Bullwinkle's List

[garrry34]

sorry I've been quiet of late, I've tried it again today with a drone carrier in an argon sector, I can confirm I still have the problem, it only seems to affect enemy freighters only, any other class does not share the problem but it only takes effect If one of my DC's are in the same sector and active, if I disable the DC the problem stops.

[DrBullwinkle]

Did you follow these instructions?

Are you using v1.31?

Also, stop and re-start the Artificial Life Plugin.

If you still have the problem after all of the above, then consider zipping and posting your:

• .cats
  .dats
  scripts folder
  t folder
  objects folder
  saved game
  
  (If this is AP, then I would need most of the above from your addon folder. Note that objects is different -- I need that from your TC folder (above addon). If in doubt, zip the stuff from both TC and addon folders.)

Beyond that, there is not much that I can do. Version 1.31 should be bullet-proof regarding running on non-player ships.

Theoretically.

[garrry34]

I have 1.31 did all the suggestions, I sort my files out at the weekend and send you a link...

[DrBullwinkle]

That would be great, thanks.

No need to sort out the files, really. Just zip the folders that I listed... that should give me everything that I absolutely need to load your saved game.

[Turnus]

Heyya I was wondering If I could make a request? Would itg be possible to create a "military installation" that you can buy from any space dock so you can build training center/recruitment building so you can place it in your territory (say a player build Military base/HQ) that allows you to recruit vanilla skilled marines and train them?

[DrBullwinkle]

Hmmm... and how would that be better than keeping a TP parked at the Military Outpost in Black Hole Sun (or any other Military Outpost)? Or Quantico Special Marine Base?

If you really want to train your own marines, then there are a couple of marine training scripts on the forum. Just so you know, training a marine by script is easy; but training multiple marines with any semblance of reality, and providing a good user interface for it -- that's challenging. Challenging enough that, so far, nobody has been able to do it better than the vanilla interface.

LV said that he is working on a training script that sounds, from his description, better than any previous attempt at training. If I understand his idea correctly, it will train *both* the player *and* the marines! And the player is actively involved in the training... I am looking forward to that!

[DrBullwinkle]

Added: Signal_Targeted Library v1.00
lib.bw.signal.targeted (for script-writers only)
------------------------------------------------------
This is the core library from Signal_Targeted, which can be used in other scripts.

NOTE: It is not really a signal... it is just a test that you can run.

Returns [TRUE] if the ship is targeted by an enemy within range.

Example:

$is.targeted = [THIS]->call script 'lib.bw.signal.targeted': $ship=[THIS]

[Vayde]

Hi DrBullwinkle, with regards to Upgrade Kits for TC/AP, with Equipment Packs.

I've been using this with AP since yesterday and just had an unusual occurrence. Stole a viper from a return ship mission and added a jump drive via the kit. Got the jump drive and 100 ecells, then 40 mkII fight drones and 8 advanced nav sats after the jump?

The credits for the JD were deducted but not for the fight drones or nav sats. I'll be trying a few more kit installations today and will report if anything unexpected turns up.

[DrBullwinkle]

then 40 mkII fight drones and 8 advanced nav sats after the jump?

Hmmm.... that's not right. Did you look at at the list for Full, Trade, or Mk3 kits before choosing the Jump Drive kit? There could be a bug there.

Thanks for reporting, Vayde!

[DrBullwinkle]

.



Upgrade Kits for TC/AP, with Equipment Packs
Download: Upgrade Kits v1.7
[ external image ]

• Carry spare jump drives (and other equipment) with you.
• LV's classic Jump Drive kits; extended into Upgrade Kits, ported to AP, and with Equipment Packs added.
• This is a good way to field-equip your fleet when you have dozens of ships.
• Upgrade Kits are also a terrific way to repair equipment damage from combat.
• The Jump Drive kit is ideal for "Return Ship" missions. And by "ideal" I mean "cheat".
• If you want to change the included Equipment Packs, you can edit the lists in plugin.deliver.jd.getlists.
  
  (Thanks to LV for the original version)

* - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Details:
On loading the plugin a station will be built by the goners in Getsu Fune. The fab will build Jumpdrive Kits which can be converted into jumpdrives and other upgrade packs. If the station is destroyed it will re-build itself.

