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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: [0.97a] AdvancedGunneryControl 1.17.0 - Updated for 0.97a  (Read 174162 times)

DesperatePeter

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Re: [0.95a] AdvancedGunneryControl 0.6.0
« Reply #15 on: May 02, 2021, 06:40:30 AM »

Update:
Version 0.6.0 is out!
0.5.x only made it to pre-release state, as testing revealed many issues with that version.
Most notable improvements of 0.6.0:
  • Fire modes now persist between combats
  • Fixed several bugs in custom AI (most importantly: angle computation for making decision whether to fire or not was wrong)
  • New optional fire modes (enable in Settings.editme)

This looks amazing! Is there any way to save what you set each weapon group to or do you have to reset it each time you go into combat?
Done!
And looks to be stable.

IonDragonX

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Re: [0.95a] AdvancedGunneryControl 0.6.0
« Reply #16 on: May 02, 2021, 05:03:32 PM »

@DesperatePeter
Is it possible to do what SafariJohn is suggesting below?

There are quite a few ships, like Odyssey and many mod ships, that perform less than ideally with many builds because the AI sets their fighters to engage, losing the zero flux boost. It would be nice to have a 0 OP "leash" hullmod that sets fighter engagement range to 0 so the AI wouldn't do that (AI never sets 0 range fighters to engage).
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ModdedLaharl

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Re: [0.95a] AdvancedGunneryControl 0.6.0
« Reply #17 on: May 02, 2021, 11:50:19 PM »

@DesperatePeter
Is it possible to do what SafariJohn is suggesting below?

There are quite a few ships, like Odyssey and many mod ships, that perform less than ideally with many builds because the AI sets their fighters to engage, losing the zero flux boost. It would be nice to have a 0 OP "leash" hullmod that sets fighter engagement range to 0 so the AI wouldn't do that (AI never sets 0 range fighters to engage).

Another mod, called Disable Action Hullmods, already does this. However, on the subject of 0-cost 'tactical' hullmods, I would ask of Peter if it is possible to create hullmods that reflect AdvancedGunneryControl's functionality. So I could, for example, put a hullmod on my shiny new cruiser that sets weapon group 1 to avoid shooting at fighters, for instance. I do think that dynamic switching in-combat probably has more uses, but I generally command large fleets and can't be everywhere at once. For example, I get a lot of use out of Automatic Orders to at least partially modify behavior on a ship-by-ship basis. If I had hullmods that I could use to tell my ships how to prioritize their point defense that'd be lovely.

The current state of the mod is pretty good though. I appreciate the extra control all the same, even if it tends to get away from me in larger battles.
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DesperatePeter

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Re: [0.95a] AdvancedGunneryControl 0.6.0
« Reply #18 on: May 03, 2021, 03:35:42 AM »


Another mod, called Disable Action Hullmods, already does this. However, on the subject of 0-cost 'tactical' hullmods, I would ask of Peter if it is possible to create hullmods that reflect AdvancedGunneryControl's functionality. So I could, for example, put a hullmod on my shiny new cruiser that sets weapon group 1 to avoid shooting at fighters, for instance. I do think that dynamic switching in-combat probably has more uses, but I generally command large fleets and can't be everywhere at once. For example, I get a lot of use out of Automatic Orders to at least partially modify behavior on a ship-by-ship basis. If I had hullmods that I could use to tell my ships how to prioritize their point defense that'd be lovely.

The current state of the mod is pretty good though. I appreciate the extra control all the same, even if it tends to get away from me in larger battles.

Thanks for the feedback!
Yeah, I agree, if another mod already does that I shouldn't encroach on that mod's territory.

Also, I like your second suggestion. When chatting with folks on the Starsector Discord, the idea of making some kind of GUI for the mod came up. I think that using hullmods for this might actually be a far easier (and potentially better) way to do this than what I had in mind xD So thanks for that suggestion!

Update: When thinking about how I would implement this, I encountered a problem: Currently there are 7 fire modes and 7 weapon groups. That would be...49 hullmods =/
Also, as of now, it's easily possible to add/remove the mod during an ongoing campaign. I'm not sure, but maybe a hullmod-based approach would endanger that...

That being said, I feel like that might take a while to implement. So, in the meantime, I'll provide a "autoload/save fire modes" option.
That way, when loading out a ship, you can enter simulation mode and set up your firing modes. The next time that ship enters a battle, it will automatically load and apply the previously used firing modes.

I think I'll also remove the restriction that you have to be in the CommandUI to alter allies' firing modes (and introduce a setting to re-enable that).

This short-term-solution should be pretty simple to put together, so I hope I'll be able release a new version including that in a couple days.

