Starward Rogue:XML - EntitySystem Definitions

Overview

These are not ships -- they're just guns or whatever. They're how a ship actually does something like shoot or trigger an ability, generally.

An example

<system name="PlayerDirected_Minigun"
	category="PlayerDirectedWeapon"
	is_player_main_weapon="true"
	shot_type="BulletPointedBlue"
	damage_type="Ballistic"
	attack_power="14"
	fire_rate="0.4"
	range_actual="500"
	shots_per_salvo="1"
	shot_speed="1200"
	flagship_ability_type="DirectFireWeapon"
	targeting_logic="Direct"
	image_name="MantaGun"
	quality_tier="0"
>
</system>

Attributes

Most Important General

• category (EntitySystemCategory)
• image_name (string)
  • Normally the name of the entity is what is used to find the image for the entity. This lets you override that logic.
  • When you set this, they will use RuntimeData/Images/Systems/image_name
  • Use Invisible to have the system not visibly show on the entity (often a good idea).
• image_folder (string)
  • This can be used with or without image_name. Often it is used without image_name.
  • For organizational purposes, it’s nice to be able to put graphics into arbitrary subfolders. So for instance, we have an Player subfolder inside the Systems folder.
  • To make sure that our system looks for an image in there, we just set image_folder=”Player” and that’s it.
  • You can do folders-in-folders if you want, too, and then have a forward slash (/) separating those out.
  • Make sure to always use forward slashes when referencing filenames. If you’re working on windows it will work with a backslash, but then someone running this on osx or linux will have it fail.
• is_destroyed_after_finite_uses (int, optional)
  • if a number > 0, then the system is gone after triggering that many times. Default 0.

Performance-Improving

• shots_never_collide_with_terrain (bool)
  • for performance reasons, if you're just spraying hundreds or thousands of bullets out in or out of patterns for the player to weave through without meaning them to ricochet around or whatever, please use this flag
  • basically, if what you're doing is more "wall" than "projectile", this here's your flag
  • There is a similar flag, never_collides_with_terrain, for bullets in bullet patterns if you need control over specific bullets.
• shots_leave_no_shadows_or_reflections (bool)
  • for performance reasons, if you're spraying tons of shots out and are worried about the load on the GPU of drawing all the shadows and reflections, then set this to true.
  • odds are if there are that many shots, the players aren't going to be seeing such subtle effects anyway, given their intense focus on the shots themselves!
• shots_use_performance_sensitive_logic (bool)
  • makes all shots emitted by this system act as if they had the use_performance_sensitive_logic flag

General Player-Only Stuff

• is_toggleable (bool, optional), defaults_toggle_off (bool, optional, defaults true)
  • only for player energy-use systems, really; pressing the related only_fires_on_keybind (or release) keybind toggles the system on and off (if toggled off, the modifiers it applies to the parent entity, if any, no longer have effect)
• display_name (string, optional)
  • what the player sees when the game tries to tell them the name of this system
• description (string, optional)
  • similar to display_name, not necessarily used in all contexts that display_name is
• uses_special_slot (SystemSlotType)
  • only meaningful for systems the player can pick up; tells the game which slot to use for this system (so anything in the slot before the pickup is dropped, unless destroys_system_in_slot is used to destroy it first)

Most Important Weapon Stuff

• attack_power (float)
  • how much damage this system's shots do
• fire_rate (float)
  • how many seconds it takes the system to reload after firing a salvo before it can fire again
  • NOTE! If you want this to go really fast, then for enemies you also need to set the cue_time lower.
• cue_time (float, optional, default 0.5)
  • the number of seconds this system (or the entity, if this is the only cue-time system on it) puts out a little yellow pulse "cue" before it actually fires.
  • only applies to enemies, and this effectively reduces the firing rate.
• range_actual (int, required unless there's a BulletPattern)
  • how far this system's shots can fly until they disappear.
  • Note: completely ignored if 1+ special_bullet_patterns are defined.
• range_to_live_mult (float, optional)
  • this system's shots live this much longer or shorter than its range implies. Only current usage is making the mine's self destruct "system" shots not go anywhere, via mult=0
• time_to_live (float, optional, default 10)
  • this system's shots expire after this long regardless of range or whatever. Does not apply to BulletPattern stuff
• shot_speed (int, optional, default 350)
  • how fast this system's shots go
• shot_type (GameEntity name)
  • the name of the GameEntity data that should be used for the system's actual shots
• special_bullet_patterns (comma-delimited list of bullet_pattern names, optional)
  • the names of the BulletPattern(s) this system can generate; if there's more than one a pattern is picked randomly from the list each time it needs one

