Have you ever wondered what travellers did when you did not accept passenger transport missions? How the medical equipment got delivered to the Choona Bakery when you turned down the help request? How postal services work in the Universe?
You might not know all this, but behind the curtains of the supply/demand distibution network of standardized cargo units, the station administrations are legally required to provide a second way of distributing individualized wares, like small parcels, dangerous freight and even people. Until just recently, this job was done by government agencies, who sent well-paid officers in standardized ships. However, sooner or later, the races - Teladi first - decided that this complicated governmental apparatus did not at all work as good as needed, however was more expensive than necessary - and privatized the whole business. Today, the sector administration issues licenses to Logistics companies, who then employ pilots to move from station to station and and pick up and drop off freight at each station. So far, this did not turn out to be a good choice: The private companies were less reliable, even more expensive, and kept "losing" their freight.
But here's the good news: By new legislation, even YOU can go into the Logistics business! All you need is the "Taxi Logistics Software", which provides the owners of the transported freight a way to track their belongings, and a Transportation License for every sector you want to cover. Nothing more - and there you go, right into the logistics business.
Script information
The "Taxi Logistics" is a script for X3TC. It adds a new software to several Argon and Teladi Equipment Docks (check out Argon Prime) which adds two commands to your M3-M5, TS or TPs command console:
- Run Taxi Logistics (trade command)
Start Taxi command. As all adjustments need to be made in the settings, this command just starts the ship. On first start, you should, however, start with the second command: - Taxi Logistics: Settings (additional ship command)
This command opens the info menu, where you have the following options:- Ship Transportation Settings
Change the settings of this ship. Depending on his experience, the Taxi can have a limited number of stations on his route. The more experience the pilot has, the more waypoints he can address - leading to a rising number of transportation runs possible on his route. In the Transportation Settings, you can change this route, plus adjust security settings. - Freight/Passenger Information
Show information on the ship's current freight and passengers - Transportation Requests
Select a station from the map and see who and what is waiting for transportation! - Global Transportation License Management
The most expensive thing in running a Logistics company is the license fees to the local government. Try to keep as few sector licenses as possible, while also offering your ships enough sectors to do their job in. Beware: Licenses can cost thousands of credits per hour, so cost can run you into bankrupcy. Watch out for special offers.
- Ship Transportation Settings
Download
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Install instructions
- Download .zip file
- Unzip file. Note file "license.txt".
- Move files from subdirectory /scripts to game directory /scripts
- Move files from subdirectory /t to game directory /t
- Start game. Activate Scripteditor as described here
- Check for Taxi Logistics Software in Argon Prime ED.
- Recommended uninstall: remove file setup.plugin.taxi.xml from /script directors
- Complete uninstall (not recommended): remove files
/scripts/setup.plugin.taxi.xml
/scripts/plugin.taxi.*.xml
/scripts/lib.st.get.distance.xml
/t/8771*.xml
Technical
Script:
12 files
750 lines
Text:
1 file
100 lines
Time
20h development time
5h test time
4 weeks since first line of code
Resources:
Ware: 5793(SS_WARE_SW_NEW5): Taxi Logistics Software
Command: 430(COMMAND_TYPE_TRADE_30): Run Taxi Logistics
Command: 1232(COMMAND_TYPE_SHIP_32): Taxi Logistics: Settings
Text: page 8771