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Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

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Author Topic: [0.95.1a-RC6] Lights Out  (Read 71869 times)

tomatopaste

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[0.95.1a-RC6] Lights Out
« on: April 23, 2020, 08:30:23 AM »

Lights Out


Lights Out features a number of customisable procedural generation modifications to the sector. Moon spawning generates small, bite-sized moons around various planets, scaling to their size. Appropriate weather and resource conditions are applied. Second, Non-core systems (excluding Nebulas due to engine limitations) are hidden from the hyperspace map, and must be seeked out by the player. LightsOut/data/config/settings.json allows various values to be adjusted, and features to be disabled. Should be compatible with all sector generation mods.

v1.2.0
- added Planetary Moon condition to all moons, impedes population growth beyond a capped limit (settings.json to modify)
- updated to 0.95.1a-RC6

Current Features
  • Spawn tiny moons around planets, which can have fully fledged colonies, but typically high hazard ratings. Scales with the size of the host. Moons cannot spawn as terran, arid or tundra worlds.
  • Hides all procedurally generated system stars from the hyperspace map (excluding nebulas due to engine limitations), requiring the player to manually find them. Discovery behaviour requires the player to get in scanning range of the system's jump points to reveal it on map.
[close]

Gallery
minorly outdated, moon images missing modifier



[close]
« Last Edit: February 20, 2022, 08:01:24 AM by tomatopaste »
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lethargie

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Re: Lights Out - Tomato's Procgen Tester - 1.0 release
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2020, 05:17:58 PM »

I have installed and played a bit with this. I must say it is quite enjoyable to have the starsystem hidden early game. It gives quite a fun feeling when you happen upon one of the more desirable type of starsystem. If one is not much interested by exploration it can be a bit of a bore, mission still gives you precise coordinates, you just cant plan or use autopilot.

I haven't noticed much the more moon. Is it because im using a mod adding planet types?

A really original idea, I will probably include it in my next big playthrought
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Terethall

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Re: Lights Out - Tomato's Procgen Tester - 1.0 release
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2020, 06:33:41 PM »

This is a really cool idea. Assuming the next release fleshes out exploration and adds content and missions, I'm really excited to use both in tandem.
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Harmful Mechanic

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Re: Lights Out - Tomato's Procgen Tester - 1.0 release
« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2020, 07:32:12 PM »

This is really cool, and I'm almost as excited to poke around under the hood and see what you did as I am to play a full run with it.
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FAX

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Re: Lights Out - Tomato's Procgen Tester - 1.0 release
« Reply #4 on: April 23, 2020, 07:39:39 PM »

Fantastic! Really enjoy exploring new worlds.

 
for an upcoming TC mod.
And I guess that would make gameplay similar to FTL? or Avorion more exactly? ???
« Last Edit: April 23, 2020, 07:42:34 PM by FAX »
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tomatopaste

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Re: Lights Out - Tomato's Procgen Tester - 1.0 release
« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2020, 07:51:39 PM »

This is a really cool idea. Assuming the next release fleshes out exploration and adds content and missions, I'm really excited to use both in tandem.

I'm afraid that this mod is just limited to procgen changes, but I'm glad you like it.

This is really cool, and I'm almost as excited to poke around under the hood and see what you did as I am to play a full run with it.
Thank you! As for the under the hood stuff, it's fairly straightforward (and I'm guessing you can already see the applications for hidden faction content etc.). For any mod author reading this, feel free to use any of the mechanics in this mod for your own stuff   ;).

Fantastic! Really enjoy exploring new worlds.

 
for an upcoming TC mod.
And I guess that would make gameplay similar to FTL? or Avorion more exactly? ???

Well, it's a ways off. I did a writeup about my ideas on the discord, but I've started working on a semi-roguelike conversion mod with a ton of content, missions, lore etc., featuring the procgen I'm live-testing with this mod.

