Drone Carrier Software 2 (DCS2) v2.07a

vukica · Post by **vukica** » Sat, 8. Jun 13, 12:11

DrBullwinkle wrote:....

AP, first i started it, it created one drone and stoped, then i restarted the production, and now it also created one drone.
but it got destroyed by some pirate, and now i can't inspect it.

DrBullwinkle · Post by **DrBullwinkle** » Sat, 8. Jun 13, 12:19

I am looking into possible causes for production to stall. Production may slow under some circumstances, but should never stop for more than a minute or two.

I have added a check for drone types in the next version that should eliminate any foreseeable issues with ship mods (such as XRM).

EDIT: Otherwise, it sounds as though DCS2 is mostly working.

Workaround for production stalls until I can find the cause: Try exposing the carrier to enemies, and/or restarting DCS2.

Marvin Martian · Post by **Marvin Martian** » Sat, 8. Jun 13, 12:33

DrBullwinkle wrote:@Marvin Martian: Which M2 is that? It should not build drones unless it has docking bays.

self added Sg 304 with landing- and starting bays - but i think here the ship is buggy

the problem with pacifistic drones and less fighters i got also on the vanilla DC like Maccana and Ariadne

DrBullwinkle wrote:I use most of those same scripts, except for Asteroid Fusion and Objectmove. (Why use Objectmove if you have Super Tractor?)

works faster and more exactly because you place the object like a new station
SuperTractor is use only to jump with an Asteroid in another sector

DrBullwinkle · Post by **DrBullwinkle** » Sat, 8. Jun 13, 12:42

Marvin Martian wrote:the problem with pacifistic drones i got also on the vanilla DC like Maccana and Ariadne

By "pacifist drones" you mean that they do not launch automatically to attack enemies? I assume that there are real enemies within range (like 30km radius?). Enemies that think that you are their enemy? (Not friendly ships that you just want to attack?)

What happens if you command them to attack? Perhaps with "Broadcast to all M3/M4 ships in sector..."? Or "Launch Fighter Attack"?

Marvin Martian · Post by **Marvin Martian** » Sat, 8. Jun 13, 12:58

my playground was Scale Plate Green, south gate
enemies all the xenon that came throuh the gate
the ship was placed 10-20km form the gate

for the first moments all works in acceptable conditions, but after a while all drones destroyed or don't starts against the enemys (don't know if they scared)

the carrier is on protect position (gate, or a position near), or kill all enemies, finally the DC try to kill them all, but a small brave M7DC don't have much chance agains some M1/2/7

DrBullwinkle · Post by **DrBullwinkle** » Sat, 8. Jun 13, 13:02

OK, thank you for the clarification.

I think that is related to the production stalling. I will figure it out and post an update later.

Echofinder · Post by **Echofinder** » Sat, 8. Jun 13, 16:51

It's a bit tricky to command fighters when they don't have Fighter Command Software 1/2 or Navigation Command Software. Could you add them to the starting wares? If it's possible to make it cost more as well.

DrBullwinkle · Post by **DrBullwinkle** » Sat, 8. Jun 13, 18:02

All Drones do come equipped with Fight Command Software 1&2, Special Command Software, Explorer Command Software, and Patrol Command Software. I have added Navigation Command Software to the next version.

I will add a cost factor to the language file so that you can adjust base costs. In my tests, operating a DCS2 carrier was quite expensive. However, I did, intentionally, make the drones cost less than equivalent fighters. I will allow you to adjust that up to vanilla prices (or higher) if you desire.

joelR · Post by **joelR** » Sat, 8. Jun 13, 19:29

DrBullwinkle do you ever sleep?

Another amazing and immersive script! Keep up the good work!

Echofinder · Post by **Echofinder** » Sun, 9. Jun 13, 04:09

Hm, is there a way to specify which drones will be created? X Heavy, X light, X bombers, etc. I seem to waste a lot of drones since drones don't distinguish between larger targets. "Terran" drones (the ones with 5X1MJ shields and EMPCs) and the "Teladi" drones (With EBCs and 5MJ shields) will target the same ship.

DrBullwinkle · Post by **DrBullwinkle** » Sun, 9. Jun 13, 04:48

Echofinder wrote:Hm, is there a way to specify which drones will be created?

Currently, the drone types are selected randomly; with more bomber drones being created when there are enemy capital ships nearby.

AP's drone haulers are very light so they do tend to die frequently. The Argon and Split drone haulers are closer to M5 strength than M4.

I compensate for weak drone haulers by giving a discount on manufacturing cost. By default, you get a fully-equipped interceptor for 100k-200k credits -- that is less than that cost of a single EMPC on a Terran drone. So do not fear "wasting" drones... they are cheap.

(Discounted prices are also why the drones have AntiTheft devices; so that pie-rats will not be tempted to try to steal equipment.)

Really, the balancing on the drone haulers is kind of whacked, so I worked with it the best that I could.

