Turbo Lanzer: Features in detail

current version: alpha

* playable, no game-breaking bugs

modular:

• TURBO LANZER is divided into a main_mod mod, and several sub_mods which can be turned on/off
• sub_mods regulate things like amount of ships, resources, new game start scenarios, less complex economy, easier start, etc.
• each sub_mod has its description, explaining what it does

idea:

• create world rather compact, but full of life (in opposite to large, but a bit empty)
• shorten time needed to manufacture own ships, ease economy, but keep some of the logistic complexity
• move challenge accent from economical planning to more warlike activities, like ship and fleet design, fleet control, dogfights and battles etc.
• make dogfights less predictable, more dynamic
• increase / manipulate scale of conflict to experience more epic battles
• re-create world, bring in some tension and emotions, make it worth effort
• increase variety of weapons, shields, other equipment

features:

• new world with long, unique history, new factions, and races
• based on tales and legends and true historical events that had place in the PARADIGM WORLDS, where creatures' story has its origins

DEGRINDERS / QUALITY OF LIFE

• grind in X4:Foundations may be a pure pleasure and fun - after all vanilla is more about chasing a rabbit, than catching it
• Turbo Lanzer shifts accent from 'chasing', to actually 'catching', so economy is supposed to be a tool to achieve military advantage within hours, not days, of game play
• there are sub_mods adding more resources, shortening construction time, increasing habitats, and storage space (also because bigger storage/habitat = less module in space = better frame rate)

ECONOMY, STATION BUILDING & LOGISTIC

• all listed features are optional (modular)
• easy economy - small and medium ship are being printed, and so to manufacture any ship of their size, there is needed only single product: Small / Medium Printing Press Cartridge (SPPC & MPPC)
• these cartridges are very easy to manufacture, and thus player (but also AI!) can easily manufacture large quantities of S and M size space ships
• several modules have been removed from supply chain needed to construct even more advanced ships, of size L and XL, however process has still some complexity
• in general, the bigger the ship, the more advanced technology is needed (in opposite to vanilla where all kinds of materials are needed to build any ship)
• all construction times have been reduced (around 10 times), except station defense modules
• all cost have been reduced (also 5-10 times), ie. less resources needed to manufacture ships
• ship, shield, engine, weapon costs, will be increased to some point, to provide basic challenge in next edition, any feedback appreciated

NEW WARFARE - new philosophy of conflict

• more ships, a lot more ships around, sectors are more populated, and each core-sector (inhabited by faction representative) is now being guarded by super-defense fleet, and ultimate line of defense
• minor factions more active, more dangerous - whole is space if more colorful and full of live, factions conduct many operations, send more ships, etc.
• all (well, 85% - work in progress) military ships have been edited to carry more weapons, and also to be able to use various sizes.
• some larger ships have smaller weapon pods as default, for instance SS Werewolf - Large size ship, can use multiple large and medium sized weapons, but even has 3 small weapon pods
• some smaller ships are able to mount larger size equipment, to become elite units, for instance S (small) fighter can equip M (medium) size engine, or M size weapon.

BALANCE, VARIETY, WEAPON & EQUIPMENT

• Vanilla divides all equipment into 2-3 grade categories, Mark1, 2 etc. The higher grade, the better and more expensive item.
• Turbo Lanzer uses alternative philosophy:

  
  

  • weapons / turrets / missiles - described by 3 most important factors - range, damage, and projectile speed - are divided into two major categories:
    • Long range: low damage, high projectile speed, good range
    • Short range. very high damage, medium projectile speed, limited range
  • shields - described by 3 most important factors - reaction time to recharge, recharge rate, maximum capacity - are graded:
    • fastest reaction time, high recharge rate, low max capacity
    • long time to shield charge activation, medium rate, very high max capacity
  • engines - described by following factors :
    • boost (acceleration speed, max time, speed)
    • travel-mode (time to turn on/off, acceleration, speed)
    • normal mode fly parameters (max speed, acceleration, yaw, pitch, inertia)
    • there are no 'best' engines
    • some have long, steady boost, medium speed and low travel-mode capability
    • other have fast, but short boost, good speed, medium travel-mode
    • each model 'specializes' in one thing, is weak in another
  • thrusters - responsible for yaw, pitch, roll and strafe - generally for ships' 'agility'
    • similar like engines, there is no 'best' thruster
    • there are special 'strafe' thrusters, other are good in rolls, etc.

