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You came into possession an ancient artifact, and earned the favor of a deity from before space and time...
DOCUMENTATION DOWNLOAD
- Steam (Full Installation)
- Nexus Mods (Modular Installation)
1. Requires Sidebar Extender to work (if using the side bar interface). The mod menu can be accessed under the "Information" section on the side bar, or the "Universe" section of the legacy menu.
2. Please remove the mod folder fully whenever you update - some files names may have changed.
- MAIN MOD: Extract the mod folder to the "extensions" folder in the X Rebirth root directory (default C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\X Rebirth\extensions).
- SUPPLEMENTS: Extract to the same folder as the main mod, overwrite if prompted.
- MISCELLANEOUS FILES:
- CWIR Compatibility Patch - This file is a standalone, and will work with either Steam or Nexus version of the mod. Simply extract the folder into the "extensions" folder in X Rebirth.
- Ship Mods Menu Patch - This file is for Nexus Mod's version only (it overwrites the default menu file with a modified one). Extract folder into the "extensions" folder in X Rebirth, overwrite all files when prompted. Currently supported mods are: "Denied Space Initiative", "Reaper's Ship Pack", "Terratech's Ship Pack", "Hunter Ships", "Redesign Ships", "Super Transport", "Project TOBS", and "Toride Colonist Builder Ship".
The "Goddess" Advantage
=======================
Simoom's Lantern is a full-featured cheat menu for X Rebirth. Not to be confused with alexalsp's CHEAT MENU; this mod was written from ground-up with a completely different logic and set of goals in mind (see Technical Discussion for details).
- Unparalleled Cinematic Immersion - "Immersion"; what a strange word to describe a cheat mod. Yet Simoom's Lantern was designed around this very concept. Although the Goddess grants you nearly unlimited power, everything action you perform still follows cause & effect. Summon your Auxiliary Fleet and watch the ships jump into your position (instead of spawning out of nothingness), complete with meticulously-tailored animation and effects! Perform an X-Perimental Jump and watch both Betty and Yisha go bonkers. Every command comes with full audio & visual feedback (often with proper reaction and commentary from the NPC's), as well as informative Event Monitor text, so you know exactly what you did and what in-game object was affected.
- Masterful Menu Layout - Designed with user-friendliness in mind, Simoom's Lantern offers a thoughtfully-designed menu categorization. Functions that players are likely to frequent (such as X-Perimental Jump and Target Manipulation) are placed right at your fingertips, while more minor cheats (such as reveal map, add money, and notoriety settings) are tucked away in the last section. I also plan on adding convenient shortcuts to the Sidebar for quick access to the various features.
- Keeping it Lean n' Mean - Offering powerful features does not means throwing in a bunch of unnecessary add-ons the user may not want! Simoom's Lantern is designed to work with only vanilla scripts and assets, thus keeping it completely save-game safe should you choose to uninstall the mod.
- Chasing Perfection - I am obsessively tidy and organized in my work. If there's a more efficient way to code a function, I do it; and retroactively update all previously-written scripts as well. Nearly all scripts in my mod have been completely written and re-written several times as I learned more about coding, and you can bet I won't stop until everything is perfect.
Limitless Possibilities, Your Choice
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Despite what the title may imply, Simoom's Lantern is much more than a simple cheat menu - it is also an extremely powerful tool set for addressing some of the most common issues and player complaints in X Rebirth.
Here are some examples of what you can do:
- Any Ship, Any Station - Yes, you heard that right! If it's in the game files, you can have it - this includes all the unique production stations, trade outposts, landmark stations, prototype PMC fighters, Kha'ak fighters, Zepp, UFO... and these things aren't just eyecandy: They are all functional via vanilla scripts! So even if you uninstall the mod, the unique ships and stations you added will continue to function! What's more, the completely original station-spawning routine closely emulates the normal construction process via an Architect, including proper build location association and obstruction check. Nobody will even know you cheated (if you don't tell)!
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A player-owned Teladi Overwatch station being created. - Deployable Weapon Platforms and Landmark Stations - Truly make a zone uniquely yours! Create impenetrable fortresses with powerful deployable Xenon and Kha'ak weapon platforms. Decorate your space with habitations, highway stations, and pirate dens! These stations are deployed at the exact location of the Skunk (complete with an obstruction check), so you can place them precisely where you want them!
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Player-owned Kha'ak weapon platforms taking on a Xenon P. - More NPC Shipyards - One of the biggest complaints many players have is there simply isn't enough economy sink for the TRULY ambitious empire-builders! With Simoom's Lantern, you can spawn a shipyard anywhere you like, then hand over control to an NPC faction via the Change Faction feature (which works on any ship or station, and can be used creatively to really customize your galaxy). Care was taken to make sure that when a player-owned station is handed to an NPC faction, the correct manager script will be assigned - so any shipyard you hand over to an NPC faction will build capital ships automatically, and create a significant sink for end products!
