Oolite Bulletins

The idea to Anarchies.oxp derived from the A Pirates Joice-thread in the Suggestion Box.

Why not have another "flavour"-OXP, that does the same to Anarchy-systems that has been done before to Communist and Dictatorship-Systems? Adding a couple of system-typical features.

Together with that there was the idea of making the pirate-choice (the choice of each player to go for a career as a pirate rather than a trader) more credible. Up to now it's not very credible, due to the way Oolite handles the player's legal rating.

For now the OXP is still in the early stages of development, but it already does some things, not only to Anarchy-systems, but also to general gameplay.

So what does it do?

1) First of all it changes the legal rating system in Oolite. If you are a FUGITIVE, you will remain FUGITIVE for a long time, much longer than the couple of jumps that used to clear your record without this OXP.

2) Up to now there was also the easy way out of your legal trouble: Buy yourself an escape pod, use it, and you will get a brand-new ship together with a CLEAR legal status for only a handful of credits. That is not going to work again! Use your escape pod as much as you like. On arrival at the next safe station you still will be FUGITIVE.

3) On the other hand this OXP introduces a new way of coming to good terms with GalCop again: Help them to wipe the bad guys off the galaxy! Together with every bounty you collect you will get a (small!) bonus on your legal record. But don't expect that just blowing up a handful of pirates will make GalCop forget all the bad things you have done! This will take a LOT of kills. And in the meantime, while rewarding you for the occasional good deed, the cops will still come after you.

4) And then there are the Hacker Outposts. Found in some high techlevel Anarchies, if you follow a hint of a helpful henchman, these bunch of hackers offer you a Multipass. Technically that's a device that, if plugged into your ship's transponder, browses through GalCop's central database and clears your legal record. Together with the price of the device itself you have to pay for the sub-ether broadband connection to the database. For cleaning out a very long legal record the combined installation costs and connection-fees can mount up to as much as 8000 credits. Should you run out of cash before, be aware that there may be some nasty entries still left in the database.

5) There are Salvage Gangs in lower tech Anarchies that offer a similar service for a much lower price. But don't be surprised if there is a catch in the end!

That's all it does so far. What does it still need?

a) For now the Hackers and the Salvagers inhabit usual Rock Hermits. I would like them to have their own asteroid each.

Commander McLane wrote:

I imagine both to be bigger than the rock hermit and I envision both Hackers and Salvagers to live within the asteroid, in caved structures, but with some visible signs of their presence outside.

The Hacker Outpost should be fairly sophisticated, but in a do-it-yourself way. After all they are outlaws.

The Salvage Gangs rip off stranded ships (remember, they are living in Anarchy systems only) looking for usable parts, and when they see a nice ship flying by they surely could do something to make it strand. So also the visible technical structures on their asteroid should reflect that.

Killer Wolf already has offered to do the Hacker Outpost. Thanks a lot! Are there any volunteers for the Salvage Gang?

b) I would like to give both Hackers and Salvagers a specific defense ship in case their asteroids are attacked. Now I recall someone writing in another thread that there are lots of ships out there and available, that haven't been used for a specific purpose. I'd love to incorporate one or two of them in Anarchies.oxp, as Hackers' and Salvagers's ships. Are there any suggestions on which would be good ships for them? Or is there any ship-designer out there longing to have his ships used for them?

c) When the player docks with a Hacker Outpost for the first time he is met by Cap'n Hack, a sinister Fierce Furry Feline who introduces the hackers and the Multipass. I've tried to let him sound like a pirate, but I guess that could be done much better. After all I am no native English speaker or writer and my knowledge in visualizing slang is very limited. So I would like someone else to go over it, perhaps even completely redo it.

d) Of course like in Commies and Dictators the spacelines in Anarchies should be populated with some system-specific ships. I have got some ideas on that, but am neither a modeller nor a texturer myself. So I need some more help here.

Assuming that Anarchy-systems in Elite/Oolite are not systems that are governed by anarcho-syndicalists in Bakunin's tradition, but are more like what we use to call "failed states" in RealWorld, I can imagine a couple of ships that would be found in those systems:

1. Warlords (see Somalia, Afghanistan, Congo, etc.). They could be similar to commissar limousins in Commies, escorted.

2. Weapons Smugglers/Transports. As violent conflicts need to be fed they are to be found in any danger zone. Smugglers could use any ship, "official" weapons transports could be similar to the Armoured Transport 1 (perhaps an Armoured Transport 2?). Their likely cargo should of course be firearms.

