I believe that you can use rmlootinfo.ini to do this. Here is a piece of the file and an explanation of most variables:

[Global
BonusLootDropChance = 1.000000 ;Unsure of this number, might be multiplier for num_to_drop

[RMBonusLoot
archetype = ge_s_battery_01 ;Name of object
num_to_drop = 3, 8 ; minimum, maximum number of items droppable?
faction = all ;What faction carries this
difficulty_range = 0, 100 ;minimum, maximum level of the ship destroyed to determine whether the item drops?
weight = 3 ;Used to classify how the item is limited, commodities are 1, batteries and bots are 3, weapons of all sorts are 5. The number of commodities you can carry is obviously limited to your cargo space, the number of batteries and bots are limited to your ship type, and I believe that you can carry an unlimited amount of unmounted weaponry on your ship.

This file does not contain thrusters or ammunition for weapons. I am not sure where these are stored.

You may also want to take a look at lootprops.ini for more values. I could not make heads or tails of anything in this file except for a select few obvious ones. I hope you have better luck with it.

Please note that I have not tried modifying any of these values due to the fact I cannot currently access my computer with Freelancer installed.

EDIT: Whoops, made a mistake. All of the ammo, shields and such are stored in lootprops.ini. It probably has what you need, heh.

Here's what I could discern after a little time:

[mLootProps
nickname = commodity_beryllium ;Nickname of commodity
drop_properties = 100, 0, 3333, 1, 150, 150 ;Not a clue about any of these values

[PhantomLoot
nickname = commodity_food ;nickname of commodity
toughness_range = 6, 6 ;minimum, maximum toughness, no clue what toughness is
percent_chance = 6.200000 ; chance that the minimum to maximum amount of this commodity will drop when a ship carrying it is destroyed. This should translate to a %6.2 chance of this food dropping
num_to_drop = 4, 6 ;minimum, maximum amount of this commodity that will drop.

-Wheatevo

Edited by - Wheatevo on 01-04-2003 06:17:17

Toughness refers to your pilot level. The higher level players get better drops and keeps low level n00b from getting uber weapons, and 5 shield batteries all at once.

Loot drops are MORE numerous while on a JOB to kill something from job board. It has its own RM loot drops. Extra loot.

Phantom loot is the normal average scripted zone patrol encounters while flying doing nothing and getting jumped. It is less loot drop and less quality.

You can make Bounty Hunting missions where a certain person pilot will drop (scan the cargo) and bring them back. You must hunt the rouge pirate down since this custom mission they may be anywhere within a few systems scripted in hiding in with the regular patrols. Makes for more fun. You can add cargo to pirates such as a pilot name escape pod similar to Aschroft's Pod in the SP campiagn. After they blow up, tractor them in as loot; certain police lawful planets will have market to accept them for reward money. Texas Prison pays good, LOL. Still working on this mod. Busy with one for now.

Thanks Wheatevo,

[PhantomLoot entries (defined in lootprops.ini) are responsible for the strange loot that somehow materializes when you kill an ordinary patrol ships. I commented all of these out and I no longer find mysterious amounts of Shield Batteries, Nanobots, or Scrap Metal on the Liberty Police ships patrolling around Manhattan.

[mLootProps entries (also defined in lootprops.ini) detail the chances that a given piece of equipment (which already exists on the ship being destroyed) will survive and become loot. An entry looks like this:

[mLootProps
nickname = fc_ou_turret02_mark02
drop_properties = 8, 105206, 105206, 0, 2, 1

I wasn't able to figure out what all the numbers mean, but if you zero the first one, the piece of equipment won't become loot. I zero'd all the entries except for commodities: a dead transport will yield its cargo (or at least how much ever it did before) but I don't find any guns or thrusters on patrol craft anymore.

I went on a random mission and was suprised to find some Toxic Waste among the wreckage of a Rogue ship I just dispatched. The file [RMBonusLoot entries (found in rmlootinfo.ini) are responsible for the magical loot that appears when you're on random missions. I commented out the entire file and I no longer get any loot at all!

Now I'm having second thoughts about removing it entirely though!

I think the last number in lootprops.ini / drop_properties might mean the number dropped. I notice that all the weapons/equipment are 1, and I do not remember ever getting more than one of the same type of equipment other than nano/batteries from a killed ship.
For goods and bots/bats the number is higher. Maybe...

Thanks for your suggestions on my value mod. It is ready for beta..

Ceylon

Edited by - ceylon on 04-04-2003 23:31:37

PhantomLoot actually is pretty cool. With a 50% chance of 1-50 units of scrap metal dropped by any ship, you get the feeling you can tractor in the debris of the ship and sell it for dumping prices anywhere.

the remaining piece of information you want - about direct ship equipment being dropped/not dropped - is in the various xxx_equip.ini files. Several of the items have lines that read "lootable = true", which makes them possibly lootable when a ship is destroyed.
That's why you can get fighter turrets when you kill a fighter, but don't see a transport turrent when you kill a transport - transport turrets are nonlootable by default (and generally take up a bunch of cargo space anyway, IIRC).

---

drop_properties = 8, 105206, 105206, 0, 2, 1

---

8 = Percentage Chance of Dropping that object. (8%, or 1-in-12 chance that it'll be dropped.)
105206 = Rank Points player must have before it will be dropped.
0 = Minimum number to drop.
2 = Maximum number to drop.
1 = Average number to drop. (This is how many you will see most often.)


Watch your 6!