Changing energy output on weapons.

Kremit

You have to first know what the model is for the sabre and find it in the shiparch.ini that way. Example, the Hawk and Eagle are actually ge_fighter5 and ge_fighter6 (respectively); or the sabre is bw_elite2.

Look for Ship ids_name = 237012. However, finding the details in shiparch.ini won’t help.

The advice suggested w/ the generator is actually assigned in another ini file. So there’s two ways to accomplish your desires…

First Method: Change loadout and repurchase ship.

Convert and open goods.ini for editting.
goods.ini (two sections to look for, one to edit):

[Good]
nickname = bwe2_hull
category = shiphull
ship = bw_elite2
price = 505000
ids_name = 12017
item_icon = Equipment\models\commodities\nn_icons\bw_heavy.3db
```This segment requires no modification unless you want to adjust the price of the ship. Nickname = bwe2_hull. There's an entry further down in goods.ini for that nickname to refer to.

[Good]
nickname = bwe2_package
category = ship
hull = bwe2_hull
addon = ge_bwe2_engine_01, internal, 1
addon = bw_elite2_power01, internal, 1
addon = ge_s_scanner_01, internal, 1
addon = ge_s_tractor_01, internal, 1
addon = shield01_mark07_hf, HpShield01, 1
addon = LargeWhiteSpecial, HpHeadlight, 1
…

Change out:
addon = bw_elite2_power01, internal, 1
to:
addon = infinite_power, internal, 1
then repurchase your ship to get the ship with the new generator.

- or -

Second method: Change values of generator your ship is already equipped with. (More work, but spares you from having to repurchase ship. Would deter from this method because change to a specific generator will also have altering effects for enemies using the same generator. Therefore it is better, IMO, to put infinite_power to the ships package in goods.ini so only the package you buy has an over powered generator.)

Open misc_equip.ini and modify the values for the engine already assigned to your ship's package. For the Sabre, it should be "bw_elite2_power01".

[Power]
nickname = bw_elite2_power01
ids_name = 263712
ids_info = 264712
volume = 0.000000
mass = 10
DA_archetype = equipment\models\hardware\li_fusion_reactor.3db
material_library = equipment\models\hardware.mat
capacity = 10400
charge_rate = 1040
thrust_capacity = 1000
thrust_charge_rate = 100
lootable = false

change to (something like)

[Power]
nickname = bw_elite2_power01
ids_name = 263712
ids_info = 264712
volume = 0.000000
mass = 10
DA_archetype = equipment\models\hardware\li_fusion_reactor.3db
material_library = equipment\models\hardware.mat
capacity = 50000
charge_rate = 50000
thrust_capacity = 10000
thrust_charge_rate = 1000
lootable = false

In short:
capacity = (amount of energy you can store all together)
charge_rate = (amount of energy regenerated per measurement of time)
thrust_capacity = (amount of energy you can store for thrusters)
thrust_charge_rate = (amount of thruster energy regenerated per measurement of time)

Kremit

There’s also a third way, which is editing the weapons themselves in weapon_equip.ini.

Ammo:

[Munition]
nickname = xxxxxxxx_ammo
(...crap...)
hull_damage = 20.400000
energy_damage = 0
(effects)
lifetime = 0.800000
(...more crap...)
```hull_damage is the physical damage inflicted upon impact.
energy_damage is shield damage inflicted upon impact.
lifetime is the distance the projectile will travel. (1.0 = 1m)

Gun:

[Gun]
nickname = xxxxxx_mark01
(…crap…)
hit_pts = 548
(…crap…)
power_usage = 6.380000
refire_delay = 0.120000
muzzle_velocity = 750
(…crap…)
turn_rate = 90
(…final crap…)

power_usage is the amount of power/energy consumed on each shot fired.
refire_delay is the rate the gun fires. The lower the value, the quicker the gun fires.
muzzle_velocity is the speed the projectile travels at.
turn_rate is the radius (in angles) the gun can swivel/pivot to target objects.

Edit:
Changing values in weapons may have undesired effects from NPCs equipped with the same weapons. It is recommended if you chose to exercise this method, you may want to create a new nickname for the gun and ammo. Personally, I went with sp_gun01_mark01 and sp_gun01_mark01_ammo so I could ensure my ship was equipped with the "special" gun and still rest easy knowing a NPC won't cheese me with the guns in return.

Zyos

Wasn’t there some funky rule about you needing to put half the amount of damage because it did twice as much to shield or something to that affect? It’s been a long time for me haha.

Kremit

Not sure about that Zyos, I use 512 hull and 512 shield, so I don’t one shot everything, but still blast through it pretty quickly.

Goulash

@ Zyos

You’re thinking of the setting in constants.ini.

