Oolite Bulletins

SteveKing wrote:

"Smuggle-R-Us"

"Smugglers-R-Us" would work better.

SteveKing wrote:

"Smugglers - The Galactic Underworld"

This one, I quite like!

Equipment - Smugglers Hold may be convert smuggling contracts (limited - 15 TC)
1) smuggling narcotics (new vaccines, powders, etc) to Food or LiquorWines
2) smuggling firearms (turrets, robots, etc) to Machinery or Computers

Result solve problems with IGT (temporarily).

If damaged Smugglers Hold, then cargo contracts moved(reconvert) to illegal types.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. "Smugglers - The Galactic Underworld" it is! SGU for short?

Another question, this time relating to the phase setting of the compartment (see my post a few posts back for details). Should I make each system have a separate weak point (which you learn about either through trial and error or via some other interface), or base it on government/tech level? I'm actually leaning towards the individual system version (meaning there will be 256 different settings per galaxy). The other method yields only 120 different settings (8 government types times 15 tech levels). But I'm open to suggestions!

Another thought - perhaps to add a very rare and expensive equipment item (that perhaps even has a limited shelf life) that will allow you to scan the main station and detect the perfect sweet spot for your smuggling compartment phase setting. Prime and activate type equipment, during flight. This item would only be available at certain locations (maybe rock hermits in Anarchy systems with a tech level >= 10) and not all the time. Use it too close to the station and it will be detected (too far away and it won't work). Use it within range of a police vessel it will be detected. If you do an overhaul at a main station with it installed it will be detected. If it's detected you will get a bounty and it will be confiscated (on docking it it was detected in space). What do you think?

phkb wrote:

<many ideas>

Once my Towbar got a very good opinion in an Oolite review: "an example to the opportunities available only restricted by the imagination of those creating, or thinking of new ideas".
I think your plans deserves the same, so go ahead!

Thanks, Norby. I guess I should just get on and write the thing, eh?

OK, technical questions start...now! (Wait... I think I just had déjà vu)

Is it possible to determine when the player dumps cargo? The cargoDumpedNearby doesn't appear to fire for the player ship.

phkb wrote:

Is it possible to determine when the player dumps cargo? The cargoDumpedNearby doesn't appear to fire for the player ship.

cargoDumpedNearby isn't sent to the ship dumping the cargo.

I've added a shipDumpedCargo event for tonight's build.

phkb wrote:

Is it possible to determine when the player dumps cargo?

Assuming other ships not so often dump cargo within 300m or other checks increase the odds that this cargo was on the player ship before but missing now. Most ships dump within 100m but Andromeda dump to 260m.

Thanks cim and Norby.

I know I can apply the updateLocalCommodityDefinition when defining a station, via the "market_script" property, but can I do that after the station has been defined? For instance, if I wanted to update the definition on the main station, is it just system.mainStation.marketScript = "myfile.js"?

The main station's own market is ignored and it uses the system market - use system.info.market_script to set that.

Thanks, cim! That's saved me a lot of hair-pulling!

OK, hair-pulling has now commenced...

The only way I found I could set the market script was through a plist file of some sort (I'm using planetinfo.plist at the moment). I tried doing it through the systemWillPopulate and attempting to set "system.info.market_script" but nothing ever happened. Is that right?

And if I use planetinfo.plist, should I do it this way: or is there a less of a "blunt-force-trauma" way to do it? Am I going to break something else by doing that? Or scratch that, what am I going to break by doing that?

Check how Bloomberg OXP does it.

phkb wrote:

I tried doing it through the systemWillPopulate and attempting to set "system.info.market_script" but nothing ever happened. Is that right?

The reason this doesn't (appear to) work is that by the time systemWillPopulate runs, you're already in the system and the system market has already been initialised. If you then leave and return to the system, the second time you enter it the market script will already be set and should run. Generally if you want to make changes to system.info you need to do it at latest in shipWillEnterWitchspace (when it isn't yet system.info as that's still the old system - you need to use System.infoForSystem(galaxy,destination) instead)

phkb wrote:

Or scratch that, what am I going to break by doing that?

It'll be incompatible with any other OXP which makes universal-level market changes, but that's going to be true by definition of this sort of OXP. Other than that it should be fine (and is a better way to apply the changes than by JS if you do want them to be applied to every system)