[SHIP] The Marauders

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UltraMantis
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[SHIP] The Marauders

Postby UltraMantis » Tue Feb 12, 2013 7:52 pm

The Marauders

Download Link:

Version 1.1 http://wikisend.com/download/266864/
Version 1.0 http://wikisend.com/download/186836/FRSS-Marauders.7z
Requires SMM: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=17102
I recommend that you install this as a single mod. Visual mods are probably ok, but other ship mods could cause conflicts.

Changelog:

Code: Select all

1.1 changes made to the IceLord to nerf it a little. It's still an Ion powerhouse in the hands of a veteran.

- Comet Cannon cooldown reduced to 6 (was 7)
- Dual Comet Cannon:
-- cooldown reduced to 10 (was 11)
-- power increased to 2 (was 1)
-- speed reduced to 55 (was 60)
- Meat-Eater Missile cooldown reduced to 11 (was 17)
- Typos fixed, descriptions improved/corrected

Changes seem trivial at a glance, but the power requirement has a major impact on the initial loadout. Meat-Eater Missile cooldown drastically reduced to increase it's usefullnes.

1.0 initial release


Difficulty: >Normal - Extreme!

Class: Marauder (Replacing Stealth Cruisers A&B)

The idea behind the ships and the design is to have nice starting weapons that can help capture ships early on, but do no hull damage. For this reason and because they are cumbersome, they are designed to be replaced. You don't have to replace all, but trying to go all the way with the starting loadout is ill advised.

Some backstory (to be refined in a further update):

The Marauders are new in the sector. Distracted by their war, neither the Federation nor the Rebels seem to have any clue as to the origin and purpose of these ships. All they have to go by are the vague reports from backwater outposts. Recently though, the attacks became more brazen and the new enemy less inclined to lurk in shadows. The extent of the new threat is about to dawn on the warring factions.

Marauder ships are characterised by powerfull weapon systems that seem to require massive power to operate, even at the expense of all other systems. While not refined, the weapons are effective. Usually disableing and stripping ships clean to provide resources required for the vessel to reach it's full potential. Even though their origins and source of technology are a mystery, the ships are crewed by common races though it's hard to say if they joined up willingly or are slaves.

Image

IceLord:
- Disables and kills crew.
- Starts with 4 good support weapons.
- Cannot defeat AI ships at start.

Weapons:
- 2 Comet Cannons; 1 shot, 1pt ion damage, very fast recycle.
- Dual Comet Cannon; 2shots, 1pt ion damage each, fast recycle.
- Meat-Eater Missile; Breaches almost guaranteed (usefull against AI ships), 2pts system damage. Oneshots all races except Rockmen.
(nod to Fragile Allegiance, google it. good game)

Image

Magma:
- Burns most ships with ease.
- Does not have shields.
NOTE - Shield system is completely disabled for this ship. It will be challenging to say the least.

Weapons:
- Magma Cannon; High fire chance, bypasses shields, immune to defense drones. Fast recycle.
- High-Energy Laser; Modified Fire Beam, pierces 3 shields (description says 3 mistakenly), medium recycle and high power demand.
- Impact Cannon; Huge power demand. Each shot deals 1pt system damage and ion damage. Medium recycle.


Installation:
To install this mod, you must install SMM first. Download SMM and unzip it wherever you like.

To install the mod itself:
- unzip contents (or drag n drop the mod_name.ftl file) into Slipstream\mods*.
- run SMM, check this mod and Patch.

To uninstall:
- run SMM, dont select any mods and hit Patch. The game will be restored to original.

* The exact location of Slipstream depends on where you unzip it.

NOTE!
Some mods are distributed as .ftl files that you copy into the mods folder, other mods (such as this one) are distributed as archives that must be unzipped and the .ftl file copied into the mods folder.

Compatibility:
This mod was made without regard for compatibility with other mods. However, it will work with visual, events and weapon mods, but will almost certainly break system mods. Wheter or not it works with other ship mods is unpredictable. You can try to play it alongside system or ship mods, but i cannot guarantee that it will play as intended.

Enjoy.

