[Mod] Playership Drones v2

Post about your finished mods here.
PM
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How to enable a custom ship the player can dock and swap at will.

The custom ship file:

At the section where <!ENTITY ...> lines are found, near the top of the file, add these two lines:

Code: Select all

    <!ENTITY baPlayerDroneBase  "0xD9123300">
    <!ENTITY dsPlayerShip       "0xD912A300">
Next, look for the ship you want to add. Using the Osaka as an example, look for

Code: Select all

<ShipClass UNID="&scOsaka;"
    manufacturer= "Nakura Shipyards"
    class= "Osaka"
        .
      - snip -
        .
    >
At the bottom between leavesWreck and > lines, insert these three lines:

Code: Select all

    attributes="playership"
    dockscreen="&dsPlayerShip;"
    inherit="&baPlayerDroneBase;"
Next, scroll down until you see </ShipClass>. Before it, add the following:

Code: Select all

    <StaticData>
        <shipCPUs>2</shipCPUs>
        <shipCost>2900</shipCost>
        <shipDesc>"Buy me!"</shipDesc>
        <shipEquip>
            (
                (&itRecoillessCannon;   1)
                (&itClass2Deflector;    1)
                (&itReactiveArmor;      4)
            )
        </shipEquip>
    </StaticData>

    <DockingPorts>
        <Port x="0" y="40">
        <Port x="0" y="-40">
        <Port x="40" y="0">
        <Port x="-40" y="0">
    </DockingPorts>
Explaination of some things:
<shipCPUs> affects how many CPUs you need to control the ship. If it is Nil or undefined, you see the WARNING message before you change ships. This is because ships with no shipCPUs defined almost certainly have no <DockingPorts> defined.

<shipCost> is how much it costs in credits to buy a ship from a shipyard. This isn't needed if the ship cannot be found for sale.

<shipDesc> is the description the player reads while browsing the ship at a shipyard. Again, unnecessary if not for sale. Whatever description is used for the starting ship select screen can be copied and pasted here.

<shipEquip> is the list of items needed to rebuild a wrecked ship with a shipwright. If undefined, the ship can be rebuilt for free by the shipwright if it is on its builtTable list.

<shieldSize> is for larger ships that are too big to fit within the standard Domina shield bubble. The larger the value, the bigger the shield will be. The only acceptable values are 128, 160, and 256.

The ship must have <DockingPorts> before you can dock with it.

All of the changes do not affect ships already spawned in a saved game, only newly spawned ships.

How to compute a ship's worth.
In this mod, the value shipyards use is all installed armor and devices plus 1000. When buying a ship, any ammo the ship can spawn with is also added to the cost. Using the Osaka as an example, recoilless cannon is 300, class II deflector is 1000, and four reactive armor segments is 600. All equipment together is worth 1900. Add 1000 for the ship itself and the final total is 2900.

* * *

PlayerDrones\Ships\Ships.xml

Adding custom ships to the lists of what can be bought, sold, or rebuilt requires editing the 8,000+ line monstrosity ships.xml. You will need to define and add the new ship's UNID in the file, then add it into one of the various <StaticData> lists within the portable shipwright item.

For the Osaka, you add the following line near the top of the ships.xml file with all of the other UNIDs:

Code: Select all

    <!ENTITY scOsaka  "0xD314F401">
Other ships will have different UNIDs.

Within the <StaticData> of the portable shipwright are various lists, one for rebuilding wrecked ships and more for ships sold at shipyards.

If you want the shipwright to rebuild a wrecked Osaka, add this line within <buildTable>:

Code: Select all

    (&scOsaka; &scOsaka;)
If you want dry docks to sell an Osaka, add the following line

Code: Select all

    &scOsaka;
within <shipsDryDock> between &scIAVMediumPlayer; and &scRoninCPlayer;

* * *

Do not forget to save any changes made.
Last edited by PM on Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Download and Play in 1.9 beta 1...
Drake Technologies (Alpha): More hardware for combat in parts 1 and 2!
Star Castle Arcade: Play a classic arcade game adventure, with or without more features (like powerups)!
Playership Drones: Buy or restore exotic ships to command!

