Need help with ST Bridge Commander modding please?

[Steve]

I downloaded a Defiant mod that inserts my favorite gut-punching Trek ship into the game for Quick Battle fun. I inserted the component mods that are recommended for it. I install everything as best I can. And..... nothing. It's not showing up at all in the game. Actually, neither is that NanoFX mod, which wants to be double-clicked but the file's not an executable or anything, just a ".BCMod" file.

I checked and all the relevant files are in the necessary directories. Any ideas on what needs to be done?

[Bounty]

1. Ship mods come in three varieties: .BCMOD, discussed below; separate folders with a plugin file; and separate folders without a plugin file. If your ship isn't showing up, you probably need to create a plugin, which can be done with this tool:

http://bridgecommander.filefront.com/fi ... ool;102381

Check the readme for details; this tool will allow you to install the Foundation (the basic framework around which all mods are built) and generate a plugin file automatically.

2. BCMOD is an old mod format. The tool linked to above can unpack and install the file.

3. If you don't mind a large download, I strongly suggest you just get Kobayashi Maru. Bridge Commander modding has been done very haphazardly and many early mods are hackish causing severe stability issues. KM packages the most stable mods (including canon ships of all races and eras, extra scripts, overhauled graphics and far more maps, and a kick-ass Defiant with a custom, accurate bridge) in an automated installer which works very nicely and is not significantly less stable than the stock game.

[Sarevok]

Do you know how to place ships in the BC folder manually ? If not its worth learning because BC mods are often incomplete and buggy. You will need to edit stuff manually sometimes.

[Steve]

Thanks Bounty.

Sarevok, the mod I got put the files in the proper folder, but apparently something wasn't letting the game see them.

[Uraniun235]

3. If you don't mind a large download, I strongly suggest you just get Kobayashi Maru. Bridge Commander modding has been done very haphazardly and many early mods are hackish causing severe stability issues. KM packages the most stable mods (including canon ships of all races and eras, extra scripts, overhauled graphics and far more maps, and a kick-ass Defiant with a custom, accurate bridge) in an automated installer which works very nicely and is not significantly less stable than the stock game.

I recently reinstalled BC and installed the latest KM - apparently they added "ablative armor" since the last time I played, and that shit is brutally effective. It feels almost like the only way I can successfully tangle with an armored ship one-on-one is to fly an armored ship myself.

[Bounty]

It's brutally effective because IIRC it completely blocks subsystem damage. An unarmoured ship at 50% hull strength has probably lost quite a few systems with more running at partial efficiency, but an armoured one keeps running like new until the hull falls apart.

I like the concept, but the execution is a bit hackish.

[Stark]

A ST fan mod that introduces gamebreaking concepts tentatively based on a crappy Voyager episode? I'm STUNNED.

Bounty, KM is pretty boss. I remember when those script mods (ps random nobody makes better bridge experience = lol) were hideously unstable.

[Bounty]

A ST fan mod that introduces gamebreaking concepts tentatively based on a crappy Voyager episode?

Abklative armour is based on DS9. The crappy Voyager one is the batmobile armour, and that's a different mod A better one too, it just swaps out the standard Intrepid model for the batmobile one.

[Steve]

Well, after a false start from failing to click all the options in the Customize menu, I finally got to fulfill a 15 year old dream. I got to fly the mother-fuckin Defiant in a game.

And after all my experience in the regular game flying the Sovereign I really need to adjust to that tough little ship's speed.

[Steve]

The Excalibur has all the maneuverability of a beached whale. The Achilles, however, is like someone put the Defiant on steroids.

God I love this mod.

[Bounty]

I'm not a fan of the Achilles; I can never get those lateral pulse cannons to shoot straight.

[Steve]

I'm not a fan of the Achilles; I can never get those lateral pulse cannons to shoot straight.

So that's what those side-weapons are. Hrm.

Might be a limitation of the game engine, it generally requires a target in the bow or aft arc to make the targeting system start telling you how spot-on your shot is.

Me, I love Achilles because it has all the forward firepower of Defiant but also throws in some pretty good phaser coverage.

[Steve]

I've become pretty adept at using the Achilles if I do say so myself, but the Defiant is my baby. The stress of all the problems setting up SDNW3 melts away with her at my keyboard control.... along with the poor Jemmie (or Cardie, or Breen) bastards I have lined up in my gunsights.