The standalone Weapons Pack is currently down. I will upload an updated version.
Last edited by UltraMantis on Sat Oct 05, 2013 12:46 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Reason: links changed
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nataryeahbuddy
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Re: [SHIP][WIP] Marauders

Postby nataryeahbuddy » Tue Feb 12, 2013 10:18 pm

How do you splice the images together?
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Advanced Battle Systems!
An awesome ship with custom graphics and two new weapons!
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BrenTenkage
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Re: [SHIP][WIP] Marauders

Postby BrenTenkage » Tue Feb 12, 2013 10:40 pm

If you want a non damaging weapon, how about just adding peircing effect but no damage
I make a lot of lets plays of FTL, I also use mods I find on this site http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL ... 06hca_PXuX
I am also a modder as well, here is my mod hub viewtopic.php?f=11&t=32269
UltraMantis
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Re: [SHIP][WIP] Marauders

Postby UltraMantis » Tue Feb 12, 2013 11:51 pm

Splicing depends on the program used. I use CorelDraw12 for pretty much everything except transparency
masks and pixel-art. I dont even bother with specialised splicing tools, i just duplicate a bitmap then use
the cropping tool to create a non-rectangular crop. Finishing up, removing junk and pixel-art finetuning is
done is MS Paint before the cleaned-up image is returned to corel for positioning. Any program that allows
you to chop up an image using points or paths would achieve this effect. GIMP is free and has the ability
to do this, but i dislike GIMP though.

Using spliced FTL Ship images is cheap but effective, and a lot faster than painting by hand. :lol:

splice1.png

splice2.png

Lots of different combinations are possible when putting the parts together. Mirroring is also cheap and effective. :roll:
beta04.png

@Bren
The original plan for the fire ship was to have two fire beams (one medium, one strong) and a BL2 like
weapon that does no damage but strips shields effectively. But that has changed since a non damaging weapon
cannot damage shields either unless it is an ion weapon, and that is not a fitting weapon.

Current solutions are to make the beams shield piercing (which sucks because they are no longer discardable
support weapons) or modify the burst cannon and give it a high enough power requirement so that it cannot
be used alongside beams. The ship is still on the testbed so anything is possible.
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Kieve
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Re: [SHIP][WIP] Marauders

Postby Kieve » Wed Feb 13, 2013 1:31 am

UltraMantis wrote:Current solutions are to make the beams shield piercing (which sucks because they are no longer discardable support weapons) or modify the burst cannon and give it a high enough power requirement so that it cannot be used alongside beams. The ship is still on the testbed so anything is possible.


Possible thoughts:
-I want to say a weapon dealing no <damage> but with <sysDamage> value should be able to strip shields. I could be wrong on that point though since I'm working from memory and can't test it.
-A bomb-class weapon with minimal recharge time might fit the profile, or alternately a burst-laser type with full shield-pierce but only system damage capability.
->Side note that may be useful: I noticed the obsidian's Singularity deals significant damage to Zoltan shields due to its high <sysDamage> value.
-"Inferno Rockets" - multi-shot missile launcher with small munitions that deal system damage and start fires. Missile type obviously being shield-piercing, but vulnerable to defensive drones.

In all cases, what you're given is a weapon that by itself isn't a sustainable ship- or crew-killer, but when paired with the beams, becomes a viable way to take down enemy shields and pave the way for the real "fire" power. ;)
UltraMantis
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Re: [SHIP][WIP] Marauders

Postby UltraMantis » Wed Feb 13, 2013 4:05 am

I tried sysDamage, no dice. Either the weapon damages the hull or it does ion damage. If it can't do either then it will not strip shields

My current next-best alternative is to go ahead with the ion burster, AND give it 1 point of sysDamage. This will strip shields to hell and ion the shield system in addition to doing system damage to whatever you targeted. This goes above and beyond what the weapon is intended to do (strip shields, not damage the hull) so the flipside will be to make it require 5 power, which is what the beams require when both are used. So you can have the beams or the burster but not both at once.

The burster is needed because without it Zoltan ships are nearly immune even if the beams pierce shields. It will also help the player survive against AI ships because good fucking luck burning those airless things...