Cosmetic Stuff

• sounds_on_shot_fired (comma-delimited strings list)
  • If this system fires a shot, or a shot pattern, then one of the sounds in the list will be played at random. Default "Shot_QuietTwoPart1,Shot_QuietTwoPart2".
• min_ms_between_shot_fired_sounds (int, optional)
  • Some systems fire salvos of shots rather frequently, and so normally a 50ms delay between invocations of their sound effects is imposed. For some shots you may want a larger delay, though (seriously that’s a rapid-fire shot, then), or in other cases you may wish for silence, in which case you can put -1 (since sounds_on_shot_fired has a default value). Default 50.
• sounds_on_shot_detonate (comma-delimited strings list)
  • When a bullet from this system -- or a bullet pattern from this system -- dies then this sound plays. Default none.
• sounds_on_shot_does_damage (comma-delimited strings list)
  • If a bullet from this system, or a bullet pattern from this system, does damage to something else, then this sound plays. Default none.
• sounds_on_shot_fired_volume, sounds_on_system_activated_volume, sounds_on_shot_detonate_volume, sounds_on_shot_does_damage_volume.
  • A new way to adjust the volume of various sounds via xml rather than by editing the sound file itself.
  • These are floating point numbers where 0 is silent, 0.5 is half volume, 1 is full volume, 2 is double volume, etc.
• shot_movement_particle (particle_pattern, optional)
  • shots emitted from this system emit this particle while moving
• sounds_on_system_activated (comma-delimited strings list)
  • If this system is activated (typically consumable items), then one of the sounds in the list will be played at random. Default none.
• voices_on_system_activated (comma-delimited strings list)
  • Similar to sounds_on_system_activated but uses the volume settings for voices
• screen_flash_seconds_on_use, screen_flash_seconds_on_shot_detonation (both bools, optional)
  • makes the screen go white instantly on use or shot detonation (respectively), then fade to normal over X seconds
• beam_particle (particle, optional) and beam_particle_distance_interval (int, optional)
  • makes the beam emit that particle at points X distance apart along its length
• non_sim_patterns (List<BulletPattern>)
  • When this system fires a salvo, just before emitting the first shot in the salvo, it spawns these patterns, which should only contain shot types of GameEntityCategory.NonSim
• non_sim_pattern_emission_offset (ArcenPoint)
  • Just offsets the origin point of the initial spawn of the non_sim_patterns; useful if you want a "muzzle flare"
• cue_non_sim_patterns (List<BulletPattern>)
  • similar to non_sim_patterns, but triggers when the system cues rather than when the system fires
  • suppresses the normal cue visual effect for that system (or the whole entity, if it's the only system that cues)
  • does not impact the cue time or any aspect of the sim at all (nor is it impacted by the sim after starting), so the cue time still needs to be set to the appropriate interval (and needs to be > 0 or this won't trigger at all since there's no actual cue in that case)
• recoil_velocity (int), recoil_max_offset (int), recoil_reset_velocity (int)
  • when the gun fires, it starts moving backwards at (velocity) until it reaches (max_offset) pixels back, then returns to normal position at (reset_velocity).
• recoil_applies_to_main_image (bool, default true), recoil_applies_to_stacked_image (bool, default true)
  • if you set either of these to false, the recoil_velocity won't apply to the main or stacked images, respectively.
• suppress_laser_sight (bool)

