Modding SW3?

[sidius]

I'd rather say that more dispersion + large amount of grouped enemies = massacre. Try it with rapid-fire cannon on some berserker fleet

even though it doesn't have to be caused by that.. maybe it's just targeting new targets within 1 shooting sequence (16 bullets with rapid fire cannons) so you actually kill the drone with 4 bullets, another 4 bullets find another drone and so on.. dunno how it's made.

btw I don't know how (haven't done anything), but ingame music is no longer playing..

error: attempt to call global `InitMusic' (a nil value)
<string "DATA\Scripts\Locations\aurora\location.scri.. .": line 116>

gotta love those self-destruct scipts..
(it's just "InitMusic();" written in that line, like in the end of every location script..)

Hmm, I do see the kinetic guns doing decent damage in crowded fights. It's just that they're balanced enough (?) to not do that all the time, unlike lasers.

Have you tried manual targeting + activate "pause when target is destroyed", using lasers? Works especially well against berserks. At the last pause it look like your ship's lasers are firing at all 5 berserks in the pack simultaneously. I think I posted a screenshot a while ago. Haven't tried it with other weapons, not sure if they fire fast enough.

The AI doesn't fire like that; usually after destroying a target it seems to pick a new target that requires it to waste time flying past and turning around.

Originally Posted by sidius

LASER damage is so heavy and so accurate because you can mitigate up to 80% of it (which is very nice considering at least 2 of enemies you HAVE TO fight uses lasers - berserkers and aliens).
and, depending on storyline you choose, you can eventually end up ALONE agains all SAM's berserker hordes and several Chimeras, and that is hell of a massacre..

increasing HP/shield regen of fighters would be nice, but who would possibly want to do that? I mean there is some 150 of them (at least)

By the way, I remember those endgame battles. Freaking brutal.

Like I said, lasers are too strong, and even on hard mode not enough enemies are carrying laser defence. Wait, do you mean every single ship in the game has manual values for things like hp regen? They don't share a base value?

Edit: Wait, Aliens use lasers? I thought they used those funky blaster thingies? Their capships do appear to use lasers though but you don't really need to fight those. Well, except maybe that one time.

Originally Posted by Goblin Wizard

I don't know the exact dispersion formula but afaik:1 - maximum dispersion, 0 - no dispersion. Probably all more than 1 is considered 1. E.g. function called by "Cannon Adjustment" perk.

[ . . . ]

This perk simply reduces dispersion by 99%. It doesn't improve accuracy when the target has significant angular velocity but bullets are not sprayed all over the sky.
Imo this perk has no sense to me. Pilot can improve his accuracy - ok. Pilot magically controlling gun parameters - no. It should be a system which does this or one time (for each gun) buyable improvement (gunsmith or something).

Hmm, basically what that does is:
- Does pilot have perk? Return dispersion * 0.01 (i.e. reduced 99%)
- Else return dispersion * 1 (i.e. unchanged)

You're right, this logically shouldn't be a perk (we can think of better things for perks).

Do you have any idea if non-gun (i.e. missiles) dispersion also goes through this function? I'm not sure how I can test this.

Edit:
Looking through perkDispatcher.script shows the effect of the passive perks. Hmm. I suppose missiles simply ignore the dispersion value :/

Edit:
ObjectInfo.script has something more on weapons. Apparently for gun dispersion, <.5 is "high accuracy", >0.5 to <1 is medium, and >1 is low. There's a similar section on missile jamming but that's more straightforward. The very first function in that script, CalculateRateOfFire, i don't exactly understand.

function CalculateRateOfFire(recharge_time, rate_of_fire, burst_count)
	local ck = (burst_count * 60) / (recharge_time + rate_of_fire);
	return ck;
end;

[Goblin Wizard]

Originally Posted by Trucidation

ObjectInfo.script has something more on weapons. Apparently for gun dispersion, <.5 is "high accuracy", >0.5 to <1 is medium, and >1 is low. There's a similar section on missile jamming but that's more straightforward.

Function CalculateGunAccuracy simply changes displayed text for accuracy (Low, Medium, High). Nothing else. The same for missile jamming.

Originally Posted by Trucidation

The very first function in that script, CalculateRateOfFire, i don't exactly understand.