COMBAT

• Combat is generally faster, more surprising, more dangerous, nuanced
• FASTER: All ships have increased speeds x2 or even x3
• Capital ships (size L and XL) are still cumbersome, but some models may be quite fast
• Speed - ship's and projectile's - plays important role, chases and hunts, evading missiles
• Most military ships have a lot more weapons pods, turrets than in vanilla
• Weapons of same size has very much different ranges and effects - there are weapon than deal huge damage up to 500 meters, and beams causing minor damage in 10+ km distance
• Ships vary a lot depending on hull resistance, speed, drones/missiles capacity etc. can play very nuanced roles, like snipers, rocket barges, bombers, anti-fighter, anti-capital,etc.

PURE_XML - OPEN PROJECT

• Turbo Lanzer is made only by xml editing and currently does not add any new assets
• It is very easy to tweak, or see changes, in the relevant sub_mod folders
• Turbo Lanzer is and will be fully open project, ie, you can do whatever you want with it
• Open project: everyone is invited to join TURBO LANZER devteam, you can also upload your mod version here on mod site, you don't need permission or anything

UNLOCKER

• some starting scenarios hidden in debug mode are now playable
• some of these scenarios got additional ships, settings, etc to fit Turbo Lanzer scale
• Xenon and Khak ships are available to manufacture - they are named as Re-Engineered X Xenon Ship - but they cannot be piloted by a player - this is beyond my abilities (now)
• almost all hidden modules (factory buildings) that were hidden to player, are now available to build by player too. It has rather decoration / immersion value, not all of them appear in building menu, so estimation is 75% of hidden buildings (like parts of Trade Station, Ring Habitats, etc.) are available
• Xenon modules are available to buy at faction representatives, UNFORTUNATELY they do not appear in the building menu
• Gently Xenons sub_mod - it may be turned of / on - that submod improves Xenon and Khak relation with player and some other factions. Xenon should even comply to police interdictions. That however makes Xenons defenseless against other aggressive factions.

FRAMERATE: it will vary a lot, depending on pc and amount of sub_faction mods

each faction has dedicated enhancing sub_mod increasing its presence - how many ships it can deploy

• • each sub_mod may be turned on/off, each submod is a burden to a framerate
  • but: thanks to a simplified economy, and better mining efficiency, better cargo storage for trading ships, all this works for a lowering of burden on PC
  • you don't need 40 traders to supply large station, 4-6 maybe 10 ships - that's all you need
  • also for that reason this mod does not need, or use any DLC.
  • there is difference in performance between peace and war, it seems that multiple projectiles have also impact on performance
  • it is advised to try some battle scenario and check how much / how many ships at battle Your Pc may handle
  • if frame rate is lower than you expect, just 'turn off' sub_mod, a couple of factions, in the extensions menu
  • certainly fact, that all ships have many more weapons, than in vanilla, as well as turrets, etc, has an impact on performance
  • this was at some point countered by lowering fired bullets per second to keep overall amount of projectiles in space at decent level
  • remember - X3 - a previous generation X-game can still easily beat any 'civilian' PC, X4 has not even warmed yet.
  • Each faction has one core sector defended by very heavy fleet, they especially may hit performance, but as this has to be 'Last Bastion Fleet, it has also to be a challenge in quantity and this is price (Argon Prime for instance is constantly patrolled by two large fleets)
  • if you pick violent scenario, where each faction will fight against each other, then from experience, I can tell, that faction begin instantly battle, grind their forces fast and by time improve framerate due to kill rate (in other words: they kill more ships, than they are able to manufacture, and thanks to that, performance improves in time)
  • also that is why economy was simplified, less buildings needed = lower hit on frame rate

KNOWN BUGS

• as adding weapons pods for several ships by trial and error xml editing, there are certainly some clipping, bad positioning, etc.
• ???