Please see threads for the 'BattleZone' Mod for an excellent interpretation of my initial idea (QuickPlay mode), but please discuss that mod in its own threads, not this one, Thanks!
I would love to have more interaction with the so-called 'Random Arena' or starting screen that comes up after launching the game but before selecting your ship. Not only do I use it as an occasional screen saver, but I've also used it extensively for testing purposes. (Yes, a fleet of 50 or so of just about any medium to high level ships can take out the Iocrym
)As of v0.99c, the only interaction with this screen is the 'N' key, which switches the currently 'focused' ship with the next ship by order of shipclass UNID (I think). You can also use the up and down arrow keys to look at your list of deaths- I mean High Scores.
Is it possible to have keys assigned to the following functionality concepts?
'clear all wrecks' (enumerates and 'shatters' all wrecks in arena/level. this would look really cool too, if the sudden spike in active objects doesn't crash my piss-ant PC)
'toggle group spawn' (on next spawning event create random number of ships grouped with and same class of ship about to be spawned as 'focused' or 'enemy', function seems to already exist but would like some control over it)
'toggle player controls' (allows you to control the currently 'focused' ship, movement and weapons keys only, may interfere with high score controls)
'spawn next enemy' (functional opposite of current 'N' key, switches the 'enemy' ship with the next shipclass in line)
'spawn specific ship' (gives dialog box where you can enter a specific shipclass ID to spawn as non-focused 'enemy', could replace or supplement current enemy ship, maybe has dialog control to select whether spawn is new 'focused' ship or not)
This would enable significant testing procedures for us Modders, especially with testing new ship classes out against a variety of enemies and weapons.
Example:
I have created a new type of auton that uses a 'scattergun' weapon (also made by me) as a missile defense, much like the ICX missile defense item. I would like to see how it performs against any of the missile ships, like the Charon pirate cruiser, and then send fleets of them against each other to see which lasts longer in a more chaotic setting.
*launch game
*spawn specific ship as focused, rsTroNeonAuton
*spawn specific ship as enemy, rsCharonCourseveir (yah whatever)
*clear wrecks
*toggle group spawn
*spawn specific ship as focused, rsTroNeonAuton
*toggle group spawn (this toggle should clear itself after use)
*spawn specific ship as enemy, rsCharonCourseveir (yah whatever)
*watch massive chaos and destruction
*quit
*make changes to my autons as needed from observations of performance
*goto line 10
