changelog.txt

Mayorate mod changelog

v1.1.0

- Starsector 0.95a compatibility.
- Rasht star system economy rebalance for 0.95.
- Added a new hostile market/encounter music track for the Mayorate.
- Fixed a bug with Graser sound effects. They should sound substantially more beefy now.
- Redid the Lilith sprite. The old one was 7 (!!!) years old. I didn't know what I was
  doing then. It's debatable if I know what I'm doing now. Either way it's an improvement.
- Added a new Cimeterre sprite in the same style as the new Lilith sprite. Looks waaaay 
  better.
- Tornado AM projectiles have been substantially buffed - they are much more likely to 
  reach their targets now (but can still be shot down by good PD).
- Grav Driver deals EMP damage again. It no longer hits like a wet rag as a result.
- Disruptors use a custom autofire AI again. (Prevents AI from wasting these on 
  fighters.)

v1.0.0

General changes: 
- Starsector 0.9.1a compatibility.
- Massive code cleanup/reformat. Project builds now use Gradle instead of 
  IDE-specific toolchains.
- Bumped version to 1.0.0. This doesn't mean that work has stopped, merely that 
  this mod has reached what I wanted it to be all those years ago when I started
  this project. It's all grown-up now... *sniff*

Sound and music: 
- Campaign music is part of the base mod again. Not sure why it was removed in
  the first place.
- Removed unlicensed music + added Njol (Jeremy Soule) to the campaign music.
- Temporarily disabled battle music for missions. It didn't always fire 
  correctly, and I haven't had time to work on redoing the music plugin.
- Reverted changes to Graser and Grav Cannon that caused the weapon to fire out
  of sync with the actual weapon sound fx.
- Went through sound fx and decreased volumes of those that were out of line 
  with mount size.

Campaign:
- Mayorate faction color changed to light-yellow so as to not conflict with the 
  Persean League as much.
- General writing polish pass. Slight lore rewrites in places to make things 
  even more vanilla-friendly than they were before.
- Mayorate relationships revamped - the Mayorate is now hostile with most 
  organized governments and religious factions. They generally are neutral/
  suspicious with pirates, independent factions, and corporations.
- Rasht now has 3 Mayorate markets and 1 Luddic Path market, with significant 
  time spent balancing the economy so that the Mayorate/Path markets can stand 
  on their own and be stable/self-sufficient/non-disruptive.
- Removed all custom market conditions - they didn't really add much to
  gameplay.
- In addition to the reinforcements and diplomacy options, Mayorate officials
  will provide the option to acquire Mayorate blueprints if your reputation with
  the faction is cooperative or higher.
- Added a portrait to the player selection screen and Mayorate inventory. 
  Mayorate commanders and base personnel may also occasssionally use AI 
  portraits.

Gameplay:
- Variant polish: all variants now have the ship's primary weapon as weapon 
  group one. Variants now match ship OPs.
- Reverted changes to Graser PD that made it super OP.
- Redid Narayana weapon mount setup, removed built-in gun (the old gun was 
  used for prototyping and I never actually finished things before the 0.10.x
  releases). It's now a heavy carrier with 4 large missile racks and improved 
  sensors, which gives it a unique niche (heavy fire support). Very weak if 
  surrounded or enemy ships make it to melee range.
- Add normal mapping for Narayana hull (results in more accurate/improved 
  lighting fx with GraphicsLib).
- Removed fluxtorp. It just wasn't a good weapon art-wise.
- AI Crew hullmod has been renamed to AI Command Shunts and no longer impacts 
  crew usage. (This was more of a disadvantage than an advantage given crew reqs
  for exploration.) The description is a lot better too, so you can actually 
  tell what it does now.
- Ravana now uses the interdictor ship system and loses maneuvering jets. Speed 
  slightly buffed to compensate for loss of the jets. 
- Angha bombers now launch missiles much closer to the target (600 range). This 
  both makes Angha wings easier to intercept and defend against, as well as 
  substantially increases the chance that their attacks connect with the target.
- Many Mayorate hulls now have blinkers.
- Significant rejig of engine mounts for Narayana, Ravana, and Cimeterre (this
  is an aethetic tweak only, but makes these ships engines look a lot nicer).
- Removed Phoenix II rocket launcher. Nothing uses it and it was pretty meh.
- Removed built-in "pulse gun" on the Tiamat and replaced it with a medium 
  hybrid mount. This makes it a bit more distinct from the Lilith (only one 
  Mayorate frigate now has a built-in spinal mount gun).
- Belial PPC spread tightened, projectile speed increased, number of projectiles
  decreased. Belial sfx changed to old pulse gun sfx. Increasingly lethal over 
  the old version.
- Added Tracer SRM8 and Tracer SRM40, which are small and medium mount versions 
  of the Angha's rocket launcher. The SRM8 is a carbon copy of the Angha
  rocket launcher with 8 shots (very deadly, low ammo capacity). The SRM40 has 
  increased flight time and tracking ability to enable launching from side 
  missile mounts, and can fire multiple 8-shot salvos on a long cooldown.

