Oolite Bulletins

I am wondering if the type of cargo carried will influence the chance of pirates attacking me.

Is there anything written into the code that would make pirates ignore a food trader and go after a more lucrative profit from, say, a computer or luxury trader given that other factors were of equal standing (such as ship's capabilities)?

They may stand to make more profit at the local market of avaricious selfish greed depending on what they can ghoulishly forage using their vulture-like-fuel-scoops of pure, hateful malice from my broken and shattered ship and dreams; not that I am in any way bitter.

rollen wrote:

I am wondering if the type of cargo carried will influence the chance of pirates attacking me.

Is there anything written into the code that would make pirates ignore a food trader and go after a more lucrative profit from, say, a computer or luxury trader given that other factors were of equal standing (such as ship's capabilities)?

They may stand to make more profit at the local market of avaricious selfish greed depending on what they can ghoulishly forage using their vulture-like-fuel-scoops of pure, hateful malice from my broken and shattered ship and dreams; not that I am in any way bitter.

No, sorry. Pirates are like hyenas, they attack isolated traders preferably without escorts regardless of cargo. At the end of the day, beggars can't be choosers, and as the Captain would say: Any profit without expendature is good profit.

Captain Hesperus
"Happiness is finishing off a pirate Python with a full cargo bay that someone else has taken the pains to beat up for you."

Right, thanks. Tco'h! Whatever happened to the swashbuckling gentlemen of fortune?

(This prompts me to ask if anyone has ever written an OXP in the form of a galactic treasure hunt, that leads treasure seekers around from cryptic clue to a hoard of booty. A sort of "X-axis marks the Sun Spot" - but I won't because I am sure no one has and that is a terrible pun.)

Galactic Treasure Hunt?

It's a good idea for an oxp.

It would be one more reason to introduce "tavern" stations.

Some thoughts atm:

Squatted outdated stations at the side of the planet opposite to where the official Gal-Cop station resides.

Only in rich anarchies.

A shipyard that features illegal equipment not otherwise available.

The place for missions offered to offenders and even fugitives.

A place where you can save. (Pirates shouldn't be able to dock at GalCop stations - doing so should result in the ship being impounded and it's captain being send to work in the cafeteria at the Lave Pilot Academy for the rest of his life).

(Could also function as the local hub for illegal organizations such as the money lending monks).

Dr. Nil wrote:

Galactic Treasure Hunt?

It's a good idea for an oxp.

It would be one more reason to introduce "tavern" stations.

Some thoughts atm:

Squatted outdated stations at the opposite side of the planet than the official Gal-Cop station.

Only in rich anarchies.

A shipyard that features illegal equipment not otherwise available.

The place for missions offered to offenders and even fugitives.

A place where you can save. (Pirates shouldn't be able to dock at GalCop stations - doing so should result in the ship being impounded and it's captain being send to work in the cafeteria at the Lave Pilot Academy for the rest of his life).

(Could also function as the local hub for illegal organizations such as the money lending monks).

Definetely. After all, the whole RPG of piracy has an enormous amount of potential development. On a small scale we have treasure hunt with a bit of crytic brain-taxing problem solving and on the other hand we have rogue vendetta factions trying to capture a particular group of planetary systems such as "Capture planet X, Y, Z and Q from the Red Faction".

It would be good to have some functional AI coding that will enable you to hire a couple of mercenaries to tag along with on the capture the flag sorties - they don't have to be genius AI - just enough to know which side they are on.

Hmm...if someone does the OXP can they give me a parrot to talk to when I am waiting to dock?

That sounds like a great idea!

In addition to Dr. Nil's suggestions:
-They should sell illegal goods (slaves, narcotics, firearms) very cheap.
-Scooping up escape pods and bringing them here gives much higher profit than the insurance pays when you take them to galcop stations.
-Pilots with clean legal status will be attacked on sight. No witnesses wanted

Yes, and if you can win control over a sector you can then earn protection money from it by defending it against attacks of rival gangs!

On the other hand I think that the idea of a few hidden treasures dotted around the glaxy would be great. An OXP could have certain trails that you pick up from visiting the right space station. This will take you on a trail from planet to planet with some cunningly designed clues. The booty at the end? Maybe a ship or quantity of cargo or perhaps a hidden system with the forementioned tavern stations, illegal equipment, dangerous missions and perhaps more contact / interaction with alien life.

"Calling Mr. LittleBear, Calling Mr. LittleBear... Mr. LittleBear there's an oxp here just clamouring for your attention..."

Thinking of the original Elite, I think your cargo did affect the pirate activity around you. Loading up with narcotics and then jumping into some unsavory system was a great way to accumulate some kills...

The only thing I can think of naming a piracy OXP would be "The Pirates of PenZaonce" and I can only apologise for such a terrible joke.

Put that man out of the airlock right now!

Agreed - its the kindest thing to do in the circumstances.
BTW I haven't got enough cash for an advanced scanner yet but does owning one mean that you can scan cargoes of other ships to see what they are carrying?

I had an idea for a mission while I was doing Executive SpaceWays - not so much of a treasure hunt but more of a 'One of Our Tridents Is Missing' adventure - which would start off as a glorified Contrictor hunt but then would develop into more of a political conspiracy and ultimately would decide the fate of a couple of systems (kind of like an Oolite version of 24). The trick though is coming up with decent clues rather than simply telling players where to go next, and encouraging some lateral thinking. Having background info on any relevant systems (e.g. the station at xx is known as a favourite meeting place for mercenaries, etc) could be used to build up the story and point people in the right direction. This can be put in-game via the planetinfo or just as a separate document. Also, it's always possible to provide a hint sheet or something to help people out rather than leave them to peek at the scripts.

I may have to dust off my notes and put some things together...

rollen wrote:

BTW I haven't got enough cash for an advanced scanner yet but does owning one mean that you can scan cargoes of other ships to see what they are carrying?

Sorry, unfortunately not. It's main use is you get to know the targetted ships legal status as well as a direction to target indicator. Details here.

I understand - thanks a lot.