DeadAir Economy Overhaul (mlog4 fork)
The mlog4 fork of the classic DeadAir Economy Overhaul by DeadAirRT (retired 2025-09-23, GPL-3.0 continuation grant). Updated for X4 9.0 with 7 major XPath fixes restored (see mlog6 fork fixes — patches that lay dead through 8.x/9.x are back working).
What this mod does (in one sentence)
Section titled “What this mod does (in one sentence)”Rewrites vanilla’s economy toward fewer / larger / more interconnected faction stations, using 3 custom “schematic” wares as secondary-resource multipliers to bind the whole economy in a circular dependency chain.
Key features
Section titled “Key features”| Feature | Effect |
|---|---|
| 3 custom DA wares | Advanced Schematics / Military Schematics / Labor Union Contracts. Act as secondary resources that DOUBLE production output at any station that has them. Own production modules with highest workforce impact in the game. |
| Bigger factories | ProductionLimit 1→5 per module type. NPC stations grow to real hubs (5 identical Hull Parts modules) instead of 5 tiny stations. CPU-friendlier + more visually impressive. |
| Automatic storage sizing | New stations get storage that actually matches production/consumption. Fixes vanilla’s “empty silos, production stalled” failure mode. |
| Race-aware station layouts | Argon/Paranid/Teladi/Split/Terran/Boron stations get racial structural connectors. Visual variety. |
| Xenon-specific systems | Custom Ship Construction Manager (vanilla failed because Xenon lacks shiptrader control post) + Xenon-only mining/trader jobs. |
| ~700 ware rebalance patches | Cycle=600s, workforce boost to product=0.5/cycle=0.5, secondaryresource +25% cycle, expanded price amplitude. |
Requirements
Section titled “Requirements”- X4 Foundations 9.0 or newer (fork bumped
dependency version="900"in mlog006rel) - Split Vendetta DLC — hard dependency (economy tuning uses Split race data extensively)
- Terran DLC — hard dependency
- Boron DLC — hard dependency
- Pirate DLC (Kingdom End) — hard dependency
- DeadAir Scripts (mlog4 fork) — required companion (the two mods share
md.$DAEcoflag and DA-wares registration probes) - SirNukes Mod Support APIs — for DA menu integration when running with DA-Scripts
Install
Section titled “Install”- Nexus (manual): Download the DA Eco zip from mods/2206. Extract into
X4 Foundations/extensions/. Folder must be nameddeadair_eco(case-sensitive — asset paths break with any variation). - Steam Workshop: Subscribe to ws_3757967448.
Configuration
Section titled “Configuration”There is no in-game DA-Eco menu. All economy tuning is baked in; effects apply automatically at station creation via md/finalisestations.xml. Optional configuration lives in the DA Scripts fork menus — for example DA Fill uses DA-Eco’s ware definitions when running.
Save-safe: installing / uninstalling mid-save is technically possible but not recommended — DA-Eco changes ware pricing curves and recipe amounts. Rolling those changes back mid-save leaves station stockpiles inconsistent with new demand.
Deep dives
Section titled “Deep dives”Mechanics
Section titled “Mechanics”- Mechanics overview — design philosophy + architecture map
- DA custom wares — 3 secondary-resource wares that bind the economy
- Storage sizing (DYN formula) — how stations get real-scale storage
- Station improvements — connectors / habitation / docks / defence
- Xenon specifics — why Xenon runs on different rules
Reference
Section titled “Reference”- Library changes — per-file patch summary (wares.xml / god.xml / jobs.xml / etc.)
- mlog6 fork fixes — 7 major XPath patches that were dead code through 8.x/9.x, now restored
Known conflicts
Section titled “Known conflicts”| With | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Original DeadAir Economy Overhaul by DeadAirRT | ❌ Conflict | This IS the fork. Uninstall upstream before adding this. |
| DeadAir Economy Overhaul (No DA Wares fork) | ❌ Pick one | Same fork family, different variant. Choose which. |
| DeadAir Economy Overhaul adopted by Chem ODun | ❌ Pick one | Alternative community fork of the same base. |
| Variety and Rebalance Overhaul (VRO) | ⚠️ Overlaps | VRO has its own economy tuning. Running both stacks DA wares on top of VRO’s balance — might work but untested. Consider No DA Wares Eco fork for cleaner VRO experience. |
| X4-Reemergence | ❌ Not yet | Reemergence isn’t on 9.0. |
| Everything else | ✅ Compatible | Apus, ETW, Galactic Heroes, Zero-Transporter — all coexist cleanly. 5+ hour multi-mod soak tests show zero DA-Eco errors on 9.0 release. |
Testing status
Section titled “Testing status”Tested on X4 9.0 release. 5+ hour multi-mod soak (DA-Eco + DA-Scripts + Apus + ETW + Galactic Heroes + Zero-Transporter) shows zero =ERROR= from DA-Eco. This is a critical baseline — pre-mlog6 the mod had ~200 errors per session from dead XPath patches.
Links and source
Section titled “Links and source”- Nexus: mods/2206
- Steam Workshop: ws_3757967448
- GitHub: mlog4/deadair_eco
- License: GPL-3.0 (inherited from upstream)
Original author: DeadAirRT — retired mid-2025, granted GPL-3.0 for community continuation. 9.x compat fork by: mlog4.
Companion documentation
Section titled “Companion documentation”For the source-authored technical breakdown (Russian, 294 lines) see ANALYSIS_mlog4.md in the mod repo. This wiki page tree translates and expands that analysis with concrete tables and observed game-state references.