Player-Only Weapon Stuff

• flagship_ability_type (PlayerFlagshipAbilityType, optional)
  • basically this should either be DirectFireWeapon for player guns/abilities or left out
• salvo_spread_responds_to_player_direction (bool, optional)
  • this system's shots fan out like the old TLF "spreadfire" weapon; targeting the angle to the cursor and fanning out more or less depending on range to the cursor
• charge_per_second, charge_cap, and charge_add_to_multiply_per_point (all float, optional)
  • only works in conjunction with only_fires_on_keybind (not the on_release version, since this is inherently on-release)
  • only works in conjunction with requires_item_type, as that tells it what resource to pull it from (presumably energy, but you could use missiles or credits if you wanted)
  • as you hold down the key, the system charges by that amount per second, up to the cap or how much you've got (whichever is less)
  • when you release the key, if the total charge < 1, it just doesn't fire or cost you any of the resource
  • when you release the key, if the total charge >= 1, it fires normally but with the attack power of all the shots will be multiplied by 1f + (charge * charge_add_to_multiply_per_point)
• shots_spawn_at_reticule (bool, optional)
  • overridden by BulletPattern
  • makes the shot spawn at CalculateReticulePointForPlayerRightNow
  • if that's outside the room or in an indestructible within-room wall it tries to walk it back towards the player
• shots_instantly_hit_all_enemies, shots_instantly_hit_all_non_boss_enemies (both bool, optional)
  • overridden by BulletPattern
  • both cause the shots emitted by that system to instantly hit all enemies and disappear (so the shots will generally not ever be seen); they apply all the normal on-hit logic, modifier transfer, etc
  • the second excludes any enemy where BossType != None
• instant_hit_all_includes_shootable_obstacles (bool)
  • overridden by BulletPattern
  • works with shots_instantly_hit_all_enemies to also hit all shootable obstacles
• shots_follow_the_reticule (bool, optional)
  • shots emitted this system are basically glued to the cursor/reticule, moving instantly to that location even if it goes into a wall
• only_triggers_after_X_kills_by_player
  • In addition to whatever other requirements the system has to fire, the player has to have killed (X) ships since the last trigger of this system for it to fire.
  • If this is on a non-player system it basically will never fire.
• does_not_trigger_past_charge (float)
  • prevents the system itself from firing when the charge is >= this value
  • generally only useful with charge_level nodes
• does_not_trigger_or_trigger_charge_level_systems_under_charge (float, default 1)
  • prevents the system itself, or any charge_level based system from triggering under this charge level (the charge level is still reset to zero when you try to fire it at this point)
  • only applies if charge_per_second is set
  • so if you want something to fire "normally" on any tap-and-release, set this to zero
• does_not_count_for_accuracy_tracking (bool)
  • makes it so that, even if the player fires this system, it isn't tracked for or against their accuracy for the floor
• max_damage_per_entity_per_salvo (int)
  • the max damage one salvo from this system can do to any specific enemy
  • only works when fired by the player or one of the player's familiars; for performance reasons the game does not track salvo data for other stuff
• act_as_if_in_same_location_as_main_gun (bool)
  • makes the game treat this system as if it was located in the same spot as the entity's main gun (only has meaning for the player entity)

Most Important Player-Item Stuff

• related_item (string, optional)
  • This is required on any systems that can be dropped by the player (ammo items and consumables, basically). This tells what icon to show in the bottom of the screen, as well as what system to actually drop.
• only_fires_on_keybind_release (KeyBind, optional)
  • the system only fires when the player presses and then releases this key; there's a ton of KeyBind values but the only one intended for this currently is ***HoldAndReleaseToFireMissile
• only_fires_on_keybind (KeyBind, optional)
  • the system only fires when the player presses this key (doesn't wait for release); the only KeyBind values intended for this currently are:
    • UseEnergyBasedSystem
    • UseConsumableSystem
• requires_item_type (InventoryItemType, optional)
  • the system cannot fire unless the player has a certain amount (requires_item_amount) of this item type (Missile, etc)
• requires_item_amount (float, optional)
  • the amount required by the previous flag's logic
  • you'll generally want to use int costs, but sometimes partial is necessary
• is_player_main_weapon (bool, optional)
  • use this if this is a "the player's two main guns" weapon; like the starting miniguns (or whatever) or ones that the player can pick up along the way. This is so the game can properly swap them in and out on pickup.
• disabled_if_zero_of_item (InventoryItemType, optional)
  • if you've got none of that resource left, the system is considered disabled
• consumes_all_required_item_on_use (bool, optional)
  • only works in conjunction with requires_item_type
  • after this system is used, all of that item is removed from the player's inventory (after whatever normal cost is associated)

