Q: Why introduce ores as loots in the first place?
A: There are other mods giving loots, but very often they end up with new things that very too powerful, or lots of trash items like shotgun shells, burner inserters, etc. So why not just give the most basic ingredients (ores) instead, which we always need?

Q: Why not just give the vanilla ores as loots?
A: It was the first thing I have thought of when creating this mod. The first proposal is to give all ores (including coal, stone, iron ore, copper ore, uranium ore), but there is a serious problem: even if I tune them in some "optimal" ratio, this may NOT be really optimal for other maps or players, especially if they have different map settings and/or resource mods installed. That may create stockpiles on a certain resources, worsening their storage system, which I always want to avoid.
The second proposal is to give iron ore only, which is in shortage in most of my games. However, some game may actually lacking copper ore instead. So this is not a really good proposal neither.
Then I came out with the third proposal: a single alien ore, which can morph into any ore the players wanted. It solves the problem of the above proposals, but creates another: players have access to uranium ore too easily by this...
So here came my fourth proposal: 3 tiers of alien ores. Weaker aliens give lesser alien ore, which is good as fuel (coal) or defense (stone), but morphable into iron or copper ores at reduced rate. Middle tier of alien ore lifted this restriction, to make it more useful as the main source of iron/copper conversion. Stronger aliens give the upper tier alien ore, not only worth more, but can be morphed into uranium ore as well. It can be converted into alien science pack if it is in dire need, in case some very hungry alien tech mods are in need for that.

Q: Why there are so few alien ores loots? They are not enough to compensate for the ammo cost...
A: Since 0.15 (and up to now 0.16.51), players get nothing from killing aliens, which makes the combat part of the game discouraging and redundant. The original intention is to add some loots to the dead aliens, to give players some motivation in killing them.
But if the aliens are too "rich", then it may render the mining part of the game unimportant. It is not supposed to cover fully the material cost of ammo used.

If you want aliens to pay for your base defense or even other stuff, you can tune up the richness and multiplier settings. Please see the option settings section below.
Such setting will create an unintended, however, fun scenario. So a combat-heavy, no-mining scenario is feasible! This will make your bases self-sustainable, even with the poorest resources settings in map generation. As long as you keep some spawners intact, the resources are never-ending.

Q: Why not preserving the "purity" of 0.14 alien artifact? Why add ore conversion ability to it?
A: With this mod only, there are no alien technology to research, so no need for alien science pack. But I do not want to make something useless in my mod, letting them to take up precious storage space. So currently I give it the ability to morph into ores as well, serving as the hidden highest tier of alien ore. This is still the best in crafting alien science pack.

Q: What is the use of alien science pack? I do not find any tech needing it?
A: Yes, with this mod alone, there are currently no use. Any other alien tech mod can use this, or my alien tech mod (see below). If you do not want to add any such mods, you can use the alien artifact for ore instead.

Q: What is the alien tech mod you mentioned, which utilize the alien science pack?
A: It is the Schall Alien Tech mod. It provides alternate weapon choices, and extends the gameplay beyond rocket launch! Please check it out!

Instructions to Fellow Modders

Adding Optional Dependency

Your mod should work with or without this mod. The call to support fellow mods is first introduced in version 0.17.6 of this mod. Your mod should require this mod and version (or above) to utilize it. So first of all, in "info.json" of your mod folder, please add an optional dependency "? SchallAlienLoot >= 0.17.6", to make sure the load order is correct.

Here is an example:

"dependencies": ["base >= 0.17.0", "? SchallAlienLoot >= 0.17.6"]

Assigning Loot Tiers

Inserting loot items to tables are done by the public function calls of this mod, which are created in data updates stage. You simply need to assign your units with the call of the corresponding category. So you need the make the calls in either data-updates.lua or data-final-fixes.lua.
Spawner corresponds to those under the "unit-spawner" type. Worm corresponds to those under the "turret" type. Mover corresponds to those under the "unit" type.

