FSPort: ReChargedHi there, welcome to the release thread of my first properly released mod - be gentle, it’s my first time 😜
So what is FSPort: ReCharged, and what does it do differently from vanilla FSPort?FSP: R is a comprehensive edit of FSPort’s weapons, ships and AI tables, combined with a little light FREDing of the vanilla missions. Compared to vanilla FSPort, it is faster and more dynamic, with enemies that are significantly more challenging.
TECHNICAL HELP NEEDED:
Using a debugger results in lots of alerts:
• ‘
Invalid ai secondary range awareness mode ‘YES’ specified’’• “
Autoascalling is meaningless when only one AI class has autoscaling enabled” (Three times in a row)• “
Weapon name Unknown Megabomb already exists in weapons.tbl…” although can’t find a second entry in the weapons.tbl or FSPR-wep.tbm • Then loads about specific fighters/bombers having “1 primary bank, but 2 primary capacities… fix this”.
• (
Since I haven’t done anything with these, I’m guessing these are existing retail / FSO / MVP issues - possibly hiding behind the ‘less than 16 (?) minor errors won't create the warning thing. Do these need changing, or can they be ignored?)• Then saying something about a “hook on death on the custom wingman gauge being deprecated” (It still appears to work fine in the game though).
There are a few table-related issues too that throw up errors, but I’m not sure how to fix them. Some I’m not sure need to be fixed since they appear to be highlighting something that was fine further up the table, such as these separators ;---------------------------The FSPR-wep.tbm doesn’t seem to be workingIf someone could take a look and let me know what I’m doing wrong, I would be very grateful.FSPR-Lite – Test versionhttps://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HtrVIaVwoZCjK2SXZq4KCgXnIk7sDe3G?usp=sharing• What I have linked above is a test version of FSPR-Lite. This contains the altered files and missions up to mission 10 (First strike – where you capture the Taranis).
• To use it simply copy the folder into where your FS2 mods live, then in knossos, in Settings, Configure type -mod FSPRTEST into Local Command Line: and it should work – try any normal FS1 mission and see what happens. It should work with other FSP-based missions/campaigns too – such as ST: R, but this is untested at the moment.
• To play the amended missions, you may need to copy the mission files into where your FS2 single missions live, then play them via the techroom
• This is only the alpha pre-release version of course. The full version will include modifications to the remaining missions, and introduce capship primary weapons. Once it's all finalised, I’ll put it on Knossos in the usual fashion.
So, what has changed between vanilla Freespace Port and FSP: Recharged?The short answer is ‘A lot’. The longer answer is:
• Blanket 20-25MPS speed boost to all fighters’ and bombers’ top speed and top afterburner speed.
• All fighters and bombers have afterburners now.
• All fighters and bombers (including AI) have full GXYZ movement - i.e. they can fly backwards, side-to-side, up-and-down and glide.
• AI has been significantly enhanced using a combination of BP’s Fury AI and the version Bem Calvagar uses, topped off with several tweaks of my own. I’m provisionally calling this ‘ReCharged AI’, but I’m open to alternative names.
• The combination of the GXYZ movement and ‘ReCharged AI’ means that AI friends and foes alike will fly and behave unpredictably - so expect the unexpected. You may have to un-learn your existing flight habits and muscle memory - I know I did.
• Primary weapons have all received a boost in projectile speed, and most have had their rate of fire at least doubled for moar dakka-dakka. However, they have had their base damage per shot reduced by the same factor, so their DPS is mostly the same…mostly.
• However, because the AI is now VERY good at managing its shield quadrants in real time, shielded enemies will appear to be more ‘tanky’ than before.
• This, combined with their primary weapon’s increased projectile speed and RoF means it is inadvisable to try to tank their shots head-on because you will probably lose. Use your GXYZ movement to get in some hits then get out of the way quickly. Hit-and-run tactics are probably your best bet here.
• However, if you DO take hull damage you can now repair it up to 75% via the support ship. (In missions that allow the support ship that is - so be extra careful on THAT stealth mission and in the subspace corridor.)
