UPS-Courier

[Eric Walch]

SandJ, looking in my script, this is a bug that must have been around since I introduced the display of the reputation. From some point it stops updating the display until you get the first parcel offer. And that is only after you delivered successfully 20 sets of documents. (For ups it takes quite a lot of dull transports before the interesting ones are offered).

You can fix it yourself by changing the script in "ups_parcel.js" around line 120 from:

Code: Select all

                this.offering ="UPS_PARCELS";
            }
        }
        if (parcelStatus === "SMALL_DELIVERY")

to

Code: Select all

                this.offering ="UPS_PARCELS";
            }
            else
            {
                this.setUpsReputation();
            }
        }
        if (parcelStatus === "SMALL_DELIVERY")

That is adding a condition to update the reputation. Or you can download version. 1.7.8 that I just uploaded.

Looking into the JavaScript, I see the variable 'mission_ups_difference' gets used for an awful lot of different things in different places.

Yes, 'mission_ups_difference' is used as a universal temporary variable. It was already present in the legacy version of the oxp. At that time I used it in subtraction of numbers. Hence the name. Now I use it in al kind of places, e.g. to display variable text in messages. That only worked with mission variables. Since 1.75 we can do replacements of strings in missiontext, so I have been rewriting my whole code to remove mission variables were not strictly needed. Most part has already been done last year and will lead to a version 1.8 that will need Oolite 1.75.1 as minimum. (Anything that runs on 1.76 should already run correctly on that version)

[SandJ]

You can fix it yourself by changing the script in "ups_parcel.js" around line 120 from: <etc.>

And suddenly my <F5> screen says "The Ceengeian UPS branch rates your courier reputation as good." which is the first time I have seen that message change.

Thank you.

[Greyth]

Hi, I might have experienced a very slight problem with this OXP.

I flew thru a freighter's jump field and popped out at it's destination having expended no fuel, which is good? However, when I jumped back to my starting point I had still used no fuel.

What a great OXP

[anbaho]

Hi,
i guess there´s something wrong with the OXP (or my installation).
I got only one mission (at Diso - to fly documents to the next democratic planet). This mission appears even at a brandnew account.
At the moment i´ve 2200+ kills - i installed the OXP some weeks ago as i was about 1000 kills, so i made a lot of jumps without getting any ups mission.
Can anybody help me ?

[Svengali]

Hi,
i guess there´s something wrong with the OXP (or my installation).
I got only one mission (at Diso - to fly documents to the next democratic planet). This mission appears even at a brandnew account.
At the moment i´ve 2200+ kills - i installed the OXP some weeks ago as i was about 1000 kills, so i made a lot of jumps without getting any ups mission.
Can anybody help me ?

Welcome anbaho .-)

No need to worry. UPS offers (in the beginning) only rarely. A perfect OXP to keep installed for a long time .-)

[Fatleaf]

Hi Anbaho and Welcome To The Friendliest Forum This Side Of RiedquatTM. As Svengali said it is slow at the beginning while you build up a reputation. It is what we call a slow burn oxp. The best thing is to forget about it and it will gradually get more interesting as you go along. It is one to keep forever as it (like the game) continues to offer.

[SandJ]

"Captain Eric Walch thanks you for rescuing him and pays you 150 credits for smuggling him through customs."

And the next screen tells me why it is worth persevering with these UPS jobs. The textiles are worth 28 credits, too...

[SandJ]

Eric, as part of testing other stuff, I spawned and destroyed a pirate base. Stupidly, I did that in my main player session rather than a testing session. Oolite now tells me "Pirate base in the Ontimaxe system destroyed, debrief at the nearest UPS post."

It was ages ago I did this and do not want to go back to an old saved game. What is my easiest solution to this? Can I just fix my saved game file by editing it?

