[MOD] Praetorian Industries v1.2b

Wait… moving parts!? Did I miss something…?

No, you didn’t miss anything :slight_smile: . . Although animated greebles would be cool :wink:
It is similar to the zombies mod. The parts that move are actually turrets.

Its very easy to do:

  • Make a turret that looks like a head, arm, or anything else that you want “animated”.
  • Then use that turret for a suitable weapon.

A suitable weapon can be anything really. A few examples:

Arm - Beam or Bullets
Shoulder Pods - Missiles or Rockets
Head turret - Target painter or some uber beam where you must yell the name of your attack.
Either way, It looks really cool :slight_smile:

In addition, I would say that Praetors is also going to use blast texture to make the weapon appear animated . .

Interesting. I think I may give it a try myself. I have ideas of what to use it for. In fact, I think I have 2.

Looks like the student stills not better than the master :smiley:

You are right on everything sir, but… how did you knew that i was going to use the blast texture bug?!

The distance between the two is closer than you think.
Remember: Be the Master, not the Student.

Because out of all the options to do what you said you were going to do - that would be the option I would choose.

Hehehe, and i thought that the blast texture bug was a completely new finding lol (i will explain how to get that “bug” working later, just for the ones that wonder what i’m saying xD)

Anyways, here is something that i’ve written in my no internet-having house:

<<So, PI v1.1, TP v0.91 and TG v0.95 have been released in christmas, i hope everyone is getting some fun with those gifs :stuck_out_tongue:

Also, my-friend-that-always-reads-my-news-reports (:B) you might know that i’m making another mod (this time a little one) called “Wanzers”. You know, exageratedly powerful and cruiser sized versions of those cool mechs that people like me loves :stuck_out_tongue:
So, whats in my to do (and already done) list? Here you go:

-For those who like heavy weapons, a new and cool looking super lazor bazooka, that is currently working! >:D
-For those that likes to said “-Not enuff dakka, give me more dakka!”, Counter-Offensive shoulder missile turrets and fire support shoulder chainguns.
-Strong defense shields (physical ones) for more defensive capabilities.
-Multiple torsos (hulls) with different combat capabilities. That combined with Multiple head types, each one with different bonuses, will for the wanzer.
-A hardpoint configuration that will replicate real life human movility as close as possible, giving to the wanzers the ability to engage multiple targets at the same time, just as those guys that fight with two one-handed weapons.
-Also, planning to add super heavy one-handed machinneguns, laser cannons and things like that.
-Another feature that stills on paper is “surprise! weapons”, hidding missile racks, defensive weapons, counter offensive ones, etc etc etc…
-Another idea that keeps me excited is Ambush Wanzers, a combination of large sniper rifles with firing when camouflaged config :stuck_out_tongue:

However, there is a problem that annoys me… all of these features, and others that i’m currently making in my head, have great problems. All of them have a single common variable… sizes.

When you want to make a cool looking mech that fights like a mech, you need one single basic but really important thing… motion, and we all know that Gratuitous Space Battles lacks of it. Yeah, we have ships that fly around, turrets, pulse glows and engine glows, that all toghether can create an ilusion of motion, a very very rudimentary and limited one.
The only method that works good is the one that Darkstar said above, turrets combined with well-placed hardpoints. And this is my point (always in comparision to vainilla hulls):

How far to the center of the hull i must place a hardpoint to limit the movement of the mech arms and at the same time give to them a GSB-ish weapon range? The answer is A LOT.
Then, how big must be the hull sprite to mantain those hardpoints inside the screen?
Really, REALLY big.

Since the mech bodies were made of order ships without almost resizing any section, a mech torso ocupies the same space than little more than half order cruiser (in my paint.net window). And then, this is my last question, how big must be the hull sprite?

4092x4092

My paintdotnet is like:

And all of this is not the main problem that annoys me! All of this sizes problem makes the ship design screen look terribly ugly in therms of visual pleassure, that is why i’m thinking if this mod will be or not an NPC one.
(you can only play against it, instead of using its designs, thats an NPC mod in GSB)

But i’m pretty sure of one thing… this is going to be the largest sized mini-mod ever sawn in gsb… lol.
[size=50]Astro, dont worry, i will make a new topic in a few days :P[/size]>>

Is there a way to run this mod without any expansions except the galactic conquest campaign?

I believe you can, however you will probably experience some issues, mostly graphical. I think all the effects are programmed into the core game, but the graphics for them aren’t.

Yes and no.
As far i know you can play the mod without any expansion, you only need to have all the game updates installed because they are who have the special-DLC-module enabling codes. However, you will experience graphical issues with several modules, as my fellow modder said above.
This is something that i should have tested before, i dont know how i did just jumped that… oh well, will give it a try as fas as possible.

I fixed two crash-causing typos in this mod and mirrored it here:
positech.co.uk/gratuitousspaceba … orian.html
Cheers

Awesome! Thank you again sir =D

EDIT:

Another baby for Praetorian Industries Mod v1.2


[size=85]Pic: A scuadron of Helion Fighters escorting the Pressidential Shuttle throught a sector with heavy Pirate prescence.[/size]

The EX-Helion Next Generation Heavy Fighter: The culmination of years of investigations, a heavy fighter capable of engaging close combat and stay in one piece even against entire scuadrons. This is possible thanks to its high-tech version of the angled engine system used in the Ex-Raptor fighters (wich were used to give a great stability), but this time they are modified and enhanced to reach the maneuverability of a drone, and even surpass it.