Other Weapon Stuff

• ammo (int, optional)
  • how many shots until the system cannot fire anymore. Right now only used for consumables, with a max ammo of 1.
• shots_per_salvo (int)
  • how many shots the system fires at once. If used with a BulletPattern, generates that pattern that many times.
• one_shot_per_target (bool, optional)
  • overridden by BulletPattern
  • if true, and shots_per_salvo > 1, will spread out its shots (not firing more than one at any target)
• forced_angle_offsets (comma-delimited list of floats, optional)
  • overridden by BulletPattern
  • the angles each shot in the salvo will travel at, relative to the angle to the target; useful for bursts without resorting to an all-up BulletPattern
  • you can use this with single-shot salvos, but if the angle is more than a degree or so that's basically "a gun that always misses"
• hits_all_intersecting_targets (bool, optional)
  • beam-weapon only (that is, the shot type has the insta_fire flag). Makes this system's shots apply their full damage to everything on the line.
• shot_destroys_other_shots (bool, optional)
  • this system's shots destroy enemy shots they touch during flight, but the system will not specifically try to target enemy shots
• intercepts_other_shots (bool, optional)
  • similar to shot_destroys_other_shots, but the system will intentionally target enemy shots
• shot_sticks_after_intercepting_another_shot (bool), shot_dies_after_intercepting_another_shot (bool)
  • normally intercepting a shot leaves the interceptor intact unless the other shot also destroys shots
  • with (sticks) the interceptor will remain, but will cease all normal movement
  • with (dies) the interceptor instantly dies, along with the thing it intercepted
• damage_type (DamageType)
• fires_salvos_sequentially (bool, optional)
  • overridden by BulletPattern
  • this system will fire each shot in its salvo a short delay after the previous shot. Useful for strings of bullets without resorting to an all-up BulletPattern
• shot_area_of_effect (int, optional)
  • this system's shots will damage everything (for full normal damage) within this distance of them when they're removed from the game
• aoe_hits_friendly_targets (bool, optional, defaults TRUE)
  • this system's shots will damage even friendly targets with aoe
• suppress_normal_aoe_particle
  • Suppresses the AOE particle.
• suppress_aoe_destruction_of_shots (bool, optional)
  • Basically makes it so the aoe of the bullet coming from the system is not able to cancel other shots
• suppress_interception_of_shots
  • This works like suppress_aoe_destruction_of_shots in that it has the shots just ignore the possibility of interception. If you use both together it's like all shots from that system having a bullet pattern with immune_to_interception_and_aoe.
• shot_is_not_stopped_by_hitting (bool, optional)
  • this shot passes through enemy ships, damaging them only once (even if they encounter them again later somehow), but able to damage more than one ship overall
• shot_homing_range (int)
  • this system's shots will fly normally until they are in (range) of an enemy ship; at that point they will curve around to fly towards the acquired target
• shot_homing_delay (float)
  • if set, the shot won't start homing until this many seconds after spawning
  • only meaningful when combined with shot_homing_range
• shot_proximity_detonation_range (int, optional)
  • makes the ship die when a ship it could gets within X of a normal collision (so basically it's a collision check with X as an extra added into the range checks)
  • does not necessarily do on-hit logic to the thing triggering it; but it will check for aoe and only_fires_on_death systems
• system_to_attach_to_shot (system, optional)
  • whenever this system emits a shot, that shot spawns with one of the specified systems (allowing shots that fire other shots, or have on-death explosions that create bullet patterns, or whatever)
• shots_do_friendly_fire_after_time (float, optional)
  • so after one of its shots have been alive for X seconds, it can hit friendly stuff, and its aoe can hit friendly stuff (even if it doesn't have the friendly-fire aoe flag)
• shot_damage_per_second_from_touching (float, optional)
  • creates an implicit melee-range system that is added to any shots systems of that type fire
  • copies the EntitiesMyShotsHit modifiers (if any) from this system-type to that implicit melee system-type
• shots_rubber_band_to_starting_point (bool, optional)
  • now when the shot reaches the end of its range-to-live it doesn't scale out, it sets its destination point back to where it came from. When it reaches that point it then scales out
• shots_rubber_band_to_firing_system (bool, optional)
  • similar, but rubber-bands back to the current location of the firing system (even as that system moves)
• range_damage_scaling_floor, range_damage_scaling_ceiling (both float, optional) and range_damage_scaling_optimal_range (int, optional)
  • if the shot has traveled zero distance before the hit, it gets the floor multiplier
  • if the shot has traveled exactly the optimal distance when it hits, it gets the ceiling multiplier
  • if the shot has traveled >= 2 * optimal before the hit, it gets the floor multiplier
  • in the other cases, it linearly interpolates between the floor and ceiling
  • the multiplier is applied to the shot's attack power at the time it hits
• range_speed_scaling_floor, range_speed_scaling_ceiling (both float, optional), and range_speed_scaling_optimal_range (int, optional)
  • same deal, except it multiplies the shot's speed at each sim-step according to the range travelled thus far
• deflects_shots (bool, optional)
  • if a shot from this system collides with a hostile shot, it deflects that shot back on the opposite angle of its current travel
  • a shot cannot be deflected twice
• deflects_shots_as_friendly_fire (bool, optional)
  • same deal, but also makes those shots be able to hit targets friendly to it
• deflected_shots_inherit_speed (bool)
  • only meaningful if deflects_shots is true, makes affected shots go the same speed as the shot deflecting them
• deflected_shots_inherit_angle (bool)
