Breaching the Core Full Mod Discussion

[Hammish]

1.1.1 released, should fix up the HPH-C and HPH-I.  Let me know if it didn't take on your save for some reason.

It also has the SPACE FLAMETHROWER.  But don't flame me too hard over it.  It's a WIP.

[Tchey]

I will test it as soon as it's downloaded. Why more than 200 Mo ? It seems huge !
(edit : tested and fixed, thanks)

It would be nice to update the main mod title according to version, something like :

From : Breaching the Core Full Mod Main
To : Breaching the Core - 1.1.1 - 140907

and also edit the first message here to add a link to the other topic.

[Hammish]

Ah, it's just huge because I haven't yet optimized what I all need to actually save in my modpack.  I can probably strip out a lot of the default sounds and models that I just use as-is, I'll make sure to put that on my list for 1.2.  Thanks for mentioning it and reminding me!

Alas, some duplication is necessary because there are certain aspects of the vanilla game that I keep disabled in BTC.  For instance, the weapon folders are quite large because I keep a duplicate copy of all of the vanilla weapons, and just set them to enabled=0.  But those are .XMLs and are fairly small.  You will, however, see the size of the mod grow steadily as time goes on as more and more custom hulls are added to it, along with sounds and other things that are a fair bit larger than marked-up text documents.

And speaking of which, anyone out there good with sounds?  I need a good sound for a space flamethrower, I finally have the effect looking like I want on the local end.  Thanks to the wonders of animated spites the fire now starts as a small burst and expands through space to really look like flame!  I would also welcome thoughts on how to balance a weapon like this; currently it's very high DPS but has a very quick damage falloff (a target five units away from you would already be taking less damage than if you just used a pulse laser) and the shots are very slow to give it the proper visual effect, but I am open to thoughts on how such a weapon should be behaving since I don't think I can currently manage to code in a damage-over-time effect.

[Tchey]

I've tested the flamer, i don't really like to use it. It's way too short range and not enough powerful to balance that, i think. Also, i find strange to have flame like this in space. Maybe simply change the color and name, something like "blue magnetic vomit" or "green corrosive spit". I would keep the short range but boost the damage, but i'm not sure...

Another thing about the mod : i can't find anywhere a mining device better than civilian, so i can't mine advanced ores. Same goes for the grappler, only civilian ones are available. I've been to all kind of stations in different systems and factions. I'm now level 25 and working my way to join the Order.

[FlessenGreendart]

Enjoying your mod so far!

Just a little suggestion:

I'd like to see a slight variance between the different tiers of hulls, just so they can be quickly identified.
nothing major, just like a palette swap or something.
Would come in handy if, for example, you come across a pirate, you'd know what you were up against. 

Here's what I mean:


Also, unrelated; I noticed the tutorial quest still has the title "Package for a Banshee" even though (technically) the Banshee doesn't exist in your mod.
(generic_quest_begin_tutorial.js; line 193)

[Hammish]

Excellent ideas on the color shift!  I had played around with it a bit earlier in the mod history but never really got serious about it.  I can totally take a look at both that and at the prospect of possibly adding other flair.  Extra running lights on the Civ model (since it's really supposed to be almost like a trainer or 'test drive' model for different weight classes) and things like that.

For the flamer, it was actually something of a fun discussion sometime back in this thread or another.  And while flames would be odd (and impossible more or less except for if you had a hull breach or something), plasma is perfectly plausible and even works with the notion that other weapons are using magnetic fields as well.  Quick question, though: how close were you when you were using the plasma?  The way I had it set up was to have the damage falloff close to a straight linear, with full damage out to 1 range and max damage out to 10, so ever at range 5.5 you'd already only be doing 50% of the normal damage.  It should also have almost no armor piercing capability against things like cruiser hulls, but when I tested it out myself I was melting any sort of light ship that got too close to me in a second or two with just one of them.

With regards to mining, you're not missing anything; currently the civilian miner and grappler are the only ones available.  I wanted the industial section of the mod to really stand out and other people on the forums are/were slaving away on doing some really awesome things when it came to expanding on the mining theme, so I figured I'd wait and see what they came up with.   Still, I hadn't thought about the advanced ores; what I'll do for 1.2 as a short-term fix is tack the Astrogeology skill on to the hulls designed for mining (on the notion that they have specialized computers for scanning asteroids) and whip up some icons for the advanced miners in vanilla so you can snag them and get at the good ores while I plan out the endgame for all that.

