Additional Ship Component Types

So I’ve taken to playing Freelancer again, and trying out the assorted mods that have come out for it. I’ve never been interested in the multiplayer scene; tooling around in single player is my interest. Just an hour or two a day, working my way up to the “ultimate” equipment, enjoying my dominion of the sector, that sort of thing.

I picked up the Rebalance Mod a while back. It wasn’t really to my tastes so I didn’t stick with it, but one element really intrigued me. Ships could be “upgraded” with additional components; optional third-party equipment that could increase shield recharge rates, or weapon energy, etc. I thought that this was extremely cool. Like “Pimp My Ship” or something.

I looked for a mod that dedicated itself to this, and didn’t find one. So, although I have absolutely zip Freelancer modding experience, I thought I’d look into making my own. It seems like this is the place to go with the demise of LR, so… yeah.

So to outline this little project, I’m not interested in new ships or systems or factions or mechanics. Balance isn’t terrifically important either, I’m a single-player kind of guy. I just want “item slots”, which would probably fit under External or Internal Equipment (like scanners, shields, thrusters, etc.) which can fit optional items to enhance performance. I’ve seen it done, so I know it’s possible; I just don’t know where to begin.

EXAMPLE

Take a default Starflier. Under External Equipment, there are slots for a Shield and a Thruster. For starters, let’s say I wanted to add an optional slot called “Shield Modification”. What I’m guessing I’ll need to do:
-modify all existing ships to have this slot
-create several items to occupy this slot; set their parameters; determine where they are sold

Sound about right?

So, anyone have ideas as to how I can get started?

Well, I tracked it down and downloaded the .zip file so I could have a peek at what’s involved. Looks pretty intimidating so far, but I’ll do some digging and see if I can figure out what’s what. Thanks for the lead, I appreciate it.