Systems are Items that can be installed aboard a ship, and which typically provide some benefit if installed.
The term "system" sort of has two meanings in weird worlds.
- If it appears in the TYPE line of an item, it means the item is a generic ship system, other than weapons, thrusters, drives or fighterbays. Systems, in this sense, are the things that fit into the "round slots" of the ship. This is the most common definition of "system" you'll find on this wiki.
- The other use of "system" you'll see in the documentation is as an even more general term meaning both the systems listed above, and the weapons, thrusters, drives and fighterbays. In general, we'll try to avoid using the term this way on the wiki, as it can lead to confusion. However, since !item_files.txt sometimes uses the term this way, it may be difficult to avoid it entirely. We'll do our best. When in doubt, assume "system" means the round items only.
The following system types exist in the game:
Those types are of most importance in the DATA block.
The code structure of the .ini files of a system include the following elements, in this order:
Nested / second-level entries on that list are flags or values that follow the first-level code before them. For example, you might have a line that reads "TYPE system", but you wouldn't have a line that just says "TYPE" or just says "system".
Things in bold are ones all main-game items have in common. It's highly likely you'll need them in your items' .ini file in order for it to function properly.
Systems usually have the FLAG tech and the COST (number) technology attributes, but there are some exceptions even in the main game.2
DATA blocks are the heart of systems, the part the holds the code that makes the system work. Here's an example DATA block, from the Structural Gluon Shield:
Source: sy_shieldglu.ini in the main game
DATATYPE shield
PAR0 1000
PAR1 2
PAR2 200
SOND 100 0 combat/i_shield.wav impactEMIT
REFR impact
FILE combat/shield.tga
ANIM 0 0 1
SIZE 100
LIFE 10
NUMB 1
END EMIT
END DATA
As you can see, within the DATA block is a second instance of the TYPE line. In this second instance, instead of listing "system" again, it instead specifies the type of system:
That type line is followed by various parameter entries, PAR0, PAR1, etc, which are numeric entries that do different things depending on the numbers and what type of system it is.