Oolite Bulletins

Maybe people already know about these things?

Anyway, I am running the 1.68 on a MacBook Pro (intel).
I noticed that I can dock with a Thargoid carrier, either using the docking computer, or just heading for the docking port by hand -- that seems pretty weird. And once I do dock, they will trade with me, and even upgrade my ship! Maybe the bugs arent so smart.

The other weird thing, is that if I dock with a Constitution, which I think is from an OXP? I get half price lasers, no big deal rthere, however, if I replace an existing laser, I get the full price refunded -- therefore, I can get infinate money, well, 3000cr a time, just by replacing a mil laser with another mil laser. This is pretty much cheating, so once I noticed it, I stoped doing it, but maybe something should be changed?

Cmdr James wrote:

Maybe people already know about these things?

Anyway, I am running the 1.68 on a MacBook Pro (intel).
I noticed that I can dock with a Thargoid carrier, either using the docking computer, or just heading for the docking port by hand -- that seems pretty weird. And once I do dock, they will trade with me, and even upgrade my ship! Maybe the bugs arent so smart.

Hmmm. What seems to be amiss is the pic of a Thargoid on the dock screen, an nonsensical curse and a terminal case of 'Press Start Commander". Only, to do that it'd be necessary to use the setstateto:dead that LB has been asking for (and I also need). Any progress on that side, Ahruman?

Still, that gives an idea about a mission for the thargoid wars: pierce through a tharg fleet with a holdfull of marines and dock with the carrier.

Cmdr. Maegil wrote:

Only, to do that it'd be necessary to use the setstateto:dead that LB has been asking for (and I also need). Any progress on that side, Ahruman?

I don’t recall seeing that one in the scripting requests thread. (More broadly, no; there hasn’t been much progress in scripting.)

@Cmdr James: just to be clear, the Thargoid Carrier, like the Behemoths, is an OXP.

Cmdr James wrote:

so once I noticed it, I stoped doing it,

very wise, it can make you go blind!

I was going to use a set state to dead in black monks, so that if the player really "took the piss" and docked at a Monk Station with a loan that was months overdue or docked with a due loan with insufficent funds to pay, the Monks would execute him. But in the end it seemed more fun for the Monks to make him "walk the plank". All equipment and fuel removed and forceable launched from the station into the arms of a load of gunships!

Guess you could kill the player without a set state to dead, by putting a modified q-mine (no countdown) right by the docking port and using a launch from station. Player gets a q-mine blast in the face!

For the Thargoid carrier, could just add a bit of script starting with docked at station string = Thargoid carrier, display a mission briefing saying how you are just about to power down when you see hundreds of bugs carring metal cutters surrying towards your ship. You sensibley turn round and launch! Then have a launch from station. That'd stop you trading with them.

LittleBear wrote:

(everything)

And in regard to this topic has todo with exactly What ???

I think you Used the Trick to much went blind as TGHC said and clicked the wrong thread

EDIT... Ahhh Sry... I used the trick to much... I´m blind

Cmdr James wrote:

Maybe people already know about these things?

Anyway, I am running the 1.68 on a MacBook Pro (intel).
I noticed that I can dock with a Thargoid carrier, either using the docking computer, or just heading for the docking port by hand -- that seems pretty weird. And once I do dock, they will trade with me, and even upgrade my ship! Maybe the bugs arent so smart.

The other weird thing, is that if I dock with a Constitution, which I think is from an OXP? I get half price lasers, no big deal rthere, however, if I replace an existing laser, I get the full price refunded -- therefore, I can get infinate money, well, 3000cr a time, just by replacing a mil laser with another mil laser. This is pretty much cheating, so once I noticed it, I stoped doing it, but maybe something should be changed?

Hi, Cmdr James! Welcome to the boards and to this great game!

(Never mind the other guys, they don't bite, they just want to play .)

To your observations: At least the first part has nothing to do with 1.68. I always used to dock with Thargoid Carriers in 1.65. Everything that has a docking port is dockable by definition in the game. There could be a scripted encounter with the thargoids that would make it impossible to actually buy or sell something on the carrier (like launching you again immediatly), but so far there isn't. So you can dock and do what you want on the carrier unharmed.

The second point is strange. The selling prices should be multiplied with the same factor as the buying prices. As I don't have that OXP I can't check that, though. However if <key>equipment_price_factor</key> does not multiply the selling prices as well, then that's something Ahruman should look into.

Commander McLane wrote:

The second point is strange. The selling prices should be multiplied with the same factor as the buying prices. As I don't have that OXP I can't check that, though. However if <key>equipment_price_factor</key> does not multiply the selling prices as well, then that's something Ahruman should look into.

OK, so I know how to fix this PlayerEntity.m lines 5072-5088 should read something like
double refund = price_factor * [UNIVERSE getPriceForWeaponSystemWithKey:@"EQ_WEAPON_TWIN_PLASMA_CANNON"];
credits += refund


As Ive only been looking at the code for about 15 minutes, I am not 100% sure if there will be any problems with this change, but I might have a play. Anyone want to jump in and tell me this is the wrong thing to do?

Looks right, and I’ve applied the fix for my next check-in (which won’t be until I’m at home in a few days).

However, the question arises: should the trade-in value for old weapons be affected by the price factor all the time, or only when equipment_price_factor is less than one? The code seems to have been written on the assumption that it would be used to raise equipment cost, and buy back at normal prices. If the trade-in is always scaled by equipment_price_factor, it would be theoretically possible to buy an expensive weapon at a normal station, swap it out for something cheaper at a high-price station, and make money that way.

yes, good point. my initial post had said that I thought it was deliberately set like this (until, I decided not to get into that, and just talk about the solution) . I was thinking along these lines. It might make sense (although not true to Elite rules) that a refund is only for, say 60% of purchase price anyway.

I’m applying the change only for equipment_price_factor < 1 and leaving trade-in at 100% of normal price for now. I’m also making it impossible to set equipment_price_factor lower than 0.5 (which is rather low; I might bump that to 0.8).

An easy OXP fix would just be to add the the scipt for the a thargoid carrier a script that just did this:-

docked at station name = thargoid cariier. DO, display mission_brief_thargoid_eject, launchfromstation.

Just define "mission_brief_thargoid_eject" in mission text somthing like "You guide your ship through the massive docking bay and are about to power down./n/nSuddenly you see scores of Thargoids hurring towards your ship armed with cutting devices and toture implements. Quicky you hit the launch command and exit the carrier....".

The player docking just gets this message and is hurled out into space again!
[/code]

Another solution could be that when the player lands in the docking bay, the Thargoids attack, damaging some equipment, forcing the player to launch before his ship is dismantled.

Captain Hesperus

Or the Thargoid engineers go “Ooh, look, Alien Items!” and approach with cutting tools.

And a knife and fork!