Zoura's Ion Weapons Pack (Public Beta 3!)

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Zoura3025
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Dec 07, 2019 5:48 am

Zoura's Ion Weapons Pack (Public Beta 3!)

Postby Zoura3025 » Sat Dec 07, 2019 5:53 am

[*]Hey everyone! I've had this post up for a long while now, but today's the first time I feel comfortable actually sharing the mod. As the term "beta" implies, it's still far from done. I just want to get some feedback on the game balance, bugs, and other aspects of this mod! As such, located below is a download link to the mod's file in a google drive.

So, what the heck does this mod even do?

Well, as the name implies, this is a pack consisting of ionic weaponry! All weapons (and drones) originating from this pack do some amount of ion damage, or utilise ion damage in their range of effects. There are several families of weapons to choose from, and they sprawl across all levels of the game, from the 0-power Loose Ion Mk. I to the 5-power Ion Railgun, you're sure to find something you enjoy if you like ion damage at all!

Additionally, the Heavy Ion and Chain Ion have gotten buffs. The Heavy Ion fires 1 second faster (this allows it to stack ion damage by itself with a maxed weapons crew or 2 automated reloaders), and the Chain Ion (renamed to the Heavy Chain Ion) now fires 2 seconds faster and starts at 2 damage, ramping up to 5.

Spoilers for all weapons in the mod: If you don't want to see things beforehand and experience things for yourself, skip to the bottom where the download is.

The first big family (first as in the first weapons I ever coded) is the Anti-system Ion line. This line includes the Dismantler, Destroyer, Shredder, and Obliterator Ions. These weapons do ion, system, and crew damage, with the highest tier weapons even inflicting hull damage. Perfect for those looking to gut shields.

The second major family is the Ion Laser line. The ideal hybrid weapon, the Ion Laser family stretches through all power levels (from 1-5). Dealing 1 Ion and 1 Normal damage and firing in bursts, they're an excellent jack-of-all-trades for when burst lasers or ion weapons won't cut it.

The third is the Heavy Ion Laser line. Though the default Heavy Ion Lasers fire 1 shot that does 2 ion and normal damage, with the Mark II firing faster, many engineers have twisted the weapons into exciting new avenues, like repeaters that fire multiple shots per volley and ultra-heavy variants to put some extra heat on even powerful enemy systems.

The fourth is the Precision Ion Line. These weapons are born-and-bred shield killers that deliver their damage extremely fast -- not in terms of cooldown, but shot speed. They tend to be on the higher-power cost end, but many still like them for their powerful anti-shield utility.

The fifth is the Loose Ion Line. These are low-power alternatives to the ion blast line, firing over broad areas. Though generally quite shoddy as weapons, they're very efficient, and some captains use them as shield killers to supplement the less impressive parts of their heavy-weapon-laced kit.

The sixth is the Generator Ion Line. Unlike other weapons, they actually provide power to other weapons in the weapon system. Has 3 tiers, however, higher marks have worse weapon stats, instead providing more power as you climb the ranks.

The seventh line, though currently only a singular weapon, is the Battery Launcher line! These print fire small batteries (similar to the batteries seen in the Ion Blast Mk III's rotating ammo system) that pierce all normal shields. Each shot does 1 ion and 1 normal damage, like an ion laser -- however, the shield piercng means they inflict a bonus 1 ion damage to shields as they pass through. Their overall DPSPP (damage per second per power) is on the lower end of hybrid weaponry, but they're useful all the way through thanks to their lack of an ammo cost.

Last but not least, Ionic Missiles of both normal matter and antimatter varieties can be found, ranging in power from a few ion damage and one hull damage up to dealing over 4 of each! And, of course, thanks to their shield pierce, this ion damage is multiplied when punching through shields; perfect for an opening assault!

Hidden in the depths of space, there's believed to be an Ion Blast that fires so fast, it has to cycle interchangeable super capacitors instead of firing straight from the circuit. This is the elusive Ion Blast Mk. III, and it fires faster than once a second. It's exceedingly rare, but it's out there, ready to be unleashed on the cosmos.

