shields intact

Does the protons only attack the hull? Bypass the shields? Oh can you put phase shielding on cap ships?

[micheal_andreas_stahl]

Killing ejected pilots would be murder would it not? That COULD get you to be disliked. Why doesn't change you rep with confed and militia when you kill a ejected pilot. that's what the kilrathi do.

Good point , I'd probably have to go into the code to fix that though and I'm not yet brave enough to dive into all those C/C++ programs lines to do it

They were talking about the C/C++ thingies and do not envy the devs. Could you tell me what it is exactly? Thanks

The Hornet i MUST say is fantastic

[z30]

TCS Tigers Claw had a bar on it. Same with the Victory and the Concordia.

Bars it is then

Btw, Tilias weapons document is correct. I was able to fix the Proton Torpedos :

---------
<Bolt name="ProtonTorpedo" mountsize="heavy-missile">
<Energy rate="0" stability="6" refire=".3" >
</Energy>
<Damage rate="0" phasedamage="30" longrange="1" radius="2" radialspeed="500" >
</Damage>
<Distance speed="1200" pulsespeed="15" range="1000000" detonationrange="50" volume="2">
</Distance>
<Appearance file="weapons/proton_torpedo.png" soundwav="torpedo.wav">
</Appearance>
</Bolt>
----------

The trick was to transfer the damage value from Damage Rate to Phase Damage. I tried the corrected torps on a Galaxy, three hits and the ship blew up - with shields intact

Does the protons only attack the hull? Bypass the shields? Oh can you put phase shielding on cap ships?

Proton Torps now go directly for the hull, it doesn't matter how strong the shields are - even the Level 8 Drayman shields won't stop you from doing damage with the first hit.

I'm still figuring out the shield stuff, but I think we can implement phase shielding by upping the regeneration rate of the higher level shields. This way fighters won't be able to get through a capital ship's shield layers.

I was thinking of reclassifying the shields to :

Light - Shield 4 Level 1
Medium - Shield 4 Level 2, Level 3, Level 4
Heavy - Sheild 4 level 5, Level 6, level 7
Capital Ship shields - Shield 4 Level 8 & Level 9

Shield regeneration is currently static at 0.4 VSD/sec across all shields. We could tweak it to :

Light - 0.4 VSD
Medium - 0.6 VSD
Heavy - 0.8 VSD
Cap shields - 1.0 VSD

Draymans would top out at Level 7 shields but with the higher regen rate, would be tougher than the Level 8 shielded PR Draymans.

I have no idea of what this would do with our new weapon balance, you'd certainly be harder to kill but so would your opponents.

But if everyone is in favor of this idea ( I know Goss is then I'll implement it and it will be in the beta patch. The beta will be out this weekend *G*

[micheal_andreas_stahl]

Hay i am in favor. it will mean that it will force you to use the new torp values.

[micheal_andreas_stahl]

Would a couple of Industrial Facility's work in, say, perry?

[z30]

With the plasteel&tungsten armor plus Level 5 reactors and shields *and* the increased shield regen , the Orion is back as the lumbering tank of Privateer.

I got jumped by 4 Gothri's , killed one then bashed one to bits before the others took me down. This was in an OrionMk2 with a single turret

Here are the new shield classifications & regeneration values.

Light - Shield 1 & 2 , 0.4 VSD/sec
Medium - Shield 3 & 4 , 0.6 VSD/sec
Heavy - Shield 5 & 6 , 0.9 VSD/sec
Capship - Shield 7,8 & 9 , 1.3 VSD/sec

The OrionMk2 now has the same hull gun & missile configuration as the stock Orion. I'm very glad that this much under rated ship will finally find it's niche in the PR universe.

Oh, and I've downgraded the Draymans shields & reacs from Level 8 to Level 7. Not that it will weaken the ship, I'm really looking forward to watch the Demons try to shred this vessel again in the Ox 3 mission

[micheal_andreas_stahl]

It would force them to use there torps with the new values.

[z30]

It would force them to use there torps with the new values.

Exactly, or encourage people to diversify the missile loading. Ships with heavy level 5-6 shields regen twice as fast as the current PR shields so it might be worth it to use a torp or two to soften the target up.

Incidentally this gives the Gladius & Kukhri a definite role as anti-cap fighters.

[Gosshawk]

Will the protons kill the drone now?

[z30]

Will the protons kill the drone now?

You know, I have no idea Come to think of it, the protons might just finish off the drone. I don't know what that's going to do with the story line.

I'm going to rush finishing this beta patch so we all can put it through it's paces through the entire mission.

