[RELEASE] Towbar OXP v1.0

[Cmd Northgate]

Hi - Is anyone else having issues with parcel reputation being affected if you fail to deliver parcels that you salvage? The OXP says it shouldn't be affected.

I was thinking about reinstalling the OXP to see if it was a problem with the install rather than a bug in the program. Probably use a saved version of my Commander than use the live version so I can experiment a bit.

I really miss using the OXP, its great fun and adds another dimension to the games dynamics.

[Typhon]

Hello Norby,

Love the OXP!

One thing though: I notice its possible for the Constructor (from the Constructor Hunt mission) to be derelict and mined. Towing it in to a station (like I did first time) doesn't trigger the conditions for the Navy recognising that it has been destroyed.

Also it seems to be possible to mine a ship multiple times. I have some screenshots (no saved games alas) of a ship with "mined mined derelict" title (Which I think was because I detatched and reattached and restarted mining), and you can have multiple copies of the same package (I do have screenshots of that) - which maybe because I started and stopped mining several times.

Apart from that though, itowbar is a very good addition to Oolite. Thank you!

[Norby]

Thank you Typhoon for the report, I always love to hear feedbacks.
I added your observation into my list. There are many small things as you can read above what I should fix before the next release. Fortunately nothing serious which also mean unfortunately that nothing urgent so I can not forecast when will I go through the long this.

[QCS]

I have a problem with Towbar: my Laser Reductor only works directly after being bought. When I load a game, it does not work. I need to sell the Laser Reductor, then rebuy it, and it works until I load a game the next time. I have quite a few OXPs installed, and I suspect some incompatibility with one of the other OXPs, but I have no idea which one it could be.

[Norby]

Laser Reductor only works directly after being bought. When I load a game, it does not work.

Please prime and activate Towbar, then tell which message is appear about the status of the reductor. If it is just "off" then press again to turn it on and test whether it is working. if not then please tell me more about what you mean under not working.

[QCS]

Sorry I should have been more precise.

At all times, when I prime Towbar and activate it, it seems to work as expected ("No ship on towbar, Laser Reductor is ON/OFF").

However, it does not trigger whenever I shoot at a ship. My laser always destroys it.

After I sell the Laser Reductor, rebuy it, leave the station and shoot a victim, chance is quite high the laser reductor works and the ship enters derelict state. That's what I would expect at all times.

When I save the game, load it again, leave the station and shoot a victim, the laser reductor does not trigger again.

[Norby]

Please try to change the $TowbarDebug variable to true in Scripts/towbar.js, this will place many derelict ships before the station so you can test easily. If reductor is working then you should hear a different hit sound and after 10 hits (a second long salvo with beam or military laser) should display "Laser Reductor disabled for this ship". At least this happen at me after load game also.

I can not imagine any oxp incompatibility but if still happen in this situation also at you then please send the Latest.log of your test here. Before the test please install LogEvents in the Miscellaneous category to log the amount of caused damages so we will surely know if reductor is working or not.

[Cmd Northgate]

Hi - I tried reloading this Ship Miner, but still have the issue I encountered a while back.

It is whenever the game is saved, the collected parcel is duplicated.

So
Deliver Cemate's haversack (34. find) from Onisque to Learorce within 11 days... after a quick save becomes

Deliver Cemate's haversack (34. find) from Onisque to Learorce within 11 days...
Deliver Cemate's haversack (34. find) from Onisque to Learorce within 11 days...

[kcallis]

This evening I decided to use the Easy Start which gives me a Cobra III in Tionisla. After getting an Advanced Compass, I decided to do a tow-bar bar mission. Looking at the compass for once, I saw a T for the stranded ship, and decided to pull it on. I finished the tow and exited the game (I forgot to save). Not a problem, I head out to find the Moray, but this time when I start searching the compass, I find multiple "T" markers for planets, but nothing for the tow-bar ship. I followed many of the "T" markers, but they were in fact planets. So what can I do to actually, find the tow-bar ship?

[Norby]

We use the same marker letters for more targets because we have more targets than letters in the alphabet, as you can see here.

Depending on the state of your game you probably will get the mission again in another system or never. Another way is if you uninstall the Towbar OXP, then save your game, then reinstall the Towbar addon, and you probably will get the mission again.

What you surely can do is to find or make derelict ships, for example using lasers designed to this job, then tow these to the nearest station for good rewards.

[kcallis]

Thanks for the suggestion. I never thought about a derelict ship. I have left many a derelict ship and was never sure what to do with them... Now I know!

[kcallis]

We use the same marker letters for more targets because we have more targets than letters in the alphabet, as you can see here.

Depending on the state of your game you probably will get the mission again in another system or never. Another way is if you uninstall the Towbar OXP, then save your game, then reinstall the Towbar addon, and you probably will get the mission again.

What you surely can do is to find or make derelict ships, for example using lasers designed to this job, then tow these to the nearest station for good rewards.

Again, now that I have a free time again to play, I am still bothered by the Adv Compass and the use of T for the towbar missions. In you message, you pointed out the letters used for the targets, and I saw that the only use of the letter D was for Derelict ships. Couldn't the rescue towbar missions use the D indicator as well. That would allow for a single letter to cover both type of towbar missions. I also noticed that lower case letters were used for targets as well (ie g - GRS Buoy Repair Factory), so if no interests to use D, possibly change the target to a lower case.

Just a thought!

[Damocles Edge]

One thing I have noted is that when using ship miner & ship miner assistant with derelict ships I always instantly end up with damaged injectors (the only thing of late that I have changed is that I am also using ship configuration oxp - so there could be a conflict).
As a result I have decided to sell the towbar, miner & assistant in favour of using the escort deck that my python is equipped with and tug drone missiles for any ships that are too large for the escort deck.
Whilst you can buy a laser reductor to assist with ship salvaging without having a towbar you cannot activate the laser reductor without the towbar being installed.
Could it be considered to look into this possibility in any future version of this oxp please?

Many thanks.

[Norby]

you cannot activate the laser reductor without the towbar being installed.

The reductor is turned on by default, so it should work if equipped and not damaged. Just without towbar you can not deactivate it.

About a new version, well... I made many fixes long time ago but left unreleased in my disk due to probably a bit unfinished and surely not tested through. I guess it never will be released without help so here it is, just use it at your own responsibility.

Towbar_0.99.oxz

Changelog:
Increased payout for equipments and weapons during ship salvaging.
Towbar is not shown by default, just when tow a ship (retractable).
Mission failed screen appear correctly at load game when must finish without rest.
NPC will not fire missile at point-blank range before eject, thanks to Astrobe.
Fixed multiplied parcels, thanks to Cmd Northgate.
Removed "x. find" from parcel messages, suggested by Cmd Northgate.
Fixed Constrictor hunt problem, thanks to Captain Obvious.
First mission compatible with Escort Deck, thanks to Vincentz.
Fixed for very long ships like Worker's Commuter in Commies OXP, thanks to TheOldGamer.
Density of small-cargo1 raised to help scoop it with small ships, thanks to Bogatyr.
Tug Drone got collision handler, thanks to Hullblazer.
Ship Miner default mode changed to salvager as suggested by gt52.

[Damocles Edge]

Thanks Norby.

Laser reductor on by default is great for me.

I will download towbar v0.99 and do some play testing when I can.

Thanks to you again mate