• Shivan fighters' and bombers' hulls are now self-repairing, so they provide extra challenge and this helps to compensate for their relatively fragile hulls.
• Some Shivan fighters have had their hull hit points upgraded a bit too - a heavy assault fighter like a Basilisk should have a stronger hull than a Manticore after all.
• Secondary weapons are now at least 20-25 MPS faster (to match the speed increase of the fighters and bombers). Some have had their velocities increased considerably beyond that to make them more effective in general. (This was partly to compensate for the general ‘suckiness’ of FS1 secondaries)
• Many enemy secondaries are more powerful now too - largely due to most of them now having a blast radius, which doubles their damage output. Many now have higher subsystem damage too - meaning if you eat a missile you can expect to have several subsystems severely damaged. Therefore, the incoming missile warning should now be taken VERY seriously….
• To balance this their susceptibility to Counter Measures has been increased. Until you run out of them of course…
• Most secondaries can now be targeted and shot down, so that gives you another option for avoiding being hit.
• Secondaries marked as #enemy or STRONG in the weapons table have had the “bomb” flag added too, so you can more easily target a missile coming at you. Recharged comes with a small degree of auto-aim by default, so hitting incoming missiles will not be as difficult as it would be otherwise…
• But be quick about it - since missiles are quite a bit quicker now, you will have less time to react.
• Be advised that the enemy can shoot your secondaries down too. Think Combine Gunships shooting down your rockets in Half-Life 2 and you will have the right idea. ‘Saturation’ and ‘distraction’ are two tactics that can overcome this.
• Bombs - both friendly and enemy - are faster now, partly due to receiving a speed boost from the launching bomber - especially so if it is using its afterburner (which they all have now, remember?)…
• Lock-on time for all aspect seekers has been reduced slightly to compensate for the faster gameplay and increased cap-ship point defences. Note this applies to enemies too…
• But turrets also have a higher projectile speed and rate of fire which makes them more effective at shooting bombs down…
• Turrets’ damage per shot has also been reduced to the same factor their RoF has increased to retain balance. Even so, don’t linger within a capital ship’s turret range longer than necessary, since you are much more likely to be hit than before.
• The Terran and Vasudan Huge Turrets and the Shivan MegaFunk turret are now true anti-hull monsters, so cap ships can now knock seven bells out of each other. Take these turrets out quickly as you would FS2 beam turrets. Thankfully, they now have the ‘Huge’ flag applied, so they won’t target you, but they won’t target enemy fighters and bombers either. Where will you find them? On Shivan vessels the same place you would find the LReds in FS2, so the chin turret of a Lilith, and the ‘cheek’ turrets on a demon.
• MX-50s have been improved considerably in terms of speed and effectiveness. They are among your best weapons for close in combat due to not requiring a lock on period. They are very handy for intercepting missiles coming at you - just hit the bombe select button to highlight the incoming missile then fire off an MX-50.
• Speaking of bombers, the Shaitan has been buffed. In addition to the the blanket buffs all fighters and bombers have gained, their secondary capacity has been increased too, so they are no longer ‘one-and-done’ when it comes to bombs. So remember they will remain a threat after they have ‘shot their first load’ (get your mind out of the gutter 😜) Most have the “I can’t believe it’s not a Maxim” Flail rifles equipped too, so their gun strafing runs will be more effective against unshielded vessels.
• Nephalim bomber's primaries are now the ‘Shivan mega lasers’. Now it’s not just their bombs you need to be wary of when escorting vessels - their guns are a terror too! This will made worse if they strafe said vessel whilst keeping their guns facing it - which they probably will now.
• Oh, and don’t play chicken with them since one salvo of their primaries will likely one-shot you.
• There is now a clear progression between ML-16 - Avenger - Prom R - Prom S - Prom Adv - Banshee. Each has a higher DPS, but lower RoF, lower projectile speed, shorter range and higher energy usage. Higher-tier weapons reward precise well-timed shots, whereas lower-tier weapons are more forgiving of spraying and praying.
