Mod: Updated: Drives 'R' Us v4.1

[Phlagm]

I think that maybe the best solution to that thread/version problem is to always post in the same thread and just edit the description, edit the title, and change the attachment each time. The Baylon 5 guy did that, and I originally didn't, but now I think it works better to keep things from getting confused. Plus, when people reply to the edited post about the new mod version, that shows up as "Re: Mod Name, New Version" so you can keep straight which posts go with the current version.

[Mafaa]

ya, where did that Babylon guy go, that was my favorite mod.

[WeirdGuyinanevenweirderworld]

I had to log in just to tell you that your mod rocks!!!

[sgqwonkian]

Here's a brand new expanded version of Drives'R'Us. Pretty much everything has changed, so I'll probably leave the old version on this thread as well in case anyone prefers that version. But I don't think you will - this one's much spiffier.

Changes in 2.0 version:

• Recalibrated prices on everything. I did extensive testing and number-crunching to arrive at more-accurate values for almost every item in the game.
• Technology items are now split into Civilian Tech and Military Tech. The Military mission focuses on military tech, and the Science mission gives a little bit of emphasis on civilian tech.
• Changed the starting equipment for all ships, and what spawns on Hope.
• Over 30 new items!
  • 9 New Weapons
  • 3 New Drives
  • 2 New Sensors
  • 1 New ECM
  • 4 New Combat Computers
  • 5 New Repair Systems
  • 5 New Thrusters
  • 2 New Shields
• Miscellaneous tweaks to various systems and weapons.
• Added a couple new ship variants. Should mix up the fights a bit.

I've got plenty more ideas, and will probably do another version somewhere down the road. In the meantime, though, this should keep you all happy for a while.

[sgqwonkian]

I was playing around, and noticed a couple things didn't make it into the 2.0 version. So, here's 2.1.

Changes in 2.1 version:

• Removed all the Superweapon KEYS. Thought I'd implemented that before, and realized today that I had missed at least half of them. The sheer quantity of items in this mod makes it unlikely you'll get a large stockpile of superweapons.
  
• Tweaked the Civil War event. It's now a little more unpredictable (there's two versions), and no longer claims to be a supernova after the fact. I'm much happier with it now.
  
• Removed two SYSTEM slots from Bloodfang. With the three extra weapon slots I had given him in 2.0, he was just a little too good. Now you have to be really careful how you equip him, you can't just load him up with all the good stuff. Balance has been restored.

Enjoy!

[sgqwonkian]

So, I made a few changes... and they led to some major sweeping changes.

I'm pleased to release Drives'R'Us, version 3.0!

Changes in 3.0 version:
The 3.0 versions upgrades are mostly about ships.
+ 4 new allied ships you can recruit
+ Altered stats, armament and/or graphics on a large number of ships. Battles play out differently, and the ships look better, too.
+ 7 more new items (on top of the 30 added in the 2.0 version), including one that I'm really proud of because it does something totally new and unique.
+ Miscellaneous other changes detailed in the mod's readme.txt file.

[ExplorerBob]

As an avid WW player, I've tried most of the mods available for the game at one point or another. I liked the game enough to start working on a mod of my own, and I acquired the free copy of SAIS, so I could pull info from SAIS to make my projects more like the original.

Hopefully this background will lend some credence to my belief that Drives 'R' Us is the greatest mod going right now. I spent a good amount of time on the original version, and it's gotten better with each new revision. The only mods I regularly play now are my own, Teeming With Life, and Drives 'R' Us -- more so Drives than Life.

In fact, Drives' presence is somewhat intimidating; my mod has a few good things about it, and some features in the pipeline (variable relations, for instance, which is still in development), but Drives has so much great stuff already in that in some ways, my mod is a bit superfluous. We differ in some aspects of design philosophy, which is why I continue development; there are some things about WW that I think could be better. Drives builds off of WW, whereas my mod builds more from the source, in some ways, which is SAIS. If I didn't have that in mind, though, and I wanted to develop straight from Weird Worlds, there wouldn't be too much of a point in making a mod, 'cuz this one already has so much going for it.

I haven't checked the actual mod files as much as my own, so I'm not sure as to the viability of the idea I'm about to propose, but do you think it would be possible to combine the better parts of Teeming With Life with Drives 'R' Us?

[sgqwonkian]

ExplorerBob, you're making me blush.

There's plenty of design space left out there, by the way. Drives'R'Us is almost entirely just items. One area it's pretty weak in is quests and races. There's another 50 or 60 weapons that could be made for the game without getting old, too.

As to your notion of combining my mods together. It's been on my "to do" list for a while. And I'd probably throw in a tiny bit of the Sgqwonkian Crisis mod... well, one or two of the better bits.

Speaking of feeling "superfluous" or being "intimidated" - go take a hard look at Sgqwonkian Crisis sometime. You know how you feel in regards to my recent stuff? Well, that's how I was feeling in relation to Phlagm's Even Weirder Worlds - it was so slick compared to my freshman efforts.

The important thing is to just publish. Hammer it out, put a rough draft out here. There's a reluctance to do so, a desire to polish until it's shiny. I get that. I look back at old Sgqwonkian Crisis, and cringe a bit. The truth is, modding is complex enough there's always something to fiddle with, you'll never be 100% happy. You can go back and fix it up later.

I had this amazing Weirdyssey mod I was working on for 4 to 6 months solid. It was gonna be great, and I didn't want to spoil the secrets by releasing a rough draft. Then my computer crashed and I lost all of it.

But, I digress... Definitely, in my plans, I intend to put out a melded version of those mods, and I'll probably add to it the Time Capsules and Esmeralda mini-mods, and maybe some of my favorite parts of other people's mods, too. It'll take a while, though.

Anyhow, thanks again for the kind words. I'm glad you like my stuff.

[Zythee]

A really great mod! I have been enjoying it alongside a few others recently. Babylon seems to appear inconsistently, which I don't understand, but it otherwise seems really stable! Doesn't crash and adds a lot to the game. Thanks.