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About this mod
Adds many new ship component tiers and respective technologies. Currently includes many new hyperdrives, reactors, shields, armors and more. Many components of other types are planned. Fixed research paths option is highly recommended for starting new games. Compatible with all DLC and game version 1.1.6.7
- Permissions and credits
- Donations
Summary
If the vanilla tech tree and component progression for your ships seems far too short, this is the mod for you. This currently adds many new hyperdrive, reactor, shields, armor, engine, maneuvering thruster, energy collector, cloak, scanner, jammer, sensor, phaser and tachyon components, as well as the technologies required to obtain them. Very few vanilla technologies were edited and no components were edited. The new additions are designed to pick up where the vanilla progression stops. New components use stock vanilla assets and icons. The component progression is based on the philosophy that empires should be able to specialize their technology in certain ways with an opportunity cost of not being able to achieve all of the bonuses possible with all of the paths at once. This ultimately should lead to more diversity in empire technology and therefore, more interesting play. When a player invests time into designing their empire's tech and ships through conscious choices, a more engaging experience evolves and the player may feel a bit more invested in the game.
Examples
Hyperdrive Techs
Once unified hyperspace theory is researched, five different types of enhanced FTL drives become available for research; stellar folding, slipstream, transwarp, gravitic, and wormhole drives. Each type of drive offers specific advantages over the others. To be clear, no matter what path you choose you will get improvement in all areas of hyperdrive statistics compared to torrent drives, however certain areas will experience more dramatic improvement than others depending on your choice. Options include decreased jump time and recharge time for slipstream drives, increased speed for transwarp drives, increased engine insulation and ion shielding for stellar fold drives, decreased energy and static energy costs for gravitic drives, and increased jump range for wormhole drives. Better yet, hybrid drives become available once you have researched the final tier of drive in any two categories, offering the final three tiers of your own unique hyperdrive technology.
Reactor Techs
Once zero point energy is researched, three different types of improved zero point reactors become available for research. One can either focus on improved reactor power output, improved fuel efficiency, or decreased reactor size. After following the chosen technology/component series to its conclusion, the technology can be further optimized with either of the other two paths, thus yielding a unique hybrid reactor technology for your empire.
Repeatable Tech Synergy
The repeatable techs added in version 1.1.6.7 have been modified to also apply to components added by this mod where appropriate. Once the repeatable techs are available, you can choose between continuing on to the new techs and components or begin investing your time in the repeatable techs. Faster progression will result from researching the modded techs first.
Installation
1)Find your data folder and open it. Typically the directory is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Distant Worlds 2\data
2)Copy the original ComponentDefinitions.xml and ResearchProjectDefinitions.xml in that folder into a backup folder of your choice.
3)Unzip the mod file contents. There should be two replacement xml files in the unzipped folder: ComponentDefinitions.xml and ResearchProjectDefinitions.xml
4)Copy and paste the mod files into the data folder, overwriting the originals in when prompted.
5)Play and Enjoy.
6)If you run into problems, restore your original files by copying the original backups back into the data folder, overwriting again.
For the Future
Play testing and reporting is Requested!
The mod should not contain any bugs of a game-breaking nature, but minor balance issues could be present. If you find one or more bugs or other problems, please report them here on the mod's nexus site so that I can evaluate and possibly fix them. The forum here is as good a place as any. Critiques on current mechanics and suggestions on future additions are also welcome. It should go without saying, but please make any communication you conduct on the nexus as respectful as possible.
What types of component variations would you like to see in future updates? Feel free to let me know in the comments or in private messages.
FAQ
Doesn't the current vanilla version of the game already have repeatable techs which allow essentially infinite tech progression?
Yes, and their addition is a very welcome one, however ESCaT (expanded ship components and technologies) adds complementary techs and components which feel far less grindy and more meaningful. Seeing a long line of completed techs in the research tree just feels better to me than repeatedly researching a single tech that can't be 'finished' in any reasonable amount of time. It is recommended to follow the ESCaT research paths of your choice to their final end before investing in the repeatable techs, since you will get faster improvement in your tech. To rephrase, the repeatable techs should be the last, but still good, option if you manage to research everything else you want.
Why haven't you added more weapon components yet?
Because weapons are the most complex components to design and I wanted to get some of the less involved stuff done first. Eventually I plan to give every weapon type extensions of their very own.
Is there a timetable for when things might get done?
Not really. I am one person and I have a life outside of modding, even if I enjoy the development process a lot. Things will get done when they get done. You can always offer to help, though! If you have experience with spreadsheets and copying, pasting and editing in basic text files, you have all the basic skills I used to make the mod what it is so far.
Can you do x and y and z to the vanilla components and techs?
I really don't want to touch anything vanilla unless absolutely necessary until a better modding system is released for the game. As it stands, every time an update for the game is released, I have to re-number all of the component entries and techs in order to fix the mod. That work would be an order of magnitude more tedious and time consuming if I expanded the mod to start editing vanilla components and technologies. Its not that I don't want to do it: its that I don't want to spend the effort on it yet when I haven't extended techs as far as I want, yet. If anyone has experience writing a macro or some other program which could do this 'fixing' process more quickly, I would be very grateful if you could point me in the right direction. That would make vanilla editing a bit less irritating.
Can the AI use the new components?
They don't seem to have any issues using new components in playtesting, at all. If anything, the new components are a bit more forgiving in terms of automated design where component size and other factors are concerned, so the AI will probably rock the galaxy just like the player when it gets access to some of the new stuff.
Future Stuff
More weapons are my top priority. I'm also considering adding more large component variations for hyperdrives, reactors, shields, and armors. Ultimately the later would give the player increased options for design. The concern there is how the AI could goof this up, however. For example using all of its space on a large hyperdrive and large reactor and not having enough space for weapons or other vital components.
