New Total Conversion mod in the Works

Heh What i’m doing is exporting the models at .0.5 from milkshape, put them into flmodeltool resize it twice at 10, then resize it at 0.5 twice and it appairs to be at the right size for the game. I mean look at the pics of the frigates, the look about the right size. And i have the Dreadnaught the Phoenix slipping thought the docking ring with only the turrets going thought the ring.

My math is not the best admittedly, but if you export from milkshape at 0.5, would you get the same end result if you then resize once at 25 in flmodeltool.

Come to think of it, if milkshapes scaling works the same way, then could you just export from milkshape at 12.5 and not need to resize at all I wonder. Worth a try maybe if it speeds you on your way.

I’m having trouble grasping exactly what it is you’re saying.

You say you have 2 different custom ships sitting in the ship dealer that appear to be the same, but in what way do they appear the same, in name? description? image? icon?

Are these 2 ships in the ship dealer the same 2 ships that you are trying to get the police to fly?

If they look the same then maybe you are calling the same cmp and mat file in shiparch for both ships, or you actually have duplicate cmp and mat files in both ship folders but under different names.

In terms of NPC ships that’s a bigger can of worms, check faction_prop.ini, npcships.ini and the relevant universe/systems .ini aswell. It would help if I had a more accurate description of the problem so let’s clear that up first.

Standard freelancer format usually only has one ship of each class per difficulty level. In a mod that can be completely different.

Anyway, when you call an encounter in universe/systems whatever.ini such as the one below:

[zone]
nickname = Zone_Hi02_Tenereife_campo
pos = -5740, 0, 20939
shape = ELLIPSOID
size = 8000, 1500, 5000
property_flags = 66
spacedust = asteroiddust
spacedust_maxparticles = 75
sort = 6
toughness = 18
density = 5
repop_time = 20
max_battle_size = 4
pop_type = nonlootable_ast_field
relief_time = 35
faction_weight = fc_c_grp, 10
encounter = area_scout, 18, 0.670000 –-----------> difficulty 18
faction = fc_c_grp, 1.000000 ----------------------------> faction
Music = zone_field_debris

Freelancer now looks for the faction in faction_prop.ini

npc_ship = fc_c_co_fighter_d1-6
npc_ship = fc_c_co_fighter_d7
npc_ship = fc_c_co_fighter_d8
npc_ship = fc_c_co_fighter_d9
npc_ship = fc_c_co_fighter_d10
npc_ship = fc_c_co_elite_d11
npc_ship = fc_c_co_elite_d12
npc_ship = fc_c_co_elite_d13
npc_ship = fc_c_co_elite_d14
npc_ship = fc_c_co_elite_d15
npc_ship = fc_c_co_elite2_d16
npc_ship = fc_c_co_elite2_d17
npc_ship = fc_c_co_elite2_d18 ------------------------> here it is 18
npc_ship = fc_c_co_elite2_d19

Which calls these entries in npc_ships.ini

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = fc_c_co_fighter_d1-6
loadout = fc_c_co_fighter_loadout01
level = d6
ship_archetype = co_fighter
pilot = pilot_corsair_med
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = unlawful, class_fighter, d1, d2, d3, d4, d5, d6

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = fc_c_co_fighter_d7
loadout = fc_c_co_fighter_loadout01
level = d7
ship_archetype = co_fighter
pilot = pilot_corsair_hard
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = unlawful, class_fighter, d7

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = fc_c_co_fighter_d8
loadout = fc_c_co_fighter_loadout01
level = d8
ship_archetype = co_fighter
pilot = pilot_corsair_ace
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = unlawful, class_fighter, d8

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = fc_c_co_fighter_d9
loadout = fc_c_co_fighter_loadout02
level = d9
ship_archetype = co_fighter
pilot = pilot_corsair_hard
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = unlawful, class_fighter, d9

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = fc_c_co_fighter_d10
loadout = fc_c_co_fighter_loadout02
level = d10
ship_archetype = co_fighter
pilot = pilot_corsair_ace
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = unlawful, class_fighter, d10

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = fc_c_co_elite_d11
loadout = fc_c_co_elite_loadout01
level = d11
ship_archetype = co_elite
pilot = pilot_corsair_med
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = unlawful, class_fighter, d11