This function calculates rate of fire showed in the gun info window. What you don't understand?

That burst count value, I don't think I've seen it mentioned. There is already rate of fire, right? I thought that already shows the firing speed. Hmm... is burst count a limit on the number of attacks?
Edit:
Ahhh it's in the guns' definition, sorry x_x Something like how many shots fired per attack, like that? The thing is... there is already a rate_of_fire value, so that's why I don't understand why need a function to calculate it again.

I'll try the calculation with the alien blaster gun ("ASG") and see what I get.
ck = (burst_count * 60) / (recharge_time + rate_of_fire)
= ( 6 * 60 ) / ( 1 + 1 )
= 360 / 2
= 180
Hmm. I guess that number is the one displayed on the trade screen when we view a weapon. I see... I wrongly assumed we don't need the other values; in that case we'd get a steady stream of bullets every X seconds, and doesn't account for weapon bursts.

@sidius:
Ah, I see what you're referring to, the energy_restore tags in Carcasses.xml. Actually, that's not so large a problem - i can simply write a PHP script to recalculate all the values. We're assuming the default ones are all balanced though Personally, I'd like slightly less shields, higher shield regen, and higher armor hp.

Whether this is a good thing or not is up for debate though, I'm just making guesses from my experience in the game.

[sidius]

lol I've checked it now, Alien blasters are kinetic (Impact, Small)... they have just longer bullet of different color (think it's made by <bullet_length> and <sfx_index>)

hmm nevermind that, I've removed Alien tech requirement long ago from Alien weapons since noone could use them outside mission in Precursor system, which suxx. So since now I'm giving these blasters to those with Light weapons specialization, not lasers specialization.

one would think that if Alien Turrets are Lasers, blasters will be too..

Isn't the damage type simply impact? I'm not sure between graph_type and sfx_index; there are other weapons also using sfx_index=2, not just the alien gun.

Edit:
Also noticed how modules extend each other in \Data\XMLSchema\AllModules.xsd. You know how some modules e.g. mothership engines have 2 functions (top speed, maneuverability) while other mothership engines have only 1? It may be possible to make other combos, like speed + maneuverability for fighters, or radar + cloaking.

I'm not really sure how cloaking works, does it lowering enemies' radar range? But if they have radar, then how?

[StarShatter]

The dispersion perk itself is an ok concept. Doesn't need to be changed to upgrading @ a gunsmith. Technically the perk turns Ternie INTO a gunsmith. Most self respecting gunners and snipers should know enough about guns to keep them in top working conditions. You access it through the technician/system tree so it kinda makes sense?

Maybe just change it from 99% to 80% or 60%?

Would be cool if end game weapons had some differences as well.
Like plasma doing additional damage to shields. (Fearsome heavy weapon)
Lasers being weaker than both plasma and particle accelerators but more accurate. (Ease of use/noobs choice)
And particle accelerators being treated more like a sort of rail gun, powerful, kinetic style impact, but still with fast and accurate projectiles. (Sniper's tool)

No idea if the plasma bit is possible though. Aside from the heavy cannon perk there is no reason to actually use plasma as is :\

[sidius]

imagine enemy has default 135 clicks sensor range, and you have 70% cloaking.
so enemy should see you from 40.5 clicks I guess (and that's shorter than weapon range, so you can start massacring them - that will alert them of you presence, but it's often too late).

too bad mothership is so slow. you know, pirate patrols will attack you just when they see you, and chasing them is out of question since they are 2x faster.

btw anyone knows what <sensor_resolution> should mean? most ships (playable) have 0.38, but for example Alien Dreadnought has just 0.2
is it some anti-cloaking detector?

could be (sensor range - % cloaking) + % sensor resolution?
that would go to 55.6 clicks not 40.5.. I think that's it, but it may mean something else.

Chasing hostiles which have already seen you isn't a problem - the AI never runs away. Perhaps you mean trying to evade an upcoming encounter?

Ya default motherships suck eggs, I always fly Goblin Wizard's modded Silver Arrow - can't tolerate travelling at less than 2k speed now lol.

No idea on the sensor resolution thing, will have to take another look.

[Goblin Wizard]

There is another parameter called EPR. It stands for english RCS (radar cross section). I really would like to know how all these parameters influence each other.
A little about sensor resolution here.