Is there a way to change the encounter rate?

    Okay, it's been a few years since I've played Freelancer and I'm suddenly in the mood for a shiny spacy sim type game.


    Problem is I recall there being way more random attacks by pirates and the like for my tastes. So I was wondering if there were a way for me to mod the game to decrease the rate that ships in systems are spawned so that I could maybe fly from one station to another in the same system (which is in what should be a rather quiet part of space) without being dropped out of a trade lane/cruising speed to fight some dudes two or three times.


    If it requires editing several .dlls or .inis I'm good, I can do the research I need to to do that with only a little hand holding. But if it's more than that (as in requires me to actually code from scratch instead of just altering some pre-existing code) then I will be sad but can at least stop wanting to do this.

    Go into the data\universe\system folder and edit the system ini file for the system you wish to change.


    It's pretty self explanitory what you need to change. If you mess something up, then it'll crash. The easiest way to eliminate encounters is to put a ; infront of the line you wish to remove. Make a backup to save yourself the headache of reinstalling.


    Quick Example:
    In the Li01.ini lets say I want to eliminate the rogues in the Pittisburgh Debris field. I open the Li01.ini and find the section that looks like this...


    [zone]
    nickname = Zone_Li01_Pittsburgh_debris_001
    ids_name = 261211
    pos = 47675, 0, -63380
    rotate = 0, 15, 0
    shape = ELLIPSOID
    size = 32500, 15000, 42000
    property_flags = 128
    Music = zone_field_debris
    spacedust = debrisdust
    spacedust_maxparticles = 50
    ids_info = 65999
    visit = 36
    comment = Pittsburg debris
    sort = 20
    toughness = 1
    density = 5
    repop_time = 20
    max_battle_size = 4
    pop_type = lootable_field
    relief_time = 35
    faction_weight = fc_j_grp, 5
    faction_weight = fc_lr_grp, 11
    faction_weight = gd_bh_grp, 2
    encounter = area_scout, 1, 0.410000
    faction = fc_lr_grp, 1.000000
    encounter = area_bh_assault, 1, 0.040000
    faction = gd_bh_grp, 1.000000
    encounter = area_scavenger, 1, 0.280000
    faction = fc_j_grp, 1.000000


    I know the fc_lr_grp are the Liberty Rogues. So I can comment those two lines out so it looks like this...


    [zone]
    nickname = Zone_Li01_Pittsburgh_debris_001
    ids_name = 261211
    pos = 47675, 0, -63380
    rotate = 0, 15, 0
    shape = ELLIPSOID
    size = 32500, 15000, 42000
    property_flags = 128
    Music = zone_field_debris
    spacedust = debrisdust
    spacedust_maxparticles = 50
    ids_info = 65999
    visit = 36
    comment = Pittsburg debris
    sort = 20
    toughness = 1
    density = 5
    repop_time = 20
    max_battle_size = 4
    pop_type = lootable_field
    relief_time = 35
    faction_weight = fc_j_grp, 5
    faction_weight = fc_lr_grp, 11
    faction_weight = gd_bh_grp, 2
    ;encounter = area_scout, 1, 0.410000
    ;faction = fc_lr_grp, 1.000000
    encounter = area_bh_assault, 1, 0.040000
    faction = gd_bh_grp, 1.000000
    encounter = area_scavenger, 1, 0.280000
    faction = fc_j_grp, 1.000000


    Ive just removed the Liberty Rogues from this encounter. All other modifications are pretty self explanitory with a bit of tinkering.

    Cool! So just to make sure I've understood this, if I wanted to encounter say, about half as many 'Rogues around Pittsburgh, I'd change the lines:


    repop_time = 20


    and


    relief_time = 35


    to twice their default amount?


    eg.


    repop_time = 40
    relief_time = 70


    Correct? Or do those settings not do what I've assumed?