Galactic Navy OXP - Mission Ideas Needed

[matt634]

I'll put it on my to do list

I've made updating this OXP my only respite from prepping for finals - only for an hour or two a day, and only when my brain can't absorb any more case law!

So far I've vastly improved the AI for both the SecCom Stations (they now launch Navy Shuttles) and Minesweepers (they actually respond to enemies instead of flying mindlessly towards their destination). Currently, still on the "to do list" - adding Characters to the Navy Shuttles (Ensigns, Lieutenants, Captains... with corresponding insurance payoffs) - a single mission in Galaxy 6 - news updates from the front lines when docked at a SecCom (using random [string-expansion] descriptions) - and finally, the ability to purchase War Bonds at SecComs (adds flavor and something to waste credits on, not sure what benefit if any I'll give the purchaser)

[Eric Walch]

Would it be possible to set the scavengers and shuttles launched by SecCom Stations to be medical ships and navy shuttles respectively?

No, Only for defenseShips you can specify with your own ships. But like Little Bear wrote you can work with the launchShipWithRole: function. The pause has no limitation but by making it to large is it will do nothing on updating for a long time. You can also use the rollD: function. I modified the Idle state of the normal stationAI.plist with a dice function. This function also has no limitation in size. The IDLE state will be called about every 20 seconds I think. So when you put a "rollD: 100" in the update it will generate a ROLL_1 as outcome only every 2000 seconds (this is every 33 minutes). By choosing a well designed value you should be able to launch just now and than a ship.

Code: Select all

    IDLE = {
        ATTACKED = (setTargetToPrimaryAggressor, increaseAlertLevel, "setStateTo: DEFENSE_MODE"); 
        "OFFENCE_COMMITTED" = (setTargetToFoundTarget, "markTargetForOffence: 15", launchDefenseShip, increaseAlertLevel); 
        ENTER = (); 
        EXIT = (); 
        "INCOMING_MISSILE" = (fireECM, increaseAlertLevel); 
        "ROLL_1" = ("launchShipWithRole: my_ship1"); 
        "ROLL_2" = ("launchShipWithRole: my_ship2"); 
        UPDATE = ("rollD: 100", decreaseAlertLevel, "setStateTo: CHECK_FOR_DEBRIS"); 
    };

[matt634]

I have another community question:

After poking around the script for the military.oxp (trying to figure out how to implement counters) I noticed Murg referred to the Navy as the Intergalactic Navy not the Galactic Navy. With all deference to the wiki, I think Intergalactic might be the correct term. Giles' Behemoths all sport name plates reading INB - [behemoth name], and after thinking about it, I assume INB stands for Intergalactic Navy Behemoth. And, as a more general point, the navy is operating in 8 different galaxies, so it truly is Intergalactic.

My question then: would the community be in favor of changing all references of Galactic Navy on the wiki to Intergalactic Navy?

[Roberto]

Hmm... I rather like Selezen's take on the eight "galaxies"...

Sometime early on between 2505 and 2696, the other seven galaxies were discovered, and the inhabitants of the Far Colonies expanded onto these areas. At the time of first discovery, these areas of space were thought to be separate galaxies, but it was soon discovered that the seven other zones were far-off areas of our own galaxy. By then the moniker ‘galaxy’ had become commonplace, so it remained in use.

...even though it seems unlikely that the early settlers couldn't figure out (at least roughly) where they were, with 26th-century astrometric software/computing power!

Logically, then, I would have to go for Galactic rather than Intergalactic - but I could live with the latter, given the "moniker that stuck" idea, and the human tendency towards exaggeration (witness the Americans' "World Series"!).

[matt634]

There's a world outside America?

[Roberto]

I was forgetting you're from Colorado There is indeed a world outside America, though we don't have Showtime or Panda Express We do, however, have Frazzles

[Commander McLane]

I think it is possible, if not probable, that, when the first thoughts about establishing a navy came about, people still believed they were in different galaxies. So in the first sketches it could have been named "Intergalactic" Navy. Which is a name that would even stick after the truth was discovered, that the eight "galaxies" are only distinct areas of our galaxy, especially if we take into consideration the aforementioned tendency to exaggeration.

I also can easily imagine that there is a certain amount of name confusion between "Intergalactic" and "Galactic", depending on who refers to it and on what occasion. Therefore I can live with encountering both nomenclatures.

*****

There's a world outside America?

Oh, there is! And the full truth is even more traumatizing: There is a world outside the "American Way of Life", outside the american cultural patterns, outside the First World! And it's big, it's huge, and it's completely different from Colorado in ways you can't even imagine!

(I can understand that many Americans, if they ever realize the existence of this world, are feeling frightened, and somehow threatened.)

[Cmdr. Maegil]

There's a world outside America?

Oh, there is! And the full truth is even more traumatizing: There is a world outside the "American Way of Life", outside the american cultural patterns, outside the First World! And it's big, it's huge, and it's completely different from Colorado in ways you can't even imagine!

That's the Divided States of Unamerica, from where all Unamerican things come...I live an Unamerican life, have Unamerican thoughts, eat Unamerican foods - and, lo, I pledge absolutely no alligance to the 'Stars and Stripes'...

