Oolite Bulletins

Path Description:
"So you’ve decided to become a Pirate and dump the rule of law for the life of freedom and renown. Well there are a few things you need to be getting straight in yer head boy, and the first thing be, that it’s not all guts and glory out there in the black, no mate, only a steel nerve, lightning reflexes, and a sharp wit will give you those. Do ya have what it take laddy to live the life of a Pirate?"
*****************************************************************************
As a Pirate your reputation an renown bring you benefits and hindrances.
The more you plunder, attack trade ships for cargo, the more your name gets out bringing higher bounties on your head, and a better chance the traders will dump and run instead of fighting. Also as your reputation grows, other lesser pirates may wish to join up with you. These pirates are treated like escorts but will stay as long as the plunder is good. A few bad hauls may see you with no back up.
since renown is tied to the price and rank of the pirate, only Rock Hermits and Anarchy systems will allow docking, and there still may be a fee.
As a pirate gains renown and a following, he can take over a Rock Hermit and use it as a base, or possibly a small station in an Anarchy system.

Path Bonuses:
Traders chance of dumping their cargo and running increases with rank.
NPC ships marked as pirates have a percentage chance to be friendly and even helpful to the player. This is directly tied to reputation on bounty amount of player in the current system.
Percentage chance to gain followers as rank grows. Treated as escorts, profit gains being the loyalty factor.
Anarchy Systems always see the player as neutral.
Chance to take over Rock Hermit or small station in Anarchy Systems to use a a base. Directly tied to Rank and number of followers. Target facility become Friendly treated as home system with bonuses to markets and services there. Also the more the player pirate gains in rank or reputation the more ships and equipment will become available in the home base.

Path Hindrances:
Outlawed in most systems depending on reputation.
Hunted by Bounty Hunters and GalCops and possibly GalNavy if reputation get high enough.
Can only dock at Rock Hermits and Anarchy systems

Specialty Equipment, and Gear:
EMC missiles, and weapons that have a shut down chance or escape pod launch chance. Manifest scanners, cargo stopper and spotter, some of the equipment used in the Smugglers OXZ.

Mission Ideas:
Trader/Miner hit missions on the BB to begin with to increase the players rank and reputation, basic hunt down, and retrieve cargoes, bonuses if trader dumps and runs, greater profits if trader ejects and ship is salvaged and escape pod is captured and sold as slave at Rock Hermit or Anarchy System.

Running Guns, Slaves and Narcotics missions between Anarchy to Rock Hermits in Corporate Systems.

Convoy Raids, Hitting a large convoy of traders and dealing with their escorts and retrieving their prized cargo.

Achieving a Stronghold: Taking over a Rock Hermit or small station in an Anarchy System.

Treasure Ship Hunt: Hunting down an allusive treasure ship who’s route is a highly held secret. Follow the clues to learn it’s route and then intercept, fight off it’s security escorts and gain the treasure.


OXZ’s I can think of off the top of my head that have items of factors that could be used to build or enhance the possibility of making this a more achievable occupation or path of pursuit:
Illegal Goods Tweaks
Bounty System
Random Hits
Smuggler of the Galactic Underworld
Manifest Scanner
Broad Cast Comms *(Special broadcast opptions to intimidate traders and miners into dumping cargo).
Escort Contracts
Escorts and Escort Deck
Fighters

Other Notes:
Seems that being a Pirate is kind of in the game but not a flushed out occupation or path within the game.
This is just some thoughts on how I perceive it could be done. I know that others here have more knowledge on the game mechanics and have ideas that can round this out and fine tune it into a real path of pustule in the game.

**(Oh and a few pirate skins for various ships would be an awesome addition and allow a player to customize their fleet.) Just a thought.

Look just about every path advertised in game literature has a start up mode or a defined path with oxz's to allow you to be that type of pilot except pirates. Smugglers are close, and you could possibly finagle it, but it would be so much cooler with an actual path way there.
*(Course at times I feel that most my suggestion are just not sticking to the wall. lol)

I do like the idea, very creative approach as well. While maybe not every part could be implemented I do agree that the career as a pirate deserves some more attention.

montana05 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 31, 2018 3:45 pm

I do like the idea, very creative approach as well. While maybe not every part could be implemented I do agree that the career as a pirate deserves some more attention.