• The Avenger has been overhauled so that it more closely resembles its ‘canon’ description - ie very high RoF and only marginally effective against shields since shield effectiveness was a last-minute alteration. It won’t be until you get the prom that you will have a truly effective weapon against Shivan / HoL shields. That said, its low energy draw, high RoF, range and high projectile speed make it useful for intercepting secondaries and torps.
• The projectile speed of dumbfire rockets has been increased to more closely match that of the Avenger since you will need to be using both combined to take down Shivans quickly until you get the Prom. They have also inherited the old Flail’s knockabout ability.
• The Flail Rifle has been thoroughly reworked. It has lost its knockabout ability and its anti-shields capabilities but has gained range, anti-armour and anti-subsystem capabilities. It is now also a ballistic weapon with limited ammo - but it can be reloaded by the support ship. It’s now essentially a proto-FSBlue Maxim and can be used as such.
• (I’m open to suggestions as to what to do with the leech gun to make it useful.)
• Turrets for Terran and Vasudan ships have been updated with longer-ranged variants of the ML-16, VLL, Avenger and Prometheus. It will now be easy to tell at a glance what point defences a ship has by what its turrets shoot. Previously the Terran/Vasudan Turrets (which were supposedly Avenger derivatives) and their Weak counterparts (supposedly based on the ML-16 and VLL respectively) looked the same, so it was nearly impossible to tell visually. And since they are based on the much faster firing versions of the weapons that ReCharged uses, they are now true PDCs / CWIS systems which are effective at taking out bombs. That said, they may struggle against heavily shielded bombers, so don’t leave these vessels unguarded.
• The aspect lock time for most secondaries has been reduced slightly to compensate for the blanket fighter and bomber speed increase.
• The superb slowcoms script has been added as standard. This is vital for ReCharged, since effective wingman management is essential, especially on higher difficulties. Think ‘micro’ in RTS games.
• The custom wingman gauge has also been added as standard. Since wingman management is vital, knowing which of your wingmen are fighters and which are bombers is especially useful.
• Some missions have received some light FRED edits to re-balance them - all these changes made some missions too easy and others too hard in their vanilla state. I noticed in the earlier mission files that the enemies often didn’t have any secondaries equipped. Now they do, making them more challenging. Some missions have been granted additional wingmen to make them balanced (they had become too hard without them.)
• The main changes (apart from the support ship repair) are that the starting ship choice and starting weapons load-outs have been expanded. Now the Angel, Apollo, Valkyrie, Athena and Medusa are available from the first mission onwards.
• Starting primary loadouts from the first mission onwards now include the ML-16, Disrupter, and Flail, whilst the MX-50, Fury, Interceptor, Hornet, Phoenix V, Stiletto and Tsunami secondaries are all available from the get-go - but in limited numbers until the point in the campaign when they would normally become available. I have added flavour text to the first command briefing about the Galatea and Bastion getting Opeval test samples ahead of mainstream deployment to justify this in-game.
• Some fighters and bombers have had their weapon compatibility increased too - MX-50s, Interceptors and Phoenix Vs are now universal across all fighters and bombers. Again, I will amend their tech room entries to match this and explain why.
• I have tested and completed the first ten missions on Hard - my usual difficulty setting. I found most missions to be challenging and unforgiving at this difficulty, but all were beatable. It did force me to change how I played the missions, however - “fighting smarter, not harder” was a definite take-home message, as was “discretion being the better part of valour”. I would love to hear your experiences, however, and I’m intrigued if HLP’s most elite pilots can beat these missions on Insane.
Why have you created this?The HLP community has made tremendous strides in improving the graphics, sounds, cutscenes and quality-of-life features of the original FS1 via FSPort and its Media VPs. But one thing that has remained the same is the gameplay. This is fine for a vanilla + eye-candy experience - which is what most people want it seems.