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New NPC shipyards created in Steady Mole. - Secure the Galaxy... with Faction Patrols - Xenons and pirates run rampant through every populated sector... Why aren't the major factions doing their job? Sure, you could post your own patrol ships in every zone, but if the micromanagement don't annoy you, the constant bombardment of combat and reputation event messages surely will! Simoom's Lantern allows you to easily and conveniently summon a patrol fleet belonging to one of the major factions in the game (you can choose the appropriate race/faction and keep the immersion), which will patrol the zone they were summoned in. Now you can make sure every zone has adequate security provided by NPC fleets, and never worry about those annoying combat messages again!
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A Family Ryak patrol fleet being summoned. - Civil War Behavior - Are you annoyed by the fact that the Teladi Union does not lay a finger on the pirates who go around Fields of Opportunity unchecked, blowing up everything in sight? Are you an empire-builder who wishes for a peaceful Albion, because the constant fighting between HoA and PMC is bad for your business? Simoom's Lantern contains tools specifically meant to address these issues! With the flick of a switch, you can turn these entwined factions against each other, or place them at peace.
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A Marauder Phoenix being engaged by TU patrol forces after hostility settings were enabled. - Canteran Plot Stations - Are you on an older campaign save, and you couldn't get all the post-plot Canteran NPC stations to build, because some of the NPC Construction Vessels were destroyed? Or perhaps you are on a non-campaign game start, but wish to reap the benefits of having those plot-specific stations? Simoom's Lantern has a tool dedicated for exactly that! With a single press of a button, the mod intelligently detects any existing Canteran plot stations in your game, and fills in only the missing ones. It also assigns the correct manager script to the shipyard, so it will build capital ships on the clock like a normal shipyard should!
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Canteran plot stations being created. Event monitor feedback shows you precisely which stations were built. - Remove Plutarch Overwatch - Annoyed that the wreck of the Plutarch Overwatch left over from the campaign never despawns? Simoom's Lantern has a fix for that, too! Safety check is included to target only the destroyed Plutarch Overwatch, so if you haven't gotten to that point in the campaign, don't worry about accidentally pressing it!
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Plutarch Overwatch wreck removed. - Disable Hostile NPC Stations - Annoyed by the fact that all stations in the game are indestructable? Patrol ships stuck attacking enemy stations while your own assets are being hammered by enemy ships? Worry no more! Simoom's Lantern comes with a highly intelligent Self-Destruct function, whose routine is completely contextual. When used against an NPC station, this feature completely disables it (removes all crew, destroys all surface elements, and sets all module hull to 1%), then sets it to "Ownerless". The ownerless status prevents any hostility from being directed toward it, therefore patrol ships won't bother with them - and can actually focus on doing something useful, like chasing after enemy ships!
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A Reiver Waystation disabled by the power of Simoom! - Reveal the Galaxy - No, I don't mean simply unlocking the galaxy map (though this mod certain can do that)! One of the major gripes many players have is the station-scanning minigame, which get boring and repetitive very quickly (and yields little tangible benefits). Simoom's Lantern comes with the ability to fully unlock all stations galaxy-wide! Never enter a Beholder drone again!
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The "Reveal Galaxy" feature comes with three modes: Unlock galaxy map, unlock station info, and unlock ship info.
Full List of Features
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- X-Perimental Jump [Working] - Simoom channels Her energy into the ship's main reactor, causing powerful ripples across space-time and allowing you to travel instantaneously to any point in the Galaxy.
- Custom-designed and spectacular-looking jump animation & sfx for the Skunk!
- Hilarious reactions from Betty and Yisha that will keep you jumping for hours just to hear all the possible dialogue outcomes.
- If the Skunk is docked on a capital ship, the capital ship will be warped instead.
- Includes safety check to prevent warp routine from activating while docked on a station or an attached construction vessel.
- Target Manipulation:
- Self-Destruct [Working] - Simoom takes over the mind of your enemies and makes them set their ship or station to self-destruct!
- Works on both ships and stations (using very different routines):
- Ships simply self-destruct.
- NPC stations are "pseudo-wrecked": Remove all crew > Destroy all surface elements > All modules set to 1% hull > Custom explosion animation (necessary since the modules didn't actually explode) > Station coverowner set to "ownerless".
The station will appear to be ownerless, which will prevent any sort of hostile action from being directed toward the "wrecked" station. This is useful, for example, if you want to secure a Xenon sector - your patrol ships won't go after the Xenon stations you disabled using this feature. Note that the trueowner of the station is unaffected, which allows for easy restoration of the station (see "Repair Station Wreck"). - Player stations are fully wrecked! This process is irreversible and cannot be cancelled. After a 40-second delay, the station will despawn entirely (allowing you to reclaim a build location, if it occupied any).
- [CAUTION] If you transferred ownership of one of the "default" NPC stations (ones that are pre-existing when the game starts) to yourself, do not use "Self-Destruct" on it. Doing so will cause the station to despawn, but re-appear upon next game load in its default state (since these stations are in fact a part of the zone map they are in). This won't ruin your game, but it may cause some strange mass traffic issues. It also won't accomplish anything (since these stations simply cannot be fully removed). If you wish to disable such a station, make sure to return the ownership back to an NPC faction before issuing "Self-Destruct".
- If target has subordinates (including drones), they are automatically destroyed as well.