v0.10.3 (Blothorn)
- Touch-ups to the Narayana sprite (thanks to King Alfonzo).
- Fixed a typo in the Tiamat's cost (1200->12000).
- Removed the Grav Driver (the modular weapon, not the Del Azarchel builtin).
- Added some variants.

v0.10.2 (Blothorn)
- Balance updates:
  - Changed most costs to be closer in line with vanilla.
  - Changed a few weapon/wing tiers.
  - Substantially changed the AI Crew hullmod, because I think that at present
    it is hard to justify--reducing crew is rarely a high priority, and it is
    very expensive for its combat benefits.
    - Halved the repair rate penalty (to 25%), but it now applies to in-combat
      repairs as well as CR recovery.
    - Increased AI efficiency to 25%.
    - Reduced cost to 4/8/12/20.
  - Increased Ravana OP from 225 to 245.
- Added tags to weapon_data.
- Added a custom autofire plugin for the Cimeterre's Thermal Lance that is
  conservative about firing at shields, mitigating the Cimeterre's perennial
  flux problems.
- Added a custom AI for the Phase Leap system. Not very good yet, but it should
  reduce the frequency of the Cimiterre jumping into bad situations because the
  Burn Drive AI does not understand the Phase Leap mechanics.
- Added the Fighter Coprocessing system for the Foraker. This buffs a number of
  fighter stats (mainly weapon handling and agility, with only a slight raw
  damage buff) but has a significant continuous flux cost and debuffs the
  corresponding stats on the carrier--be careful using it when engaged!
- Added a custom interaction to turn in AI cores, providing more reputation but
  fewer credits than most factions. Given sufficient cores and Mayorate rep,
  this may also provide special rewards.
- Removed campaign music to avoid an incompatibility with Audio Plus (which
  already has the Mayorate tracks).

v0.10.1 (Blothorn)
Thanks to MesoTroniK, Phearlock, Avanatia, and TheWikiFish for feedback and
advice.
- Balance updates:
  - Shrike effective shield HP and dissipation from 1000/200 to 400/90; armor
    from 75 to 25.
  - del Azarchel shipsystem changed to Missile Autoforge to reduce burst damage;
    shield efficiency from 0.9 to 1.0.
  - Reduced/reoriented several geometrically-implausible turret arcs.
  - Buffed the Graser--range from 900 to 1000, burst damage from 880 to 1920,
    dps from ~200 to 320, efficiency reduced a hair.
- The Mayorate now buys AI cores (placeholder for a better interaction).
- Fixed a bug preventing the Tiamat from using shields.

v0.10.0 (Kazi and Blothorn)
- 0.8a compatibility
- Added Narayana Battleship. It will likely get a better builtin weapon later.
- The consul has now been bundled into the standard Mayorate base commander
  personas.
- Partial lore rewrite to fit in with 0.8 a bit more.
- Removed the less pretty interaction images.
- Extensive rebalance, in particular:
  - Removed most ballistic mounts to encourage using Mayorate weapons.
  - Added OP to most ships.
  - Carrier/wing rebalancing.
- Removed commodity supply changes from custom market conditions to try to avoid
  destabilizing the economy.
- Fixed the Laserhead LRM's and (mostly) the grasers' damage against armor.
- Fixed a bug allowing the Cimiterre's phase leap to jump on top of other ships,
  generally leaving the ship in a bad situation.


