[MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Discuss and distribute tools and methods for modding. Moderator - Grognak
rufus02
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2012 3:19 pm

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinity

Postby rufus02 » Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:58 am

Make Duh MOD it sound AWSOME
DrkTemplar
Posts: 245
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 4:24 pm

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinity

Postby DrkTemplar » Tue Oct 09, 2012 5:10 pm

swixel wrote:
DrkTemplar wrote:I'm only modifying XML data, but I do have solutions to the above mentioned issues. I would like to try and get a distributable copy out before going into this in more detail. Once there is a mod to play test, it will be easier to talk about balance. The gameplay will differ from the base game.


So given the limitations of the XML ... how are you going to handle maxing the ship out? It's presently possible to do if you do everything right ... but it makes everything short of the flagship boring if you pull it off (hell, I took out every rebel ship in a sector because it was possible to do it).

At present I've been messing with rebuilding the starmap every sector jump, restoring the game's view to it being sector 1, and then storing the real sector number elsewhere, but that's about as stable as a drunk on stilts ...


Max which Ship, the player ship?

If you mean the player's ship, they will "max" it in the same way they do in vanilla. Yes I do agree that a max out ship is basically more powerful than the random ship encounters you get in vanilla.

The goal is to make an environment where you can never be the top dog, and there will always be a bigger and buffer ship out there. When you run into those scenarios, you will likely need to run. Identifying those scenarios will be part of the strategy of surviving. One of the things I do not like about vanilla FTL is that as you progress the ships you run into all progressively get stronger. I find it more believable that you would run into all levels of ship strength as you explored. The point of this mod is 100% surviviability, not to get to an end boss. You will run into scenarios where your ship is much more powerful then your opponent, and scenarios where you are the weaker ship. You may have options to run away, or bribe the enemy ship to leave you alone. Maybe you run into a ship more powerful than yours and they demand your drones. Might be worth surviving to give up those drones, right?

In short, the events, and ships will all be modified to work with this mod. Will I be able to pull off balance and fun gameplay? That is yet to be determined, and will require users testing and providing feedback.
Last edited by DrkTemplar on Thu Oct 11, 2012 11:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Dottish Dor
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2012 10:48 am

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinte Space

Postby Dottish Dor » Thu Oct 11, 2012 8:07 pm

sounds good keep up the good work
RichText
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2012 10:49 pm

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Postby RichText » Fri Oct 12, 2012 4:15 am

I support this.
Old Uncle Midwinter
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2012 3:59 am

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Postby Old Uncle Midwinter » Fri Oct 12, 2012 5:20 am

This is pretty much what I thought I would be getting when I bought the game. I would love for this - a mod that turns FTL into a legitimate Roguelike would be fantastic, more then fantastic, amazing. Exploration! Quests! Story! Not having the main game be painfully easy, and the final boss being linearly better unless you got an 'optimal' layout! :D

Anything I can do to support? I've got a mind full of words, and don't mind being a guinea pig for events or bug-testing. Anyhow, you've got all the approval I can throw your way - looking forward to this immensely!
Damion227
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2012 5:47 am

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Postby Damion227 » Fri Oct 12, 2012 6:48 am

Old Uncle Midwinter wrote:Anything I can do to support? I've got a mind full of words, and don't mind being a guinea pig for events or bug-testing. Anyhow, you've got all the approval I can throw your way - looking forward to this immensely!


Yeah, I'm right with you on this one. I have GIMP and while I know nothing about coding, but I can help with sprites and whatnot. This is a really ambitious project, and I'm down to help in any way I can. Good luck, and excelsior!
DrkTemplar
Posts: 245
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 4:24 pm

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Postby DrkTemplar » Fri Oct 12, 2012 11:52 pm

Old Uncle Midwinter wrote:This is pretty much what I thought I would be getting when I bought the game. I would love for this - a mod that turns FTL into a legitimate Roguelike would be fantastic, more then fantastic, amazing. Exploration! Quests! Story! Not having the main game be painfully easy, and the final boss being linearly better unless you got an 'optimal' layout! :D

Anything I can do to support? I've got a mind full of words, and don't mind being a guinea pig for events or bug-testing. Anyhow, you've got all the approval I can throw your way - looking forward to this immensely!



I would love some help with the testing on this!!

I was testing last night, and about 5-6 sector jumps in the client crashed to desktop. I thought I had it working good, so I started going crazy just updating the Text to remove the main plot. These xml files are very touchy (I think this has been mentioned before). It's my belief that one of the events loaded for the new sector caused the crash. However, which one, I don't know.

