Have you actually gotten that working? If so, great job

Yes, but it is part of a larger MOD. You have to replace a few modified files, but it was not that hard. I learn from reading the tutorials about things here.

It makes it really funny seeing the pilot in his escape spinning through space! Helpless, beam him in and go ransom him on select pirate base, or whatever you want. I am not quite done with fiddle around with goods for sale.

I'd really like to include this mod as a download for my mod manager, when you're done with it. If you need help making a mod script, let me know.

Users will use your mod a lot more if it's simple to install

Xerx, need anyone to help you in your mod creation, maybe someone to help you find the things you want to change? Ill join you.

I've been fiddling aorund with the same idea but tried to extend it so that pod that drop is tha same faction as the destroyed ship. I don't know if this is currently possible, since I haven't yet found where faction assignment to ships is done. Does anyone know where I can find this?

If that can be done, perhaps you could make it so that either the pod's faction, or enemy factions would pay for it. I.E. ransom money, or reward money. Then, it just might be possible to create "bounty" rumors where you are told of a certain pilot who is wanted. If you destroy his ship and tractor his escape pod, and bring it back to a BH base, you'll get paid x amount of credits based on the pilot's level.

There are only 10 kinds of people in the world:
those who understand binary, and those who don't.

plz upload in .ini replacble format, not that text format

I am working on this MOD part now. Does anyone know how to read the Freelancer.exe to see where hard code stuff is like shield battery usage behavour so that I can disable it? It look like it is compiled together and I do not have a decompiler for Visual C++.

Give me some time to clean this MOD up. I am using stuff from tutorials here for making cards, names, adding loot, goods, and stuff. I wish I can make the MOD auto install the files into the directly -I can make a batch file to do it I guess. Just make sure you type the root directy where Freelancer is.

So far, l the "Escape Pod" is just described as no reference to faction. To do alot of the behaviour you describe would intail adding code routines to the EXE which would have to be decompiled, or use my lame work around I played with is having a "memory editor" AKA Trainer running to run the extra code on the side. Then you could have this, plus a whole lot of things. Problem may run into is resource hogging and may slow down or crash system while using. Still need to fully test.

Anyway one step at a time for now, get back to EXE later. Nothing is impossible with Hex Editor and I am getting close by lucky observent "blind" editing to where shield battery usage is at to disable it.

"Give me some time to clean this MOD up. I am using stuff from tutorials here for making cards, names, adding loot, goods, and stuff. I wish I can make the MOD auto install the files into the directly -I can make a batch file to do it I guess. Just make sure you type the root directy where Freelancer is."

Xerx, read my reply above. Why do that when you could simply make a mod script for FL Mod Manager? It's easier (especially for the end user), and has less chances of problems. And, you can have it download, install, and activate in <30 seconds, with just a few clicks.

Why thank you, I did not know that is what it does. I will check it out. Many of these mods need many files replaced into different folders and gets cumbersome.

I may also use your Mod Manger to enhance D8alus' NoStory MOD which needs 13 files to be dragged and dropped. Makes life alot easier!

Big Update! I got alot of things to work and learned some things.

I wanted to make my prisoner pilots considered illegal contraband, but you do not flag the cargo as illegal. They do it backwards. Under the folder Missions is a file called fact_prop.ini. It contains the behaviour for all the different faction for what they are SCAN for to be illegal! Different factions scan for different contraband. For the SP of this, Liberty will consider alien artifacts and cardamine to scan for illegal. I just added in commodity_prisoners and now my pilot captured are considered illegal! Bretonia does not consider artifact contraband, but that was from the story. You can set what they scan for illegal for each faction.

You can also change the pirate scan anounce = true so that whne pirates are scaning you for certain cargo, that sets off the "drop your caro or die" window and chat. Each faction pirate is looking for different things and minimum amounts.
I can also make each prisoner to his own faction. Each faction prisoner can be sold for a low price or high depending on the faction and lawful of planet or base, and maximum price if you jump far enough, say 5 jumps.

There are about 9 factions or so. I just did a two part GOOD and BAD pilots.

Bad pilots are considered prisoners and prices vary from the BAD, UNLAWFUL, TOUGH planets to GOOD, LAWFUL, WEAK planets and bases. The GOOD pilots are consider VIP (Very Important People). These polar opposites set up a dynamic to roughly start out the univers factional ransam and rescue fee for the good, bad , lawful/unlawful planets and bases.

I have the pictures and the 3D image of pilots flipping around in space. I Made certain factions scan these captured pilots as contraband, some will not. Differnt prices, ect. I am making up a ID card for destription of these since calling a prisoner described as Boron is silly. I do have the pilot in the sack tied up icon showing. The Icon say Prisoner or VIP.

I am roughly making the drop rate as they do with all comodity change with your level, so do not expect to get a pilot very rare at low level. The higher player level gives more chance for getting a prisoner or VIP, and even multiple ones from the same ship!