These are the entries referring to 'ups':

Code: Select all

	<key>mission_ups_c1count</key>
	<string>0</string>
	<key>mission_ups_c2count</key>
	<string>0</string>
	<key>mission_ups_ccount</key>
	<string>0</string>
	<key>mission_ups_container</key>
	<string>BOA</string>
	<key>mission_ups_dcount</key>
	<string>1</string>
	<key>mission_ups_difference</key>
	<string>rooky</string>
	<key>mission_ups_docs</key>
	<string>NO</string>
	<key>mission_ups_dplanet</key>
	<string>13</string>
	<key>mission_ups_ecount</key>
	<string>0</string>
	<key>mission_ups_galaxy</key>
	<string>0</string>
	<key>mission_ups_galcop_punishment</key>
	<string>0</string>
	<key>mission_ups_parcel</key>
	<string>YES</string>
	<key>mission_ups_pcount</key>
	<string>0</string>
	<key>mission_ups_planetname</key>
	<string>Ontimaxe</string>
	<key>mission_ups_reputation</key>
	<string>1</string>
	<key>mission_ups_scount</key>
	<string>2</string>
	<key>ups_container</key>
	<string>Pirate base in the Ontimaxe system destroyed, debrief at the nearest UPS post.</string>
	<key>ups_parcel</key>
	<string>The Ontiatian UPS branch rates your courier reputation as rooky.</string>

[Eric Walch]

Eric, as part of testing other stuff, I spawned and destroyed a pirate base. Stupidly, I did that in my main player session rather than a testing session. Oolite now tells me "Pirate base in the Ontimaxe system destroyed, debrief at the nearest UPS post."

It will solve itself. According to the readMe, there is an ups office in every system that is better than feudal. The rock is in an Anarchy system, so there you will not get an reward, but eventually you dock in the right system and get your de-briefing.

EDIT: I did not read your text properly. It was a manual action of adding that station. Always bad. But, still no need to edit your saved game. The code only sets the mission variables on destroying the station if the starting variables were anticipated. In this case, it only did write the message on your F5F5 screen. And that will go away when you get a new mission. Actually, it already prepared the BOA mission. It will be offered on an ups post after you completed 3 parcel transports and got a contractReputation > 2. That Boa mission will replace the current text about the pirate base.

[SandJ]

no need to edit your saved game.

Thank you. I've docked at least 60 times since that message first appeared and I was starting to think the OXP had stopped working for me.

[BuggyBY]

I've just completed my first combat mission, and was pleased to see random traders thank me for destroying the hostile ship not long after ... at first. Then I noticed that one out of every three or four neutral ships kept on showering me with praise even after I had jumped several systems onward. Isn't that a bit, um, excessive, not to mention kind of disturbing, considering the size of the Ooniverse and the sheer number of other threats to traders? I'm reminded of this article about L.A. Noire ...

[Eric Walch]

I've just completed my first combat mission, and was pleased to see random traders thank me for destroying the hostile ship not long after ... at first. Then I noticed that one out of every three or four neutral ships kept on showering me with praise even after I had jumped several systems onward. Isn't that a bit, um, excessive,.....

To be exact: the messages are there for 15 days and the amount decays with time. The first day almost all traders are thanking you and the 15th day it should only be one out of 15. So it is not jump related but time related. After 7 big jumps the massages stop. When only doing short jumps it might take quite a bit longer.

[Disembodied]

I scooped a Scavenger today .. the message said I "captured" him, though, rather than "rescued" him (he did fall out of a pirate Python), and when I got him to the station, he had to bribe his way out of the hands of the police. Is this expected behaviour? I've rescued scavengers before, but they've never had criminal records ...

[Eric Walch]

This type of scavenger is only added to the game in a role of trader and will be clean at that moment. The ship flies to the main station, like traders, but in the mean time he is scanning for floating cargo.

Like other clean ships, they can get a bounty when firing at the wrong ship. I think that must have happened here: the scavenger was ambushed by pirates and in the heat of the fight, hit a nearby police ship

The ship also has a custom pilot, as the screen shot shows. This custom pilot also has a trader role, to ensure it will not start as a random pilot, but as a clean pilot with insurance.

[Disembodied]

Like other clean ships, they can get a bounty when firing at the wrong ship. I think that must have happened here: the scavenger was ambushed by pirates and in the heat of the fight, hit a nearby police ship

Fair enough. At least he was able to buy himself clear! Mind you, it's muggins here who's been stiffed out of 44.8Cr on the deal ... but it's probably better this way. If GalCop had carted him off (for, presumably, offences against Viper paintwork or something), I'd probably only have got some pocket-change for a bounty.