Her Imperial Majesty's Space Navy

[Pleb]

Yes all Navy vessels carry 7ly of fuel. Looks like they were using more than 7ly of fuel though...

[Cody]

Not necessarily! Mind you, they probably should carry more fuel anyway - Viper Interceptors carry 16ly, I think.

[Pleb]

That could be changed. I just don't like the idea that NPCs get to carry more fuel than the player! Still it would probably be a better idea and would mean the patrols could travel further...

[cim]

That could be changed. I just don't like the idea that NPCs get to carry more fuel than the player! Still it would probably be a better idea and would mean the patrols could travel further...

A few other options for travelling further on normal tanks:
- the jump templates will sunskim if necessary. You should be able to set a destination system on the other side of the map and they'll get there, though it would take a couple of days of gameplay to watch them do it.
- send a few jump-capable ships in the patrol, have them rotate group leadership to whoever has enough fuel to make the jump, sunskim if they're all out of fuel.
- look around for installations nearer than the star: on some missions, docking at a rock hermit or even the main station to refuel may be fine (your world script will need to wait a suitable length of time and then relaunch the patrol, of course)

[Gimi]

That could be changed. I just don't like the idea that NPCs get to carry more fuel than the player! Still it would probably be a better idea and would mean the patrols could travel further...

A few other options for travelling further on normal tanks:
- the jump templates will sunskim if necessary. You should be able to set a destination system on the other side of the map and they'll get there, though it would take a couple of days of gameplay to watch them do it.
- send a few jump-capable ships in the patrol, have them rotate group leadership to whoever has enough fuel to make the jump, sunskim if they're all out of fuel.
- look around for installations nearer than the star: on some missions, docking at a rock hermit or even the main station to refuel may be fine (your world script will need to wait a suitable length of time and then relaunch the patrol, of course)

Is it possible to set some rules here.
From a military point of view, I would think that you would always have two ships jumping together. Principle being, you never operate alone. The the rest of the group would then follow in pairs, never leaving a unit alone on either side of the jump. Is this possible.

It would go:

Escort 1 and 2 jump.
Main body follow.
Escort 3 and 4 follow.

Not very fuel efficient, I know, but certainly something akin to a military SOP.

[Cody]

I think that may be a tactical error - it could lead to a divided/lesser force if an unplanned misjump is thrown into the equation.
Unless of course, Navy ships are not liable to unplanned misjumps - which wouldn't seem right, would it?

[Zireael]

Okay, I've finally managed to produce a test AI script along the lines of what cim suggested previously. I've removed the cruiser from the OXZ and I have also implemented the Boa CC as the missile corvette, the Anaconda as the logistics transport, the Constrictor as a spec ops recon and another as a heavy fighter/patrol (but neither will appear until after completing Constrictor Hunt and Thargoid Plans), and also if the player is hostile to the Navy there is a slight chance of being hunted down by spec ops Asps.

The test AI has only been applied to the patrol that will launch from the station when approaching it (providing you've completed Constrictor Hunt and Thargoid Plans). It will then launch to a nearby system (and I've tested so that if you get to its destination before it does it will arrive shortly after) and there it will either patrol this system or escort a logistics transport through the system. Once it's mission is complete it will return to it's home system and return to base. I've also implemented that if you happen to be in its home system roughly when it should have finished it's mission then you will see the patrol return, sometimes with all escorts, sometimes with some, sometimes with none!

Also Navy ships will only go after Thargoids and those that attack it now, but fugitives that approach the station will be considered hostile. I've also moved the stations so that they are a bit nearer to the sun and further away from the witch point, as they were a bit too near before.

So ideally I would like someone (or a few people) to try out this test AI script, by following the patrol that launches from the navy stations when you approach (but remember you must have completed the Constrictor Hunt and Thargoid Plans missions first). At the moment they will only perform a patrol mission or an escort mission, but this can later be expanded to other duties. Also only the patrols that launch from the navy station when the player approaches the navy station have this new test AI. The rest are using the same AI script as before, with just a few adjustments.

Download Test OXZ

This is amazing, if only I had time to help test...

[Diziet Sma]

I think that may be a tactical error - it could lead to a divided/lesser force if an unplanned misjump is thrown into the equation.
Unless of course, Navy ships are not liable to unplanned misjumps - which wouldn't seem right, would it?

I dunno.. that kind of formation should still be able to all jump using a single wormhole, I'd imagine..

[Cody]

Yeah - but I understood Gimi to mean two/three parallel jumps...

Escort 1 and 2 jump.
Main body follow.
Escort 3 and 4 follow.

Not very fuel efficient, I know, but certainly something akin to a military SOP.

... perhaps I read it wrong?

[Diziet Sma]

I think it was me who read it wrong, given the part you bolded..

[Gimi]

I think that may be a tactical error - it could lead to a divided/lesser force if an unplanned misjump is thrown into the equation.
Unless of course, Navy ships are not liable to unplanned misjumps - which wouldn't seem right, would it?

What are the chances of a misjump for the player with a well maintained drive. I would assume that the Navy maintain their ships well.
Space travel is dangerous, but I think it would be wrong to plan and operate based on the chance of an unintended misjump, and I think two jump clouds close to each other would be a great hint to the player that the Navy just left.

Edit: @Diziet Sma: I was thinking parallel jumps.

[Cody]

Hmm... a patrol, out in the deep, possibly having to react swiftly to circumstance, perhaps making multiple jumps (as they do now).
It could be a long time between visits to a Naval base... and fuel in the tanks of the jump-capable ships could become critical too.

[cim]

What are the chances of a misjump for the player with a well maintained drive.

About 1 in 200, though only a fraction of those will be actual misjumps rather than power surges blowing out systems at the initialisation stage, or causing fuel leaks afterwards. (Exactly what fraction is quite a complicated formula dependent on ship class)

Of course, an organisation dedicated to fighting the Thargoids might find it suffered rather more misjumps for reasons other than drive failure...

EDIT: another thought - multiple entry points close together can still give exit points scattered around the witchpoint one the other side. The second group will probably come out of witchspace 5-15km away from the first group. There are times this is tactically advantageous and times it would be really inconvenient.

[Gimi]

What are the chances of a misjump for the player with a well maintained drive.

About 1 in 200, though only a fraction of those will be actual misjumps rather than power surges blowing out systems at the initialisation stage, or causing fuel leaks afterwards. (Exactly what fraction is quite a complicated formula dependent on ship class)

Of course, an organisation dedicated to fighting the Thargoids might find it suffered rather more misjumps for reasons other than drive failure...

EDIT: another thought - multiple entry points close together can still give exit points scattered around the witchpoint one the other side. The second group will probably come out of witchspace 5-15km away from the first group. There are times this is tactically advantageous and times it would be really inconvenient.

Ok, so it should be based on a risk assessment. For now, if it's possible and because it would be a cool effect, I'm going to ask for parallel jumps.

[Pleb]

Ok, so it should be based on a risk assessment. For now, if it's possible and because it would be a cool effect, I'm going to ask for parallel jumps.

Not sure how to go about this one. The group can split into 2 or 3 and jump separately, but then getting them to join back together on the other side might be tricky...