This is a shame, because the drone-ship idea is pretty cool, it’s just suffering from poor implementation. That’s why I decided to make these new versions of the Engi B, based on suggestions from the forums.
I’ve been playtesting these ships for a while now and aimed to make them as balanced as possible, but if you have any comments or suggestions please let me know.
The Ares
The Ares is the next generation of Engi Automated Cruiser. Equipped with a state of the art autopilot and more efficient weapons and drone systems, this ship surpasses the Vortex in almost every respect.
Screenshots:
AE Layout
CE Layout
This is a rebalanced version of the original Engi B. It can now pierce level 2 shields thanks to its dual laser and has a defence drone to compensate for its poor engines. It also has a L3 helm, so now your lone Engi can risk leaving the cockpit from time to time.
Download Ares 1.31
The Vega
A newly developed prototype cruiser, the Vega sacrifices weapons power in favour of a much larger drone bay. It also has a top of the line autopilot and a variety of on-board drones to assist its crew in almost any situation.
Screenshots:
AE Layout
CE Layout
This cruiser has 4 drone slots, which gives it a unique playstyle that relies on drone power and versatility. It also has a L3 helm and an Ion Boarding Drone, which makes it much more fun to play in the early stages of the game.
Note: Because this ship only has two weapon slots the auto-fire button won’t show up on the UI. If you want to use auto-fire I suggest using the hotkey (V by default), or holding ctrl when selecting a target.
Download Vega 1.31
NEW: The Enso
This old Engi Cruiser has been hastily upgraded with a prototype ion weapon and an AI salvaged from a rebel Auto-Cruiser. Whether the AI will choose to accept its new masters or brutally murder them has yet to be tested.
Screenshots:
AE Layout
CE Layout
This is another rebalanced version of the Engi B using the new AE content. The Chain Ion allows you to stack ion damage if you wait long enough, while the Clone Bay helps your lone Engi to survive longer.
Download Enso 1.01
Extras
Engi B Autoship Patch
This patch allows the Engi-B repair and pilot itself like a rebel Auto-Cruiser. It will work with any of the cruisers here as well as the vanilla Engi B, and requires the Universal Starting Beacon mod, which you can download here.
In SMM, you’ll need to load the mods in the following order:
-Captains edn (optional)
-Universal Starting Beacon
- Engi B Rebalanced
-Autoship Patch
Note: While using the Engi B with the auto-cruiser patch you won’t be able to hire crew in stores, although you can still get them from events. This bug is hardcoded, so unfortunately I can’t fix it.
Download Autoship Patch
dronesplus Mod
Want to get the most out of these ships? You should try out the dronesplus mod by Karmos. This mod adds a bunch of new drones, including the Ion and Missile Drones that were originally planned to be in the game.
DronesPlus hasn’t been updated for AE yet, so I threw together an AE-compatible version which you can download here.
Code: Select all
Changelog:
1.31
-Fixed a bug with the artillery on the CE Versions.
1.3
-Added a new cruiser: The Enso.
-Added Captains Edn versions for each cruiser.
-Added Auto-Cruiser Patch.
-Replaced the Vega’s Boarding Drone with an Ion Boarding Drone.
-Fixed a minor graphical glitch on the Vega.
-Fixed image filename syntax, to make it easier for other modders to make changes.
1.2
-Updated for Advanced Edn.
1.0
-Initial Release.