[ShieldEquipConsts]
HULL_DAMAGE_FACTOR = 0.500000

This meant that no matter what the hull damage is set to, even 0, it will still get half of the hull damage from a weapon as all of them are set to do shield and hull damage strangely.

Easiest way to fix that was to set it 0, and alter the weapons so certain weapons only did hull damage and certain ones only did shield damage. A lot of mods do their weapons like this. No idea why vanilla was such a PIA with this, oh wait, it’s a M$ product dumbed down for 2yr olds.

Zyos

Ah yes, thanks for that.

CK256

Here’s a weapon tutorial I pulled together from various sources (thx to them ) you might find it useful.

The best way to get quick results is to edit an existing weapon look in DATA\Equipment\weapon_equip.ini file in the game files.

Download a good text editor like Notepad++ http://notepad-plus-plus.org/download
it just makes editing lines of code easier.

The underscore _ is used to separate words not a space.

[Munition]
nickname = Super_Blaster01_ammo [anything at all as long as the name isn’t used elsewhere it’s ok]

hp_type = hp_gun

requires_ammo = false [always false for energy weapons, true for missiles and guns using ammo]

hit_pts = 2 [how much damage to destroy the projectile if you can hit it!]

hull_damage = 500 [how much damage a hull impact causes]

energy_damage = -40 [energy_damage = -40 (shield damage in game this is 500/2 - 40 = 210)]

weapon_type = W_Plasma01 [relates to how well the weapon performs against specific shields]

one_shot_sound = fire_plasma4 [loads of sounds available DATA\AUDIO\SOUNDS\WEAPONS]

munition_hit_effect = rh_plasma_03_impact [the flash when the round hits the target]

const_effect = rh_plasma_03_proj [the trail the round leaves as it heads toward the target]

lifetime = 1.100000 [ lifetime of the round if it hasn’t hit a target before this time it disappears]

force_gun_ori = true [not sure leave alone]

mass = 1

volume = 0.000100 [how much space ammo type gun or missile takes up in the hold need to adjust this so ships can’t carry thousands of missiles]

Lifetime x muzzle_velocity = range so here 1.1 x 500 = 550

This is a short range weapon typically 600 - 650 is the mid range and over 700 the long range, I think the chances of hitting a fighter target beyond 500-600 are low so the 800 - 1200 range is for slow or static targets.

[Gun]
nickname = Super_Blaster01 [as long as the name isn’t used elsewhere it’s ok]

ids_name = 458846 [the in game name, FL Developer used to create new DLL entries]

ids_info = 458847 [the in game info, FL Developer used to create new DLL entries]

FL develpoer used to edit/create ids entries that are stored in the .DLL files

http://forge.the-starport.net/projects/fldev/files

DA_archetype = EQUIPMENT\MODELS\WEAPONS\no_fighter_gun.cmp

[see above, what the gun model looks like on the ship, here there’s nothing to see as the nomad guns don’t have the external visible models that’s why I used it!]

material_library = EQUIPMENT\MODELS\rh_equip.mat [the texture for the gun model]

HP_child = HPConnect [not sure leave alone]

hit_pts = 8000 [how much damage the gun can take before it’s destroyed]

explosion_resistance = 1.000000 [not sure leave alone]

debris_type = debris_normal [the bits that fall off when the gun is destroyed]

parent_impulse = 20 [not sure leave alone]

child_impulse = 80 [not sure leave alone]

volume = 0.000000

mass = 10

hp_gun_type = hp_gun_special_2

damage_per_fire = 0 [not sure but probably damages the ship or gun when fired]

power_usage = 65 [the power drain for each round fired, here 4x65 = 260 per second]

refire_delay = 0.250000 [the time between each round in seconds, here 4 per second]

muzzle_velocity = 500 [speed, lifetime x muzzle_velocity = range so here 1.1 x 500 = 550]

use_animation = Sc_fire [not sure leave alone]

toughness = 12.700000 [not sure leave alone]

flash_particle_name = rh_plasma_03_flash [muzzle flash plenty to choose from]

flash_radius = 15 [the size of the muzzle flash]

light_anim = l_gun01_flash [how it looks when firing]

projectile_archetype = Super_Blaster01_ammo [references the ammo defined above]

separation_explosion = sever_debris [not sure leave alone]

auto_turret = false [for NPC use doesn’t apply to player ships]

turn_rate = 90 [not sure leave alone]

lootable = true [can be picked up after your ship is destroyed ]

LODranges = 0 [how far away the weapon is visible from usually reads “LODranges = 0, 20, 60, 100”]

To summarise the parts that we are likely to change are

nickname = *__ammo

requires_ammo = false (or true for missiles and guns with ammo requirements)

hull_damage = ****

energy_damage = ** (usually 0 current default hull to shield ratio is 2:1, + or - values will increase or decrease the shield damage

e.g. Hull_Killer01

hull_damage = 300
energy_damage = -150 (300/2 = 150 - 150 = 0, no shield damage a hullbuster!)

