Tractor Beams and abandoned ships.

[RustiSwordz]

OK weve all been ther, dogfighting with that Krait or Cobra Mk1 and the bad guy bails. Leaving a nice intact vessel that must be worth a lot more than a measily 125 cr for a kill. Why not use a tractor beam to tow the ship back to a salvage yard/ station for a nice 1-2000 cr bonus for salvage.

[maik]

It already exists: install the deep space dredgers OXP, buy a salvage missile which autopilots the abandoned ship to the dredger, protect the ship from other "interested" parties, and cash in once it reaches the dredger

[RustiSwordz]

ooooh Didnt know that. TY!

[caracal]

It already exists: install the deep space dredgers OXP, buy a salvage missile which autopilots the abandoned ship to the dredger, protect the ship from other "interested" parties, and cash in once it reaches the dredger

Easier said than done, my friend! I've tried a salvage missile three times so far, and never made it to the dredger intact. First time, the trader which was originally being attacked by the pirate just couldn't let it go (apparently salvaged vessels still look like Offenders or Fugitives to NPCs) and kept following it and firing on it. I eventually put myself between him and the salvaged ship, and after a cop showed up and the trader hit me a few times, he became an Offender, and I was thus within my rights to blow him away. Fine, I thought, home free ... but no, just as the salvaged ship was about to dock with the dredger, the cop rolled out and popped him. Sheesh!

The other two times, I got jumped by a group of pirates very close to the dredger, and while I was dealing with the first two or three, another one of them went and killed my salvage.

So I think I've given up on salvage missiles for now, unless somebody has a tip as to how to actually get the salvaged vessel into the mouth of the dredger. And just out of curiosity--a ship typically costs in the hundreds of thousands of credits; how much do you get for salvaging one? I bet it's nowhere near that much.

[RustiSwordz]

The thing is when the pilot bails the abandoned ship turns white on the scope. Surely the NPS could be told the ship is harmless on their AI?

[Cmdr James]

I think they know its harmless, they are trying to get at the cargo or turn it into allows to collect. Pirates dont attack traders seeing them as a threat, they attack as an act of piracy


Overall it is intended to make salvaging non trivial, and while it is possible to make money, it isnt an easy route to huge cash.

[caracal]

I think they know its harmless, they are trying to get at the cargo or turn it into allows to collect. Pirates dont attack traders seeing them as a threat, they attack as an act of piracy

Yeah, like in Real Life, once you've filed a salvage claim others are legally bound to keep their hands off. In practice, that's not invariably honored.

Overall it is intended to make salvaging non trivial, and while it is possible to make money, it isnt an easy route to huge cash.

No kidding. So as with so many other oolite challenges, the answer is simply, "Try harder", eh?

[Cmdr James]

I think it was a compromise, some people said salvage was something to add, some said dont, so it was added (in an OXP) in such a way its not worth doing

[caracal]

I think it was a compromise, some people said salvage was something to add, some said dont, so it was added (in an OXP) in such a way its not worth doing

Ahhhh! "This just in from Snoopsfeed: Cmdr James sez salvage is 'not worth doing'. Is he right? Truth is, we just don't know!"

Of course I could jigger the OXP to make it easier to do. But that strikes me as something that's clearly Not Worth Doing.

[Cmdr James]

Well, its up to you to decide if its worth it, but all I ever hear is people bitching that its too hard and the payout is tiny :p

Personally I have never used the OXP so I dont know for sure.

[snork]

First go and kill all pirates everywhere before you try to salvage the ship. One problem less.

[Cmdr James]

I dont think that works, I think the salvager missile spawns pirates.

[snork]

Smart move from the oxp author.

I think I mis-remembered the details from this post (written in february) :

You could also download the Dredgers OXP which will allow you to salvage ships which have been abandoned by their Commanders during combat. You rack up a few salvage missiles to capture the vessles, and then cash in on the salvage value (e.g. Approx. 3500 for a Python, 2500 for a Cobby Mk.3, as well as the cargo they may be carrying).

You do need decent combat skills to make money this way, as pirates often hang around between you and the Dredger, so you have to fuel inject yourself towards them and take them out before they start attacking your captured vessel. If you have difficulty doing this then you may also want to install Hired Guns OXP which will enable you to hire some pilots to accompany you [EDIT: Although they will target the salvaged vessel, so you need to boost ahead of them, fire the salvage missile and then find the pirates quickly]. This will eat into your profits: but if it is the difference between salvaging a vessel, and not...

After you have cashed in on your captured ships, you can then dock with the Dredger yourself and fill your cargo hold with alloys at a ridiculously low value, and make a mint off them somewhere else.

P.S. If you intend to capture a ship that has escorts DO NOT attack the escorts. Fight the cargo ship until the pilot ejects (ship will no longer display a legal status for the pilot) and then the escort fighters will now protect 'your' new ship if it comes under attack form any pirates on way to the Dredger.

EDIT: To include more specific info on using Hired Guns.

[Switeck]

I'm hacking the Dredgers salvage results...but with a catch!
The missiles will cost 3000 credits apiece -- 4500 credits if you buy straight from the dredger! The missiles are combination docking computer, ECM resistant missiles, and advanced navigation compass (since they're not heading just to the planet/main station) -- this represents a big cost in complexity all in a small package.

It will always give >3000 credits for any ship successfully salvaged.
Even a Cobra 3 will typically give about 5k credits.

The big ships, such as Pythons, Boas, and Anacondas won't get a salvage bonus -- they will already give enough based on their mass. Only the little ships get a bonus so they can pay for the missile.

(This all is also true of the original:)
Some missiles outright FAIL...or the derelict ship gets destroyed...or just plain gets LOST. I had one Python that couldn't find the dredger for hours, I had to give up on it. It seems if you dock with anything before the derelict ships get salvaged, they get confused about what they're supposed to dock with. In another case, I've seen one dock with a...Rock Hermit! And it gave me credits for the salvage!

After you salvage the first ship, best I can tell the script doesn't tell the game to spawn more pirates between you and the dredger. They may be annoying and even very dangerous...but they're also often a source for additional ships to salvage!

[Thargoid]

I think this OXP is Eric's (or at least he's overseeing it these days) - if you're seeing problems and/or possible improvements with its operation why not get in touch with him and discuss it?

With 1.74 there are some other options now available in scripting which could expand this concept more. For example it's now quite simple to write an AI/script combo which will make an entity follow a given ship (e.g. the player) around.