ASM: Interstellar FTL Variety (Depreciated)

Depreciated Version. Only use if finishing a save game. Otherwise, use new version: ASM: Interstellar FTL Variety

Built and tested for the 2.2.3 update.

• Restores Artificial Wormhole Travel.
• Restores three Wormhole Technologies, with each unlocking a better Wormhole Relay.
• Starbases now host Wormhole Relays, which increase a fleet’s wormhole bridge range.
• Rebalances Gateways – may now build in orbit around a planet (non-star).
• May now start with Abandoned Gateway in home system (optional).
• Rebalances Hyperdrive Travel – faster windup, slower FTL travel.
• Advanced FTL technologies (e.g. wormhole stabilization, gateway activation, etc.) now unlock earlier.

Do you miss the days of leap frogging around the stars using sophisticated, quasi-realistic wormhole travel? Have you ever wondered why the jump drive mechanics come so late in the game (or at all), just before you get bored of your save and start all over? And why, oh why, do gateways have to be built so far out of a star’s gravity well? If you’ve had any of these sensible thoughts, this might just be a mod worth giving a try.

This mod’s primary goal is to add more variety to FTL travel. This is done primarily by restoring some elements of wormhole travel along with balancing hyper and gateway travel. A true restoration of warp/wormhole travel is impossible given current modding limitations. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t have more variety, which should make for more interesting strategic choices.

The first notable change is the creation of Artificial Wormholes using the old Jump Drive mechanics. Any ship outfitted with a hyperdrive is able to build an Artificial Wormhole between its current location and a relatively close star, which may not necessarily be connected directly by a hyperlane. However, the range of these wormhole bridges are inherently small, making wormhole travel difficult unless stars are exceptionally close (until you get to Jump Drive or Psi Drive tech). Fortunately, at every owned starbase, a new component has been added called a Wormhole Relay (it essentially replaces the sensors component). Additionally, science ships have a unique bonus to their wormhole bridge range to prevent being stranded while exploring.

Depending on what level of Wormhole Technology you have researched, these relays automatically increase the range of all fleets so that they can start leap frogging around. If your ship builds a wormhole into a system that does not have a Wormhole Relay (aka no starbase), your wormhole travel range instantly returns to its normal range, which may mean your fleet will have to take a longer way to get home via hyperlanes. So be careful! Don’t get stranded!

This also means that you are very limited in using Artificial Wormhole travel offensively, as your range will shrink once you are outside of friendly territory (at least until you get Jump Drives or Psi Drives, which will allow you to leap frog around much like you would in vanilla with these drives).

However, using Artificial Wormhole travel can be dangerous. There is now a 60 day cooldown, instead of vanilla’s 200+ day cooldown. Rather than a mild, but long lasting penalty, I decided to go for a shorter, but more severe malus. During those 60 days, your fleet’s speed and evasion are dramatically slowed (-75%) and all shields are reduced to 0. It is also very difficult (if not impossible) to jump to hyperspace, even in emergencies. So use your wormhome travel wisely!

Gateway mechanics have also been reworked somewhat. I never really did understand why gateways were so far out in the solar system. Why exactly do they need to be outside of the star’s gravity well? When fleets used jump or psi drives, they could enter FTL from anywhere in the solar system. So what’s up with these hugely expensive megastructures not being able to handle a star’s gravity well? I get the balance argument, but the whole thing has always felt gamey to me.

Now gateways can be found and constructed in orbit around planets. The only exception is that they cannot orbit stars. This was mostly done for visual reasons, as well as expanded compatibility with mods like Real Space (otherwise, the gateway gets eaten up by its host star sometimes). Their costs have not been touched or altered. However, the technology necessary to activate and construct them have been moved up, so you are more likely to get the opportunity to research it earlier on.

Furthermore, there is now an optional starting event that allows you to spawn in an abandoned gateway in all home systems for default and fallen empires. I have left the narrative explanation for that up to the player, but for me personally, I’ve always been a fan of storylines like gates hidden on the moons of Saturn or concealed just beneath Jupiter’s roiling red storms, only to emerge or be discovered by humanity, propelling them into a new age. Who built these gates? And was their original intention one of trade and peace or war and domination?

If you select this option, you may either let the gateway select a world at random or you may customize the location. If you should customize the location, a planetary decision unlocks for all planets in your home system that has a 30-day time limit. It will allow you to select which planet you want the gateway to orbit, including your home world. Now your dreams of recreating your own Mass Effect galaxy, complete with a Pluto-orbiting Charon Relay (and this handy Mass Effect mod) is possible!

Don’t like having gateways spawn in homesystems? That’s fine too. Just select that option. Easy.

The changes to hyperdrives are relatively minor. Travelling between stars is now much slower (and increases much more dramatically with better tech), but the windup to enter hyperspace has been slashed. It’s bad enough that you have to head all the way out to the edge of the solar system, only to sit there in eternal darkness for weeks.

Altered Vanilla Files:

• 00_utilities_drives.txt (adjusts the FTL drives)
• 05_gateways.txt (allows for gateways to be built around planets)
• apocalypse_intializers.txt (fixes vanilla gateways to be orbiting a planet)

Built-in Compatibility:

• All mods should be compatible unless they modify one of the vanilla files listed above. As long as my mod loads before theirs, then this mod’s changes will stay in effect. As such, mods like NSC2 are compatible.

• ASM: Reduced Station Clutter
• ASM: Ethics & Research Priorities
• ASM: Leader Ethics & Research Priorities
• ASM: Enigmatic Discoveries (Lite)
• ASM: Enigmatic Discoveries (Expanded)
• ASM: Interstellar FTL Variety

Got feedback? Cool deal! See a bug or quirk? Let me know.