[INFO]Deploy Analysis Drones

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pelador
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[INFO]Deploy Analysis Drones

Post by pelador » Mon, 23. Feb 09, 09:25

Deploy Analysis Drone V1.2 beta

All Peladors Drones: [ external image ]

Now with the improved MKII version.


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Overview:

With any ship equipped with:

Explorer Command Software
Special Command Software


and has the following equipment:

Analysis Drone.
Advanced Data Device
(Required for MKII)

Other associated requirements:

Headquarters

The ship can launch a drone (on menu in special commands interface menu) at a ship in the same sector as the launching ship that will follow that "target" scanning it to then analyse and make schematic blueprints to be transfered to your HQ. However, if it loses scanning lock periodicaly it will cause anomolies in the scanning result causing potential errors, this usually happens when the distance goes beyond it's scanning range. On losing contact it will attempt to re-establish contact with the target ship and continue scans. Once a successful scan of a ship is completed the drone will attempt to fly back to the player HQ and transfer the schematic.

Only certain classes of ship can be scanned (M7, M6, M8, TM, TS, TP, M3, M4 and M5) and alien technology such as Xenon, Khaak and some others is not compatible for the scanning process.

The target ship also has to have a current maximum speed below 200m/s as any speeds greater than this cause anomolies in the scan. Also hull intergrity has to be above 87% in order to get a reliable scan. Cargo bay shielding on target ships will interfere with scan times.

Messages will be relayed for any aborted scan commands due to restrictions. (Note: Plot ships cannot be scanned).

A SINGLE scanning time is normally 6.4s for small fighters, double for M8, M3, TM, TS, TP, triple for M6 and quadruple for M7. This is associated with the size of the vessel and therefore the quantity to scan. But it takes multiple scans to complete an analysis. There are ways to reduce overall scanning periods on Analysis drones but I will let you discover those secrets yourself.

As blueprints are involved you obviously require a Headquarters to return them to, the drone will abort the launch without one.

You can only fit one Analysis drone per ship as it is technically considered an updgrade extension due to its complexity.

As much as freindly ships may only be a moderate challenge to these drones, dont expect the drones to last long in enemy territory.

Analysis drones can be viewed as "bothersome" to ships and especially moreso to races who require licences for scanning ability as a result any single scan attempt will now naturally incur a 1% chance of provoking a hostile reaction from the target ship. This changes if sector ownerships and legal conditions are as follows (note this is dependant on the sector the drone is in at the time of the scan, not the target ship):

Race - Bothersome %

Terran - 2%
ATF - 5%
Main Race without licence 10%

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MKII details: the launch process requires a selection between MKI and MKII drones. MKII drones have to be equipped with an Advanced Data Device for the extra processing power and data storage. They operate in no different way from their MKI counterparts except that with the MKII you can target M1, M2 and TL class vessels.

Scan times and amounts are more for these larger ships.

See how to get your hands on an "Advanced Data Device" below.

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So how can I get an Analysis Drone I hear you say?

"You have to engineer them"

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Engineer Analysis Drone

With any ship fitted with:

Navigation Command Software MKI
Special Command Software


and has the following wares:

Recon Drone x 5
Microchips x 50
Computer Components x 100
Adv Sat x 50
Quantum tubes x 20
Tractor Beam x 2


Other associated requirements:

A ship to build it on preferably with marines who have good engineering


(Total Cargo = 610, Wares Total Avg cost = 3,246,316cr, Re-sale approx 2.3k cr)

On a ship with the above requirements you can order (Special Drones Interface in special commands) part of the crew and any marines on board to begin canabalising the above wares to retro-fit an Analysis Drone. The larger the ship the more crew can get involved, in order of involvement from crew, with highest first: (TL, M1, M2, M7, TM then others). And the more marines the better. The engineering skill of marines has a direct correlation to how effective their contribution is.

During the build cycle you will notice the ships shield will suddenly deplete. Don't worry this is only the constructors using energy from the shield generators to supply work equipment, and the impact will reduce over time. They recharge still during these periodic energy transfers but the amount the shields reduce to can be a useful indicator as to the progress of the engineering.

