(WIP) Hermitage

[zx_cb]

If you use one of the starting scenarios, getting to that point is going to take some time, but if you add Hermitage to your normal game, and then find a Hermitage to buy, you will end up with two ships - your original ship, and a mining vessel that's part of the Hermitage (or you should - I'll have to check and make sure).

Haven`t happened to me yet, and I think should not have - if player is buying the RH, he a) most probably doesn`t need one and can do initial mining in his own, and b) if he feels the need, let him buy what he thinks is suitable and configure it - I`d never willingly go with a Worm or an Adder and won`t even bother hauling them to the main station to sell. Also on this, there should be an option to sell ships from your station hangar without need of getting into them.

Also of note, on one attempt of piracy my targeted RH became derelict - the owner just ejected in escape capsule, like that. Not sure if it is related to the Hermitage at all, as your forsale script clearly says that he should undock in a ship and go to the main station.

[zx_cb]

Wow! I think from a technical point of view the auto-Heat sink process is probably not firing so heat is never dissipated and, then, well, you know... boom. I'll check that one out as well.

It very certainly does - on "heat level critical" notification it engages, heat jumps to 100%, then shields and energy deplete as fast as if I`m ramming the planet and - yeah, boom :) So turning it manual and never using sort of works.

[Cholmondely]

I know there is Hyperspace Hangar OXP that does similar things. But - I can believe in having a personal hollowed-out asteroid in the void to call home, and I do not believe in some space-and-numbers magic that just *allows* it.

I quite agree. I find HH utterly unrealistic. Ditto with HyperCargo. Ditto with Goods Containers (instantaneously replacing missile pylons). Ditto with movement (torus, regular engine) which uses no fuel. How super to be able to choose which version of the game one wishes to play!

[Cody]

Ditto with movement (torus, regular engine) which uses no fuel.

That's the beauty of gravitic drives - they don't need fuel.

[Cholmondely]

That's the beauty of gravitic drives - they don't need fuel.

Yup! And if you pull the other leg, it makes beeping noises!

[Redspear]

Well there's this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactionless_drive, requiring some hypotheticals to be accepted.

And then there's the idea of negligable fuel expenditure as I've explained elsewhere, requiring no bending of known physics beyond those pre-existing within the game already:

• fuel expenditure for hyperspace travel is much more costly than for intrasystem travel
• quirium fuel use in the 4th millenium is highly efficient
• negligable is not the same as none - just like a car can travel short distances apparently on nothing more than 'fumes'

But then as you say,

How super to be able to choose which version of the game one wishes to play!

[Switeck]

Other than solar sails, this is the only working no-fuel propulsion system that I know of:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetorquer#Advantages

It's very limited in practicality, although something similar to it could produce thrust from charged solar wind, similar to a solar sail.

[phkb]

So, I've made some real progress over the weekend. Aside from fixing a few of the bugs zx_cb identified, and removing the tl/eco limitations on cargo, I've cleaned up the purchasing and hijacking workflows, and tested they work successfully, including giving the player immediate access to all the management facilities of the RH (which I'd completely overlooked before). I've replaced the F8 Market screen, which was simply a matter of sending the player straight to the Market and Cargo management page, which I think makes more sense.

I've also got all the blueprints created and assigned, including methods for limiting their distribution. There's a blueprint for most items, and they can only be purchased from other RH's, so it will require a bit of work to unlock. My next step in this plan is to have "bundles" of blueprints available at some locations, which can accelerate the collection process. Also, you'll be able to purchase these blueprints even if you don't own a RH yet, so if you're working towards ownership one day, you can do some pre-work before you settle down. The only missing component is providing some place to view all the blueprints you've collected so far.

I've also implemented some of the specialised components Cholmondely has been compiling. It's this section that I'd like to bat around a bit more.

Taking, for example, the "Turret Defense" components:

Turret defense (5 directions) (Sector2/Esceso) SolarTech Industries: Plasma Turret Regulator Device Apparatus (cheaper in Esceso), "Phlaschgyt pulse lasers"

First, "Plasma Turret Regulator Device Apparatus" is just too long. With apologies to purists, I've shortened this to "Plasma power regulator", otherwise things start overflowing columns and looking untidy.

Secondly, limiting the location to a particular system (Sector 2 Esceso) creates a lot of technical and gameplay issues issues. If I'm in Sector 1, that's a really, really long trip to get the part. And even if I'm in Sector 2, if my RH is in Escebele, that's still a very long round trip. So I'm leaning more towards some other sort of limiter, based on TL, government and economy. That way, there will more likely be a source somewhere within a reasonable travel distance of the player's RH, without it being overwhelmingly far away. Obviously, there is still a chance that a specific combination of TL/gov/eco will be rare, but it would be easily tweakable in the event outliers are found. What do you think?

[Cholmondely]

So, I've made some real progress over the weekend. Aside from fixing a few of the bugs zx_cb identified, and removing the tl/eco limitations on cargo, I've cleaned up the purchasing and hijacking workflows, and tested they work successfully, including giving the player immediate access to all the management facilities of the RH (which I'd completely overlooked before). I've replaced the F8 Market screen, which was simply a matter of sending the player straight to the Market and Cargo management page, which I think makes more sense.

I've also got all the blueprints created and assigned, including methods for limiting their distribution. There's a blueprint for most items, and they can only be purchased from other RH's, so it will require a bit of work to unlock. My next step in this plan is to have "bundles" of blueprints available at some locations, which can accelerate the collection process. Also, you'll be able to purchase these blueprints even if you don't own a RH yet, so if you're working towards ownership one day, you can do some pre-work before you settle down. The only missing component is providing some place to view all the blueprints you've collected so far.