v0.9.2

-Mayorate fleets are no longer hostile to unlisted factions (so they won't jump on your bounties)
-I *think* I've fixed the main menu crash bug. Let me know if this is a no.
-Light TPC flux cost decreased by 33%.
-Removed built-in stabilized shields hullmod and decreased shield upkeep by half to compensate for all non-fighter ships.
-Mayorate consul and related features now present in Nexerelin. They should expand automatically to the planets you conquer, and disappear if control of the planet is lost.
-compiled against JDK7
-0.7.2 compatibility

v0.9.1

-mod campaign music now integrates with vanilla campaign music
-fixed the Nexerelin invasion bug
-AI Crew performance bonuses reduced to 5%, otherwise fixed
-fixed fighter supply usage

v0.9

COMBAT AND BALANCE
-Added Disruptor weapon class. Does moderate amounts of fragmentation damage and EMP damage. Although worthless in terms of damage vs. enemy armor, disruptor-type weapons deal hard flux damage directly to enemy ships (flux increase is mitigated by half if you take the hit on hull/armor). You can effectively lock down enemy craft with massed disruptors, although it comes at an extreme cost to DPS (the new particle FX are pretty though!). Comes in medium and large energy mounts and sounds absolutely terrifying when fired.
-Added Bubble Shield system to Tiamat. Upon activation, shield rapidly expands to 360 and the ship becomes completely invunerable for a short period of time. Shield-bypassing weapons will still work fine.
-Added Minelayer ship system to the Safir B and Jamaran. The minelayer deploys a spread of 12 high-explosive mines that lay dormant for up to 90 seconds or until an enemy gets near. Once triggered, the mines lunge towards their target and explode for AOE damage. The AI will intelligently deploy the mines when near objectives, ordered to defend or control a location, is under pressure, or thinks it has a chance to finish off a target in close range. The mines are quite lethal if your attention is elsewhere, but can be easily spotted/avoided/cleared with PD weapons if you're cautious - AI is pretty good at clearing them too.
-Added Graser beam buff. Grasers (every type) now do bonus damage (up to about 100%-ish increase in damage) based on how much flux you have. They go from being "meh" to really potent fast. One nice effect of this is that Graser PD becomes more effective the more exposed you become (which is a kinda unique mechanic for PD weapons). Should encourage more brinksmanship. ;)
-Added Shrike Hunter-Killer Drone wing. They carry 2 Graser PD lasers and a forward shield. They're pretty much your bros, and will shoot down incoming missiles for you. Note that shooting them will make their weapons hurt more (see Graser buff).
-Removed Inanna wing. They were kind of "meh" art-wise and gameplay-wise.
-Laserheads now fire a directed beam attack and launch in salvos of one. Yes, they dump a full power heavy graser into their target.
-The Cimeterre's Thermal Lance is no longer a burst beam. Lance DPS and flux cost dramatically reduced, chargeup/chargedown is now instant. Also benefits from the graser damage buff- the Thermal Lance deals extreme damage at high flux levels (very high risk, very high reward). New fire/loop sounds as well (no more Reapers!).
-Ravana overhaul. All the universal mounts are now energy mounts, center large mount is now a medium missile mount, two small energy mounts removed. The shield is now an omni-shield, with crappier efficiency and coverage. OP reduced to 215 (from 250).
-Kashef Sensor Suite hullmod now boosts campaign sensor strength by 2, increases detection range on the combat map by 50%, and increases energy/ballistic range by 5%. Unlocked at Computer Skills rank 5.
-Added AI Crew hullmod - decreases crew requirements and losses by 50%, increases weapon/energy performance by 15%, decreases combat readiness recharge rate by 50%. Unlocked at Computer Skills rank 10.
-Other balancing stuffs that I'm forgetting about. I messed around with nearly everything, to be honest. Mayorate energy weapon DPS is now in line with the base game again.

