[ScriptSet] The Syndicate Network - Almost Complete

[nuclear_eclipse]

I created most of this as integral bits of the Syndicate galaxy, but some of it is cool enough and usefull enough to stand alone for those who prefer to play games in 'normal' galaxies. None of this is 100% release quality yet, but I wanted to get an idea of what people thought about these abilities and functionality.

First and foremost, as the virtual cornerstone of these scripts:

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Syndicate Credit Account Lien and Escrow Service (SCALES)
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The SCALES service runs on a central system, preferably that of a shipyard or other highly-protected station. What it does and allows for is the tracking of debts and payments. It can act either as a central escrow service, that can handle the monetary transactions of the player, or it can simply handle debts 'liens' that the player owes.

SCALES will always keep track of the player's account and when the player's account has sufficient funds to cover a lien payment, the credits are immediatly withdrawn, and the total amount of the lien is reduced by the amount paid out. The only exception is when a hold period is put on a lien, in which case SCALES will not make payments to that lien until the hold period expires.

In escrow usage, SCALES is given a transaction amount, payment size, hold period, and name of the seller. SCALES then determines if the player has enough credits to cover the payment, in which case the player is debited the full amount of the transaction. If the player draws short, a Lien is automatically put onto the player's account, in which I will explain next.

In lien usage, a lien is added onto the player's account, with a total amount due from the player, a payment size, hold time, and seller's name. A lien can be split into multiple installments due at equal intervals, and will be tracked accordingly, with missed installments rolling into the next.

SCALES will also allow for lien account 'credits', in which case the funds sent to the player will go towards any due lien payments first, and any remaining credits will then transfer to the player's account.

The player then has the option to view a report listing all pending liens on his account, which includes all details discussed above. The player is also notified whenever a new lien is placed on his account.

I am currently in the middle of creating a collections agency for SCALES, in which case overdue liens that have not been paid on in a while, if sufficient in size, will warrant an increasingly larger group of creditors who will go after the player's assets; if the lien is incredibly large, entire ships or stations may be reposessed to defray the cost of the lien.

The Reason to Use This:
SCALES is a universally-adaptable escrow service that could easily be integrated into any other script package that requires obtaining monef from the player. Don't spend time trying to see if the player has money, just send it through escrow in SCALES and you'll never have to worry about payment again.


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Syndicate Investment Savings and Loan (SISL ('sizzle'))
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SISL is a direct extension of the SCALES corporation. This company deals in direct loans and investing services for all citizens of all races. It also tracks and rates its members credit history based on past transactions and liens. SISL in an equal opportunity lender.

The main attraction to SISL is that it allows for multiple different types of lending services, which range from simple cash advances for your everyday needs (up to 100,000 cr), vehicle purchase loans with low-interest payments (up to 1,000,000 cr), business-upstart loans for building a new station (up to 2,000,000 cr), up to full-asset mortgages (up to 20,000,000 cr).

For all loans but the cash advance, repayment of the loans will be handled by SISL, with the player needing to manually repay the bank before payments are due. Reminder bills will be sent 20 minutes before loan payments are due, and any missed payments will be transferred to SCALES as a lien, with the added cost of late fees on top of the current amount of the payment.

If multiple loans exist, manual payments will be applied to the oldest loan's next payment first, and then the next oldest loan's next payment, and so on, repeating through the loans as necessary, with any extra money being returned to the player. Interest will only be charged up front and factored into the loan cost, with perhaps a slight refund for any loan payments made rather early.

Credit rating will be determined by payment history, starting from zero, and increasing with every on-time payment based on the size of payment and type of loan. Credit rating will drop with every missed payment, in accordance to the type of loan, and at least twice as quickly as increases.

Secondary proposal for SISL is the inclusion of either a 'savings account' type situation, or a 'money market' investment fund. The point of either would be to primarily have a place for the player to put any 'extra' money that would then earn interest as it sits in the account. If SISL were to include both money market and savings type accounts, the money market would have a better chance of making money, but would also flucuate in value and have the chance of dropping as would a real market investment. The savings account would be a strict interest-based account for the safekeeping of extra assets.

The loans

- Cash-advancements are automatically approved by simply having credit that is not 'real bad.' You can select the amount of the advance up to the maximum of 100,000 cr, and the loan is a simple lien due in 4 hours. The cash advance lien always has a set lien payment of 10,000 cr, but the total lien amount will also include a flat interest of 800 cr per 10,000 cr borrowed.

