Universal Stellar Gravity (Experimental, for 1.6B2)

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Song
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This mod adds gravity wells to all the stars in the game. I liked the way it worked in Eternity Port, so I figured it might be worth fiddling with...and since stars in this game are all defined in one XML, it was fairly easy to make them all have gravity and killzones.

This mod is not scientifically accurate (but then again, gravity behaves oddly in T anyway and we don't have proper orbital mechanics), but the general pattern is that larger, brighter stars have bigger gravity wells than smaller ones. It's not as complex as RPC's old Gravity mod: it just uses the system George added for white dwarf stars and applies it to everything else by over-writing the default stars. It's experimental, but I really like flying with it so I'm releasing it here (Attached below).

UniversalGravity.xml
(8.53 KiB) Downloaded 225 times
Known issues:

-If killed by a star, it will be indicated as "Killed by a (type G star)" or whatever. May be fixable in the future, might not be.
-Random crashes may occur in systems with larger stars: Any object spawned into the killzone of a gravity-well will immediately crash the game. The wells should be small enough that this doesn't happen, but it's a possibility. I cannot fix this.
-Larger ships may not be able to escape the pull of gravity because of low acceleration and capped top speed. This is due to the game not allowing a transfer burn to get into orbit at low altitudes due to the speed limits. Install a drive, or fly more carefully.
-The gravity warning sounds too early, and you don't get another one when you're close to the killzone. This is an engine problem that I cannot alter.
-Wrecks will be sucked in even if they're plot critical. Don't let the Svalbard die in heretic!
-Arms cache encounters are almost certainly going to be sucked into the star if they spawn close to it.
-Stations orbiting close to larger stars may be impossible to safely visit. This is due to a lack of testing of these larger stars. If this occurs, note the type of star and let me know in this thread: I'll retune the values for gravity based on feedback.




Hints for flying with stellar gravity

-Don't try sitting on stars to refuel with solar panels.
-Orbiting close to a star is good for a refuel, but beware enemies with momentum weapons or EMP
-Getting EMP'd near a star is an instakill.
-Likewise, shooting out the drive on a large ship will usually doom it if you can keep it down.
-Ships destroyed by gravity do not leave wrecks.
-Don't leave stuff in crates/wrecks near stars
-The AI in combat will usually avoid gravity wells.
-The "killzone" extends a certain distance away from the star, influenced by mass. With small stuff (red and white dwarf) you can get very close and still slingshot away. With larger stars, attempting a close pass will kill you. Try to avoid doing this.

Have fun!
Last edited by Song on Sat May 02, 2015 5:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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JohnBWatson
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The AI in combat will usually avoid gravity wells.
Just curious, how'd you implement this?
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 The AI avoids gravity wells by default (sometimes better than others). That’s more a question for George than Shrike.
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Awesome!
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Song
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JohnBWatson wrote:
The AI in combat will usually avoid gravity wells.
Just curious, how'd you implement this?

Pretty much what AP says....it's default behaviour. I'm just noting it so people don't try using it as a weapon. Freighters on routes may have trouble though.
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Shrike wrote:-If killed by a star, it will be indicated as "Killed by a (type G star)" or whatever. May be fixable in the future, might not be.
noArticle="true" works for stars.
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Song
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Ok, I'm not moving this past experimentals at this time. There are some game-breaking bugs I can't fix (they're engine-side):


-Escort targets do not avoid gravity wells
-Many ships cannot avoid gravity wells because of capped speed and low TWR.
-Some plot-critical stuff isn't anchored against gravity (might be able to do something to this)
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