Oolite Bulletins

Overview

This is a little project to create a series of OXP's to make some of the 'standard' ship equipment such as the HUD/Scanner, Witchspace Drive, Torus Drive, Shields, Main System Drive, and Core Energy Unit into visible equipment items that can be damaged in combat, giving reduced functionality until repaired in the normal way. These are intended for the experienced commander / masochist who wants to make their Ooniverse that little bit more difficult to live in and enjoys a frisson of fear in combat. They may also be useful additions to balance out advantages given to the player by other OXP's

Common Features

All of these OXP's create new visible equipment items that are listed on the ship's equipment manifest. They are installed automatically and for free to your existing ship and any new ship purchased. If damaged they can be repaired in the normal way at a station of any tech level. This technology is standard across all space faring vessels. Some of the items have variable repair costs depending on the size / speed of your ship. All items can also be repaired by third party methods such as Thargoid's Repair_Bots. All require Oolite version 1.76 or above.

Breakable HUD/IFF Scanner v 1.2

Version 1 released 25/6/11.
Version 1.1 released 10/7/11 - reduced repair cost and minor bug fix.
Version 1.2 released 5/5/12 - minor update for Ship_Storage_Helper.oxp compatibility.

Introduces equipment item "Standard HUD/IFF Scanner".

If damaged the HUD and Scanner flicker on and off at random until repaired. Repair Costs are 125 credits.

Download the Breakable HUD/IFF Scanner from https://www.box.com/s/21nnvjnox8xepi71zxgt

Breakable Shield Generators v 1.2

Version 1 released 10/7/11.
Version 1.1 released 22/4/12 - adds variable repair costs depending on ship size
Version 1.2 released 5/5/12 - minor update for Ship_Storage_Helper.oxp compatibility.

Introduces two equipment items "Primary Shield Generator - Fore" and ""Primary Shield Generator - Aft".

If you have a working Military Shield Enhancement or Shield Booster fitted the Primary Generators cannot be damaged. If either of the Primary Generators are damaged the respective shield will remain at zero strength until the Primary generator is repaired. If you have CommonsenseOTB's Shield_Equalizer_&_Capacitors_OXP (version 1.3+ only) and Shield Equalizer installed or Lone_Wolf's Shield Cycler (version 0.30.1+ only) installed this OXP will temporarily disable these equipment items if a Primary generator is damaged to avoid catastrophic shield/energy loss. Repair costs vary between 250 and 1000 credits depending on the size of your ship (cargo capacity and max energy are used as a proxy for size)

Download the Breakable Shield Generators from https://www.box.com/s/e9dliq1rs31ki1fygbrm

Breakable Witch Drive v1.3

Version 1.1 released 20/7/11 - tweak to prevent it being fitted to non-hyperspace capable ships.
Version 1.2 released 5/5/12 - minor update for Ship_Storage_Helper.oxp compatibility.
Version 1.3 released 30/06/12 – Added extra checks to stop timer showing warning message if a jump countdown with a damaged drive is aborted via escape capsule launch or docking.

Introduces equipment item "Thruspace Hyperdrive".

If damaged you can still attempt to jump between systems but there is a vastly increased chance of fuel leakage, unexplained jump failure and misjump. Repairs cost 300 credits.

Download the Breakable Witch Drive from https://www.box.com/s/2qqtzxqlg2lhfpdhsled

Breakable Torus Drive v1.1

Version 1 released 10/7/11.
Version 1.1 released 5/5/12 - minor update for Ship_Storage_Helper.oxp compatibility.

Introduces equipment item "Torus Drive".

If damaged you can still use the Torus/Jump drive but will be plagued with random malfunctions manifesting as unexplained mass-locking events. Repairs cost 125 credits.

Download the Breakable Torus Drive from https://www.box.com/s/rpz73iy6a6a99hmbudvr

Breakable Engines v 1.1

Version 1 released 22/4/12.
Version 1.1 released 5/5/12 - minor update for Ship_Storage_Helper.oxp compatibility.

Introduces equipment item "System Drive".

Cannot be damaged if there are working Fuel Injectors installed, and has a lower chance of damage that other Equipment Items in general. When damaged the engines are still usable, but further equipment damage and energy loss may be incurred if the player exceeds certain speeds. The threshold varies and the player is warned via a console message if they need to slow down. The Torus Drive (if working) can still be used normally.