- Vehicle purchase loans are offered at values between 200,000 cr and 1,000,000 cr, and consist of six installments due in 4 hour intervals from the time of loan. For approval, you must have a credit rating higher than zero. Flat fees will be applied to the total cost, along with one-time interest of 2.9%.

- Business upstart loans are offered for people wanting to start a new business, and are available for a range of 800,000 cr to 2,000,000 cr. Credit rating must be above five for approval, and you must select two freighters as collateral for the loan in case of default. Depending on size of loan, credit rating, and value of first freighter, the second freighter may be deemed unecessary for approval. Repayment will consist of 12 installments due in four houl intervals. Flat fees and one-time interest of 3.4% are applied to the total cost.

- Mortgage loans are available for station owners who need the cash to get more than one station rolling at a time. Mortgages are available in sizes of 2,000,000 cr all the way up to 40,000,000 cr. Applicant's credit score must be at least 15, and one unmortgaged station must be selected as collateral for the approval. Depending on credit score, value of collateral, and amount of other property owned, the approval amount may be lower than requested, or the loan may be altogether denied. If approved, repayment will be divided into 24 installments at 12 hours intervals. Flat fees and one-time interest of 3.9% are applied to the total cost.

The Reason to Use This:
Duh! This is highly advanced loan software here! Plus since it is tightly integrated with SCALES, missed payments will accrue in a single lien, and the loss of loan collateral will be an intergrated part of the SISL/SCALES collection agency.


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Syndicate Auctioneer Services and Station Exchange (SASSE)
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SASSE is the reposession and resale arm of SCALES that specializes in selling reposessed ships and stations used as collateral in defaulted loans or liens. You can find many bargains here, sometimes including highend stations and capital-class ships, although the majority of items up for purchase are used freighters and light fighters, used and discounted equipment, and goods or wares confiscated from reposessed ships.

This is where stations and ships reposessed from the player will appear for sale once they have been taken and cleaned up. SASSE will be attached to local equipment docks, and will advertise their goods via the BBS system. If you look at the right time, you just might find the bargain of a lifetime.

Most of the BBS articles will feature ships and goods created by magic and the odd offer for purchase of an existing local station, but when player items are confiscated, they will be flown to the EQ dock and offered for sale there, so it may be possible to purchase the ships or stations back after you lose them (without the equipment or wares on board, of course).

The Reason to Use This:
Because you'll have a good chance of finding good deals on used ships, freighters and stations, and you may even find ships and stations reposessed from you there so you can buy them back. Also, if you are using SCALES or SISL, SASSE is a must-have part of the equation.


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Syndicate Energy Delivery Service (SEDS)
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SEDS is an energy cell delivery service available for use anytime, anywhere. You simply request a delivery of x number of ecells to a specific ship, and SEDS will contact you to inform you of the service charge for that delivery and confirm that you are willing to pay the fees before continuing.

The fees include a charge for each energy cell, including any cells used by the delivery ship to jump to the necessary sector as well as a service fee for every jumpgate on the route to the delivery. Normal SEDS fees exclusively use SCALES for escrow services.

After agreeing to the fees, a super-freighter is commissioned from the Syndicate Headquarters (or the nearest pirate base for non-syndicate galaxies). Once the delivery ship is in sector, it will engage a follow-ship command and move to within 4km of the target ship, at which point the freighter will transport the requested energy cells onboard the target ship and then promptly engage jumpdrive to return to the station of origin.

The SEDS freighter used will always be a Boron Dolphin Super Freighter XL with maximum cargo-bay extensions, shields, and a random amount of engine and rudder tuning. The freighter will transfer cells onboard the target ship without regard for empty cargo space, meaning any extras are lost in transportation. You should plan accordingly, as these automated freighters dont have the proper programming to handle such situations.

If the delivery freighter is destroyed or captured in the process of delivery, a 300,000 cr SCALES escrow/debit will be applied to the player's account to cover the partial cost of the freighter; insurance never pays replacement cost, so you must make up for it.

