NEWS!
I'm currently in the final stages of testing version 3.00 of this plugin, but atm it's for
XTM and X3:Reunion ONLY.
My gaming rig has issues though (faulty VRAM), so before I release it I'm looking for anyone who'd like to get their hands on an advance copy of 3.00 for XTM and X3:Reunion to help out with some late-stage testing. Nothing serious, just use the plugin as you would normally to see if there are any major issues before the release.
Please PM me an e-mail address if you're interested, I'd be massively grateful!
IMPORTANT:
I'm not sure atm if I'll ever release this for the vanilla game, depends on how many people request it really. So for the moment, can you keep any discussion on
this thread over at TXU please, as doing so will save me a lot of hassle. If there's a vanilla release, I'll update this thread with it, and of course start a new X3:TC thread when I finally get that done
If anyone wants this for vanilla, please let me know!
Thanks a lot and sorry it's taken so long, my life has been a total mess for the past three years (still is in fact).
Everything in this new version has been improved (it's a complete re-write in fact), but here are some highlights:
New weapon selection: No longer rule-based, but based instead on a complex formula involving hit probability, shield/hull damage, available weapon quantity, available energy, the target class, wether capturing or killing, etc, etc. The result is that for any given situation, the most efficient weapon and loadout will be selected.
Capture mode that actually captures ships: You requested it, now don't say I never do anything for you
If a target can be captured, turrets will attempt to do so in the same way the player would (the plugin can probably do this more accurately than the player in fact... I'm not kidding!), even to the point of giving up trying to cap low value ships once the hull is past a certain percentage. The new routines even know how much fire is 'out there', so you won't find a ship turning blue, only for it to be quickly toasted by a long stream of plasma. YMMV, obviously
Full support for Bail Signal Extension too.
Manual Turret Control (MTC): Player can select a front turret for manual control that only engages your current target, fire button is mapped to a hotkey (think programmable controller like the X52, yeah?). Enables ships like the Reaver, for instance, to have 'main guns' and be flown like an M6. Really, this is main gun emulation, even to the point where you have to point the host ship at the target in order to fire
New missile defence: Massive improvements across the board, with many features specially written for XTM. TCS now tracks multiple missiles in a similar way to ships. Weapon selection based on anti-missile weapons, and only one weapon is mounted in a turret to deal with them (enables FAA to be efficiently used). If engaging a missile from within the main fire loop, the original target is switched back to once the missile is destroyed. Experimental "Death Blossom" technology means that multiple missiles can be engaged and destroyed simultaneously by a single turret. Yeah, Death Blossom has been totally lifted from "The Last Starfighter"
Fast target lock: In the initial stages of tracking a target, turret weapons are not mounted until the turret is facing the target. Slow turning weapons like PPC can start firing and switch targets very quickly.
Improved energy management: When you're low on weapon energy, the weapon switching routines will avoid weapons there's no hope of firing. No point in mounting bFAA's if all that will happen is they just sit there in a turret, looking menacing. The result is that if you've got a good range of weapons in your cargo bay, the TCS will keep firing.
Targeting overrides: Effectively an "Attack my target" or "Capture my target" hotkey (there's two), but with a twist - current player tracking aim is 'tagged' so the TCS will prioritise it over everything else, allowing the player to target and concentrate on something else. Any non-friendly object can be tagged in this way too, completely overriding the target selection logic (so long as it's a ship/station and not player owned).
Status Report: Shows the player how the TCS is currently configured (due to all the new options, I really had to do this). Can be run remotely against player owned ships as well.
Player and ship settings memory: When the player leaves a ship, many settings are reset to their default values (the current firing mode, or Manual Turret Control for example). In 3.0 this still happens, but for each ship your personal settings are stored when you depart, and then re-established on your return.
Sorry about that.
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