New Mod Released: Communications Array [Revised]

Freeform discussion about anything related to modding Transcendence.
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FAD
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http://xelerus.de/index.php?s=mod&id=58

This mod allows the player to "contact" any targeted ship and try to hire them as a wingman. The price to hire is based on each ships firepower, so as the game progresses, it will cost more to hire them (hopefully balancing the useage of the device.) So, you get what you pay for!

Also, you'll receive random replies from the ships that you hire so as to reduce the repetitiveness of the messages.

Known Bugs:

!) (May be a perk rather than a bug) Hiring ships in the BAM (arena) or those set in missions to destroy will result in having to kill them anyway in order to complete the scenario, but it will cost you so use your better judgement. Also, hiring any ship that's set in a mission for the player to escort will result in having to kill the ship in order to finish the mission--which will greatly increase the chance of mission failure.
2) Using the device to target/contact station turrets (Ares) will result in them having strange behavior after jumping to another system (they are not mobile and are clasified as ships). It will not crash the game, however.
I've tried to do work-around codes for these to no avail so if anyone can help, please post in this thread.
Also post any other bugs you may find--there shouldn't be too many, if any.

Revisions:
Communications Array v.1.3;
1) Fixed a bug that would crash the game whenever the device was used on objects other than "live" AI ships (such as wrecks, cargo containers, mined ore...etc). Now a message will appear instead.
2) Added additional text messages where appropriate. Also set for stations to ignore the player if the device is used on them (nothing happens).
3) Implemented a chance roll so now there's a 30% chance the targeted ship will decline the players offer to hire them. A random "declined" message will appear on screen.
4) Increased the amount the player must pay when hiring a targeted ship (To help balance the useage of the device).
5) Added the external="true" tag so now the device can get damaged if shields are down. (All communication radio's need an "antenna" which would normally be mounted externally)
6) Cleaned up the bitmap to remove unwanted residue. (Looks better)
7) Added a ReadMe.txt file in the zip package. (There's an installation instructions section as well as a "How To Use Device" section to help anyone who is new to using mods.)

Have fun and spend those credits wisely!

[EDITED FOR REVISIONS]
Last edited by FAD on Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Periculi
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It sounds fun!

/me runs to go check it out...
Bobby
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will (objIsAbandoned obj) work with ships?
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Periculi
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hmm... well, this can certainly throw the balance of the game out a bit. The money isn't that hard to come up with, so it's easy to get a very powerful ship hired. I got the Corp Cruiser after blowing up a suitable enclave, for instance. Although the missiles ran out soon enough.

It seems to need some kind of filter to decide which is an acceptable ship. Perhaps if it was limited to the smaller ships, and possible only to certain classes, then the balance wouldn't be as big an issue.

And what about a failure percent- if you don't make a certain level roll, then you get nothing.

This mod does present some other intriguing options- it is a form of 'hacking' the enemy ships- perhaps it could be used to simply confuse the enemies, in another version- where you don't get a wingman, but instead switch the enemy sov to confuse them into attacking themselves or just leaving or whatever.

All that aside, I liked it. :) Good work!
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FAD
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@Bobby That could possibly be used with a "switch" and an "if" followed by a text display to nullify the procedure... I'll give it a try. Thanks for the insight!
Periculi wrote:hmm... well, this can certainly throw the balance of the game out a bit. The money isn't that hard to come up with, so it's easy to get a very powerful ship hired.
An easy fix, change the current...

Code: Select all

(setq amount (multiply 2 (itmGetPrice weaponItem))
To...

Code: Select all

(setq amount (multiply 5 (itmGetPrice weaponItem))
...or even a greater number (like 10) to multiply. That'd burn up the players credits pretty fast and could also make it harder to hire meaner ships as well. I'll try it at 5 and make adjustments if needed.
And what about a failure percent- if you don't make a certain level roll, then you get nothing.
I really like this idea. I'll see what I can come up with. You're more than welcome to try it yourself if you like.
This mod does present some other intriguing options- it is a form of 'hacking' the enemy ships- perhaps it could be used to simply confuse the enemies, in another version- where you don't get a wingman, but instead switch the enemy sov to confuse them into attacking themselves or just leaving or whatever.
I did make a sovy hacker like that. Tried to set them to "wander" as well as "scavenge" but had no luck with them. Either they got destroyed by their previous "friends" or gated out if they survived. Although I didn't try all the sovereigns with it.
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Xephyr
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So yeah, I've installed it... Now how do I hire them?
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FAD
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Xephyr wrote:So yeah, I've installed it... Now how do I hire them?
First, get it installed at a station. Then Use it like you would a ROM or crystal `n such. But, you must have a Targeting ROM installed and you must first target the ship you want to hire. Otherwise you'll get "NoCanDo" messages. Also, you must have enough credits to hire `em else they'll laugh at you. :P
Nah, they'll just tell you that you can't afford 'em.
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Ttech
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You've done it! you've finished it. Well done. :)
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FAD
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Thank you. I've got a new and improved version coming up shortly, still testing it for any bugs....Which, BTW, I've managed to rid the crash bug when using the device on wrecks and such. There's several new improvements that should make it more fun to use. I'll upload and post once I'm through testing them...
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Ttech
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FAD wrote:Thank you. I've got a new and improved version coming up shortly, still testing it for any bugs....Which, BTW, I've managed to rid the crash bug when using the device on wrecks and such. There's several new improvements that should make it more fun to use. I'll upload and post once I'm through testing them...

No problem. Well good job, it was not too long ago that we were talking about ideas for this. :) And now its here!
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Psycholis
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First I got 4 huari ships and they lasted pretty good. After about 2 systems, I scored a Worldship (!) and it pretty much killed everything for a while. I finally ended with 4 deimos destroyers and a bunch of chasm. Didn't find a phoboes though. :( And the worldship lived all the way.
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Can I make the io-cream my wingman? :D Well, 'till then, I think 30 CSCs will do it :D
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Periculi
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hmm... Iocrym wingmen... YAY!
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FAD
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Desolator wrote:Can I make the io-cream my wingman? :D
Probably, if you have about 40,000,000 credits! But then, you'd still have to kill it in order to get that gate rod...a very, very expensive rod! :shock:

I've uploaded the revised edition of the mod in the mod site. Check the first post of this thread for the list of revisions as well as the link.
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Periculi
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Wow, nice work. The revision sounds great, going to go get it and try it!
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