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = fc_c_co_elite_d12
loadout = fc_c_co_elite_loadout01
level = d12
ship_archetype = co_elite
pilot = pilot_corsair_hard
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = unlawful, class_fighter, d12

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = fc_c_co_elite_d13
loadout = fc_c_co_elite_loadout01
level = d13
ship_archetype = co_elite
pilot = pilot_corsair_ace
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = unlawful, class_fighter, d13

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = fc_c_co_elite_d14
loadout = fc_c_co_elite_loadout02
level = d14
ship_archetype = co_elite
pilot = pilot_corsair_hard
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = unlawful, class_fighter, d14

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = fc_c_co_elite_d15
loadout = fc_c_co_elite_loadout02
level = d15
ship_archetype = co_elite
pilot = pilot_corsair_ace
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = unlawful, class_fighter, d15

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = fc_c_co_elite2_d16
loadout = fc_c_co_elite2_loadout01
level = d16
ship_archetype = co_elite2
pilot = pilot_corsair_easy
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = unlawful, class_fighter, d16

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = fc_c_co_elite2_d17
loadout = fc_c_co_elite2_loadout01
level = d17
ship_archetype = co_elite2
pilot = pilot_corsair_med
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = unlawful, class_fighter, d17

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = fc_c_co_elite2_d18 –---------------------> difficulty 18
loadout = fc_c_co_elite2_loadout01
level = d18
ship_archetype = co_elite2
pilot = pilot_corsair_hard
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = unlawful, class_fighter, d18

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = fc_c_co_elite2_d19
loadout = fc_c_co_elite2_loadout01
level = d19
ship_archetype = co_elite2
pilot = pilot_corsair_ace
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = unlawful, class_fighter, d19

Make sure you are not using any duplicate entries in these 3 files. If the answer is not here let me know some more and I’ll help if I can, if not sure someone else will. Only other thing you can do is upload your file somewhere and either pm a link to it or post it up here if you want the files public and we’ll find the problem for you no doubt.

I just had a quick look at the file you uploaded before for the hookbill and I can see what you’ve got going on now. You’re dropping these ships directly into the 88Flak mod.

I think part of your problem may be that you are trying to add multiple fighters per faction at the same difficulty level.

I have a feeling that you probably need to have a new shipclass in order to pull off what you’re trying to do. I can’t explain this very well because I don’t know enough but in faction_prop you have an entry in li_n_grp like this:

npc_ship = Ca_Nv_Hookbill

which links to this entry in npcships:

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = Ca_nv_Hookbill
loadout = ca_nv_fighter_loadout01
level = d3
ship_archetype = Ca_nv_Hookbill
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = lawful, class_fighter, d1
pilot = pilot_default

I think that the problem might have to do with the line:

npc_class = lawful, class_fighter, d1

If you have 2 different ships in the same faction both having the same difficulty level and ship class then one will probably not work.

I think you need to do something like this:

For your 1st ship have npc_class = lawful, class_fighter1, d1
For your 2nd ship have npc_class = lawful, class_fighter2, d1

then in shipclasses.ini you need to add new shipclass entries to cater for it, such as:

[ShipClass]
nickname = sc_fighters1
member = class_fighter1

[ShipClass]
nickname = sc_fighters2
member = class_fighter2

then in encounters folder you might have to create a new encounter.ini to use the new shipclasses you’ve created.

For instance take the area_assault.ini, it looks like this:

[EncounterFormation]
ship_by_class = 1, 1, sc_fighters
pilot_job = assault_leader_job
make_class = wanderer
ship_by_class = 2, 3, sc_fighters, -1
pilot_job = assault_job
make_class = wanderer
formation_by_class = fighters
behavior = wander
arrival = all, -object_jump_gate, -tradelane
allow_simultaneous_creation = yes
zone_creation_distance = 0
times_to_create = infinite

You’re interested in the ship_by_class entries, you see they call sc_fighters.

You can copy this ini, rename it area_assault1.ini, change the entries for sc_fighters to sc_fighters1 and you have a new encounter you can use for your new ships, have I lost you yet? You can then make another one called area_assault2.ini, change the entries to sc_fighters2 and you have yet another yes.

I can’t guarantee you it’s 100% correct, someone who knows more might be able to offer better insight and tell me I’m talking crap, but this is the feeling I’m getting with what you’re telling me you’re trying to do.

