Problem with the Black Monk Monastary

dalek501 · Post by **dalek501** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:20 am

I have just installed The Black Monks OXP but I think I have a problem with the actual monastary. Or at least I think I do having looked at the picture on the Wiki.

It seems as if some of its parts, specifically the bits around the docking bay, are duplicated and are hovering a little way in front of the opening.

Any idea what may be causing this and can it be fixed? I have a P4 3.3 ghz, 1 gb ram and a nvidia Geforce FX5600 card with latest drivers.

Do you need to know anything else?

Commander McLane · Post by **Commander McLane** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 12:15 pm

This looks like a problem Griff reported here.

dalek501 · Post by **dalek501** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 1:24 pm

Yeah certainly looks to be the same problem. Being thick and not understanding code, has a solution been found for this? Or am I going to have to work extra hard to dock!?

Commander McLane · Post by **Commander McLane** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 1:40 pm

Do as Griff explained in his post. Open BlackMonks.oxp, open the Config-folder, open shipdata.plist, find the entry for the Monastery, find the entry that lists its subentities, move the line that contains griff_station_bay to the top of the list (at least above all flashers).

Save.

Restart Oolite while pressing SHIFT.

If that was the source of the problem, it should be solved now.

dalek501 · Post by **dalek501** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 3:23 pm

OK I'll try that when I get home. Does it matter that it in my case it only appears to be elements of the outside of the bay rather than the whole bay being wrong, as Griff had?

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 7:42 pm

dalek501, i've posted a test version of the blackmonk monastery in this thread https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?p=53143#53143
if you're able to download it (it's about 850Kb) try it out and see if everything gets placed as it should be.
I've checked out LB's blackmonk upload and the order of the dockingbay in the subentity list for the monkbranch looks ok so i don't quite know why you're getting this error

dalek501 · Post by **dalek501** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 10:24 am

Thanks Griff. I downloaded it and yes it appears to be fine. I suppose I'll just have to dock carefully until the actual OXP is changed!

LittleBear · Post by **LittleBear** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 10:46 am

I probabley will re-write Black Monks in Java Script as my next project, allowing you to borrow variable amounts and tone down the gun ships energy by quite a bit and improve the AIs and stuff generally. Might get this done next month.

ClymAngus · Post by **ClymAngus** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:19 am

That would be nice, as I've emptied a silo of hardened missiles right up the tail pipe of one of those bad boys and all it was good for was getting their attention.
Dangerous but fun

Fortunately they do have the turning circle of the QE2 (or they're just being flown badly) still, time to leave the area. Witchfuel injectors anyone?

LittleBear · Post by **LittleBear** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:30 am

ATM the monks have the minium energy necessary to survive an e-bomb. Monks only attack you if you've borrowed money and not paid it back on time (or at all!). I didn't want to introduce a cheat where you borrowed 20K and then just e-bombed any monks you turned up, so they are really just too tough. The OXP was written for 1.65 (where the scripting commands were much less advanced) and my ability to write AIs was not as good! For the next I'd use java variables to set interest rates and sums borrowed, reduce the Monks strength (probabley down to the energy of a Super Cobra), but have them keep coming in ones and twos throughtout the space lane when they do attack a debtor. IE if one goes for you by the w/s beacon and you e-bomb him, others will be lurking further along the space lane, where you now don't have an e-bomb.

That said although they are absudly powerful they never attack the player unless you are an overdue debtor.

Lestradae · Post by **Lestradae** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:37 am

Hi Little Bear,

LittleBear wrote:
That said although they are absudly powerful they never attack the player unless you are an overdue debtor.

Are they?

I mean, they are a mafia-like consortium that has branches over all eight galactic sectors, borrows and lends enormous sums of money and has the power to defend its unusual business methods against debtors, meddling police and military alike - doesn`t it make sense for them to have military-grade ship material on the highest level available in the Ooniverse?

If they attack player debtors, those should still not be able to just nuke them, shouldn`t they?

I mean, it`s your decision, but taken the above into account, just saying - perhaps it would make sense to let the power of the Black Monks stay as it is ...

