For my next trick, I'm currently working on an OXP to expand the cargo pods currently available for the game. Below is a list of what I've got done so far, and what I'm working on. Some are for additonal alternative pod content, and some are to add a little more realism to cargo scooping (so not everything is a positive for the player).
What I'm interested in is any additional ideas that anyone may have, as I'm starting to run out of inspiration...
Done so far:
Fuel pod - basically a scoopable version of the fuel tank pylon add-on, adds 0-3.0 LY of witchspace fuel.
Missile pod - scoopable missile, adds either standard (3 in 4) or ECM hardened (1 in 4) missile where there's pylon space.
Empty pod - either an empty pod, or pod full of random worthless stuff.
"Retry" pod - a pod that doesn't dock right, which ejects and you have to try scooping it again.
"Jamming" pod - a pod which jams in the fuel scoops, disabling them.
Big pods - two variants, pods containing either 1-10 tons/kg/grammes of item (containers), or 1-100 (bulk containers).
Exploding pods - pods which blow up and breach cargo hold, with a 1 in 3 chance per pod in the hold of that pod being dumped into space before the breach is auto-sealed (player has to go retrieve is cargo again!).
Download via my box.net, the wiki (the links below) or from here. [/color]
Last edited by Thargoid on Sat Dec 22, 2012 11:21 am, edited 13 times in total.
Are you aware of Arexack-Heretic's Cargo & Wrecks? Some of the things you are mentioning here are already in that (like fuel-pods, and by the way some of them cause a fuel-leak instead of awarding fuel).
I like the retry- and the jamming-pod, and the exploding pod. Adding a little risk to the game is good. Not all OXPs should make things easier for the player (see Flying Dutchman.oxp).
(On a side-note: next to all the get-rich-fast schemes that have been developed recently I really would like to see a get-poor-fast scheme, just for a little variation. )
As far as big pods are concerned I have a question: What are you planning in respect to the player's (or any other scooper's) cargo capacity? Many players find it annoying that you already sometimes can scoop one pod more than actually fits into your cargo hold (happens if you're almost full and then scoop a couple of pods at once). But how would you explain that a ship with let's say 5t cargo capacity could scoop a pod which contains 10t (or even 100t) of cargo? And would that ship be able to repeat this five times, ending up with up to 500t of cargo in a 5t-cargo bay?
Thanks for the pointer, I'd missed that one. Will look it over and see how the two ideas mesh together. The fuel pod is an easy code, so probably no great harm in having it in twice perhaps, two different variants on the theme...
For the big pods, they're next on my list of things to tackle, so I haven't investigated things fully to see how the game reacts to a pod trying to add more cargo than the player has space for. But there are ways to check capacity I think, so it should work.
This is why I wasn't thinking of in-game implementing the bulk containers, just coding them up. There's a discussion ongoing about bulk heavy-haulers (here), and it's kinda to tie-up with that, with specific application to those ships. It should be possible I think again to check capacity and if it's too small then reject the pod (a la the "retry" pod)
For the big pods, they're next on my list of things to tackle, so I haven't investigated things fully to see how the game reacts to a pod trying to add more cargo than the player has space for. But there are ways to check capacity I think, so it should work.
At the moment, no. But the ways will be there in the next release.
Thanks, that's useful to know. I'll probably put the "really big pods" on hold until the next release then, but a 1-5 or 1-10 ton pod should still fit in the Ooniverse I think. A test for "over capacity awarding" is planned for tonight.
I've checked cargo & wrecks, and it does parallel a couple of items listed (fuel and missiles) as you say, but in a slightly different way. I have renamed a few things in my version though so the two can work happily side-by-side without cross-linking accidentally. Oh and the fuel pod causing leakage idea has now been nicked too
And as for get-poor schemes, well there is the darker option of being able to empty the players cargo hold...
OK, after some playing about, the oxp (pods.oxp) is ready for some real-world testing. Along similar lines to Cargo & Wrecks (the two should be fully compatible), but a different interpretation and does a few different things too:
It features the following pods, some nice, some less so:
Fuel pod - transfers between 0 and 3.0 ly of fuel. Occasionally the fuel is contaminated, requiring the whole tank be cleaned out.
Bulk container - larger capacity pod, carrying up to 10t of cargo, 100t 100kg of precious metals (gold/platinum) or 200g of gems.
Missile pod - a free missile, if you've a pylon to put it on. Usually a standard one, but sometimes an ECM hardened one.
Empty pod - exactly what it says. Either a pod full of nothing, or something worthless.
Retry pod - one of those annoying pods that won't scoop right. If at first you don't succeed, try try again!
Jam pod - no, not a pod full of jam, but one that sticks in the scoops, disabling them until it can be dislodged at the next docking.
I'm releasing this at version 0.20 as I'm sure once I do I'll think of some other pods to add, or people may suggest some. The exploding pod mentioned above won't appear, as the current JS implementation won't let it work right. (or will it... )
Lastly the important bit - you can grab it here.
Oh and I'm going to make an add-on to do the UPS pods from UPS Courier oxp too, when I get a minute, now available here.
Edit - tons, kilogrammes, who cares in space
[/color]
Last edited by Thargoid on Thu Nov 06, 2008 1:43 pm, edited 5 times in total.
Leave that pod alone Sir. It's mine I tell you, all mine!
OXPS : The Assassins Guild, Asteroid Storm, The Bank of the Black Monks, Random Hits, The Galactic Almanac, Renegade Pirates can be downloaded from the Elite Wiki here.
i´m pretty sure if i scoop that jam pod, 35 times in a cobra with an extra large cargo bay... i´m gonna wind up with 35 tons of nothing, since if my memory serves me correct.. 1 ton is substracted from your free store of cargo room, each time you scoop something....
Tested it, nope,it didnt accumulate one ton.. however it exploded on Ejection...
Last edited by Frame on Tue Aug 19, 2008 10:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I think you can only scoop the jam pod once. Once scooped it jams your scoop preventing further scooping (effectively makes the scoop "damaged" for the rest of the trip - but is "undamaged" when the offending pod is removed once safely docked.)
The retry pod actually disappears but spawns a new cargo pod. That new pod could be any available cargo pod, including all the new ones introduced by the OXP (you may end up spawning a standard pod, an empty one, another retry pod or a jamming one).
And @DH, yes you're correct. if you scoop a jam pod, it breaks your fuel scoops (check your F5 screen, they should list as (N/A) ). Once that happens you can't scoop anything else (pods or fuel) until you dock somewhere and get them fixed via the F3 equipment screen.
frame - I'll double-check the retry pod, but the spawned pod is a random one, so could be anything. Given it's player.spawned though, you may have just flown into it?
However your thoughts on an exploding pod have given me another idea (or another way or two to look at exploding pods ).
Last edited by Thargoid on Wed Aug 20, 2008 7:53 am, edited 2 times in total.
And for those who also use the UPS courier OXP, there's a little additional OXP that applies some of the new pods to UPS ones.
Note that UPS courier needs to be installed for it to work. I coded it to be that way as it doesn't make much sense to have the pods extension without the UPS OXP (or else any UPS pod would be a bad one to avoid). Plus it also makes the add-on tiny
Last edited by Thargoid on Thu Nov 06, 2008 1:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
.
)
Now that's a pod I wanna scoop! 