If I get a lot of player reports that the drone haulers are useless, then I may consider adding M4+ fighters to the mix, which is what players commonly use on their carriers anyway. Solanos and Asps are very much stronger than drone haulers. (They would have to cost more, of course.)

As for which drone type attacks which enemy, that would require more sophisticated target selection and Rules of Engagement (RoE). It is possible; although I want to see how the simple, random, approach works before I consider adding extra layers of complexity.

DrBullwinkle · Post by **DrBullwinkle** » Sun, 9. Jun 13, 12:38

Update

Drone Carrier Software 2 (DCS2)
[ external image ]

Drone Carrier Software 2.01

I think I fixed the problem with production sometimes stalling, and made a couple of other small improvements.

Drones now have Navigation Command Software installed, and I added Price Options to the language file in case you want to experiment with different settings.

History
-------
v2.01 (2013-06-08 )
- Bug Fix: Production stalled sometimes.
- Added Navigation Command Software to all drones.
- Added a check for invalid drone types (to handle ship mods such as XRM).
- Added Price Options to t file: drone base cost, bomber multiplier, IS multiplier.
- Simplified drone task while docked at its own carrier.
- Improved event timing, especially for bomber build time.
- Improved Turbo Booster.

v2.00 Final (2013-06-07)
- Initial Public release

Marvin Martian · Post by **Marvin Martian** » Sun, 9. Jun 13, 17:30

produce and sending drones works fine now, thanks a lot
---
i got a new "problem"
i'd like to use it on an OWP and if a capital ship spawns close to the DC, it jumps to the other side of the sector and the drones follows, because enemy is out of range

i set the option "Carrier Retreats..." already off

and the OWP can't fly back in position, so i have the problem this chicken-livered deserter hides behind a asteroid for the whole War

Echofinder · Post by **Echofinder** » Sun, 9. Jun 13, 17:55

Marvin Martian wrote:produce and sending drones works fine now, thanks a lot
---
i got a new "problem"
i'd like to use it on an OWP and if a capital ship spawns close to the DC, it jumps to the other side of the sector and the drones follows, because enemy is out of range
i set the option "Carrier Retreats..." already off

and the OWP can't fly back in position, so i have the problem this chicken-livered deserter hides behind a asteroid for the whole War

Remove its jumpdrive? Alternatively, set the drones to have longer range.

DrBullwinkle · Post by **DrBullwinkle** » Sun, 9. Jun 13, 21:40

Marvin Martian wrote:produce and sending drones works fine now, thanks a lot

Good. Thank you for your reports, Marvin.

i got a new "problem"
i'd like to use it on an OWP and if a capital ship spawns close to the DC, it jumps to the other side of the sector ...
the OWP can't fly back in position, so i have the problem this chicken-livered deserter hides behind a asteroid for the whole War

LOL. Some of your reports really crack me up (like your brave little M7C's trying to kill an enemy fleet without its fighters).

I will make sure that OWP's do not try to evade in the future. (And I will double-check why they evade even with "Retreat" turned Off).

The Cuban Nightmare · Post by **The Cuban Nightmare** » Mon, 10. Jun 13, 01:29

I've been having a problem with this script whereby I cannot send drones to attack a target with Anarkis Carrier Commands, just launching them causes them to self destruct. In fact, they self-destruct as soon as they leave the carrier on their own command. Any ideas?

DrBullwinkle · Post by **DrBullwinkle** » Mon, 10. Jun 13, 01:39

It sounds as though ADS is trying to "steal" some of the drone's equipment. The Anti-Theft system causes the drones to self-destruct.

If you can figure out which equipment is being removed, then I can fix it.

The drones will not self-destruct as long as they are in the hangar bay, so you should be able to see what is missing. They should have:

A gun in every bay.
Shields
Docking Computer
Transporter Device
Special Command Software MK1
Explorer Command Software
Patrol Command Software
Triplex Scanner
Fight Command Software MK1
Fight Command Software MK2

Some drones have Fight Command 1&2 and/or Triplex Scanner built in, so you may not see those on their freight lists.

The Cuban Nightmare · Post by **The Cuban Nightmare** » Mon, 10. Jun 13, 03:40

Ah, I am running XRM which removes the triplex scanner from the game. That is likely the issue. I will edit the script and let you know.

DrBullwinkle · Post by **DrBullwinkle** » Mon, 10. Jun 13, 03:46

You can check the log file (log08562.txt). It will tell you which equipment was stolen.

If it is the Triplex scanner, then I will remove that from the Anti-Theft list.

The Cuban Nightmare · Post by **The Cuban Nightmare** » Mon, 10. Jun 13, 04:19

I can confirm that this doesn't work with XRM due to the transporter device and the advanced scanner issue. This is because of ware changes, but I managed to fix it. There is a problem in that my drones are hyper agressive and refuse to land and stop attacking. They dock and relaunch to fight again.

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Drone Carrier Software 2 (DCS2) v2.07a