More than one station per planet?

elite · Post by **elite** » Sun May 04, 2008 9:07 pm

I have just read the The Dark Wheel.

I havn't read it since I got Elite all those years ago on the BBC Master 128 lol. That was way back when Elite was still on cassatte and took ages to install lol.
That brings back memories.

Anyway, I read that most planets had more than just one station. Coriolis 1, Coriolis 2, ect...

Would this be easy to do with Oolite, either with an OXP or by changing some code to produce more than one station and give it coordinates that places it at different places around the planet?

Maybe low tech planets could still have just one station whereas high tech planets have more, maybe upto a maximum of 5 or 6.

This would give a bit more realisum to the game because just one station don't seem enough to handle a high tech and busy planet's needs.

It would also give the player some choice as to what station they wish to dock at.

FSOneblin · Post by **FSOneblin** » Mon May 05, 2008 3:10 am

What I would like to see is 1: this, and 2 :The planet textures oxp giving the planets a station. I'm a happy poster today.

Don't panic, FSOneblin

Commander McLane · Post by **Commander McLane** » Mon May 05, 2008 6:40 am

I wrote this quite recently in another thread, anyway, it does no harm to repeat:

Yes, the planets are supposed to have multiple stations (and probably also multiple witchpoints), according to The Dark Wheel. So we believe that in fact they do.

Why are we seeing only one station? Because the ship's computer only shows us the station that is located closest to the witchpoint of our entry, and leads us to this station.

LittleBear · Post by **LittleBear** » Mon May 05, 2008 8:29 am

It would be pretty easy with an OXP to add 3 or 4 stations in orbit around the planet (basically a few K of planetinfo.plist). However, Oolite will only allow you to save your game at the MAIN station (ie the one Oolite itself put there). This could become very annoying! When you see 4 Corrolis Stations in orbit, you woudn't know which one to go to (if you want to save)! Quite a lot of OXPs do add extra stations (Commiees, Dictators, Pirate Coves, Black Monks, Assassins, Navy to name a few), but these stations are added away from the Main planet (and or have different graphics) so you can tell the Main Station apart.

Post by **Cmdr James** » Mon May 05, 2008 8:36 am

It should be possible to tell which is which with the compass, even the basic one points at the main station when you are close enough.

I guess it should also be possible to script a transfer from any of the stations to the main one, so that when you dock, you magickaly jump to the main station.

Commander McLane · Post by **Commander McLane** » Mon May 05, 2008 8:46 am

Cmdr James wrote:
I guess it should also be possible to script a transfer from any of the stations to the main one, so that when you dock, you magickaly jump to the main station.

But if you magically end up in the main station anyway, what's the point of having multiple stations in the first place?

And by the way: If anybody is thinking of having multiple stations for in-system trading purposes: The prices on each system coriolis (or dodec, etc.) would be the same, of course, because they are all under the same trading authority. (And if you - following Cmdr James idea - would end up in the original main station automatically, there would be no trading on the other stations anyway.)

Post by **Cmdr James** » Mon May 05, 2008 8:50 am

I guess they will all be the same internally anyway, I imagine people only want to see multiple so that it feels more realistic.

I know some people want intra-system trading and so on, but that is quite a significant change to the game, as long as prices are aligned, there is no problem.

elite · Post by **elite** » Mon May 05, 2008 9:49 am

Commander McLane wrote:
Why are we seeing only one station? Because the ship's computer only shows us the station that is located closest to the witchpoint of our entry, and leads us to this station.

Yeah I suppose you could think of it in that way, but it still means that there is only one REAL station per planet.

It would be nice if there was more, and you detect them by using the advance compass, or as you fly around the planet each station is detected as it comes into range.

elite · Post by **elite** » Mon May 05, 2008 9:54 am

Cmdr James wrote:
It should be possible to tell which is which with the compass, even the basic one points at the main station when you are close enough.

I guess it should also be possible to script a transfer from any of the stations to the main one, so that when you dock, you magickaly jump to the main station.

Good idea. That would help with the 'save game at main station only' issue.
As long as all stations are the same, it shouldn't be a problem.
I mean, you wouldn't want to dock with a Dodec and then launch from a Coriolis.

Post by **Cmdr James** » Mon May 05, 2008 10:07 am

I think this can already happen, if you dock in one station, save, close and reopen oolite, and then launch, is it always the same type of station that you docked in?

Im not sure how this can be guaranteed, I cant see anything in my save games.

elite · Post by **elite** » Mon May 05, 2008 10:09 am

Cmdr James wrote:
I guess they will all be the same internally anyway, I imagine people only want to see multiple so that it feels more realistic.

Exactly.

If you docked at an OXP station but then got transfered to the Oolite added one so you can 'save game' then things would still look the same and feel the same, but to the player you have just docked as normal.

Another thing is that sometimes I have waited for ages whilst I have to wait my turn to dock (with cocking computers) in busy systems, which is great actually because that too makes things more realistic, but it would be nice to have a choice of stations. If one is too busy with other ships docking and launching, then you can, if you want to, fly to a less busy station.

Of course, you are then transported to the main Oolite station upon docking, but from the users point of view, when you launch again you have just launched from the one you docked with and not the Oolite added one.

Does this make sence? lol

Post by **another_commander** » Mon May 05, 2008 10:13 am

Cmdr James wrote:
I think this can already happen, if you dock in one station, save, close and reopen oolite, and then launch, is it always the same type of station that you docked in?

Im not sure how this can be guaranteed, I cant see anything in my save games.

It is always the same station you docked. The station type is Coriolis by default. The game will change the station to Dodec or Icosahedron on the basis of techlevel and system seed (system_seed.f to be exact), if required. This guarantees that the default same station appears always on the same system.

Post by **Cmdr James** » Mon May 05, 2008 10:21 am

This must change if I add or remove an oxp that contains Stations, right?

I mean it may be possible to change the set of stations that are available, and have oolite select a different one for the system I am in.

Post by **another_commander** » Mon May 05, 2008 10:24 am

Yes, I guess in this case it will be possible to have stations changing.

Commander McLane · Post by **Commander McLane** » Mon May 05, 2008 11:55 am

Depends on the OXP. Tori.oxp contains a planetinfo.plist that changes stations to specific forms of tori in specific systems. So the result will always be the same, as long as you keep the OXP in your AddOns-folder.

Globestations.oxp works differently, by giving the globestations a certain chance to be selected instead of - I think - icosahedrons, by their role-key in their shipdata. Now it depends on whether this chance is calculated randomly or pseudo-randomly, which only the code-wizards can find out for us. If it's determined by random, then you could get a different station at different times. If it's by pseudo-random, then you still would get the same station all the time.

The same applies to Gritty Coriolis, I think. I am not aware of other stations that are meant to replace main stations at the moment.