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Expansive Mods

A backwards compatible Space Engineers mod pack to add features and QoL changes in the style of THE EXPANSE!


Expansive Mods aims to add gameplay elements to Space Engineers in the style of THE EXPANSE, while allowing ship blueprints and saves to be backwards compatible if you decide to revert to base gameplay.

It also adds some small quality of life changes to solve gameplay elements that I find frustrating (jagged planet voxels you can't traverse, welder flickering eye fatigue, etc.)

There are lots of THE EXPANSE style mods, why another?

• Most of them have additional custom blocks that break backwards compatibility.
  
• Some have balance problems and other quirks.
  
• If they disappear or break, my personal server and saves as well as blueprints would be toast 🍞!
  
• Give some default blocks that have little to no practical function more purpose (like the heat vent).
  
• It looked like fun to put together 😄.

Please keep in mind, this mod is a WIP!

1. Custom Thruster Flame Colors:
   
   • Blue for large thrusters for both grid sizes (to represent fusion drives).
     
   • Transparent white for small thrusters for both grid sizes (to represent RCS thrusters).
   
   
2. Higher Top Speed:
   
   • Small grid max speed changed to 350m/s for more reasonable travel speeds without breaking game physics.
     
   • Large grid max speed changed to 300m/s for more reasonable travel speeds without breaking game physics.
   
   
3. Drive Signatures System:
   
   • Beacon blocks are required on ships. They are used to transmit drive signatures.
     
   • Thrusters produce a thermal load that combines to produce a signature strength (beacon text for size of signature and distance of beacon broadcast.
     
   • Heat Vent blocks help to reduce a thermal signature.
     
   • Non-ship grids, or atmospheric grids have custom non-ship signatures.
     
   • Beacons have an anti-tamper feature to stop players from tampering with signatures.
     
   • Antennae can be used as transponders to broadcast a ship name with the signature, or run without an ID.
     
   • Antennae are free to be used to display comms text as ship name broadcast can be done via the beacon per above.
     
   • Large thrusters placed / built in a direction other than forward are disabled.
     
   • Large thrusters (main drives) are turned off at init for safety and performance.
   
   
4. Speed Based Gravity Generators:
   
   • Grid speed determines Gravity Generator strength.
     
   • Adding "+" to the Grav Gen block custom name makes gravity values positive.
     
   • Adding "^" to the Grav Gen block custom name makes gravity values negative.
     
   • Opt out of this system by not adding "+" or "^" to the Grav Gen block custom name.

1. Gatling Turret PDCs:
   
   • The fire rate of gatling turrets, gatling guns and interior turrets has been increased to enable them to more reliably strike incoming missiles, allowing them to function as PDCs.
     
   • The damage has been reduced on them, so that the same DPS is achieved, keeping the balance more or less the same for backwards compatibility.
     
   • Tracers have been added to Small Cal, Pistol Cal, Large Cal and Autocannon Shell ammo based guns for a better gameplay experience, and for visuals.
   
   
2. Guided Missiles (Torpedoes):
   
   • Vanilla missiles can act as aimed or guided missiles.
     
   • Locking a target will convert missiles to guided missiles so that they can act as guided torpedoes.
     
   • The missiles when locked, will arc almost instantly from the launcher, towards their target. Consider this when building! You don't want to not have enough clearance and take off parts of your ship.
     
   • When a target is not locked, they will return to the default aimed missile system.
     
   • Missile max speed is increased to 340m/s to avoid collision when launching at full speed. Also means small grids at max speed can outrun them, but large grid cannot and must mitigate them.
     
   • Missile max distance before explosion increased to 2.5km.

1. Cleanup Warning:
   
   • Custom cleanup warning is announced when a player enters a cockpit attached to a grid, these requirements are hard coded to match the server settings I run for this gameplay experience.
     
   • Grids must:
     
     • Be larger than 20 blocks.
       
     • Have a beacon.
       
     • Not have default names.
       
     • Be owned by a player or NPC faction.
   
   
2. Additional NPC Factions:
   These are preset faction group names only. There are no ships that spawn for them.
   They are added for later NPC integration for spawners etc.
   
   • NPC factions based on THE EXPANSE are added to the save:
     
     • MCRN
       
     • UNN
       
     • OPA
       
     • Protogen
       
     • Tycho Manufacturing
       
     • Free Navy
       
     • Transport Union
       
     • Laconian Imperial Navy
       
     • The Underground

1. Welder Fix:
   
   • Welder flickering and effect intensity is reduced to hopefully help eye fatigue and those who may be sensitive to it.
   
   
2. Disable Lightning Damage:
   May be removed in future in favor of the new weather system.
   
   
3. Smooth Planet Details:
   
   • Surface details are removed from planets, smoothing their voxels.
     
   • Does mute some fine detail, but arguably produces a more realistic terrain shape and makes grids behave much more reliably when moving over terrain in vehicles.
   
   
4. Planetary Damage (No Fly Zones):
   Not currently running on default planets. Just an FYI item.
   May be removed in future in favor of the new radiation system.
   
   • Allows for planets to be added to the code so that they have the script enabled. If enabled, a warning is displayed as a grid approaches. Once a grid moves beyond the threshold, it will begin to rapidly take damage and be destroyed.
     
   • Represents no fly zones, or planets with atmospheres or other conditions that would be incredibly harmful or destructive.

To check out current development, feature requests and issues - jump on over to the project GitHub![github.com]

Distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. See LICENSE.txt in the mod folder, or on GitHub for more information.

I am certainly just one of many who have thought to do, add or fix a lot of these ideas in one way or another. So, a thanks goes out to the many other modders who inspired some of the ideas for these mods and who I referenced code or sbc changes from to get the ball rolling or find solves to roadblocks 🙂.

• Special thanks to malware-dev for MDK-SE and it's great documentation. It makes modding SE much easier.
  
• Special thanks to Rexxar for the (now defunct) mod on which Planetary Damage was based.
  
• Special thanks to xirathonxbox for the drive signatures mod inspiration.

Space Engineers and THE EXPANSE trademarks, logos, names, etc. are the property of their respective owners. All company, product and service names used are for identification purposes only.

This is a fan project undertaken with fair use in mind and in good faith towards the rights holders. Neither the project, nor I have any relation or affiliation to the above owners and/or rights holders.