Oolite Bulletins

kanthoney wrote:

The maintenance overhaul message kicks in when this factor drops below 85.

Something must be wrong here. My HUD displays the service level. Whether I am offered an overhaul does not depend on the service level in a deterministic way. Sometimes I am offered an overhaul already at a level I wasn't offered one previously. Either some intentional randomization or a bug.
In the extreme case above, where I was offered an overhaul after only 3 jumps, I wasn't hit onto the hull of course. It was only because of the jumps.

It's especially annoying if it's pretty clear that there will need to be an overhaul very soon, but you are forced to take contracts again since the reputation is in danger of dropping. And then instantly after taking the first contracts and leaving the high tech planet where you've just been the overhaul offer is there. Sigh.

Bogatyr wrote:

WHERE do you find these 44k parcel jobs?

I'm currently operating out of the Ceraso hub in G7 (I think of Ceerti as my home system when I'm in the Seventh).
That particular 44k contract (Coded Docs) ran from Gebeti to Tiso - 38 jumps, 127 lys, and 542 hours.

I'm in the Tianve system in the upper-right of G1, and the biggest contracts I see are 11-ishK running to the left side / lower left side of the map. I've built up a long massive list of deliveries along a mostly compatible route (probably some of which I won't make) for about 60K-80K or so before beginning. I'd sure love to get those much bigger jobs but I just haven't seen them appear yet (and yes I'm at top reputation).

The topology of G7 seems particularly well-suited for those massive runs. G1 with it's well-connected central hub makes it fast/efficient to get from any corner to any other corner: about 100lyrs/400 hours from upper right to lower left.

Bogatyr wrote:

The topology of G7 seems particularly well-suited for those massive runs.

The Seventh is excellent in that respect - and you gotta pass through one of the two choke-points between east and west.
I think the Fifth may have the longest cross-chart run at 144 lys and 46 jumps - but overall, I reckon the Seventh is best.

I tend to be picky about which contracts I take, and rarely get out of bed for less than 20k.

Cody wrote:

I think of Ceerti as my home system when I'm in the Seventh.

Did anyone ever make a basic home system OXP? No perks, simply a personal greeting, that sort of stuff.

Some galaxies are probably better suited than others. Not because they are a higher number, but because the necessary journey tends to be longer. I think that's what lets the reward increase, length in hours calculated by minimum number of jumps. Since the time per jump increases exponentially (? - more than linear at least), a galaxy with many long jumps in the route with the minimum number of jumps is good. Even better if there is an alternative route with lots of short jumps for an early delivery bonus.

EDIT
It's
time [hours] = distance *distance [ly]

A dumb pilot's question I forgot to ask: is there any connection between ship maintenance level and courier rep?