Major Update: Version 0.9 - A pre-Tournament "Compilation"!Gotta say, I wasn't expecting the next AI Tournament to be happening quite this soon, but what with all the fancy shmancy new stuff I've had in the works it would be a crime to let it go ahead (with the wonderful Knight Chase fielding a combination of ships from DaRa and InventorRaccoon's
Arsenal Expansion mod) without pushing out an update! Therefore, it might be a little rushed, but I think you'll be satisfied nonetheless.
The changes this time around are somewhat less superficial than previous ones. While we still have the compulsory additional ships and weapons for you to test out in the battlefield, the biggest change you'll note is that
DaRa's scripted code is now compiled into a single .jar file - a monumental thanks to MesoTronik, who continues to tutor me in how the damn thing works, haha!
Anyway, the practical upshot of this is that DaRa can now incorporate certain advanced features it would otherwise be unable to support, and you'll be able to see that currently in only one location:
the Seraphim's Judgement Spire missile now has a unique custom missile AI!Spoiler
Can't stop won't stop....! ... And I'm sure that you'll find it even more exilherating to use than it was before!
[!] Bear in mind that this means DaRa now requires LazyLib also be installed and running in order to function. If you don't already have it, you can find a link to the library mod in the OP.
Aside from that enormous change, we also welcome along a few new experimental ships to replace some of the novelty removed this version, such as the Vigilance MkII* - though you're now able to find the "ultralight carrier" in a slightly different form in Knight Chase's
Mayasuran Navy mod. Most intriguing perhaps is the new
Vagrant-class Battleboat, a pirate-built destroyer sporting a modular gun-pod with a few unique properties.
You should also be able to see (at last) the
Starlifter-class Mining Platform in the campaign. A modified Atlas hull, the Starlifter might not be particularly dangerous in combat, but it's packed to the bilges with hardware for exploration missions of all kinds.
We also have a new pair of exciting midline fighters in the mix: the expensive, kinetic-heavy
Cayman and the far cheaper laser-toting
Honeybee, both of which have enough quirks to entertain many a carrier captain. And finally, a pair of new ship weapons in the form of an all-purpose burst laser called the
Machete Multirole Laser, and a completely novel weapon for launching high-explosive suicide "drones", the
Kamikaze Talon Launcher. Maybe just a little silly, but the pirates' usage of it might catch you by surprise!
Other balances and changes are purely superficial, but it's all I've got time to throw together. Time now to sit back and see if the tournament sheds light on any balance issues, and if not, it'll hopefully be a rather nice advertising campaign for yours truly, hehe!
As always, check the OP for more details.
*
THIS UPDATE WILL BREAK SAVES!!!... Although if you really want, I hear you can use
Save Transfer to carry a save over between mod versions:
http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=8950.0