- Intelligent targeting allows you to lock onto a ship or station by simply selecting a module or surface component!
- Safety routine to properly disconnect attached construction vessel if the destroyed target is a station.
- Includes safety check to apply action only to ships or stations. Event Monitor error message if target is invalid.
- Works on both ships and stations (using very different routines):
- Safe Word [Working] - Simoom grants your target Her divine protection, rendering it immune to harm.
- Discreet On/Off switches so you can be sure of the target's invulnerability setting.
- If target is a station or capital ship:
- Fully repairs all surface elements.
- Fully replenishes combat drones (with Intrepid URV Mk2).
- Fully replenishes ammunition.
- Intelligent targeting allows you to lock onto a ship or station by simply selecting a module or surface component!
- Includes safety check to apply action only to ships or stations. Event Monitor error message if target is invalid.
- Restock / Refuel [Working] - Simoom can effortlessly conjure up whatever it is that the target ship may need! From drones, ammunition, to fuel cells!
- Allows you to:
- Add drones of any type (including exclusive Xenon combat & mining drones!) in the selected amount!
- Empty target's drone bay.
- Fully restock all ammunition!
- Fully restock fuel cells!
- Intelligent targeting allows you to lock onto a ship or station by simply selecting a module or surface component!
- Includes safety check to apply action only to ships or stations. Event Monitor error message if target is invalid.
- Allows you to:
- Claim Target [Working] - Simoom sends out a powerful telepathic wave and influences the minds of your target's crew. Suddenly, working for you seem like a mighty good idea!
- If target is a ship and has a pilot, it will abort its previous task and wait for your command (run script 'player.default'). This saves you the trouble of having to add the ship to squad before it will take new orders.
- If target is a ship with no crew, then the claiming action will contextually generate new crew (small ship gets a pilot, large ship gets a full set of crew).
- If target is an NPC station, automatically issues the correct player station manager and defense officer scripts.
- If target has subordinates (including drones), their ownership will be transferred as well.
- If target and its subordinates (excluding drones) have pre-existing crew, they receive an automatic skill upgrade (5-stars).
- If target is Xenon asset (ship or station), the AI crew will be removed and proper NPC's will be contextually generated in their place. This also applies to any subordinates a Xenon commander unit may have.
- Intelligent targeting allows you to lock onto a ship or station by simply selecting a module or surface component!
- Includes safety check to apply action only to ships or stations. Event Monitor error message if target is invalid.
- Change Faction [Working] - Simoom uses Her powerful telepathy to make your target's crew think they are working for someone else entirely.
- All factions in the game are selectable!
- If target has subordinates (including drones), their ownership will be transferred as well.
- Intelligent targeting allows you to lock onto a ship or station by simply selecting a module or surface component!
- Includes safety check to apply action only to ships or stations. Event Monitor error message if target is invalid.
- Includes the following special handling for player asset handed to an NPC faction:
- Removal of crew credit accounts (for both the main target and any subordinates) - By default, player-owned NPC's have a discreet account ID that is identical to the player's (but some special entities like Architect and station Manager, have their own unique account ID's). Removing this entry prevents any chance that the transferred crew will continue to pull money from the player account, and allows them to use their new faction's account directly.
- Automatic removal of any Upkeep Missions (for the main target only. If any subordinate units have unfinished Upkeep Missions as well, use the "Remove Upkeep Missions" feature listed below).
- If transferred asset is a station, contextually issues the correct NPC station manager script (production stations, warehouse stations, and shipyards). Yes, this means any shipyard you spawn that's handed over to an NPC faction will automatically produce capships and create economy sink!
- If transferred asset is a station, switches station defense officer to run NPC defense scripts.
- Upgrade Crew [Working] - Simoom's immense powers not only can influence a mortal's mind, but can even enhance or restructure it completely! Those whom She blesses find themselves vastly better at everything they do!
- Fully upgrades all crew on the targeted ship or station to have 5-Star skills.
- If target is a production station that's missing any assigned production specialists, they will be automatically added! Event monitor feedback to display a list of added specialists, if any. You can in effect maximize NPC station productivity with this feature.
- Intelligent targeting allows you to lock onto a ship or station by simply selecting a module or surface component!
- Includes safety check to apply action only to ships or stations. Event Monitor error message if target is invalid.
- Trade Offer Updates [Working] - Simoom uses her power of suggestion to effortlessly command the targeted station to provide you with trade offer updates!
- Subscribes to trade offer updates of the targeted station (effectively the same thing as hiring a Trade Agent, except no NPC is involved).
- Intelligent targeting allows you to lock onto a station by simply selecting a module or surface component!
- Includes safety check to apply action only to stations. Event Monitor error message if target is invalid.
- Repair Station Wreck [Working] - Simoom can create just as well as she can destroy! She can fully restore a smouldering station ruin back to working order.
- Restores a disabled (pseudo-wrecked by the "Self-Destruct" feature) NPC station back to full working order. All crew are fully-replaced, as are all surface elements and destroyed drones. Ownership of the station is reset to the original faction owner (from ownerless).
- Cool custom animation on station wreck restore!
- Intelligent targeting allows you to lock onto a station by simply selecting a module or surface component!