@DesperatePeter
Is it possible to do what SafariJohn is suggesting below?
It's a cool idea, so thanks for suggesting it! Please refer to Laharl's comment however^^
« Last Edit: May 03, 2021, 04:33:31 AM by DesperatePeter »
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ModdedLaharl

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Re: [0.95a] AdvancedGunneryControl 0.6.0
« Reply #19 on: May 03, 2021, 02:54:50 PM »

"
Update: When thinking about how I would implement this, I encountered a problem: Currently there are 7 fire modes and 7 weapon groups. That would be...49 hullmods =/
Also, as of now, it's easily possible to add/remove the mod during an ongoing campaign. I'm not sure, but maybe a hullmod-based approach would endanger that..."

The easy solution is to have all the hullmods in question fall under their own design type, so that at the press of a single button, a player can have them all show up or go away again. Also, the idea that removing a mod endangers the stuff it adds is a pretty commonly accepted thing, assuming I understand what you're saying right. Nevertheless, I agree that 49 hullmods is still quite a lot; some sort of specific GUI on the loadout screen, or sim screen if needed, isn't a bad idea.
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IonDragonX

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Re: [0.95a] AdvancedGunneryControl 0.6.0
« Reply #20 on: May 03, 2021, 03:09:47 PM »

Nevertheless, I agree that 49 hullmods is still quite a lot; some sort of specific GUI on the loadout screen, or sim screen if needed, isn't a bad idea.
Why not a check box added to the vanilla Weapon Groups UI? Is it impossible to modify vanilla UI? The check box would display an open padlock when 0 and a locked padlock when 1.
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DesperatePeter

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Re: [0.95a] AdvancedGunneryControl 0.6.0
« Reply #21 on: May 03, 2021, 10:53:47 PM »

Nevertheless, I agree that 49 hullmods is still quite a lot; some sort of specific GUI on the loadout screen, or sim screen if needed, isn't a bad idea.
Why not a check box added to the vanilla Weapon Groups UI? Is it impossible to modify vanilla UI? The check box would display an open padlock when 0 and a locked padlock when 1.

Yeah, I was thinking of something similar. My idea was to put it where it says Linked/Alternating on the weapon group screen and to let right-clicking modify the firing mode.
I have to agree, your idea sounds more user friendly. But I'll have to take a look what's possible (within reason) within the modding framework provided by starsector^^
I think it is possible to modify the GUI in mods, as seen by mods like Stellar Networks, but I'm not sure whether the game will let me modify the loadout screen in any reasonable capacity.

Worst case, I'll have to stick to keyboard controls and displaying text in the loadout screen or a hullmod-based solution. But I haven't had that much time to look into it yet^^

Anyhow, thanks for shooting me ideas and feedback, I do appreciate it!

ROFLMAN

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Re: [0.95a] AdvancedGunneryControl 0.6.0
« Reply #22 on: May 04, 2021, 07:15:48 AM »

I'm currently not playing SS because I'm waiting for a few more mods to release, but I will tell you this is the most intriguing mod I've seen in a long time and I check in often to see what progress you make. I'm looking forward to see your developments and hopefully test this out soon firsthand. Keep up the great work!
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Exempt

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Re: [0.95a] AdvancedGunneryControl 0.6.0
« Reply #23 on: May 04, 2021, 07:23:25 PM »

Mandatory mod, thank you for making this. An improved, UI Integrated and Refit-screen selectable version of this needs to be vanilla.
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DesperatePeter

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Re: [0.95a] AdvancedGunneryControl 0.6.0
« Reply #24 on: May 04, 2021, 11:09:49 PM »

A 0.7.0 pre-release is out. Main feature: automatically save/load firing modes.

Mandatory mod, thank you for making this. An improved, UI Integrated and Refit-screen selectable version of this needs to be vanilla.
I'm currently not playing SS because I'm waiting for a few more mods to release, but I will tell you this is the most intriguing mod I've seen in a long time and I check in often to see what progress you make. I'm looking forward to see your developments and hopefully test this out soon firsthand. Keep up the great work!
Thanks a lot for the kind words, that means a lot to me =)

Why not a check box added to the vanilla Weapon Groups UI? Is it impossible to modify vanilla UI? The check box would display an open padlock when 0 and a locked padlock when 1.
I jus spent like 3-4 hours yesterday experimenting with ways to somehow interact with the loadout screen and came up with...nothing.
As far as I can tell, the API doesn't offer any entry point for that.
I tried out some hacky solutions (such as constantly polling the game state), but even that didn't even get me to the point where I could figure out when the weapon group settings screen was open, much less be able to interact with it...
I'll try asking in the misc mod questions thread, but currently I'm rather pessimistic about being able to offer GUI integration.

The easy solution is to have all the hullmods in question fall under their own design type, so that at the press of a single button, a player can have them all show up or go away again. Also, the idea that removing a mod endangers the stuff it adds is a pretty commonly accepted thing, assuming I understand what you're saying right. Nevertheless, I agree that 49 hullmods is still quite a lot; some sort of specific GUI on the loadout screen, or sim screen if needed, isn't a bad idea.
I think this might be the only realistic solution left to me. But I think I will make it so this is an optional part of the mod (e.g. a separate mod within the main mod that you have to manually unzip or something like that), in order to keep the main mod hot-swappable without breaking saves.

