Oolite Bulletins

From what you're saying, it does seem pretty rare, expecially if you add more oxps to the mix - I think most people have at least 15-20 oxps installed, anyway.

What JazHaz seemed to ask about was the shipyard frequency, really. Maybe setting it to 0.2 or 0.1 will make it fit more closely with the number of in-system appearances...
JazHaz, is that what you meant?

By the way, the shipyard number is used for both rarity of the ship itself and rarity of the ship's extra equipment.
In other words, the rarer it is, the more likely it is you'll find it with just the basic equipment.

Smivs wrote:

Thanks, that's interesting. A quick scan through the core shipdata.plist revealed that eight ships have the role Hunter, so presumably this means that my Contractor will only show up very rarely. Is that right or am I being dim (again)?
There are an awful lot of role 'Pirate' ships, so again I hope mine will be extremely scarce. Do you think I've set this about right, or should I be looking to change things?
Thanks for help/advice.

There are actually 9 ships in trunk's shipdata.plist with the role "hunter". We have the adder, asp, cobra3-alternate, cobra3-pirate, cobramk1, ferdelance, krait, sidewinder and sidewinder-escort, all with weighting 1 (the role "hunter" in their roles list without any weighting factor).

So if the only OXP installed was Contractor, it would have a 1 in 91 chance of appearing if you give it a role of "hunter(0.1)" (an 0.1 in 9.1 chance). If you have any other OXPs which add ships with the "hunter" role, the chances will get even lower as those other ships will further dilute the pool.

Thanks guys, it sounds like it is about right to me as it stands. My main concern was in-game frequency and that seems OK. I can live with there being a few more For Sale than might be expected. It should still be rare enough and if you're rich (and crazy ) enough to want to buy one, you wouldn't want to wait weeks or months before one becomes available.

Kaks wrote:

What JazHaz seemed to ask about was the shipyard frequency, really. Maybe setting it to 0.2 or 0.1 will make it fit more closely with the number of in-system appearances...
JazHaz, is that what you meant?

Yes.

Contractor OXP temporarily suspended

I've put Contractor temporarily On Hold. Extensive testing following the change of spec has shown up a significant flaw. The v2.0 Contractor is far too weak and is too easily destroyed. A good long blast of Military laser will destroy one before the laser overheats, and this is not what I'd want from an Uber-ship.
It's back to the drawing board, with all options on the table (to mix a couple of metaphors).
The problem is the reduction from 7 to 3 energy banks, so I'm currently looking at correcting this, while keeping in mind the comments made so far regarding balance.
I should have something sorted out later tonight, and will post again when I'm happy with it. In the meantime the downloads are suspended.

The latest (and I sincerely hope last) incarnation of Contractor is now available for download. This new package gives the best balance all round and I hope you will agree that ultimately this has been a worthwhile exercise.
Full details are available here on my website. Please note the Wiki entry is still out of date pending the problems with the Wiki being resolved.

To summarise the changes:
Price remains at 1,250,000 Credits
Top speed has been reduced to 0.45LM
Cargo capacity has been reduced to 5 Tons
Energy recharge rate has been reduced to 4.5
Energy banks have been increased to 5
Standard equipment no longer includes an Escape Capsule, although this can be retro-fitted as an option
The shipyard.plist has been altered to reduce the chance of finding a Contractor for sale

Having spent most of the day testing v3.0 I am satisfied that this OXP is now a good, sensible package in keeping with the spirit of Oolite, and that the Contractor is now a viable ship that does what I always wanted and intended and offers an interesting option to players of the game.

I hope you'll forgive my relative inexperience and overlook the dog's breakfast this release has become, and enjoy what I think is, at last, the definitive version of this OXP.

oops, sorry....a few scripting errors crept in (see below) so Contractor is temporarily 'on hold' for a few hours pending correction.

Depending on how über you want it:
I'd suggest you give the Contractor 5 or 6 energy banks (max_energy of 320 or 384 respectively).

I went for 384 in my installation.

EDIT: Ninja'd!

Umm...
You might want to change the to 0,045 LM is pretty slow...

And: do nothing, these lines should be replaced by: and while I'm at it: won't work either, but: will do fine.

With these fixes you'll find the Contractor MUCH harder to kill.

Zieman wrote:

Umm...
You might want to change the

Code: Select all

max_flight_speed = 4.5;

to

Code: Select all

max_flight_speed = 450;

0,045 LM is pretty slow...

Oops! Thanks. It's sorted.

Zieman wrote:

And:

Code: Select all

                has_naval_shield_booster = yes;
                has_naval_energy_unit = yes;

do nothing, these lines should be replaced by:

Code: Select all

                has_shield_enhancer = yes;

and while I'm at it:

Code: Select all

                has_shield_boosters = yes;

won't work either, but:

Code: Select all

                has_shield_booster = yes;

will do fine.

With these fixes you'll find the Contractor MUCH harder to kill.

Thanks again Zieman. I haven't seen the 'Shield_enhancer' code before.
It's heading up for midnight now (RL ( my wife) took over for a few hours) so I'll sort that out tomorrow. Another few hours 'on hold' won't hurt.

You're welcome.

The Wiki is good source of info on how to make OXPs, see:
http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Shipdata.plist
for example (don't know how up to date this section is, but haven't noticed any contradicting info either).

Just tried to download Contractor.oxp. The file on box.net is 253 bytes big and contains a file called contractor with no extension. The other download link seems to be broken. Something seems to be wrong.

Gimi wrote:

Just tried to download Contractor.oxp. The file on box.net is 253 bytes big and contains a file called contractor with no extension. The other download link seems to be broken. Something seems to be wrong.

Hi Gimi,
I'm afraid Contractor's not very well at the moment (see above posts) so I've temporarily pulled the downloads. It should be back later today, fitter and better than ever (and hopefully, finally right).

Ahh.

I read quickly through the posts, and thought you had already updated it. (Will read more carefully next time, and before I start making a nuisance off myself.

Thank you.