PM's mods

[PM]

Update: Relief Pack 912 has split into two mods. One is Relief Pack 912 itself, which consists of things that either overwrite content and/or add enhancements that make the game slightly easier. The other is a new mod pack called Hints Shown. This offshoot merely displays hints or spoilers at various dockscreens, and it does not overwrite anything. It combines Buying Limits Shown, Fabricator Stats Shown, mods from Relief Pack 912, and new content into one handy package.

Buying Limits Shown and Fabricator Stats Shown have been deleted. Links at the original post have been updated.

[PM]

Uploaded a new mod Named Ore. This displays the name of ore on the screen.

Also uploaded updates for Items Pack 912, Playership Drones v4, and The Immortal Shenlong.

About the updates:
Items Pack 912 gains three weapons. One of them is a recreation of the Androsynth's acid bubble weapon from Star Control. It is essentially a drunken acid missile launcher. Another is a plasma weapon whose shots spiral outward, a bit like the Diablo 2 skill Blessed Hammer. The third is a modified Ares plasma archcannon that fires shots capable of redirecting towards a target periodically, just like the Diablo 2 skills Guided Arrow and Bone Spirit. All three of these weapons are difficult to acquire without a godmod. I may release these weapons in a separate mod as a script example.

Playership Drones v4 has a redesigned ship purchase screen. This affects all four files. Updating requires downloads of all four Playership Drones v4 files. In addition, the update gains compatibility with the new mod Named Ore.

The Immortal Shenlong gains compatibility with Named Ore.

[WillyTheSquid]

Uploaded a new mod Named Ore. This displays the name of ore on the screen.

Yes. Yes! YES! Thank you so much!

This simple is something I've wanted ever since I started mining.

[PM]

Uploaded updates to the following: Named Ore, Ore Scanning Program, and Service Pack 912.

Named Ore: The names displayed may be toggled on or off.
Ore Scanning Program: Included an alternative file (that is disabled) that features a more powerful (and unbalanced) scanner.
Service Pack 912: Dockscreens are no longer overwritten.

Restart is necessary after updating these mods.

[PM]

Uploaded update to Mined Asteroids Explode. Player may destroy any asteroid if shot at enough by a mining weapon, or turn off asteroid destruction altogether. The option to control asteroid destruction may be found within Ship Configuration.

[WillyTheSquid]

Uploaded update to Mined Asteroids Explode. Player may destroy any asteroid if shot at enough by a mining weapon, or turn off asteroid destruction altogether. The option to control asteroid destruction may be found within Ship Configuration.

You've been doing your homework! Thanks!

[PM]

Updated Mined Asteroids Explode again. Ingame toggle of asteroid destruction was removed. Instead, the mod has two versions. See mod description at Xelerus for details.

I know some people want to smash every asteroid they shoot. For me, that changes the game too much for comfort. Thus, the reason for two folders (and two versions). Only one of the folders needs to be extracted.

[TranscendentGeek]

Updated Mined Asteroids Explode again. Ingame toggle of asteroid destruction was removed. Instead, the mod has two versions. See mod description at Xelerus for details.

I know some people want to smash every asteroid they shoot. For me, that changes the game too much for comfort. Thus, the reason for two folders (and two versions). Only one of the folders needs to be extracted.

It isn't too big of a change since it takes a bit of time to destroy a single non ore asteroid. I love it.

[TranscendentGeek]

I have just been testing asteroids explode mod with the Mining Pack/Overhaul that WillyTheSquid and I are working on. Making all the asteroids explode so easily makes asteroid scanners useless. Maybe you could make them hard to kill?

[PM]

Asteroids are already slightly harder to kill than asteroids with ore. Most small asteroids do not have 50 tons of ore. Empty asteroids are treated as having 50 tons of ore in terms of fake hit points. Empty large asteroids have 200 fake hit points, which is higher than average for them. If I wanted to destroy any asteroid, I (and I bet others) would lose patience if I cannot destroy it after a few shots with the slow firing standard mining weapons.

Yes, scanners are pointless when the player can destroy all asteroids. It also makes the scenery more barren. This is why I made two versions promptly after updating the mod to 1.08. Once the player includes a folder, he cannot remove it ingame. Blowing up a few stray ore bearing asteroids is fun, and with many other asteroids intact, the player will not notice a few missing. It makes sense that if the player can explode ore bearing asteroids, he should explode any of them. However, once the player is allowed to destroy any asteroid, it becomes a quest of gotta-kill'em-all, and the player will proceed to wipe out every last asteroid in his mining quest. After the player destroys all of the asteroids, he will notice the damage. He will also notice stray asteroids he missed, then destroy them. I do not find this fun, and I would not use Mined Explode Asteroid if it only allowed the player to destroy any arbitrary asteroid. Having an ingame toggle is pointless, since I would simply turn it to ALWAYS because that is the most powerful option. I dislike handicapping myself just to make a game fair. If the game breaks because of a grossly overpowered option, denying yourself the option is not a (good) fix.

[TranscendentGeek]

I stuck a note in our readme on recommended mods that compliment the mining pack. I suggested that ExAsteroidClassic not ExAsteroidAll should be used with the mining pack. Since the All version is so game breaking if fun.

[WillyTheSquid]

Hi PM! I think I've found a bug with the "enhance armor" part of Service Pack 912. It didn't do this before, but now enhancing armor plates from the dock services does not actually cost any credits (although it says it does).

[PM]

Updated Items Pack 912 to 1.08b. It features bug fixes and minor rebalancing, and it includes weapons from Rainbow Weapons, which now feature adjustable beam colors.

Rainbow Weapons has been deleted, since it has merged with Items Pack 912.

[PM]

Some idle thoughts:
* Free armor services bug in Service Pack 912 has been fixed (but not yet uploaded). Thank you WillyTheSquid.
* For Mined Asteroids Explode, I will probably keep the classic version for it, and move the explode all asteroids version to Siniblaster.
* More mods updated for 1.08b will be uploaded soon. Playership Drones will not be one of them, sorry.
* Update to Playership Drones will come, but I do not know when that will be.

[PM]

The following mods have been updated to 1.08b and uploaded to Xelerus:
Hints Shown: CSC Infirmary and Rasiermesser research lab have hints.
Mined Asteroids Explode: Moved all asteroids explode version to SiniBlaster.
Ore Scanning Program: Extended maximum scanning range, basic scanner has range 5 while moving.
Quick Loot: Cleaned up the Quick Loot Options menu.
Reactor Pack 912: Fixed a bug where Commonwealth fortresses did not sell solar reactors, if enabled.
Service Pack 912: Fixed a bug where armor enhancements were free.
SiniBlaster: All asteroids may be mined for crystals and exploded.