Her Imperial Majesty's Space Navy

[cbr]

There are already some logos on the model





Some possible new logo positions on top...





Because of the way the ship texture is cut not every position is possible
( as some of the large logo is seen on the back of the first shot )
The three smaller logos can be shifted around a little...

(eg. station logo used as standin )

[Cody]

Ah, I see! In that case, can the large logo be disappeared? It looks a little naff! And thanks for your time and effort.

[cbr]

Equalizing scale and using the regular navy ( planet) logo

[Cody]

That'll do nicely - muchas gracias!

[cbr]

Station logos and a bit of Komodo-blue

[tsoj]

...
Do not disembark. This is a naval base. While we may be interested in purchasing Thargoid technology, we do not otherwise buy goods or offer them for sale. If you have nothing of interest for us, please leave immediately.
...

Here's a demo OXP. Currently, it works for all stations, which just makes it easier to test. Also, the timers are only 10 and 20 seconds, again, to make it easier to test.

There are a few differences compared to your specification. There is no option to immediately sell alien items after docking. Instead, there is a dialog when going to F8. There is no prison (I didn't manage to get the code from planet fall to work), now you will get a bounty and are forced to launch.

The timer resets when one sells alien items.

What could be problematic is that if saving the game is allowed at a HIMSN station, then the timer wouldn't work after reloading the game while being at a station. In case saving is possible, I might need to add some additional code.

Other things to do:
- finalize all the mission texts (can be found in the missiontext.plist file)
- maybe add background images?
- possibly add music?
- should this be done for all HIMSN stations and carriers? Should there be a difference depending on whether it's a carrier or a station?
- other changes/improvements?

I haven't used this OXP before, so I am not 100% sure what the role of stations and carriers is. Where do I find them?

Also, maybe somebody can enlighten me: For some reason when I switch to F8 and then the custom mission screen I added gets loaded, there is sometimes a "Press space commander", even though there are options to choose. Why is that and how can I fix that?

[Cholmondely]

...
Do not disembark. This is a naval base. While we may be interested in purchasing Thargoid technology, we do not otherwise buy goods or offer them for sale. If you have nothing of interest for us, please leave immediately.
...

Here's a demo OXP. Currently, it works for all stations, which just makes it easier to test. Also, the timers are only 10 and 20 seconds, again, to make it easier to test.

There are a few differences compared to your specification. There is no option to immediately sell alien items after docking. Instead, there is a dialog when going to F8. There is no prison (I didn't manage to get the code from planet fall to work), now you will get a bounty and are forced to launch.

The timer resets when one sells alien items.

What could be problematic is that if saving the game is allowed at a HIMSN station, then the timer wouldn't work after reloading the game while being at a station. In case saving is possible, I might need to add some additional code.

Other things to do:
- finalize all the mission texts (can be found in the missiontext.plist file)
- maybe add background images?
- possibly add music?
- should this be done for all HIMSN stations and carriers? Should there be a difference depending on whether it's a carrier or a station?
- other changes/improvements?

I haven't used this OXP before, so I am not 100% sure what the role of stations and carriers is. Where do I find them?

Also, maybe somebody can enlighten me: For some reason when I switch to F8 and then the custom mission screen I added gets loaded, there is sometimes a "Press space commander", even though there are options to choose. Why is that and how can I fix that?

Some thoughts of the top of my head.

1) The player would not be allowed to disembark, so no need for background images or saving...
2) the Komodo carrier seems never to appear, so yes, there should in theory be a difference, but in practice for the alpha version it seems irrelevant.
3) Music? Grunts of stevedores and that sort of thing?

The only other change/improvement that I can think of is to tweak things if the player is also running Galactic Navy.oxp.

Smivs gave a quote from Cody to try and amalgamate the two:

Her Imperial Majesty's Space Navy

When wormhole technology was discovered, the human race exploded outwards from the madness of ruined, massively overpopulated Terra (this had been the driving force behind the waves of generation ships). Rapidly colonising planet after planet, mankind spread throughout the Orion arm of the galaxy. In many cases, entire tribes or ethnic groups claimed whole planets, and imported their way of life and beliefs from Terra.

One such planet was Zaeredre, a green and pleasant world in a backwater sector that was to become known as the 'eight', and here arrived the remnants of the British people (an ethnically mixed, but somewhat reserved and insular race), who established a constitutional monarchy, in memory of a once-glorious imperial past. The first monarch of their new world was Her Imperial Majesty Queen Elizabeth XIV, descendant of a long line of so-called aristocracy, and it was she, in her royal wisdom, who established a small space navy - there was no GalCop at this time, and much uncertainty.