When a ship is carrying JDK's the command "Install Jumpdrive" will be available on that ship and when chosen it will install a jumpdrive.

Both the New JDK fab in Getsu Fune and the Equipment Dock in Home Of Light will offer JDK's also.

The JDK Fab in GF will also display how many kits are available or how long until the next cycle is complete via the sector map.

History
--------
v1.7 (2013-04-14)
- IMPORTANT: If you changed .getlists, then you will need to apply your changes to the new .getlists.
- IMPORTANT: Stop the Artificial Life Plugin (ALP), wait for message that it is OK to uninstall, then re-start the ALP.
- New ware costs more ($118k)
- Uses Jumpdrive Components if the custom ware fails to install (change in setup.plugin.deliver.jd must match page 8822 id 301).
- Bug fix: Do not overtune vanilla ships (Nicoman)
- Bug fix: Do not clobber overtuned ships
- Bug fix: Fixed ware in .jumpdrive.fabs
- Added global deliver.jd.jdk to .deliver.jumpdrive.gonship, .monitor, .gwlogic. (Makes maintenance easier)
- Removed Fight Command Software 1 & 2 from Trader and Mk3 packs.
- Removed Upgrade Kits from "Full" pack.
- Reduced numbers of drones and satellites.
- Added Docking Computer to all Jump Drive kits.
- Improved handling of added wares.
- Set Jump Drive defaults in plugin.deliver.jd.fillup
- Set turret defaults in .fillup (if Fight Command Software 1 or 2 is installed).
- Added lib.lv.gz.find.voice.ID

v1.6.07
- Bug Fix for drones, satellites, and energy cells adding when *viewing* kit rather than *installing* kit. (Reported by Vayde)
- Partial bug fix for costs for drones, satellites, and energy cells. Note that you pay for chosen upgrades WHETHER OR NOT THEY FIT in the cargo bay.

v1.6.06 Bullwinkle
- Bug Fix for Cargo Bay Extensions

v1.6.05 Bullwinkle
- Added Cargo Bay Extensions. (Note: Pricing is approximate due to Script Editor math limitations).
- Set the ware once in Setup (becaue Exscriptor does not like it)
- Changed name of setup script for consistency

v1.6.04 Bullwinkle:
- Made this an easy one-click ship outfitter. Just use the "Full" setting to fully equip a ship (except for weapons, shields, and Trade Mk3).
- Removed requirement for multiple Upgrade Kits for some upgrades. While the costs might make some sense, counting kits for each upgrade was a hassle.
- Added Drones, Satellites, Energy Cells, and Upgrade Kits to some packages. These do not get charged properly, so are a bit of a cheat. I do not use Upgrade Kits until I am far enough into the game that money is not a major issue, so I never bothered to fix the pricing.
- Change plugin.deliver.jd.getlists.xml to suit your tastes.
- Removed speech for each upgrade. It was a cool feature, but slow when many upgrades applied. plugin.deliver.jd.fillup.xml.

v1.6.03 Teleth: Updated wares for AP.

v1.6 LV's release - Used old EMP wares so did not work in newer versions of TC and AP

.

[DrBullwinkle]

Update: Marine Repairs

Your marines will repair the ship that they are on, any ship docked to the ship that they are on, or any station or complex that they are docked to.

Version 1.10 adds the following features:

• - Now repairs complex hubs (and stations connected to complex hubs).
  - Effectiveness improved for AP's stronger hulls (no change for TC).
  - Marines can gain small amount of training with each repair. Cost is similar to vanilla training.
  - Added Time and Materials charges for repairs.
  - Costs for training and repairs are configurable in the t file.

(Thanks to kurush for the ideas for complex repair and T&M charges).

A note about the new charges: Floating-point Math in the X3 engine is challenging. Results are, at best, approximations. I tried to keep marine training costs similar to vanilla, and repairs slightly less expensive than vanilla. Station repairs can be significantly more expensive than ships, although there is no way to repair a station in vanilla.

