Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.003
 

Welcome to the topic for the newly released Weird Worlds mod, Odd Adventures in Infinite Space.

What This Mod Does:
I started out this mod just to add a quest or two; then my scope expanded as time went by. In particular, I decided that I wasn't entirely happy with some of the aspects of WW balance, and returned it to SAIS norm, in many cases. I also eliminated some of the options; in the end, the mod should be a rather nostalgic experience for many of you SAIS fans.

There have been many changes to fundamental weapons; in general, if a weapon didn't match up to SAIS stats, I altered it, heh. Many WW items have been altered to conform to the new overall level; the most notable change is to the neptunium railgun, which is no longer uber...mostly.

A lot of things are relatively self-explanatory, but here's a few of the more important changes.

• Chaingun shots are now slow, about the same speed as they would've been in SAIS.
• There are only two, I believe, point-defense weapons in the game, and neither of them are easily player-accessible.
• The only ship the player can start with is the Corvette, which comes equipped with an impaler rack and a chaingun.
• Hope has much weaker, low-tech weapons in stock.
• Most of the other races' ships have been nerfed, in accordance with SAIS.
• Beams have been changed. All the beams that exist in SAIS have been made about the same as they were there; the ones that don't, have been made largely into near-constant beam weapons, like the strange quark projector, and follow along a similar classification system as the existing beams, from the weakest (gatling laser) to strongest (probably the antichronon blaster; I don't remember off-hand).
• Drives are probably faster, on average, but the drive you start with moves at a piddling six times the speed of light.
• ...the better drives, say, the one that moves twice as fast, also moves twice as fast through nebulae, though.
• The hyperdrive is no longer uber, moving at 15 times the speed of light, both ways. I might change it again later, to make it more interesting.
• There are now Tan Ru and Urluquai allies.
• Esmerelda can sabotage your ship, destroying most anything (except for star drives).
• There's another item that deals with Esmerelda, in a very spectacular fashion.
• The Mantle of Babulon is no longer uber. Specifically, owning it cuts off your relations with the Klakar. Unfortunately, there are some bugs with this concept (you can still trade with them even after you have the Mantle), but I think it's good enough for a first release.
• Cameos by the Science Vessel and Frigate, in two brand-new events.
• A new, black background, lifted from SAIS. I think it really changes the atmosphere; if you don't like it, that's okay; I'm not sure I like it either. This could change in the next release.
• A new device known as the Time Trapper exists. Trust me when I say this is possibly one of the most useful things I have ever added to WW.
• The Plasma Torch is now a short-range death beam.
• Urluquai Deep Hunters use plasma torches.
• Ravian ships no longer have any shielding (but they're still pretty dangerous!)
• Terran ships no longer automatically repair
• Ravian ships do

-----------------------

Changes to come...maybe:
• Variable relations
• Mirror rebalancing
• New Mantle origin
• Rebalancing
• Difficult-to-capture creatures
• Unusual new allies
• More fighter-sized items
•...and more?

Let me know what you think!

---
Note: The file attached to this post is 001, the original version of Odd Adventures. It has since been superseded by a more recent edition, 003. Go to the third page, or click this link to get to the most recent version. You are, of course, still welcome to pick up this old version, or 002.

New information regarding the mod can be found here, at A Thought Repository.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.001
 

You've done a great job catching the feel of the original SAIS.

I also like how enough things are different that you really have to stop and reread every item. No taking things for granted in this mod!

Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002 preview
 

I figured now would be a good time for a 002 preview, since it's coming along well.


New changes include rebalanced ships and weapons, GUI revisions, and some other miscellaneous stuff. If you liked the original Odd Adventures, you'll probably like this too.


(Image hosting is provided by my preferred image hosting provider, Imageshack.)

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.001 + 002 preview
 

Can't wait for 0.002!

Maybe you should re-check your Imageshack links, the preview images are too small.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

002 is basically ready to go. If there's anything that's glaringly wrong, it can be removed next time, right?

What New Things This Update Does:
Most of the changes originally added in 001 are still in force. That said, I have extended some changes and made some more alterations to things, especially weapons and ship balance.