Thank you. I tried to be as well thought out as I could with my limited understanding of the actual mechanics of the game.
Any ideas or thoughts you can throw this way would be most appreciated.
I really want to hear others thoughts on my ideas that I post on. I live alone and talking to my dogs about this stuff just dosen't cut it. lmao..

I agree with the general sentiment as well. One thing that makes it hard to profit as a pirate, or indeed bounty hunter, is (/are) repair costs - even, perhaps, given the repair nanobots equipment. It should be hard to make a living 'by the sword', but maybe not as a hard as it is at present.

BlackWolf wrote: ↑Wed Oct 31, 2018 10:49 pm

I really want to hear others thoughts on my ideas that I post on. I live alone and talking to my dogs about this stuff just dosen't cut it. lmao..

Okay, you asked for it: here are are some disorganized thoughts

To survive as a pirate, you need to be in a band. To profit as a pirate, you need to lead a band.

Pirates on sea die quickly, they're mostly thiefs having fled on sea, or escaped crew members. As it's hard to develop suddenly pilots abilities, one doesn't become a space pirat from a city thief. So a space pirate was at the beginning a space pilot, or a crew member. They might not live very long, either.

Space businessmen might turn pirate princes, when one of their endeavours turn sour

So... to live a space pirate life, you may need to go all the way and live a space pirate prince life!

And well, whoever else may lead a group of independent, unaffiliated ships?
Mercenaries. Corsairs. That's all.

Maybe a Pirate OXP could introduce these roles, and for this use all those nice other oxps you mentioned
Breaking news! The eight galaxies are overwhelmed with roaming pirates, corsairs and mercenaries! Will civilized order prevail against unadulterated chaos? Truth is, we don't know!

Day,

You are saying that it is realistic for it to be very hard for a pirate to survive as anything other than a member of a group, and for a pirate to profit substantially without being a leader of a group. Those ideas make sense. Does any OXP allow them, though?

UK_Eliter wrote: ↑Tue Nov 13, 2018 10:58 pm

Day,

You are saying that it is realistic for it to be very hard for a pirate to survive as anything other than a member of a group, and for a pirate to profit substantially without being a leader of a group. Those ideas make sense. Does any OXP allow them, though?

Exact.
Only Escort deck to my knowledge.
I don't even know if it's possible to be a pirate and to have an escort deck.

I would welcome such oxps

Escort Deck OXZ
Hired Guns OXZ
Smugglers - The Galactic Underworld OXZ
Spicy Rock Hermits OXZ
Stashes OXZ
Are a few OXZ's that I think could be pulled from or incorporated to build from to start with, or at least ideas.

So contemplating this a bit last night, and this is a base idea that I jotted down.

Oolite: "A Pirates Life" OXZ,

1.) OXZ flips the rolls of GalCops and Pirates towards the player.
Pirates will be neutral or friendly towards the player depending on "rank" and "bounty level/amount".
The greater the Rank or Bounty the more friendly the Pirates will be.
GalCops are always hostile towards the player.

2.) Rock Hermits, Space Bars, Casinos, Free Trade Zones, and Anarchy System Stations are the only safe ports.

3.) Every Rank up the player gains one escort. These escorts are a constant and represent pirate followers or gang members.
If their ship is destroyed and their escape pod rescued by the player, a new escort will spawn. If the escape pod is lost or
destroyed the escort is lost.
*(This allows for the chance to build up a gang, but does not guarantee the players success.)

Nice!

BlackWolf wrote: ↑Wed Nov 14, 2018 7:24 pm

1.) OXZ flips the rolls of GalCops and Pirates towards the player.
Pirates will be neutral or friendly towards the player depending on "rank" and "bounty level/amount".
The greater the Rank or Bounty the more friendly the Pirates will be.
GalCops are always hostile towards the player.

It could be nice that as soon as you're in the negative, reputation-wise, you're considered a pirate by the oxp, and as soon as you're in the positive, you're considered a not-pirate.

And this add a new path: the pirate redemption path!
Where you struggle to become positive again, without being killed by other pirates...

And this add a new path: the pirate redemption path!
Where you struggle to become positive again, without being killed by other pirates...