CAMPAIGN
-Integrated relationships for other mod factions. The Mayorate is very suspicious of the rest of the sector.
-Added a consul to Mayorate market comm directories. You can now chat with them about other factions and stuff (mostly just for your own amusement).
-Mayorate reputation can be exchanged at the consulate for free ships/strike groups (Mayorate reputation must be "favorable" or above, additional options unlock at higher rep levels). Ships granted are randomized by ship class/type, but come fully equipped and ready to go with crew. The reputation "cost" is massive however.
-Mayorate reputation can be spent at a consulate in order to increase reputation with certain Mayorate allies/neutral factions (Mayorate reputation must be "favorable" or above". Cost is -10 Mayorate rep for +5 <other faction> rep.
-Accepting a commission with the Mayorate resets your relationship with the pirates to inhospitable (if you are hostile with them). This avoids the awful thing where you'd otherwise lose Mayorate rep over time for being hostile with the pirates.
-The bonus "Consulate" features auto-deactivate if you are playing Nexerelin.
-Added Planetary AI Core market condition. Dramatically reduces food/domestic goods consumption in return for a dramatic increase in Metals/Rare Metals/Fuel demand. If you're clever, you may be able to make money off of metals for once.
-Shuffled around Rasht market conditions.
-All Rasht markets now have a significant amount of flavor text.
-Rasht star system has been prettified and has a lot of extra terrain.
-Mayorate ships are now much cheaper- they used to cost 1.5-2x vanilla ship prices, now they are roughly comparable to vanilla midline/high-tech prices (so you can actually replace losses).
-Nexerelin compatibility restored.
-Nexerelin Corvus-mode compatibility added.

MISC GRAPHICS
-Added three new portraits, redid one portrait, removed one portrait. Net gain: 2 portraits. Did my best to "David-ise" them.
-Mayorate portraits are available for player use again.
-Added a slew of unique interaction images (one for every market in Rasht, plus a few extras that are currently unused). They're kind of scribble-y, but whatever (was learning to digital paint).
-Improved Ravana sprite.
-New nuke sprites (mount and launcher)
-New laserhead sprites (mount and launcher)
-New Mayorate station sprite
-New Mayorate faction flag/logo graphics.

MISSIONS
-Completely rewrote the mission dialogs to be in line with vanilla/mod lore. They now occur several months post-Collapse, and you're up against a lot of the original XIV ships with battle-hardened crews (I tweaked the XIV Elite Onslaught to be a bit more brutal- have fun with that).
-Missions are now much, much harder. I've successfully beat each once.
-Battle music plays during Mayorate missions (but not campaign, simulator, or other missions).

OTHER
-Lots of new Mayorate ship variants that appear around the sector. One of the new Jamaran variants is absolutely disgusting. I apologize in advance if you are unfortunate enough to run into it in the campaign.
-Changed many sfx to be better/more license-friendly.
-Removed music that wasn't written by me. (2 tracks)
-Added a track that wasn't written by me ("gravitation") to one of the missions in a moment of weakness.
-Removed battle music from campaign layer (it gets old after awhile). Don't worry, you can still jam to it in the missions.
-Remastered "expanse" ambient music track.
-Added "nebula" ambient music track. Probably my most high-quality/cinematic track to date- really tried my hardest to keep the composition simple and not depend on drums so heavily.
-Added "mayorate_friendly" and "mayorate_neutral" music tracks for markets/interaction dialogs.
-Improved writing for most descriptions.
-Rewrote a good portion of the faction lore- again.
-Added a custom AI for disruptor-type weapons, it's a bit buggy, but hits more than the vanilla AI (its also punishing, with no built-in inaccuracy)
-Probably a lot of stuff I forgot to mention.

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v0.8.1
-The Mayorate no longer requires editing files to install. Just activate the mod and play.
-Fixed an economy bug that was causing markets to be a bit more intense than they should have been.
-Doubled Windstalker projectile health.
-Increased Tiamat built-in weapon range by 100.

