Sudden jump in number of kills

[BooDog]

Has anyone seen the number of kills (and rating) suddenly change without apparently doing anything to earn them?

I started with a fresh "Jameson" a few weeks ago, been slowly getting the hang of the game, building money and kills, and also playing with the balance of OXPs/OXZs to get the "feel" right for my tastes.

At Competent (256) I was offered the traditional "Constrictor" first mission. (On my long gone Apple //e I'm sure I remember "Curruthers" being "Carruthers", and the reward being a "Military Energy Unit" or some-such, but that's not the point here ...)

Anyway, this evening I duly completed the Constrictor mission, with kudos from HIMSN, and then set off to trade around Chart 2 looking for something else to do. At some point this evening I was Competent (272), last figure that stuck in my mind. Then ... hosed a bunch of pirates just planet side from the witchpoint at Tezaeded, and after cruising in and docking noticed that I was suddenly Dangerous (531).

Where in space did those extra kills come from? No Q-bombs or anything like that were used, just Military Lasers and plain ol' 30 Credit missiles.

At this point, if there's no rational explanation for the unearned jump in kills and status I'll either restore last backup and play forward again, or edit the save game file back to the remembered 272.

[another_commander]

The 256 kills is the reward for completing the Constrictor mission. It is entirely intentional, so there should be no need to edit your savefile.

[BooDog]

Oh right - that wasn't clear to me at all! I noticed the jump and my programming brain just screamed "corruption!!!".

This whole post can quite happily be clobbered, its just noise.

Thanks!

[Cody]

It is a rather strange reward though! Just another quirk, I suppose.

[BooDog]

Actually feels a bit like cheating. The Constrictor isn't hard enough to be worth 256 kills!

I just assumed it was a bug! Oops

[Cholmondely]

Actually feels a bit like cheating. The Constrictor isn't hard enough to be worth 256 kills!

I just assumed it was a bug! Oops

If I hadn't read about the extra kills elsewhere, I too would have assumed it was a bug.

[Nite Owl]

Just took a quick look at the core missiontext.plist. The 256 kills reward is not mentioned anywhere in the Constrictor Mission section. Perhaps a bit of an edit is in order prior to the next release so as to avoid any future confusions. The following is from around line 20 of the aforementioned missiontext.plist and is humbly submitted for general perusal and approval, edits always welcome.

"constrictor_hunt_debrief" = "---INCOMING MESSAGE\n\nCongratulations Commander!\n\nThere will always be a place for you in Her Imperial Majesty’s Space Navy.\n\nAnd maybe sooner than you think…\n\nThe Elite Federation is being contacted and 256 Kills will be added to your score as compensation for your time and effort in this matter.\n\nWe hope this sudden increase in your Elite Rating does not lead to any unforeseen encounters.\n\n---MESSAGE ENDS.";

Done up as a quote due to the lack of formatting in the code option which puts all of the above into a single line.

[Cody]

5,000 Credits would be a better reward, but there was probably some arcane reasoning behind the 256 kills.
It does of course bump the player up a level to Dangerous - is that why? Right on, Commander!

[another_commander]

5000 Cr is already a part of the mission reward. The full reward list for this mission is:
- 5000 Cr added to commander's balance
- 256 kills awarded
- legal status force-reset to clean

[Cody]

Damn, I should've known that - but it's been many years since I ran that mission.

[Nite Owl]

In light of another_commander's previous post here is a revised version from my previous post.

"constrictor_hunt_debrief" = "---INCOMING MESSAGE\n\nCongratulations Commander!\n\nThere will always be a place for you in Her Imperial Majesty’s Space Navy.\n\nAnd perhaps sooner than you think...\n\nAs compensation for your time and effort in this matter 5000 ₢ are being transferred to your account.\n\nThe Elite Federation is also being contacted so that 256 Kills can be added to your score.\n\nWe hope this sudden increase in your Elite Rating does not lead to any unforeseen encounters.\n\nAny trouble you might be in as a result of this mission or other circumstances has been removed from the appropriate databases returning your legal status to Clean.\n\nWe will contact you should any other interesting needs arise.\n\n ---MESSAGE ENDS.";

[Cmdr Wyvern]

Actually feels a bit like cheating. The Constrictor isn't hard enough to be worth 256 kills!

I just assumed it was a bug! Oops

The Constrictor is a difficult target to get your sights on: Low profile and fast like a scalded cat. Then on first contact, the bugger makes a strafing flyby, flashes you the middle digit, lights the injectors and makes you chase him down.

When you catch up, the battle is anything but epic: Those super shields the Navy agent went on about turn out to be a great dud, and the Constrictor goes down with a few well aimed shots. Sure, you fitted the suggested mil laser... then it feels like coulda punked that bum with a super soaker water gun!

Waaaaay back in the day when I played Elite on a C-64, the Constrictor wasn't any faster than your Cobra, didn't have injectors, and he was as tough as an old boot, with a heck of a lot of endurance. He made you work for those kill points alright.