The non-scifi description of this fighter would be that it can carry many weapons and still begin able to live for more than a second xD

EDIT: Also added the first alliance tech-based design, just for those poor alliance guys that wanted to help and didn’t had a ship to drive (how did i forgot to add it in v1.0??? lol)

Another pic about the upcoming v1.2, this time the EX-Proteos Infiltration Frigate:

The update name will be called “Specialization”, as its name says, will have more specialized ships, most of them with a focus on a single race tech to fit with those professional capitains of the same race.
Therefore, i’ve created the first alliance based ship, a swarm based “phoenix” like frigate and will make more for the other races, stay tunned for more pics and information ^^

EDIT:

Progress Report:
> EX-Orphus Bio-Warfare Shuttle is now fully functional. It is a small ship that holds several similarities with the EX-Kyros Presidential Shuttle. But it sacrifices a bit of speed for extra offensive power. It IS a shuttle, only used by those ex-alliance insectoid guys, that now work for Praetorian Industries, but instead carrying crew, it carries Bio-Warfare weapons. Nasty devices used to clean any type of lifeform from both, space and planets. Since Praetorian Industries doesn’t needs to clean planets, its not common to see this small and dangerous ship.
> EX-Proteos Special Operations Frigate is now fully functional. The frigate for those sealth operations, mostly used to escort EX-Anonumo Spec Ops Dreadnoughts.
> EX-Helion Heavy Fighter is now fully functional. The missing link between the heavy fighters and light corvettes has been found! and Helion is its name.
> EX-Thanathous Planet Siege Cruiser is now fully functional. Another not-common-to-see ship, created for executing that terrible task with extreme efficiency. A ship with a destructive power that Praetorian Industries command hopes to not need, ever.
> Frigate Bio-Warfare Rockets added, the nasty device that you might see mounted in those Oprhus shuttles.
> Cruiser Multivector Missiles added. A praetorian ship made it to the main command base with a very damaged Xidolca weapon, we lost an entire task force just to make this poor, short ranged and powerless version of Xidolcas Multivector doom devices.
> Praetorian Industries is developing another type of defense for their starbases. Space mines (a new hull class! wohoo! (?))

[/b]]Progress Report:[/b]
> Praetorian Industries now counts with a new defensive measure for their territories. After some time developing it, the company is now filling several sectors with completely fuctional and highly destructive minefields.
Each mine packs a detonation-by-proximity device and a dangerous explosive charge, capable of taking out several ships within shockwave range.
Since the project stills in field testing stage, the company is also deploying some EX-Akron Target Dummy Ships and Drone Scuadrons that will detonate the minefields located at Argena Fourth as final test of the Lure mines combined with True Mines system.
Expect some extra “stars” in the sky this night.

EDIT:

Pic Of The Day: In-Game Praetorian Minefields

And they are fully fuctional! =D
Thoughts?

Very interesting. I had been considering the idea of mines as well. While I suspect the explosion system is obvious, I’m curious about your detonation system.

I’m going to add them to the campaing against Praetorian Industries for v1.2. In each minefield you MIGHT face two types of mines (normal mines and sealth mines) and for each one, two subtypes. The Sub-types are always the same: Lure Mines and True Mines. The Lure mines are produced and deployed in mass, they are not so powerful as the True Mines and only damage fighters, their main function is to enhance the probability of succesful detonation of a True Mine, wich has much more powerful and “effective” effects.

Each single mine packs a Detonator and Explosives, the detonator is the fighter damaging compound wich also, self-destructs the mine. And the Explosives are the obvious frigate-cruiser killers. The Lure mines and True Mines only differ on its hull type basis.

Thoughts? =D

So it seems we have the same general idea then. Don’t forget that the changes to the detonator’s function, as that may interfere with detonation.
.
Only flaw with the mines is when one side does a manual detonation. Space fireworks, I guess.

Manual detonation?

I know that the main flaw of my minefield system is the final HP values of each mine, wich is VERY low, therefore anything can one-shot them to hell. The Lure mines moderatedly solves the problem, but it stills there.

I dont suppose that was the error I had that Lord of Admirals cliffski fixed there? The one that had “Unable to find race:…\SIM_Race 136” (or something similar, that’s from memory) I guess I’ll try it and see :smiley:

EDIT
Nope. Didn’t work :C
image

Wow… what the…

Okay, as far i know, that little window pops up when:

[i]> You tried to uninstall the mod, wrongly…

You dont have the lastest version.
You dont have the DLCs of below:

  • The Order
  • The Swarm
  • The Tribe
  • The Nomads
    [/i]
    And since i’m pretty sure that most of people doesnt have every DLC, i think that the reason of your game-crashing problem is caused because you dont have those DLCs.
    Dont worry mate! If that is the problem, this is your solution!:

[i]1) Go to gratuitous space battles/Praetorian Industries/data/modules
2) You will find LOTS of .txt, but dont worry, they are well organized. Search the ones that have a “commercial” on its names. Those files are modules that i’ve created for OTHER races, not for Praetorian Ind Mod.
3) Dont delete them all! Just search the ones that also have the race names, and delete them. Example:
you dont have The Tribe DLC:
Delete the file called “prae_commercial_tribe_reinforcer” (or similar, i cant remember)
4) Then run the game, and it should work!

[/i]

If the window stills appearing or you have the DLCs please tell me here. And if this fixed the problem. Tell me too! ^^ xD

It could also be that you have the old typo aliance weapon.

Out of curiosity, what do you record the videos with?