Oolite Bulletins

And it will be so

I just uploaded version 1.3.5 op UPS-courier.

New additions:

- When the transport OXP is installed UPS will add sometimes ships from this OXP with his solar missions.

- Most mission-offers now have the possibility to see the long-range chart first, before accepting.

Eric Walch wrote:

I just uploaded version 1.3.5 op UPS-courier.
- Most mission-offers now have the possibility to see the long-range chart first, before accepting.

What a lovely addition for both Galactic Navy and Random hits

Yesterday I discovered that the personal escort in the JS version of UPS was not working. I used a "lessthen" were a "greaterthen" was needed. This resulted that this escorts expired even before their first launch.

Nobody noticed this or nobody is as far that they can hire this escort? Anyhow, the escorts are just mend as a joke, introduced after a discussion in another forum "how to waist money". They do their work, but they only fly at regular speed so you have to fly painful slow or loose them.

Other new things are the display of ship models during mission offer. I already wanted to do this in version 1.00 but the UPS picture was always covering the ship models. I was sure I could not display both until I worked on Military Fiasco. Murgh was displaying both a picture and a model in there so it was possible. The trick was leaving the picture completely transparent and only using the alpha channel of the xxx.png.

And some variation stuff after selected mission endings.

Version 1.3.6 is now on the Wiki.

After searching why I never got documents to transport anymore I found out why: There is a bug that stopped mission selection for the documents. Must have been there since the first JS translation. The missions were tested but never the selector itself. Other missions are still fine. Bug is solved in version 1.3.7. and uploaded on the wiki.

In the meantime I also added UPS barrels for the variation in the game. Some UPS missions will use them, but they will also be used by the system populator as general barrels.

Yesterday I encountered a nasty bug in UPS, introduced in the translation to JS. It is in the in mission that delivers some secret documents to a solar station. This mission starts the following solar missions.

In the Java Script version of UPS the transfer of the location to the solar missions is wrong. I store the planet number where the name should have been. It results in not getting a name but number in the briefing and also UPS is not able to set a mark on the system or add the solar station in the system.

Please download version 1.3.8 were this bug is corrected. For those who have already started the first solar mission and have the wrong system variables in the savefile I added code that will be able to restore the correct location. The system name will be restored when entering the target system itself.

To soften the trouble I added a new mission I just finished writing and testing. It makes use of some of the new scripting features. You need to have "commies.oxp" installed for this mission to get the transport offer to the astro-factory.

Technical detail: In the old scripting system you needed to add a copy of a ship with an altered AI file when you wanted the ship to do special things. With JS I can just add a bunch of generic pirates near the astro factory, call a function that generates a list of standard pirates in a specified range around the astro-factory and give only those pirates in the list a special AI. And when the player launches from the factory the pirates in the list get a new AI file attached to change their behaviour for the new situation.

UPS-Courier 1.3.8

I just uploaded version 1.4.0 of UPS. (see link below)

This version will NOT run on Oolite 1.70, only on 1.71 or 1.65

1.70 users can still download version 1.3.8

No changes, only compatibility changes for Oolite 1.71. Recommended for 1.71 users. Older UPS versions will not work properly on 1.71.

Eric: Just downloaded v1.4.0 and noticed that you've put the readme into the OXP, instead of wrapping everything up in a folder (and contrary to what you are writing in the Installing and Playing-section in the wiki).

I just want to remind you that this is Mac-user-unfriendly. Please return to the better system of earlier versions.

Thank you!

UPS OXP is really cool, but .... the payment is hilarous. Multiply it by ten and its even worth doing the missions.

(You have to get money to repair all those damaged parts from fights. I sometimes wonder, why the payments are less then my costs ..... not really realistic doing it ...)

krombart wrote:

UI sometimes wonder, why the payments are less then my costs ..... not really realistic doing it ...

"Realistic" is not the same as "financially worthwhile", as millions of slave-labourers in RealWorld™ will tell you.

krombart wrote:

UPS OXP is really cool, but .... the payment is hilarous. Multiply it by ten and its even worth doing the missions...

Delivery fee's for traders are just determined by the market. There are a lot of captains Jameson that will do the deliveries for that fee. Business of transporters is hard, otherwise every boy would become truck driver when he could earn loads of money with it.

The fee's are deliberately chosen so low that this oxp can not be used for starters to earn money in an other way than intended by the strict play. Earning money in a honest way has always been hard work. When you want easy money start hunting traders yourself. Or start contract killing as assassin.

The benefit of the missions is not only the pay-check but also the fact that the trade lanes are kept save. This is also a valuable good. Maybe not for the player individually but it is a good thing for the traders as community.

The best paying missions are in the slave series. There the player is not paid out in credits but in a good conscience of having liberated captured people. What better is there to get?

I just updated UPS-Courier.oxp to version 1.4.1 (see link below)

Mostly minor stuff for better adaptation to Oolite 1.71 Version 1.4.0 can still be used without problems.

- Bug message about conflicting mission offers is fixed.

- With 1.71 it became possible to spawn any cargo pods. Formerly only spawn scripted cargo did work. Were possible I now replaced the scripted cargo by normal cargo. (scripted cargo had its drawbacks: It gives double messages on screen when scooped by the player and when a NPC ship scoops it, it is gone forever. Normal cargo regenerates when the NPC ship is destroyed).

- In the suggestion area there was a question why traders only go to the main station. UPS already had two generic traders with role "trader" in it. (A boa mk2 and an anaconda) I now gave them a new AI script that gives them a 50% chance on every station that comes into scanner range that it will dock there. Station must have the "has_NPC_traffic" set or it will be ignored.

- Ahruman added in 1.71 the possibility to change the mission description from within any script. Now also the destroyed target ships and other situations will change the short mission description (F5-F5 screen) to the actual situation.

- The solar station that you encounter at some parts, now has a S-beacon for easier alignment for docking. (1.4.0 had accidentally the character N)

- A lot of other minor changes.

- Added a demo-script for other programmers. It is just a documented template for scripts that involve offering of missions.

Thanks a lot Eric, for the demo-script. Nice as always...

Just tried to extract the package in WinXP and ran into some error messages - apparently, the folders contain some Mac-specific files or folders that cause problems when extracted in Win...

The same happened with the Military Fiasco oxp...

Wolfwood wrote:

Just tried to extract the package in WinXP and ran into some error messages - apparently, the folders contain some Mac-specific files or folders that cause problems when extracted in Win...

But does it extract despite the error warning? Several Win.. extractors do recognise the mac specific stuff. In the past I used an other but the build in thing seems generally the best for window users.