The engineering process can be lengthy dependant on type of ship and number of marines (and their skill) on board. Note, if you remove marines during build process this will impact the rate at which the engineering progresses. Also docking at stations will reduce engineering production as the shields cannot recharge without drawing energy from the station which isn't viewed favourably.

The engineering process also produces "waste" as a result of all the left over parts from the canabalisation process which will be deposited into the ships cargo hold.
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Required for Analysis Drone MKII

Engineer Advanced Data Device

With any ship fitted with:

Navigation Command Software MKI

Wares required:

Microchips x 25
Computer Components x 50
Crystals x 25
Nividium x 100
Software Signature Scrambler


(Total Cargo = 600, Wares Total Avg cost = 2,992,196 cr, Re-sale approx 2.3k cr)

The process is exactly the same as engineering an analysis drone using the same command (now asks which tech you want to engineer). However less time is involved to engineer Advanced Data Devices.

However you will notice it uses Nividium and crystals, these are combined with regular technology to create a crystal matrix capable of capturing data into a 3 dimensional holographic array that exist in a subspace time compressed state thus allow the device to slip time by a small amount and therefore record data in time aswell as physical dimensions. As a result this significantly increases the storage capabilty. It also uses the Software Signature Scrambler in this way for the detailed calculations using quantum mechanics which is transfered to the device in the process.

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(Possible Boron Lore/History/flavouring to follow)
Last edited by pelador on Tue, 3. Mar 09, 04:06, edited 22 times in total.

pelador
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Post by pelador » Mon, 23. Feb 09, 09:25

Revision history

V1.0 beta 23.02.2009
V1.1 beta 24.02.2009 Now inlcudes MKII
V1.2 beta 28.02.2009 Now includes bothersome scan reactions
--------- 03.03.2009 Consolidated into all drones package
Last edited by pelador on Tue, 3. Mar 09, 04:07, edited 3 times in total.

pelador
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Post by pelador » Mon, 23. Feb 09, 10:20

I haven't put a reputation loss in for this covert activity as cost of building, build times, scanning times, chance of anomolies, risk of following target for periods and potential risk on the fly back to HQ will hopefully act as an appropriate balance. But if you find that all drones accomplashing their tasks with 100% certainty I will have to put in a discovery chance of the scanning activity with consequences or tweak the settings.

As you can probably appreciate due to the number of permutations involved here I haven't tested every scenario (thats short of impossible) but fortunatley I have spreadsheets and a solar powered calculator to help with settings. Watching these drones can make for an interesting spectator sport as they will display Scan and Errors on their name as they operate:

Format "Analysis Drone (T:YM0XX-00) [S:n%][E:n%]".

Where T is the target with its registration, S = Scanning percentage complete and E = Error or Anomolies %.

Please feel free to suggest adjustments.

sulabon
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Post by sulabon » Mon, 23. Feb 09, 18:53

would it not be possible to allow it to scan M1 and M2 ships aswell?

amirite
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Post by amirite » Mon, 23. Feb 09, 19:13

Dang dude this mod sounds really smart. The way you have the manufacturing set up honestly deserves more purpose aside from just making these drones. Lots of cool details, like having the shields drain.

I like the limits you've placed on classes and races, but capping us outright in our abilities is a little... well, blueballs. What about some MkII versions of the software that allow for more options?
-TEVE

pelador
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Post by pelador » Mon, 23. Feb 09, 21:18

I can modify it to allow for the possibility to cap M1, M2 and TL schematics but I suppose I wanted to limit their potential.

1) I didnt want to develop it as a complete replacement for current boarding methods.

2) It would need rebalancing for M1, M2 and TL targets.

But if you want a more expensive MKII option that does these things then I can set to doing that for you.

Did you mean MKII in the way that other MKII's are the camouflaged alternatives? I left that coding in there just in case, just didnt have it implemented. Though part of the balancing in capturing schematics is the risk of losing the drones.

Cloaked MKII's would have to be a "Luxury" drone to include capping larger capital ships.

Let me know if I assume right, in the meantime I can upgrade the code to reflect possibilities.

pelador
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Post by pelador » Tue, 24. Feb 09, 03:17

Upgraded to include MKII drones. Details in main first post.

Hopefully the Nividium and use of Sotware Signature Scrambler will control use to some extent.

