Constrictor Mission (*Some Spoilers*)...

aegidian · Post by **aegidian** » Wed Aug 04, 2004 6:42 am

stevesims wrote:
So if I'm being honest I need to reduce my kills count by 256, my cash by 50000 (with decimal adjustment) and get rid of the mission_conhunt entry right?

Spot on!

jonnycuba · Post by **jonnycuba** » Thu Aug 05, 2004 1:50 pm

Well I've travelled the 9 planets within 7lyr of the galactic hyperspace drop off point. NO constrictor to be found! Am i doing something wrong? There are no messages from the planets in galaxy 2...

aegidian · Post by **aegidian** » Thu Aug 05, 2004 2:12 pm

jonnycuba wrote:
Well I've travelled the 9 planets within 7lyr of the galactic hyperspace drop off point. NO constrictor to be found!

Hmmp. Well he's not near there. That's because I adopted one way of deciding where you arrive in the next galaxy after using a galactic hyperdrive than one of the others.

Some versions of Elite dump you at the closest planet in Gal 2 to the one you left in Gal 1. Others take you to the nearest planet in Gal 2 to a particular fixed point (this avoids the possibility of you getting stuck at any of the 'unreachable' parts of some galaxies).

The version of Elite this mission originated in used the first routine, Oolite uses the second. Which means you have to search further afield in Gal 2 for the vicious scoundrel.

Comments on how best to decide the arrival point after a Galactic Hyperjump are welcome.

stevesims · Post by **stevesims** » Thu Aug 05, 2004 2:50 pm

I think the drop off point for a galaxy jump should be random, so neither the "closest planet" nor "fixed point" method should be used.

Yes, there is the problem with ending up in an "unreachable" part of the galaxy, however there are two ways around that one.

First of all you could have a ship that has a hyperspace ranger greater than 7 LY. This could either be an entirely new ship, or a ship upgrade.

Secondly you could implement my idea of overlaid maps of hidden systems (for generation ships, secret bases, dredgers, mining colonies, that kind of thing) along with my emergency hyperspace jump idea.

That way if you did land at an unconnected system (or group of systems) you could jump about randomly until you found your way to a hidden system. One way to help this would be to have the emergency jump send you about 0.5LY in a random direction, but before it dumps you back in normal space look for hidden systems near (within 0.1 or 0.2LY) your exit point.

The method that you've chosen right now means that some galaxies have big areas of many systems that cannot be reached... Not really a big problem, until you start putting in things like random package/person delivery missions.

jonnycuba · Post by **jonnycuba** » Thu Aug 05, 2004 3:57 pm

Would it not be easier to insert planets into the maps that bridge the unreachable parts?

stevesims · Post by **stevesims** » Thu Aug 05, 2004 4:28 pm

I guess added planets would work to bridge the gaps. I'm still rooting for hidden systems though.

I only recently found out that some systems in Elite couldn't be reached. When I first discovered this I thought it was a little odd, but then I realised that Brabham and Bell probably just didn't do any analysis of their galaxies, and assumed everywhere would be reachable. Seems fair enough to be.

Of course there is the potential issue of whether added systems (which are supported) are full-class citizens of the Oolite universe, i.e. can you save and reload a commander docked at an added system?

jonnycuba · Post by **jonnycuba** » Thu Aug 05, 2004 4:47 pm

I would also love 'secret' planets to link these places. Where Navy/Thargoid battles rage or research bases exist...ooh the possibilities

aegidian · Post by **aegidian** » Thu Aug 05, 2004 5:03 pm

I think I'll opt for the scheme that best fits with the constrictor mission and the original ideas.

I'll have the galactic drive pick a system in Gal 2 close to your location in Gal 1, but check it against a list of systems that are connected to the majority of other systems. It's a bit of extra work, but it cleans up the mission problem without adding too much complexity.

I still like the other ideas, it's just those are more work than doing it this way. Too hot for more work.

The 'emergency hyperdrive' may well make an appearance soon though.

Military bases, secret pirate bases, giant sub-light craft and such are currently in my work-in-progress folder.

aegidian · Post by **aegidian** » Thu Aug 05, 2004 5:11 pm

stevesims wrote:
... then I realised that Brabham and Bell probably just didn't do any analysis of their galaxies, and assumed everywhere would be reachable.

No, they didn't doublecheck the name-generation either.
(That's Braben and Bell by the way, pronounce it Bray-bun, some jokers call him the Bread-Bin)

There are some fun planet names in Galaxy 8

jonnycuba · Post by **jonnycuba** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 12:16 am

I would like to know whether my sudden decrease in rank from dangerous to competent(v.1.16) has affected my constrictor mission worthiness? It'll be annoying to have to shlep back to galaxy one to trigger it again as I am now hunting in galaxy two...

Fortunately I have a sneaky backup commander for just such an occurrence!

stevesims · Post by **stevesims** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 1:14 am

Don't worry...

I've looked at the mission scripts - the Constrictor mission is triggered by your kill count. The fact that you now have a lower rating doesn't matter, and the mission will still be in-progress, unless of course you finished the mission without realising it...

To check if the mission is in progress open up your commander file in TextEdit. Search for "mission_conhunt". If on the following line you see "<string>MISSION_COMPLETE</string>" then you have finished it. If you want to do the mission again, including getting the introductory message, then delete the entire line that had "mission_conhunt" on it and the following "MISSION_COMPLETE" line too. Oh, before you do that save a copy of your commander file just in case the edit doesn't work properly.

jonnycuba · Post by **jonnycuba** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 9:27 am

Hi Cmdr.Steve

Here is the exert from my save file...

<key>mission_conhunt</key>
<string>STAGE_1</string>
<key>mission_longwayround</key>
<string>MISSION_COMPLETE</string>

Is it still happening? or have I finished it after all.

Cheers

J.cuba

jonnycuba · Post by **jonnycuba** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 9:30 am

jonnycuba wrote:
Hi Cmdr.Steve

Here is the exert from my save file...

<key>mission_conhunt</key>
<string>STAGE_1</string>
<key>mission_longwayround</key>
<string>MISSION_COMPLETE</string>

Is it still happening? or have I finished it after all.

Cheers

J.cuba

DOH! the penny just dropped, I have finished the 'longwayround' mission
so I'm still hunting the constrictor...

jonnycuba · Post by **jonnycuba** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 9:05 pm

I've been in Galaxy 2 for ages now still no sign of the elusive constrictor...anyone else sighted it yet?

stevesims · Post by **stevesims** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 11:04 pm

I haven't re-started the mission yet, since I was in galaxy 3 when I reset the mission info in my commander file... I'm in galaxy 8 right now, so next time I play the game I'll probably restart the mission.

However I did look at the mission script file a little while back. Have you explored the top right of the galaxy?

Oolite Bulletins

Constrictor Mission (Some Spoilers)...

Re: Time to edit my commander file....

Galactic hyperspace drop off point?