My main worries are these missions :

Ox3 - protect the Drayman from hunters
Palan missions
Exploration mission - where you land in an asteroid field with lots of Dralthis
Drone mission

If the Protons will mess up the drone mission then maybe we could make these available after - somewhere in the RF plot

[z30]

* Hornet & Hornet CVL now can mount Autotracking & Tractors/Repulsors

* Dralthi adjusted so that it can't mount heavy guns (same as Talon restriction)

* Demon adjusted, it can no longer mount Proton Torpedos. Stock random ships will have dumbfires instead (which is quite deadly in the new patch)

Now working on getting Grikath bomber in, then Sabre.

[micheal_andreas_stahl]

* Hornet & Hornet CVL now can mount Autotracking & Tractors/Repulsors

* Dralthi adjusted so that it can't mount heavy guns (same as Talon restriction)

* Demon adjusted, it can no longer mount Proton Torpedos. Stock random ships will have dumbfires instead (which is quite deadly in the new patch)

Now working on getting Grikath bomber in, then Sabre.

Two lights. one light medium. thats what i use

[z30]

Doing a review of the WCU weapon_list.xml, I realized that Spirit and the other developers had already revised the gun weapon values to address the too-slow bolt velocities of stock PR weapons.

I've decided to align the usermod patch with their system. Though many of the new velocities are still too slow imho, it will ease our porting of WCU weapons into PR.

The new shield regeneration system stays as is, and I'm still looking closely at their WCU missile system to see if it makes sense for the Parallel Universe patch.

[Solon Halwinder]

How does the WCU missile system work?

Also, when can we expect the next update patch? Not trying to rush you guys, just curious.

[z30]

How does the WCU missile system work?

Also, when can we expect the next update patch? Not trying to rush you guys, just curious.

Very much like the PR missiles, slow velocities compared to WC stats. It's got a nice long range FF missile though which carries quite a punch.

The gun stats are nicer than PR's , faster plus more damage across the board . Ion and Plasma guns also do a little phase damage. When we start bringing the capital ships in we'll have to bring the cap level guns in too.

Going to balance the Grikath now, Solon - I'm sorry but I had to downgrade the Gothri reactors & shields. They are currently at level 4 reactor & level 3 shields but stats from the original Privateer clearly show that the Centurion's shields strength was greater than the Gothris.

Gothri now has level 3 reactors & level 2 shields, the Grikath has level 4 reacs & level 3 shields (Grikath shields are supposed to be stronger).

I didn't expect to have to adjust the Grikath this much, JFS stats show that it's weight should be 27 tons. The WCU version weighs in at 187 tons so all the turn & thrust values & vectors have to be downgraded to take the lighter weight into account.

A day or two more though, but cross your fingers - I may have good news in a couple of hours

[Solon Halwinder]

Few more observations now that I hacked my save to get the credits for a Drayman CVL. (I'm not sorry.)

First, I know you are/have been working on it, but Krants are still a pretty big problem. Two and a Talon took me out with all my turret mounts using Tachyons, and L8 Shield/Reactor.

Second, what are "turret_large" mounts for? When you try to buy anything for them, you get "This item cannot fit the frame of your starship. Do you want to buy it anyway?" and it doesn't work. And now I think about it, the Broadsword has the same trouble with its' side turrets.

Third, I captured a Sartha (gotta love tractor beams and a 10,000 cargo capacity) and bought it, and you can't autotrack its' mounts. This isn't a problem if you're not supposed to be able to get it, but still.

Fourth, the amount of space the Tarsus takes up needs to be lowered or the MK2's needs to be raised. Right now, the MK1 takes up 20,000, the MK2 takes up 2,000.

[z30]

Few more observations now that I hacked my save to get the credits for a Drayman CVL. (I'm not sorry.)

No need to be sorry, I do this all the time in testing the new ported ships

First, I know you are/have been working on it, but Krants are still a pretty big problem. Two and a Talon took me out with all my turret mounts using Tachyons, and L8 Shield/Reactor

This should be less of a problem in patch 1.1b - much of the strength of the 1.1a Krant lies in a powerful reactor (level 3) powering a lesser shield (level 2).

The level 2 reactor in 1.1b should lessen this effect, plus at shield level 8 your shield regen speed is 3x PR stock.

Having said that , we need to look into this again after the new patch is released. And we really do have to check the shield protection values, we'll be more transparent in our modification decisions so that everyone can have their say.

Will be posting the PR stock vs WCU vs PU1.1b values for weapons ,shields after the patch release, then we can have a round table discussion of whether the patch direction for these is the correct one.
.