weapon_type = W_Plasma01 (I’d leave this as is, the spread with different shields is +/- 20%)

one_shot_sound = fire_plasma4 (play back the sounds and use what you like but remember a high ROF weapon needs a short effect or the effects will blur into each other but maybe that’s what you’re after)

List 1 weapon fire sounds

fire_missile_regular
fire_missile_homing
fire_missile_emp
fire_cruise_disruptor
fire_torpedo
fire_mine_regular
fire_mine_tracking
fire_photon<1-5>
fire_laser<1-5>
fire_tachyon<2-5> (1 is never used)
fire_particle<1-5>
fire_neutron<2-5> (1 is never used)
fire_pulse<1-5>
fire_plasma<1-5>
fire_capship
fire_capship_forward_gun
fire_no1
fire_no_cruise_disruptor
fire_no_torpedo
fire_no_capship

munition_hit_effect = rh_plasma_03_impact

Pirates:
pi_photon_<01-04>impact [the range is pi_photon_01_impact to pi_photon_04_impact]
pi_laser<01-04>impact
pi_tachyon<01-04>impact
pi_particle<01-04>impact
pi_neutron<01-04>impact
pi_pulse<01-03>impact
pi_plasma<01-03>_impact
pi_capgun_01_impact

Liberty:
li_laser_<01-04>impact
li_plasma<01-04>_impact
li_capgun_01_impact

Bretonia:
br_tachyon_<01-04>impact
br_particle<01-03>_impact
br_capgun_01_impact

Kusari:
ku_neutron_<01-04>impact
ku_photon<01-04>impact
ku_capgun_01_impact
Rheinland:
rh_tachyon<01-04>impact
rh_plasma<01-04>_impact
rh_capgun_01_impact

Civilian:
ci_laser_<01-03>impact
ci_pulse<01-04>impact
ci_photon<01-04>impact
ci_tachyon<01-04>_impact
ci_capgun_01_impact

Nomad:
rtc_nomadtorpedo_impact
no_capgun01_impact
no_gun01_rank01_impact

codenames:
sp_annihilator_<01-03>impact
sp_bloodhound<01-03>impact
sp_destabilizer<01-03>impact
sp_distortion<01-03>impact
sp_doomsday<01-03>_impact

const_effect = rh_plasma_03_proj [

List 3 constant effect

[Munition]
'const_effect = ’
This is the “look” of the projectile, mostly you will only notice this one in a firefight.

Liberty:
li_laser_<01-04>proj
li_plasma<01-04>_proj
li_missile<01-02>_drive
li_empmissile_drive
li_cruisedis01_drive
li_torpedo01_drive
li_mine<01-02>
li_capgun_01_proj
li_cruiser_maingun
li_flakcannon01_proj

Bretonia:
br_tachyon_<01-04>proj
br_particle<01-04>_proj
br_missile<01-02>_drive
br_empmissile_drive
br_mine<01-02>
br_gunboat_maingun
br_capgun_01_proj
br_flakcannon01_proj

Kusari:
ku_neutron_<01-04>proj
ku_photon<01-04>_proj
ku_missile<01-02>_drive
ku_empmissile_drive
ku_cruisedis01_drive
ku_torpedo01_drive
ku_mine<01-02>
ku_gunboat_maingun
ku_capgun_01_proj
ku_flakcannon01_proj

Rheinland:
rh_tachyon_<01-04>proj
rh_plasma<01-04>_proj
rh_missile<01-02>_drive
rh_empmissile_drive
rh_mine<01-02>
rh_gunboat_maingun
rh_capgun_01_proj
rh_flakcannon01_proj

Pirate:
pi_missile<01-02>drive
pi_mine<01-02>
pi_photon<01-04>proj
pi_laser<01-04>proj
pi_tachyon<01-04>proj
pi_particle<01-04>proj
pi_neutron<01-04>proj
pi_pulse<01-03>proj
pi_plasma<01-03>_proj
pi_capgun_01_proj

Civilian:
ci_photon_<01-04>proj
ci_tachyon<01-04>proj
ci_laser<01-04>proj
ci_pulse<01-04>_proj
ci_capgun_01_proj

Nomad:
no_gun01_rank01_proj
no_cruisedis01_drive
rtc_nomadtorpedo_proj
no_capgun01_proj

Codenames:
sp_annihilator_<01-03>proj
sp_bloodhound<01-03>proj
sp_destabilizer<01-03>proj
sp_distortion<01-03>proj
sp_doomsday<01-03>_proj

lifetime;

round flight time in seconds x muzzle velocity = range

power_usage;

energy drain per round, total per second x ROF

refire_delay;

the time between each round in seconds

muzzle_velocity;

max round speed

The weapon also needs an entry in the DATA\EQUIPMENT\weapon_good.ini so it can be sold at a base