The drop rate must also be declared and defined in a odd funtion call [Phantom Drop within the file mloot or something. The drop loot is differnt for Random Mission quest (better) the actual Mission game (scripted) and just crusing around and getting jumped (the lowest).

Did you know they disabled the HAIL hotkey "P" to talk to ships? Click on the interface little icon says HAIL in the HUD and if the ship is friendly, they will tell you where they are coming and going, and also cargo. Neutral may or may not. Hostile , well they attack and tell you off. Cool feature why did they make it so hard? I am trying to re-enable that hotkey.

I am almost done with this Prisoner MOD. I also found the code to enable ALOT for stuff they took out because it was not PC or Nice such as human bomb implant, mutagenic virus, snake venom poison, classified miltary secrects...alot of contraband stuff. It is there, just not enabled.

There are references to Repair Droid, Shield Regenerators, Engines , and alot more upgrades like the original Privateer which they dumbed down in FL. I wish they would have stayed the course and gave us a more Privateer like game. No wonder Chris Roberts? Origin left the project. All these new games are being made so they can be ported to a stupid Xbox with a few buttons, for little kids.

I am trying little by little to bring back the game into Privateer like it should have been.

QUESTION how should I implement prices for ransom/rescue fee for GOOD/BAD pilot prisoner? You can (well I can MOD it) normally land on a planet hostile to you. So the higher fee is paid further jumps away. Drop rate is rather small but pilot can alway be sold for zero to 10,000 credits. Should the GOOD VIP piot be sold back to GOOD planet for alot of money? If you were a pirate, you could not land there. Maybe the pirate would pay good money. Oh yes, one thing, what should the drop rate be for each type? I put them 50/50% good or bad for now. I can not yet make a good VIP come from a Transport only, or only a bad guy from a pirate ship.
If i am lucky having 9 to what ever number of each faction may make this a mute point.

@ DATADROID
**If that can be done, perhaps you could make it so that either the pod's faction, or enemy factions would pay for it. I.E. ransom money, or reward money. Then, it just might be possible to create "bounty" rumors where you are told of a certain pilot who is wanted. If you destroy his ship and tractor his escape pod, and bring it back to a BH base, you'll get paid x amount of credits based on the pilot's level.
**************************************************
I have a way to to that. In my RANDOM mission script mission, you ne to find thast pirate so and so flying around somewhere in two or three systems. Like in original Privateer bounty mission. I put a "pilot" bag with name on it so you ned to scan pirate cargo to find the right one. I script in cargo for more than one pilot so do not just whack the first pirate AI which normally do not show cargo! It works quite well. But the progam I wrote needs to run outside of Freelancer EXE , thus the random missions asre the same until a new game is started, then they are 30 or so psuedorandom misson mixed back up....good project later, using a memory editor as a trainer to try to write the dat into the EXE Compter RAM location to get the data into Freeelancer. I been some success with prices of goods change on the fly while game is running by alterering the memory locations stored in RAM while FL is running at the same time. COOL heh? I hardly know Visual C++ so my small program is apinful slow to write.

Xerx please tell me all this is serverside and doesnt need an install on the client computer...

please please please =P

I made this for my Privateer MOD. It consist of several mods to enhance a dynamis Single Player Universe mode only.

Yes, it can be done for Multiplayer, but I am not quite there. I personly loathe Multiplayer in all games since people cheat and do not play together and are just plain big cry babies. MP people need to agree not cheat and stay the course.

I guess it would make MP more fun to hunt down real bounty on your head a personal player tags your faction. Also capturing the other faction pilots and ransom them back may make MP players force to team up and battle it out for thier faction.

If you die, you must be 'rescued' and ransomed back from the enemy, then you start all over on your faction main planet or base in a small new craft. Winner is several ways. Faction kills and captured every one else (Last Faction Standing); faction goes broke no more ransom money Economic Win/Lose (making trade to generate money vital) etc. Just a rough idea.

With the Open Source decompiled cracked code Freelancer.exe I have, I can script in all that hardcode behaviour, but it is illegal! Except for me to use.

Legally, I can make a memory editor modified MOD program to run the added code to run at the same time along side FL; and it fights with the FL exe so I need to get the bugs and crash errors out of it.

Running these two together and sharing RAM memory to get data back into game could be a pain and maybe slow things down when several people log on. Resource hogging.

I did make a quick and dirty demo program of a Simulated Dynamic Economy to show that it can be done.

One step at a time. Written with freeware GNU C++, it will run in windows 32 bit enviroment, but is cumbersome and crude to use.

My C++ is a bit weak and I have not bought the newest Visual (windowed view to see, much better) C++ cost is getting lower since next is .NET coming down the road. I only learned C in MS Dos when in college a long time ago before Windows 95 was for real.