Oolite Bulletins

For my next trick, I'm currently working on an OXP to expand the cargo pods currently available for the game. Below is a list of what I've got done so far, and what I'm working on. Some are for additonal alternative pod content, and some are to add a little more realism to cargo scooping (so not everything is a positive for the player).

What I'm interested in is any additional ideas that anyone may have, as I'm starting to run out of inspiration...

Done so far:

• Fuel pod - basically a scoopable version of the fuel tank pylon add-on, adds 0-3.0 LY of witchspace fuel.
• Missile pod - scoopable missile, adds either standard (3 in 4) or ECM hardened (1 in 4) missile where there's pylon space.
• Empty pod - either an empty pod, or pod full of random worthless stuff.
• "Retry" pod - a pod that doesn't dock right, which ejects and you have to try scooping it again.
• "Jamming" pod - a pod which jams in the fuel scoops, disabling them.
• Big pods - two variants, pods containing either 1-10 tons/kg/grammes of item (containers), or 1-100 (bulk containers).
• Exploding pods - pods which blow up and breach cargo hold, with a 1 in 3 chance per pod in the hold of that pod being dumped into space before the breach is auto-sealed (player has to go retrieve is cargo again!).

Download via my box.net, the wiki (the links below) or from here. [/color]

Are you aware of Arexack-Heretic's Cargo & Wrecks? Some of the things you are mentioning here are already in that (like fuel-pods, and by the way some of them cause a fuel-leak instead of awarding fuel).

I like the retry- and the jamming-pod, and the exploding pod. Adding a little risk to the game is good. Not all OXPs should make things easier for the player (see Flying Dutchman.oxp).

(On a side-note: next to all the get-rich-fast schemes that have been developed recently I really would like to see a get-poor-fast scheme, just for a little variation. )

As far as big pods are concerned I have a question: What are you planning in respect to the player's (or any other scooper's) cargo capacity? Many players find it annoying that you already sometimes can scoop one pod more than actually fits into your cargo hold (happens if you're almost full and then scoop a couple of pods at once). But how would you explain that a ship with let's say 5t cargo capacity could scoop a pod which contains 10t (or even 100t) of cargo? And would that ship be able to repeat this five times, ending up with up to 500t of cargo in a 5t-cargo bay?

Thargoid wrote:

For the big pods, they're next on my list of things to tackle, so I haven't investigated things fully to see how the game reacts to a pod trying to add more cargo than the player has space for. But there are ways to check capacity I think, so it should work.

At the moment, no. But the ways will be there in the next release.

OK, after some playing about, the oxp (pods.oxp) is ready for some real-world testing. Along similar lines to Cargo & Wrecks (the two should be fully compatible), but a different interpretation and does a few different things too:

It features the following pods, some nice, some less so:

• Fuel pod - transfers between 0 and 3.0 ly of fuel. Occasionally the fuel is contaminated, requiring the whole tank be cleaned out.
• Bulk container - larger capacity pod, carrying up to 10t of cargo, 100t 100kg of precious metals (gold/platinum) or 200g of gems.
• Missile pod - a free missile, if you've a pylon to put it on. Usually a standard one, but sometimes an ECM hardened one.
• Empty pod - exactly what it says. Either a pod full of nothing, or something worthless.
• Retry pod - one of those annoying pods that won't scoop right. If at first you don't succeed, try try again!
• Jam pod - no, not a pod full of jam, but one that sticks in the scoops, disabling them until it can be dislodged at the next docking.

I'm releasing this at version 0.20 as I'm sure once I do I'll think of some other pods to add, or people may suggest some. The exploding pod mentioned above won't appear, as the current JS implementation won't let it work right. (or will it... )

Lastly the important bit - you can grab it here.

Oh and I'm going to make an add-on to do the UPS pods from UPS Courier oxp too, when I get a minute, now available here.

Edit - tons, kilogrammes, who cares in space
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100t of precious metals! Now that's a pod I wanna scoop!

Leave that pod alone Sir. It's mine I tell you, all mine!

i´m pretty sure if i scoop that jam pod, 35 times in a cobra with an extra large cargo bay... i´m gonna wind up with 35 tons of nothing, since if my memory serves me correct.. 1 ton is substracted from your free store of cargo room, each time you scoop something....

Tested it, nope,it didnt accumulate one ton.. however it exploded on Ejection...

I think you can only scoop the jam pod once. Once scooped it jams your scoop preventing further scooping (effectively makes the scoop "damaged" for the rest of the trip - but is "undamaged" when the offending pod is removed once safely docked.)

hmm i meant that other pod, that cant be scooped.

And i actually spawned the jam pod.. and jep my fuel scoop got damaged..

now to test that other pod again...

Edit

it was the retry pod...
its ejected(spawned) the first time, but not the second time.

But it does not accumulate 1 ton either... good..

Great work Thargoid looking forward to a big payday or not as the case may be.

DaddyHoggy wrote:

100t of precious metals! Now that's a pod I wanna scoop!

OK, so I can't tell tons from kilogrammes

But even 100kg of platinum is worth the effort methinks