But I was craving a different gameplay experience - after all, things have moved on a lot since 1998. So I decided to do what I always do in situations where I want something that hasn’t been done yet - do it myself. (Quite possibly with Blackjack and Hookers as paid for DLC 😁)
Looking at the various AI, Ship and weapon tables - and their associated wikis - I was delighted to see that most of what I wanted to change - and a whole lot more - was already possible. For some this was possible since retail (I think) whilst for others it was the result of the coding geniuses at HLP who added these features via successive FSO build updates. It appears that most modders either didn’t know about them (please correct me if I’m wrong) or chose not to use them, which is entirely their prerogative of course.
I was curious to see how far vanilla FS gameplay could be tweaked by simply editing tables and activating these seldom-used features. So I ‘experimented’ with them (read - ‘arsing around to see what happens whilst trying not to break things’) when I had some free time, and FSPort: ReCharged Test is the result, which I’m sharing with you all now.
Secondly, I wanted the gameplay to become less about dogfighting skills and more about tactics - fighting smarter, not harder, as you would in an RTS such as Homeworld. I was able to achieve this to an extent - trying to ‘Alpha One’ everything will just get you killed on any difficulty beyond Easy.
Unfortunately, FSO limitations prevented some ideas from being implemented or made them less effective (inability to create rally points, in-mission waypoints and the AI’s rather stupid priority regarding support ship rearm and repair 🤪)
Why create this instead of a new story-based campaign?That will come later, once I have fully learnt how to FRED, use Sexpes etc. (or recruit a team who is already proficient in these - if interested please PM me).
I already have a multi-act post-Capella campaign (Causality) in its design stages, but I need to bring my Fredding skills up to the requisite level to make it. In the meantime, I can do this.
FSP: R is also a learning experience and an experiment since Causality will likely use many of these mechanics too.
What were your main inspirations for this?• Bem Calvalgar (AI)
• War Machine (the idea of taking an existing campaign and ‘ReCharging’ it)
• The Babylon Project - The Babylon 5 Total Conversion (GXYZ movement)
• FSBlue (Ballistic weapons with support ship rearm, and the idea of taking the crappy ‘knockabout’ primary and turning it into something useful)
• Exile (Rapid fire weapons from the start, support ship hull repair.)
• Memories of the Great War for VLS Weapons (Not yet implemented)
• SerRes for Capital Ship Primaries (Not yet implemented)
• Real Life - CWIS and CRAM systems, interceptor anti-missiles.
Why the 20-25mps speed boost?Because I always felt vanilla FS speeds frustratingly sluggish. This small change makes a big difference in game ‘feel’, without greatly changing the game.
Does FSP: R change the story, add missions etc?No. Not yet anyway. There might be scope for minor changes later if that’s what the community wants. One idea I’m toying with is adding a few standalone extra missions that fill some of the gaps in the FS1 story - such as how the HoL got shields so early on. (If this has been done already please let me know - there are so many missions, mission packs and the like that I haven’t played them all - yet 😁)
Why do a test release like this?To get feedback from the player base, which can be used to further refine it in future updates, and it is easier to do this in this format at this stage of development than doing it through Knossos. (It may also inform some of the design choices I use in Causality later on.)
What’s your next project?After the full Knossos release of FSP: R I’ll be taking a break from modding until I can afford a new PC because trying to do this on my 10-year-old PC with its GTX970 GPU, creaky CPU and 16 gigs of DDR3 RAM has been a frustrating experience. That said, once a shiny new PC has been obtained, my future modding plans are:
• FSPort Co-op ReCharged, since the Co-op’s enhanced missions should ‘pair well’ with ReCharged.
• Updating Reunion 2.0 to Reunion 2.5
• FS2 / FSBlue ReCharged, and FS2 ReCharged - Lite. Basically the same things as FSP: R, but with FS2.
• Causality acts 1-4/5 (Acts three and four might be merged, so act count is TBD)
• Causality’s Prequel – Causaility: Fall of Sol
• Causality’s sequel Causality: Fall of Man
Hope you all enjoy it. Player feedback is definitely welcome 👍
