Oolite Bulletins

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Thu Dec 09, 2021 11:03 pm

...
Do not disembark. This is a naval base. While we may be interested in purchasing Thargoid technology, we do not otherwise buy goods or offer them for sale. If you have nothing of interest for us, please leave immediately.
...

tsoj wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 3:24 pm

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Thu Dec 09, 2021 11:03 pm

...
Do not disembark. This is a naval base. While we may be interested in purchasing Thargoid technology, we do not otherwise buy goods or offer them for sale. If you have nothing of interest for us, please leave immediately.
...

Here's a demo OXP. Currently, it works for all stations, which just makes it easier to test. Also, the timers are only 10 and 20 seconds, again, to make it easier to test.

There are a few differences compared to your specification. There is no option to immediately sell alien items after docking. Instead, there is a dialog when going to F8. There is no prison (I didn't manage to get the code from planet fall to work), now you will get a bounty and are forced to launch.

The timer resets when one sells alien items.

What could be problematic is that if saving the game is allowed at a HIMSN station, then the timer wouldn't work after reloading the game while being at a station. In case saving is possible, I might need to add some additional code.

Other things to do:
- finalize all the mission texts (can be found in the missiontext.plist file)
- maybe add background images?
- possibly add music?
- should this be done for all HIMSN stations and carriers? Should there be a difference depending on whether it's a carrier or a station?
- other changes/improvements?

I haven't used this OXP before, so I am not 100% sure what the role of stations and carriers is. Where do I find them?

Also, maybe somebody can enlighten me: For some reason when I switch to F8 and then the custom mission screen I added gets loaded, there is sometimes a "Press space commander", even though there are options to choose. Why is that and how can I fix that?

Her Imperial Majesty's Space Navy

When wormhole technology was discovered, the human race exploded outwards from the madness of ruined, massively overpopulated Terra (this had been the driving force behind the waves of generation ships). Rapidly colonising planet after planet, mankind spread throughout the Orion arm of the galaxy. In many cases, entire tribes or ethnic groups claimed whole planets, and imported their way of life and beliefs from Terra.

One such planet was Zaeredre, a green and pleasant world in a backwater sector that was to become known as the 'eight', and here arrived the remnants of the British people (an ethnically mixed, but somewhat reserved and insular race), who established a constitutional monarchy, in memory of a once-glorious imperial past. The first monarch of their new world was Her Imperial Majesty Queen Elizabeth XIV, descendant of a long line of so-called aristocracy, and it was she, in her royal wisdom, who established a small space navy - there was no GalCop at this time, and much uncertainty.

Neighbouring systems saw the benefits of this navy, and slowly, system by system, they all signed up for the security this offered them, and Her Imperial Majesty's Space Navy (HIMSN) gradually expanded and spread throughout the eight. When the Confederation of Feline Worlds was established some years later, the two forces forged what was to become an enduring alliance between humans and felines. After a period of stability, Erehwon, the gateway system that connected the eight to the rest of the Orion arm, went nova and all contact with Sol was lost, and the alliance came into it's own. Within fifteen standard years, they had established the Galactic Co-operative of Worlds, destined to become the main provider of system security, and the sole regulator of trade, throughout the eight, for centuries to come. The Thargoid invasion of 2851 forced GalCop to accept that a co-ordinated Military branch was needed, and they took the decision to form and mobilise a Galactic Navy. Their first step was to approach the handful of systems and sectors that already had Navies established. Some were keen to merge their forces with the new Galactic Navy, others less so.

HIMSN was one of those who decided against integration, instead opting to station a liason officer at GalCop Command and each Galactic Navy Sec-com station. This arrangement works well, allowing both Galactic Navy and HIMSN to operate independently while co-ordinating closely.

While Galactic Navy is keen to recruit reserves, HIMSN tends to draw its personnel from the Worlds and sectors it originated in, but has been known to selectively approach experienced Commanders for Special Ops missions.

