[SCRIPT] Dedicated Assistant Drones (DAD) V4.7 [03.05.2009]

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pelador
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Post by pelador » Wed, 8. Apr 09, 06:13

Deploy Jamming Drone

All Drones: [ external image ]


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Overview:

With any ship equipped with:

Fight Command Software MKII,
Special Command Software


and has the following wares:

Jamming Drone

OR

Custom process:
Recon Drone,
Hackerchips x 3



Linked Resources:

Energy Cells

Cargo Bay Shielding (CBS) for MKII


A new command in the Tactical Sub-menu will allow a drone to fly in close proximity to its target ship it intends to defend (varys with class).
On approach and subsequently when it gets within a range of 8km of the ship it will then scan for any aimed missiles that come into this area, closing to the following distance still and then maintain it defensive umbrella. The drone is the origin point not the ship.

Within this area every second it will attempt to confuse the guidance system, using Electronic Counter Measures (ECM), of the missile to cause it to explode. There is a 4% chance it will succeed on each attempt.

Therefore speed of the missile and range from launch point become a factor. Also the relation of the vector of the missile and the ship.

E.g. if you are approching a missile you need to add speeds (dependant on angles) to get the closing speed, the opposite for retreating. So you can immediatley see it has more of an advantage when used in an evasionary capacity.

For each additional drone within the same range area the base chance is reduced by 1% due to interferance and corruption with the ECM process. This allows for multiple ships to be protected in a similar area but overuse will cause too much interferance.

Another balancing factor is longevity. The drone will take up to 25 e-cells from the mother ship. Each e-cells provides 25 uses of the ECM. Energy is used per missile interuption attempt regardless of success or failure.

Camouflaged MKII variants are avaible for use and this drone can be recalled.

(Please dont expect this drone to have a major impact to missile protection and thus make you invulnerable to them, it is intentionally only designed to have minimal effect. And current testing has shown it is more effective against slow moving individual missiles at extended range than swarms, faster types or close proximities.)


(Possible Lore/History/flavouring to follow)
Last edited by pelador on Sun, 12. Apr 09, 07:07, edited 3 times in total.

pelador
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Post by pelador » Wed, 8. Apr 09, 06:23

V4.4 now available.

Repair and Jamming drones implemented, details above.

Sniper drone changed to include TS as a valid attack target and also success chances to be variant on hull size for effectiveness (M5, M4 increased odds, M3+, TS reduced this is based on hull values though so is only a guide).

The uninstall process now includes the option of removing Peladors drones ships and beacon objects (it will ask a yes/no question). As I'm using standard drone ship models and beacons that have other uses, I previously thought it preferable for users to retain these objects for normal useage. And that these could be tidied up by allowing them to complete orders or destroy them as needs). But to complete the tidying process it will identify these generated objects if instructed and remove them. Note however this is only relevant to objects from V4.4 onwards, any existing ones wont be tagged for uninstall.

A few cosmetic improvements here and there, and the menu now sensibly allows for "go back" using the keyboard. Been meaning to add that in for a while but kept forgetting. :wink:

Hope you like the new drones, bit involved to tweak for balance but hope I have it about right, please let me know.

pelador
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Post by pelador » Sun, 12. Apr 09, 06:57

I have been thinking for some time to change the name of Peladors Drones to something more generic and better translated into the game. And seems TLA's are useful also for easier reference.

I really dont think it needs to have my user name planted on it anymore and this helps recognise the previous and ongoing contributions others have made.


So I've chosen Dedicated Assistant Drones (DAD)


Idea is progressing with the ship concepts hopefully he will feel ready to offer more tasters of things to come soon. As previously mentioned and seems topical the drone ships will likley have manufacturing potential, and the possible inclusion of existing and new specialised battle drones. But I have no intention of making them replace carrier tech, just an alternative tactical option specifically to the use of Drones whilst best maintaining their fragility. This is likely to be an optional bolt on expansion to the Drones atm to provide user choice.

After Easter I'll be working on the Drone Mining concept.

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Idea
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Post by Idea » Sun, 12. Apr 09, 11:30

Here is the picture of possible drone mothership:
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/5916/1 ... topcap.jpg
Also here are some pictures of drone that is not complite:
http://img23.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=12 ... opcapt.jpg
Any sugestion or comment is more then welcome :D
Cheers

Hieronymos
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Post by Hieronymos » Mon, 13. Apr 09, 18:43

I like the look of Gangula.

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Idea
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Post by Idea » Mon, 13. Apr 09, 19:10

Hieronymos wrote:
I like the look of Gangula.
Thanks H :D
Cheers

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Locksley
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Post by Locksley » Sun, 19. Apr 09, 09:20

It's not a big deal but...