L

LittleBear · Post by **LittleBear** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:50 am

The only problem ATM play-wise, is that if you ignore a loan by more than 4 weeks over the due date there is no way to "row back" from this. The Monks will kill you if you dock and Monks just keep being generated to attack you indefinatley. What I'd prefer to do (using Java Variables) is generate more but weaker monks in the space lanes for overdue debtors, but tone them down so you have a chance of survival and allow late paying beyond the 4 weeks late, but with penaty charges.

Using Java Script would also allow an easy way of borrowing different amounts of money, having different times to pay back. ATM the OXP is really only any use to a young Jameson, but with Java the monks could loan you any number of Credits (up to a maxium calculated by reference to your current balance, kills etc), but with the same Interest rate, requiring you to have a lot of run ins with them before finally making enough to pay it back. Could be useful with RS for a player with a good ship wanting to trade up to a really big ship. A loan could be obtained to bridge the gap, but you really are gonna have to make every inch of cargo space pay and have a longish peroid of time where you're just keeping your head above water and occasional run in's with the monks. Installments would also be possible. Eg If you borrow 250,000 C, 3 payments of 100,000 C are required once a month.

The 3 Military Lasers will stay and so a Monk will still remain a deadly opponent, but I might tweak the AIs so that they break off after damaging some of your equipment rather than killing you outright as a warning for being overdue, only comming in the the kill if you are really taking the piss!

ClymAngus · Post by **ClymAngus** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 11:35 am

Yeah, that would be cool. Personally I don't take out loans with the monks. Still being a sporting gentleman, having fought off pirates many times at the behest of some poor happless space fairer. It does stick in the craw a little when I can't aid some poor debtor against one of these beasts with 3 corp fighters trying to do much the same.

I'm religated to sifting through the inevitable wreckage looking for something to sell.

To be honest I haven't really "gone for broke" against one of these beasts. I recon maybe with the missile oxp, police and some slick tactics I could bag me a monk. I would say that in my humble player experience (I haven't cracked open the code and taken a look yet, I'd be too tempted to turn them into a bunch of pansies so I could watch them ineffectually try and kill people flying around the space ship equivalent of tinfoil.) you fire on them, debtor or no and your toast.

Like I said the monks they are a challenge. I like a challenge. Although your smaller harrassment ships sounds like a cool idea too. I like swarms, swarms cause panic.

Cmdr. Maegil · Post by **Cmdr. Maegil** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:18 pm

@ ClymAngus:Hello, and Welcome to The Friendliest Board This Side of Riedquat. I skimmed your web site, and it sure looks sweet.
As for challenges, read below...

@LB: Although I usually resent a bit ships with multiple lasers, that's just because I'm on their wrong side... In fact, I believe it makes sense to be able to fit more lasers on larger ships to emulate heavier weapons - I do miss the IC's 20MW beam lasers and even suggested to fit 20 or so front gun arrays as the capital ships' front weapon to represent a blast of accelerated plasma.

OTOH, I always found (and complained) that the monk gunships were fitted with Holy Energy Banks and Divine Protection Shields

- and it's got nothing to do with my atheism.

The thing is, those hyper defence traits made the monks last less on my addons folder than the star wars ships, and you've got all my support if you're modifying them to be more number and tactics-dependent instead of resorting to absurdities such as making them more armoured than dreadnoughts.

ClymAngus · Post by **ClymAngus** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:17 pm

Cmdr. Maegil wrote:
@ ClymAngus:Hello, and Welcome to The Friendliest Board This Side of Riedquat. I skimmed your web site, and it sure looks sweet.

Ooo, ta! Well you do Blood Red, I do Steampunk. Still love the site, so many people really badly screw up blood on a web site. I haven't seen a site as disturbing looking as that in some time. Lovely job.

Cmdr. Maegil wrote:
I do miss the IC's 20MW beam lasers and even suggested to fit 20 or so front gun arrays as the capital ships' front weapon to represent a blast of accelerated plasma.

Well if I was going to be facing off against one of those I'd want this playing in the background.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vAcJ4PXuM ... re=related

Oh well, who wants to live forever, DIIIIIIVVVVVEEE!

(Hmm nice hud in the first 10 seconds, I might have to make me one of those)