« Last Edit: April 23, 2020, 08:30:00 PM by tomatopaste »
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Thaago

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Re: Lights Out - Tomato's Procgen Tester - 1.0 release
« Reply #6 on: April 23, 2020, 10:15:13 PM »

This is quite cool, thanks for sharing! I'm also going to poke around in the code and see how its done. :)
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tomatopaste

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Re: Lights Out - Tomato's Procgen Tester - 1.0b - Habitable moons
« Reply #7 on: April 25, 2020, 05:07:27 AM »

Lights Out. - 1.0b
Changelog:
  • Habitable worlds can now generate in suitable systems. Ruins and salvage can be found here.
  • Adjusted resource generator to less frequently assign low level resources
  • Resource generator no longer guaranteed to give some kind of ore / rare ore
  • Added options to settings.json to adjust spawning probabilities
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tomatopaste

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Re: [0.9.1a-RC8] Lights Out - Tomato's Procgen Tester - 1.0c - Tweaks
« Reply #8 on: May 02, 2020, 01:21:45 AM »

Lights Out. - 1.0c
Changelog:
  • Reduced moon spawning around gas giants.
  • Added comments to settings.json in mod folder for better clarity
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tyknapp

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Re: [0.9.1a-RC8] Lights Out - Tomato's Procgen Tester - 1.0c - Tweaks
« Reply #9 on: May 10, 2020, 07:07:27 AM »

Great work thus far! Makes exploration truly feel like discovering things that nobody dared stepped foot for in ages! The uncharted and unknown await withing the cold grasp of the void.
This mod really puts that into action.

It's become an essential mod to my absurdly sized mod lists (115 mods, had to downsize from 137 previously).
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cathar

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Re: [0.9.1a-RC8] Lights Out - Tomato's Procgen Tester - 1.0c - Tweaks
« Reply #10 on: May 13, 2020, 02:31:54 AM »

That first screenshot immediately sells this mod! It looks so cool, can't wait to start a new playthrough with this enabled.
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tomatopaste

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Re: [0.9.1a-RC8] Lights Out - Tomato's Procgen Tester - 1.0c - Tweaks
« Reply #11 on: June 14, 2020, 06:44:48 AM »

Lights Out. - 1.0d
Changelog:
  • Tweaked moon condition spawning related to gas giants.
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Seita

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Re: [0.9.1a-RC8] Lights Out - Tomato's Procgen Tester - 1.0d - Tweaks
« Reply #12 on: July 23, 2020, 01:59:31 PM »

Nice! Loving the exploration aspect. Now I have to really look at the spacelanes available before going into deep space
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IonDragonX

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Re: [0.9.1a-RC8] Lights Out - Tomato's Procgen Tester - 1.0d - Tweaks
« Reply #13 on: December 25, 2020, 11:46:53 AM »

To players considering this mod: try it! Don't worry about missions & bounties being hidden, they are not!

@tomatopaste, I absolutely love the 'fog of war' effect! I would like to see a couple additions, please:
1- The settings file is deep in the folders but other mods put it in the first, with the mod description file, could you move it?
2- The descriptions of the settings give a general idea but could you add the minimum & maximum range? eg"higher is lower chance for habitable planets. Default: 8" is fine but is the minimum 0 or 1? Is the maximum 10 or 255?
3- Can we have a setting to not-conceal the closest systems to the core worlds? Say, within 10 lightyears? Its really wierd for Dhuzak & Penelope's Star to be hidden.

Thank You Very Much for this Mod!
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Serenitis

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Re: [0.9.1a-RC8] Lights Out - Tomato's Procgen Tester - 1.0d - Tweaks
« Reply #14 on: December 31, 2020, 01:44:42 AM »

The hidden stars are incredibly cool.
However, there is an issue with them.
Due to how the revealing mechanic appears to work, it is very possible that some stars may remain hidden indefinitely as there are no hints or other feedback showing that a star is in the area even if you don't know exactly where.
They do show up as a non-specific sensor contact, but only at a fairly short range. Short enough that with a big enough fleet/sensor level it doesn't appear at all as the star will be revealed before it shows.

What the problem with this then?
Bounties are spawned in systems as per normal, nothing changes here. That includes stars which you have not yet discovered.
And this can lead to situations where a bounty spawns in a system you don't know about, is far enough away from others in it's constellation/area to be non-trivial to find, and you only have the vaguest idea where in a huge area to look for it.
This caused me enough frustration that I disabled the hiding mechanics just to avoid that stuff.

Might be worth looking at some means of telegraphing the presence of hidden stars at a much greater range, especially when the player has a significantly large fleet/sensor range.

Luckily, this mod is worth it for the procgen changes alone. Even despite the weirdness it causes with the system overview UI that doesn't know how to handle >4 moons.

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