Minefield reworking.

[Atarlost]

The trick I need to work out is how to get the mines on the long-range deployment system to frag properly. The current system doesn't want to have fragmenting fragments from a fragmenting missile (fragment )...thus unless the mines are set off immediately after deployment, they won't frag....thus robbing them of most of the damage.

Use simulated fragmentation to scatter the mines. See again Mines Plus. This also lets the player control the range of the mine bus with an invoke on the launcher. If applied to the NAMI Heavy the Medusa could benefit from the system and be given a longer base range

[Song]

NAMI heavy could do with a fairly decent rework in general. I'll do the NAMI mine launcher first, then work on the more complicated stuff on the Heavy....since adding standard mines is relatively easy.


Currently I've got a dirty-weapon mine running (although I need a few tweaks so that it doesn't just vanish at the end of its lifetime. Currently it's just the hiteffect code from an XM300 applied to my standard mine template), and I'm going to do some experiments into an EMP mine. I'm planning to make THAT a weapon that can affect the players ship if they're too close when it goes off. Maybe even make a big version that can do device damage as well, although I suspect I'd be lynched soon after release if I didn't include a warning on the Mines themselves about that.....

[Song]

basic stuff uploaded to Xelerus.

HERE IT IS!

It's early stages.....but it can now be tested far more easily.

In a day or two, I'll re-upload it with the EMP mine, once I've finished it.

[Song]

I've coded some Cluster-Frag and EMP mines. The triggering is fairly weird.....I WANT the frags to be like that, as otherwise they're a little overpowered. As it is, I had a load of fiddling from the original version, and I still need to finetune them.

However, I'll work a little more before uploading the new version to Xelerus.

Here's a preview of the new CRE190 EMP mine (Development name)



Note: The triggering is *really* tricky. I'm tempted to add in a frag effect like the CRM100, only without smoke trails, and with very light blast damage. It wouldn't make any sense, but it might fix the frag. As it is, these things go off on contact (sometimes) or VERY near contact. Usually. If they feel like it.

Currently, the cluster mines are my biggest problem. The EMP mine is going pretty well.....But the cluster (now that I've corrected the initial projectiles damage to 6d12 rather than the 612 I accidentally put in the initial test verion I was using ) is a big problem....

Edit: cluster-mines seem to be working better, but the CXM900s are plying up. Must just be a ghost-in-the-machine issue.

I've also changed the EMP mine back to the original form, so it doesn't both remove the minefiel it's in, and EMP your ship when it goes off. Which it will do VERY well. (Currently, it can go straight through an invincible-class. I really need to nerf this thing.....)

Screenie of a cluster-mine blowing up:



The blast is about 50-70% bigger when it's over. But much smaller area-of-potential-effect than its nearest vanilla equivalent, the ZG4 Cluster-MAG. It's a blast mine, that is intended to be cheaper and more common that the bigger (and more reliable, hopefully) thermonuclear mines.

[Song]

New upload of the mod...now with the EMP and cluster mines.

HERE

...I really need some feedback on this lot.

[Song]

With the stunning and breathtaking total lack of feedback, I'm winding back work on this.....I'm only going to implement 2 new ammos apart from what's currently in my copy of the XML, and then I'll bundle it up, release it, and forget about the whole thing.

[ptbptb]

With the stunning and breathtaking total lack of feedback, I'm winding back work on this.....I'm only going to implement 2 new ammos apart from what's currently in my copy of the XML, and then I'll bundle it up, release it, and forget about the whole thing.

Yeah, sorry about that but I'm only interested in mods that go well with the early game for now.

[Song]

I've finally managed to make a tracking missile that can miss. Considering that all bar a few cannons in the Vanilla game are almost an assured hit if the target is in the lifetime area....this required considerable mucking about with agility values and speed.

The missing is a good thing, as it's a military strength EMp weapon that also damages devices. In a word...it's evil. But you can avoid it by A. Having ion effect immune stuff. or B. Out-turning the missile just before it hits. You can only do this if it's BEHIND you, and you're travelling reasonably fast. I have yet to practice this in the freighter or wolfen, but I suspect it'll be nice and hard.

Cue A crowd of angry freighter pilots coming to lynch me.....


1-2 more things to code, and then I can wrap this thing up.

[Song]

Part One is complete: The NAMI Mine Launcher is over-written, as are the CRM100 and 500.

Now I just need to finish the over-writing of the NAMI Heavy, and I can finally throw this mod out....

[Song]

This is why you ALWAYS test mods before releasing them. Especially of mines.



There goes starton eridani.


Heh. I can think of a way to make this into a sectorwipe weapon.

.....not that I am going to, of course.

[Song]

New things in my latest development version (not on xelerus yet):


-The EMP Torpedo Mk.2 (Major tweaking in that thing)
-Mines that are more pro-active about hitting things
-Mines that shoot down missiles. These are truly amazing to use, and are an EXTREMELY tactical weapon (they don't do any damage, except in accidental hits)


After these.....I'll sort out the NAMI heavy, add the new Mine stuff to my clean, tidy seperate mines-only XML, and release the stuff.

[Arisaya]

neat (the mines shooting missiles)
So how do they do that? An ICX system on a ship-projectile or something?

[Song]

Got it in one. It uses the framework Prophet made for me to use to mess with mines that shoot at enemies, except using the ICX system. Not much good against enemies with cannons (especially dual cannons), but against the KM5xx series, they're not bad. I've yet to test them against gothas and Heavy missiles.

They are VERY fun to use, but against smaller enemies, can sometimes nuke the attacking ship by accident.

The only issue is that the missile launch sound isn't playing on the mine/ships.

[digdug]

you can syscreateweaponfire a sound effect
This little trick is used in a few mods.

[Song]

Some time after Xelerus has regenerated into its new form, I'll be releasing the finished mod. Currently there are still a whole load of things that need tying up, but I'm down to the last few projectiles/whoosy-boomy-things that need to have their bones coded.

Features:

-Cluster Mines (IF I can succeed in getting them to work. There does seem to be something really WEIRD about how the game triggers proximity effects...sometimes a mine will go off, but a similar mine in the same place will NOT go off if the enemy comes through AFTER it is laid (rather than being in the area in the meantime))

-EMP Mines and torpedoes

-Dirty Mines.

-The amazingly pretty static-mine version of the XM900

-Mines that shoot at enemies

-Possibly a mine that releases a pteravore at the target (I bet this will be popular if I give it to an NPC enemy. Muahahahahaha)

-Remote deployed mines (again, if I can make them work. I'm against using simulated fragmentation unless I have to, but I probably WILL have to. Other wise the mines just dunt work)

-A rather interesting S series missile that uses tracking mines. Like an S3 only with mines (this is in the test mod, but is a really early-version)

-A tracking blast torpedo to supplement the "M" series of heavy missiles.

-Possibly a mine that explodes when enemies come close, firings a stream of plasma at them. Like a contemporary Explosively Formed Projectile warhead. I'd do this for a missile, but the coding would be amazingly tricky, and it might not even be possible.