Editing base ownership, and editing random job targets?
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After spending some time editing reputation and ships, I’m starting to feel a bit more ambitious. Something I would like to do now, if it is not too complicated to do so, is edit a base to change the faction that controls it, change the random jobs that are offered there, and maybe the NPCs that can be found there. How would I do that? Is it possible simply by editing .ini files?
Specifically, I would like to do the following. If I could get specific (and simple) instructions for doing so, that’d be great.
== Change Kabukicho Depot’s ownership to the Blood Dragons, and fill it with Blood Dragon NPCs who say the same stuff that the NPCs in Kyoto Base say. (I don’t like how the Blood Dragons’ only base is sort of isolated off in it’s own system, so I’d like to give them another one in a more populated system.)
== Change Narita Outpost’s ownership to the Hogosha, and have Kabukicho’s original NPCs appear here. (Storywise, the Hogosha’s operations are “technically legal” so it kinda-sorta makes sense for them to have a base out in the open.)
== Change Shinjuku Station’s ownership to the Kusari Navy. Move Shinjuku Station’s NPCs to Yokohama Shipyard, and populate Shinjuku with Navy and Police NPCs.
== Change Planet Junyo’s ownership to the Kusari Police. The NPCs can stay the same, but the vendors and bartender should be aligned with the Police.
== Change Tsushima Depot’s ownership to the Kusari Navy.
== Change Nansei Research Complex’s ownership to the Blood Dragons, and fill it with Blood Dragon NPCs (and maybe a few Golden Cs since they’re supposed to be kindasorta allies). Move Nansei’s original NPCs to Tsushima. (Just so the Blood Dragons can have one more base, and Nansei is out of the way enough to be a plausible location for an outlaw faction’s base. I kind of like the Blood Dragons a little bit, if you couldn’t tell, and I’d like for them to have a bit more presence in the game. One BD base in an otherwise-empty system and a few BD NPCs on one other faction’s only base in a nearly as desolate system just isn’t enough.)
== Every base mentioned above also offers jobs that reflects the factions who now hang out there.
Or, failing that, perhaps I could create an entirely new base, cobbled together from existing assets? I have a feeling this would be more complicated, but it might not be. Couldn’t hurt to ask. I’d prefer to remodel existing bases though, depending on how complicated a task that is.
I’d also like to change the random jobs that specific factions offer. For example, the Blood Dragons give jobs to attack the Kusari Police and Kusari Navy. Would it be possible to change that to have them give jobs to attack Samura Industries and the Hogosha instead?
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!
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Everything you mentioned can be done by editing lines in mbases.ini
As for exact tutorials, unsure if there are any up to date ones. To get you started at least, check the mbase.ini link I provided above for some basic info on what sections do. After that, make a backup of your own mbases.ini before you start tinkering. If you are directly editing the game files, using FL Mod Studio might be beneficial to you when it comes to editing the INIs compared to a text editor since you are just starting out.
Sorry I couldnt provide more info right now but maybe someone else will be able to provide better links or a full blown tutorial for you.
After looking a bit more, it might be time to update the mbases.ini entry in the wiki…
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While your request is entirely feasible, it will be far more complicated then you think to actually pull off anything you mentioned.
Without enough understanding of Freelancers ini “database” you will get seemingly mysterious crashes.
Therefore I suggest you read some forum posts to improve your understanding and to learn about the tools you might need.
Be sure to take a look on the wiki as well -
Yeah, this does seem more complicated than what I’ve been doing up until now. I messed with the mbases.ini a bit, but the sheer amount of information in this one file is a bit overwhelming.
Let’s start simple and go one thing at a time. I’d greatly appreciate if someone could walk me through this and help me figure it out. I just think I’m going to need a little help doing this.
Let’s start with changing which faction controls a base. How do I change that? Editing the “localfaction” line does not appear to have done it, as I tested that by changing a friendly planet’s (specifically, Pittsburgh) localfaction to a faction I was neutral with, but the planet remained friendly/green when I clicked on it while out in space.
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The base ownership needs to be changed at the system INI level as well. That’s why when your in space, the rep hasn’t changed. Sadly, I’m not in a position to provide indepth guidance on how to accomplish all that you’re asking. Maybe in a few days, I could try to add some additions to the site wiki that are lacking. Again, I would try to read through what is available there if possible to get a basic understanding of how the different INIs work. FL is simple in that the vast majority of it can be modded with just a text editor but that also makes it daunting since multiple INIs might need edits to get a desired outcome.
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Okay, what all .ini files do I need to edit just to change the faction that controls a given base? I just want to focus on that for now, ignore the other stuff I asked about for now.
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To edit the rep that you see when you encounter the base in space, you’ll need to edit the base’s [Object] section in the system INI found in DATA\UNIVERSE\SYSTEMS[SystemID][SystemID].ini.