I preferred it when Peladors drones sent a message on startup rather than to the log. Better yet if one could turn it off in the menu system so you could only turn it on when checking if the scripts updates correctly.

Also "message from unknown" when deploying advert drone, would be nice if it said something else :p Always reminds me of scripts that were acting up on me or that I installed wrongly, he he.

Thank you.

Edit: Is there a way to include descriptions of the Drones in game when you are in a Spec. Drone factory. But also a choice to get more info when using the menus. It would be a bonus but not really "a must have" function. End edit.

pelador
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Post by pelador » Sun, 19. Apr 09, 11:58

Will add in the next update the ability to set values on the configuration menu so you can specify if a reset feedback is sent and wether this goes to the logbook or messages. Default to yes and logbook.

I get a valid feedback message for Advert drone deployment. However I did notice I was using square brackets for the name on the advert beacon itself where the earnings where being displayed so it might have been in relation to another script using the name e.g. Kill notifications. Now corrected to use round brackets in next update for new beacons.

If you are still having problems with advert deployment messages however then I'm confised at this stage as to why. Is it possible you could retest for certainty?

I updated drone ware descriptions in my t-file with details in a recent update. Therefore these descriptions should be displayed in the encyclopedia and also when asking for information about the drones when docked at a station. Is this what you meant?

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Locksley
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Post by Locksley » Sun, 19. Apr 09, 16:52

pelador wrote:I updated drone ware descriptions in my t-file with details in a recent update. Therefore these descriptions should be displayed in the encyclopedia and also when asking for information about the drones when docked at a station. Is this what you meant?
Yeah, I hadn't checked since I updated so I missed that. Very nice - can't have too much fluff (but that's me :p ).

I'll check the Advert Drone later tonite when I'll put in some game time.

Cheers!

pelador
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Post by pelador » Sun, 19. Apr 09, 21:46

Deploy Geology Drone

Now consolidated into one package.

All Drones: [ external image ]


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overview:

With any ship equipped with:

Explorer Command Software
Special Command Software


and has the following wares:

Geology Drone

OR

Custom process:
Recon Drone
Mineral Scanner


Cargo Bay Shielding (Required for MKII)

The ship can launch a drone that will fly to a chosen sector where it will begin to scan all asteroids.

If it finds a roid of special interest (Yield >= 50 or if its Nividium) it will send details to the logbook. But all roids are scanned.

To order a ship that is equipped to do so you will find the deployment command in the Special Drones Interface under Trade and Navigation. Its a fairly intuitive process after that. Select Sector. Then select wether to deploy a MKI or MKII drone.

MKII Geology drones are a little bit more secretive in their work. As a result all communications are lost and no details are recieved from its gravidar scanner to prevent possible detection. MKII Spy drones need 1 unit of Cargo bay shielding to be applied to the drone.

Geology Drones can be recalled, they will return on completion of their last sub-instruction.

(Possible Lore/History/flavouring to follow)

pelador
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Post by pelador » Sun, 19. Apr 09, 21:47

Deploy Mining Drone(s)

Now consolidated into one package.

All Drones: [ external image ]


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overview:

With any ship equipped with:

Special Command Software

and has the following wares:

Geology Drone(s)

OR

Custom process:
Recon Drone(s)
Mobile Drilling System(s)



The ship can launch a drone or team of drones that will fly to a chosen asteroid where they will begin to extract the mineral (Ore, Silicon, Ice or Nividium).

They will continue to shuttle between the roid and the home ship until the ship becomes full (leaving space for the drones and their final cargo on return).

This process is in a sense very similar to a mining factory in the sense that they process the mineral extracted for use without disturbing the roid and it is based on yields. However the equivalent times are significantly longer than a factory and in the case of Nividium this time is increased noticebly further due to the complex nature of extracting it.

To order a ship that is equipped to do so you will find the deployment command in the Special Drones Interface under Trade and Navigation. Its a fairly intuitive process after that. Select previously scanned roid then how many drones.

The drones will automatically take as many energy cells as they can to do their mining work. And will use an equivalent volume of e-cells for each minieral. The command from the menu will now ask if you wish to retain a number of e-cells on the mothership, for use with other purposes (e.g. jumpdrive).

Also please dont add "extra" energy during mining operations above the keep value, as this will likley end up with excess resources being dumped in space. Keep values can be adjusted if you have multiple mining orders, but this will effect all mining operations. Likewise they use the same pool of energy. This is to avoid "overfilling" the mothership.

Mining Drones can be recalled.

(Possible Lore/History/flavouring to follow)
Last edited by pelador on Tue, 28. Apr 09, 16:29, edited 1 time in total.

pelador
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Post by pelador » Sun, 19. Apr 09, 21:49

V4.5 upgrade now available:

Geology and Mining Drones implemented see above.

