STA2 Classic: No Officers/Rebalance Mod

posted on October 30th, 2012, 11:12 pm

Two mods here. First one is going to be the No Officers mod for the STA2 Classic mod. The second mod is going to be a complete rebalance of STA2 Classic.

As you are probably aware, STA2 Classic uses the exact same lousy game balance that Star Trek: Armada II used. The idea for the rebalance mod is to make the game play more balanced. Here are the basic concepts for the rebalance mod.

1. Dependent on the No-Officers mod, which is dependent on the STA2 Classic mod.
2. Primary balance inspired by Fleet Operations, but with "slight" modifications.
3. Mining Freighters and Cargo Ships no longer need their respective Mining and Trading Stations.
4. Scouts and Colony Ships are Constructed at the Starbase and are at the bottom of the technology tree.
5. Mining freighters have toggleable configurations so they go to the nearest resource of the same type if the one they are mining from runs out.
6. Ships take longer to build, allowing you to recover more resources from mining before the next ship begins construction.
7. Special Weapons research is at the bottom of the technology tree.
8. Research no longer uses destructable research pods.
9. The Borg don't research, they assimilate!
10. The Borg don't need stations, vessels can suffice.
11. Borg mining is done passively (is this possible with the current version of Fleet Operations?). Forget mining the resources, just beam them to your ship!
12. Borg are required to assimilate or lose!
13. If it's been assimilated, it has higher stats, even if re-taken!

List of concepts inspired by Fleet Operations:

1. Factions warp-in construction ships with their scout (Inspired by Federation Warp-In ability).
2. Mixed technology researched at research stations (Inspired by Mixed Tech capabilities).
3. Mixed technology can be refitted into existing ships or prebuilt with the refits without requiring additional shipyards (Inspired by ship and station upgrade capabilities).
4. Stations can have mixed tech upgrades in addition to their own upgrades.
5. Uses Dilithium, Metal, Supply, (biomatter) and Latinum (inspired by Fleet Operations resources).

posted on October 30th, 2012, 11:37 pm

3, 11: I'm sure the upgraded Borg Miner gets resources over time when not docked. Looking at that might be useful.

13: If I remember correctly, a previous FO used a replaceweapon to swap odfs (not sure if auto or manual) whenever a Constructor was captured to allow Mixed-Tech. You could do a 1-way version of that; base ship with a replaceweapon hidden until the Borg own it, without the option to reverse it.

posted on October 31st, 2012, 1:03 am

3, 11: I'm sure the upgraded Borg Miner gets resources over time when not docked. Looking at that might be useful.

I remember now, thanks! This will be easy to implement!

posted on October 31st, 2012, 2:46 pm

I'm having a weird problem with the Rebalance Mod crashing at 10%. I've sent a bug report complete with a screenshot.

I've checked the techtree and it's fine. No typos, no out-of-order entries, no incorrect list size references, nothing!

PS: There are two entries in the guide that are listed as causing a game crash at 10%. I believe this to be an error.

posted on October 31st, 2012, 3:59 pm

One is a crash, one is a freeze.

posted on October 31st, 2012, 4:30 pm

Oh, I understand.

By the way, I think that there is a limitation with the mods. I have this rebalance mod parented to the no officers mod parented to the STA2 Classic mod. I believe that this chain is what is causing my crash. The no-officers mod only has files relevant to removing the officer cap. The rebalance mod needs to reference the STA2 Classic mod for stuff like commands, map objects, trade, etc. Can you confirm this limitation?

posted on November 1st, 2012, 1:16 am

Having no idea what files your mod uses, it's impossible for me to say what causes a crash. Chaining mods will not cause a crash.

posted on November 1st, 2012, 8:36 am

Actually it can. For example, my KA2 Mod. If chained with the regular STA2 Classic mod, it will crash when trying to build stations. There is nothing wrong with either my mod or the STA2 Classic mod. What causes the crash is the interaction of my mods new textures and the Classic Mods _1 and _2 texture files.

posted on November 1st, 2012, 11:56 am

When it will be ready? Thanks

posted on November 1st, 2012, 1:43 pm

It will probably be ready at about the same time as FO 4.0.

Right now, I have all of the STA2 Classic ODF files in the "ODF -> system" directory. Then with the other ODF directories, I'm making my own ODF files with a naming convention that is easier to read. Here's (part of) the convention: (inspired by Fleet Operations, modified Fleet Operations)

base_* - Base ODF file to be included by a ship, station, planet, research pod, or other gameobject ODF file.
bor_* - Borg
car_* - Cardassian
fed_* - Federation
kli_* - Klingon
rom_* - Romulan
spe_* - Species 8472

facW_* - Weapon
facS_* - Special Weapon/Ability
facR_* - Research
facU_* - Refit/Upgrade/Reconfiguration
facT_* - replaceweaon used for stuff like progressive scan

posted on November 1st, 2012, 2:47 pm

Actually it can. For example, my KA2 Mod. If chained with the regular STA2 Classic mod, it will crash when trying to build stations. There is nothing wrong with either my mod or the STA2 Classic mod. What causes the crash is the interaction of my mods new textures and the Classic Mods _1 and _2 texture files.