I've also implemented some of the specialised components Cholmondely has been compiling. It's this section that I'd like to bat around a bit more.

Taking, for example, the "Turret Defense" components:

Turret defense (5 directions) (Sector2/Esceso) SolarTech Industries: Plasma Turret Regulator Device Apparatus (cheaper in Esceso), "Phlaschgyt pulse lasers"

First, "Plasma Turret Regulator Device Apparatus" is just too long. With apologies to purists, I've shortened this to "Plasma power regulator", otherwise things start overflowing columns and looking untidy.

Secondly, limiting the location to a particular system (Sector 2 Esceso) creates a lot of technical and gameplay issues issues. If I'm in Sector 1, that's a really, really long trip to get the part. And even if I'm in Sector 2, if my RH is in Escebele, that's still a very long round trip. So I'm leaning more towards some other sort of limiter, based on TL, government and economy. That way, there will more likely be a source somewhere within a reasonable travel distance of the player's RH, without it being overwhelmingly far away. Obviously, there is still a chance that a specific combination of TL/gov/eco will be rare, but it would be easily tweakable in the event outliers are found. What do you think?

Having to do The Eight just to get one component for your RH seems a bit OTT. Not that it should never be required, but with the one-way system for Galactic Travel - and the difficulties of managing one's own RH back at base, it seems unlikely to ever happen unless I can persuade Araminta & Benedict to do it for me, while I'm back home taking the ice out of the freezer, mixing the cocktails, putting my feet up and eyeballing my about-to-be defunct F8 screen.

1) But it just that it is cheaper in Esceso, not that it is unavailable elsewhere.
2) There may well be cheaper alternatives. Just because zx_cb is wedded to Phlaschgyt and never stops talking about how good they are does not mean that I can't go to Cheepgyt instead. But maybe Cheepgyt is unavailable at most Orbital stations and I have to land on a planet instead?

(Re-edited twice while Phkb wasn't watching!)

[phkb]

Re-edited twice while Phkb wasn't watching!

Oh, I was watching!

But it just that it is cheaper in Esceso, not that it is unavailable elsewhere.

Well, I can certainly do variable pricing for some components in certain systems. A lot more work though (the coding is easy, coming up with the process for each component is where the effort lies). I'll put the code together and leave the details for later.

[Cholmondely]

Re-edited twice while Phkb wasn't watching!

Oh, I was watching!

But it just that it is cheaper in Esceso, not that it is unavailable elsewhere.

Well, I can certainly do variable pricing for some components in certain systems. A lot more work though (the coding is easy, coming up with the process for each component is where the effort lies). I'll put the code together and leave the details for later.

You can't just use the code from Darkside Moonshine Distillery? It is for a commodity, but...

But there may be a better approach...

[phkb]

You can't just use the code from Darkside Moonshine Distillery?

Commodity prices are quite distinct from equipment prices.

Anyway, I've got a solution that allows you to do this:

Code: Select all

(
	(
		1,
		2500,
		"Component: Power regulator", 
		"EQ_HERMITAGE_ITEM_REGULATOR", // items must have "EQ_HERMITAGE_ITEM" as prefix
		"Component required for construction tasks on a Rock Hermit.",
		{
			available_to_all = yes;
			available_to_NPCs = no;
			available_to_player = yes;
			condition_script = "hermitage_conditions.js";
			damage_probability = 0.0;
			installation_time = 1.0; // install time should be kept at 1.0, because these items will not be installed in the player ship
			script_info = {
				equipment_space = 0.1;
				equipment_weight = 0.1;
				// vary price in some systems. dictionary object of galaxy sectors ("0"-"7") followed by system ID ("0"-"255") and a percentage to apply to base price
				price_variations = {"0 7" = 0.5; "1 75" = 0.5;}; // 50% off in Lave (G1) and Esceso (G2)
				avail_economies = ();
				avail_governments = ();
			};
			sort_order = 9999; // components should have this sort order to put them at the bottom of the equip list
			visible = yes; // listed on the F5F5 screen.
		}
	),
)

Then, in my "hermitage_conditions.js" file, I have this code:

Code: Select all

this.updateEquipmentPrice = function(equipment, price) {
    if (equipment.indexOf("EQ_HERMITAGE_ITEM") == -1) return price;
    var eq = EquipmentInfo.infoForKey(equipment);
    var newPrice = price;
    if (eq.scriptInfo.price_variations) {
        var discount = eq.scriptInfo.price_variations[galaxyNumber.toString() + " " + system.ID.toString()];
        if (discount) newPrice *= parseFloat(discount);
    }
    return parseInt(newPrice);
}

That then applies whatever discount (or markup, if the variation is greater than 1) has been set for that system.

It seems to work ok.

[phkb]

In other news, because there will likely be a proliferation of specialised equipment components the player has to buy and then return to their Hermitage, having the ability to store these items on the station became critical. Otherwise, your F5 screen would fill up with all the irrelevant components that do nothing on the player ship. And because my "Equipment Storage" OXP is limited to only allowing storage from main stations, I created a cut-down version specifically for Hermitages. Now, you have a cargo storage as well as equipment storage available on your Hermitage.

[zx_cb]

So, I've made some real progress over the weekend.

But also seemed to forget to update the files on the Box link, judging by their dates :)

Or is it another source somewhere that I do not see?..

[phkb]

So, I've made some real progress over the weekend.

But also seemed to forget to update the files on the Box link, judging by their dates

Or is it another source somewhere that I do not see?..

Well I’m still testing and fixing at the moment. If things go well I’ll post an update later in the week.