• Chainguns do much less damage; 40 damage per shot (instead of 100).
• Moly cones do much less damage; 200 damage per shot (instead of 300)
• Many beams have been made more powerful.
• Missiles have been boosted, to do more damage; some are also faster.
• The Tchoraks have received a world-class nerf -- they no longer regenerate, their systems are now destructable, and all of their weapons are far less powerful.
• The Neptunium Railgun has been tinkered with.
• The Mantle of Babulon may now be donned or taken off, instead of automatically working.
• The hyperdrive now takes about half a year to recharge, but otherwise functions as in normal SAIS and WW, instead of moving 15/15, like in 001.
• The Time Trapper has been nerfed.
• The Tan Ru Demolisher bug that allowed the ship to fail to appear has been fixed.
• Changes have been made to the GUI and interface, intended to make it look more like SAIS.
• The Plasma Torch is no longer a short-range death beam.
• Various changes have been made to ships' armaments.
• The Melodium Conograph has been made less interesting.
• Planet, pilot, ship, and star names have been removed, altered, and added to the lists.
• The retreat buttons have been removed from the game.

Other information is included in the read-me file.

Unlike the last time, I have few ideas for major changes after these. No, that doesn't mean that there definitely won't be another Odd Adventures mod -- just that I need time to get more ideas and stuff to implement into the game. Also, I'm limited in what I can do by my inability to procure unique graphics, so I can't create a lot of races and items like other modders have done. Hopefully that will change so you can see a greater variety of stuff in a hypothetical Odd Adventures 003.

Let me know what you think of it.

Thanks to Christ Jesus for allowing this mod's development, and thanks to all of you that helped me out along the way.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

Oh, and it looks like my zipping it up ate the banner again. It's a real pity y'all can't get a decent banner to go with the mod, but oh well.

Maybe next time I'll subcontract the banners out to sgqwonkian.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

(Re?)discovered a bug that happens after you subdue a Muktian fleet; the game crashes rather violently.

Will attempt to solve when I get the chance. Might try to make either a 003 micro-release, with some bug fixes and maybe one or two new features, or a 002b bug fix patch.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

The above bug may be a hoax.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

Thanks for sharing this great work of yours, ExplorerBob. Your tweaks rough out a few eccentricities that the game could do without, and offer a much more satisfying game, to me anyway. I'm not sure what to think of the new Hyperdrive yet, but any change is an improvement over the old way.

What was so interesting with it beforehand? If it's like the regular game, it was pretty much a waster of time, except for its monetary value.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

Well, the Conograph was at least marginally interesting the first time around, when you didn't know what it would do and could activate it.

In my mod, you don't even have that option; it's just an ordinary piece of loot.

---

The hyperdrive tweaks are a step in the right direction, I think, but I'm not sure even these are final either. The idea behind the hyperdrive in this one was that I wanted to make it, well, usually the best option, but not always -- so that you could get better performance in some cases, if you were close to another star.

However, thinking over it, the hyperdrive might be more interesting if I gave it a year-long recharge time (as I indeed thought about doing before I settled on half a year). This would make it more of a "strategic" drive; instead of using it all the time, you would just periodically use it to jump to hard-to-reach places, and use the fastest conventional drive the rest of the time.

At any rate, I'll keep it in mind.

Thanks for the feedback; I've been looking forward to it, and really appreciate it now that it's here. The more you have to give, the better; it's not easy to release stuff like this and not get any response.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

Please don't give up! With older games like WW, newer mods take time to reach their target audience. Anyway, I'll try to make up the small number by sheer enthusiasm. :-)

I tend to agree with your thinking regarding the hyperdrive. It could be just the thing for remote systems. Anymore than that and it impacts the game too much.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

I don't try to give up, at least not too easily...it can just be a little discouraging, that's all. I love feedback, and appreciate what you've done (hence your appearing in the credits!)

Maybe we'll try the 360-day thing for 003, eh?