I plan to make a slimmed down mod (for testing) that does not include the Text changes to remove the main plot. Then incremental changes as I add each feature (update Quest events, etc). If I could get help testing these, it will no doubt speed up the progress. I could have very easily corrupted the XML files just trying to remove the rebel plot.

I had optimistically posted a first version release date of this weekend (11/14), but after the results of last night I'm not sure I can make this date. I don't want to rush this out, because I feel it's still totally viable.
Last edited by DrkTemplar on Sat Oct 13, 2012 12:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
DrkTemplar
Posts: 245
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 4:24 pm

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Postby DrkTemplar » Fri Oct 12, 2012 11:54 pm

Damion227 wrote:
Old Uncle Midwinter wrote:Anything I can do to support? I've got a mind full of words, and don't mind being a guinea pig for events or bug-testing. Anyhow, you've got all the approval I can throw your way - looking forward to this immensely!


Yeah, I'm right with you on this one. I have GIMP and while I know nothing about coding, but I can help with sprites and whatnot. This is a really ambitious project, and I'm down to help in any way I can. Good luck, and excelsior!



So far this mod is only XML changes, so I have not introduced any new sprites. However, I will not turn down any help with testing, if you feel like doing that as well.
Whale Cancer
Posts: 272
Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2012 3:28 pm

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Postby Whale Cancer » Sat Oct 13, 2012 12:00 am

DrkTemplar wrote:
Old Uncle Midwinter wrote:This is pretty much what I thought I would be getting when I bought the game. I would love for this - a mod that turns FTL into a legitimate Roguelike would be fantastic, more then fantastic, amazing. Exploration! Quests! Story! Not having the main game be painfully easy, and the final boss being linearly better unless you got an 'optimal' layout! :D

Anything I can do to support? I've got a mind full of words, and don't mind being a guinea pig for events or bug-testing. Anyhow, you've got all the approval I can throw your way - looking forward to this immensely!



I would love some help with the testing on this!!

I was testing last night, and about 5-6 sector jumps in the client crashed to desktop. I thought I had it working good, so I started going crazy just updating the Text to remove the main plot. These xml files are very touchy (I think this has been mentioned before). It's my belief that one of the events loaded for the new sector, and caused the crash. However, which one, I don't know.

I plan to make a slimmed down mod (for testing) that does not include the Text changes to remove the main plot. Then incremental changes as I add each feature (update Quest events, etc). If I could get help testing these, it will no doubt speed up the progress. I could have very easily corrupted the XML files just trying to remove the rebel plot.

I had optimistically posted a first version release date of this weekend (11/14), but after the results of last night I'm not sure I can make this date. I don't want to rush this out, because I feel it's still totally viable.


From my experience, the type of crash you are describing happens most often during a bad <event load="EVENT"/>
Contribute to help save the Whales from their various diseases! *DELAYED* Should release the skeleton with the main quests attached by the end of the week (By NOV 9)! *DELAYED* Don't listen to my dates! Things always seem to come up!
DrkTemplar
Posts: 245
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 4:24 pm

Re: [MOD][WIP] FTL Infinite Space

Postby DrkTemplar » Sat Oct 13, 2012 12:06 am

Whale Cancer wrote:
DrkTemplar wrote:
Old Uncle Midwinter wrote:This is pretty much what I thought I would be getting when I bought the game. I would love for this - a mod that turns FTL into a legitimate Roguelike would be fantastic, more then fantastic, amazing. Exploration! Quests! Story! Not having the main game be painfully easy, and the final boss being linearly better unless you got an 'optimal' layout! :D

Anything I can do to support? I've got a mind full of words, and don't mind being a guinea pig for events or bug-testing. Anyhow, you've got all the approval I can throw your way - looking forward to this immensely!



I would love some help with the testing on this!!

I was testing last night, and about 5-6 sector jumps in the client crashed to desktop. I thought I had it working good, so I started going crazy just updating the Text to remove the main plot. These xml files are very touchy (I think this has been mentioned before). It's my belief that one of the events loaded for the new sector, and caused the crash. However, which one, I don't know.

I plan to make a slimmed down mod (for testing) that does not include the Text changes to remove the main plot. Then incremental changes as I add each feature (update Quest events, etc). If I could get help testing these, it will no doubt speed up the progress. I could have very easily corrupted the XML files just trying to remove the rebel plot.

I had optimistically posted a first version release date of this weekend (11/14), but after the results of last night I'm not sure I can make this date. I don't want to rush this out, because I feel it's still totally viable.


From my experience, the type of crash you are describing happens most often during a bad <event load="EVENT"/>



Thank you Whale Cancer! I appreciate your help!

One of the changes I had recently did was updating the Quests to trigger in the same Beacon they were acquired. All of which are even load (of course) tags. I will go over those changes.