Lprsti99

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Re: [0.95a] AdvancedGunneryControl 0.7.1
« Reply #25 on: May 05, 2021, 12:44:13 PM »

Oughta hop in the discord, I'll bet someone can assist with the gui stuff (new nex version has a nice game setup gui)
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DesperatePeter

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Re: [0.95a] AdvancedGunneryControl 0.7.1
« Reply #26 on: May 05, 2021, 12:52:40 PM »

Update: 0.7.1 is out!

Oughta hop in the discord, I'll bet someone can assist with the gui stuff (new nex version has a nice game setup gui)
I'll definitely try asking there, thanks! However, the issue is less that I'm unable to display GUI elements. The issue is more, that there seems to be no entry point to the refit screen. There's no "refit screen entered"-event that I can listen for. And even if there was, I can't find a way to find out which is the currently selected ship.
So, unless I am missing something big, it seems to be fairly difficult to create a GUI for this that improves the UX in a meaningful way...
The last option I want to look into are hullmods. Maybe I can somehow make a GUI pop up when a hullmod has been installed. We'll see...

Update: I just got an answer from Alex. Doesn't sound good =/
I'll spend a little bit more time trying to figure it out, but in the end, I'm not sure if it's worth the time & frustration that would go into this for just a slight improvement to usability.
« Last Edit: May 06, 2021, 11:18:29 AM by DesperatePeter »
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Lprsti99

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Re: [0.95a] AdvancedGunneryControl 0.7.1
« Reply #27 on: May 06, 2021, 02:29:35 PM »

I'm not sure if it's worth the time & frustration that would go into this for just a slight improvement to usability.

Unless you stumble over a silver bullet, I'm sure it won't be anywhere near worth, lol.  On a different tack: how about preventing autofire of non-pd weapons at flux >= 80% (or whatever).  ship AI usually does a decent job of doing so, but just having the weapons on autofire will happily flux you out (I know you can just toggle weapon groups, but seems like a nice qol feature, so long as the effort:payoff ratio is there)
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DesperatePeter

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Re: [0.95a] AdvancedGunneryControl 0.7.1
« Reply #28 on: May 06, 2021, 10:50:08 PM »

On a different tack: how about preventing autofire of non-pd weapons at flux >= 80% (or whatever).  ship AI usually does a decent job of doing so, but just having the weapons on autofire will happily flux you out (I know you can just toggle weapon groups, but seems like a nice qol feature, so long as the effort:payoff ratio is there)

Yeah, that should definitely be possible! It would be simple enough to simply add a ConserveFlux or HoldFireAtHighFlux mode that expands on the weapon's base AI.
But I've actually been toying with the idea of "mode suffixes". That way, you could add a suffix such as "Flux<75%", "Flux<50%", "HE-Mode" (priorizite enemies with high flux or no shields), "Kinetic-Mode" (prioritize enemies with low flux/shields up) etc. to an existing fire mode. That way, you don't have to decide whether you want your Devastator Cannon to hold fire at high flux or target fighters, you can have both.

The control scheme I though of would be something like this: After you use NUMPAD# to cycle weapon group #, you can press the suffix-hotkey (e.g. "+") to cycle through suffixes for that mode.

Let me know what you think =)

Also, 0.7.2 just came out. IPDAI is now properly considered and fire modes that require PD weapons are skipped if there are no PD weapons in that weapon group.
« Last Edit: May 06, 2021, 10:54:53 PM by DesperatePeter »
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Lprsti99

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Re: [0.95a] AdvancedGunneryControl 0.7.1
« Reply #29 on: May 07, 2021, 07:46:49 AM »

On a different tack: how about preventing autofire of non-pd weapons at flux >= 80% (or whatever).  ship AI usually does a decent job of doing so, but just having the weapons on autofire will happily flux you out (I know you can just toggle weapon groups, but seems like a nice qol feature, so long as the effort:payoff ratio is there)

Yeah, that should definitely be possible! It would be simple enough to simply add a ConserveFlux or HoldFireAtHighFlux mode that expands on the weapon's base AI.
But I've actually been toying with the idea of "mode suffixes". That way, you could add a suffix such as "Flux<75%", "Flux<50%", "HE-Mode" (priorizite enemies with high flux or no shields), "Kinetic-Mode" (prioritize enemies with low flux/shields up) etc. to an existing fire mode. That way, you don't have to decide whether you want your Devastator Cannon to hold fire at high flux or target fighters, you can have both.

The control scheme I though of would be something like this: After you use NUMPAD# to cycle weapon group #, you can press the suffix-hotkey (e.g. "+") to cycle through suffixes for that mode.

Let me know what you think =)

Also, 0.7.2 just came out. IPDAI is now properly considered and fire modes that require PD weapons are skipped if there are no PD weapons in that weapon group.

Sounds good to me!
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