Escape pods from derelicts in Dredgers

[Disembodied]

I've found that you can get escape pods to launch from derelict ships (i.e. the ones placed in the game by the Dredgers 2.2.7 OXP). Shooting the derelicts sometimes results in an escape pod launching. Scooping this has twice resulted in "You have captured a slave" and once given me a named pilot. Not a big deal: it just seems a bit odd that the derelict ship should have anyone in it at all! Wouldn't they have launched their escape pods already? I suppose they could be desperately working away, trying to fix the ship, when I come along and blow it up, but it seems a bit odd ...

[Eric Walch]

I've found that you can get escape pods to launch from derelict ships (i.e. the ones placed in the game by the Dredgers 2.2.7 OXP). Shooting the derelicts sometimes results in an escape pod launching. Scooping this has twice resulted in "You have captured a slave" and once given me a named pilot. Not a big deal: it just seems a bit odd that the derelict ship should have anyone in it at all! Wouldn't they have launched their escape pods already? I suppose they could be desperately working away, trying to fix the ship, when I come along and blow it up, but it seems a bit odd ...

Yes, that a bug I discovered a few weeks back myself. I wanted to fix that, but apparently never did. And it is even worse: The script added derelicts that don't eject a pod, also do have a pilot inside them. Its because all script added ships have a pilot inside them at start. Since 1.74 a script can access npc equipment, so I better should check if the ship has an escape pod in future and if yes, remove that pod on creation. That won't remove the pilot, but at least the player will never know that the pilot is still hiding himself somewhere in the derelicts hull.

[Commander McLane]

Shouldn't at least derelicts added by dredger.oxp be unpiloted by default? (setting the unpiloted-key in shipdata)

[Eric Walch]

Shouldn't at least derelicts added by dredger.oxp be unpiloted by default? (setting the unpiloted-key in shipdata)

I did that originally in the early versions of the oxp. But that mend I only could use hardcoded derelicts with like_ship references to a few know ships.

The current version just adds "traders". This can be a ship from any oxp the player has installed. That way I get maximum variety of script added derelicts, but am limited by what the scripting system allows. And the pilot entry can not be set by script. Removing the pod is the next best thing I can do. And even that is only possible since 1.74.

An alternative would be to do the opposite and add an escape pod to all these traders that did not have one. And than eject the pilot. That way I would have a true derelict. But it would leave a bunch of escape pods flying through the sky.
Or would that make it even more realistic?

[CheeseRedux]

An alternative would be to do the opposite and add an escape pod to all these traders that did not have one. And than eject the pilot. That way I would have a true derelict. But it would leave a bunch of escape pods flying through the sky.
Or would that make it even more realistic?

Yes, do that!

I'm not familiar enough with the speed of the pods to make exact predictions, but I imagine they would for the most part reach a station without the player ever noticing. And if you come across a lone pod without any signs of a nearby battle, that would be a hint to go find where it came from...

[Commander McLane]

Or you could launch the pods and then instantly remove them, before they would become visible to the player.

[Switeck]

Another possibility at least for the player is scooped Escape pods when ejected...resume their merry course towards the nearest station.

[maik]

Shouldn't at least derelicts added by dredger.oxp be unpiloted by default? (setting the unpiloted-key in shipdata)

I did that originally in the early versions of the oxp. But that mend I only could use hardcoded derelicts with like_ship references to a few know ships.

The current version just adds "traders". This can be a ship from any oxp the player has installed. That way I get maximum variety of script added derelicts, but am limited by what the scripting system allows. And the pilot entry can not be set by script. Removing the pod is the next best thing I can do. And even that is only possible since 1.74.

An alternative would be to do the opposite and add an escape pod to all these traders that did not have one. And than eject the pilot. That way I would have a true derelict. But it would leave a bunch of escape pods flying through the sky.
Or would that make it even more realistic?

Sounds good to me!

[Kaks]

You could even eject the pilot, then destroy the escape pod nearest to the derelict (within 100m maybe?) a bit time consuming, but that'd be a very thorough job!

[Eric Walch]

I went for the choice to always launch a pod. After thinking over my own thoughts and reading the reactions above, that seemed the most attractive solution. In most cases there is only one derelict added so that extra pod would not be a big difference. Only when the battle messages are displayed, there are 5 ships added. And for those exceptions, 5 added pods it probably fun also. Probably none of the pods will reach the planet but will be intercepted by pirates looking for valuable debris to scoop.

It are just new scripting possibilities that were not available for 1.73. (The current minimum version of Dredgers).

[Commander McLane]

You could even eject the pilot, then destroy the escape pod nearest to the derelict (within 100m maybe?) a bit time consuming, but that'd be a very thorough job!

That's why I made the same suggestion three posts above of yours.

I actually thought the eject-the-escape-pod method would return the pod, so it would be very easy to destroy (or remove) it. Turns out it doesn't, so you indeed would have to perform a search around the derelict first.

[Eric Walch]

I actually thought the eject-the-escape-pod method would return the pod, so it would be very easy to destroy (or remove) it. Turns out it doesn't, so you indeed would have to perform a search around the derelict first.

abandonShip() only returns true/false but you could insert a "shipLaunchedEscapePod()" handler in the derelicts script. That would return the pod entity for easy destruction without doing a search. I already insert other handlers in the script, so one more wouldn't be a problem at all.

[Commander McLane]

I actually thought the eject-the-escape-pod method would return the pod, so it would be very easy to destroy (or remove) it. Turns out it doesn't, so you indeed would have to perform a search around the derelict first.

abandonShip() only returns true/false but you could insert a "shipLaunchedEscapePod()" handler in the derelicts script. That would return the pod entity for easy destruction without doing a search. I already insert other handlers in the script, so one more wouldn't be a problem at all.

Ah, yes. Somewhere in my head I knew there must be an easy solution.

One question: how many derelicts does Dredgers typically add? Is it more like a couple of them in every system, or more like one every couple of jumps? The reason I am asking is: if there are not too many derelicts in the first place, I wouldn't bother with deleting the escape pods. But if spawning the pods would increase the number of escape pods per system significantly, I would delete them.

[CheeseRedux]

In most cases there is only one derelict added so that extra pod would not be a big difference. Only when the battle messages are displayed, there are 5 ships added.

[Commander McLane]

In most cases there is only one derelict added so that extra pod would not be a big difference. Only when the battle messages are displayed, there are 5 ships added.

Thanks. On each jump? Or only with a certain probability for each jump?

Anyway, with usually only one derelict I'd say, let the pods live.