Syntax as the following:

if mods["SchallAlienLoot"] then
SchallAlienLoot_add_spawner(name)
SchallAlienLoot_add_worm(name, tier)
SchallAlienLoot_add_mover(name, tier)
end

name is the internal name of your units (e.g., "queen-nest", "giant-worm", "atomic-spitter").
tier is the desired loot tier. 1: small, 2: medium, 3: big, 4: behemoth, 5: category V (in Schall Endgame Evolution), 10: category X. The amount of loots is EXPONENTIAL with loot tier, so be sure not to set it too high, or you risk breaking the game!
Notice that this is the same number as used in Schall Endgame Evolution, so you may want to register the name there as well. (Please see its FAQ.)

Adding Morph Recipes

Adding morph recipes are done by the public function SchallAlienLoot_add_morph_recipes() of this mod, which is created in data stage. You simply need to assign to assign the icon path, recipe item ratios for each related ore, then make the call in either data.lua, data-updates.lua or data-final-fixes.lua.

An example code for lead ore in Lead mod, in response to Fiendix's request:

if mods["SchallAlienLoot"] then
local CT_ore = settings.startup["alienloot-crafting-time-ore-morphing"].value
local products_specs = {
["lead-ore"] = {
orderidx = "l-a",
icon = "__bzlead__/graphics/icons/lead-ore.png",
energy_required = CT_ore,
enabled = true,
recipes = {
{ ingredient = "alien-ore-1", amt_in = 8, amt_out = 1, penalty = {name_min = "alien-ore-2" } },
{ ingredient = "alien-ore-2", amt_in = 2, amt_out = 1 },
{ ingredient = "alien-ore-3", amt_in = 1, amt_out = 1 },
{ ingredient = "alien-artifact", amt_in = 2, amt_out = 5 },
},
},
}
for name, spec in pairs(products_specs) do
SchallAlienLoot_add_morph_recipes(name, spec)
end
end

An example code for titanium ore in Titanium mod, in response to Fiendix's request:

if mods["SchallAlienLoot"] then
local CT_ore = settings.startup["alienloot-crafting-time-ore-morphing"].value
local products_specs = {
["titanium-ore"] = {
orderidx = "l-b",
icon = "__bztitanium__/graphics/icons/titanium-ore.png",
energy_required = CT_ore,
enabled = true,
recipes = {
{ ingredient = "alien-ore-2", amt_in = 2, amt_out = 1 },
{ ingredient = "alien-ore-3", amt_in = 1, amt_out = 1 },
{ ingredient = "alien-artifact", amt_in = 2, amt_out = 5 },
},
},
}
for name, spec in pairs(products_specs) do
SchallAlienLoot_add_morph_recipes(name, spec)
end
end

Actual products_specs table code on vanilla ores can be found within prototypes/recipe.lua. For conversion rates, please see the below section.

Alien Ores & Conversion

There are a total of 4 possible loots: 3 tiers of alien ores and alien artifact.
Different types of alien ores and artifact have different recipes, converting at different rate, as shown in the following table:

These loots can be described as the following:
- Alien ore 1 has 1:1 conversion ratio to coal or stone. It can be converted to iron or copper ore at a penalized rate.
- Alien ore 2 has the penalized rate to iron or copper ore removed. It can also be converted to crude oil or alien science pack at heavily penalized rate.
- Alien ore 3 can be seen as two alien ore 2, further it can be converted to uranium ore at a penalized rate. Penalties to crude oil removed; while that to alien science pack is lessened.
- Alien artifact can be seen as 2.5× alien ore 3, without any penalities. It is also the best source of alien science pack.

For example, it needs TWO lowest tier alien ores (alien ore 1) to get ONE iron ore, while ONE alien artifact gives FIVE iron ores. So they have different "optimal" products.
Judging by the equivalent amount of iron ore as value, if setting an iron ore as 2, the loots have the following values:

All these conversions cannot be hand-crafted. They must be done by assembling machine 2 or above.

Loot

There are 4 basic loot tier, mainly classified by the size of unit: small, medium, big, behemoth. Higher loot tier gives better loot, in quantity and/or quality.
Worms are considered one tier up (adjusted in options, see below) though their name, since they pose large threats than their corresponding part of biters and spitters (0.17.4). Big worm corresponds to behemoth spitters in gameplay wise.

Loot drops are affected by the "richness" setting, current options include: none, basic, low, medium, 2×, 4×. "None" gives no loot from biters, spitters, and worms. "Medium" is the default setting. "2×" is double the amount of "medium". "4×" gives four times of "medium".