You could make all this much easier on yourself by not trying to find your way through someone else’s much altered code, but at the same time you will probably eliminate the problem you’re having if you simply do not use 2 different ships at the same difficulty level.

There are two problems or more here…

1. Ship is the same as the other one:- If you mean that the icon of the ships sold at the ship dealer is the same or wrong, that is because you have to make a ship icon for each ship, and each must be given a different unique internal name so the hash is unique!

Find Osprey’s guide to making ship icons for that, it’s the best:-

Search, pals, search!

http://www.swat-portal.com/php/wbboard/portal_database.php?action=view&id=439&sid=d7ddcc2727900a4326cf0ca22f8d949a (thanks to Swat)!

http://the-starport.net/freelancer/download/singlefile.php?cid=5&lid=400

2. If you mean the ship itself is looking like another ship, then as Timmy51m says you must check the shiparch entry and the goods.ini entry

Ship rank and encounters problem:-

Well Timmy51m, OK it can be done as you describe above but that way is too complicated, adding new shipclasses is a bit tricky and not necessary as this is a quick and simple fix.

Just to clarify…

The difficulty levels should be d1 for one ship and d2 for the second, d3 for the third, d4 for the 4th etc.

If the npc_class = lawful, class_fighter, d1

the d1 means ship difficulty (Rank) = 1, so if the encounter asks for rank 1 ships then your ship will not appear, it is only a rank 1 ship…

Your encounter difficulty must be asking for 1, e.g.
encounter = area_scout, 1, 1.00000 - the 1st (1) is the ship rank, the second (1.000000) is chance out of 1 of this encounter happening, so 1.000000 = 100% = every time.
and set the factions that will appear in this encounter:-
faction = li_n_grp, 0.500000 <– half chance of Navy wing
faction = li_p_grp, 0.500000 <— half chance of Police wing

To allocate ranks to your NPC ships, first rename your npc_ship = entry in faction_props.ini with a rank component in the name, like this for clarity:-

npc_ship = Ca_Nv_Hookbill_d1 <— Hookbill for difficulty (rank) 1
npc_ship = Ca_Nv_Kestrel_d2 <— Kestrel for difficulty 2

Then in your npcships.ini:-

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = Ca_Nv_Hookbill_d1
loadout = Ca_Nv_Hookbill_loadout01<– the weapon loadout
ship_archetype = Hookbill <-- the ship type
…
level = d3 <-- the pilot’s rank - note below d5 they won’t fight much!
…
pilot = pilot_military_ace <-- pilot behaviour tactics
npc_class = lawful, class_fighter, d1 <— ship difficulty = rank = 1

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = Ca_Nv_Kestrel_d2
loadout = Ca_Nv_Kestrel_loadout01
ship_archetype = Kestrel
…
level = d5 <-- pilot rank
npc_class = lawful, class_fighter, d2 <— ship difficulty = rank = 2

Simple when you understand it. We have covered this before in more structured detail.

Unfortunately this forum doesn’t lend itself to easy finding of posts, but do a search and it should come up:-
http://the-starport.net/freelancer/forum/viewtopic.php?topic_id=2604

http://the-starport.net/freelancer/forum/viewtopic.php?topic_id=2635

http://the-starport.net/freelancer/forum/viewtopic.php?topic_id=2863

Okay, if what you’ve put in those files is the only entries you have for your ships then you are only asking li_n_grp and li_p_grp to fly the condor and no other ship, so unsurprisingly that is what they are flying.

This is what you have in factionprops:

[FactionProps]
affiliation = li_n_grp
legality = lawful
nickname_plurality = singular
msg_id_prefix = gcs_refer_faction_li_n_short
jump_preference = jumpgate

;npc_ship = ca_navy_hookbill_fighter_1
;npc_ship = wingman_ca_navy_hookbill_fighter_1

npc_ship = ca_condor_fighter_d1-2
npc_ship = wingman_ca_condor_fighter_d1-2
npc_ship = ca_condor_fighter_d3
npc_ship = wingman_ca_condor_fighter_d3
npc_ship = ca_condor_fighter_d4-19
npc_ship = wingman_ca_condor_fighter_d4-19
npc_ship = ca_condor_fighter_d1-2_alt
npc_ship = wingman_ca_condor_fighter_d1-2_alt
npc_ship = ca_condor_fighter_d3_alt
npc_ship = wingman_ca_condor_fighter_d3_alt
npc_ship = ca_condor_fighter_d4-19_alt
npc_ship = wingman_ca_condor_fighter_d4-19_alt