  • only meaningful if deflects_shots is true, changes the angle of affected shots to match the shot deflecting them
• shots_knockback (int, optional)
  • ships hit by this are knocked back X distance units (if that would put them in a wall they don't go that far)
• shots_knockback_on_firing_ship_to_target_ship_angle and shots_knockback_on_shot_to_target_ship_angle" to system (both bool, optional)
  • overrides the default logic of "shots_knockback pushes back on the angle the shot is travelling in"
• shots_do_portion_of_current_health_as_damage (float, optional)
  • does X * the current hull health of the ship in damage, where X is between 0 and 1 (not 0 and 100; this is a multiplier, not a percent)
• do_parallel_salvo_with_spacing (int, optional)
  • overridden by BulletPattern
  • only meaningful if shots_per_salvo > 1
  • puts the first shot in the center like normal
  • puts the second shot at the specified distance to one side
  • puts the third shot at the specified distance to the other side
  • puts the fourth shot at twice the specified distance to the first side, and so on
• salvo_angle_difference (int, optional)
  • overridden by BulletPattern
  • only meaningful if shots_per_salvo > 1
  • the first shot has no change
  • the second shot gets angle + the specified amount (in degrees)
  • the third shot gets angle - the specified amount
  • the fourth shot gets angle + twice the specified amount, and so on
• inaccuracy_spread (int, optional)
  • makes each shot emitted from the system get a random angle offset from -x to +x degrees
• inaccuracy_is_by_salvo (bool, optional)
  • makes the previous apply to the salvo as a whole, not the individual shots
• miss_penalty_percent (int, optional)
  • if a shot expires without hitting any entity, it does this percent (expressed as 0 to 100) of its normal damage (whatever it would have done to an enemy at that time) to the ship which fired it
• spawns_entity (entity, optional)
  • when the system is triggered, an entity of this type is spawned at the location of the system
• hull_health_siphon_portion (float, optional)
  • whenever shots emitted by this system do damage, X% (expressed as 0 to 1) of the damage done is also applied as healing to the firing ship's hull
• shots_teleport_to_target_point (bool, optional)
  • overridden by BulletPattern
  • whenever this system emits shots, those shots instantly teleport to the target point (whatever that is based on the system's targeting_logic and context)
• shot_gravity_pull_per_second, shot_gravity_falloff_per_unit_distance (both floats, optional)
  • so if you had values of 100 and 0.2, then it would exert a pull on something up to 500 units away, where that pull is 20 at 400 distance, 40 at 300, 60 at 200, 80 at 100, etc
• shot_gravity_affects_shots, shot_gravity_affects_friendlies (both bools, optional)
  • normally it only affects enemy ships; these change that
• shot_gravity_has_repelling_effect (bool, optional)
  • makes the shot's gravity pull do a repulsion instead
• drones_are_finite (bool), drones_are_guards (bool)
  • if has drones and fire_rate > 0, then every (fire_rate) seconds it picks a drone from this system's drone nodes
  • if finite, that "ball" is not returned to the random bag from which the drone type is picked; if there are no more items it just doesn't spawn more
  • if guards, the drones are spawned with FlockBehaviorType.Buddy and AIRelatedEntityID set to this system's parent ship
• distance_threshold_modifiers_applied_to_nearby_entities (int)
  • only works in conjunction with modifiers with target=NearbyEntities
  • each sim-step, this entity checks for other entities within (distance) and copies these modifiers to those entities
  • because of the frequency of copying, all these modifiers should probably have do_not_stack
  • combined with a short duration (say, half a second), this imitates an effect (like movement slowing) that only lasts while this entity is in range and for a short time after
• modifiers_applied_to_nearby_entities_can_target_allies (bool), modifiers_applied_to_nearby_entities_can_target_enemies (bool), modifiers_applied_to_nearby_entities_max_simultaneous_affected (int)
  • works in conjunction with target=NearbyEntities modifiers, targeting (allies|enemies), and if (max) > 0 it obeys that as well (preferring to keep affecting the ones it affected the previous check)
• kickback_strength (int)
  • Just like shots_knockback, except it applies to the firing ship, at the time the system is fired, and on an angle opposite what it's firing in.
• shots_do_not_chain_explode (bool, defaults to true)
  • shots from this system that explode do not detonate other shots from the same type of system on the same parent entity
    • so shots from your two main guns, if somehow made aoe, will not chain-detonate each other
    • but shots from two enemies firing the same aoe system would chain-detonate
    • and if you had aoe main guns and fired a missile, the main gun bullets could detonate the missile and vice versa
• shots_slide_for_first_x_seconds (float)
  • for the first (x) seconds of its flight, each shot emitted from this system will slide against terrain rather than detonating on it
    • useful for having your aoe projectiles not go insta-blooie right next to you
• shot_aoe_chain_range (int)
  • used with shot_area_of_effect, whenever this hits something via aoe it also hits anything within (chain_range) with the same shot_area_of_effect, which can then chain again, and so on
  • only hits a given target once, so it doesn't infinitely chain back and forth
• chain_particle (particle_pattern)
  • used with shot_aoe_chain_range, which if this is set will emit one about every 16 pixels along the line that a chain effect is happening
• parent_entity_rotates_to_face_target_when_this_fires
  • when this system fires, the parent entity rotates to face the target
• initial_firing_delay (float)
  • causes the system to basically be on a reload time (delay) seconds long after it enters the game
• shots_can_withstand_x_shot_interceptions (int)
  • when a shot emitted from this is intercepted, rather than actually dying it just takes one away from this number, and once this number goes below zero then it dies