Repair costs vary between 500 and 4000 credits depending on the maximum speed, cargo capacity and energy of your ship all of which relate to the size of the engine.

Download Breakable Engines from https://www.box.com/s/b5f2c146b30702f93480

Breakable Energy Unit v 1.1

Version 1 released 22/4/12
Version 1.1 released 5/5/12 - minor update for Ship_Storage_Helper.oxp compatibility.

Introduces Equipment Item "Core Energy Unit".

The ships energy banks are powered by a Core Energy Unit. This is well cushioned in the bowels of the ship and has a much lower chance of damage than other equipment items. It cannot be damaged whilst there is a working Naval Energy Unit or Extra Energy Unit installed. However if damaged the players energy banks will be stuck at the minimal level pending repairs. Lasers are inoperable, and shields will not recharge. Emergency auxiliary systems retain power to the controls, ships computer and drives (if working).

Repair costs vary between 375 credits and 1500 credits depending on the size of the ship's energy banks.

Download Breakable Energy Unit from https://www.box.com/s/11cacd898f0ee1ccc1a4

Count me in!

Oooh Exciting!

Gradually dying... (dieing? die-ing, rats, English is hard when you've had a couple of glasses of wine...)

...is always appreciated.

Fair play - the OXP will see see the light of day, probably over the weekend sometime after I've tested it thoroughly in real game/combat conditions.

Does 750 credits for repair, 1500 for a replacement unit sound reasonable? Repair or replacement will be available at all tech levels. Thargoids repair bots will fix it too.

Sounds cool.

Will it work with 1.74 though?

I don't think it will as written due to a change in JS methods for checking if equipment is installed from 1.75 onwards.

I've seen the split thread - I really think you should take the plunge and upgrade to 1.75 + and take the opportunity to spring clean - 198 OXP's - blimey.

OXP released - please see first post for read-me an download link.

I'm going to expand on this concept and use a similar method to make a Breakable WitchDrive - when damaged there is a chance of total jump-failure, and if the drive manages to open the wormhole an increased chance of mis-jump.

May also do the Torus Drive - again if damaged may intermittently cut out (speed varies from normal to x32 at random maybe....?)

And I'll have a good look at working out if I can script to simulate damage to the lasers (heads to the JS documentation scratching chin).

All of these will be individual OXP's so commanders can pick and choose how much more difficult they want to make their Oolife.

Capt. Murphy wrote:

May also do the Torus Drive - again if damaged may intermittently cut out (speed varies from normal to x32 at random maybe....?)

The player ship's speed is read-only (as are all ship's speeds) for JS. You may be able to do something with velocity, but that will be more difficult to get a convincing effect perhaps.

Cheers for that Thargoid.......I'll have a think about that one.

edit: Right, now working on Breakable Witch Drive, and Breakable Fore and Aft Shield Generators both of which are definitely doable. Likely to be ready next weekend.

Needing some investigation and probably not doable are Breakable Lasers, and Breakable Torus/Engines.

Breakable HUD/scanner definitely makes things tough. It's just taken me 4 attempts to make a Random Hits moderate kill, on the first 3 I lost the HUD and had to inject away blind...just the occasional flash of the scanner to tell me that the bad guys were still chasing me on injectors, but I had some fuel left.

I've been testing an oxp lately, which has a rather nasty bandit contained therein. I've taken to turning the entire hud off, and dogfighting with no instruments or crosshairs... just me, the bandit, and the glorious eye-candy of Oolite... fully immersed. The railgun seems to be a very effective weapon for this type of combat.

Use the force......... El Viejo......

Your next challenge is to beat him blind-folded.

Capt. Murphy wrote:

Use the force......... El Viejo......

Oh I do... I get my mojo workin'.

Capt. Murphy wrote:

Your next challenge is to beat him blind-folded.

Well... the bandit is cloaked.

Hey all,

3 additional releases made in this little series. Breakable Shield Generator, Witchspace Drive and Torus Drive. Breakable HUD/IFF Scanner has had a small update - see first post for info and download links.

Enjoy...

Just started using your Police Scanner and Escort girls, but don't really like having tons of different mods - any chance we'll see a bundle of the breakable equipment mods sometime soon?

Cheers for your hard work.