The above is an adapted extract from the Oolite fiction Kaxgar by Cody, and is used with kind permission of the Author.

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 4:03 pm

Smivs gave a quote from Cody to try and amalgamate the two:

Cody wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 5:15 pm

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 4:03 pm

Smivs gave a quote from Cody to try and amalgamate the two:

Crikey, I had to go check to see exactly where Smivs' attempted amalgamation kicked in. It doesn't work (in my opinion).


I should add that we (the team) decided early on that the oxp would not be tied to any fiction.

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 7:17 pm

And his presumably fits with Xeptatl's Sword too.

Cody wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 8:18 pm

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 7:17 pm

And his presumably fits with Xeptatl's Sword too.

Testing my memory of XS here, but I think HIMSN's only appearance is in the grand finale (I might be wrong). I don't recall any mention of GN (which would fit with Smivs' dislike of GN). As for two versions of HIMSN, I think that would be over-complicating things. But you're the guv'nor!

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 9:34 pm

I'm just a dumb pilot who can barely dock.

tsoj wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 3:24 pm

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Thu Dec 09, 2021 11:03 pm

...
Do not disembark. This is a naval base. While we may be interested in purchasing Thargoid technology, we do not otherwise buy goods or offer them for sale. If you have nothing of interest for us, please leave immediately.
...

Here's a demo OXP. Currently, it works for all stations, which just makes it easier to test. Also, the timers are only 10 and 20 seconds, again, to make it easier to test.

There are a few differences compared to your specification. There is no option to immediately sell alien items after docking. Instead, there is a dialog when going to F8. There is no prison (I didn't manage to get the code from planet fall to work), now you will get a bounty and are forced to launch.

The timer resets when one sells alien items.

What could be problematic is that if saving the game is allowed at a HIMSN station, then the timer wouldn't work after reloading the game while being at a station. In case saving is possible, I might need to add some additional code.

Other things to do:
- finalize all the mission texts (can be found in the missiontext.plist file)
- maybe add background images?
- possibly add music?
- should this be done for all HIMSN stations and carriers? Should there be a difference depending on whether it's a carrier or a station?
- other changes/improvements?

I haven't used this OXP before, so I am not 100% sure what the role of stations and carriers is. Where do I find them?

Also, maybe somebody can enlighten me: For some reason when I switch to F8 and then the custom mission screen I added gets loaded, there is sometimes a "Press space commander", even though there are options to choose. Why is that and how can I fix that?

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Mon Dec 13, 2021 10:49 pm

Righty-ho. Had another stab. It feels excellent (to me - but let's see that Cody & Disembodied have to say).

One tweak, please. The eviction. Can we replace the text: "you got a bounty" with the following...

"You have illegally prolonged your stay despite warnings. You have been adjudged as an offender. You will be evicted NOW."

tsoj wrote: ↑Mon Dec 13, 2021 11:09 pm

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Mon Dec 13, 2021 10:49 pm

Righty-ho. Had another stab. It feels excellent (to me - but let's see that Cody & Disembodied have to say).

One tweak, please. The eviction. Can we replace the text: "you got a bounty" with the following...

"You have illegally prolonged your stay despite warnings. You have been adjudged as an offender. You will be evicted NOW."

That sounds much better! What about "Leave immediately or you will face consequences soon." and "However, in case you are in possession of alien items, we are willing to offer a premium price for them."? These were more meant as placeholders, too. Unfortunately, my English isn't so smooth, and so I thought you might find something that feels a bit more immersive.

Also, I peeked a little at the rest of the HIMSN code, and it seems like the Komodo carrier isn't currently used at all (the function that creates a carrier group is just never called, along with a few other parts such as "NavyLogisticsTransport" or "NavyMissileCorvette", if I didn't miss something). What's the intention for these parts? Is there a forum post describing the latest state of this OXP or what the immediate next goals are/were? Maybe I could continue a bit to make this feel more finished (though probably only in small bits).