[FactionProps]
affiliation = li_p_grp
legality = lawful
nickname_plurality = singular
msg_id_prefix = gcs_refer_faction_li_p_short
jump_preference = jumpgate

npc_ship = ca_condor_fighter_d1-2
npc_ship = wingman_ca_condor_fighter_d1-2
npc_ship = ca_condor_fighter_d3
npc_ship = wingman_ca_condor_fighter_d3
npc_ship = ca_condor_fighter_d4-19
npc_ship = wingman_ca_condor_fighter_d4-19
npc_ship = ca_condor_fighter_d1-2_alt
npc_ship = wingman_ca_condor_fighter_d1-2_alt
npc_ship = ca_condor_fighter_d3_alt
npc_ship = wingman_ca_condor_fighter_d3_alt
npc_ship = ca_condor_fighter_d4-19_alt
npc_ship = wingman_ca_condor_fighter_d4-19_alt

This entry:
npc_ship = ca_condor_fighter_d1-2

makes a call to the npc ships file to look for that entry where it will find:

[NPCShipArch]
nickname = ca_condor_fighter_d1-2 –-----------------> This entry
loadout = ca_condor_fighter_loadout01
level = d2
ship_archetype = ca_condor
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = lawful, class_fighter, d1
pilot = pilot_default

As you can see this references the line:

ship_archetype = ca_condor ---------->ca_condor in shiparch.ini

That’s the ship they will fly.

Under li_n_grp you have commented out the hookbill so they will not fly it:

;npc_ship = ca_navy_hookbill_fighter_1
;npc_ship = wingman_ca_navy_hookbill_fighter_1

I assume you understand that by placing ; in front of a line of text that the information will not be read yes? Sorry if that’s a dumb question but I have to ask just in case.

Don’t ask me what on earth the alt npc ships are for, do you know? The wingmen are obvious. I’ve never looked through the code of flak88 but the guys a friggin legend and if this is your first attempt at making a mod then you sure have thrown yourself in at the deep end, that mod has some of the craziest hacks going from what I understand.

Is this your first mod? Have you tinkered with the SDK instead, unaltered code would make it far easier for you to follow tutorials and there’s stacks of them for you to reference.

The way I look on it is you’re converting some very nice ships, no matter what else you will still have those ships which is your base materials. Have you considered just going on a mission and converting all the ships you want for your mod and stacking them up in a folder. Then hardpoint them and make sur files for them.

Once you’ve done that you can set about dealing with getting them into your mod one ship at a time. Just get them into the game so you can fly them, test them thoroughly. Once you have all your ships in and working then concentrate on another step like getting the npcs flying them.

It seems to me that you might be trying to do a lot of things at the same time which can allow mistakes to creep in, they may be minor at first but they soon add up and before you know it you’re completely lost.

Make a good plan and take it steady, one step at a time, when you do that one thing, test it, if it works make a backup copy for a fall back so if you screw up the next step you can fall back without loss.

Here is a video tut i made a while ago on how to do nice looking ship buttons a very easy way

Its on german but even with no german knowledge u should understand what I’m doing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj_o1UvSa0Y

Encounters are one of the stickiest parts of modding to understand in the beginning but they are quite understandable.

Just take a day and trace through one of the tutorials to understand the chain and connections between the parts, then it is straightforward.

After doing 3-4 encounters from scratch it will become second nature.

Then you should try multi-group surs from scratch. Heheheh.

Never heard of a maximum. If there’s one it’s surely something like 255.

Just don’t forget that quantity is NEVER better than quality. It’s preferable to have a small, well-built mod than a large, boring one.

It may look good as a bullet point, but FL never benefits from having players so spread out that it takes ten hours to find another guy.

EDIT: And don’t overestimate how many unique systems you can make. EVE’s systems don’t work the same as FL’s do; there’s just about no travel time in EVE between planets, a lot of things are procedurally generated, etc. You don’t want to make a carbon copy of EVE in FL, you want to adapt EVE’s universe and style to FL.

IIRC Underverse has more than 100 systems.

Yes, 108. I think Solurus Systems has over 300. The main limit is finding places to fit them all in lol.