After lurking for a while on the forums here, I've decided to contribute my own little somethin' somethin' to the modding scene here. One of the biggest recurring themes seems to be that many players would like to have event choices that are less cut and dry. A good example of this is the event where you find the the little six-legged pony planet. After the first few times you quickly learn there is a definite "good choice" and "bad choice". While it is nice to know what the consequences for your actions will be, it feels like being trained to hit the button that delivers a treat instead of the one that shocks you.
So, the idea behind my mod is simple. I want to expand the events of vanilla FTL adding new descriptive text, and some new choices for familiar events. I don't plan to add any new events, though the ghost ship encounters may be re-activated in time (since they are present in the files). I also want to make my mod as compatible with the other mods currently out, and for this reason I won't be changing the start events or any of the other data sets. There will, to put it simply, be fleshed out events for every sector with less predictable rewards.
Enough talk! Time for samples!
These are some new bits for the empty space encounter.
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<text planet="NONE">Deep space radiaton with an unusual energy signature registers briefly on your sensors. Other than that, there is nothing of note at this node.</text>
<text planet="NONE" back="BG_DARK"> Space is incalculably vast, and this part of it is truly empty. Time to move on to the next beacon.</text>
<text planet="UNPOPULATED"> The nearby planet is home to some simple silicon based life but nothing else of note. Come back in a few thousand years.</text>
<text> A sensor glitch has you in full battle readiness before you can identify the false reading. You power down weapons and get ready to jump.</text>
<text planet="PLANET_POPULATED">There are small commercial vessels in the uppper atmosphere on a nearby planet. They do not respond to your hails.</text>
This is a re-work of the asteroid encounter with some new choices.
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<event name="ASTEROID_EXPLORE" unique="true">
<text load="AS_EXPLORE"/>
<choice hidden="true">
<text>Explore the asteroid field.</text>
<event load="ASTEROID_EXPLORE_RESULTS"/>
</choice>
<choice>
<text>Too dangerous. We'll just wait for the FTL to charge.</text>
<event/>
</choice>
<choice req="SCRAP_COLLECTOR" hidden="true">
<text>(Scrap Recovery Arm) Attempt to mine the asteroids.</text>
<event>
<text>You carefully extract as much usable material as possible from the nearest asteroids while waiting for the FTL to charge.</text>
<autoReward level="HIGH">scrap_only</autoReward>
</event>
</choice>
<choice req="DEFENSE" hidden="true">
<text>(Defense Drone) A defense drone will make it much safer to explore the field.</text>
<event>
<text>With no danger of a collision, you can focus on recovering the various minerals in the asteroid field.</text>
<autoReward level="MED">scrap_only</autoReward>
</event>
</choice>
<choice req="sensors" lvl="3" hidden="true">
<text>(Sensors) Your advanced scanners pick up an energy signature so faint you barely register it.</text>
<event>
<text>There appears to be some type of escape pod embedded in one of the asteroids. It seems to be heavily damaged and barely functioning.</text>
<choice hidden="true"
<text>Retrieve the pod...</text>
<event>
<text>The pod appears to be functioning but you see nothing but shards of crystal inside. Perhaps someone else will know how to open it.</text>
<augment name="STASIS_POD"/>
<autoReward level="LOW">scrap_only</autoReward>
</event>
</choice>
</event>
</event>
<eventList name="ASTEROID_EXPLORE_RESULTS">
<event>
<text>A brief exploration yields nothing of interest.</text>
<environment type="asteroid"/>
</event>
<event>
<text>Scans reveal a number of asteroids with useful compositions. You extract some fuel.</text>
<autoReward level="HIGH">fuel_only</autoReward>
</event>
<event>
<text>You discover the remains of ship embedded into an asteroid. It still has some functional missiles.</text>
<autoReward level="MED">missiles</autoReward>
</event>
<event>
<text>You happen upon an abandoned mining site. A few mining drones were left behind and could be re-purposed</text>
<autoReward level="MED">droneparts</autoReward>
</event>
<event>
<text>The asteroid field proved more dangerous than expected. Some asteroids managed to get through your ship's defenses.</text>
<damage amount="5"/>
<environment type="asteroid"/>
</event>
<event>
<text>A pirate ship hiding behind one of the larger asteroids attacks you!</text>
<ship load="PIRATE" hostile="true"/>
<environment type="asteroid"/>
</event>
</eventList>
<textlist name="AS_EXPLORE">
<text>Scans reveal a large asteroid field nearby. Short-range scanners may discover useful materials while we wait for the FTL to recharge.</text>
<text>Nearby asteroids may hold something of value, but scanners are having trouble at this distance.</text>
<text>The unusual composition of this asteroid field indicates it may be debris from a planetary collision.</text>
<text>Sensors register an asteroid field nearby. There may be something of use within, but the risk is significant.</text>
<text>There is a good chance you could manage to get some resources out of this asteroid field. However a collision with any of the larger ones could be quite damaging.</text>
</textlist>
You'll notice that the encounter uses a text list so it won't be so obvious which encounter you are getting again and again. There is a new option for defense drones, and a new way to get the crystal stasis pod if you have advanced sensors.
I'm more than happy to have others incorporate Extra Scoop in their mods if they want, just give me credit please.
Once I've reworked a majority of the neutral events I'll post this in .ftl format for all to try.
Cheers!