New Recall command in universal command menu to recall all applicable drones in a defined sector.

Configuration menu now allows you to control wether a reset message is fed back and also if to send as a message or to the logbook.

Few bug corrections.

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Locksley
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Post by Locksley » Mon, 20. Apr 09, 00:03

Just so you know, messeges are recived from apropriate drones - no more Unknown.

Now I'm off to bed :p

pelador
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Post by pelador » Mon, 20. Apr 09, 01:08

Locksley wrote:Just so you know, messeges are recived from apropriate drones - no more Unknown.

Now I'm off to bed :p
Thanks Locksley, much appreciated confirmation.

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Bertone
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Post by Bertone » Mon, 20. Apr 09, 02:22

I really LOVE your drones, Pelador. It's really an awesome work!

A little question: is it possible for you to release an X3R version of your scripts?

:oops:

pelador
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Post by pelador » Mon, 20. Apr 09, 02:35

Thanks Bertone. Glad you enjoy them. Some credit needs to go to Idea, he helps alot with brainstorming and is part of the quality assurance process. :wink:

I use a number of X3TC specific functions so it isn't at the present moment in time readily compatible. I'd have to look at how much time it would take to do an X3R version, not only for conversion but also support and testing implications. I haven't as yet found time to do a translation to other languages for X3TC, primarily due to a lack of language skills needed and that I need to translate the script content to text file support to aid the process.

Maybe in the future, but I still have quite a bit left to do still for X3TC.

pelador
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Post by pelador » Tue, 21. Apr 09, 12:52

Regarding Sniper Drone and Assasination missions:
pelador wrote: Missions, hmm, I need to test this. In the case of a successfull strike it ejects the pilot and subsequently kills him instantaneously. I should have considered these scenarios. Return mission I think likley not much of a concern due to the ship object being the same and Assasination might just have to continue on to kill the ship to complete the mission or not dependant on value (ship or mission?) which might be the way of registering the kill as its how and where the target is identified (by his/her ship). Be interesting to know in the Vanilla game what happens if you attempt to board an assasination mission ship and not kill it. And although they are different class range of ship as far as the sniper drone is concerned it might have handling in it as a result. But it is something I have overlooked. Hopefully ES have such checks in their MD files but I have no excuses, apologies for this and thanks for pointing it out. Watch this space.
Conformation from Xenon_Slayer, ES is that the mission is cued by the ship. So you may be left with a choice to either claim the ship as a prize or continue to destroy the ship for the mission reward. Though he did say that the conditions being watched where object destroyed, object claimed and object captured in relation to the ship. So if the ship is claimed it may trigger the mission completion. He also said that he will be considering adding in a future update to the cues so that a pilot ejection and subsequent destruction of the actor will trigger the mission completion.

(XS was recently on holiday, else he would have confirmed sooner, so apologies for any delay).

pelador
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Post by pelador » Tue, 28. Apr 09, 16:26

V4.6 Upgrade available.

Improved balancing to mining drones. The mother ships now require an equivalent number of energy cells to the volume of the mineral being mined. A new instruction in the orders allows you to set a "keep variable" to retain a certain number of e-cells (if needed for jump drive etc.).

It is suggested you complete any outstanding drone mining operations before applying this upgrade.

Also please dont add "extra" energy during mining operations above the keep value, as this will likley end up with excess resources being dumped in space. Keep values can be adjusted if you have multiple mining orders, but this will effect all mining operations. Likewise they use the same pool of energy. This is to avoid "overfilling" the mothership.

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In the near future I hope to apply Drone cargo values as extra balancing details as previously described above in relation to the current limitations of the EMP mod with regards to TwareT files. If it turns out that EMP mod cant provide these much needed script freindly details as a community resource, I'll be making my own mod with accomodation for EMP and other notable EMP freindly developments like AHD, aswell as a version without EMP.

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Also considering adding in the user definable configuration values in the near future, this is dependant on the side expansion of drone ships and their ongoing scripting details.

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spacefueladdict
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Post by spacefueladdict » Wed, 29. Apr 09, 11:39

Hi pel,

tried this script last night, Excellent!!! however :shock: ... I noticd in the specialized drone thingy that there were no primary/secdondary resources, is this normal or on the to-do list? :wink:
Cheers

SFA

pelador
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Post by pelador » Wed, 29. Apr 09, 12:39

Thanks SFA and It's normal.

The specialised research drone facilities use a pseudo restocking script similar to how boarding pods work in vanilla. There is a trend to increase stock over time but can go up or down, and different drones have different production cycles, also they may contain different stock/types based on the race owner and is one of the reasons for the limited stock numbers. The normal AI trading proccesses used on fabs have been switch off as a result.

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