Spawners are treated separately, since they have no sizes or tiers, staying the same (without evolution) during the whole game. Each destroyed spawner gives 0 to 2 (or value set in options) alien artifact.

Loot Support for Other Mods

Schall Endgame Evolution introduce extra tiers of aliens, which are recognized by this mod. Extra loot tiers are introduced to reflect such changes. Each higher tier (called "category") is defined as two times in strength, the loot is set as also roughly two times.
For example, value of category V loot is about two times of behemoth loot (defined as category IV). Category VIII is about 16 times as much.

Option Settings

• Loot richness: Affects loot from biters, spitters, and worms.
  • None: Can be used for vanilla 0.14 like, where only spawners give alien artifact as loot.
  • Basic
  • Low
  • Medium: Default.
  • 2×: Multiplier over medium, which is two times. This is a lot. Suggested for no-mining scenarios only.
  • 4×: Four times. This is really a lot. If loots are left uncollected on ground, they may slow down your game very soon.
• Alien ore drop: Affect whether alien ores ever be dropped.
  • Off: Used to remove presence of alien ores. Alien artifact not affected, use the following if needed.
  • On: Default.
• Alien artifact drop: Affects where alien artifact is dropped.
  • Off: Used to remove presence of alien artifact.
  • Spawners only
  • Spawners, Worms only
  • All: Both spawners, worms, biters, spitters can drop alien artifact.
• Loot tier multiplier: Affect the rough ratio of loot amount for each higher tier, beyond Behemoth.
  • 2: Default and maximum value. Double amount each tier.
  • 1: Minimum value. Same amount of loots.
• Worm richness multiplier: Affect how many loots from worms.
  • 0: Worms will drop nothing.
  • 1: Default.
  • 2: Each worm counts as two biters of the equivalent tier.
• Worm tier up: Affect loot tier of worms.
  • 0: Big worm still counts as loot tier of big biter.
  • 1: Default. Big worm still counts as loot tier of behemoth biter.
• Spawner drop amount: The maximum amount of alien artifact dropped by each destroyed spawner.
  • 1: 0.5 alien artifact per spawner in average.
  • 2: Default. 1 alien artifact per spawner in average.
  • 3: 1.5 alien artifact per spawner in average.
  • 4: 2 alien artifact per spawner in average.
• Hide machine-only recipes: Affect alien ore morphing and science pack recipes in player crafting GUI.
  • Off: Default. Show in player crafting menu GUI. But still not craftable by hand.
  • On: Remove those recipes from player crafting GUI only. Still selectable in machines.
• Crafting time ore morphings: Affect crafting time to ores (including coal and crude oil).
  • 5: Default. Converting each alien ore or artifact requies 5 seconds.
• Crafting time alien science pack: Affect crafting time to alien science pack.
  • 12: Default. Converting each alien ore or artifact requies 12 seconds.

Tips on Collecting Loots

Construction Bots

Apart from walking over loots to collect them, in case you not yet know, you can also collect them by bots.
With a deconstruction planner (red planner) in the quickbar, right clicking it. Select "White list", then right click one of the slots. Go to the last category (with the big ? mark), then select "Item on ground". The deconstruction planner now has the filter properly set.
You can then use the planner to mark all items on ground to pick up, especially the alien ores and artifacts.

Large Area Manual Pickup

It is, however, much quicker if you have Schall Remains & Pickup mod installed and if you are in the vicinity. By pressing a single hotkey, every item on ground would be picked up and goes into player's inventory. In mod options, you can set pickup range as large as 64 tiles in radius (so 4×4 chunks).

Building Automatic Pickup

The loot collection process can be fully automated by installing Schall Pickup Tower mod. It allows you to build structures to collect loots from your frontline automatically, streamlining your killing business into alien research and production.

Full List of New (or Changed) Items

Item

• 4 resources:
  • Alien ore 1
  • Alien ore 2
  • Alien ore 3
  • Alien artifact
• 1 science pack:
  • Alien science pack

Building

• (1 changed) research:
  • Lab [appended a new slot for alien science pack]

Technologies

• 1 alien-related:
  • Alien technology