AI-Only Weapon Stuff

• targeting_logic (TargetingLogic)
• firing_timing (FiringTiming, required if Category == Weapon)
• range_chases_until_within (int, optional)
  • how close the AI of the system's parent entity will try to get (generally it only checks the first system for this)
• fires_from_any_range (bool, optional)
  • this system will consider targets out of range, and even fire at them
• destroys_firing_entity (bool, optional)
  • makes the entity that fired it go boom
• only_targets_damaged_ships (bool, optional)
  • only targets entities that have already been damaged
• only_targets_nearest_ship (bool, optional)
  • only targets the nearest eligible target; probably only meaningful for a player familiar
• only_fires_on_death (bool, optional)
  • used for self-destruct explosion "systems" like on the mines
• requires_line_of_sight_of_player_to_fire (bool, optional)
  • this system has to be able to see the player (not going through obstacles) to be able to fire
• line_of_sight_recalculation_interval (float, optional, default 0.2)
  • the most often (in seconds) this system will recompute l-o-s for the previous flag's logic
• targets_entity_that_last_damaged_my_entity (bool, optional)
  • after it fires a salvo, the remembered last-damaged-by is cleared
• shots_hitting_player_warp_responsible_entity_to_parent_entity (bool)
  • if a shot from this system hits the player, then the parent entity of this system is destroyed and the entity which spawned that parent entity (if any) instantly teleports to its location
• shots_steal_credits (float), credit_drop_on_death_portion (float)
  • if a shot from this system hits the player, the player loses (shots_steal_credits) credits
  • if the parent entity of this system dies, then (credit_drop_on_death_portion ) * the credits stolen by this system are dropped on the ground
• shots_die_instantly_at_boundary_direction (FourDirection), shots_die_instantly_at_boundary_distance_from_wall (int)
  • when shots from this system get within (distance) of the (direction) external room wall they instantly are removed from the game
• attack_power_against_player
  • if a shot from this system hits the player instead, it acts as if this were the base attack power instead of the normal attribute
  • defaults to whatever attack_power is
  • this is internally implemented as a multiplier, since the base attack power of a shot is factored into the computation before the shot hits, and thus before it knows whether or not it will hit the player; but for the purpose of editing the xml this is in the same units as attack_power, rather than a percent or multiplier
• shots_hit_friendlies_that_have_just_been_knocked_back (bool)
  • shots emitted by this system can hit friendlies that were knocked back in the past tenth of a second or so
• ignores_room_clear_disabling_of_player_hostile_systems (bool)
  • if the system is on a hostile-to-player entity (that's still around after room-win) the system will continue to function after room-win
  • the shots produced by this system will ignore the room-win shot-clearing behavior and the cannot-do-damage-to-player behavior (may not persist across save-load as the shot may "forget" what system created it if that system or its entity was removed after the shot was fired)

