Questions for future mod

[al244098]

I came to a decision to make a mod for a Boss Rush version for FTL

I figured out a way to get 20 battles on one node, which is by having no fuel.

But before I make any progress, I need to learn the basics of modding (since I know absolutely nothing)
I also need clarification for these questions:

1. Can the 'Wait' events when you have no fuel be modded? (this is the base of the whole boss rush idea)

2. Can you receive specific rewards (Augments, Weapons, a certain amount of scrap, etc) from battles for specific ships?

3. Can you mod the Flagship's 'Power Surge' ability to something different or add it to other enemy ships?

4. Can you jump instantly to the final sector? (or create a shortcut of some sort)

5. Can you give me links to tutorials and videos for modding?

6. -to be added-

I might get this finished by the end of this year, if my schedule is free.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So this is how the mod will work:

You will be given a wide array of ship and ship types with fully upgraded systems and custom weapons.
All ships will be given 1 Augment named 'Begin Battle' which has no effect on you ship

From the first beacon in-game, you will have no fuel and will be forced to wait (the wait button will be replace with 'next round') and will be given an event which will repair your ship and give you a list of 20 different enemies. Each enemy requires a specific Augment to fight, the first enemy being the 'Begin Battle' Augment

After defeating the first boss, you will be given a 'Fight Boss 2' Augment which allows you to fight boss 2.

You will be given no fuel and be forced to wait again. Now you will receive the same event but now only fighting Boss 2 is available.

This loop continues until the final boss.



The only problem now is winning the game, where I have no idea on how to make you 'win' after fighting the final boss, other than going through all the sectors and fight the Flagship

[kartoFlane]

1. Yes
2. I'm not terribly experienced with events, but I'd guess it is possible
3. No, this one is completely hardcoded
4. We can't modify the sector structure in any way, so I'd say no. You'll always have to go through 7 sectors to get to the boss. Maybe you could try messing around with crystal sector's events to see if it's possible to make a shortcut event from starting beacon to exit beacon, to faciliate the shortcut.
5. There aren't many resources. The closest you could get is poke around the FTL wiki (I happen to have two links in my signature), or watch VoV's making a mod video, in which he messes a bit with XML code. Other than that, literally everyone started out by taking a look at the game's files and figuring out what the code does.

I wish you luck, but there is one problem with your idea: augments cannot be removed through events

[al244098]

1. Yes
2. I'm not terribly experienced with events, but I'd guess it is possible
3. No, this one is completely hardcoded
4. We can't modify the sector structure in any way, so I'd say no. You'll always have to go through 7 sectors to get to the boss. Maybe you could try messing around with crystal sector's events to see if it's possible to make a shortcut event from starting beacon to exit beacon, to faciliate the shortcut.
5. There aren't many resources. The closest you could get is poke around the FTL wiki (I happen to have two links in my signature), or watch VoV's making a mod video, in which he messes a bit with XML code. Other than that, literally everyone started out by taking a look at the game's files and figuring out what the code does.

I wish you luck, but there is one problem with your idea: augments cannot be removed through events

Thanks for the reply.

Its a shame we can't have power surges for normal enemies, it would've been so fun
Is it possible to reduce the amount of beacons in a sector? Or change the location of the exit beacon?
I'll have a look at what crystal sectors can do though.
I'll also peek around the wiki for modding guides as well

And I forgot to ask, can enemy ships have artillery beams?

It isn't necessary for the augment to be removed, I'm planning on giving every ship 2 useful augments and 1 for the bosses, so the previous boos augment could just be replaced after battle with the augment for the next boss.

[Kiloku]

I might be mistaken, but I think enemy ships can indeed have artillery weapons, and even better, they don't need to be beams!
I've seen an artillery laser a while ago, as the Yamato Cannon in someone's Starcraft Battlecruiser mod.

[kartoFlane]

Artillery can be any weapon, be it a beam, laser, missile, bomb... And yeah, I'm pretty sure enemies can have artillery, too.

@al244098
No idea about beacon count - I think it's hardcoded, as well as location of the exit beacon - they're both part of FTL's internal sector generation algorithm.
There is a sectorData.xml file in data.dat, but it's mostly sector names, music, shops and rarity data, from what I've seen.

[al244098]

I figures out a way to get a power surge like effect, which is making a long-recharge, high damage weapon.

I'm gonna make the specifics for each boss later


edit: ok, i've been thinking about how the diversify the bosses, but now i have another problem, can we alter the zoltan shield HP? I plan on giving many of the bosses a big defense boost

[al244098]

BUMP


-could anyone answer my question: is the zoltan sheild HP editable?

i couldn't find anything in the xml

[kartoFlane]

Nope. You can't edit it in any way except for the cost, texts and rarity (making it available at shops). There's also the value tag, but I doubt it has any effect.

It's called "ENERGY_SHIELD", in blueprints.xml

[al244098]

Darn it, i'll have to rethink about a few ships

[Kiloku]

You could make them have a lot more of Hull points than normal, at least. There isn't a max number, as far as I know. (Though it does bork the interface a bit, as the bar goes off screen)