[WIP] Bounty system OXP

[phkb]

Umm...

*hastily scans source*

...I think so!

[Milo]

It appears you incorporated the optimizations from my second post but overlooked the functional changes in the first post: viewtopic.php?p=270557#p270557

[phkb]

D'oh!

I thought I'd picked up everything. Oh well. Adding the changes in now.

[Edit] And done. v0.10 has *all* the changes in it. (Unless my sleep-deprived brain has missed even more items!).

[dybal]

Code: Select all

Exception: ReferenceError: w is not defined
    Active script: BountySystem_WarrantScanner 0.10
    bountysystem_scanner.js, line 380:
    		var check = w.$checkBounty(p.target, true, p);

[phkb]

Thanks dybal. Fix in the next release. If you want a quick fix for your own environment in the meantime, just change the "w." to "this.". I'll hold off publishing again immediately in case you find anything else.

[dybal]

No hurry

[Milo]

In shipWillDockWithStation it should be this:

Code: Select all

		player.bounty += this.$calculateBounty(system.ID); // add instead of setting so other OXPs can update it (currently known: Broadcast Comms restores hidden bounty for players who surrendered to police)

Not this:

Code: Select all

		player.bounty = this.$calculateBounty(system.ID);

Aside from this, I only see the issue that dybal pointed out.

Er, wait... why is shipTargetAcquired in bountysystem_scanner.js setting doScan to true for _scannerMode zero? Shouldn't it only be scanning in manual mode (zero) if the player activates the primeable equipment? I think case 0 should be removed entirely. The range check is only relevant during the actual scanning process or when activating, we want to "activate" the scan in automatic mode regardless of distance, just "pause" it until we are in range.

[phkb]

In shipWillDockWithStation it should be this:

Code: Select all

	player.bounty += this.$calculateBounty(system.ID); // add instead of setting so other OXPs can update it (currently known: Broadcast Comms restores hidden bounty for players who surrendered to police)

Not this:

Code: Select all

	player.bounty = this.$calculateBounty(system.ID);

Err... that's already in there.

Er, wait... why is shipTargetAcquired in bountysystem_scanner.js setting doScan to true for _scannerMode zero? Shouldn't it only be scanning in manual mode (zero) if the player activates the primeable equipment? I think case 0 should be removed entirely. The range check is only relevant during the actual scanning process or when activating, we want to "activate" the scan in automatic mode regardless of distance, just "pause" it until we are in range.

Hmm. I refactored that code to make it easier to read, so I might have got it wrong. But I think that code is covering the scenario where the player is switching targets. If they start a scan on one ship, then target another ship, then retarget the first ship again, the _scannerMode 0 should be a valid check, if the ship is in range. Scratch that. Yep, looks like I got it wrong.

I think. I'll do some more testing shortly and confirm one way or another.

[Edit] OK, v0.11 is out to fix issues mentioned above.

[Bogatyr]

After some accidents (leaving weapons enabled while docking and brushing the trackpad which shot my lasers at the station) and some questionable decisions (defending my mother ship from police on an escort mission after he inexplicably decided to attack them [well they did get hostile after all]), I've been dealing with the consequences. The 60 day limit seems far too long, since it's really easy to get these severity 3 infractions.

I got a 3rd severity three in another system for no clear reason, and the explanation is entirely vague. I didn't shoot any ship or station, and I didn't launch with contraband. It may have been after I purchased "Pirate ID cleaner" and "GalCop scanner," (which don't have any option to uninstall that I can see).

I like having the most wanted list, but the OXP seems buggy (severity 3 infraction for no clear reason) and the 60-day countdown is far too long before you can pay off the penalty. Unfortunate, but I'll probably have to uninstall Bounty System. Or maybe hack it and reduce the days penalty, it's just not fun with that long of a time especially when the bounties get applied for seemingly no clear reason.

[phkb]

he 60 day limit seems far too long, since it's really easy to get these severity 3 infractions.

Would 30 days make more sense, do you think? The idea is for it to be inconvenient while adding to the in-game story, but not to the point of player frustration. If you want to try out the change, in the "bountysystem_core.js" file, on line 199, change

Code: Select all

payableIn: 60,

to

Code: Select all

payableIn: 30,

and you should be right to go.

It may have been after I purchased "Pirate ID cleaner" and "GalCop scanner," (which don't have any option to uninstall that I can see).

It looks like there's a subtle bug in the UPS Courier OXP (or maybe it was intentional - hard to say). The way it works now, if you get caught with the Police Scanner or Pirate ID Cleaner, it increments a single variable by 40 and 15 points respectively, and then hits the player with the total of that variable as bounty. But the variable is never cleared. So, if you got hit once having the Police Scanner for 40 points, and later on get caught with it again, you'll get hit with 80 points. Do it again and it will be 120 points. And the bounty system considers any bounty greater than 50 as a severity 3 offense.