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v0.8
-Added compatibility for 0.65a, which was a HUGE amount of effort to get working. Requires the latest versions of ShaderLib (0.9 Beta) and LazyLib (2.0), so make sure you have those!
-Added the Tiamat Destroyer Escort. It's a bit slow for a frigate, but much more tanky. Use it to really put the hurt on other frigates or escort your larger ships.
-Added Iolanthe, a new planet/market controlled by the Luddic Church. You can beat up on them to make the Mayorate/Pirates like you more. Or vice versa.
-Reshuffled the rest of the planets a bit.
-Lore rewritten. Not a carbon-copy of the Hegemony anymore!
-Added the "Indoctrination" market condition and custom art. Mayorate planets really need it to stay functional while being friendly with the pirates (otherwise it's food shortage/trade disruption ALL THE TIME).
-Removed anamorphic flare effect on nukes. I was never super happy with it.
-Added flag/crest. Although I'm not super in love with it, this is the flag until I redo it again.
-All ships now have the Stabilized Shields hullmod built-in.
-PPC flux cost, cooldown, and damage decreased.
-Phoenix II rocket launcher damage/tracking/speed buffed. Think of it as a harpoon with worse tracking but more shots.
-Graser PD range increased.
-Lilith's weapon arcs adjusted to give it better PD capabilities.
-Lilith's main gun range increased to 650.
-Graser damage increased 20%.
-Laserhead explosion range decreased, damage increased.
-Tornado AM ammo increased to 5/10 depending on mount size.

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v0.7.1
Giving credit where it's due, the overwhelming majority of the changes this patch are by Dark.Revenant. I made the material maps and the majority of the "phase leap" system. Most, if not all, balance and code changes are by Dark.Revenant.

-Now compatible with LazyWizard's "Version checker" mod.
-Nukes revamped to not be a complete game ender. Although they still retain a small amount of instant AOE (200 frag damage), the majority of the damage is now based on arrival of a blast "shockwave." The AI now understands that AOE damage exists and will shield itself appropriately.
-Normal maps actually work now. My bad on the last update.
-Added material maps for all ships.
-Added new "phase leap" ship system (mounted by the Cimeterre). I completely recreated the teleport code to make it so that this system teleports you in whichever direction you're facing, as opposed to direction you're traveling/where your mouse pointer is (how the vanilla teleports work). Anything you teleport through takes 500 energy damage. Very satisfying to use.
-Rasht background image quality increased (it was a little grainy before because I was trying to skimp on mod size).
-All weapon sounds are now mono to better cooperate with the Starsector sound player. This should make everything quite a bit more immersive.
-Massive code overhaul and jar-ification.
-Weapon arcs cleaned up.
-Decreased OP of Phoenix IIs to 4.
-Laserhead ammo decreased to 20.
-Graser PD flux per second increased to 100.
-Light graser flux per second decreased to 126.
-Belial PPC OP increased to 13, spread decreased.
-Flux torpedo: moves faster, range lower, damage decreased.
-Graser: DPS decreased to 733, OP reduced to 20, flux reduced to 210, range boosted to 700.
-Light TPC (lilith main gun): increased flux/sec to 150.
-Lilith: repair cost increased to 70, CR recovery/day increased to 10%. Default variant loses 3 capacitors.
-Cimeterre: supplies/day increased to 5, repair increased to 180 (from 80), default variant loses insulated engine assembly (HINT: SHOOT ITS ENGINES!!!!!!)
-Foraker: supplies/day increased to 5, repair increased to 150
-Safir/Safir B: supplies/day increased to 1.5/2, repair cost increased to 100/120, crew cost increased.
-Del Azarchel: supplies/day increased to 10, repair cost increased to 500, CR recovery decreased to 3%/day
-Jamaran: Increased the repair cost to 450 from 275.
-Ravana: supplies/day increased to 18, repair cost increased to 1200.
-Inanna wings now us 0.75/day
-Raad wing: supplies/day decreased to 1.5, deployment cost increased to 7%
-Angha wing: deployment cost increased to 6%, now targets frigates
-Other changes I probably forgot to mention.

There is now a public Github repository at [url]https://github.com/kazi11/mayorate[/url]. Feel free to submit a pull request if you feel you have something clever to add.