SEDS' fees are flat-rated as follows:
Syndicate Galaxy: 10 cr per cell and 100 cr per jumpgate
Non-Syndicate Galaxy: 20 cr per cell and 200 cr per jumpgate

The difference in fees is due to the Xenon technology in use by the Syndicate to produce energy cells without using crystals, making for almost pure profit (except for recycling ecells and maintenance cost for the freighters).

The Reason to Use This:
SEDS provides an easy, relatively low-cost solution for refueling a long way from home. If you get bushwhacked behind enemy lines without a rescue option, SEDS is there for you. The balance lies in the risk of payment if the delivery ship gets destroyed, but perhaps you'd rather lose 300k than a 2mil freighter of your own.


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Closing words

I know this is a lot to soak in, but I don't know how else to get it all across except like this. I already have SCALES and SEDS completed, and a good majority of SISL underway, and SASSE wont be far behind. All four will come integrated with the Syndicate galaxy, and all four are truly designed for use with the Syndicate mod, but due the potential they offer, I will be developing them specially so that they can also work in a normal universe.

As always, I appreciate every idea, criticism, or question you have, and I would absolutely love to hear from everybody as to what they think of this endeavour.

Cheers!


P.S. For you Syndicate fans out there, I have four of the campaign missions completed, and I have added 18 sectors to the Syndicate galaxy, NOT including the original Terran sectors from the last release. I have also added 16 new ships, 13 of which are Syndicate ships that all have characteristics unique to their race, not to mention Daedly's wonderfully reworked Terran Odin with docking bay support.

What was originally intended to be a rather small update has ballooned to huge ideas encompassing a lot of original features and ideas you wont find anywhere else... I guarantee that the Syndicate campaign will be just as consuming as the original X3 plot, if not more so!

[spaceweedaddict]

errr....Good Job....? wow!

[Kakurate]

sizzle...

I may try this out later, I could definatly use the creds.

[dwb1]

Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy, and Oh Girl too!!!!

I have been using your Syndicate Mod for quite some time now and can't wait for your upgrades, addons, and other goodies

DWB1

[banghead]

a link?

[Dioltas As Dia]

now you've added banking services to X3 nuke? what next, a mcdonalds?

[withar]

well if your including banking, how's about this

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=122128

[nuclear_eclipse]

now you've added banking services to X3 nuke? what next, a mcdonalds?

I had given it thought. Perhaps ordering a double-quarter-pounder could recharge your shields or something...

@banghead - No link yet, I'm still working on everything. I just wanted to see what type of feedback I could get. I like knowing how the consumers feel about my works before I spend TOO much time working on them. =]

@All - Is there any other type of wares delivery that might be usefull? With the way I implimented SEDS, I could probably adapt it to multiple types of deliveries quite easily, but I don't want to have SEDS just delivery anything and everything. So what do you think would be good, important stuff to deliver?

[nuclear_eclipse]

well if your including banking, how's about this

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=122128

Could be an interesting idea. I'll give it some thought, although I'm not quite sure how exactly I'd implement it, but that will come in due time...

[Cycrow]

well if your including banking, how's about this

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=122128

Could be an interesting idea. I'll give it some thought, although I'm not quite sure how exactly I'd implement it, but that will come in due time...

prolly best to use a command in each ship that can add or remove insurance on that ship
then every game day or say, u take payment for each ship thats been tagged as insured, like maybe 10% of the value or something

[Seven05]

I would definately be interested. I've allways wanted more of a "gritty" feel in my X-games and loans, liens and repo-men are perfect additions for that. So yeah, I like the overall idea and I think you're truely insane for doing it, so which one do I vote for?

Have you considered not doing a flat interest rate and working more along the lines of present day loans? I think maybe having it apply intrest at the billing intervals based on the remaining balance would offer some more incentive to repay the loan early rather than having a flat "intrest" fee applied when the loan is created. This way you could really soak the players like present-day creditors do since the minimum payment would barely cover the intrest.

For fun, you should be able to dodge the repo-man in some cases (ships only). If the repo-man could only collect your ship while it was docked at a public station (or at least not owned by you) and only in "safe" sectors you could have a little challenge trying to stay afloat while running from the man.

Anyway, I look forward to trying it out and playing around with it.

[fradeze1]

could u take a look at the ship from nexus the jupiter incendent its the angelwing i think that is a badas ship i have the game if u need anything from it to help trust me it is an awesome ship