[TEST RELEASE] Unsafe Systems Warning Tool 0.1

[Bugbear]

Bugbear Creations is proud to present their first OXP for Oolite: Unsafe Systems Warning Tool 0.1

TLDR: Download here

This OXP introduces a purchasable piece of equipment that provides the player with a warning if they are about to jump into a particularly unsafe system, or to an unfamiliar system.

The USWT can be purchased from any system with a Tech Level of 4 or above for 100Cr.

The safety of a system is determined by its government type. The eight government types from dangerous to safe are:

Anarchy
Feudal
Multi-Government
Dictatorship
Communist
Confederacy
Democracy
Corporate State

This OXP introduces the idea of a player experience rank. The experience rank is derived from the player's Elite score and from the ship time (the ship time being used as a measure of how long the player has managed to keep themselves alive).

The OXP also keeps track of the number of times the player has visited each system. This visit count is used to measure system 'familiarity'. Warnings are not raised for familiar systems.

Each system government type is given a safety rank. Anarchies are considered most unsafe and should only be traversed by an experienced pilot. Corporate States are considered most safe and can be safely traversed by pilots with low experience.

ALERTS
When a player initiates a witchspace jump to a new system, the players experience rank is calculated. This rank is then compared to the target system's safety rank, as determined from the government type.

If the player's experience falls below the destination safety rank, an alert is displayed via the comms log. This alert does not prevent the existing jump from completing, but just provides a timely message to the player to
reconsider their current destination.

Regardless of the player's familiarity with the destination, alerts are always displayed.

WARNINGS
If the player's experience exceeds the destination safety rank, then an assessment is made of the destination familiarity. Familiarity is measured as the number of times a specific system has been visited, with a default threshold being set at 3 visits (this may be a bit naggy and I'll probably lower this threshold to 1 for the final release.

If the destination has been visited less than 3 times, a warning is displayed via the comms log. Similar to alerts, this warning does not prevent the existing jump from completing, but provides a timely message to the player
to exercise caution.

A visit is defined as a single system traversal (initiated by an entry from witchspace) from the witchspace beacon to station aegis.

LIMITATIONS
The Unsafe Systems Warning tool does not provide any warning for Galactic Jumps.

AUTHOR'S NOTES
This OXP is my first attempt (after 8 years of playing Oolite) at modifying the game, and the OXP currently in a testing phase, so I'd really appreciate feedback regarding anythng you feel is comment worthy. I'd especially like to know if I've covered all the licencing issues satisfactorily.

My real intent for this OXP was simply to work out how to achieve some basic OXP tasks, such as writing to the log, writing and reading data from a saved game, implementing purchasable equipment, and working out how to represent objects in script.

As a result, the logic for this script is pretty straightforward and mostly intended as a proof of concept.

[Diziet Sma]

So that's what your little survey was about!

Congratulations, and welcome to the Dark Side! Have a cookie.. this week, they're chocolate chip.

[Zireael]

Grabbing it now!

[Diogenese Senna]

I'll give it try.

Can I suggest the 100 Cr seems to be a bit underpriced?

[Bugbear]

I'll give it try.

Thanks!

Can I suggest the 100 Cr seems to be a bit underpriced?

I'm open to debate on the pricing. There's probably a bit of backstory that would need to go up on the wiki for this oxp.

The USWT is a sponsored service provided by GalCop. It's in their interest to foster a thriving trading community, and as part of that charter anything they can do to keep inexperienced pilots alive would be seen to be a good thing.

Stepping out of the backstory for a moment, this tool is really only of use to a pilot until they get about halfway through Competent ranking (256 kills or 256 days alive, whichever comes first). After that point, you'll only get "Proceed with caution" warnings for any system that you have yet to visit (although you've just given me an idea - have the warnings also taper off as the pilot demonstrates greater competence).

When I get half an hour free (and I just know it will take three times as long) I'll release v0.2

[Diogenese Senna]

Been using it for the last few hours and to be honest ... I kinda like that.

All too often I forget to check the Government Type before I jump in and this gives a timely warning.

Yup - I'll be keeping that piece of equipment.