By the way: You get a chance to read my AAR on Odd Adventures? Have any Odd Adventures of your own to talk about? ;)

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

I really like your idea of a 1-year recharge on the Hyperdrive. That would totally change the way it's used. You'd just punch to deep corners of the map, switch to a normal drive and slowly "island hop" your way back home. If you hit a big empty space, intervening nebula, or if Major Brass gave you the two year warning, you'd swap it back in and jump across the sector again. That's got some potential.

Haven't gotten the hyperdrive in version 2 yet, so I can't comment on whether a half-year achieves the same effect or not.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

It probably won't; 180 days is faster than most transit, and about on par with a short-medium range trip with a graviton drive.

360 days, or longer, is more likely to restrict it, though.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

Hey Bob, thanks for the credit. I'm just acting as the external voice that confirms your mod's quality.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

Just wanted to let y'all know that I haven't necessarily quit, but my Mirrored Drive Door G4 has broken down, possibly due to a power supply failure. Until it's either back up, or I transfer the hard drive to another machine, development will be necessarily halted.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

stink. hope you get something worked out. i always enjoy your stuff.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

I've now regained access to the mod.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

:bow:
Keep going- it's been quiet for too long...

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

Shouldn't bow... it's just one mod for an increasingly old game.

Haven't worked on it a lot yet, but it's up and running again, so that's something. Maybe I'll post up an action video or something so y'all can see the new missiles.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

Working on adding a new ship, the Talshkjen Gunship, but unfortunately I'm lacking graphics, so if it makes it into 003, it'll bear an uncanny resemblance to the Terran Scout.

Also fixed the proton beam, which I previously gave "nocollision" for testing purposes.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

Added another ship, which I think y'all will like okay. It adds an extra depth to the game, I think. The only problem is that I realized, after I added it, that it's similar to a ship that exists in another mod... but I think it handles differently enough that it will still be pretty distinct.

Want to see if I can dream up some new weapons to include in the mod.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

Working on some cool new stuff for 003, including some new music and such. Most importantly, I've devised an interesting change to an overpowered item that I think you will all appreciate.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

Please don't stop! I am hungry for new stuff...
Overpowered item? You'll make it god almighty?
:-D

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

'sonly one God, who has all power... nothing I or anyone else can create could ever have the same power He does.

Anyhow, the idea is to make an overpowered item *less* overpowered; I'll give y'all a one-word, coded hint as to which item that is.

"Hmbtt".

Correctly tell me which item it is and there may be something in it for you, like a mention in the credits, or a special ship/planet/etc. name, or something, depending on how I feel. Note that you have to turn in your guess quick; I hope to release 003 very soon, and of course, once it's out, I can't put anything in it.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

One more hint, since I've realized that the clue could pertain to a lot of different things:

The hint directly pertains to the item in question, and could be said to be synonymous with it.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

This is a test of my banner uploading. If this works, 003 will be viable for release very soon. The file within, if it can be viewed, will show you what the 003 banner will look like.

And no, this is not a duplicate.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.002
 

It's here.

What New Things This Mod Does:
If you haven't read the 001 or 002 read-mes yet, go ahead and do so now; for a newcomer, understanding what the mod has done in the past is just as or more important than knowing what's been newly added.

That said, this is as close to a maintenance release as I'd like to get. There are no or few ground-breaking changes here; mostly I've tried to further the changes I've done in the past, including the work on balance. In this case, I've tried to make tweaks to missile and beam balance, since it seemed very broken after doing more game testing. I think these changes are a step forward, but I suspect I went overkill on the beam power, and it is entirely possible it will take further revision to get things to where they're closer to being balanced.