- Includes safety check to apply action only to "ownerless" stations (which is how the mod identifies a station wrecked, since no normal station would be ownerless otherwise). Event Monitor error message if target is invalid.
- Remove Upkeep Missions [Working] - Simoom uses her celestial powers to... fix some more Egosoft issues...
- Removes any leftover Upkeep Missions that were not properly removed by the game after a player asset has been transferred to a NPC faction (such as a capital ship sold to a ship dealer, or any player station turned over to NPC control through save game hack or the use of this mod).
- Intelligent targeting allows you to lock onto a ship or station by simply selecting a module or surface component!
- Self-Destruct [Working] - Simoom takes over the mind of your enemies and makes them set their ship or station to self-destruct!
- Ship Configuration:
- Weapons/Shields/Engines [Working] - Simoom uses Her telekinetic powers to instantly construct and install any weapons, shields, or engines of your choice!
- Informative audio & visual feedback on equipment install (includes contextual sfx matching selected weapon type).
- Includes safety routine to properly uninstall any previous equipment of the same class (to prevent duplicates in save game file).
- Ammunition [Working] - For a Goddess with the power to grant life and death to stars, whipping up a few missiles is a trivial task! She also uses Her command over space-time to compress the Skunk's storage area, allowing you to carry much more ammunition.
- Ammunition capacity increased to 5000 (via patch, optional). If the mod is uninstalled, the ammunition capacity will return to normal (170). This won't break the game, but you won't be able to acquire more missiles until the number drops back below 170.
- Convenient dialogue options for choosing how many of the selected missile to add.
- Comes with a 'Restock All' option to instantly add 500 of each missile type (fully replenishes ammo storage).
- Informative audio & visual feedback on missile install (includes contextual sfx matching selected missile type).
- Other Equipment [Working] - Simoom can conjure up any miscellaneous equipment for the Skunk to improve its abilities as you see fit.
- Configure Scanners, Software, Drones, SETA, and Jump Drive. All types and MK tiers available.
- Informative audio & visual feedback on equipment install (includes contextual sfx matching selected equipment type).
- Marines [Working] - Simoom's presence on board seems to draw people to you, and you are never short of 'volunteers' who are willing to work for you, free of charge! You can now request reinforcements of marines of any tier in any squad size you want!
- Convenient dialogue options for choosing how many of the selected marines to add.
- Informative audio & visual feedback on marine arrival.
- Weapons/Shields/Engines [Working] - Simoom uses Her telekinetic powers to instantly construct and install any weapons, shields, or engines of your choice!
- Summon Fleet:
- Auxiliary Fleet [Working] - With Simoom on board, you soon find yourself surrounded by friends and allies! You now command a mighty Auxiliary Fleet who will come to your aid, no matter where you are.
- Choose from any model of ship available in the game! Includes all exclusive (normally unobtainable) ships such as Golem, Moebius, Kha'ak fighters, Xenon capital ships, UFO, Zepp, and much more!
- Convenient dialogue options for choosing how many of the selected ship to summon. Want a single fighter or a fleet of 50 Fulmekrons in one call? Your choice!
- Fully contextual crew & drone complement (another example of my attention to detail). Argon ships will carry Argon crew, Canteran ships have Canteran crew, Teladi ships have Teladis... and so on. Likewise, ships of different purposes carry the appropriate types and amounts of drones. This even applies to identical ships summoned through different categories - e.g. a Rahanas (Liquid) freighter from the "Trade Ship" menu will carry only cargo and repair drones, while the same ship summoned under "Mining Ship" will carry mining drones.
- Fully cinematic dialogue and events! Capital ships are spawned in a temporary cluster and issued an actual jump order to your position. Small ships are created in-zone, but are given custom animation & sfx on spawn to make them appear to have jumped into zone! Yisha will open comm to summon the ships, and give proper contextual comment (singular or plural, based on numbers of ships spawned) when they arrive.
- Special spawn condition for Zepp and UFO: These two ships lack any sort of weapons, so the game disallows the player from issuing any commands to them aside from "Follow Me". Therefore these two ships are issued an "Idle" command by default (which cannot be issued manually in-game) when spawned.
- Existing Asset [Working] - Tired of sluggish escorts not keeping up with you? Need to pull a ship under attack out of the jam? Simoom can manipulate the fabric of space-time to pull an existing ship to your location, irregardless of distance.
- Option to use Map menu or Property list to select a ship.
- Uses similar ship movement logic as Auxiliary Fleet. Capital ships will perform a charge-less jump, while small ships travel via a delayed warp with custom animation & sfx.
- If the summoned ship has any subordinates, they are all warped in as well!
- The summoned ship will abort its previous action and await new command. The subordinates (if any) will continue their escort duty.
- Includes safety check to apply action only to ships. Error message if target is invalid (stations are already greyed out in the selection menus, but just in case).
- Includes safety check to prevent attached construction vessels from jumping.
- Law Enforcement [Working] - Simoom's charm seems to be limitless. You can now request reinforcement from any of the major factions (PMC, HoA, RoC, AG, RYK, TU, and TER), who will promptly send you a support fleet to secure the zone you are in!