Other playable mods from 1.8 and 1.7, waiting to be updated...
Godmode v3 (WIP): Dev/cheat tool compatible with D&O parts 1 or 2.
Vachtra
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Not sure what was wrong but the static data area had a problem and it wanted ";"'s with dockscreen and inherit.
I just used the static data from the ship.xml file associated with the EI100 and it worked fine.
Haven't gotten around to trying the rest yet.

Thanks
"Have you guys ever watched the show?" ~ Guy
PM
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The dockscreen and inherit lines were missing the semicolons. The post above has been fixed.
Download and Play in 1.9 beta 1...
Drake Technologies (Alpha): More hardware for combat in parts 1 and 2!
Star Castle Arcade: Play a classic arcade game adventure, with or without more features (like powerups)!
Playership Drones: Buy or restore exotic ships to command!

Other playable mods from 1.8 and 1.7, waiting to be updated...
Godmode v3 (WIP): Dev/cheat tool compatible with D&O parts 1 or 2.
PM
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Posts: 2570
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2010 12:54 am

Minor update (Apr 16, 2011): Fixed bug that causes shipwrights to spawn in destroyed stations.
Download and Play in 1.9 beta 1...
Drake Technologies (Alpha): More hardware for combat in parts 1 and 2!
Star Castle Arcade: Play a classic arcade game adventure, with or without more features (like powerups)!
Playership Drones: Buy or restore exotic ships to command!

Other playable mods from 1.8 and 1.7, waiting to be updated...
Godmode v3 (WIP): Dev/cheat tool compatible with D&O parts 1 or 2.
PM
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Posts: 2570
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2010 12:54 am

For those who have played Playership Drones, what are your ship preferences? By that I mean, what sort of playership you pilot, and what drone escorts do you use and how many? In my case, I find myself piloting a gunship like a Wolfen or Centurion, and my escort is one big ship that can hold at least a thousand tons of cargo.

In a future release, the rest of the ships, with few exceptions, will be playable provided the player can find the parts to (re)build a ship. Even if the ships are tiered like they are now, there is no way to make them all balanced. All I care is to make it fun despite some imbalance, but not empower the player so much it becomes a godmod. I may scrap the CPU tier system and let the player have either one or two escorts regardless of type. I will decide on one of the following playership plus drone escort setups:
1. Any one ship plus two ships smaller than an EI200. (Modified tier system.)
2. Any two ships.
3. Any three ships.
Download and Play in 1.9 beta 1...
Drake Technologies (Alpha): More hardware for combat in parts 1 and 2!
Star Castle Arcade: Play a classic arcade game adventure, with or without more features (like powerups)!
Playership Drones: Buy or restore exotic ships to command!

Other playable mods from 1.8 and 1.7, waiting to be updated...
Godmode v3 (WIP): Dev/cheat tool compatible with D&O parts 1 or 2.
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Hatsuya Kanzaki
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Location: leading an armada of Realians driving sword-shaped gunships and WearGears

I drive a Ronin-B, and accompanied by 2 Sapphires.

Now, I wish I can drive any Centauri ship...
Vachtra
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I like to play with an EI7000 with 5 suped up hornets.
Just upgrade their holds and you can install decent weapons on them.
I just have to keep an eye on their armor.
"Have you guys ever watched the show?" ~ Guy
shanejfilomena
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PM wrote:For those who have played Playership Drones, what are your ship preferences? By that I mean, what sort of playership you pilot, and what drone escorts do you use and how many? In my case, I find myself piloting a gunship like a Wolfen or Centurion, and my escort is one big ship that can hold at least a thousand tons of cargo.