When compared against the price of marines it works pretty equally if not still in favour of the marines option credits wise, but you have to remember with Analysis Drones you only get a blueprint, not a ship. For RE purposes you still have to pay towards building ships with credits and resources so it helps.

Hieronymos
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Post by Hieronymos » Thu, 26. Feb 09, 01:30

Another great idea!

Certainly much more hands-on than a BBS script whereby you could buy ship schematics at a pirate base for $$$$.

Another idea would for Analysis Drone scanning to be treated like an illegal police scan within range of police, etc. in Race territory.
This would make it necessary to either make sure no police are around when scanning; or using pirate/unknown sectors.

pelador
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Post by pelador » Thu, 26. Feb 09, 01:57

Overral scanning times can be lengthy especially so for large vessels so it's hard to predict where they will go to in their scanning operations but I take your point certainly with sector associated ships that only briefly may encounter some invasion force/pirate incursion.

I could add the signal in for the drones to be attacked by customs/police/military ships for the main races if the player doesnt have the associated race police license and then comes within range when doing it's scans. This would add some incentive for maintaining relations?

(Does anyone know if their is a special flag in the code to distinguish police/customs/military ships or would I have to key it off the ship name?)

Hieronymos
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Post by Hieronymos » Fri, 27. Feb 09, 05:00

In terms of playbalance, a "free" blueprint is technically worth quite a bit. Especially for bigger ships. And this is compounded for ships owned by races player has good rep with, that he wishes to maintain.

So requiring longer periods to scan larger ships is spot on, imo. This means more time in which to screw up, or get nabbed by coppers.

Since blueprint scanning is a form of industrial espionage--or even military espionage, it would likely be viewed as something to be eradicated by security forces of any race with extreme predjudice.

Coding for this might be simply to copy some of the existing vanilla police-nabs-illegal-scan code.

Some further possible developments of this script:
:arrow: As players 'blueprint library' increases, 'agents' representing other races, MegaCorps, or mafia approach player to buy these for good $$$ [script opens more illegal/pirate/Yaki/black ops career options for player]
:arrow: For every successful scan there's a risk that security services become alerted, resulting in rep loss (dependant upon class of ship copied), and spawning of a Bounty Hunter party (dependant upon fightrank) to nail player's sorry ass.
:arrow: MD missions periodically come to player once he has drones/drone factory requesting blueprints of specific target ships for race military. Success results in $$$ + rep boost, and possible % of rep loss with target ship race. Uses modification of stock 'return ship' MD mission.

pelador
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Post by pelador » Fri, 27. Feb 09, 06:16

Rightyo, will try do some "tweaking" soon.

(Working on EMP drones atm and nearly have them completed so will be able to refocus after that).

I haven't looked at the MD yet so I dont know what is acheivable in terms of linking blueprints. But that doesn't have to be encumbant of the Drone's development as once the blueprint is gained its the same as any other. So anyone else could generate MD features associated with research and leave methods up to the player?

pelador
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Post by pelador » Sat, 28. Feb 09, 04:15

All Analysis drones have now been given a "bothersome" reaction for their scanning activities. Details can be found in main first post.

Some minor adjustments to settings including more minor variations in elements of randomisation to change difficulty and behaviour a little.

pelador
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Post by pelador » Tue, 3. Mar 09, 04:07

Now consolidated into all drones package.

Darkfire1
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Post by Darkfire1 » Tue, 3. Mar 09, 04:08

and i thought i was a forum whore! you got the top 4 spots i must work harder :lol:
X3 TC Ship Index
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X2 The Threat - X3 R - X Terran Conflict

pelador
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Post by pelador » Tue, 3. Mar 09, 05:07

The posts will hopefully filter away as activity occurs. It was a re-work to consolidate all the drones into one menu driven package so unfortunatley required for information purposes.

Darkfire1
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Post by Darkfire1 » Tue, 3. Mar 09, 05:19

its great work i just wanted to have a laugh :D
X3 TC Ship Index
Community Ship Pack Mod
X2 The Threat - X3 R - X Terran Conflict

pelador
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Post by pelador » Tue, 3. Mar 09, 05:23

Yeah, no worries, sorry if my responce was formally polite, I'm a bit cheese headed from finishing up the re-work.

Glad you like it anyhow, and I will work out the kinks in my humour when I've had a good nights sleep.

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