3. GalCop Peacemaking/Peacekeeping Troups. In some of the most infamous Anarchy Systems GalCop could make attempts to restore peace and order. They would need Troups Transporters and some other ships.

4. Some kind of Factory and/or Mining Stations. Some Anarchies could be rich in natural resources, and in fact in RealWorld this richness in some cases is directly related to them being anarchies. Think of Zaire/Congo, which has been made an anarchy by various local and regional players exactly because of its rich natural resources, which seem to be easier to exploit when there is no strong central authority. (If you don't recall the news over the last decade or so, think of "Blood Diamond", which deals with that, I presume (haven't seen it myself).)

5. Therefore also some kind of Transport Ships, in order to export these natural resources (perhaps gold, platinum or gemstones).

6. Fighters to protect all those.

7. Humanitarian Helpers / Foreign Aid Ships / NGOs working in the danger zone.

8. Reporters, also working in the danger zone.

Myself I'm not able to do any of that. So the help of anybody who is interested is appreciated very much. What I can do however is working on the shipdata of these oxp-ships rather than their physical appearance, and spend some thoughts on their AIs.

Anarchies.oxp works as it is now, but I really see it as a torso. Without help by the community it'll never get hands and feet. In order to give you an impression of the work done so far I have uploaded it as version 0.1 to Oosat 2. So before joining me you can download it and see how it works so far (as soon as Winston has put it up). If you like it and want to support it, you're welcome on board!

Last but not least I want to give lots of thanks to all who have contributed so far: Julyy for the original "A Pirates Joice"-thread, Killer Wolf for a couple of very good suggestions that I could incorporate, Arexack_Heretic for a lot of very useful and practical advice, LittleBear for pointing me to BlackMonks as an example for some things I was trying to do, and all the others who contributed to the idea!

Commander McLane wrote:

When the player docks with a Hacker Outpost for the first time he is met by Cap'n Hack, a sinister Fierce Furry Feline who introduces the hackers and the Multipass. I've tried to let him sound like a pirate, but I guess that could be done much better. After all I am no native English speaker or writer and my knowledge in visualizing slang is very limited. So I would like someone else to go over it, perhaps even completely redo it.

PM me your text and I'll have a squizz, matey!

As for 'Blood Diamonds', they are actually any precious gems/metals that are mined by indentured slaves under the 'care' of military forces. The UN has banned their sale.

Captain Hesperus
"Shiver me hull plating! Splice the main drives!"

Aye, ye be havin a good idea thar for certain. arrr... Are ye lookin' for classic pirate slang? (Long John Silver). Or some mad phat hip-hop slang yo?

Commander McLane wrote:

When the player docks with a Hacker Outpost for the first time he is met by Cap'n Hack,

is that a reference to 'our' Capnhack? (Who (used to?) host Oosat1)


https://bb.oolite.space/profile.php? ... ofile&u=60

Commander McLane wrote:

Commander McLane wrote:

The Hacker Outpost should be fairly sophisticated, but in a do-it-yourself way. After all they are outlaws.

The Salvage Gangs rip off stranded ships (remember, they are living in Anarchy systems only) looking for usable parts, and when they see a nice ship flying by they surely could do something to make it strand. So also the visible technical structures on their asteroid should reflect that.

b) I would like to give both Hackers and Salvagers a specific defense ship in case their asteroids are attacked.

Are there any suggestions on which would be good ships for them? Or is there any ship-designer out there longing to have his ships used for them?

If they are salvagers, they wouldn't have custom ships. Atmost, mix the textures to make it look as if their ships have been patched with odd pieces of salvage.

Commander McLane wrote:

1. Warlords (see Somalia, Afghanistan, Congo, etc.). They could be similar to commissar limousins in Commies, escorted.

In realworld they use mercedes or APCs, depending on where tre're going... Their funds are tied to war against each other, no way they'd band together to create a new 'Zil' limo.
Can't you just create a decal to be patched over an Executive shuttle, a Fer-de-Lance or an Asp?

Commander McLane wrote:

2. Weapons Smugglers/Transports. As violent conflicts need to be fed they are to be found in any danger zone. Smugglers could use any ship, "official" weapons transports could be similar to the Armoured Transport 1 (perhaps an Armoured Transport 2?). Their likely cargo should of course be firearms.
5. Therefore also some kind of Transport Ships, in order to export these natural resources (perhaps gold, platinum or gemstones).
6. Fighters to protect all those.

