mod idea: hidden stars
 

I have an idea for a simple mod to the game.

In each game, there are between (say) 0 and 5 hidden neutron stars on the map. You stumble across these the same way you do with black holes, though hopefully without the popup text. If you find these and visit them, you'll get a big bonus to exploration, and they're also home to stasis cones. These hidden stars cannot be found using the Hyperdrive.

Can anyone help me out--tell me how to modify the code for the black holes to this effect? I have never modded, nor otherwise programmed before.

That's as far as the idea is right now. Maybe if I make this, I'll start toying with grander hairbrained schemes. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: mod idea: hidden stars
 

Removing the blhole FLAG from the .ini file in the stars directory only makes the game crash, so I'd say your best option at present is to have an anti-graviton shunt installed by default to negate the gravity effects and then go about changing all the relevant graphics and text to suit.

Check out items\sy_antigrav.ini ... It may (or may not) be the case that you could add the "TYPE antigrav" from its DATA section to the DATA of other items, effectively giving all ship systems anti-gravity properties.

Failing that, you could at least rename the AGS as something that you wouldn't want to remove (even though you could), like pretending it's the ship's power source or some such.

Keep the Primordius quest in mind, too.

Re: mod idea: hidden stars
 

Oh, but you'll still have the wormhole effect, which might be a show-stopper unless you want to explain it with some new fiction. (Maybe some ultra high-tech race once lived on those stars, and left some kind of stargate-style transportation devices behind.)

Re: mod idea: hidden stars
 

It's possible to make a ship hull have the anti-gravity property without requiring the gizmo. Simply include the flag in the hull's ini file:

FLAG antigravity

You could also make the gizmo structural and non-sabotageable as well as installed by default so you'll always have it. (I guess at that point you might indeed make a new item and call it the ship's power plant)