Some changes in the next version

Freeform discussion about anything related to modding Transcendence.
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george moromisato
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Since people are creating such cool mods, I want to make sure everyone knows what's coming in the next few versions so you can plan appropriately.

For the next version, I have split the Transcendence.xml file into several files. There will still be a main Transcendence.xml file, but there will also be several subsidiary files that will contain logical modules. For example, there is a BlackMarket.xml file that will have most of the stations and ships used by the Black Market.

This is important for me because it makes it easier to work on the main game. The Transcendence.xml file was getting so big that I was having problems editing it. The advantage for modders is that, since each of the modules is effectively just an extension, it will force me to make extensions more and more capable.

I have already added support for DockScreens and Globals in extensions for the next version, and I suspect that in future version I will add more things.

Note that the split will take more than one version to happen. In the next version you will see some modules (such as BlackMarket.xml) but there are still a lot of things that I haven't split out.

I also want to reiterate that I consider extensions to be the officially supported method of modding Transcendence. Although changing Transcendence.xml (and the subsidiary modules) is useful for learning, I don't think that it is a viable long-term strategy for a mod.

Given that, I am committed to adding more capabilities to extensions. In particular, I want to add a way to alter the star system topology from within extensions, but that capability will not be available yet.
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dvlenk6
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That's all perfect :!:
Thank you so much.
Yugimotomanager

Yes! That's perfect for us modders. We beginner modders will also find it very useful.[/u]
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the_holy_thom
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Thank you George! This will make things much easier, especially when the topology one comes along. We'll make a nice mod for you :wink:
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Awesome. Now I can start again on the separate star system I was creating again.
Aegeus

Three cheers for George! This would let us change a whole race with an extension. Huzzah!
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Revolver
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The ability to mod this game has to be one of it's greatest strengths
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hookoa
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I think I like the ability to change the system topology. Would twin star systems be a possibility now? Oval (forgot the correct word) orbiting planets are great, and a twin star system was just a thought I had on varying star systems.
george moromisato
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hookoa wrote:I think I like the ability to change the system topology. Would twin star systems be a possibility now? Oval (forgot the correct word) orbiting planets are great, and a twin star system was just a thought I had on varying star systems.
If understand correctly, I think twin star systems are possible now. Just create a second star with its own planets. One star could be in orbit around another or both stars could be in orbit around the center of the system.

Hmm...maybe I should do this at some point.
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hookoa
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Thank you! I'd definitely like to see a binary star system in my travels some time. It should be easy to do with an extension handling system topography. I'd assume you'd just define no star for the center, and two stars on the same orbital circle close to the center. They'd have to be exactly opposite eachother though, or it wouldn't work. To handle it, the topography extension would need to be able to define object positions in relation to eachother, or to the center of the system, I think.
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Betelgeuse
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you can do that already using angle="equidistant" (its how Elysium lays out its stargates)
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hookoa
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I'm still a novice modder. I can do ships and weapons. Thanks for the tip, gannon. Do you prefer Betelgeuse?
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Betelgeuse
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your welcome as for the name Betelgeuse or even Betel is good
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dvlenk6
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Hookoa, I have a ternary system that I made for a side branch, and it works fine. Since stars are stations too, just treat them like a planet. showOrbit="true" displays the orbits around the primaries only.

So you can have two stars and show the orbits of the planets as they orbit each star. I have a red giant orbited by a red dwarf, and another red dwarf orbits that one at 3 or 4 light-minutes, I can't remember which. I showed the star orbits too, they just overlap with the planetary orbits.
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Roadmap for late 2006 and mayby 2007 ?
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