Example:
To edit Planet Pittsburgh, you will need to open DATA\UNIVERSE\SYSTEMS\LI01\Li01.ini and edit two [Object] entries since it is a planet that has a docking ring.[Object]
nickname = Li01_02
ids_name = 196767
pos = 52238, 0, -78213
rotate = 0, 0, 20
Archetype = planet_desored_1500
ids_info = 65765
spin = 0, 0.01, 0
atmosphere_range = 1650
burn_color = 255, 222, 160
base = Li01_02_Base
Ambient = 35, 35, 45
reputation = co_me_grp[Object]
nickname = Li01_02_dock_ring
ids_name = 261169
pos = 50655, 0, -77595
rotate = 0, -70, 0
Archetype = dock_ring
ids_info = 66141
dock_with = Li01_02_Base
voice = atc_leg_f01a
space_costume = , robot_body_A
reputation = co_me_grp
behavior = NOTHING
difficulty_level = 3
loadout = docking_ring_co_01
pilot = pilot_solar_easyThe lines highlight green are the reps for these two objects. This rep only impacts the “in space” part of the game where as mbases.ini impacts the base when “docked”. Keep in mind, this does not change the faction encounters that will spawn around the base. That part is controlled by the zones and patrol paths placed around the base which are also in the system INI.
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I’m pretty sure you also have to edit the same faction in the mbases.ini file and so the info is correct, the infocard as well.
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Alright, I think I got it, thank you. Now, next, I would like to change the targets of random jobs. As I said before, I would like for the Blood Dragons to give jobs to attack Samura Industries, the Hogosha, and perhaps maybe the Outcasts too. How would I go about changing that?
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FYI: You may need to alter the base ownership in universe.ini as well for your edits to work correctly. The others seem to have forgotten that part.
basic-meme wrote:
Alright, I think I got it, thank you. Now, next, I would like to change the targets of random jobs. As I said before, I would like for the Blood Dragons to give jobs to attack Samura Industries, the Hogosha, and perhaps maybe the Outcasts too. How would I go about changing that?Well you don’t, because as the name already impies, the missions are random.
AFAIK the missions are influenced by five factors:
[olist]- The offering faction
- The enermies of said faction
- What factions can occur in the vicinity of the base
- The valid mission types against the enemy faction
- Level requirements
[/olist]
You must decide which of those points you want to adress.
Like I said, what you want to achieve is a lot of work.
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Cpt_Rei_Fukai wrote:
FYI: You may need to alter the base ownership in universe.ini as well for your edits to work correctly. The others seem to have forgotten that part.You sure? Near as I can tell, just changing the system’s .ini file seems to have worked. I changed Pittsburgh to be controlled by Bretonia Police, a faction I’m currently neutral with, and when I flew out into space, Pittsburgh was neutral and it even said “Police Base” (normally, it says “DSE Base”) when I hovered my mouse pointer over it. As an additional test, I changed Fort Bush to be controlled by the Liberty Rogues, who are hostile to me. Sure, enough, when I flew out there, Fort Bush was hostile, said “Rogues Base”, and it even had Bounty Hunters shooting at it. I took a look at universe.ini (in the “DATA/UNIVERSE” folder) and it didn’t seem to have the usual faction and reputation text strings in it.
Well you don’t, because as the name already impies, the missions are random.
Well yeah, but there’s got to be a part of the game data that influences all the different aspects of those random missions, right? That’s what I want to try to change.
AFAIK the missions are influenced by five factors:
[olist]- The offering faction
- The enermies of said faction
- What factions can occur in the vicinity of the base
- The valid mission types against the enemy faction
- Level requirements
[/olist]
You must decide which of those points you want to adress.
Like I said, what you want to achieve is a lot of work.
I know it’s going to take some effort on my end, but I do want to try to learn how to do this stuff. That’s why I want to take it slowly, one thing at a time, so that I can gradually take in how to do it and avoid information overload, and I’d be greatly appreciative to anybody who can help me out. So, let’s start from the top. What file or files do I need to look at to see how random missions are made, and what’s the first thing I should edit to start moving towards what I want to do?
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basic-meme wrote:
You sure? Near as I can tell, just changing the system’s .ini file seems to have worked. I changed Pittsburgh to be controlled by Bretonia Police, a faction I’m currently neutral with, and when I flew out into space, Pittsburgh was neutral and it even said “Police Base” (normally, it says “DSE Base”) when I hovered my mouse pointer over it. As an additional test, I changed Fort Bush to be controlled by the Liberty Rogues, who are hostile to me. Sure, enough, when I flew out there, Fort Bush was hostile, said “Rogues Base”, and it even had Bounty Hunters shooting at it. I took a look at universe.ini (in the “DATA/UNIVERSE” folder) and it didn’t seem to have the usual faction and reputation text strings in it.
I never said that what you did doesn’t work, just that it may be incomplete. I admit that I don’t know what it does or if it is used at all, but I was refering to the
BGCS_base_run_by = XY ```line. I Imagine it may have something to do with space chatter. As to your other questions, I created a short [wik](https://the-starport.net/modules/mediawiki/index.php/Randommissions_Tutorial)i entry for the randommissions. I know that it is not complete, but I think it should be enough to get a good overview. For detailed questions the forum search should be able to answer most questions. I will try to fill in the dead links in the next days.
