Oolite Bulletins

DaddyHoggy wrote:

[in fact - if you're too good in one anarchy system perhaps either:

1) the supply of traders willing to come to the system dries up - it's just not worth the risk
2) traders start coming through in convoys with heavy escort or naval support (humanitarian aid runs because nothing is reaching the main system stations and therefore the planet below)
3) Galcop and/or the navy make a show-of force raid on the system and you're the Ace of Spades on their deck of cards.]

However, if you have to jump through a non-anarchist system to get to your next hunting pool then your reputation has everybody on the hunt for you - traders - police - bounty hunters - that's going to be one hell of a run to the sun to skim and jump back out!

maik wrote:

Disembodied wrote:

If they're just passing through, though, trailing destruction in their wake, then some of the local pirates might feel like having a go at them (especially if their bounty is small and their kill-count is low).

Or they might feel that you're intruding on their territory. Kind of like what various mafia clans around the world have been showcasing, e.g. in NYC in last century's 30s. Or look at the gang wars that are going on in northern Mexico at the moment.

Smivs wrote:

Just a thought but one easy way to address at least one of these points is to make Pirates scan for status like the Police and Bounty Hunters do.
This way they could attack Clean ships and perhaps Offenders, but leave Fugitives alone. This way you could work with a Pirate Band if you are Fugitive. You wouldn't really be one of them, but at least they would appear to tolerate your presence.
All this would require is a simple change to the AI.
Having said that I do like the idea of actively becoming a Pirate...there are some really good ideas above, and I think they should be explored where practical.

    LURK = {
        ENTER = ("setSpeedTo: 0.0", performIdle); 
        ATTACKED = (setTargetToPrimaryAggressor, "setStateTo: ATTACK_SHIP"); 
        "ATTACKED_BY_CLOAKED" = ("setStateTo: FLEE_FOR_CLOAKED"); 
		"TARGET_LOST" = ("setStateTo: TRAVEL_TO_LURK_AREA", "pauseAI: 0.5");
        "INCOMING_MISSILE" = (fightOrFleeMissile, "setStateTo: FLEE"); 
        "NOTHING_FOUND" = ("setStateTo: COLLECT_LOOT"); 
        "TARGET_FOUND" = (setTargetToFoundTarget, checkTargetLegalStatus); 
	"TARGET_CLEAN" = (checkGroupOddsVersusTarget);
	"TARGET_MINOR_OFFENDER" = (checkGroupOddsVersusTarget);
        "CARGO_SCOOPED" = ("setStateTo: CHECK_CARGO"); 
        "ODDS_GOOD" = (groupAttackTarget); 
        "ODDS_LEVEL" = (groupAttackTarget); 
        "GROUP_ATTACK_TARGET" = (setTargetToFoundTarget, "setStateTo: ATTACK_SHIP"); 
		"ENTER WORMHOLE" = ("setStateTo: ENTER_WORMHOLE");
        UPDATE = (scanForRandomMerchantmen, "pauseAI: 5.0"); 
    }; 

tinker wrote:

Coming at this idea from another angle.

I see the attraction for some people of being a pirate and would like to see more varied AI behaviour from ships I pass in the night, but I have no interest in being a pirate, though I am not averse to following them about at times and scooping cargo from their victims.

I play differently than most people seem to, for me the challenge is to live long and prosper without fighting, in two years of pleasurable playing I have only just got over 120 kills.

One of the drawbacks as I see it is you can only be clean, offender of fugitive. Should there not be some other status settings such as "squeaky clean" and "Mmm Shiney" as well as perhaps something even worse than fugitive such as being on the "most wanted" list. I realise this would be more complex to add as the Oolite core uses bounty to calculate offender status and the new status' would imply a negative bounty but it would mean that someone who is clean for months would not suddenly get offender status for the next few days because of one small slipup.

Having more offender status levels would then, together with some ideas from earlier in the thread, would make it possible to carve different career paths and create lots more faction options.

Disembodied wrote:

– allow you to absolve the offence with a fine and a bit of scrubbing the docking bay.

tinker wrote:

Coming at this idea from another angle.

I see the attraction for some people of being a pirate and would like to see more varied AI behaviour from ships I pass in the night, but I have no interest in being a pirate, though I am not averse to following them about at times and scooping cargo from their victims.

I play differently than most people seem to, for me the challenge is to live long and prosper without fighting, in two years of pleasurable playing I have only just got over 120 kills.

One of the drawbacks as I see it is you can only be clean, offender of fugitive. Should there not be some other status settings such as "squeaky clean" and "Mmm Shiney" as well as perhaps something even worse than fugitive such as being on the "most wanted" list. I realise this would be more complex to add as the Oolite core uses bounty to calculate offender status and the new status' would imply a negative bounty but it would mean that someone who is clean for months would not suddenly get offender status for the next few days because of one small slipup.

Having more offender status levels would then, together with some ideas from earlier in the thread, would make it possible to carve different career paths and create lots more faction options.

DaddyHoggy wrote:

Playing the pacifist/coward is almost role-playing and is quite a challenge!

Commander McLane wrote:

DaddyHoggy wrote:

Playing the pacifist/coward is almost role-playing and is quite a challenge!

Just a small note that these two are not at all interchangeable. In the real world pacifism usually takes a lot more bravery than bellicism. There is not the slightest bit of cowardice in facing your enemy unarmed, even giving yourself in their hands, and trying to convince them to resolve the conflict without resorting to violence. He who turns the left cheek to the person who just has hit the right one is certainly not a coward.
</thread derailment>

Commander McLane wrote:

As I said, it was just a small RealLife™-note, not meant to be applicable to Oolite, which—for some strange reason I couldn't yet figure out—sometimes seems to be a wee tiny little slight bit less complex than RealLife itself. And I just wanted to make sure that DaddyHoggy (whom I respect very much) doesn't mix up two completely unrelated things courtesy of a possible slight professional bias.