The tricky thing the bounty system is trying to do is cater for every OXP that might whack the player with a bounty. I assumed most of the time the player would know why they were pinged, but it's clear that isn't always the case. I might have to be a bit more deliberate and scan all the OXP's that change player bounty and work out a way of making the messages clearer.

[Bogatyr]

Thanks for the reply. My impression is that when you're marked as an offender or fugitive, you pretty much can't do anything legal involving other ships (bounty hunt, escort, random hits assignments, basically anything that puts you around other ships), because of the risk of generating additional bounties if a cop wanders by, and that with Bounty System this state lasts for a long time. I've flown from one side of the galaxy (1) to the other on parcel runs, and I've just now reached the half-way mark on my initial severity 3's 60 day penalties. I think 30 days is more reasonable than 60, but it definitely is a point of frustration.

How can I get rid of the Pirate ID cleaner and GalCop scanner? They seem more or less useless, and apparently have a massive downside with Bounty System.

I like the additional factor with Bounty System of having to be careful, being wary of scans, planning visits to planets where you're still clean, etc.

I think maybe having other ways of paying one's debts faster would be nice. Getting Bounty System credit for cargo donations, rescue missions, killing thargoids, bounty hunting, assisting ships against pirates, scooping escape pods, etc., would go a long way to making it more fun. And perhaps making Bounty System crimes only those which are immediately and fully explainable (shooting stations, shooting other ships in range of the police, launching with contraband). Because if you don't know what you did to get a bounty, you can't modify your behavior. Maybe making all non-obvious infractions severity 1?

[Cholmondely]

We have the Bounty system's Warrant Scanner, the Police IFF Scanner Upgrade, the Bounty Scanner and the Vanilla game's "r" control for "activating the ident system".

If one is running the Bounty System how do all these interract? What do they each not do?

[Nite Owl]

Easier to tell you what each one does. Once you have that information then it is implied that the others DO NOT do what the others actually do.

Bounty System's Warrant Scanner - Scans a ship to see if it has a bounty in another system. If it does then that "other system" bounty is added to that ship's overall bounty so that you get more ₢ for that ship's destruction. Will also let you know the status of the offender/fugitive. This status can range from Trader (picked up a Bounty somehow but is still generally not evil) to Pirate to Assassin to several other classifications best discovered for yourself. This bounty and status information will be displayed in an M.F.D. (OXZ)

Police I.F.F. Scanner Upgrade - Changes the scanner colors of ships with bounties to make them easier to identify. It does this by giving them two alternating scanner colors. One for ships with bounties above 50 ₢ (major offenders, colors = orange and magenta) and one for ships with bounties between 1 ₢ and 49 ₢ (minor offenders, colors = yellow and orange). (OXZ)

Bounty Scanner - Attaches the actual bounty amount to the name of a ship, as in: <Ship_Name>: Bounty 32 cr. (OXP)

All of the above are the default settings and can be tweaked to your heart's content. All three of them will run well together as none of them do exactly the same thing.

Edit: added several missing pieces of information to make things clearer for future reference.

[Bogatyr]

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.

Then I was fighting a pack of offender Boas (usually very good money!) near a station, and somehow earned an offender status (bounty 7)...does Bounty System have a log where it details the source of infractions? Isn't fighting criminal status ships always legal?

[Nite Owl]

It is possible to work off your Bounties in other ways. Taking out Pirates while in view of some Vipers will reduce your Bounty. Not by a lot but if your Bounty was small to begin with then it is possible to work it off this way.

As to the pack of offender Boas it all depends on their status (see my previous post which has been edited). If they were Traders who just happened to pick up a small Bounty for a minor infraction and you start shooting them in front of Vipers or near a station then you might be considered the aggressor, especially if you fired first. It is best to have the Warrant Scanner pop up an M.F.D. so that you can check the status of your target before opening fire on it. If there is no clear Leader of the pack (the Police I.F.F. Scanner Upgrade can make this much easier to determine) be sure to Warrant Scan scan each one before you attack. There is generally at least one that will have a status that is different then the others. The majority will probably be unfortunate low Bounty traders but one or more might have the desired Pirate or Assassin status that you are looking for. Attack that one first and you will not incur a Bounty on yourself and it is more than likely that the rest of the low Bounty traders will then become hostile towards you allowing them to taken out regardless of where you are or who is watching. The converse is also true. If you are out in the middle of nowhere between planets or between the Witchspace Buoy and the Main Planet and no one is around to hear these low Bounty offenders scream... well you get the idea.

Having an Iron-Ass ship and being able to fly it well are key to being a Bounty Hunter. Still in all nothing beats Situational Awareness as the greatest key to being an extremely successful Bounty Hunter.