Oolite Bulletins

In which a good trade counts toward the Elite rating, just as a 'good kill' does. Thus we humble pliers of the shuttle-runs avoid the stigma of remaining Harmless for the rest of our careers.

'Good' obviously needs to be defined.

I imagine it's doable (but easily?) as an OXP?

If so, would be happy to take a crack at it

(in which case, pointers in the right direction would be appreciated).

Reval wrote: ↑Sun Nov 08, 2020 6:22 am

In which a good trade counts toward the Elite rating, just as a 'good kill' does. Thus we humble pliers of the shuttle-runs avoid the stigma of remaining Harmless for the rest of our careers.

'Good' obviously needs to be defined.

I imagine it's doable (but easily?) as an OXP?

If so, would be happy to take a crack at it

(in which case, pointers in the right direction would be appreciated).

What's wrong with Spara's excellent Market Observer? http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/MarketObserver

Market Observer is great - a real 'desert island' OXP. I love it and use it all the time.

Unfortunately, it has its own separate rating system. I was referring to a hypothetical (as yet) OXP that awards points toward the Elite rating in the event of a good trade as opposed to a good kill (you know, Harmless, Mostly Harmless, Average, Competent etc.)

IMHO, Oolite is unfair to Space Grocers

Reval wrote: ↑Sun Nov 08, 2020 7:43 am

IMHO, Oolite is unfair to Space Grocers

Er, you do get credits though...

Besides generally paying much better than bounty hunting, trading soon also affords all the kit you're likely to need to (eventualy) advance up the ranks.

So a "good trade" facilitates a good combat... unless you're avoiding combat altogether that is?

All very true

Back in the day on 1.76 and 1.80, I made an iron-ass ship (Cobra Mk IV, IIRC) and went out after pirates and other miscreants. But note that I had to make this ship well nigh invulnerable to get anywhere. It was fun, in its way - but even back then very very tiring. Oolite NPCs manoeuvre - nothing like the old Elite and even FE where they at least obliged by staying on a straight course now and then... But now, yes, I tend to avoid combat deliberately because, with the passing of years, it's simply become too much of a strain on the eyes and the wrists to be enjoyable.

I still believe we pliers of the Milk Run deserve equal recompense with the hunters. There are Traders and there are Combateers, and I'm perforce firmly in the former camp now

I thought of an OXP that spawns pirates at the Witchpoint who are 'asleep on watch' - Jolly Rogered drunk and groggy. That's my idea of fun these days

Reval wrote: ↑Mon Nov 09, 2020 12:02 am

Jolly Rogered drunk and groggy. That's my idea of fun these days

I just wanted to quote that in isolation for my own childish amusement ...

Well there is some good news I believe in that the 'score' property (#kills which determines rank) is writable and can therefore be manipulated via oxp.

You'd need to be clear on what kind of trading gain equated to a kill.
For example

• Making 100Cr ?
• Selling to a new species (e.g. 'yellow bug eyed birds' rather than just 'birds)' ?
• Installing a new piece of equipment (investing profits) ?

Or indeed whatever you decide that can be easily logged within an oxp.

Redspear wrote: ↑Mon Nov 09, 2020 1:24 am

Well there is some good news I believe in that the 'score' property (#kills which determines rank) is writable and can therefore be manipulated via oxp.

Had a little decko at that last night as it happens. It looks promising. I'd have no intention of encroaching in any way on the wonderful Market Observer and Market Inquirer. Just something small and simple to balance the game a bit.

You'd need to be clear on what kind of trading gain equated to a kill.
For example

• Making 100Cr ?
• Selling to a new species (e.g. 'yellow bug eyed birds' rather than just 'birds)' ?
• Installing a new piece of equipment (investing profits) ?

Or indeed whatever you decide that can be easily logged within an oxp.

Yes, the definition of what constitutes a good trade will require thought. Profit/gain would have to be brought in line with the size of the ship making the trade.

Edit: I don't envisage a cumulative system like Market Observer (best to avoid savegame entries if at all possible), rather a conditional statement in the JS - a formula - to be evaluated on a one-off basis whenever a trade is made on the market. I don't know how feasible this is atm (will need to do a lot more Wiki'ing and asking here on the forum), but the mantra will be KISS

So initial input is welcomed from anybody right here.

But I like the idea of this OXP and may well give it a whirl once I know where I'm going to start.

... And (forgive my ignorance) the first question I'd have to ask would be -

Is there an event-handler for the player making a trade on the market?

Edit: Oops - found this in World scripts event handlers (a real treasure trove )

Related note but in the opposite direction. My presumption was that the Elite Ratings were hard coded and NOT writable. Having looked through all of the plist and JavaScript files in the resource folder nothing could be found suggesting otherwise. Unless, of course, something was missed, which is entirely possible. Yes, you can change the name of each rank in the description.plist but nothing was found that would allow you to change the numeric value that equals a particular rank. In other words 6400 kills will always equal a ranking of Elite with no variation to the number being possible.

Have no problem with that as the current numbers are fine for what they represent but would like to add additional rankings beyond what we have now. So if 6400 kills equals a rating of Elite then 12800 kills would equal a ranking of Elite with 1 Platinum Cluster, 25600 kills would equal a ranking of Elite with 2 Platinum Clusters, you get the idea. It would give the high kill count player something to strive for. If this is possible please inform me of how it can be done and work will begin. That is unless one of you who is much more talented in JavaScript Fu could bang out in an hour what would take me days, weeks, or months to get right.

Just a thought for those of us in the opposite realm of where Revel is at. Trading is all well and good, do a lot of it in my game along with a bit of mining when the need arises, but my meat and potatoes is Bounty Hunting which leads to a very high kill count. No progression beyond the 6400 Elite level leaves a bit to be desired. Can be completely lived with as is but some ranks beyond Elite would be a nice addition.

The actual ranks are probably hard-coded, but I know for a fact that the rank-names can be changed easily (I've done it), and player.score is read-write as redspear mentioned.