In any case, here's what we have in the meantime:

• The impaler rack and fusion rocket launcher now fire smaller and less powerful missiles, at a much higher rate of speed.
• The fission torpedo launcher and the fission missile launcher have been drastically changed; they now fire swarms of missiles instead of one at a time.
• The multi-missile launcher has been tweaked.
• The Tchorak lava bomb now splits into pieces after it's been shot, making it harder to kill.
• The Aethric Mirror has been heavily nerfed, thus hopefully ending its six-years-plus reign of terror over all those who love balance and difficulty in their SAIS/WW games.
• Two new weapons have been added, the Molecular Disruptor and the Proton Torpedo.
• The Muktian armaments have been changed up a bit, to reincorporate weapons like the moly cone gun.
• New introduction music for all of the major races, taken right from SAIS. I realized, after listening to it, that some of the music -- such as the Tan Ru theme -- is awfully cheery, considering that these are your enemies. I changed the default WW music to only play for ally or mercenary ships, and the new (or rather old) themes are used for race first encounters.
• The mod's file size has been reduced to about 16% of its previous size -- making it slim and trim instead of horribly hefty. Most of it was taken up by normal music that I left in and didn't get around to throwing out before.
• The Hyperdrive now takes 540 days to recharge.

Fortunately, I didn't make much in the way of promises, so you don't have to hear about how your expectations were met or failed. I did drop a ship I mentioned as being in development; the Freighter, I decided, would not be conducive to building a good mod, at least not at this point in time. Likewise, I didn't have graphics for the Talshkjen gunship, so it isn't available in the game, although you can see the hull file I have in the files. Hopefully these developments won't disappoint you too badly.

---


It's something to look back at what's gone on over the past year, and to see how while so much has happened, so little has changed. I don't think I've become a better person, like I would have liked to, but hopefully I have at least been able to create a better, more interesting mod, for your enjoyment. If you can profit from my work, I will have achieved at least one thing of value.

Also always remember to live life to the fullest, because you may not have much of it left. God may return, or if He doesn't yet, something else could come up. Just tonight I was reminded of an acquaintance of mine, from another online community, who passed away several years ago… he was online and active just a month before that, and we never knew anything was wrong, and we never heard back from him either.

You may not have much time left. Accidents can happen, so make the most of what you have now.

And please leave a will with details as who all to contact… if you disappear, I don't want to wonder where you went, years down the line.

I want to say a lot more than this, but I don't have time. It's important to me to release this on the same minute that the first release was made, so.

Thanks to Christ Jesus, for everything, and thanks to all of you who helped along the way.

Now go download the mod!

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.003
 

Well, that's what I get for time zones. :)

It *is* to the minute...with two hours' difference!

Somehow I think I remember knowing this was going to be a problem, but I didn't take action, so that's what we have...an anniversary mod, released a year and *two hours* after.

Not nearly as dramatic, is it? Well, it's still all good; hopefully knowing I'm late again won't impede your enjoyment of the mod. ;)

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.003
 

Well.. For some reason on my config there is no sound for this mod... (W7 64b)

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.003
 

The most likely reason why is because I left it turned off.

Unlike with the first two releases, this time I forgot to delete the .cfg file as part of my release preparations; normally I would have remembered to do it, but this time, I didn't, so the mod starts out with my preferences/etc. in place.

To fix this, you can either delete the game.cfg file in the mod's folder, or just turn the sound up in the prefs in-game.

---

If the sound still doesn't work, after you've turned the volume up, then I honestly don't know; it sounds fine to me.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.003
 

:-)))))))
Dumb me :-)
Now it works fine!

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.003
 

Work on 004 is coming along. I've started on a new race, the Murrlur, which will complicate diplomatic relations in the game.

Hint phrase: Birds and cats.

Also, I'm thinking a little about setting up a blog outside of this page to cover my Odd Adventures work and any other modding stuff I talk about; if I do, I'll post a link up here.

Thanks to anyone who still follows this.

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.003
 

Hmm- it seems that this forum is getting a bit thin... Anyways, I am checking back from time to time hoping of new release of some mods...
So dear ExplorerBob I am with you and I am waiting for your new release!
:-D

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.003
 

But do not give up.....

Re: Odd Adventures In Infinite Space v.003
 

My new blog, A Thought Repository, is up and has a bit of information regarding a feature I hope to include in 004. Feel free to take a look; future information concerning the mod will likely be primarily available there, and I expect I'll probably only visit this topic to update download information.