In a future release, the rest of the ships, with few exceptions, will be playable provided the player can find the parts to (re)build a ship. Even if the ships are tiered like they are now, there is no way to make them all balanced. All I care is to make it fun despite some imbalance, but not empower the player so much it becomes a godmod. I may scrap the CPU tier system and let the player have either one or two escorts regardless of type. I will decide on one of the following playership plus drone escort setups:
1. Any one ship plus two ships smaller than an EI200. (Modified tier system.)
2. Any two ships.
3. Any three ships.
-------------------------------------------------------

I like the Antares ( currently in the Mod )/ AntaresV ( if it can get in there )

HOWEVER: I found the issues with the dock screens still exists ( Menu ,no binding symbol for gscreen prev...# ) in the new update: as well as an extra bonus: TWO ship yard selections on the dockscreen ( Oh, My !! )

However: Once your past that point and have a drone : it plays excellent ( as expected from such hard work from a Class A Mod Maker ): However: the Shenlong has a " destroy damaged items " feature: if your player drones adapted that, then when I have it clear out a FreeHold Haven : I don't have a ton of junk ontop of things that will be hard to sell to the commonwealth.
Flying Irresponsibly In Eridani......

I don't like to kill pirates in cold blood ..I do it.. but I don't like it..
PM
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It is clear I need to rename functions to avoid conflict with other mods. I will update the mod soon.

Due to file size limits at Xelerus, I cannot add anymore ships. What I need to do for the next major release (possibly as Playership Drones v3) is upload three or four standalone zips that can be strung together. I have already rendered most of the ships (with maneuverability 3 or greater) to 40 facings. The next step is to create armor and shield graphics for the rest of the ships.

It seems people like to command multiple ships. I do not blame them. I think the tier system will stay in some form.
Download and Play in 1.9 beta 1...
Drake Technologies (Alpha): More hardware for combat in parts 1 and 2!
Star Castle Arcade: Play a classic arcade game adventure, with or without more features (like powerups)!
Playership Drones: Buy or restore exotic ships to command!

Other playable mods from 1.8 and 1.7, waiting to be updated...
Godmode v3 (WIP): Dev/cheat tool compatible with D&O parts 1 or 2.
shanejfilomena
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Posts: 1533
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 8:43 pm
Location: Alaska
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PM wrote:It is clear I need to rename functions to avoid conflict with other mods. I will update the mod soon.

Due to file size limits at Xelerus, I cannot add anymore ships. What I need to do for the next major release (possibly as Playership Drones v3) is upload three or four standalone zips that can be strung together. I have already rendered most of the ships (with maneuverability 3 or greater) to 40 facings. The next step is to create armor and shield graphics for the rest of the ships.

It seems people like to command multiple ships. I do not blame them. I think the tier system will stay in some form.
I find Multiple Looting ships to be confusing to the game engine : sometimes too many wingmen deployed can crash the game as you try to gate because the system action ( prev ) moving into the the next system ( next ) can overpower an underpowered computer or game ( its a Dell...My Bad ).
However: the Playership Drones are not as Annoyingly in the way as Shenlong likes to be : it runs right infront of you while your in battle, blocking your shot after it was looting begging for a cookie and your like " MOVE!" ( Immortals have no consideration ).

Files: I have seen some rather large files on that system: or I should say : lots of content in the files :
I was thinking: If the game itself can adapt / load what you put in the extension folder : could a mod do that? : because if it could :
Think of the Credits the Corporation shipyard Auctions could make : They can run ever stock ship you add into the folder and the Universe will Full of Phobos and Ranx and computers will crash with .........they would love you for it :)

P.s. I lost my Antares last game : I was racing against the retaliation trying to drop defense turrets to protect the Ice farm and leave a few wingmen.......they killed my Antares when I wasn't looking.....I so enjoy the change of scenery it gives me .
Flying Irresponsibly In Eridani......

I don't like to kill pirates in cold blood ..I do it.. but I don't like it..
PM
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Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2010 12:54 am

New update (Apr 30, 2011).

