Oolite Bulletins

Bogatyr wrote: ↑Wed Jul 07, 2021 11:54 am

I had some bounties that had come payable, and I was starting to work my way through paying them off, when all of a sudden they all vanished, and I had a totally clean record.

This usually happens if some other OXP does a bounty reset (for instance the "Legal-Record Backdoor Hack Chip" from the Illegal Goods Tweak OXP).

Bogatyr wrote: ↑Wed Jul 07, 2021 11:54 am

near a station

I'm always wary of doing anything violent near a station. I've been on approach to the statin when one of the Hognose variants get kind of belligerent. They shoot me, yet I'm the one they tag with the bounty.

Thanks for the info. Situational awareness is great, but it begins with fully knowing the scenarios and rules under which bounties are assigned. I didn't know for example that shooting a low-bounty non-aggressive offender is considered an offense. Again, having the explanation be something other than "miscellaneous minor offenses" makes it possible to learn by trial and error. As it is now, it's just a big question mark which particular action caused which particular bounty.

I have an update in the pipeline that will hopefully reduce the number of misc offences. Just tied up with a couple of other updates.

phkb wrote: ↑Wed Jul 07, 2021 11:31 pm

This usually happens if some other OXP does a bounty reset (for instance the "Legal-Record Backdoor Hack Chip" from the Illegal Goods Tweak OXP).

Could this have been from the PirateID Cleaner equipment? Does it leave a log entry?

phkb wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 10:03 am

I have an update in the pipeline that will hopefully reduce the number of misc offences. Just tied up with a couple of other updates.

That would be great, I think it's a very good OXP in concept. It does keep one on one's toes if interested in "clean" assignments, while allowing one, if careful, to avoid notice in new systems.

Bogatyr wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 10:22 am

phkb wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 10:03 am

I have an update in the pipeline that will hopefully reduce the number of misc offences. Just tied up with a couple of other updates.

That would be great, I think it's a very good OXP in concept. It does keep one on one's toes if interested in "clean" assignments, while allowing one, if careful, to avoid notice in new systems.

I think that the offence reduction should be a player option. While it would be nice if everything in the future was fair, utopian and perfect, it seems utterly unlikely (unless one is lucky enough to live on Digebiti...). Just as the Elite ranking system includes kills by pirates and just as destroying a derelict counts as a kill (https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=20825), so too I would be amazed if the criminal system achieved fairness.

If you have a bounty and manage to dock at a GalCop station go to your F4 screen. Once there look for the Galcop Security Office or the Galcop Security Kiosk and select it. Once inside you can make a variety of choices but the ones you are looking for describe your bounties in the current system or across the current Galactic sector or across several Galactic sectors. Not all of the descriptions are detailed (phkb update pending) but should give you an idea of what you did to earn your bounty. This should allow you to avoid such situations in the future. There are several other interesting options at this Security location but it is best if you discover them for yourself.

Bogatyr wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 10:21 am

Could this have been from the PirateID Cleaner equipment? Does it leave a log entry?

Possibly. I think, if memory serves, the ID Cleaner cleans your bounty out of the current system, but puts it back when you leave, or something like that. I'll have to have a closer look to confirm.

As for leaving a log, probably not. Most OXP's set the player bounty by using player.ship.bounty = x;. The Bounty system reads the delta change, but has no idea where it came from or what it means. A better way is to use player.setBounty(new_bounty, "reason");. That gives the bounty system a fighting chance to work things out (or at least record what the bounty was for).

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 2:40 pm

I think that the offence reduction should be a player option.

Based on Bogatyr's suggestions, I'm adding into some of the GalCop missions an opportunity to reduce any bounty you might have. That might provide some other avenues for recovery.

Nite Owl wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 2:50 pm

If you have a bounty and manage to dock at a GalCop station go to your F4 screen. Once there look for the Galcop Security Office or the Galcop Security Kiosk and select it. Once inside you can make a variety of choices but the ones you are looking for describe your bounties in the current system or across the current Galactic sector or across several Galactic sectors. Not all of the descriptions are detailed (phkb update pending) but should give you an idea of what you did to earn your bounty. This should allow you to avoid such situations in the future. There are several other interesting options at this Security location but it is best if you discover them for yourself.

I know about all this -- I'm hitting cases where the reason seems un-knowable. No aggressive action, yet a new bounty for "miscellaneous minor offenses". For a system to be fun, there should be a way of learning, over time, what causes bounties and what does not. Otherwise it's just a source of frustration. And while that may be "realistic," it is not fun. Looking forwards to phkb's changes in this regard.

Having a bounty really restricts one's actions -- you can't take escort jobs, or any job that may require you not to just run away from all cops on sight. If one chooses that sort of life, that's one thing. But getting bounties without any way to know how you got them, and being stuck without any way to reduce them other than flying a ton of back-and-forth long hops to get to the point where one can pay, that's just frustration.

So, looking forwards to new changes. Having GalCop missions reduce bounties is a great option, too.

phkb wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 3:00 pm

Bogatyr wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 10:21 am

Could this have been from the PirateID Cleaner equipment? Does it leave a log entry?

Possibly. I think, if memory serves, the ID Cleaner cleans your bounty out of the current system, but puts it back when you leave, or something like that. I'll have to have a closer look to confirm.

As for leaving a log, probably not. Most OXP's set the player bounty by using player.ship.bounty = x;. The Bounty system reads the delta change, but has no idea where it came from or what it means. A better way is to use player.setBounty(new_bounty, "reason");. That gives the bounty system a fighting chance to work things out (or at least record what the bounty was for).

In my case, all my bounties, including high bounties which had several days left to pay, and all my minor bounties, suddenly vanished, and stayed gone. They did not reappear when I left the system where I noticed this, they stayed gone.

BTW, thanks again for this OXP, it's nice to have people working on extending the game!

Version 0.12 has just been released. In this version:

• Reduced the delay period for severity 3 offences to 30 days, and severity 2 offences to 10 days.
• All defined offence types should now be passed through to the logging routine.

phkb, have you seen this thread?

I have, but I wasn't sure it reach a definitely conclusion, other than it might be something to do with the way the police ships are targeting the player when scanning. I'm trying to avoid having special logic for police ships - I might have to explore putting the police AI on hold while doing a scan, so that the chances of a conflict are reduced.