The HMI-added resources seem to only exist to be smuggled for credits (or exported for same, if you happen to seize the systems where they're produced.)
I would really like for them to have a purpose for the player other than just getting credits, and preferably this wouldn't require building all-new industries, etc, that inevitably wind up competing with the player's existing industry slots from both vanilla and half a dozen other mods. Preferably they could be used to enhance vanilla functions somehow...
I'm glad you're having fun with the mod! I've done some experimentation with some of the features you have proposed, but unfortunately it is beyond my coding knowldge. SirHartley of Discord, who has much better coding knowledge than I, has looked into it and unless we change the core game files (something I will not do), doing these things is at the moment impossible.
Is there something wrong with the Ionos?
You were spot on Drazhya. The Ionos was defintely lacking power, which has been remedied in the next update.
Quite enjoying this mod, and the updates you have made thus far. In particular, I am very fond of the low-tech look and feel of the ships, as well as the various hazards (pun intended) you have also built in. The three hostile factions you have included with the mod are quite interesting, covering a nice niche (bio-engineering / horror) in a way that is a good fit for Starsector. The Mess in particular, is a nice counterpart to the Remnant & Derelict threats of a similar vein.
One question at this time: While the Mess is clearly intended as a hostile NPC faction, do you have any intent to expand the Draco / Fang factions in a fashion to flesh them out more and make them playable in Nexerelin?
I'm happy you're having fun with the factions! At the moment I'm still experimenting with the Draco and Fang factions, and how they fit into the experience of HMI. As I have learned recently, my mod adds well over 120 ships to the game, and is somewhat bloated. I'm actually considering cutting them from the mod altogether when the next major update of Starsector hits, or maybe splitting them off into their own mod as actual factions. I'm still thinking on it.
I do appreciate this mod, but it's the things that don't seem right that have me posting...
Thanks for the catch Drazhya, that was a big oof on my end. The Hippocampus (Draco) has had the OP restriction removed and is now a punchier missile-based ship, while the Tempest also has it's full complement of OP back. The Wolf (Draco) is supposed to have reduced OP, as it's missing it's rear small energy weapon mounts.
I was planning to come in and shower some compliments and make a big write up after using the mod (seriously playing it) for the first time and HELMUT did all that and more. It kinda put what I was going to write to shame, so I think I'll hold off for now until I've tried more of the new April 12th stuff. That being said, I figured I'd jump in on some specific things...
I agree that the Junk being burn 5 is a fairly big drawback to the vessel, as a lot of people prefer to have higher burn speeds. I feel the ship is sitting in a good spot at the moment, althought I did make a mistake at leaving its fuel capacity too high before release. That'll be fixed in the next version.
I'm glad you're having fun with HMI's playstyle. I do agree that some weapons need tweaking; the McGuyver has actually been nerfed after some conversations on Discord, the Williamson now does more damage, the Mark IV has a higher damage per shot, and the Mbeke is slightly weaker but now has a much deeper ammo pool. The Pummerer Carbine, I feel, is in a good position, as while it's weaker than the Thumper, it is better able to apply that damage to a target. This makes it very nice for Fighter/Torpedo swatting and pressuring ships.
What i suggest is actually a buff, i see Junk in two separate loadouts: Miner and Combatant...
I actually did like the idea of adding Civilian Hull to the Junk when you originally suggested it with the idea that you could switch between a civilian and military build, but then I thought about it and realized that there was really no reason to not take Militarised Subsystems. Burn speed is incredibly important for a lot of people, and if there is a hullmod that adds it, they are going to use it. And with that in mind, I felt that you'd end up drastically cutting down on the flexibility of the ship itself, reducing the number of logistics hullmods right off the bat. I feel HeartofDiscord nailed it on the head with:
Also, I'm pretty sure if it has 4 burn literally no one will use it. Keep in mind with militarized and aug burn drives it no has 0 logistics slots left. I really think most people will just see 4 burn and immediately trash can it without even considering options that point. Remember that burn as a mechanic is mostly untouched or raised/lowered by 1 in extreme cases, and its already lowered by 1 here. Every point of burn lowered is 2 at full burn and none of this has an effect on combat, which seems to the source of the problems in question.
I do agree that the Junk's fuel capacity was way too high, and I cut it down to your suggested 800 to prevent it from being a complete and total use-all.
...Okay, so I was having a great time fighting Draco and Fang... and then I got a blood harvest. Draco base 45 light-years away hitting my colonies with -3 stability and -50% accessibility. Stacking with pirate debuff. Isn't that a bit much?
That is because the station itself hasn't been killed - pirate stations do the same thing if left unheeded. Stacking with pirates is just something that can happen I suppose. For the moment I've set the standard option to have these bases turned off while I figure out the problem.
...Nothing strange is going to happen on these colonies... right?
...A suggestion might be to spread all these interesting systems around more, right now they're somewhat conveniently bunched together, despite being so unique...
Glad you're having fun Argonaut! Right now there isn't anything special about the colonies; I lack the ability to code for shenanigans and events about said colonies, althought I wouldn't mind adding them in the very distant future. And I do agree the planets are clustered a bit close together, but a lot of 'existing' space is already taken up by other mods, and I don't like the idea of spreading the systems out too thinly.
Is there any possibility to befriend the Draco Group and/or the Fang Society? I wonder since I have Industrial Evolution added, and I would like more raiders in my privateer base :>
Not really; Draco and Fang are supposed to be complete psychos who would regard the player as food. As I said earlier, I'm contemplating what to do with them.
There is a small problem with Draco and Fang bases, when using Nexerlin you cannot send a fleet to destroy the base unlike pirate bases or Kadur/Cops camps.
This can be pretty annoying as they tend to be much nastier than pirates and have to be elimated quickly to avoid decivilization.
Yeah, for the moment I've set the standard option to have these bases off while I figure out the problem. I might not even let them have bases again and elevate the factions to actual factions, but again, still sorting out what I want to do with the factions.
Can the nanite masses actually be used or are they just another commodity to be sold
As I mentioned previously, I've tried to implement them, but wasn't able to get it to work.
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Now that that's out of the way.
NEW UPDATE, NOT SAVEGAME COMPATIBLE.A lot of minor tweaks and fixes, mostly to just fix up one or two problems that emerged since last release, along with the introduction of two new ships.
-Added the HMI Junkship capital, the Locomotive. Many thanks to Helmut for helping with the sprite!
-Added the Prognosticator, a high-tech support ship that can slow an enemy using time dilution.
-Fuel capacity of Junk reduced.
-Small Mbeke ammo pool increased.
-Williamson now does less damage per shot, but shoots more of them.
-McGuyver now does significantly less damage.
-Mark IV Autocannon does more damage per shot
-Nerfed Marinas - it's now more dependant on its system.
-Fix for the spawning of [REDACTED]
-Removed Mulligan and Charlie from spawning in SCY and Great House fleets
With Vayra's Sector:
-Added a High Value Bounty, the Onslaught (P) - less weapons and less armour, but with two flight decks, upgraded TPCs, and the Locomotive's movement system.
-Added some uncommon bounties.
DOWNLOAD HERE.