That's not the chaining, but the incompatibility of the mods then: if the chaining is done incorrectly, there will of course be crashes. However, the simple act of chaining will not cause a crash. Whether you chain 0 or 50 mods, each mod must be compatible with the next . But back to topic - if you want to discuss specific crashes, feel free to open up a new thread or send me a message

posted on November 1st, 2012, 3:22 pm

It will probably be ready at about the same time as FO 4.0.

Right now, I have all of the STA2 Classic ODF files in the "ODF -> system" directory. Then with the other ODF directories, I'm making my own ODF files with a naming convention that is easier to read. Here's (part of) the convention: (inspired by Fleet Operations, modified Fleet Operations)

base_* - Base ODF file to be included by a ship, station, planet, research pod, or other gameobject ODF file.
bor_* - Borg
car_* - Cardassian
fed_* - Federation
kli_* - Klingon
rom_* - Romulan
spe_* - Species 8472

facW_* - Weapon
facS_* - Special Weapon/Ability
facR_* - Research
facU_* - Refit/Upgrade/Reconfiguration
facT_* - replaceweaon used for stuff like progressive scan

long time i will donate more for FO

posted on November 1st, 2012, 4:06 pm

Since this mod is going to be based somewhat on Fleet Operations, that will save me some time.

Ship Value System (may be tweaked):

Offensive Value:
Torpedoes have a chance to miss some targets - 0.475 Value Points per Damage Point
Pulses have a good chance to miss maneuverable targets - 0.375 Value Points per Damage Point
Beams will hit the first time, every time (unless you have a good counter) - 0.50 Value Points per Damage Point

Formula:
fleet ops formula / 7
If weapon goes through shields, then:
fleet ops formula * 2

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Defensive Value:
Shields are your primary defense. Don't let them fall!

Formula:
( fleet ops formula * shield protection ) / 10

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System Value:

Formula:
fleet ops formula * 0.8

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Wouldn't it be funny if I accidentally built a scout for Fleet Ops using the STA2 rebalance formulas? There might be a slight balance mismatch with that scout.

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Borg Turret System:
- Propes configured to process resources (from probes configured to assimilate resources) has Intrepid-like firepower.
- Propes configured to assimilate resources from resource objects have weakened weapons that they can use when temporarily pulled from their mining duties by the player. Still has impressive firepower!
- Propes configured for combat can send out a tachyon ping.
- Otherwise non-existent!
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Cardassian Turret System:
Starbase:
- Can be upgraded to send out a tachyon ping of unusual range every 10 seconds.

Pulse Turret:
- Fires rapidly on multiple targets at once.

------------

Federation Turret System:
Sensor Array:
- Sends out a tachyon ping every 5 seconds (can be upgraded to reduce time delay).
- Can send out a long-range sensor ping (does not detect cloaked ships, requires research).

Pulse Phaser Turret:
- Fires a low-powered pulse at the enemy (can be upgraded to increase overall firepower).
- Can be refitted to fire a beam instead of a pulse (loses all pulse upgrades).
- If refitted, can be upgraded to increase overall firepower.
- Can be refitted to fire at multiple targets at once (slightly increases firing rate).
- User cannot tell if the turret is upgraded without "scanning" it.

Torpedo Turret:
- Fires a photon torpedo at the enemy (can be upgraded to fire volley-photons).
- Can be refitted to fire quantum torpedoes (does not lose volley ability).
- Can be refitted to fire at multiple targets at once.
- User cannot tell if the turret is upgraded without "scanning" it.

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Klingon Turret System:
Sensor Array:
- Can sent out a tachyon ping every 6 seconds.

Weapons Platform:
- Fires a pulse phaser at a single target.

Heavy Weapons Platform:
- Rapidly fires multiple pulses on multiple targets at once.
- Has scout-like sensor range.
- Has strategic weapons range.
- Designed to harass enemy miners from great distances

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Romulan Turret System:
Defense Array:
- Sends out a tachyon ping every 8 seconds.
- Has scout-like sensor range.
- Fires a pulse phaser at a single target.

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I believe the Romulan turret system to be the weakest while the Federation turret system to be the strongest. The Borg are mobile. If you attack their mining, they can just get up and leave the area, or stop mining to defend themselves. The Cardassians may have strong turrets to start off, but they lose their effectiveness against larger fleets.

Klingons start out with a weak deterrent and can eventually gain very strong, offensive profile turrets that deny the enemy access to vital resources.

posted on November 1st, 2012, 4:11 pm

Borg mining is done passively (is this possible with the current version of Fleet Operations?). Forget mining the resources, just beam them to your ship!

I have something similer in my mod. Currently, the TCF miner will orbit the moon and will recieve resources.

This is easy to implament, and can have a transporter sound attached.

I can give you the files if you need.

posted on November 1st, 2012, 4:59 pm

I changed my mind about passive mining. You'll have to use reconfigured probes instead. Probes that actually mine, and a probe that receives mined resources for processing. At a moments notice, these "mining freighters" and "mining stations" can just get up and move to a new location.