You can make NPC ships a little more challenging with this in shipdata.plist on them:
energy_recharge_rate = 5.76; // 3.2 (base amount for Boa2) x 1.8 (has E.E.U.) = 5.76
has_ecm = 1;
has_escape_pod = 1;
has_energy_bomb = 1; // Q-bomb of DOOM! (does this subtract from carried missiles?)
has_fuel_injection = 1;
has_shield_booster = 1;
has_shield_enhancer = 1;
heat_insulation = 9;
missile_load_time = 4;
missile_role = "EQ_HARDENED_MISSILE"; // 5 missiles of DOOM!
(For a Boa 2 that I made a "blackdog" variant of...)
There is also the not very well known reaction_time ship property (ship.reactionTime for the JS equivalent), which defaults to 1.5 sec. This is the time an NPC will need to make a decision when tracking its target. Reduce that enough and your NPCs get superhuman reflexes.
Might there be a way to make the reaction_time/ship.reactionTime property universal as opposed to having to TWEAK every ship OXZ/OXP one might have. Perhaps an OXZ similar to Skilled NPC's wherein Library can be used to individually set this property based on the role of the ship. This could be done in a similar manner to what Skilled NPC's does with the accuracy/ship.accuracy property. Having looked at Skilled NPC's JavaScript file such a project would entail quite a bit more than a simple swapping out of or a cut and paste of the two properties. As such this is a project that is way beyond my coding abilities but at least the concept is out there. Any takers?
Humor is the second most subjective thing on the planet
Brevity is the soul of wit and vulgarity is wit's downfall
Might there be a way to make the reaction_time/ship.reactionTime property universal as opposed to having to TWEAK every ship OXZ/OXP one might have. Perhaps an OXZ similar to Skilled NPC's wherein Library can be used to individually set this property based on the role of the ship. This could be done in a similar manner to what Skilled NPC's does with the accuracy/ship.accuracy property. Having looked at Skilled NPC's JavaScript file such a project would entail quite a bit more than a simple swapping out of or a cut and paste of the two properties. As such this is a project that is way beyond my coding abilities but at least the concept is out there. Any takers?
Might there be a way to make the reaction_time/ship.reactionTime property universal as opposed to having to TWEAK every ship OXZ/OXP one might have. Perhaps an OXZ similar to Skilled NPC's wherein Library can be used to individually set this property based on the role of the ship. This could be done in a similar manner to what Skilled NPC's does with the accuracy/ship.accuracy property. Having looked at Skilled NPC's JavaScript file such a project would entail quite a bit more than a simple swapping out of or a cut and paste of the two properties. As such this is a project that is way beyond my coding abilities but at least the concept is out there. Any takers?
case "police":
case "interceptor":
case "wingman":
if (!this.$boostHunter) break;
if (ship.accuracy < 0) {
ship.accuracy = -ship.accuracy;
}
ship.accuracy += this.$baselineHunter;
ship.accuracy *= 2;
ship.accuracy += Math.random()*gov;
ship.reactionTime = 0.1;
break;
Perhaps you could add ship.reactionTime in Skilled NPC js like above for all roles?
A definite possibility but perhaps a bit simplistic. If you look at the entries for the various roles in Skilled NPC's (including the one listed in your code snippet above) there are variations involved that are dependent on Government Type and Math.random calculations. Ideally such calculations should randomize the ship.reactionTime variable as well. Time would also need to be spent to determine just what the variations are within the ship.reactionTime numbers. How much of a game play difference is there between the default of ship.reactionTime = 1.5, ship.reactionTime = 1.25, and so on down until some number is reached that makes NPCs invulnerable. Finding that balance, plus the coding, plus Real Life, would be a challenge for me in the foreseeable future.
Humor is the second most subjective thing on the planet
Brevity is the soul of wit and vulgarity is wit's downfall