Actually it would just be nice to see the original idea in production.
Not trying to complicate it.
Trying to find the easiest or best way it could be done, if done at all.

BlackWolf wrote: ↑Thu Nov 15, 2018 7:10 pm

And this add a new path: the pirate redemption path!
Where you struggle to become positive again, without being killed by other pirates...

Actually it would just be nice to see the original idea in production.
Not trying to complicate it.
Trying to find the easiest or best way it could be done, if done at all.

The easiest way it could be done, as you wrote it yourself, is by "scoring".
The oxp must :
- calculate a pirate score for the player (something like a number between -10 and 10) depending on rank, bounty level, and why not other scores from other oxps (your score as a bounty hunter if it exists, perhaps) (that's the "scoring" part).
- recalculate that score depending on the evolutions of these other scores (rank, bounty level...) (that's the "listening" part)
- implementing behaviors depending on the score, and behavior changes depending on the score changing (that's the "executing" part), a bit more about this subject below.
- having the pirate score available for other oxps on-demand or via publication after subscription, allowing the other oxps to act depending on it (that's the "API" part)

Concerning the behaviors depending on the pirate score, there are 4 different types:
- simple programmed functions (as in javascript function) operated when the score change; a list is maintained by the oxp, and may be added to by other oxps (API),
- simple programmed recurrent functions, operated regularly; a list is maintained by the oxp, and may be added to by other oxps (API),
- simple programmed function operated at the universe demand (core Oolite events or another oxp) ; a list per event, maintained by the oxp, and may be added to by other OXPs (API),
- complex behaviors specific to the oxp.

Now, in such a system, your propositions are easy to implement:
- pirates/galcop/stations/systems/GalNavy friendliness/opposition towards the player could be changed (Question: is that possible in the Oolite javascript API?) when the pirate score change,
- GalNavy/Bounty Hunters friendliness/opposition towards the player could be changed through the relevant oxps when the pirate score change,
- station fee are calculated depending on your pirate score on the docking event (core Oolite events),
- escort number is changed (and checked?) when the pirate score change, and regularly to check the recent plunder ("These pirates are treated like escorts but will stay as long as the plunder is good."),
- "trader dump and run instead of fighting probability": I don't know if the probability is scriptable,
- "take over a station": this would be a specific OXP, similar in spirit to Home system : Home station. But you could script in the Pirate OXP the fact that when you destroy a Station, it becomes your Home Station , or "Directly tied to Rank and number of followers",
- "Target facility become Friendly treated as home system with bonuses to markets and services there.", "Also the more the player pirate gains in rank or reputation the more ships and equipment will become available in the home base.": Home Station OXP
- "Specialty Equipment, and Gear": in your Home Station, or in listed other stations, or station types.

Your other propositions are mainly:
- "EMC missiles, and weapons that have a shut down chance or escape pod launch chance.": that's equipment which will execute a javascript function depending on Oolite javascript event.
- missions,
- oxps dependencies.

Re-reading this post, I realize that:
- this system including "scoring+registering functions to influence scoring+registering to be informed of score modifications+scoring request/answer" is similar to the one I put into place in Diplomacy (well it was a scoring not of one player but of each System to System relation, but that's the same, really).
- this system could be put into its own utility OXP, and used by others.

Would that interest people?

I know that out of all the space exploration games that I have had the chance to sample and play over the years, this game, has the best chance of creating, or having a real pirate path option open to the player. It reality it's not that far from the smuggler option and could meld with that path quite well.

Before we get too carried away with design, it might be worth exploring what the game itself already does for us.

Here's a little OXP for testing purposes: PiratePlayer.oxp.zip. Extract the OXP folder to your Addons folder to use. What this OXP does is overwrite all the roleWeights you have as a player, making them "pirate". It would be interesting to see how the standard game reacts to you, as a player, if this mechanism is forced into the "pirate" position. Do police treat you differently? What about pirates and traders, how do they respond? If a few people could test what the current AI is capable of, when tweaked in this way, it will better inform us on whatever the next steps will be for additional AI's.

I can't really do a lot of gameplay testing at the moment, so it would be valuable to hear from others as to the impact of this tweak.

Please note: this OXP is for testing purposes only. Don't add this to your setup and save your game with this in place.