Oolite Bulletins

This is a great OXP! It's very convenient. But maybe too convenient... I have a suggestion: right now using a fuel station is basically a no-brainer. It's too inexpensive. A full top-up would be 21 credits, whereas on some stations or planets it costs more. Plus it's more convenient than having to dock. I'd suggest tweaking the price somewhat to a point where it would actually be a decision whether to use one... maybe making it 30 credits/ly instead? 210 for a full top-up. It's really expensive for fuel but it's so convenient... or maybe scale the price depending on a combination of factors like how dangerous the area is, how far away the sun & nearest station is, and what the station price is. Just a thought - I'll raise the set price on my version and see how it plays out.

Thargoid wrote:

Firstly thanks

The OXP predates the variable fuel price, so at the time it wasn't an issue. Now though I can add such a tweak to it, I'll add it to the to do list to look at it but it may be a little while.

I might mess around with it myself. So far I've added a "this.$costPerLY" (constant) variable to the satellite and station js scripts... a question: right now I notice the announcement is hard-coded in the ai plist files ("sendTargetCommsMessage: Greetings Commander [commander_name]. Why not fuel up here for 3 cr / ly?"). What would be the way to go about making that "3" be variable? Or what would be a good place to start reading up on such things?

laxori666 wrote:

Or what would be a good place to start reading up on such things?

For AI scripting: http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/OXP_howto_AI

For all things scripting in general: http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Catego ... _scripting

For the JS-scripting engine: http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Catego ... _Reference

For your specific problem you'd want to move the message from the AI into the station's ship script, which is vastly more flexible, and allows you to make all sorts of calculations before you actually display the number. So you'd replace the sendTargetCommsMessage: with sendScriptMessage:, and handle the rest in the script.

Thargoid wrote:

(but there are reasons for using the AI - via script you don't get the indicator on the scanner lollipop as to who is transmitting)

Not true. You do get the indicator. For instance, all messages in personalities are sent by script, and they all produce the sending indicator. The command is this.ship.commsMessage().

Thargoid wrote:

I should have some time later this week to look at this, it's a good idea. By all means have a look and see how to do it for personal use and education though if you want to learn a bit more about scripting etc and how OXPs hang together for this kind of thing though if you want.[/color]

Yeah I've got to start somewhere, and the best way to learn is by messing around with existing projects =). I also had an idea to make it look more like a gas station, so you can see the LYs and credits filling up like a counter - maybe can make it update 10 times/second or so showing how many LY & credits have been transferred so far.

Plus I can share my changes with you if they work and you're interested and it'd be easier for you to integrate them than to do them yourself - I figure it's more beneficial for me to be providing changes instead of just suggesting them! Though of course I understand if you want to be the total owner of all the code in your own OXP.

Thanks for the links Commander! I'll try to make it work the way you suggested later tonight.

Thargoid wrote:

Hmm, it didn't used to work (hence the message in the AI), so if that has been fixed then that's good to know.

As far as I remember there are several ways of making ships send messages in JS, and not all of them produce the indicator. (Or perhaps I'm mixing that up with player ship's commsMessage and consoleMessage. Anyway, the lollipops do broadcast, and I think they did in 1.74 as well.)

OK, slightly belatedly, I've just updated this OXP to v1.36. Changes include:

• Proper reflection of variable fuel prices.
• Script streamlining.
• Adding stations where appropriate to the system on first launch, not just after witchspace jump.
• Variable (but repeatable) coloration between systems - for future inclusion of specific fuel suppliers.

Download via the links below from box.com as normal.[/color]

Cool! Does "reflection of variable fuel prices" mean that it's no longer the best choice?

Hi all, with Thargoid's permission I have released version 2.1 of this OXP, which includes new textures and a slightly improved model. Available via the extension manager.