Wing Commander: Privateer Remake out!

Cyborg Stan · Post by **Cyborg Stan** » 2005-03-24 01:20pm

Alex Moon wrote:How hard would it be to replace the cockpit images, such as the one used for the demon?

If it's just mere image replacement, then goto cockpits/demon and replace the PNG files there. Actually, viewing the SPR and CPT files within reveals text files. From what I can tell, the demon-cockpit.cpt file calls, draws, and sizes the .SPR files within. The SPR files contain two images and four numbers (probably coordinates). However, I wouldn't know more until I experiment myself.

Enigma · Post by **Enigma** » 2005-03-24 05:19pm

I've edited the necessary files to create my own weapon basing off the Meson gun but and even the game shows it as a weapon but I can't buy it. I can buy the meson but not my blaster (BTW I called it the Foofoo blaster:) ). The weapon is listed under weapons but the info reads as a thruster?

Batman · Post by **Batman** » 2005-03-24 06:09pm

Modding this game seems to be a wee bit less trivial than we thought, it appears.
Remember when I claimed that I had at least managed to fix the missile launchers? Um-not exactly.
I did manage to change them to the desired type (.e.,they'll accept any type of missile plus beam mounts), but their capacity is STILL not that of a Centurion launcher. Which is interesting, as I simply copied that launcher's entry.
What is even more interesting is that the capacities of those launchers are not those of the unmodded versions...

Cyborg Stan · Post by **Cyborg Stan** » 2005-03-24 07:43pm

Batman : I noticed that when trying to mess around with the Demon.

Enigma : Making a new weapon is slightly tricky. I'll explain what I did.

In the units.csv file, copy one of the weapon upgrade entries (In this case, the mass_driver__upgrades entry.) into a new row. Then, change all the subentries that say Mass Driver and the like into something different, such as Icky Blast. Remember to scroll all the way near the end of the entry and change that as well.
In the meshes/mounts directory, copy one of the .bfxm files and rename the copy into what you put the last subentry. In this case, I copied the massdriver.bfxm and called the copy ickyblast.bfxm
Copy one of the entries in the weapon_list.xml in the main directory and modify it as needed. Remember to change the name of the bolt to the same as the .bfxm file you used. Don't make the weapon speed too high though, it seems to mess up the weapon. If you wish to customize the appearance of the bolt, keep in mind that the revalent images are in textures/weapons.
Finally, edit the master_part_list.csv. Copy one of the entries for the weapons and then change the first subentry (In this case, merely mass_driver) and then change it to the corresponding subentry waaay back in the units.csv (In this case, icky_blast).

If it all goes well, this should work.

Duken · Post by **Duken** » 2005-03-24 11:15pm

Cyborg Stan wrote:but I've also figured out how to add in new ships to buy (edit the master_part_list.csv in the main directory) and fly.

Reccomended price? and do the other columns (mass and volume) need to be filled in?

Cyborg Stan · Post by **Cyborg Stan** » 2005-03-25 01:19am

Recommended price would probably have to do something with the stats of the new ship. Keep in mind however, that the prices for the Confed fighters can go up in the millions. I'd guess for playability purposes, some sort of expontential scale is in order - a few adjustments in some of the stats should easily make it more than twice as expensive. With the uber-ships we're no doubt going to try out, should cost at least as much as a fleet of lesser ships.

As for the mass and volume column, it would probably be a good idea to fill those out. From what I can tell, the adjustments for acceleration and turning in the units.csv is measured in units that first must be divided by mass. (This would indicate that having a full load of cargo will slow you down.) Since the larger ships like the Galaxy, Drayman, or the Paradigm can carry other ships in their hold, these numbers would be important to determine how much those ships weigh down the mothership.

Enigma · Post by **Enigma** » 2005-03-25 11:25am

Cyborg Stan wrote:Batman : I noticed that when trying to mess around with the Demon.

Enigma : Making a new weapon is slightly tricky. I'll explain what I did.

In the units.csv file, copy one of the weapon upgrade entries (In this case, the mass_driver__upgrades entry.) into a new row. Then, change all the subentries that say Mass Driver and the like into something different, such as Icky Blast. Remember to scroll all the way near the end of the entry and change that as well.