List of changes:
* Added Antares V as a playable ship. They may be purchased.
* Added Manticore and Molotok to the selectable starter ship list. Their configuration is weaker than their standard.
* Aquila begins with four secondary TeV 9 blasters instead of two Katana star cannons. The TeV 9's can be replaced by other weapons.
* CPU tier system scaled down by roughly half across the board. All small ships gain a device slot, and some larger ships lose a slot.
* Fixed missing Shipyard bug at Korolov stations.
* Hornet has higher base mass and thrust (not unlike the Wolfen). This lets the Hornet carry a bit more before getting overburdened.
* Hornets may be found as items. (Hint: Arco may have one.)
* Radioactive shipwrecks require a barrel of decon gel, in addition to its other parts, to rebuild.
* Recolored 40 facings Borer and Zulu ships to better match their original colors.
* Removed playable Earth and Dragon slavers.
* Removed Ranx gunship from the list of ships offered for sale by the Black Market.
* Renamed global functions to avoid conflict with other mods.
* Starton Dry Dock offers weaker ships. This was done to obey the rule of no devices beyond level III in Eridani.

UNIDs have changed in this update, so a restart is necessary.
Download and Play in 1.9 beta 1...
Drake Technologies (Alpha): More hardware for combat in parts 1 and 2!
Star Castle Arcade: Play a classic arcade game adventure, with or without more features (like powerups)!
Playership Drones: Buy or restore exotic ships to command!

Other playable mods from 1.8 and 1.7, waiting to be updated...
Godmode v3 (WIP): Dev/cheat tool compatible with D&O parts 1 or 2.
shanejfilomena
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Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 8:43 pm
Location: Alaska
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Can't wait to play it !!!! Downloading now!
Flying Irresponsibly In Eridani......

I don't like to kill pirates in cold blood ..I do it.. but I don't like it..
PM
Fleet Admiral
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 2570
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2010 12:54 am

Uploaded a minor update to Xelerus. This one merely changes the list of ships offered for sale by the Antarctica (if you save it).
Download and Play in 1.9 beta 1...
Drake Technologies (Alpha): More hardware for combat in parts 1 and 2!
Star Castle Arcade: Play a classic arcade game adventure, with or without more features (like powerups)!
Playership Drones: Buy or restore exotic ships to command!

Other playable mods from 1.8 and 1.7, waiting to be updated...
Godmode v3 (WIP): Dev/cheat tool compatible with D&O parts 1 or 2.
shanejfilomena
Fleet Officer
Fleet Officer
Posts: 1533
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 8:43 pm
Location: Alaska
Contact:

PM wrote:Uploaded a minor update to Xelerus. This one merely changes the list of ships offered for sale by the Antarctica (if you save it).
you as bad a good movie: everytime we get comfy you throw us a twist :)
Flying Irresponsibly In Eridani......

I don't like to kill pirates in cold blood ..I do it.. but I don't like it..
Amariithynar
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Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2011 9:58 pm

PM wrote:For those who have played Playership Drones, what are your ship preferences? By that I mean, what sort of playership you pilot, and what drone escorts do you use and how many? In my case, I find myself piloting a gunship like a Wolfen or Centurion, and my escort is one big ship that can hold at least a thousand tons of cargo.

In a future release, the rest of the ships, with few exceptions, will be playable provided the player can find the parts to (re)build a ship. Even if the ships are tiered like they are now, there is no way to make them all balanced. All I care is to make it fun despite some imbalance, but not empower the player so much it becomes a godmod. I may scrap the CPU tier system and let the player have either one or two escorts regardless of type. I will decide on one of the following playership plus drone escort setups:
1. Any one ship plus two ships smaller than an EI200. (Modified tier system.)
2. Any two ships.
3. Any three ships.

I prefer some sort of attack ship (originally was a Wolfen, but have been using the... crud. It looks almost like a angular headless Superman, two stubby arms forward with the engines the legs) and a heavy cargo ship (currently EI7000) for autolooting when the furor dies down. Wish I could get my hands on the Ares Polar Freighter, as it has a much larger storage capacity. For preferences of the tier system, perhaps have it be any two ships, and then a CPU combination between the two to determine if you can have a third? So you could say have two EI7000 Freighters, combined total CPU usage of 8, which means under the current max (7) that it simply gets rounded down to 0- Or the limit gets expanded to 10, and you can pick up a little 2-pointer like a Zulu.
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