Neighbouring systems saw the benefits of this navy, and slowly, system by system, they all signed up for the security this offered them, and Her Imperial Majesty's Space Navy (HIMSN) gradually expanded and spread throughout the eight. When the Confederation of Feline Worlds was established some years later, the two forces forged what was to become an enduring alliance between humans and felines. After a period of stability, Erehwon, the gateway system that connected the eight to the rest of the Orion arm, went nova and all contact with Sol was lost, and the alliance came into it's own. Within fifteen standard years, they had established the Galactic Co-operative of Worlds, destined to become the main provider of system security, and the sole regulator of trade, throughout the eight, for centuries to come. The Thargoid invasion of 2851 forced GalCop to accept that a co-ordinated Military branch was needed, and they took the decision to form and mobilise a Galactic Navy. Their first step was to approach the handful of systems and sectors that already had Navies established. Some were keen to merge their forces with the new Galactic Navy, others less so.

HIMSN was one of those who decided against integration, instead opting to station a liason officer at GalCop Command and each Galactic Navy Sec-com station. This arrangement works well, allowing both Galactic Navy and HIMSN to operate independently while co-ordinating closely.

While Galactic Navy is keen to recruit reserves, HIMSN tends to draw its personnel from the Worlds and sectors it originated in, but has been known to selectively approach experienced Commanders for Special Ops missions.

The above is an adapted extract from the Oolite fiction Kaxgar by Cody, and is used with kind permission of the Author.

I've yet to think my way through it and work out what the consequences are.

But. It is not essential. Your work sorting out the docking experience is much more important.

But do you have any ideas?

And thank you so much for working on this. I started reading through the stuff about the mission screens and the F3-8 pages - and came down with a major attack of pandation of the cranium...

Hope to test the fruit of your labours tonight - and will get back to you. Again, thank you!

[Cody]

Smivs gave a quote from Cody to try and amalgamate the two:

Crikey, I had to go check to see exactly where Smivs' attempted amalgamation kicked in. It doesn't work (in my opinion).


I should add that we (the team) decided early on that the oxp would not be tied to any fiction.

[Cholmondely]

Smivs gave a quote from Cody to try and amalgamate the two:

Crikey, I had to go check to see exactly where Smivs' attempted amalgamation kicked in. It doesn't work (in my opinion).


I should add that we (the team) decided early on that the oxp would not be tied to any fiction.

That's not what I was thinking, Cody. You and Disembodied will just download HIMSN and not GN. New players relying on the Expansions Manager list of choices will do the same. And that is the version currently on offer.

But there will be some who will download both. It would be nice if there were an optional underlying logic governing the relationship between the two, and Smiv's gives one. And his presumably fits with Xeptatl's Sword too. So if we carry on tweaking with HIMSN once it is out, this seems one of the more obvious additions, but one only activating for those with both oxp's installed, not for the purists.

So I envision two versions of HIMSN tucked inside the one .oxp, the second only activating for those with both navies installed.

If when we do it we can come up with a better logic, fine. But at least Smivs gives us a start.

[Cody]

And his presumably fits with Xeptatl's Sword too.

Testing my memory of XS here, but I think HIMSN's only appearance is in the grand finale (I might be wrong). I don't recall any mention of GN (which would fit with Smivs' dislike of GN). As for two versions of HIMSN, I think that would be over-complicating things. But you're the guv'nor!

[Cholmondely]

And his presumably fits with Xeptatl's Sword too.

Testing my memory of XS here, but I think HIMSN's only appearance is in the grand finale (I might be wrong). I don't recall any mention of GN (which would fit with Smivs' dislike of GN). As for two versions of HIMSN, I think that would be over-complicating things. But you're the guv'nor!

As I see it, there are several stages to this process.

i) Get initial version of alpha HIMSN up on the Expansions Manager. The back-breaking work here is being done for us all by Tsoj & cbr, who should be the ones getting the kudos for it.

ii) Possible tweaking, fixing of undiscovered bugs/thargoids etc. Possible addition of GN variant for those playing with it.

iii) Get beta version up on Expansions Manager (probably well after we've both succumbed to advanced senility and the such-like).

iv) Gamma version.

At some stage the Second Coming of the Holy Giles will figure in the process, but this is a matter for the theologians, sacerdotes and St. Phibo Nacci himself. I'm just a dumb pilot who can barely dock.

[Cody]

I'm just a dumb pilot who can barely dock.

<grins mischievously> Find yourself an unattended rock hermit and practice docking on torus!
Once you've mastered that, normal manual docking will be a cinch!

