Breaching the CoreDownload Link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dhhwj2qdztt2c83/btc.mpk?dl=0Author: Hammish (William)
Additional models and textures: FlessenGreendart
Additional localization: Samui
Mod version: v2.1.1
Test version: Unavailable
Game version: Compliant with VE 0.10.0. Test version compliant with VE 0.15.3.
Game mode: Tested in SP, should work in MP though latency might make the fusion ray look odd.
So what is BTC and how does it change things up from the vanilla game? Well, let me count the ways!
WEAPON CHANGESYou will notice instantly weapon selection available in shops has changed. There are now three classes to weapons: basic, standard and experimental/hybrid. Basic weapons can be mounted without any required skills in the character tree being unlocked (hull traits must still match, so a basic carrier bay would not fit on a ship designed to carry missiles). Standard weapons require the Standard Turrets skill at the correct rank, and experimental/hybrid weapons require both the Standard Turrets and Experimental Turrets skills to be at the proper rank. The cost required to use each also factors into weapon design; basic weapons tend to be simplistic and easy to use but low in overall stats whereas experimental weapons are either markedly better or have unique properties to offset needing to unlock them using skill points. Each type of weapon (energy, ballistic or missile) also has two skill trees dedicated to it in the Combat branch, one designed to increase raw destructive capabilities and one to accent 'secondary' stats such as range, projectile scatter, ect.
So what are the weapons?
Energy - Beam:
Beam Lasers are a constant stream.
Pulse Lasers use rapid-fire pulses.
Auger Beams are lasers with a much shorter range but higher damage. (Coming soon)
Tachyon Cannons are slow-reloading sniper beams with a warmup.
Fusion Rays are long-range beam weapons with damage that begins low but builds up over the course of two seconds as all three beams come online. The capacitor for the weapon, however, depletes quickly.
Energy - Plasma:
Plasma Repeaters fire five-round salvos of small explosive shots.
Plasma Cannons are slow-moving heavy explosive shots.
Plasma Ejectors are flamethrower-like weapons.
Plasma Accelerators are a mix between cannons and repeaters; they take a long time to load but fire clusters of four moderately-damaging explosive shots.
Plasma Torpedoes are a long-ranged weapons firing high-damage shots that are semi-guided. While offering exceptional burst damage, the downside of this weapon is that the torpedoes take a long time to reform, with a full capacitor supplying only 5 shots and taking a full 20 seconds to recharge.
Plasma Missiles are a long-ranged weapons firing clusters of low-damage shots with excellent guidance. A variant on the P-Torp, the missile version is far more effective against nimble ships but useless against larger hulls and features the same rapid-depletion capacitor.
Ballistics - Guns:
Assault Guns fire fast-moving sprays of five smaller shots.
Rotary Autocannons are rapid-fire, inaccurate 'spray and pray' weapons with excellent overall DPS.
Burst Rifles fire rounds at a steady clip thanks to multiple barrels and are the only gun-class weapon able to deal somewhat with heavier armor.
Flak Cannons fire slight-damage high-explosive shells that can saturate an area.
GyroShot Cannons are medium-ranged weapons that resemble rotary autocannons but use microthrusters on the shells it fires to give them limited tracking. The increased size of the shells slightly lowers the rate of fire and thus the overall damage this weapon does in addition to limiting ammunition space.
Cluster Cannons are large-bore area-saturation weapons. Unlike the flak cannons that explode at a fixed distance the cluster munitions begin detonating shortly after launch, creating a rippling outward explosion. Slow to reload, but does enough damage to affect even cruiser hulls.
Ballistics - Cannons:
Dual-Linked Cannons are the fastest-firing of the cannon line thanks to twin barrels, but low overall DPS.
Mass Drivers fire slow-moving heavy shots.
Naval Artillery fires large-caliber shells with a large AOE burst.
Gauss Cannons operate similarly to mass drivers, except they uses shaped rounds and accelerate the projectiles to much higher speeds in addition to reloading more quickly. An overall excellent weapon, easy to use and fast-firing while being able to deal with heavier armor.
Basic Missiles:
SRM Rockets are unguided, low-moderate damage but fire very rapidly.
LRM Missiles are guided but slow-moving, causing moderate damage. After launch they have a slight delay before they acquire the target and begin to accelerate.
MRM Missiles are semi-guided but move very quickly. They have the same damage over time but trade the tracking of the LRM for speed; they require better aim and can be easier to dodge, but are harder to hit with beam weapons in point defense.
MLRS pods are semi-guided (worse tracking than LRMs) but fire in salvos.
The
MIRV Launcher fires a large casing that splits apart after a few moments, launching a swarm of fast-tracking missiles into space. Only useful at long ranges, in close the casing tends to impact before splitting and causing very little damage.
Carrier Drone Bays contain autonomous fighters that are launched, much like carriers of old. The limited AI means relying on the launching ship for targeting data, however, and they expend power and explode very quickly. Carrier drones are only able to be mounted on specific hulls with the proper structure. These hulls are unable to mount conventional missile weapons (due to the possibility of friendly fire) and in general take longer to achieve a target lock but can maintain that lock to much further ranges, allowing the drones to stay on target effectively. They come mounted with one of the following weapons: micro rotary cannon (Fighter), micro gauss (Gunner), micro LRM (Interceptor), micro torpedo (Bomber) or a railgun/missile combination (Advanced).
OTHER CHANGESIn the current version, besides the starting shuttle, there are 5 baseline hulls currently in:
Athena Corvette - Dogfighter, very nimble, better versions are specialized.
Apollo Corvette - Interceptor, fast with lots of missiles for stand-off gameplay.
Hephaestus Corvette - Miner/hauler, better versions have better protection and space.
Ares Frigate - Multi-role ship, customizable, fairly clunky compared to the corvettes.
Hera Drone Cruiser - Only carries one direct weapon, multiple hardpoints for equipping drones.
And then some advanced hulls:
Artemis Bomber - Advanced corvette, multiple missile hardpoints, very frail.
Dionysus Gunship - Advanced corvette, as agile as the Athena but with four under-the-wing ballistics/energy on very limited arcs.
Poseidon Frigate - Frigate-sized but with cruiser-scale armor. Very beefy and with a solid weapon mix. Also very slow and turns like a hog.
Persephone Mining Frigate - Much like the Hephaestus, but larger and with better weapons.
Hades Destroyer - Cruiser-sized but with the nimbleness of a frigate, packs a ton of weapon mounts (including two large mounts), but a power hog and frail for its size.
Zeus Heavy Cruiser - Unbelievably slow and sluggish to turn but can take a pounding like no other vessel and can dish it right back with four heavy-hitting hardpoints.
There are also now two basic classes for engines (speed and maneuver), three for power (efficiency, output and capacitor), three for shields (basic deflect, high capacity and barrier), two for RCS (turning and rerouting for extra speed), and two for radar (long-range scanning or short-range, fast-locking). More equipment coming soon!
DISCLAIMERThis mod is a work in progress and currently in a very early state. Pirate AI may be a little odd and balancing is still ongoing and all.