[FlessenGreendart]

I like the idea of the runners, but then again, I'm a sucker for pretty lights!
If you want, I can throw together the texture swaps, it didn't take me long to do the Athena hulls. I spent more time trying to find them in game than I did making them!

I haven't tried the flamer yet, but I can't wait to try it out!

[Lurler]

Looks pretty cool. I like the idea. Fairly easy to implement and would give some nice variations.

Now, in regards to crafting that was mentioned in the topic earlier. Just want to give a little info on that. We definitely plan to add crafting but just so you don't hold your breath it will be one of the last additions to the game. First there will be things like autopilot, full story line, female characters, some other stuff and such. Basically to make the game feature and scope complete. And when it's done only then we will start adding things such as crafting and upgrades as these are more like extensions of the game rather than a core features.

[Hammish]

Makes sense, and thanks for the timeline clarification.  I may just bump up my simple version, then, as it won't be too terribly difficult to implement on a small scale.

[Samui]

Done with mod translation. I'll share it after some testing.

[Hammish]

Update coming later this afternoon or Wednesday, v1.2.  Adds in a few small bugfixes, various new weapon effects, and four new weapons that I have been tinkering with.  As always, let me know what you think. 

Plasma Ejector: Space flamethrower.  Short range, not great against armor but high DPS in close.  I rigged the projectiles so they slow down a bit at the outer edge of range and linger in space slightly, also making it a fairly effective area-denial weapon (and easier to use given the limited range)

Harmonic Amplifier: Low DPS mid-range weapon that fires wide cone-shaped shots that are essentially concussive force.  The larger versions don't increase much in damage but the cones become much wider and larger, allowing for effective defense against ships outside the normal firing arc.  (Still testing the medium and large versions, the final versions will either have a 90/180/360 degree area of coverage with very low DPS or a 45/90/180 degree area of coverage with slightly-better DPS.)

Shockwave Cannon: An overpacked ballistic weapon, so much launching charge is used for each projectile that the excess explosion actually leaves the barrel as well.  Both the shot and the explosive wave can hit enemies, so the weapon can be used a mass driver that does less damage at long range but has the potential for better DPS in close where both the metal shot and shockwave can hit.

Quad-Linked Cannons: Bridges the gap between the rotary AC and the burst rifle.  Fairly average weapons with sustained damage over time and decent accuracy.

Edit: Instead of releasing a full version, people want to give me their opinions on the new effects for the weapons?  I'm still tweaking the balance numbers but you can load up the test mod and try them out.  Note, this test doesn't have the new mining stuff in it yet, but that -will- be in the full 1.2.  If you start a Cheater character he'll have both flamers on him, let me know which you like better.  The quad-linked are fine, not sure if I like the effects on the other two... but they're all in the first shop as Civvie weapons for now.  Input appreciated on the looks.

Here's da link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/aepfhle41n6hrxb/btc_test_01.zip?dl=0

Another edit: I also took out unneeded files and shrank the size of the mod as requested.  It's now about half what it was.

[inoi]

Update coming later this afternoon or Wednesday, v1.2.

I don't get, archive doesn't include modsconfig.xml so how can i enable the modifications?)
Have you posted it else where?
I'm pretty sure it is in some obvious place, but i can't find it, lol.

[FlessenGreendart]

Hi, and welcome to the forums!

If you're having troubles installing, maybe this'll help:

Installation Instructions:

Game Launcher method (recommended):

Using the AtomicTorch Game launcher, do the following
1. In the cog menu, next to "Play", click "Open Mods folder"
2. Paste the btc.mpk file in the folder
3. back in the game launcher, open the "Play" cog menu again, and click "select active mods"
4. make sure the checkbox is checked for this mod
5. Play game

Manual Method

1. Navigate to game folder
    (By default C:\Users\*username*\AppData\Local\AtomicTorchStudio\Launcher\Games\VoidExpanse\)
2. Paste the mpk(s) inside the "Mods" folder.
2. Go back to VoidExpanse folder and open ModsConfig.xml
3. Underneath "<mod>core_1.0.0</mod>", add this line of text:
      <mod>btc_1.1.1</mod>
4. save the file and load the game

[inoi]

3. Underneath "<mod>core_1.0.0</mod>", add this line of text:
      <mod>btc_1.1.1</mod>

That works, thanks.
I have tried to add breaching_the_core_1.1.1 before asking, was close )

Using the AtomicTorch Game launcher, do the following

Damn, i'm didn't noticed that stuff in the download section and just downloaded the game archive that does not include it...
Thanks again!)

[FlessenGreendart]

Glad to be of service

I advise you use the launcher, it makes updating and modding a lot easier.