And for the advanced editioners, we've got 2 special lines of weapons, just for you!

Firstly is the Speed Chain Ion line. They only do 1 ion damage, but spin up faster each time they're fired, giving them more stable DPS than Heavy Chain Ions. However, overall, they're generally lesser weapons.

Secondly is the massive-scale Ion Coil line. They inflict catastrophic levels of ion damage (8 damage per mark, up to 24) but hit over a giant area, take a long time to fire, and eat up huge amounts of power (3 power for the mark 1, up to 5 for the mark 3). However, if you're looking to suppress ship systems, these heavy weapons will not steer you wrong -- assuming you can survive the extensive warm-up period.

And, of course, killing is no fun without little buddies to do it with you! We've got a lineup of combat drones, ready to kill some shields for you!

There are 3 types of drones: Ion Blast Drones, Ion Laser Drones, and the Dismantler Ion Drone. Ion Blast drones deal ion damage, Ion Laser Drones do hybrid ion-normal damage, and Dismantler Drones carry a Dismantler Ion that deals 2 ion damage and 1 system and crew damage.

To-Do List

This is a list of items on the to-do list for me, the modmaker. I want to post this to drum up some hype, while also giving insight as to what I have yet to do/what I want to do.

High Priority
[*]Finish weapon and drone sprites (currently, 32/41 sprites are done).
[*]Add custom projectile artwork (can't give a proper done/total ratio since I'm still not sure how many different graphics I wanna use. So far, I've got 3 done with plans for at least a couple more).

Medium Priority
[*]Flesh out and rebalance weapons (can't do this until I start getting feedback from testers).
[*]Figure out how to make certain weapons more common in certain sectors (store-wise).
[*]Flesh out some lines (ion laser chargers, a smaller chain heavy ion, et cetera).

Low Priority
[*]Figure out how to add custom weapons to enemy ships.
[*]Stop using the Lanius A as a test ship so its loadouts aren't always broken as hell.

In Consideration
[*]Ion Crystal?
[*]A proper ion beam, with a trail and everything. Still trying to figure out how to balance one...
[*]Work on mod compatibility with overhauls like CE or Arsenal+
[*]Figure out how to make custom weapons have blue options (and maybe entire custom events).

Finished?
[*]Rework weapon sounds and explosions (currently, 93% of weapons sound/impact the same).

Finiiiished.


And, of course, the most important part of the mod page:

Download public beta 2! (Will take you to a .ftl file in google drive.)

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BETA 3 ADDITIONS AND CHANGES (The "Woah, where'd that all come from?" Update)

--TECHNICAL--
Made Battery Launcher more common in pirate sectors. (Hopefully? I'm not sure how to test this exactly. I edited pirate sectors so the weapon has a lower rarity).
Added flavor types to everything to make all weapons feel a bit more distinct.
Rebalanced Loose Ion Mk II; now fires once per 3.5s (up from 2), costs 2 power, has larger radius. Overall a slightly worse weapon, but it fits the theme of loose ions being crap weapons on the cheap.
Added the correct explosions to most weapons. Also created a hybrid explosion for ion lasers and the Neutron Missile (it's just 2 vanilla explosions spliced together, but imo it still looks good). Created a heavier hybrid explosion for higher damage missiles (via the same general method).
Nerfed Shredder and Obliterator Ions; they now do less ion, system, and crew damage. Also increased the cooldown on the destroyer ion, as permalock and 2 system damage would be grossly OP at 3 power.
Also nerfed the Ion Blast Mk III again (now takes 1.8 seconds to fire, or roughly 45% of the charge time of an ion blast Mk II).
Redesigned Obliterator Ion to be more on-par with most 5-power weapons in terms of intimidation factor; redesigned Shredder Ion and Destroyer Ion Accordingly. Destroyer Ion got a "redesign" in the form of the Shredder Ion's old sprite. (Dismantler Ion gets to stay as-is, though, because it's a cute li'l 2-power weapon and the first weapon sprite I ever made.)
Proton Missile got a new sprite, and a new projectile. I'm making sure not all launcher sprites are the same.