- Uses similar ship-spawning routine as Auxiliary Fleet. Ships are spawned in a temporary cluster and jump to your position (with custom animation & sfx).
- Fully contextual spawning behavior. Both capital ship and fighter models depend on the selected faction. Same with crew type.
- Cinematic dialogue and events, including confirmation hail from the lead ship's Captain!
- Summon Stations [Working] - Drawing together the minute particles that fill the vast Cosmos, Simoom can instantaneously call massive structures into existence.
- All stations from the game are available, including landmark stations, HoL highway stations, Terran colony stations, Xenon stations, Kha'ak station, and much more!
- Custom station-spawning routine that emulates the result of a normal station-building as closely as possible! First it locates a free build location in the zone, then creates a construction vessel and jumps it to the build location. A bounding box is created to clear ships out of the construction area (just like building through an Architect), and once the area is clear, the station is created.
- Cool custom animation on construction vessel & station spawn!
- Fully-functional shipyards (with working ship dealers)! This can be used in conjunction with "Change Faction" to create additional NPC shipyards anywhere in the galaxy, allowing you to generate as much economy sink as you wish.
- Deployable weapon platforms and decorative stations! These stations (Xenon & Kha'ak weapon platforms, Plutarch Overwatch, HoL highway stations, Canteran habitations, and Teladi pirate dens) are usually small in size and don't produce anything, so it doesn't make sense for them to occupy a build location. Instead, they are spawned at the exact location of the Skunk (bounding box will be created and prompt you to clear out of the area). This allows you to deploy multiple defensive platforms in the zone with precision, anywhere you like!
- Station Management:
- Restock Wares [Working] - Simoom draws upon the energy of the Cosmos to instantly replenish a station with wares.
- Instantly fills 80% of the station's storage with production wares (leaves some room for inbound freighters).
- Select a station via property list, or use your current target.
- Intelligent targeting allows you to lock onto a station by simply selecting a module or surface component!
- Remove Wares [Working] - With a snap of her fingers, Simoom empties a station of wares so you can be a little bit poorer...
- Completely empties the selected station's storage.
- Select a station via property list, or use your current target.
- Intelligent targeting allows you to lock onto a station by simply selecting a module or surface component!
- Restock Wares [Working] - Simoom draws upon the energy of the Cosmos to instantly replenish a station with wares.
- Construction Vessel:
- Summon [Working] - Simoom's influence allows you to summon an auxiliary construction vessel to you.
- All construction vessel models available, including the exclusive plot CV from the campaign.
- Uses the same spawning script as Auxiliary Fleet. Contextual drone and crew complements apply!
- Restock Wares [Working] - Simoom draws upon the energy of the Cosmos to instantly replenish a construction vessel with wares.
- This function resets the construction vessel's wares to a predetermined state. Contextual ware spawning is in place: OL construction vessels will receive different wares from others.
- Includes safety check to apply action only to construction vessels. Error message if target is invalid.
- Remove Wares [Working] - Simoom banishes the excess wares from the target ship to make room for valuables
- Empties the cargo bay of the target construction vessel.
- Includes safety check to apply action only to construction vessels. Error message if target is invalid.
- Undock [Working] - Construction vessel can't detach from a station? Station manager's orders, you say? Simoom shows the captain who's boss!
- Allows detaching of construction vessel from its parent station.
- Includes safety check to apply action only to attached construction vessels. Error message if target is invalid.
- Summon [Working] - Simoom's influence allows you to summon an auxiliary construction vessel to you.
- Auxiliary Fleet [Working] - With Simoom on board, you soon find yourself surrounded by friends and allies! You now command a mighty Auxiliary Fleet who will come to your aid, no matter where you are.
- Summon Personnel: [Working] - As aforementioned, you are never short of "volunteers" with Simoom on board! You can now summon any personnel type you require for you ships and stations.
- All NPC types are available, with proper actor group assignment for correct macro selection (something many mods and in fact many Egosoft scripts still do incorrectly). So Captains will actually look like Captains, Defence Officers like Defence Officers, and so on (no more Captains with silly trader or pilot macros!)
- Race selection! Choose from Argon, Canteran, Teladi, and Split crew!
- Contextual assignment option dialogue. Spawning NPC's who can work aboard the Skunk will trigger a dialogue option for the new NPC to work on the Skunk (previously assigned NPC is dismissed from active duty), or work somewhere else (new NPC stored in backroom, previously assigned NPC untouched).
- Includes safety check to only spawn NPC if Skunk's backroom has free space. Error message if backroom is full!
- Simoom's Magic Tricks:
- Grant Wealth [Working] - Simoom manipulates the galactic financial network and funnels credits into your account (she has no moral qualms with this; money is meaningless to Her).
- Convenient dialogue option for selecting how much credits to add.
- Custom dialogue exchange between Ren and Yisha when command is triggered.
- Grant Fame [Working] - Money AND fame? Humans are such shallow creatures! Still, Simoom finds them fascinating. You can now choose to be as famous or as notorious as you like with any faction of your choosing.
- Options for "Allied" (+30), "Neutral" (0), and "Enemy" (-30).
