odd shipdata keys

[Commander McLane]

I just noticed that virtually all NPCs in the 1.76 shipdata use weapon_position_port and weapon_position_starboard.

Is that a hint on a planned feature, or an oddity? I was thinking that it might raise false expectations with ship designers.

[Eric Walch]

Is that a hint on a planned feature, or an oddity? I was thinking that it might raise false expectations with ship designers.

No, those lines were already in version 1.65. They were just never removed.

[Commander McLane]

So maybe it's time to remove them (more like long overdue)?

IIRC there was a time when NPC and player versions were like_shipped. Therefore it made sense to include keys which weren't valid for the ship they were included in. But currently everything is cleanly split. So why leave these relics in?

[JensAyton]

IIRC there was a time when NPC and player versions were like_shipped.

Was there? I don’t think there was.

But currently everything is cleanly split. So why leave these relics in?

How is it “clean” to not use like_ship? What is the benefit? (This is not an idle nitpick.)

[Commander McLane]

IIRC there was a time when NPC and player versions were like_shipped.

Was there? I don’t think there was.

I misremembered. What I actually meant was that back in Oolite 1.65 the NPC shipdata contained some more keys that were valid only for player ships (which back then lead to possible confusion about what these keys do; OXP'ers who studied the in-built plists could (and probably did in some cases) come to the conclusion that NPCs could sport side weapons; or that the view positions would have some effect):

Code: Select all

max_missiles
view_position_aft
view_position_forward
view_position_port
view_position_starboard
weapon_position_port
weapon_position_starboard

Missiles have become awardable at some point, so the max_missiles does have a meaning now. The view_position_foo keys really do nothing for NPCs, and have been removed at some point. The weapon_position_port and weapon_position_starboard also—for all I know—really do nothing for NPCs (except there would be—unbeknownst to me—a plan to implement side weapons for NPCs in the future). So all I was asking is why they are still there and haven't been removed, just as the view_position_foo keys have been removed.

All the rest is an off-topic tangent.