[Cholmondely]

...
Do not disembark. This is a naval base. While we may be interested in purchasing Thargoid technology, we do not otherwise buy goods or offer them for sale. If you have nothing of interest for us, please leave immediately.
...

Here's a demo OXP. Currently, it works for all stations, which just makes it easier to test. Also, the timers are only 10 and 20 seconds, again, to make it easier to test.

There are a few differences compared to your specification. There is no option to immediately sell alien items after docking. Instead, there is a dialog when going to F8. There is no prison (I didn't manage to get the code from planet fall to work), now you will get a bounty and are forced to launch.

The timer resets when one sells alien items.

What could be problematic is that if saving the game is allowed at a HIMSN station, then the timer wouldn't work after reloading the game while being at a station. In case saving is possible, I might need to add some additional code.

Other things to do:
- finalize all the mission texts (can be found in the missiontext.plist file)
- maybe add background images?
- possibly add music?
- should this be done for all HIMSN stations and carriers? Should there be a difference depending on whether it's a carrier or a station?
- other changes/improvements?

I haven't used this OXP before, so I am not 100% sure what the role of stations and carriers is. Where do I find them?

Also, maybe somebody can enlighten me: For some reason when I switch to F8 and then the custom mission screen I added gets loaded, there is sometimes a "Press space commander", even though there are options to choose. Why is that and how can I fix that?

Righty-ho. Had another stab. It feels excellent (to me - but let's see that Cody & Disembodied have to say).

One tweak, please. The eviction. Can we replace the text: "you got a bounty" with the following...

"You have illegally prolonged your stay despite warnings. You have been adjudged as an offender. You will be evicted NOW."

[tsoj]

Righty-ho. Had another stab. It feels excellent (to me - but let's see that Cody & Disembodied have to say).

One tweak, please. The eviction. Can we replace the text: "you got a bounty" with the following...

"You have illegally prolonged your stay despite warnings. You have been adjudged as an offender. You will be evicted NOW."

That sounds much better! What about "Leave immediately or you will face consequences soon." and "However, in case you are in possession of alien items, we are willing to offer a premium price for them."? These were more meant as placeholders, too. Unfortunately, my English isn't so smooth, and so I thought you might find something that feels a bit more immersive.

Also, I peaked a little at the rest of the HIMSN code, and it seems like the Komodo carrier isn't currently used at all (the function that creates a carrier group is just never called, along with a few other parts such as "NavyLogisticsTransport" or "NavyMissileCorvette", if I didn't miss something). What's the intention for these parts? Is there a forum post describing the latest state of this OXP or what the immediate next goals are/were? Maybe I could continue a bit to make this feel more finished (though probably only in small bits).

[Cholmondely]

Righty-ho. Had another stab. It feels excellent (to me - but let's see that Cody & Disembodied have to say).

One tweak, please. The eviction. Can we replace the text: "you got a bounty" with the following...

"You have illegally prolonged your stay despite warnings. You have been adjudged as an offender. You will be evicted NOW."

That sounds much better! What about "Leave immediately or you will face consequences soon." and "However, in case you are in possession of alien items, we are willing to offer a premium price for them."? These were more meant as placeholders, too. Unfortunately, my English isn't so smooth, and so I thought you might find something that feels a bit more immersive.

Those seemed fine to me... but let's see what Cody says...

Also, I peeked a little at the rest of the HIMSN code, and it seems like the Komodo carrier isn't currently used at all (the function that creates a carrier group is just never called, along with a few other parts such as "NavyLogisticsTransport" or "NavyMissileCorvette", if I didn't miss something). What's the intention for these parts? Is there a forum post describing the latest state of this OXP or what the immediate next goals are/were? Maybe I could continue a bit to make this feel more finished (though probably only in small bits).

The original idea was to get the final gamma-version out. But that was back in 2013/4, and our surviving members of the original team (Cody & Disembodied) are not programmers. Hence the decision to be happy with the alpha version only! The original non-programming team leader, Gimi, is a naval officer (lost to E:D). His replacement was also lost to E:D - his water pipe leaked, the insurance paid for a new computer, and he could finally try it out!

There is no reason not to go further, but after a 8 year hiatus, as you will have surmised, alpha-version HIMSN is just fine... Once you and cbr have finished it off, and it is on the Expansions Manager, we/you can decide where to go next.

The HIMSN wiki page should give a reasonable overview if you have not yet studied it in excruciating detail...

The last list of links dissects this thread, linking to what seems to me to be the juiciest bits...