- All in-game factions are available, including ones you normally can't befriend!
- Grant Treasures [Working] - Too lazy to go hunt for treasures? Why bother when you have a Goddess on board! Simoom can conjure up any rare item from the galaxy... just remember, you owe her!
- Instantly complete Treasure Hunt Missions! Choose from Kha'ak Relic Collection, Ancient Relic Collection, Spacefly Egg Collection, and Rare Engine.
- Need to hack a station in a hurry? Security Decryption System is now available!
- Spawn gift items! Red Water, Haze, and Paranid Jewelry.
- All Virtual Seminars are available!
- All Weapon Mods tiers are available!
- Some amusing custom commentary by Betty.
- Legendary Weapons [Working]- Tired of bullet sponges in X-treme mode? Make your weapons legendary! Simoom can conjure up a set of powerful weapon mods (with custom stats) that is sure to turn any fight in your favor.
- Adds 50 High-Grade weapon mods with insanely high stats to your inventory (the spawned mods are random high-grade mods. Unfortunately at this time there's no way to specify what weapon type a spawned weapon mod should be for, so keep spawning these until you get one for the weapon you want).
- Feature currently uses XML patching as a workaround to MD Script's current lack of ability to customize weapon mods in any way. This unfortunately means ALL weapon mods will receive a significant attribute buff. If you feel this is too "cheaty", simply remove libraries/weaponmods.xml from the mod folder.
- Immortality [Working] - Simoom blesses your ship with Her divine protection, rendering you immune to harm.
- Discreet On/Off switches so you can be certain of the Skunk's invulnerability setting.
- Can be used to obtain unlimited boost (shield will not drain).
- Universe Manipulation:
- Reveal Galaxy:
- Unlock Galaxy Map [Working] - Simoom channels Her energy to overboost the Skunk's long range scanner, revealing all undiscovered areas.
- Cool custom animation, dialogue, & sfx on reveal!
- Unlock Stations Information [Working] - Simoom overboosts the Skunk's long range scanner to not only locate all stations Galaxy-wide, but to perform a deep-scan of all stations as well.
- Cool custom animation, dialogue, & sfx on reveal!
- All stations Galaxy-wide will show as 100% revealed. Effect is identical to if you used the scanner drone to scan all the high-secrecy modules individually.
- Unlock Ships Information [TBA] - Simoom manipulates the Skunk's long range scanner to perform a deep scan on all ships in the Galaxy.
- Cool custom animation, dialogue, & sfx on reveal!
- Feature currently disabled due to Egosoft's MD script limitation (ship secrecy is a new feature in 4.0).
- Unlock Galaxy Map [Working] - Simoom channels Her energy to overboost the Skunk's long range scanner, revealing all undiscovered areas.
- Claim Territory [Working] - Like a particular patch of space? You can have it! Nobody dares to say no to Simoom!
- Discreet switches to Stake/Release claim on the current zone you are in (zone will return to its original faction owner when claim is released).
- Safety routine to prevent claiming while player is in highway.
- Galaxy Station Upgrade:
- Trade Offer Updates [Working] - Simoom siphons the data from the galactic financial network directly into the Skunk's trade computer!
- Instantly gain access to trade offer updates from all stations galaxy-wide (excluding Xenon and Kha'ak stations).
- Upgrade Crew [Working] - Simoom decrees that everyone in the Galaxy shall strive to better themselves!
- Instantly upgrades the crew of all NPC stations (minus Kha'ak and Xenon) to 5-stars!
- Automatically adds any missing production specialists.
- Trade Offer Updates [Working] - Simoom siphons the data from the galactic financial network directly into the Skunk's trade computer!
- Civil War Behavior [Working] - Simoom casts her influence over the denizens of the selected factions, placing them at war or peace.
- Choose between Hostile and Neutral relations between PMC/HoA (useful for creating a peaceful Albion) and TU/UA, CAR (useful for keeping pirate activity in Fields of Opportunity low).
- When hostilility is enabled, the factions are set to 'relation.killmilitary.max'. They will only shoot each other's combat ships; trade ships should be unaffected.
- Canteran Plot Stations [Working] - Simoom apparently has a soft spot for the Canterans; perhaps She misses Earth as well... She can use her powers to restore the poor state of the Canteran sectors.
- Intelligently detects and spawns any missing Canteran stations (4 in total) that are built as a part of the campaign. This is usually a problem if you are on an older save, as the construction vessels tended to be destroyed before the stations are built.
- All spawned stations are in a fully-extended state (all sequences/stages completed). This includes a working shipyard with the correct manager script assignment (it will automatically build capships).
- Feature works for Free Play and other game starts! Reap the benefits of these campaign stations even if you are not on a campaign save!
- Includes fix to assign the correct script to the shipyard manager, if you are on a campaign save and the shipyard has already been built (allows automatic capship construction). Please read these instructions for more details.
- Remove Plutarch Overwatch [Working] - Simoom can use her immense powers to make even the mighty hull of the Plutarch Overwatch vanish into nothingness.
- Removes the leftover wreck from the Plutarch Overwatch (campaign) from the universe.
