Oolite Bulletins

I need to find a way to go from the marker reference to the ship it's standing for, then it would be possible to at least remove the tracker from a distance

var t = this.$telescope;
if( t && player.ship.target.dataKey == "telescopemarker" ) //get distance over scanner range
{
    var ti = t.$TelescopeListi;
    var who = t.$TelescopeList[ ti - 1 ];
    if( who && who.isValid )
    ...

though for in-universe story consistency that would perhaps not be a good idea: the tracker would be a physical device that you "fire" and attaches itself to the tagged ship... if it's not in scanner range, it would have to travel a greater distance back to your ship

cag wrote: ↑Wed Aug 05, 2020 7:45 am

$TelescopeList[ $TelescopeListi - 1 ]

should get you the ship. (FYI: the - 1 is Norby's convention; he uses $TelescopeListi == 0 as target not found, so when $TelescopeListi == 1, it's referring to the first in the list, at [0])

cag wrote: ↑Wed Aug 05, 2020 7:45 am

though for in-universe story consistency that would perhaps not be a good idea: the tracker would be a physical device that you "fire" and attaches itself to the tagged ship... if it's not in scanner range, it would have to travel a greater distance back to your ship

I don't see a problem here. I read it as added processing power to the ASC, with extra CPU's dedicated to tracking. \_0_/ Otherwise, you'd eventually run out of trackers, as their targets jumped, docked or died.

Sure, it's implemented as a 'ship' but that just made it much easier to code. They even respawn if they die due to "scrape damage"

Damocles Edge wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2020 7:10 am

Can this oxp be used to keep track of derelict ships?
I currently use Waypoint Here oxp to do this (especially if I have disabled a lot of ships in battle and am working my way through mining them one at a time), this oxp could have the added benefit of keeping tabs on live targets too.
I am just wondering if this oxp still tracks targets once the escape pod has launched?

• disabed tracker beacons while player's ship is docked (so the tracked ships don't show on Station Interfaces (F4) In-system Distances;

• logging of tracker's destruction or invalidation;

• console messages when trying to track/untrack a target out of range, or without a target.

 Tracker OXP

• Changed messages from console to comms.
• Updated license to remove the "Thargoid clauses" after Thargoid allowed modification when retired from maintaining his OXps (viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17085).

dybal wrote: ↑Wed Aug 05, 2020 1:04 pm

I usually place much more importance in the in-universe story consistency than in how we might implement it... ASC shouldn't be omniscient, so we have to explain how it gets the info for what it shows... I see several cases:

a) objects with fixed position (in the real world would be known and stable trajectories) listed in the system's almanac or player ship's nav computer: planets, moons, stations, waypoints
b) objects with a Navigation Beacon broadcasting their position (position in the broadcast signal payload)
c) objects with a simple beacon broadcasting a "locator" signal (no position in the signal payload, but it could carry some ID, broadcasting power, etc.): we could postulate ASC has directional receivers so it can tell the signal direction, and distance could be estimated from the signal intensity vs broadcasting power or triangulation (over time)
d) it could have a gravitic sensor and "see" objects depending on their mass/distance (like Telescope extension)
e) it could track any visible electromagnetic source, triangulate to get distance (we already postulated directional receivers) and tag with IFF info when in scanner range (as Telescope does for visible wavelengths)

I always thought ASC does (a) and (b), assuming a Navigation Beacon would always have broadcasting power to be "heard" across the system.

If Tracker uses (b) or (c), there would be a physical device that had to be attached to the tracked ship (we can postulate the device would broadcast with enough power to be heard across the system), you would have to be close to attach a tracker or recover a tracker, and you are right, it should be lost if the tracked ship jumps or is destroyed, so there should be a Tracker Pack for sale in Ship Outfitting.

If Tracker uses (d) or (e), yes, it's an upgrade of ASC hardware (the gravitic sensors or directional receivers, memory and processing power), you could define a tracker when in IFF range (to attach ID info to it), you could "remove" a tracker anytime, the ASC hardware would define the number of simultaneous trackers, but there should be a range limitation to the tracking.

Which would be more interesting for the gameplay, the player having to manage a physical supply of trackers, or having a range limitation on tracking?

Tracker is best used to keep tabs on moving objects (I usually use it to keep tabs on the Deep Space Dredger I have seen, so I can find them again easily - DSDs are the only place I can go to get those escape pods processed when I'm a fugitive), for static objects like derelicts I use Waypoint Here if I'm in a hurry, or "tag" them with a Towbar or EscortDeck beacon if I have the time (the EscortDeck being better because the beacon has a more descriptive label)