--NEW CONTENT--
Added the Battery Launcher Mk II; essentially just 2 Battery Launcher Mk Is stapled together, stats-wise, with only a 1 second cooldown penalty to account for the fact it only uses 1 slot.
Added the Battery Flak. Fires 3 batteries across a 45px area, with a 16 second cooldown. Costs 4 power (subject to rebalancing; it wasn't quite up to 5-power standards during my test playthrough). Batteries have a lower stun chance than normal battery launchers, but overall, the weapon (like most flaks) hit a bit harder at the cost of needing luck on one's side for smaller targets.
Added a 0-power ion laser. It's a pretty crap weapon and costs more than an Ion Laser Mk I, but hey, if you just want something damaging to fill up an equipment slot, you could do worse.
Added the Ion Laser Drone Mk II. Moves a little over twice as fast as an Ion Laser Drone Mk I, and costs twice the power (subject to rebalancing; I mean, you should get SOME penalty for only using one drone slot, right?).
Lanius B has joined the Ionic Weapon start club! It comes with a Battery Flak and a Loose Ion Laser; kinda difficult in the beginning, but the ionic piercing on the flak gets brutal towards 3-4 shield enemies. Oh, and I guess there's some system and crew changes here or there... ;)

--CONSEQUENTIAL UPDATES--
Lanius A has a different loadout. No clue if it's winnable; it's just my test ship. Until we're out of major content additions, expect a random, typically broken Lanius A kit.
Once again, overall item rarities are lower. With every new weapon and drone I add, it makes every other harder to find. This is gonna be arsenal+ all over again...

--NEW CONCEPTS--
I may have found a way to balance ion beams, but it won't be pretty. Coming soon(tm).
Might add EMPs: these are AOE ions that strike instantly, ignoring shields entirely (even supershields). I think CE had one, and it was pretty neat.
Cluster Ions: these are hybrid ion flaks and heavy ions. They fire a "single projectile" composed of many clumps of small ion shots that hits a very tight area (~10-15px), dealing mass ion damage toone system. Their main benefit is that a single dodge doesn't render your entire attack negated, but they probably will do between 3 and 5 ion damage per shot; perfect for heavy disabling.


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BETA 2 ADDITIONS/CHANGES:

- Nerfed Ion Blast Mk III (now fires once per 1.3s vs 0.8s)
- A menagerie of sprites have been added, including the Ion Coil Mk II and the Ion Laser Mk III.
- A new weapon/start of a class of weapons has been added: The Battery Launcher! Sling charged projectiles at your foes with all the shield piercing but no missile cost -- at the cost of low damage:power ratio.
- Kestrel C has a different starting loadout.

- Next update plans: More sprites, a new weapon, a couple new drones.


Download public beta 1! (Will take you to a .ftl file in google drive.)
Last edited by Zoura3025 on Thu Jan 28, 2021 10:43 am, edited 4 times in total.
Zoura3025
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Dec 07, 2019 5:48 am

Re: Zoura's Ion Weapons Pack (First Public Beta Release!)

Postby Zoura3025 » Sun Jan 24, 2021 6:16 am

First major update! Added... Everything. This is the first major release of the mod, and I'm looking for some people to give me feedback on weapon balance and whatnot! Just a couple of things I'd like everyone to keep in mind:

[*]This is super early access. I've done extensive testing with most weapons/ships on offer, but I'm only one guy. There might be grossly overpowered/underpowered weapons, weapons with bugs (both visual and functional), or unwinnable loadouts.
[*]I'm looking for constructive criticism; suggestions on what could be improved/changed are encouraged and requested.
[*]Public youtube videos are fair game (just link them to me, if you'd be so kind :)), but DMing me/posting a reply here are encouraged as well.
[*]Weapon concepts are accepted and requested! I can't guarantee anything, but please don't hesitate to bring a concept up if you feel I've missed something.

Most importantly...
[*]Have fun! Don't get twisted up trying to be super serious. If you're visiting this as a "job" to give me as much feedback as possible, I appreciate it, but don't go gutting yourself over it.