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v0.7
-Added Foraker-class destroyer. The Foraker is a light carrier with enough ordanance to not be a complete bore to fly, but is very poor defensively.
-Added Safir-class freighter and conversion (destroyer escort). The Safir is quite an average shipping solution, but it still beats using Buffaloes, right? The conversion makes an okay missile support platform. Just don't try to actually take it into heavy combat.
-Added Raad-class heavy fighter wing. Mounting a pair of PPCs, this craft is a credible threat to destroyers, frigates and fighters. Replaces the Reaver Gunship.
-Added Angha light bomber wing. Unlike other bombers, the Angha will decimate destroyers and light cruisers but is weak versus capitals. Mounts the special Tracer Rocket Launcher (8x400 damage, ultra-fast, bad tracking).
-Added the PPC weapon (small energy). It's essentially an IR pulse laser without the suck.
-Added Graser PD. A short-ranged PD laser that fires constant, discrete shots. Very comparable to LR PD lasers, but with different pros and cons (more power, less range). All Mayorate energy flak mounts now use Graser PD.
-Added normal maps for ALL SHIP SPRITES AND WEAPONS! (much purple was had!)
-Added ShaderLib lighting information for all Mayorate weapons.
-Added custom planet graphics for Ilkhanna. Kudos go out to Russian/European/American taxpayers for the base image for this.
-Added custom background graphics for the Rasht star system. Again, thanks to Russian/European/American taxpayers for funding the telescopes that generated the base starfield.
-Added improved Onslaught sprite.
-Added improved Condor sprite.
-Added improved Apogee sprite.
-Added improved Venture sprite.
-Added improved Mule sprite.
-Phoenix missiles now track, which is a pretty significant buff.
-Light Graser fire rate increased, damage decreased. Feels much more responsive when under player control now, although it's a little less bursty.
-Kashef Sensor Suite now gives +5% range, +10% weapon tracking, +50% sensor range.
-Lilith hit with all-around nerf bat. It's still quite potent, but lost a lot of flux capacity, hull points, and weapon range.
-Inanna wing size decreased to 4.
-Removed Reaver Gunship. It didn't look very cool and didn't feel particularly useful.
-Removed Esfahan-class destroyer. It was really OP and the art was bad.
-Removed Impactor Missiles. No one uses them, including me.
-Removed the "Battle1" music track. I got tired of it.
-Changes to Mayorate base hullstyle (more picturesque venting).
-Changes to Mayorate engine styles. Engines appear much hotter, and contrails are more prominent. All Mayorate ships/fighters/missiles now use custom Mayorate engines. Added "small" engine style for better graphics and performance for missiles/fighters.
-Mayorate faction color is now yellow. No more confusing their fleets with the Diktat! (happened to me all the time...)
-Various performance improvements (although implementation of ShaderLib will pretty much erase those gains in performance).
-Miscellaneous balance changes and other fixes not worth mentioning.

NOTE: Mod now requires ShaderLib.

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v0.6
-Improved Del Azarchel, Cimeterre, and Lilith sprites.
-Improved Graser weapon sprite.
-Added 2 new portraits (old portrait has been removed).
-Added the Jamaran-class cruiser. The Jamaran is a slow, heavily armored carrier that can hold its own against enemy cruisers and destroyers. The Jamaran excels in the fire support role and lets you repair/deploy fighters much closer to the center of battle (meaning you will have less fighters "wasted" as they taxi back and forth to your carrier). Replaces the Esfahan.
-Removed the Esfahan from most Mayorate fleets. It's going to disappear altogether once I add a light carrier.
-Added the Flux Torpedo, a heavy energy weapon that devastates enemies at range (if you can manage to hit them with it...). Kudos go to Mesotronik for the wonderful "shockwave" effect. Comes as part of the Jamaran's standard loadout.
-Added the Laserhead LRM, a medium AOE missile. Upon reaching its detonation radius, the laserhead fires a spread of 20 laser bolts in random directions. Generally does more damage to larger foes, and tears apart tightly packed groups of frigates/destroyers INCLUDING your own (be careful!). Comes as part of the Jamaran's standard loadout.
-Added the Kashef Sensor Suite hullmod. Grants 50 percent bonus to sensor range and 10 percent bonus to weapon range. It's extremely useful for figuring out where the enemy is sending the bulk of their forces, giving you a much longer time to give orders/respond to threats. Comes as part of the Jamaran's standard loadout and has no skill requirements.
-Added "The Expanse" ambient music track.