Guard Systems

[Igiss]

Missions are a complicated thing to make. They seem to depend somehow on faction properties, possibly even hardcoded, therefore some factions won't give missions, and some factions are not eligible for missions (Nomads) even if everything required for missions is available.

Mission zone is actually a 'Vignette' zone that's specified in system ini file. When this zone is in an asteroid field, there's a small zone right in the center of Vignette that provides some free space for mission stations. To tell the truth, I was always lazy to place these small zones, but no matter... if 'Vignette' overlaps with a population zone or (not sure) patrol, a mission can be given at the nearby base.

Mission giving depends on the following stats:
- Faction properties;
- Faction weight on certain base;
- Base properties (NPCs on this base, etc);
- Population zone/patrol properties;
- Vignette zone properties;
- Reputation of related factions towards one another (missions are given only against hostile factions);
- Ship properties of the faction you'll be fighting (what ships will spawn).
You see that it's all very complicated, possibly one of the most complicated areas of modding. That's why mission lag problem bothers me so much... as I didn't mess with missions except for some minor changes, I don't see how missions could cause lag. But that's slightly away from our topic.

Due to reasons I've mentioned, Guardians probably won't have missions. Two more things are either impossible or just too complicated - first, shipyards (many factions have no ship-selling bases, so new base files will have to be created), second - not mentioned here, but still - stations with ship models. Unfortunately, bases require many additional hardpoints to work. I made Battlestar II a base cause it was initially a base that I converted into a ship. All House battleships also serve as bases, and making normal ships out of them is no problem. Much more difficult vice versa, making base out of a simple ship.