Molecular Replicator v0.1.5Extra-dimensional ship backups for paranoid collectorsSafe to add to existing saves (as of v0.1.1) + fully compatible with NexerelinDownload
The BackgroundIf you're anything like me, you love collecting unique ships. From the tiniest frigates to enormous Onslaught centipedes, if it's a captured IBB, preset unique derelict or even just a very rare ship then chances are it's either seeing active duty in your fleet or collecting dust in storage somewhere. You find, however, that actually using these vessels is often a very risky endeavor. Since you're an iron mode purist, you have to face the fact that no matter how many S-mods or high-skill officers you put on a ship, it will be gone forever if you lose a battle with it deployed. Thus, you very rarely put all the shiny uniques you've been accumulating to use, since savescumming has been the only way to guarantee their safety... until now.
The ConceptEnter the Molecular Replicator, a mysterious derelict station adrift in the orbit of a fringe red giant. This high-tech station of indeterminate origin will, once explored, allow you to make an extra-dimensional "copy" of any ship you desire. In the event your precious vessel is scuttled, lost on the market, fed to a black hole, sacrificed to a factory, or utterly annihilated in combat you will be able to claim a new un-outfitted hull from the Molecular Replicator. As long as you are able to fulfill the hefty credit and AI core requirements, you can deploy unique ships to your heart's content with the peace of mind that they won't be lost forever to the void. Speaking of requirements...
The ProcessOnce you have explored the Molecular Replicator, you will have the ability to select a ship to create a non-tangible copy of. Once a ship is selected, you will have the option to initiate the duplication process for a hefty credit cost paired with an AI core requirement proportional to the size of the ship. Frigates will take two Gamma cores, Destroyers will need one Beta core, Cruisers will use two Beta cores and Capitals will require a single Alpha core. These fees are the costs associated with the logistics of procuring and overseeing the delivery of raw materials to the Molecular Replicator; the ratio of real to extra dimension material used in the duplication process is a constantly fluctuating number that requires an enormous amount of computational power to calculate and track. Once you have offered up the required credits and cores, the empty hull of your ship will be "duplicated" and slotted into an extra dimensional storage bay. This duplicate cannot exist on the same plane of reality as the ship it was copied from, and as such you will not be able retrieve it until the parent ship has been utterly annihilated (i.e scuttling, lost in battle etc.) In such an event, you can visit the Molecular Replicator again and extract the duplicate hull from storage. The retrieved hull will be in pristine condition, but will be completely un-outfitted and will not have any S or D-mods. You can duplicate and store as many ships as your credit balance and AI core hoards will allow.
tl;dr You can "insure" ships for credits + AI cores and retrieve fresh hulls if those ships are destroyed. Before you can utilize the Molecular Repliacator, however, you will have to deal with a few interlopers:
The Molecular Replicator itself is a station located in its very own star system. For those keen on exploration, you will find your prize orbiting an isolated star northwest of the core (if you're using a randomly generated sector (via Nexerelin) the star should appear in a random location.)
If you don't feel like searching for it, the exact location of the station can be found in the spoiler below:
Spoiler
The station is found relatively close to the jump point in the Resplendent red giant star system. It will first appear as a sensor contact as you get close to the star itself.
- This mod is not safe to remove from saves.Q & A:Spoiler
Q: Why not just reload a save instead of spending 40+ hours making an insurance mod?
A: Because, in my opinion, having the ability to reload a save when things don't go your way cheapens the experience of the game greatly. Any tension involved in something like exploring a fringe star or engaging in a battle you know will be hard-fought pretty much evaporates when you know you will never have to deal with the consequences if things go awry. That being said, losing unique ships sucks ass, so I wanted to implement a solution that bridged the gap between the two styles of play in order for people to have best of both worlds in a fair and balanced way.
Q: What does a safeguarded ship retain after being destroyed?
A: Nothing. The ship you receive is a fresh hull with no weapons, fighters or S-mods.
Q: Can I use this mod to create backups of unique items/fighters?
A: Unfortunately, no. The problem with this is ships and weapons become entirely different objects when mounted/unmounted, so keeping track of whether one was actually destroyed or not would be impossible.
Q: Why is this mod's lore so convoluted and/or out of place in the vanilla game?
A: I wrote myself into a corner by trying to account for players creating backups of things like Tesseracts, Hel Scaiths, Solvernias, and other exotic/ultra advanced modded ships. In the context of a modded sector, the lore I ended up going with felt like the only thing that would hold up to the question of "how is this station able to duplicate my {extremely rare one off prototype ultra omega double tesseract conquest onslaught #3}???" I did my best to keep the lore semi-ambiguous, but I feel like I ended up walking a very thin line between giving the player much information or too little. The existing lore may be subject to a rewrite if I can come up with something better.
Q: What's next?
A: My first thought for 0.2 (assuming no game breaking bugs are discovered) is to add a chance for the player to receive small amounts of random loot when they retrieve a ship hull, which said loot's quantity and rarity corresponding to the ship's size. I think it would make using the station more rewarding given the cost, but I feel like it has the potential to make the lore even more convoluted. Aside from that, I may look into trying to create a system that allows players to back up weapons and fighters, but I'm not holding my breath since I'm 99% sure it would be impossible with the current API.
This mod contains a lot of text. My goal was initially to write a good bit of lore and flavor text for those who want to read it, but it quickly got out of hand. I have done my best to keep the parts of the interface the player actually engages with simplistic and easy to use while providing
a streamlined description of how the mod actually works here on the forum page, but now that I'm actually looking at all of the moving parts in-game, I feel that I still went overboard with the sheer amount of text in some areas. Feel free to let me know if this is the case.