(I can understand that many Americans, if they ever realize the existence of this world, are feeling frightened, and somehow threatened.)

You do't need a good preception to step on an ant hill, or to sit on it... But even if you do it on purpose, the end result is the same![/quote]

P.S: All in good fun, you yanks out there (yes, Texans and Californians included). I happen to have some good friends from your... part of the world?!
P.P.S: What do you call someone from Colorado? Colored?

[matt634]

P.S: All in good fun, you yanks out there

No worries, I just attribute it to hard feelings left over from 1776.

In any case, I think a discussion on whether America is a Great Country or the Greatest Country would seriously hijack the thread (can you imagine the outpouring of pages and pages lauding praise and respect). As for what do people from Colorado call themselves, this is something I found interesting when I moved to Colorado from Nebraska. They proudly term themselves Natives - they even have bumper stickers! I thought this was odd and often wonder what the real natives of Colorado, the Native Americans, think of this practice (not that there are many of them left).

Oh, people from Nebraska are Nebraskans.

[Cmdr. Maegil]

1776? I don't see why (or more correctly, how ) to blame or hold a grudge on you Yanks for the foundation of the Illuminati, and Adam Smith was a Scot. After all, back then you were busy playing your mischief with the Brits, and had your hands full...
By the way, I'm Brazilian, and we spared more natives than you.

I won't deny that the USA are a great country - but as for the title of "Greatest Country", sorry. It must go to the RUSSIAN FEDERATION!
You just can't argue with geography (unless propaganda has been overstepping its bounds on your school books even more than usual, but that's beside the point).

Anyway, Yank baiting is fun but tiresome after a while, and you're right about hijicking, so ~~ Back to topic!

[matt634]

A couple development notes:

First of all, my last final, and the conclusion of my first semester of law school is TOMORROW! So, I'll have infinitely more time to script and nothing to whine about .

I've made several changes since 1.6 - better AI for SecComs, Minesweepers, and shuttles. The shuttles now carry scoopable passengers which allows for the shady business of kidnapping - Navy insurance pays off huge for Admirals , not so much for Lieutenants.

The big changes, however, come from the three options now available at SecCom stations. The first two are mostly finished. One is checking news briefs which is flavorful but doesn't effect gameplay. The second is buying Victory Bonds to fund the war effort. Purchase enough and the Navy starts treating you as a Patron with some nice benefits.

The third is not yet implemented but has been inspired by discussions with Commander Mclane, Littlebear's Random Hits OXP, and my own unreleased Warzone OXP. I plan on offering Reserve Duty at the SecComs much like a random hit at a space bar. But, instead of tracking down and eliminating a mark, you must help fight off a thargoid invasion of a planetary system. I hope to have an update incorporating all but the last element out by the middle of the week. The Reserve Duty option and one time mission in Galaxy 6 will take a bit longer to script out.

[Captain Hesperus]

First of all, my last final, and the conclusion of my first semester of law school is TOMORROW!

Good luck with that!

The third is not yet implemented but has been inspired by discussions with Commander Mclane, Littlebear's Random Hits OXP, and my own unreleased Warzone OXP. I plan on offering Reserve Duty at the SecComs much like a random hit at a space bar. But, instead of tracking down and eliminating a mark, you must help fight off a thargoid invasion of a planetary system. I hope to have an update incorporating all but the last element out by the middle of the week. The Reserve Duty option and one time mission in Galaxy 6 will take a bit longer to script out.

Good luck with that!

Captain Hesperus
"Okay, yesh. Maybe I have had a few drinksh, but I love you guysh!"

[matt634]

Alright, the next release is pretty much ready to go, but I've got one little bug in my script I can't figure out.

I use a counter to keep track of how many victory bonds a player buys and the number is displayed on a relevant mission text screen. I had to use "set: mission_vicbond_count 0" to keep the mission screen from displaying [mission_vicbond_count] instead of 0 the first time you dock. This method works fine when I test using the main station (too lazy to fly all the way to the SecCom), but when I change the script to use the SecCom I get [mission_vicbond_count] instead of 0. The only part of script I'm changing is "dockedAtMainStation_bool equal YES" to "dockedStationName_string equal Navy SecCom Station". What gives?

[Commander McLane]

I use a counter to keep track of how many victory bonds a player buys and the number is displayed on a relevant mission text screen. I had to use "set: mission_vicbond_count 0" to keep the mission screen from displaying [mission_vicbond_count] instead of 0 the first time you dock.

Yes, you have to do this to define the variable in the first place. The contents of undefined variables can, of course, not be displayed, so the variable-name is displayed instead.

This method works fine when I test using the main station (too lazy to fly all the way to the SecCom), but when I change the script to use the SecCom I get [mission_vicbond_count] instead of 0. The only part of script I'm changing is "dockedAtMainStation_bool equal YES" to "dockedStationName_string equal Navy SecCom Station". What gives?

The obvious reason would be that in this case the part of the script with the "set: mission_vicbond_count 0" was not executed. Where have you put it?

[Cmdr. Maegil]

...undefined variables can, of course, not....

The obvious reason...

Oh, my, didn't we woke up feeling slightly pedantic today?