- Safety check to only apply action to the "ownerless" (set that way by Egosoft's script after it blows up in the campaign) Plutarch Overwatch station specifically in Twilight Sentinel. So in case you built your own Overwatch stations using this mod, they are safe.
- Reveal Galaxy:
- Grant Wealth [Working] - Simoom manipulates the galactic financial network and funnels credits into your account (she has no moral qualms with this; money is meaningless to Her).
Game Asset Changes
===================
Although Simoom's Lantern sticks to vanilla scripts and assets, some XML patches were unfortunately necessary to make certain features function properly, or to overcome Egosoft oversights. Do not worry, the kind of modifications made by this mod is not harmful to your save game, even if the mod were removed. Generally, compatibility with other mods should be decent, as Simoom's Lantern doesn't introduce extensive alterations to the vanilla scripts. Below is the list of contained patch files.
- Main Mod XML Patches: All files here are safe to remove (won't harm your save game), though mod functionality may be affected.
- [Essential] assets\structures\[...] - The files here add actual storage capacity to the Xenon Repository station modules, which is required for the Xenon stations spawned by the mod to be actually functional (Xenon stations are capable of Antimatter Cell production, but have no storage).
Removal of this patch is NOT recommended, as the Xenon production stations are not functional otherwise. - [Trivial] assets\units\player\macros[...] - The files here increase the Skunk's ammo storage to 5000 (from 170).
- [Essential] libraries\weaponmods.xml - Significantly boosts all weapon mods attributes. This patch is an unfortunate necessity to make the "Legendary Weapons" feature even somewhat functional (at this time there's no way to specify the attributes of a spawned weapon mod via MD). Consider this a temporary workaround until more advanced MD script functions are implemented.
- [Essential] md\Upkeep_Management.xml - Excludes certain stations (landmarks, weapon platforms, etc.) from generating Upkeep missions. Also removes drone delivery missions for mining ships (in case the player wishes to use them as trading ships).
Removal of this patch is NOT recommended, as you may be stuck with inappropriately-generated Upkeep missions. - [Essential] md\Upkeep.xml - Removes Extend Station Upkeep missions (which are useless, since the player may not wish to fully extend a station). Also changes requirements for Assign Trade Ship and Assign Mining Ship type missions so that Trading and Mining ships can be used interchangeably (as they should). Lastly, it adds a "backdoor" to allow Upkeep missions to be aborted if the mission target is signaled (this is used by the mod to clear out Upkeep missions when a player asset is turned over to a NPC faction, since <event_object_changed_owner> doesn't trigger properly).
Removal of this patch is NOT recommended, as you may be stuck with Upkeep missions for assets you already turned over to a NPC faction. - [Essential] md\NPC_Architect.xml - Adds proper routine for architect to detect attached station (or lack of one), and generate the correct dialogue options.
Removal of this patch is NOT recommended, as an architect may present you with the incorrect dialogue choices if a CV were undocked from the station by this mod, or if its parent station is destroyed. - [Essential] md\NPC_Engineer.xml - Provides a necessary change to overcome an Egosoft oversight (custom Engineers are still assigned a timeout value). Without this patch, there's literally no way to spawn an Engineer NPC who's not assigned to duty, and not have him despawn immediately after being assigned somewhere and the player leaves the zone. Also provides a tweak to allow Engineers to be assigned to player stations via dialogue (special thanks to w.evans for lending me his codes).
Removal of this patch is NOT recommended, as any Engineers you spawn via "Summon Personnel" will simply disappear in low attention. - [Trivial] md\NPC_Staff.xml - Allows captains and pilots to be called back to the Skunk through the "Come back on board" dialogue option.
- [Essential] assets\structures\[...] - The files here add actual storage capacity to the Xenon Repository station modules, which is required for the Xenon stations spawned by the mod to be actually functional (Xenon stations are capable of Antimatter Cell production, but have no storage).
- Supplements XML Patches: All files here are safe to remove (won't harm your save game), with no side effect on mod functionality.
- [Trivial] aiscripts\engineer.player.xml - Adds the ability for an Engineer assigned to the Skunk to repair hull damage (up to 100% for 5-star).
- [Trivial] aiscripts\trade.shipyard.xml - Removes the location-dependent shipyard cooldown between automated capital ship builds (for Albion and DeVries). With the patch, all shipyards galaxy-wide will have a universal 10-20 minutes cooldown. This speeds up the overall end product consumption rate, particularly in DeVries where the vanilla cooldown is between 170-190 minutes.
- [Trivial] assets\props\SurfaceElements\Macros\enginebooster_player_01_macro.xml - Significantly increases the speed, acceleration, and maneuverability of the Skunk's boosters. Also removes the 10% shield requirement for boost activation.
- [Trivial] assets\props\SurfaceElements\Macros\unit_player_dronelaunchpad_macro.xml - Increases the Skunk's unit capacity to 150 (from 50). This allows the player to carry either more marines or more drones.
- [Trivial] assets\units\size_l\units_size_l_xenon_01.xml & units_size_l_xenon_01_macro.xml - Adds a dock location to the Xenon K. Patch removal will not affect ship functionality (crew will exist in the control room).
