Hyperion Pack arc

The Hyperion Pack DLC arc (story_hyperion.xml, 198KB) is the Hyperion ship acquisition story. A Cryptid Huntress character drives the player to chase Hyperion sightings around the universe via a breadcrumb trail — culminating in the player claiming the Hyperion ship for themselves.

Script: story_hyperion.xml
DLC: Hyperion Pack (ego_dlc_mini_01)
Text page: 30254
Theme: Cryptid-chase narrative — pursue Hyperion sightings, follow breadcrumbs, ultimately acquire the ship
Factions touched: faction.civilian, faction.holyorder, faction.paranid, faction.player, faction.trinity, faction.xenon

Setup

The arc anchors:

Sector	Role
`cluster_31_sector001`	Trigger sector (Heretic’s End area — shared with Boron Prelude)

Persistent characters

Character	Macro / role
Cryptid Hunter (`$CryptidHuntressActor`, macro `character_story_argon_cryptid_hunter_macro`)	Main NPC — drives the chase narrative (variable name says “Huntress” but macro says “hunter” — code is inconsistent)
Ancient Pilot (`$AncientPilotActor`, v2)	Original Hyperion Paranid pilot — character_story_paranid_hyperion_pilot_macro
Ancient Pilot Clone (`$AncientPilotCloneActor`, v2)	Clone of the Ancient Pilot (story twist mechanic)
Relief Pilot (`$ReliefPilotActor`)	Relief pilot NPC
Betty (`$BettyActor`)	Misc NPC — has explicit `Cleanup_BettyActor` cue

Custom game start

The Hyperion Pack DLC ships a dedicated game start:

Script: gs_hyperion.xml (7.7KB)
Module: x4ep1_gamestart_hyperion
Setup: Player starts WITH the Hyperion ship ($HyperionOriginalShip = player.ship)
Equipment: Pre-mods applied via md.Setup_DLC_Mini_01.Setup.$mods_Hyperion_Original

In this start, the arc is “in-progress” already — player has the Hyperion from the beginning.

For other game starts: arc triggers via Hyperion Sightings system (chase narrative).

Arc structure — the Sightings system

The arc uses a rotating sightings mechanic — Hyperion is “spotted” across various sectors via cinematic events:

Mission entry: “Hyperion Sighting”

Cue: Hyperion_Sighting_Start (parent of multiple sub-cues)
In-game name: Hyperion spotted — chase the sighting
Path/Chapter: Sightings chain
Find in game: Periodically, when Hyperion sighting triggers fire (Hyperion_Sighting_Triggers)
Prerequisites:
- DLC installed
- Setup complete
- Player in eligible sector (HyperionTriggerSectors defines pool)
What player encounters:
- Cryptid Huntress ship spawns (Create_CryptidHuntressShip)
- Breadcrumbs trail:
  - Breadcrumbs_Sighting — main breadcrumb logic
  - Breadcrumbs_Sighting_CorrectSector_Check — verify player in correct sector
  - BreadCrumbs_Sighting_CorrectSector_Event — event when player reaches correct sector
- Noise cutscene (mysterious unknown ship engine sound):
  - Hyperion_Sighting_Noise_Cutscene_Prompt — prompt for cutscene
  - Hyperion_Sighting_Noise_Cutscene_Started — begins
  - Hyperion_Sighting_Noise_Cutscene_Accepted — player accepted
  - Hyperion_Sighting_Noise_Cutscene_Stopped — ends
- Hyperion appearance setting:
  - Hyperion_Create_Setting — setup ship + scene
  - Hyperion_Force_Speed (0.9s interval) — force speed during cutscene
  - Hyperion_Reached_Jump_Gate_Ref (LIB_Generic.ApproachObject_Handler) — gate approach
  - Hyperion_Reached_Jump_Gate — Hyperion at gate (it escapes through)
  - Hyperion_Stuck_Timeout — fallback if scene gets stuck
- Main sighting cutscene:
  - Hyperion_Sighting_Cutscene_Start → _Started / _Stopped
- End sequence:
  - Hyperion_Sighting_End — sighting ends
  - Hyperion_Sighting_Catchphrase_End — final catchphrase
  - Hyperion_Sighting_CleanUp — cleanup
Where: Various sectors from HyperionTriggerSectors pool
NPCs involved: Cryptid Huntress, mysterious Hyperion pilot
Reward: Sighting progresses chase; clue gathered
Chains to: Next sighting in chain → eventually onboarding (Ch1_3_Breadcrumbs_Onboarding)
Code reference: story_hyperion.xml Hyperion_Sightings block

