Oolite Bulletins

interstellar_help v 2.0

An OXP for all people who like to see more ship-to-ship interaction in Oolite.

Introduction

Interstellar space is a treacherous territory, and misjumps are dangerous. It's not only what you may meet out there, it's the sheer fact that you may get stranded in the vast voids of interstellar space forever. Initiating a witchjump and creating the tunnel through witchspace consumes fuel. So if—for whatever reason—the tunnel collapses halfway on your journey to the next planet, you are thrown out somewhere in the middle of nowhere, in the vast realms of ghastly, pale green half-light, your fuel tanks nearly depleted, possibly with not enough fuel left to create another tunnel to the closest system.

Many pilots have just vanished without a trace in the boundless void. Some ships have said to be found drifting into the outer zones of an adjacent system—but only decades after their life support systems ran out of energy.

So the family of space-farers gets even closer together in the uncanny zone of interstellar space, where everybody is far away from home, and everybody may find himself at the mercy of fellow captains, or be lost in space forever. One for all, and all for one—although for anybody in the dire straits of need for fuel help comes with a price.

Overview

This OXP introduces some interaction with fellow commanders in interstellar space. You may meet another trader who got stuck in interstellar space who sends distress calls and asks for your help. He is willing to pay a good price for some fuel from your tanks, or for a ride in your wake. If you are in the mood to help him, just answer his call by flying towards him. You will have to get closer than 1000 meters in order to make clear that you are there for him.

He then will either be wanting to buy some fuel from you, or request to follow through your wormhole, after you have jumped to your destination. If you agree to sell him some of your fuel reserves, you just have to get very close to him. So close that he can scoop any of the fuel you are venting from your tanks. The process starts automatically, monitored by your ship's computer, as soon as you have approached him closely enough. If you want to end the transaction you just have to turn your nose away from his scoops. If you do not do so, he will take all the fuel you have until his tanks are completely filled. The usual price for a fuel transfer so far away from the next supplier is ten times what you would pay at a main station.

If he asks you for a witchspace ride, all you have to do is to jump to your current destination. After you have jumped to any system within your reach, he will follow you through your wormhole (note that he will not jump out at the exact same location as you; wormhole ends are a tiny little bit fuzzy, which means that ships leaving the same wormhole will all be somewhere in the vicinity of the witchpoint, but not at the exact same place). You will have earned the eternal gratitude of a fellow trader, and a financial reward, which will always be enough to cover your fuel costs for the jump.

But what if you are stuck in interstellar space yourself? Do not despair, if you are known to help fellow commanders in need, others will be willing to do the same for you. Just wait a little, there may be a ship approaching you with the offer to help you. Again you have to close in to him in order to accept the offer. Depending on his mood he may offer you to buy some of his fuel reserves, or to take a ride through his wormhole. This time it is you, of course, who has to pay the price.

Again, if you agreed on a fuel transaction, you have to get close enough to scoop the fuel he is going to vent from his tanks, and again your ship's computer takes care of monitoring the transaction. You can end the transfer anytime, by pointing your ship's nose (and therefore your fuel scoops) away from your donor. The transaction will also end if you run out of money. And your benefactor will not sell all his fuel—he is going to need some for his own journey, after all.

If the offer is to take a ride in his wormhole, he will initiate his jump and invite you to follow him. In that case you are supposed to pay him on the other side. Oh, in order to allow him to initiate the jump sequence it may be necessary that you get out of his way first.

In any case it would be considered very rude to shoot at your benefactor or try to extract his fuel otherwise. The attempt won't be successful.

Minimum Requirements

Interstellar_help.oxp requires at least Oolite 1.72.

Download Location

As long as I cannot put a new download link on the wiki, this OXP is available for download at http://www.box.net/shared/viqz8fhujv

Installation

Move or copy the file interstellar_help.oxp from this folder to the AddOns folder inside the Oolite main folder. Restart Oolite.

Getting stuck in the middle of Nowhere. It's a good reason to mount a drop tank or two; use a drop tank to have the fuel to deal with the inevitable Tharg warwagons, and if you're lucky enough gas to make it to a more-or-less civilized system. Now this OXP adds another reason to mount a couple of drop tanks.

Good going, McLane.

Or, if you're really brave, you can dock with a thargoid carrier...!

Not anymore in version 3.0, if I ever get it ready...

<It lives!>

Version 2.1 is now in the download manager. No functional changes over 2.0, just packaged as an OXZ. Commander McLane, let me know if you ever get to a 3.0 release and I'll hand control back to you!

Hi everybody,
is that a primeable equipment?

Hello, Josef!

Is what a primeable piece of equipment?

The electronic thumb is primable equipment that must be activated to use. It won't work in normal space or while cloaked.

Circumstances in interstellar space are a little different now, so I wonder how useful this oxp might be. But it's good that it lives!

The benefit of the electronic thumb, even in the current game, is that it brings the help to you, wherever you might have ended up, at the time you want it. No waiting around.

> The benefit of the electronic thumb, even in the current game, is that it brings the help to you, wherever you might have ended up, at the time you want it. No waiting around.

But it might bring more than help, too . .

<nods>

I have an unofficial tweaked version that makes the electronic thumb only show up in the equipment cycle when in interstellar space. I added a non-primeable variant of the equipment and scripted it to swap them at appropriate times. If there’s interest I can share the code in a week or so (I’m out of town at the moment).

Milo wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 7:22 pm

I have an unofficial tweaked version that makes the electronic thumb only show up in the equipment cycle when in interstellar space.

That’s a great idea. Send over the code when you get a chance and I’ll add it into the main pack.

'I have an unofficial tweaked version that makes the electronic thumb only show up in the equipment cycle when in interstellar space.' Ah, you mean in the primablility list. Yes, that seems a good idea.

Also, I think that the frequency of the ships approaching to help the fuelless, interstellar commanded should be reduced and indeed be (if it is not already) on a probability. Also, ideally, the would-be helpers would be somewhat alive to any massive fights they are wondering into!