Mod: Updated: Drives 'R' Us v4.1

[sgqwonkian]

I was playing around, and noticed a couple things didn't make it into the 2.0 version. So, here's 2.1.

Changes in 2.1 version:

• Removed all the Superweapon KEYS. Thought I'd implemented that before, and realized today that I had missed at least half of them. The sheer quantity of items in this mod makes it unlikely you'll get a large stockpile of superweapons.
  
• Tweaked the Civil War event. It's now a little more unpredictable (there's two versions), and no longer claims to be a supernova after the fact. I'm much happier with it now.
  
• Removed two SYSTEM slots from Bloodfang. With the three extra weapon slots I had given him in 2.0, he was just a little too good. Now you have to be really careful how you equip him, you can't just load him up with all the good stuff. Balance has been restored.

Enjoy!

[sgqwonkian]

So, I made a few changes... and they led to some major sweeping changes.

I'm pleased to release Drives'R'Us, version 3.0!

Changes in 3.0 version:
The 3.0 versions upgrades are mostly about ships.
+ 4 new allied ships you can recruit
+ Altered stats, armament and/or graphics on a large number of ships. Battles play out differently, and the ships look better, too.
+ 7 more new items (on top of the 30 added in the 2.0 version), including one that I'm really proud of because it does something totally new and unique.
+ Miscellaneous other changes detailed in the mod's readme.txt file.

[ExplorerBob]

As an avid WW player, I've tried most of the mods available for the game at one point or another. I liked the game enough to start working on a mod of my own, and I acquired the free copy of SAIS, so I could pull info from SAIS to make my projects more like the original.

Hopefully this background will lend some credence to my belief that Drives 'R' Us is the greatest mod going right now. I spent a good amount of time on the original version, and it's gotten better with each new revision. The only mods I regularly play now are my own, Teeming With Life, and Drives 'R' Us -- more so Drives than Life.

In fact, Drives' presence is somewhat intimidating; my mod has a few good things about it, and some features in the pipeline (variable relations, for instance, which is still in development), but Drives has so much great stuff already in that in some ways, my mod is a bit superfluous. We differ in some aspects of design philosophy, which is why I continue development; there are some things about WW that I think could be better. Drives builds off of WW, whereas my mod builds more from the source, in some ways, which is SAIS. If I didn't have that in mind, though, and I wanted to develop straight from Weird Worlds, there wouldn't be too much of a point in making a mod, 'cuz this one already has so much going for it.

I haven't checked the actual mod files as much as my own, so I'm not sure as to the viability of the idea I'm about to propose, but do you think it would be possible to combine the better parts of Teeming With Life with Drives 'R' Us?

[sgqwonkian]

ExplorerBob, you're making me blush.

There's plenty of design space left out there, by the way. Drives'R'Us is almost entirely just items. One area it's pretty weak in is quests and races. There's another 50 or 60 weapons that could be made for the game without getting old, too.

As to your notion of combining my mods together. It's been on my "to do" list for a while. And I'd probably throw in a tiny bit of the Sgqwonkian Crisis mod... well, one or two of the better bits.

Speaking of feeling "superfluous" or being "intimidated" - go take a hard look at Sgqwonkian Crisis sometime. You know how you feel in regards to my recent stuff? Well, that's how I was feeling in relation to Phlagm's Even Weirder Worlds - it was so slick compared to my freshman efforts.

The important thing is to just publish. Hammer it out, put a rough draft out here. There's a reluctance to do so, a desire to polish until it's shiny. I get that. I look back at old Sgqwonkian Crisis, and cringe a bit. The truth is, modding is complex enough there's always something to fiddle with, you'll never be 100% happy. You can go back and fix it up later.

I had this amazing Weirdyssey mod I was working on for 4 to 6 months solid. It was gonna be great, and I didn't want to spoil the secrets by releasing a rough draft. Then my computer crashed and I lost all of it.

But, I digress... Definitely, in my plans, I intend to put out a melded version of those mods, and I'll probably add to it the Time Capsules and Esmeralda mini-mods, and maybe some of my favorite parts of other people's mods, too. It'll take a while, though.

Anyhow, thanks again for the kind words. I'm glad you like my stuff.

[sgqwonkian]

New version: 3.1
Download link attached to this post.

Changes in 3.1 version:
+ Created new score category for the cursed Primordian items - they're like artifacts, but more so.
+ Revamped the Shroud a little to match that, and to head off degenerate shroud-gong combos. You may still be able to WISH up such a combo, though.
+ Buffed up Primordius to account for the improvements made to the Cobalt Torpedoes back in version 2.0.
+ Tweaks and rearmaments affecting all Zorg Pickets.
+ New combat graphics for the Dibaryon Barrier and Kaon Enveloper.
+ Upgunned the pirate mission ship just a smidge.
+ Renamed the graphics files, in preparation for my upcoming compilation mod. Was able to reduce file size in the process by nearly a third, just by reorganizing and consolidating the graphics files and locations.
+ Assorted minor debugs.

[chabex]

DON'T STOP, FRIEND!!!
Unbelievable- it's been 3 years that I have this game and I'm still playin' it- because of you guys :-D

[sgqwonkian]

The first post in this thread has been updated to include a link to the new version 4.0 of Drives'R'Us. There's so much new stuff in it, I seriously considered just giving it a new name. Drives'R'Us is no longer indicative of the central premise of the mod, as I've added a little bit of everything.

Here's a quick summary of the changes:

* Added the best parts of my Teeming With Life mod.
* Added the best parts of my Sgqwonkian Crisis mod.
* Created four new ships.
* Added more than two dozen new quests, including lots of new events.
* Fomax! I'd say more, but I don't want to spoil the surprises.


The download is about 3 times the size of the previous version, so I'm only uploading it to the first page in this thread.

[ExplorerBob]

(Could be spoilers here.)



From the little bit of time I've played it, it seems even more fabulous than the last version. I love the new allies, moving fleets, and the stray Ravian/Primordian enemies. All the changes really add more atmosphere to things!

All in all, still the best mod going, and a must-see for avid WW fans.

[Alphasite]

This mod just keeps getting better!

[sgqwonkian]

Thank you all for your kind words about my mod. I'm glad you're enjoying it.