Oddities For Specific Player Items

• energy_shield_damage_portion, energy_shield_conversion_multiplier (both float, optional)
  • the first is the percent of damage done to the parent entity that the conversion will try to apply to
  • the second is the cost in energy of each point of damage prevented, thus determining the max amount of damage that can actually be converted
• shot_disintegration_speed_mult (float, optional).
  • Normally shots decay and shrink down in both size and damage dealt when they pass the end of their range or lifespan. This gives them a nice fade-out, but also increases the range somewhat based on the speed of the shot.
  • This multiplier lets you make this process of decay happen faster (>1) or slower (<1). A multiplier of 6 or more will make it almost instant, but without jolting out of existing unprofessionally. Default 1.
• revives_parent_entity_with_hull_health_portion (float, optional)
  • whenever the parent system of this ship would normally die, its hull health is immediately set to X% (expressed as 0 to 1) of its max hull health
• reveals_entire_map (bool)
  • when this system is triggered, the map of the current floor is fully revealed
• reveals_room_types (List<RoomType>)
  • when this system is triggered, all rooms on the current floor of the specified types are revealed
• teleports_player_to_boss_room (bool)
  • when this system is triggered, if the player is not in the boss room, the player is teleported to a random door (not the one to the next floor) in the boss room.
• teleports_player_to_unvisited_room_of_type (List<RoomType>), teleports_player_to_any_unvisited_room (bool)
  • when this system is triggered, if the current floor has any unrevealed rooms of these types (or any type, for the second field), the player is teleported to one
  • if none found, it tries again including revealed rooms
  • if STILL none found, there's a chat log message
  • if the new room is a secret room, any secret doors bordering the room are revealed
  • any locked doors bordering the room are unlocked
• teleports_player_to_next_floor (bool)
  • when this system is triggered, the player is teleported to the next floor
• scraps_and_regenerates_current_floor (bool)
  • when this system is triggered, the dungeon generates a new floor and replaces the current floor with it, then teleports the player to the beginning of the new floor
• scraps_and_regenerates_current_floor_type
  • can be either None or Gold, defaults to None
  • scraps_and_regenerates_current_floor still has to be set to true for this to do anything
• converts_from_item_type (InventoryItemType), converts_to_item_type (InventoryItemType), item_conversion_ratio (float)
  • when this system is triggered, it converts the player's (from) inventory to (to), at (ratio), until either the from supply is exhausted or the to inventory is full
• makes_next_purchase_free (bool)
  • when this system is triggered, it sets a flag (which persists until dungeon exit or until you use it) that makes the next store purchase free
• item_refund_chance (int), item_refund_portion (float), item_refund_cooldown (float), item_refund_requires_kill (bool)
  • when a shot emitted from this system hits (or kills) a ship, there's a % (chance, 1 to 100) that (portion, 0 to 1) of the required_item_type cost is refunded to the player inventory
  • cannot happen more often than (cooldown, default 0.3), tracked independently per system
  • portion can be negative, in which case it actually charges you extra on-hit or on-kill, which might be useful for something that's supposed to have a low cost to try but a higher cost to succeed
  • this is mainly for weapons with required_item_type=Energy, but Credits could work too, for a kind of very short-lived mercenary attack
• shots_drift_towards_hostile_ships_range (int), shots_drift_towards_hostile_ships_speed (int)
  • shots fired by this system will move at (speed) towards hostile ships in (range), in addition to their normal movement
  • so not really homing, just kind of "magnetic"; whether it generates a collision depends a lot on the shot's speed and the magnetism strength
• authorizes_when_parent_hit_by_enemy (bool, default true), authorizes_when_parent_hit_by_friend (bool)
  • works with firing_timing=WhenParentEntityHit and hitbox.on_hit_triggers_systems_of_type; if the entity triggering the authorization does not pass these flags it doesn't actually authorize the activation

Spawning Stuff

• spawns_entity_ship_category (List<ShipCategory>)
  • similar to spawns_entity, but randomly picks from entity types with matching ShipCategory's
  • the first time the system is fired, it picks an entity and then sticks with it; so if you have two spawners using this system, they'll each pick their own entity
• only_enabled_if_player_needs_missiles (bool)
  • if the player has any missiles, this system is disabled
  • if there are any missile pickups in the room, this system is disabled
  • if there are any enemies spawned by this system in the room, this system is disabled
  • if the room has already been won, this system is disabled
• entities_spawned_by_this_always_drop (List<entity>)
  • any entities spawned by this system will always drop a random entity from this list on death
• portion_attack_power_gain_per_my_portion_health_lost (float)
  • when this system emits a shos, the attack power of the shot is multiplied by 1 + (the portion of the system's parent entity health lost * this field)
  • so if this is 1, then as the parent entity's health approaches zero the attack power of newly emitted shots will approach twice what it would otherwise be
• spawns_familiars (List<entity>)
  • when this system is triggered, it spawns each of the listed entity types as familiars for the system's parent entity (works for players or enemies; the player ones will normally persist between rooms)
• creates_x_item_pickups_nearby (int)
  • when this system is triggered, it spawns that many entities from creates_item_pickups_from_pool near the player
• creates_item_pickups_from_pool (ItemPool, default RegularEnemyDrop)
  • sets the pool used by creates_x_item_pickups_nearby