[Good]
nickname = Super_Blaster01
equipment = Super_Blaster01
category = equipment (for making ships available for sale this will say ship)
price = 28000 (whatever you want really depends on the game economic set up)
item_icon = EQUIPMENT\MODELS\COMMODITIES\NN_ICONS\equipicon_missilelauncher.3db (line above determines the icon seen in the equipment vendors window)
combinable = false
ids_name = 458846 (same as weapon_equipment entry)
ids_info = 458847 (same as weapon_equipment entry)
shop_archetype = EQUIPMENT\MODELS\WEAPONS\rh_proton_blaster.cmp
material_library = EQUIPMENT\MODELS\rh_equip.mat

To make the weapon available for sale at a base we need an entry in the DATA\EQUIPMENT\narket_misc.ini file

[BaseGood]
base = Li01_01_base
MarketGood = Super_Blaster01, 0, 0, 10, 10, 0, 1

Note weapons that need ammo have a line here as well and an entry in the weapon_good.ini too.

StarTrader

Heheh….

I think you just confused the heck out of orubun.

LancerSolurus

Dont forget this tool for setting up your weapons….

http://digitalbrilliance.com/Downloader/index.php?action=downloads&id=32

orubun

That`s 110% StarTrader. As a noob im sitting here and get a big ? over my head… Will test and se what happen. Maybe i will need to reinstall and maybe not, well se what happends. Thx for all the help so far.

Zyos

Thanks guys, all useful information I’m re-learning here

Hey LS, long time no see

LancerSolurus

Howdy, Im still lurking around here

StarTrader

Orubun - this may help, it’s a spreadsheet file listing all of the weapons (but not mines) in plain Freelancer.

They are sorted on 3 spreadsheets by game name, english name and by ids_name (infocard number).

It’s in Excel format when you unzip it. OpenOffice.Org and Libre Office and others can open it.

Ask when you need more info or help.

orubun

Did everything again, and this time i used admin ship to harvest some items and implemented thoes on my ship and got this sweet ride, and as some great men use to say: with great powers come great responsebilitys. So i used Freelancer simple save editor and got this:

ship_archetype = 2805431751

equip = 2225053383, , 1
equip = 2227458894, , 1
cargo = 2520964673, 1, , , 0
cargo = 3183993227, 1, , , 0
equip = 2486738757, HpTorpedo01, 1
equip = 2540429962, HpTorpedo02, 1
equip = 2540429962, HpPilot, 1
equip = 2540429962, HpCM01, 1
equip = 2540429962, HpMine01, 1
equip = 2540429962, HpShield01, 1
equip = 2794766404, HpThruster01, 1
equip = 2281020552, HpWeapon01, 1
equip = 2281020552, HpWeapon06, 1
equip = 2281020552, HpWeapon05, 1
equip = 2281020552, HpWeapon04, 1
equip = 2281020552, HpWeapon03, 1
equip = 2281020552, HpWeapon02, 1
equip = 2371124352, HpTurret01, 1
equip = 2679995081, , 1
equip = 2894877573, , 1

Try it out for a spinn and feel the wind in your hair…

Thx for all the help i got and ceep doing what you are best on… All thumbs up to you all…

Zyos

@LS

I woulda thought you’d have your engine done by now, you started that before I left and that was nearly 4 years back, hows it going now?

LancerSolurus

I rebuilt it from scratch a little over a year ago after I ran into some major limitations using the fixed function pipeline of DirectX. I switched over to shaders only and now I have way more graphics features than I could ever of had the previous way.

BTW the tool I posted is so you can adjust your weps properly. FL uses a per second fire rate and energy usage, that tool will allow get the values needed to simply plug in your wep scripts.

robocop

I seem to recall that the speed of the projectile had something to do with energy damage on guns. (I know it does with missiles but I seem to recall that it works with guns as well).

Someone once explained to me that the reason the Kraken2 guns are more powerful than you would expect is because they’re the fastest projectile out there in their class. Same principle as the beam weapon mod.

If this is true, does anyone have the formula that factors projectile speed into the equation?

I know the down and dirty formula is hull_damage * refire rate gives you the damage/second.

Can anyone confirm and clarify?

Thx.

Skotty

muzzle_velocity = constant speed

thats all for guns.

If you have a missile/torpedo, means a motor, always calculate
acceleration * lifetime of motor + muzzle_velocity = endspeed

Of course everytime + ship speed while you are firing.

Southpaw

Every time I open one of the INIs, I get character salad. Lots of squares, symbols, and punctuation. The bottom of the file is written in plain enough English with discernable characters, but I cant read the stuff above it. Any idea what’s going on?

adoxa

The release files are stored as binary, you need to convert them to text. Try Tini (command line program) for one-off conversions, or JFLP for all of them (plus lots more).