Second, what are "turret_large" mounts for? When you try to buy anything for them, you get "This item cannot fit the frame of your starship. Do you want to buy it anyway?" and it doesn't work. And now I think about it, the Broadsword has the same trouble with its' side turrets.

Goss could give us an insight on this, to tell the truth I'm not that knowledgeable on this topic - haven't experimented with large turrets as of yet.

Third, I captured a Sartha (gotta love tractor beams and a 10,000 cargo capacity) and bought it, and you can't autotrack its' mounts. This isn't a problem if you're not supposed to be able to get it, but still.

Will correct this, ultimately we're following the WCU direction and that means you can be a Confed&Imperial /Merchant/Militia/Hunter/Pirate whether you're human ,Kilrathi or any other reasonable race.

Fourth, the amount of space the Tarsus takes up needs to be lowered or the MK2's needs to be raised. Right now, the MK1 takes up 20,000, the MK2 takes up 2,000.

Tarsus Mk1 will be adjusted, we'll be aligning ships below cap level to fit the rough standards Goss and I set for light/medium/heavies.

[OnyxPaladin]

I'm sorry but I had to downgrade the Gothri reactors & shields.

Curse you!

I'm interested to see how well my Gothri will perform with the new modifications. I liked that you made it more vulnerable in the first patch (it was nigh invincible in pr). I'm itching to get into the pilot's seat of the Grikath.

A little problem i forgot to mention before, i've noticed that the rear turret on my Gothri refuses to fire at enemies in weapons free mode. It works fine when i order it to attack my target though.

[z30]

I'm sorry but I had to downgrade the Gothri reactors & shields.

Curse you!

I'm interested to see how well my Gothri will perform with the new modifications. I liked that you made it more vulnerable in the first patch (it was nigh invincible in pr). I'm itching to get into the pilot's seat of the Grikath.

A little problem i forgot to mention before, i've noticed that the rear turret on my Gothri refuses to fire at enemies in weapons free mode. It works fine when i order it to attack my target though.

On second thought I better make it reactor level 4 & level 2 shields, don't want to have a horde of mad Kilrathi's after me

Kidding aside, this makes good sense - the Cats have always valued offense over defense so having most of reactor energy going into your weapons sounds reasonable.

It would also distinguish the Gothri against the Raptor (much less maneuverable but heavy guns , shields & armor) or the Centurion ( more agile than the Raptor and heavier shields than the Gothri).

Yes, I think this is the perfect balancing point - the Gothris in my test patch are bit too easy to destroy.

I've encountered that turret problem on my Galaxy HK too, there's are reference in Tilias' document about making sure the scan range of the turrets cover every possible angle - we have to look into this very soon.

[micheal_andreas_stahl]

A raptor is much superior when you take into fact that all it's missile mounts can carry torps. Not many ships can cope with that.

[spiritplumber]

Let me know if I can help, mkay? I've learned a lot about units.csv when doing all those ships

[z30]

Let me know if I can help, mkay? I've learned a lot about units.csv when doing all those ships

Actually, I'm having problems with the Grikath. It needs a small turret but the default is medium and that really sticks out on a thin ship like this.

If we make a complete set of small turret entries for all the standard gun weapons in units.csv would it work? The invisible turret thing (as in the Broadsword) is pretty fixed, it doesn't really allow the player to choose what goes in there.

Also, I'd like to limit the kind of turrets you can put on a small ship - say laser/meson/mass drivers only. The medium turret on the TarsusMk2 looks a bit oversized so a small turret with light guns would be great.

[spiritplumber]

WCU has exactly this -- "invisible" turrets are actually very small so that you mostly just see the guns moving. So yeah, there's a crapload of turret entries, unfortunately. Suggest you copy-pasta the entries...

[z30]

A raptor is much superior when you take into fact that all it's missile mounts can carry torps. Not many ships can cope with that.

Actually in this incarnation only the middle tube can carry torps

I did a test run with a level 5 reac, level 3 shield Grikath today, carrying 2 heavy missile mounts (7 Proton torps each) and 2 light/medium missile launchers (4 FF missiles each).

The WCU Grikath has 4 heavy gun mounts (stock WC version has just 3), and with 4 Neutron guns plus torps this thing is the *real* capship killer.

It's also balanced, a couple of light/medium fighters tore me to bits since it couldn't manuever fast enough. But two Gothris head on and the first shredded under all that heavy fire and i was able turn, dogfight the other and kill it.

More than two ships and this Grikath has trouble, but that's fine since it's supposed to be a heavy torpedo bomber with some fighter capabilities.