Effects Stuff

• do_not_charge_ammo_etc_if_no_on_use_effects_happen
  • if this system is used, and none of its timing="OnUse" effects do anything (like a RerollShopItems effect outside a shop), this flag prevents the normal costs associated with system use (ammo, energy, destroying the system, etc).

Sub-Nodes

drone

specifies the entities that can spawn from this system; see drones_are_finite and drones_are_guards

Attributes:

• type (entity)
  • the type of entity to spawn
• count (int)
  • if drones are finite, this is the number of this type of entity that can be spawned from this system. Otherwise this is just the relative frequency at which this type of entity will be spawned from this system.

charge_level

basically this allows you to say "when firing the system, if the system's charge level is >= X and < Y, fire a shot from another system Z" any number of charge levels can apply to the same firing, so you can have multiple systems (which may or may not be the same type) fire at once you can have the base system itself not fire past a certain charge level via does_not_trigger_past_charge on the system itself you need to set charge_per_second and charge_cap on the base system for these to mean anything you can set charge_add_to_multiply_per_point on the base system but it might be confusing; bear in mind that the charge-triggered systems will always act as if at zero charge, so they will not benefit from charge_add_to_multiply_per_point or their own charge_level nodes

Attributes:

• minimum_charge (float)
  • if the charge level is < (charge), does not trigger
• maximum_charge (float)
  • if the charge level is >= (charge), does not trigger
  • note the "or equal to", as that makes it simpler to write the tags so you can say min="1" max="2" on the first node and then min="2" max="3" on the second node and have it do what you think it would do rather than have that little hair of a chance that they might possibly fire at exactly 2 and get both systems (if you want that, set the first max to 2.001 or something like that)
• system_to_act_as (system, required)
  • the system to imitate at this charge level; this will not actually be attached to the player but it will be kind of sort of attached to the base system, but it won't actually get most normal simulation checks like cooldown, ammo, modifier duration or probation, etc
• particle (ParticlePattern)
  • when this charge level is "active", this particle's per-frame effects spawn on the entity
• delay (float)
  • causes the actual shot(s) from this charge level to emit (delay) seconds after the trigger
• relative_angle (float)
  • causes the shot(s) from this charge level to emit on at (relative_angle) degrees away from the angle they would have normally gone in
• requires_item_type (InventoryItemType), requires_item_amount (float, required if requires_item_type is not None)
  • functions like the attributes of the same name on system, not firing unless (amount) of (item) is available and costing that much when fired

effect

specifies an effect that happens at a particular time (as opposed to modifiers, which generally stick around)

Attributes:

• type (EffectType)
  • the type of the effect
• timing (EffectTiming)
  • when the effect happens
• math (MathType)
  • only used by a few effect types, lets you specify whether it's an add, multiply, or set operation
• magnitude (float), second_magnitude (float), third_magnitude (float)
  • used when an EffectType needs numeric values (unlike with modifiers, the math attribute isn't always needed with this; depends on the EffectType)
• related_item (InventoryItemType), damage_type (DamageType), related_systems (List<system>), related_entities (List<entity>)
  • similar to how modifiers handle them, which is to say "any way the effect's type tells it to"
• requires_difficulty_at_least (DifficultyType), requires_difficulty_at_most (DifficultyType)
  • similar to how modifiers handle them
• chance_out_of_100_to_happen (int)
  • percent chance this effect will actually happen when checked
• targeting (EffectTargeting)
  • what this effect targets, if it needs a target
• times_to_check (int, default 1)
  • if you want a particular effect to happen more than once (like spawning a cluster of enemies), this here's your flag
• conditions (List<ConditionType>)
  • if any of these conditions is not met at the time the effect is evaluated, the effect is not executed
• related_pattern (bullet_pattern)
  • usage depends on effect type
• related_item_pool (ItemPool)
  • usage depends on effect type

Sub-node: modifier