In the meshes/mounts directory, copy one of the .bfxm files and rename the copy into what you put the last subentry. In this case, I copied the massdriver.bfxm and called the copy ickyblast.bfxm

Copy one of the entries in the weapon_list.xml in the main directory and modify it as needed. Remember to change the name of the bolt to the same as the .bfxm file you used. Don't make the weapon speed too high though, it seems to mess up the weapon. If you wish to customize the appearance of the bolt, keep in mind that the revalent images are in textures/weapons.

Finally, edit the master_part_list.csv. Copy one of the entries for the weapons and then change the first subentry (In this case, merely mass_driver) and then change it to the corresponding subentry waaay back in the units.csv (In this case, icky_blast).
If it all goes well, this should work.

In the mast parts list file under the sixth column it has "@upgrades/whatever.png@" Do I need to create a .png file or can I rename it to my weapon's name or just use one from existing?

EDIT: It is still showing up as a weapon but I can't buy it and under "STATS" it's reffered as either a ship or an afterburner.

Cyborg Stan · Post by **Cyborg Stan** » 2005-03-25 07:39pm

In the mast parts list file under the sixth column it has "@upgrades/whatever.png@" Do I need to create a .png file or can I rename it to my weapon's name or just use one from existing?

Ah, no. You can leave that one alone. It's just the little picture for buying/selling.

As for your real problem, I have no idea what's up. I'd suggest trying again from the start, but only changing the stats in the weapon_list.xml at the end.

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2005-03-26 02:20pm

I was just reading on their webpage about the future possibility of multiplayer. Would this be cool to have in this kind of game or just a big pain in the ass?

Could a player who is say, a pirate and has the mercs pissed off at him show up as 'hostile' on someone else who is a member of the merc guild and is on super friendly temrs with them? Could there be a bounty put on one player at the guild for other players to collect?

Bob McDob · Post by **Bob McDob** » 2005-03-26 04:28pm

I think multiplayer is still a long ways off, and anyway the Vega Strike engine is ill-suited in its prsent code state - I remember playing early builds of the mod where you waited ten seconds everytime you did anything because of the "dynamic universe". I can't imagine how much worse it would be with several dozen players.

Enigma · Post by **Enigma** » 2005-03-26 05:58pm

Cyborg Stan wrote:
In the mast parts list file under the sixth column it has "@upgrades/whatever.png@" Do I need to create a .png file or can I rename it to my weapon's name or just use one from existing?
Ah, no. You can leave that one alone. It's just the little picture for buying/selling.

As for your real problem, I have no idea what's up. I'd suggest trying again from the start, but only changing the stats in the weapon_list.xml at the end.

Finally got it to work. Followed it step by step from your instructions and it works.

Bow down to the Foofoo Blaster! Bow to the power of Foo! (no, not her.)

Enigma · Post by **Enigma** » 2005-03-28 08:33am

How do I get to Basra?

Is there something wrong with the Destinee subplot? I mean the final mission for her is to go to a pirate base and do a bit of smuggling and then report to her. But after accepting that mission it doesn't show up as a mission. I go to the mission computer and it doesn't show any active missions? But since I knew where to go I jump into my ship and took off, then pressed O for my objectives and of course it is blank. No prob. I head to Telar pirate base and meat up with a pirate and help her with her problem by taking someone out. I agree and then jumped into my ship. When I left the base I pressed O again and I still got nothing!! I don't even know where to go so I am basically stuck with a mission without objectives. What happened?

EDIT: I thought my Foofoo Blaster was the strongest weapon rated at 33GJ but apparently the Repulsor is even stronger, rated at 480 GJ!!

Cyborg Stan · Post by **Cyborg Stan** » 2005-03-28 11:54am

Look again. While it has 48k regular damage, it also does negative 48k in phase damage at the same time.

Enigma · Post by **Enigma** » 2005-03-28 04:41pm

Cyborg Stan wrote:Look again. While it has 48k regular damage, it also does negative 48k in phase damage at the same time.

Nevermind, problem solved.

But another one arrived.

My Foofoo Blaster is being used by retros! DAMN THEM!!!

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2005-03-28 04:44pm

Cyborg Stan wrote:Look again. While it has 48k regular damage, it also does negative 48k in phase damage at the same time.

Whats "phase damage" Don't tell me the people who did this remake are Trekkies.

Cyborg Stan · Post by **Cyborg Stan** » 2005-03-29 12:01am

As far as I can tell, it's damage that goes straight through the shields. Noticible with some weapons, like the Boosted Steltek.