Current loadout:
1 - beam or bomb. no damage, fires only -17s
2 - fire beam with a longer cooldown, shorter beam length and 2 shield piercing -19s
3 - 3 shot ion burster with 1sysdamage and 1 crewdamage -15s

All subject to change as playtesting continues.
EDIT - forgot to mention that the bomb weapon will not require missiles if i go that route.
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UltraMantis
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Re: [SHIP][WIP] Marauders

Postby UltraMantis » Wed Feb 13, 2013 1:53 pm

Update:

- Ship base images, shield and elipses are all sorted out now. Floorplans are still on the to do list.
- I made some progress on the Magma weapons balance and art. It's not quite what i had in mind but it seems pretty decent.
- IceTroll weapons are more or less on the money as far as balance is concerned.

Will post more as it comes along.
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UltraMantis
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Re: [SHIP][WIP] Marauders

Postby UltraMantis » Sun Feb 17, 2013 7:41 pm

This kinda no longer fits the "replace starting weaponry" theme, but at least the Magma feels balanced now. You'll get 3 pretty high powered weapons but not enough power to use all at once. As the game progresses you will certainly want to replace one, but which one?

The Magma Cannon - reloads quickly and starts fires nicely, but is less effective against Engi and Rock. Useless against Zoltan supershield and AI enemies. 2 power
High-Energy Laser - powerfull beam capable of piercing 2 shields. Does no damage but torches everything it hits. Even Engi and Rock strugllue against this, but it's fairly slow. 3 power
Impact Cannon - A bastard child of a Burst Laser and Ion Blast. It damages crew and equipment nicely but does no damage to hull. medium speed. - 5 power.
Total weapon system power - 5

The job is to burn the hell out of the enemy ship before it kills you. Though this loadout is ironically enough to mop up the boss, it would require a fully upgraded weapon system to be effective. It's probably wiser to replace one of the weapons for something less power hungry. Especially since failing to quickly upgrade cloaking and evasion will be lethal.

I haven't managed to beat the game yet. :roll: It's a bitch.

Here's some early version weapon candy:
FRSS_ME_missile-prev.png

HE Laser.gif

Comets-prev.png

And here's an in-game screenshot of the (newly renamed) IceLord:

Image

The room layout will not change except for life support. I will probably make it horizontal and place it next to the Helm. In the screenshot, the Meat-Eater gave way to the Hull Smasher, but i kept it in the cargo bay, for future use.
The ship is very tricky to vent and gets crowded easily. Defending against multiple boarders provides an unwelcome distractionl. Overall it's fairly normal as far as difficulty goes. Be sure to use the early scrap to build up defense.
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UltraMantis
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Re: [SHIP][WIP] Marauders

Postby UltraMantis » Thu Feb 21, 2013 9:29 am

Impact Cannon gfx are completed, High-Energy Laser gets a facelift, Comet Cannons get finalised, all weapons get nice shiny glows, and about a bajillion little errors get fixed.

Elsewhere, the IceLord now has a floorplan as well as a slightly adjusted layout. Tell me, why is placing airlocks in oxygen and door control considered evil? Seems very convenient if you ask me... less risk of fires taking them out.

Next, i will take a short break then move onto floorplans before tackleing interiors. I don't know how ambitious i want them to be. I wan't them to look good, but maybe a simple job would be better overall... we'll see. I already have some nice ideas.

Since i can never mix audio editing and graphics, sound effects will probably be done last, if at all. Not every new toy really needs them anyway. I've done the really important one, and i hope you will enjoy the bang! once you hear it.

So that makes progress something like:

-gibs
-interiors (10%)
-weapons (95%)
-flavor text/descriptions (40%)
-drone
-sound effects (20%)

I leave you with the collection of weapon gfx, enjoy. Once the mod is finished, i will release the weapons as a standalone, if anyone wants to include them in their own mod. They're kinda specifically designed for these ships and may be ridiculously unbalanced elsewhere. Fun though.

_base.png
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Springy
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Re: [SHIP][WIP] Marauders

Postby Springy » Thu Feb 21, 2013 10:45 am

"Magma Cannon - Melts things." That made me chuckle. I love the look of those new weapons and ships so far. Keep up the good work.
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