New Upgrades engine, scanners, tractor, hull in Bribes Offer

Thu Mar 13, 2003 1:55 am by Xerx

I am making a MOD that allows you to get better upgrades to your 'stock' engine, scanner, tractor beams, power plant output in the Bribes/ and or Rumor Offer screen.

Now they just are not bribes for faction change. You will get bribes for change a scanner from stock scanner (range limited) to scanner 2 (range doubled). Engines can be changed out from stock to better.

I am redoing script and Card Popups to reflect what is offered for what ship and what can be upgraded. these are scattered all over the universe and must find what you want by exploring looking for that bribe. They are within reason. Beginning in Liberty one guy will have a ge_engine_02 upgrade for your Starflier for example.

In my final Privateer MOD (for SP NoStory) all ship are stripped to the bone and you will have to buy upgrades for even a silly Tractor, I have to make a 'picture' and placeholder it in the equipment options to buy. Different tractors will have different ranges. All ships you buy you will have to add your stuff to it, they are completely bare just like in the origninal Privateer. New place holder are scanners, engines, tractors, and power plants equipment to add and remove.

I am making the cheese shield and nanobots from 100$ to 1000$ and harder to get.
I want to replace them with Repair robot like in the original Privateer. Diferent ones repair diferent rates. This is a drastic gameplay change so I will make that optional.
I may completly remove shield batteries and nanobots complety and when you buy one at a base, it will be a repair bot for nanabots equipment regenerates systems, and hull but stiil take damage to wings, weapons and stuff as normal. Sheild battery will be a equipment add on to double regenerate shield faster. Like in the Original Privateer.

I can do this with everthing and those that can not be seen. First level scanner will be plain black and white, next level gives friend or foe, next gives double range (pirates love them). Engines power out puts, shields, Power plant (hidden), thrusters, Hull armour, changes to Positron, Gravitron, and Molecular shield resistances to make them more pronounced default is 20%, to 40% changes.

I will put in all my new missions cargo runs, special events, Simulated Dynamic Economy.

Yeah, this will kick ass. Total Frelancer to Privateer Conversion.
Then I should write a whole new plot mission campaign that can be played as a good, bad, or any way you want instead of the goody guy. Like in the Original Privateer. Voices may lacking.

Why did they not just remake Privateer as we all wanted in the first place? Did you guys see how much SO and So screwed up a classic like Master of Orion 3?

Edited by - Xerx on 13-03-2003 02:50:26

Thu Mar 13, 2003 2:17 am by Hole in Head

I like what i'm hearing! Sounds like a great idea!

Thu Mar 13, 2003 7:15 am by crashed97tsi

sounds great

Not to sound negative but that is alot of work. Do you really think you can get it done? If you could that sounds like what I have expected from this game.

And yes, they ****ed up MOO3

The 50 dollars that went to this game was on a preorder for this.

Thu Mar 13, 2003 7:17 am by crashed97tsi

Oh and if you need ideas for mission types, ask the general forum. I personnaly think a distress call mission would be cool every now and then

Thu Mar 13, 2003 8:16 am by Xerx

At my age, time is alot I have of. LOL

Yes, it would take a while and I will release it in steps. Finially ending in a New 'Fanboy' Campaign add-on.

This is a Single Player Mode MOD only, but many features could be proted over to Multiplayer.

Privateer Total Conversion MOD for a project name? Privateer Redux, sounds cool...

Thu Mar 13, 2003 4:42 pm by coxpwr

I like what I'm hearing . Is it done yet , hehe, can't wait to play it. I was really disappointed with MOO3 . It doesn't play like 2 at all , ship combats and the like, way too much detail to manage . I was actually bored with it.

Thu Mar 13, 2003 4:55 pm by LordZach

This sounds great, if you ever need a tester for something... *hint hint*

Thu Mar 13, 2003 6:19 pm by crashed97tsi

xerx
You sound serious and thats awesome. I would like to help you, unfortunately I have no coding knowledge whatsoever which kind of limits my ability to help. If you can think of anything that I can help out with, shoot me an email at [email protected]

Later on man

Thu Mar 13, 2003 8:33 pm by Skaleus

Do the upgrades first, then release it, THEN try and take on all the new missions and dynamic economy, or we'll probably never see this thing.

Sat Mar 15, 2003 6:11 pm by StarGod

so can we get an update on status? because THIS is the kind of thing many of us have been hoping for.

The infinite reaches of space are my home. And you'r trespassing.

Mon Mar 31, 2003 11:11 pm by slug609

The only reason I bought this game is because Chris Roberts was involved (albeit not long since he left the project) and I dearly wanted to see Privateer come back in a modern form. Several things almost made me not get it, like hearing it had no joystick support and having the M$ name on it, but I really wanted my Privateer fix!

I'm not going to say I'm completely disappointed in FL, but it could really use some of the interesting MODs Xerx has been working on. After finishing SP, I thought "finally, now I can play this like it's Privateer..." but so much seems to be missing.

I would love to see all of these changes Xerx has been talking about, and of course having some more types of Random Missions wouldn't hurt either! Oh yeah... is there anyway to have a "turret autofire" feature? I suppose not, but it would be neat.

Tue Apr 01, 2003 4:04 am by Xocyll

If I could make two small suggestions for this.