Actually, I'm not sure what's up with the values in the Tractor and Replusor beams - just by going values alone, the Replusor beam should drain away the shields but heal the hull, while the Tractor beam should heal shields but damage the hull. However, that's not terribly important.

As for the Retros being able to use the FooFoo blaster, I would guess that it's a side effect of whatever weapon you used to copy it. I think it might be the mount type that it is - try changing it's category in the master_part_list.csv to upgrades/Weapons/Mounted_Guns_Confed_Milspec as opposed to what it probably is, a Light Gun at the moment.

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2005-03-29 01:07am

I just realized something. I have 3d working now. I can play flight sims again. Not any of the ones I had for windows, but anything for linux. *squeals with joy*. *downloads this and vega strike, prepares to hook up and configure joystick* *looks at clock* [depressed]Probably better to leave till tomorrow.[/depressed] *le sigh*

SpacedTeddyBear · Post by **SpacedTeddyBear** » 2005-03-29 02:23am

After beating the game, I decided to give myself 4 BoostedSteltek cannons. All that needs to be said is

.

Duken · Post by **Duken** » 2005-03-29 11:37pm

darthdavid wrote:*downloads this and vega strike, prepares to hook up and configure joystick*

I didn't have to download vegastrike.

Sharpshooter · Post by **Sharpshooter** » 2005-03-30 04:39pm

You probably don't want to play Vega Strike, anyway. That game is hideously unbalanced in terms of gameplay - whe enemies spawn, they have the tendency to spawn with capital ships, and the delay that tends to appear dring the spawning pocess means you're likely already dead the second the game unlocks and control returns. As opposed to my Medium-difficulty Privateer career, in which I've only lost one ship (and even then managed to hobble back to a planet and reload), mine in Vega Strike on the lowest difficult setting sees me getting killed an average of five or six times before I give it up for the night in disgust.

It's not a bad game - on the contrary, bugs aside, it's quite good - but all the fun just gets sucked out by the utter massacure that is combat with more than a single ship (and a very lightly-armed ship, at that). It's probably the beam array weapons, I say. They're terribly overpowered - when used by the enemy, at any rate: even when I've got a ship fully fitted with six of the most powerful ones available, it still taks several seconds with all of them locked on and blazing before I get a kill on a light fighter, whereas a guy with one can run it across my ship for a teth of a second and blow it to kingdom come.

Travel is sort of an issue, too - the concept they have is nice, usin some kind of a gravity-based SPEC drive to allow for near-light speeds, but depnding on how close you are t an object, getting to ranges at which it can be effectively used can take several minutes. They also allow you to use a "travel drive" wich increases your speed a hundredfold, but acceleration doesn't get the same treament, and if you're flying too fast to compensate, you can smash right into an installation.

Craft designs are sort of a mixed bag - on one hand, some designs are rather well done, looking like something that could be seen flying through space and an atmosphere, but on the other, some look as though they should be pinwheeling ou of control and smashing into a skyscraped. A number of the designs are rather lopsided, having only one wing on one side and nothing to balance it out, which rather put me off in terms of asthetic taste. Craft statistics are also sort of skewered - light craft look as thoug they should be mediums or heavies and vice-versa, craft that look as though they should be able to support four shield emitters get only two, some craft have a somewhat-absurd number of weapon hardpoints for their designs (one design, a military model, gets ONE weapon, despite obvious places to put at least thee) andso on.

I would't really reccomend it at this point - maybe at a later release, but in the current state it's in, it's much more hassle and frustration than entertainment.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2005-04-02 03:55pm

well, i got the steltek gun from the derelict, now what the fuck do i do? No more missions in Rygannon... Nobody at the refiney in Palan... WTF?

Batman · Post by **Batman** » 2005-04-02 05:37pm

Col. Crackpot wrote:well, i got the steltek gun from the derelict, now what the fuck do i do? No more missions in Rygannon... Nobody at the refiney in Palan... WTF?

Assuming you haven't run into another bug going to Perry should work.

Cyborg Stan · Post by **Cyborg Stan** » 2005-04-02 10:35pm

I think you have to go to a non-Rygannon mining base and go to the bar.

Duken · Post by **Duken** » 2005-04-03 12:50am

Cyborg Stan wrote:I think you have to go to a non-Rygannon mining base and go to the bar.

Yup. Then follow the simple instructions located on the bottom of the package.

roguetiger · Post by **roguetiger** » 2005-04-03 04:14am

ok Vega Strike is out then how about Vega Trek?? anyone play this one yet???????