It'd be the same ship. They'd go to the station, unload the weapons, load the goodies and jump out.
Instead, put an escorted Python or a Boa on a route from the slave mines to the station.

Generally speaking, anarchists and warlords wouldn't have R&D development, rather just buying/copying preexisting models.

Commander McLane wrote:

3. GalCop Peacemaking/Peacekeeping Troups. In some of the most infamous Anarchy Systems GalCop could make attempts to restore peace and order. They would need Troups Transporters and some other ships.

Use preexisting OXP military ships. It'd be nice to see them in action more often. Of course, the said OXP would have to be installed...

BTW, it's 'troops'. English isn't my native language either, and it's by having my errors pointed out that I manage to improve...

Commander McLane wrote:

4. Some kind of Factory and/or Mining Stations. Some Anarchies could be rich in natural resources, and in fact in RealWorld this richness in some cases is directly related to them being anarchies. Think of Zaire/Congo, which has been made an anarchy by various local and regional players exactly because of its rich natural resources, which seem to be easier to exploit when there is no strong central authority. (If you don't recall the news over the last decade or so, think of "Blood Diamond", which deals with that, I presume (haven't seen it myself).)

Modifying the Commies' factories and gulags would make the work much easier.

Commander McLane wrote:

7. Humanitarian Helpers / Foreign Aid Ships / NGOs working in the danger zone.

8. Reporters, also working in the danger zone.

Again, patch decals. These are civilians working with what they can get. I particularly remember the image of a car sprinting down sniper avenue on the siege of Sarajevo: a normal car, possibly rented, with 'TV' written on the whindshields in large duct tape letters. It most certainly was not a fully equipped TV mobile studio...

Hmm... I can see an argument for modifying how long it takes for your legal rating to reset (as long as it doesn't take ages - think that would be a bad thing, gameplay-wise). The escape-pod thing - again, I can see the argument, though for me that's part of the Elite experience. But I don't get how killing other bad guys for GalCop makes piracy a more credible option. Surely that's not piracy, but bounty hunting/assassination? And the 8,000CR thing - if that's what it costs to clear your name, what's the incentive to be bad in the first place?

What about, instead, having "safe havens" for pirates? Similar to the "pirate coves" we already have, but away from the main space lanes, and predominantly friendly towards the player (provided you're a pirate).

If you're an offender/fugitive, you could be sent a comms message from another pirate, offering you the chance to pay to have the havens' nav markers show up in your Advanced Space Compass. Then, after a hard day's pirating, you could fly to one of them, flog your ill-gotten gains to some dodgy back-of-a-lorry-type trader, refuel, swap tips on rich pickings in nearby systems, and generally go "Arr!" and "Avast!" to your heart's content. You could even have different, competing pirate factions, and "ranks" within them.

I reckon that would make the "pirate" option much cooler, and much more viable - and therefore credible. It addresses the main problem of piracy (aside from the obvious risks) - being able to land and sell the goods.

"And the 8,000CR thing - if that's what it costs to clear your name, what's the incentive to be bad in the first place? "

money. simple as that. i've been on trips where Ensoreus had 40+ tons of narcotics at 1.2c a tone, and Isinor took them off my hands at 90+ - do that a few times and the 8000 is a drop in the ocean. Narcotics are very fluctuable but things like firearms are almost a guaranteed 30+ a tone profit. i've been building up money to buy a Vampire MkII and loading up w/ cheap drugs and firearms really starts your profit margins motoring - believe me, it's a Hell of an incentive, if you're confident of docking and avoiding any Vipers while you've got the Fug status.

Agreed - that would make sense. But that's illegal trading as opposed to piracy, which I've always thought was the "intercepting traders, killing them and scooping their cargo" thing.

Thinking about it, piracy *can* be very profitable... I need to clarify my thoughts!

As it stands, *covert* piracy (where you never attack when any Vipers are around) is usually pretty lucrative - it's already "viable". *Overt* piracy (where you charge in whenever you feel like it) isn't - unless you're prepared to do a bit of sun-skimming for a while, which of course reduces your profits per trip.

Now, if, with this new OXP installed, you see a fat trader in the vicinity of some Vipers, and you're currently clean (or an offender, I guess), if you fire you know it'll eventually cost you thousands of credits. Plus you probably won't be able to dock and sell any goods for ages. Lack of incentive, no?