Make factions actually count for something:
ie You can buy any civilian ship or freighter as long as you have the cash, but you can only buy light fighters if you have a really good rep with the local police and heavy fighters with a really good rep with the local military.

Ditto on certain of the upgrades, like the best thrusters/scanners/shield boosters/weapons etc.

Why would the militaty or the corporations like GMG sell their great weapons to anyone who hadn't done them some kind of major favor.
This is even more so for the outcasts/corsairs who pretty much hate everyone else - why would they sell you their state of the art ship/weapons unless you had done something pretty damn HUGE to get in their good graces.

Hmm that could have other consequences too, since just the sight of you in a corsair ship would brand you as a corsair ally and perhaps cause you to be attacked on sight regardless of your official rep with the locals.

This is one of the few things that Privateer2 got right, with the best weapon (tri-laser) only being available after you rescued that one trader, and the tracking system (lead + indicator) only being available after helping the local military.

Money is just too easy to come by if you pay attention to prices and fly smart, and it would be nice to NOT be able to buy everything, just by having the cash and/or some artificial thing like levels.

Number 2: Hull upgrades if possible, like more armor (which might reduce speed/handling and/or cargo space, and things like anti-radiation coatings or regenerating hulls for some of those corrosive systems and clouds.

One of the things that always made me wonder what DA was thinking:
If my onboard computer is smart enough to say "incoming missile" why isn't it smart enough to automatically drop a countermeasure?

Maybe that could be a military upgrade.

Xocyll

Tue Apr 01, 2003 5:21 am by Xerx

Faction is something that is easy to put in and will make a difference. You can change how much a faction likes you at a base that owns it and must be really chummy to get to buy and sell shield batteries and nanobots.

In the commodity the -1 means any one can buy it no matter if they hate you. Change that to .8 and you would have to be practically in love with them reputation wise to buy a particular valuable item, other items can be as normal.

Another mod has a chance for faction pilot drops (ransom them back at various planets and bases for a price); general good guy drops VIPs that was disabled to sell anywhere but best price on the most lawful planets (rescue reward); the opposite for prisoner drops; best price on unlawful planets and bases.

I also make more contraband items for drops and smuggling offers; these are in game as random mission items but can be made real using a new resource in dll and make them a trade item. Different contraband items will have different prices and where to sell. Some houses like Liberty Navy consider all contraband items bad in scan no matter what amount. Whereas you can set Liberty police to look the other way if the amounts are small (that can be set also to trigger). Maybe in Rheinland they may not even consider, say side arms, as being contraband and not scan for it.

I notice looking at that file different pirtate factions scan for certain hot trigger items in a certain amount and probability to set off the 'Drop your cargo' response. If you do not your rep with them goes down; comply it actually goes up. Junkers are partically good at this.

I also made a item commodity called 'Credits' so I can allow the pirates to scan for credits; IE they want a bribe to get rid of them, (you can set how much in that file) and if you do they like you more, if not they hate you more. 'Credit' good will trade and sell at a universal number to similate money in the game (IE a player could trade 'credit' to give money to someone). So take some 'hard' currency (credit = money) when leaving home through tough pirate territory. This allows for Traders to 'buy' thier way through hostile but lucrative trade routes; and keep thier fat slow transports in one piece; but small probability may still get attacked anyway if they do not decide to scan (that value can be changed and set to what you want from 0 to 100% scan). Only a person playing a serious Cargo Traders could navigate some of them 'cheese' routes; the rest would not afford it and having 20 Corsairs attacking you Zone patrol (I can flag them as invulnerable or very tough armor scale) you will die.

Most of this will work in MP also.

Tue Apr 01, 2003 6:26 am by Xocyll

Ooo, I like that credits idea. Jump Hole Toll Booths.

Beats coming out a jump hole and getting swarmed by 20 corsairs for sure.

Hmm I wonder if, along those lines, you could create a travel permit that would be purchaseable from the different factions to let you travel through their territory unmolested? (maybe sold in bars by random "fixers", and/or as general merchandice on Freeports)

IE The Corsairs might not like you well enough to sell you their ships or weapons and might even hate you generqally, but since you bought a travel pass, they won't attack you (or at least maybe the travel pass is a +modifier to thier feelings, so they wouldn't attack unless they really hated you and you were still counted as hated even with the pass.

I don't know if it's possible to do a realtime modification of their dislike level of you from hostile to neutral though.
Since i've had Junkers demand cargo and go from neutral to hostile when I refused, I know it's possible to have it go down on a temp basis.

Hmm, those travel passes could even be counted as a sort of minor contraband maybe. You're carrying legal goods, but you also have a corsair travel pass, so the cop scanning you, _knows_ you deal to the corsairs, and likes you less and might even demand you drop the pass.

Hmm, these things would make my life difficult for sure, since my favorite ship is the Corsair Centurion - I don't know why, but it is.

Is there any way to change the "drop your cargo" popup from jettison/cancel, to jettison refuse and have them act as soon as you refuse instead of that long time out and/or trigger the attack regardless when you get a certain distance from them?

By the time they decide to go hostile i'm usually out of range in cruise, or WAY out of range via trade lane. That just seems wrong to me that they'fd watch you run away for that long before attacking.

Tue Apr 01, 2003 6:45 am by Bob McDob

Hey, if you need ship models, I'm here.

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