Mod conflict risks — Sighting system

❌ Mods that disable ApproachObject_Handler break gate-reach detection
❌ Mods that bulk-change sector content in trigger sectors affect sighting triggers
❌ Mods that disable cutscene system break the entire arc
⚠ Mods that respawn-aggressive faction ships can interrupt the sighting cinematic

Onboarding phase — Ch1_3

Mission entry: “Cryptid Huntress Onboarding”

Cue: Ch1_3_Breadcrumbs_Onboarding
In-game name: First meeting with Cryptid Huntress
Path/Chapter: Hyperion arc (Onboarding)
Find in game: After first sighting collected
Prerequisites: First Hyperion Sighting complete
What player encounters:
- Cryptid Huntress conversation
  - Ch1_3_Breadcrumbs_Onboarding_Conv_Start — start conversation
  - Ch1_3_Breadcrumbs_Onboarding_Conv_Started — conversation in progress
- Cryptid Huntress explains the chase + recruits player
- Scan-gates final line (Ch1_3_Hyperion_Scan_Gates_Line_Final) — instruction to scan gates for Hyperion traces
Where: Conversation location (likely a station)
NPCs involved: Cryptid Huntress
Reward: Onboarding complete; reward path unlocked
Chains to: Ch2_3_Hyperion_First_Reward
Code reference: story_hyperion.xml Ch1_3_Breadcrumbs_Onboarding*

Reward phase — Ch2_3

Mission entry: “Hyperion First Reward + Claim”

Cue: Ch2_3_Hyperion_First_Reward → Ch2_3_Hyperion_Claim_Reward (v2) → Ch2_3_Hyperion_Reward_Claimed
In-game name: Claim the Hyperion reward
Path/Chapter: Hyperion arc (Reward — climax)
Find in game: After onboarding complete
Prerequisites: Onboarding done; sufficient sightings collected
What player encounters:
- Cryptid Huntress offers reward (presumably Hyperion ship itself or precursor)
- Claim mission setup
- Reward claimed event fires
Where: Cryptid Huntress location
NPCs involved: Cryptid Huntress, Ancient Pilot (revealed)
Reward: Hyperion ship (or unlock path to it)
Chains to: Ch2_3_Hyperion_Reward (final reward distribution)
Code reference: story_hyperion.xml Ch2_3_Hyperion_*

Mod conflict risks — Reward phase

❌ Mods that change the Hyperion ship macro affect reward content
❌ Mods that block ship-transfer mechanics break reward delivery
⚠ Mods that pre-spawn Hyperion ship make the arc redundant

The Ancient Pilot + Clone twist

The arc includes a clone twist mechanic:

Original Ancient Pilot is encountered
An Ancient Pilot Clone also appears
The clone is positioned 30-80km from a target gate (vanilla code uses get_safe_pos with 30km min, 50km max, then 60km/80km bounds)

The clone is a story-distinguishing element — likely revealing that the Hyperion has been operated by multiple pilots (clones over time), explaining its “cryptid” nature (centuries-spanning appearances).

Game starts hooked

Game start	Effect
`x4ep1_gamestart_hyperion`	Player starts WITH Hyperion ship + pre-applied equipment mods
Other starts	Arc triggers normally via Sightings system

Code references

Concern	Cue
Setup characters	`Setup_Character_*` block
Trigger sectors pool	`HyperionTriggerSectors` (in `Setup_Locations`)
Sightings system	`Hyperion_Sightings` block
Breadcrumbs detection	`Breadcrumbs_Sighting*`
Cutscene noise prompt	`Hyperion_Sighting_Noise_Cutscene*`
Hyperion ship behavior	`Hyperion_Create_Setting` + `Hyperion_Force_Speed`
Onboarding	`Ch1_3_Breadcrumbs_Onboarding*`
Reward acquisition	`Ch2_3_Hyperion_*`
Cleanup	`Cleanup_BettyActor`, `Hyperion_Sighting_CleanUp`
Game start setup	`gs_hyperion.xml` `Ship_Setup`

Mission encyclopedia — landscape
Game starts catalog — Hyperion-specific start
Wiki: DLC handling — Hyperion Pack required

The Hyperion Pack arc is the most cinematic of the smaller DLCs — sighting-driven gameplay with multiple cutscenes per chapter. Your mod’s interference with the Cryptid Huntress, cutscene system, or gate-approach detection breaks the entire chase narrative.