Yes, I haven't changed the original ship file aside from a re-colour. Yet...
Has custom weapon graphics (sort of) sounds, cloak and shields.
Razor Beam: This EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) ‘Razor’ beam fires a stream of energy molecules that ionizes shields on contact for a short moment. Such is the force of the beam that it can not also disable systems (through the shields!) but completely lockdown weaker secondary systems and at least dent primary systems. It can also ignite fires due to systems quickly overheating. It has a fairly extended ignition sequence but knocking out all level of shields for a critical few seconds cannot be underestimated.
Catalyzing Antimatter Cannon (CAC): The CAC fires a bolt of catalyzed antimatter; catalyzing the antimatter requires a long time to load the cannon, but can consequently pierce (and disable weaker shielding), then go on to cause a significant amount of damage to the structural integrity of the enemy ship. The ship’s secondary FTL core powers the catalyzing process, meaning other energy can be diverted to other systems, but requires a projectile to launch the antimatter. Each bolt is also lethal to life forms, capable of killing anything short of a Rock.
Pros;
• Powerful Weaponry; The Razor Beam can take off hostile shields for a good few seconds, which can be devastating with additional weaponry. The CAC can pierce all shields to take out enemy crew and is guaranteed to damage systems and breach hull.
• Superior Hull; Admantium plating – yes, Admantium, you heard me – means that this Rock Dreadnought has triple the hull strength of a cruiser. Then there’s external Rock Plating to help shrug off some attacks.
• Solid Layout; The Mor-Saxum’s layout has been created so that if a fire breaks out or an enemy boarding team teleports in, in most cases the threat can be easily vented out into space even if it reaches a critical system. The additional Crystal crew member can also impede the advancement of threats due to its lockdown ability.
• Upgrade Capability; While lacking tertiary systems, Drone Control, Cloaking and Teleport, these can all be installed and upgraded to full, allowing you, the captain, to choose what you wish as you to inaugurate as you escape the Rebel fleet.
Cons;
• No Secondary Systems; Due to the Rebel vanguard, the Mor-Saxum lacks shields and sensors along with drones, cloaking and teleport ability.
• NO SHIELDS! WHAT!; Yes, yes, there aren’t any shields, or cloaking, or good engines. But that’s part of the fun and any more upgrades would make the ship overpowered.
• Slow Weaponry; The Razor Beam and CAC are very, very slow to charge up. You will have to take some hits before you send your own volley. Rest assured you’ve got some pretty big guns and it’s pretty damn lethal.
• Awkward Airlocks; The airlocks are placed in locations that won’t harm crew within system rooms (in case of a airlock malfunction), but means that fires and hostiles are more difficult to remove if they gain access to these areas.
Tips;
• Shields are your number one priority. Even the Mor-Saxum’s tough hull can’t absorb all attacks, it is meant to comfortably absorb on any sort of weaponry that can penetrate shields but no more. Doors should be next on your list, in case of a fire.
• Avoid asteroid belts unless you have a shield/know what you’re doing.
• Low recharge weapons go hand-in-hand with the Razor Beam and CAC, use these to hit enemy weak spots in the window the shields go down.
• Likewise, anti-ship drones can also take use of these brief windows to great effect.
• Slugs are a good alternative to sensors if you can pick one up on the way. Just keep it away from hungry Mantis.
• Don’t use missiles or bombs unless you have an expertise in handling them as their usefulness is made slightly obsolete by the shield piercing ability by the Razor Beam and CAC.
• Likewise, additional beam weapons can be very useful, as the problem of removing enemy shields has been negated.
• It’s tempting to run some fights, but you’re going to need the extra scrap for getting shields and additional systems.
This is my first project and was just made for a bit of fun. I have no experience in computer language/modding (I’m pretty much computer illiterate) so this was a big task for me, taking me a month to comfortably come to this position of providing a mod of reasonable quality. I may come back to the Mor-Saxum in future, these are the things I will do if I come back to offer a better version of the ship.
• Custom Ship, not just a reiteration of the colour scheme with custom gibs.
• Custom weapon designs and projectiles.
• New layout with new ship design.
• Add an additional weapon that did not see Beta release (undecided on its implementation, may start with weapon or pick at a store or swap with another weapon at start).
List of known bugs;
• CAC requires a bar of weapon power in another weapon to fire. Cause unknown.
• Ship is slightly misaligned. This is due to trying to align custom layout with ship image in a fault Darkfrost’s ship editor??? Either a bug or a fault on my part.
I have completed the game on Normal on my first attempt with some difficulty and even managed to defeat the Rebel Flagship with a surprising amount of ease (albeit due to a certain amount of luck), but I realise there might be some balancing issues at the start/end. I will update it for balancing issues. But it should be slightly harder (or easier depending on early events) than standard ships.
Also a thank you to;
• UltraMantis for providing a sound fix for custom sounds.
• DarkFrost for a wonderful ship editor that provided the basis for this mod
• Whisky & Hemi two modders that I know through my gaming community (Wolf Pack Clan) that have provided tons of inspiration for me. Without these two I wouldn’t thought I could do this. Cheers.
• To you! For playing my ship. That was my intention for others to enjoy my wacky first attempt at modding.
Anyway, enjoy being the captain of a Rock Dreadnought (sounds cool eh?).
UPDATE NO LONGER WORKS: Download Link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/tijc6y
Change Log:
v.0.6: Offset sort of fixed; just a bit to the left
CAC upped damage to 6
System damage removed (still does 6 sys damage to system hit) so shield does not get damaged.
Razor Beam cooldown cut to 20 from 25 seconds
Hull strength upped to 90 from 60
v.0.5: Initial Release
Ginger Dragon's very unlucky play-through (dem asteroids);
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UjVnBNYKRo
Looks sharp!
I don't know why but i guess you discovered that weapons with 0 power requirement cannot fire when the weapon system is off/disabled. The weapon can recycle just fine, but it cannot fire a projectile unless the weapon system is powered. Since weapons are almost allways powered, it shouldn't be an issue. It also makes sense that a weapon cannot be used with a WS competely destroyed.