- [Trivial] assets\units\size_xl\units_size_xl_xenon_01.xml & units_size_xl_xenon_01_macro.xml - Adds a dock location to the Xenon I. Patch removal will not affect ship functionality (crew will exist in the control room).
- [Trivial] libraries\ships.xml - Makes all Xenon K and Xenon I spawned by patrol jobs boardable by default.
Known Incompatibilities
======================
Depending on whether or not you installed the Supplements package, Simoom's Lantern may be incompatible with the following mods:
- CHEAT MENU - This mod contains a large number of XML patches that will conflict with my files. Additionally there are a lot of overlapping features, so choose one or the other.
- Xenon Hunt 3 - The Supplements package contains conflicting patch files, allowing for basically the same functions (boarding of Xenon capital ships).
- Hull 3x Skunk - The Supplements package contains conflicting patch file, allowing for Skunk hull repair by the on board Engineer (my implementation is recommended... see this post for details).
- RS Booster (or any player booster mod) - The Supplements package contains patch file for overtuning player booster.
[WIP] Really Badly-Written Backstory for the Mod (ignore for now)
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In a stuffy antique shop on a run-down station in Toride, you came across a curious artifact.
'What is that?' You asked.
'Oh, this...' Croaked the shop-owner, whose wrinkled features looked about as ancient as the artifact itself. 'This is an old item from Earth. A latern, they used to call it. You put oil in it and light it at night.'
'Oh Ren! It's so pretty!' Shrieked Yisha in her ever-agitating voice.
'Right... and how old did you say this is?' You inquired with skepticism.
'Impossibly old. Made in an age long-forgotten.'
'Riiiiight....'
'Ren, I want it! The Skunk could use some decorating! And an old lantern - oh how romantic!' Yisha was positively getting on your nerve now, and you furrowed your brow in annoyance.
'You should always listen to the ladies, boy. They are always right.' The shop-owner was ganging up on you now, as Yisha clung to your arm flirtatiously.
'I have a feeling I don't want to know how much the asking price is...'
'For you, just 5 million credits!' The old man grinned as Yisha clung onto you tighter.
'..........'
Back aboard the Skunk, Yisha happily set the lantern down above the cockpit's central console.
'Unknown object detected.' Betty alarmed.
'Shut up Better.' Yisha said dismissively as she filled the lantern with an aromatic oil (which you had to pay extra for). 'Ready for some romantic mood lighting?'
'Whatever...' You slumped into the pilot's seat, sulking about the 5 million credits you just practically gave away. 'I could have bought a ship for that.'
'Hey, lighten up! It's not like you paid me for these past 3 months.' Yisha retorted as she lit the odd contraption.
'Yeah... well...' It wasn't as if she ever did anything helpful around the ship, you wanted to say. But wisely, you kept your mouth shut.
'Irregularity detected.' Betty went off again.
'Betty, seriously...'
Suddenly, the cockpit alarm triggered.
'Warning! Unknown lifeform detected! Warning! Anomaly detected! Error! Does not compute.'
'Shut off that damn thing!' You shouted over the blaring alarm.
'Cargo bay now contains... Argon Prime.' Better said as a strange crimson smoke began to fill the cabin.
'Okay. This is getting weird...'
'WHO DARES DISTURB MY SLUMBER?' Thundered an ominous voice that shook the air around you.
'Hi, my name is Yisha-'
'SILENCE, PEST! I SPEAK TO THE RIGHTFUL OWNER OF THIS LANTERN.'
'Okay... uh... shutting up now...'
'I am Ren Otani, captain of the Albion Skunk. And who might you be?'
'I have no name, for I existed before words, before history. But you may address me as Simoom, the Saharan wind, as humankind has always done.' The voice now softened and became more distinct. A woman's voice - powerful, commanding, quite unlike a certain someone's copilot.
'Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Simoom, but I must say I have never heard of you. The person I bought your lantern from said it came from Earth. We are pretty far from there, you know.'
'Oh? Has humankind finally learned to traverse the stars? I have been gone too long.' The strange red mist now began to swirl and take on a humanoid shape. As the last tendrils of fog peeled away, you beheld wordlessly a pearlescent bipedal leopard shrouded in an ornate crimson cloak.
'Just... what are you..?'
'I was time before time. I was the wind that shaped the stars. Before the Sun I was light. But never before have I seen the stars through the window of a ship built by men. I think I shall stay a while.'
You were fascinated for sure, and knew you were in no position to decline her, anyhow.
'Warning! Hostile ships detected!' The alarms went off again. In your fascination, you had momentarily forgotten how dangerous Toride could be.
'Ren! Xenons!' Yisha shouted as the menacing silhouettes of three Xenon K's jumped into view.
'Uh-oh. Better get out of here fast!'
Behind you, the she-leopard snapped her fingers. Once. Twice. Thrice.
The three Xenon ships turned into three flashy bright balls of nuclear explosion.
'I said, I am staying a while.' The demi-god emphasized, before retreating into the back room.
'Yisha... do me a favor.' You muttered to your copilot. 'Don't piss her off.'
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Many thanks to these people for their help: UniTrader, w.evans, pref, jth, Marvin Martian, and all the community testers!