The only way I can see it working is if you have bases you can trade at while you're a fugitive (and probably these should enable you to save as well, which might be a bit of a problem). Then you'll be able to rack up the big profits which would make a life of *overt* piracy (paying 8,000CR at the end) worthwhile.

And if the contracts you get from GalCop (while they're also going after you?) are lucrative enough to justify an eventual 8,000CR payout, you'll still probably need somewhere to dock during the long period when you're a fugitive. (Which surely would never end, if GalCop are sending guys after you all the time - unless you never fight back, which would be boring.)

*EDIT* Actually, would the illegal-trading thing make sense? Because if you're paying 8,000CR to have your fugitive status wiped, that means you're a fugitive - so how would you dock to make any profits?

we touched on bits of this on another thread. someone said killing a ship when no one was around didn't affect your legal status. i'm sure in the original Eilite it idid : if i recall, i'm sure there was some guff in the manual about how your kills were broadcast to galcop via your gun camera, that's how they knew to give you a bounty etc. the subject of pirate bases came up too, i think the thread's in the Suggestions part of the forums.

By the way, you CAN still trade and dock if fugitive. you just have to run a possible gauntley of Vipers, and dock manually. the stations let you land, but sometimes, you get fined.

I've just had a look at that thread, and the manual:

Your kills are photographed and transmitted by TS ComDirect to the nearest GalCop Federal Law Center.

This does imply that you were (or should have been) "caught in the act" every time in the original game - but not necessarily. A photograph of a kill isn't going to tell you who the original attacker was; without that knowledge, how could the cops reasonably declare you a criminal?

Maybe that's how it worked in Elite and/or Frontier (can anyone remember?), but I happen to like how it is in Oolite.

The docking-while-a-fugitive thing, though... I'd forgotten you could do that, and I'm with Dr Nil (on the other thread) on this one - it just doesn't make sense.

Roberto wrote:

The docking-while-a-fugitive thing, though... I'd forgotten you could do that, and I'm with Dr Nil (on the other thread) on this one - it just doesn't make sense.

Tend to agree, though you are penalised by having to dock manually. Perhaps you should be savaged by a stream of vipers launched from the station, so you have to dock pretty fast to survive, and when you have docked, have an expensive maintainance/repar bill and face some sort of penalty, ie be fined/imprisoned/tortured .

it does seem a bit odd being able to dock as a fugitive - you'd think they'd let you in and then immediately arrest you - but it's perhaps no odder than the fact they encourage illicit trade by actively selling illegal goods. perhaps it can be explained by imagining the station will be taking a %age off trades? they might not make it easy for you, but if you make it in then they're (a) probbly gonna get a few quid off you in fines and (b) possibly take a skim off the dealings that go on there.

one thing i have noticed, is that the Viper response seems very subdued complared to Elite. i'm sure the things were spat out in constant procession if you shot at a Coriolis, here you have a pause, one or two Vipers, then nothing much else :-/

still, i'm making good money from gun running so i'm not gonna complain too much :-)

In combination with some legal ways to clean your repsheet,
(pay fine if offender, do time, favours for the magistrate etc)
I think I could write a missionscript, that replaces the current legal-status system and replaces it with a 'permanent' legal status specific to each system.

I would create mission_counters for each system(500), defaultvalue is zero.
(later add some complex rep-bookkeeping for global galactic reputation)
Upon entering a system, player legal-rep is reset to the value of the mission_counter.
Zero bounty kills increments this by a small amount (always!), when police notice this, normal legal-modifiers apply.
when leaving a system or docking, rep is saved by setting mission_counter_planetX = legal_status. (this also lowers it if the player has managed to find a hacker or pleased the police in some way.)

An X_jumps_timer can be used to decrement all rep-values by one with a certain frequency.

Galactic hyperspace resets the script and player can go along with a clean slate. (legalrep is intentionally not saved for galaxies.)

----
A pirate can quickly become wanted (dead, not alive) in all but the most lawless systems this way...

I like it! "I'm wanted in over 20 systems, so watch out!"

So, even if the cops don't catch you red-handed, you still get points?

A pirate can quickly become wanted (dead, not alive) in all but the most lawless systems this way...

What do you mean? If you attack traders, won't it still increase your rap sheet regardless of the system? Or will you disable this option on anarchies?

I mean in anarchies there are hackers and much less police around to harrass you when only an offender.

Also clearing legal rep by bribe may be scripted to be always possible in anarchies.
While some of the other political systems may vary in tolerance of 'youthfull impetiousness' from nowaynever to paying a fine to lower rep by X.