If the vanilla tech tree and component progression for your ships seems far too short, this is the mod for you. This currently adds many new hyperdrive, reactor, shields, armor, engine, maneuvering thruster, energy collector, cloak, scanner, jammer, sensor, phaser and tachyon components, as well as the technologies required to obtain them. Very few vanilla technologies were edited and no components were edited. The new additions are designed to pick up where the vanilla progression stops. New components use stock vanilla assets and icons. The component progression is based on the philosophy that empires should be able to specialize their technology in certain ways with an opportunity cost of not being able to achieve all of the bonuses possible with all of the paths at once. This ultimately should lead to more diversity in empire technology and therefore, more interesting play. When a player invests time into designing their empire's tech and ships through conscious choices, a more engaging experience evolves and the player may feel a bit more invested in the game.
Examples
Hyperdrive Techs
Once unified hyperspace theory is researched, five different types of enhanced FTL drives become available for research; stellar folding, slipstream, transwarp, gravitic, and wormhole drives. Each type of drive offers specific advantages over the others. To be clear, no matter what path you choose you will get improvement in all areas of hyperdrive statistics compared to torrent drives, however certain areas will experience more dramatic improvement than others depending on your choice. Options include decreased jump time and recharge time for slipstream drives, increased speed for transwarp drives, increased engine insulation and ion shielding for stellar fold drives, decreased energy and static energy costs for gravitic drives, and increased jump range for wormhole drives. Better yet, hybrid drives become available once you have researched the final tier of drive in any two categories, offering the final three tiers of your own unique hyperdrive technology.
Reactor Techs
Once zero point energy is researched, three different types of improved zero point reactors become available for research. One can either focus on improved reactor power output, improved fuel efficiency, or decreased reactor size. After following the chosen technology/component series to its conclusion, the technology can be further optimized with either of the other two paths, thus yielding a unique hybrid reactor technology for your empire.
Repeatable Tech Synergy
The repeatable techs added in version 1.1.6.7 have been modified to also apply to components added by this mod where appropriate. Once the repeatable techs are available, you can choose between continuing on to the new techs and components or begin investing your time in the repeatable techs. Faster progression will result from researching the modded techs first.
Installation
1)Find your data folder and open it. Typically the directory is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Distant Worlds 2\data
2)Copy the original ComponentDefinitions.xml and ResearchProjectDefinitions.xml in that folder into a backup folder of your choice.
3)Unzip the mod file contents. There should be two replacement xml files in the unzipped folder: ComponentDefinitions.xml and ResearchProjectDefinitions.xml
4)Copy and paste the mod files into the data folder, overwriting the originals in when prompted.
5)Play and Enjoy.
6)If you run into problems, restore your original files by copying the original backups back into the data folder, overwriting again.
For the Future
Play testing and reporting is Requested!
The mod should not contain any bugs of a game-breaking nature, but minor balance issues could be present. If you find one or more bugs or other problems, please report them here on the mod's nexus site so that I can evaluate and possibly fix them. The forum here is as good a place as any. Critiques on current mechanics and suggestions on future additions are also welcome. It should go without saying, but please make any communication you conduct on the nexus as respectful as possible.
What types of component variations would you like to see in future updates? Feel free to let me know in the comments or in private messages.
FAQ
Doesn't the current vanilla version of the game already have repeatable techs which allow essentially infinite tech progression?
Yes, and their addition is a very welcome one, however ESCaT (expanded ship components and technologies) adds complementary techs and components which feel far less grindy and more meaningful. Seeing a long line of completed techs in the research tree just feels better to me than repeatedly researching a single tech that can't be 'finished' in any reasonable amount of time. It is recommended to follow the ESCaT research paths of your choice to their final end before investing in the repeatable techs, since you will get faster improvement in your tech. To rephrase, the repeatable techs should be the last, but still good, option if you manage to research everything else you want.
Why haven't you added more weapon components yet?
Because weapons are the most complex components to design and I wanted to get some of the less involved stuff done first. Eventually I plan to give every weapon type extensions of their very own.
Is there a timetable for when things might get done?
Not really. I am one person and I have a life outside of modding, even if I enjoy the development process a lot. Things will get done when they get done. You can always offer to help, though! If you have experience with spreadsheets and copying, pasting and editing in basic text files, you have all the basic skills I used to make the mod what it is so far.
Can you do x and y and z to the vanilla components and techs?
I really don't want to touch anything vanilla unless absolutely necessary until a better modding system is released for the game. As it stands, every time an update for the game is released, I have to re-number all of the component entries and techs in order to fix the mod. That work would be an order of magnitude more tedious and time consuming if I expanded the mod to start editing vanilla components and technologies. Its not that I don't want to do it: its that I don't want to spend the effort on it yet when I haven't extended techs as far as I want, yet. If anyone has experience writing a macro or some other program which could do this 'fixing' process more quickly, I would be very grateful if you could point me in the right direction. That would make vanilla editing a bit less irritating.
Can the AI use the new components?
They don't seem to have any issues using new components in playtesting, at all. If anything, the new components are a bit more forgiving in terms of automated design where component size and other factors are concerned, so the AI will probably rock the galaxy just like the player when it gets access to some of the new stuff.
Future Stuff
More weapons are my top priority. I'm also considering adding more large component variations for hyperdrives, reactors, shields, and armors. Ultimately the later would give the player increased options for design. The concern there is how the AI could goof this up, however. For example using all of its space on a large hyperdrive and large reactor and not having enough space for weapons or other vital components.