The pricing factors are all configurable in the t file, in case you want to fine-tune Marine Repairs.

[Vayde]

Along time ago in a galaxy not so far away we used to have a wonderful script which allowed you to scrap a captured ship at a carrier with the result being similar to the PHQ version for the wares produced. Would it be possible to combine this with marine repairs and just have it use raw materials and no cost?

I've been using marine repairs for years now, they are invaluable in the early game towards minimising costs. With their last update before yours Dr B, their skill in engineering was a direct factor in anything they repaired, this for me was a plus as it felt less of a freebie. Is this still used in your version?

As always I'll report anything that seems out of place while I run some in game tests.

Thanks for the update.

[DrBullwinkle]

Would it be possible to combine this with marine repairs and just have it use raw materials and no cost?

You want the marines to fill your ship up with rocks and junk?

Or are you suggesting that the marines should accept an old, beat up, freighter as payment? (Or rocks and junk as payment?)

I am not opposed to alternate forms of payment, but I do not have a clear vision of how this feature should work.

I've been using marine repairs for years now, they are invaluable in the early game towards minimising costs.

And they still are.

For an M4 or M7, the defaults result in a "full" repair (from 0% hull to 100% hull) costing about 10% of the value of a new ship. Early in the game, this should be a big help!

The maximum, for a ship with 5,000,000 hull (like a Titan M2), is about 57% of the price of a new ship. That is *still* less expensive than a shipyard. (Also, capital ship repairs are usually much less than 100% of the hull.)

On top of this, I try to make my scripts (and hacks) "reliable". I hate scripts that do not work for one reason or another, without telling the player what is wrong. So, if your ship needs repair but you do not have sufficient credits, the marines will do that repair "on speculation" (free) and will make up the cost of the payment in training fees as you earn more credits.

Finally, you can *change* the default if you want lower pricing (or free repairs). In the t file (t\8501-L044.xml), change id="304". The default value is 8 credits per point of hull damage. If you change the value to zero, then repairs will always be free.

(Similarly, the default training fee is 25,000 credits for 1 training point in all skills. That is, roughly, the average cost per point for vanilla training, although the vanilla system calculates costs differently. You can change id="303" to zero if you want free training.)

With their last update before yours Dr B, their skill in engineering was a direct factor in anything they repaired, this for me was a plus as it felt less of a freebie. Is this still used in your version?

Yes. The effectiveness of a marine depends on both his engineering and mechanical skills. Higher-skilled marines repair faster.

Everything else about the program remains unchanged. Only the features listed in the announcement have changed.

[Vayde]

I see my usual procrastinating is having an effect here

What I wanted to see was marines only being able to repair ships providing the necessary wares are on board the carrier they are assigned to.

When the PHQ breaks down a ship into wares they are added to its inventory so new ships can be built from blueprints. The PHQ also uses these wares to repair ships docked at it.

This thread http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=191194 allowed carriers to also scrap/salvage ships.

It also has an example of floating point maths for you to look at Dr B. http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=159598

So combining the ability to scrap/salvage docked ships and then use those wares, along with marines, to repair ships the player wanted to keep was the aim of my post.

While writing this a small coding problem came to mind, how would the marines know which ships to scrap and which to repair? At the moment it's automatic so as soon as any damaged ship docks the marines get to work. I guess this is adding unnecessary complication to what is a fine rework of the original script set so I'll leave it at that.

[DrBullwinkle]

I guess this is adding unnecessary complication to what is a fine rework of the original script set so I'll leave it at that.

Agreed.

If I were a hard-working marine, who routinely risked my life in order to keep you and your loved ones safe, and you tried to pay me in rocks and junk, then I would punch you. At least.

Better that you owe me a few credits until payday. I will accept a Liberty Ale as "interest".

* - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I am familiar with how to fake floating point math in MSCI. I went through four libraries (including euclid's) before I found one that produced semi-correct results for the Abandoned Ship Detector, and finally wound up making a fairly wild approximation of a trig function using fixed-point math.

My point was that, no matter how hard you try, the results will never be exactly correct. Half the time the results are not even close. Even calculations as simple as percentages cannot be done accurately. "Approximate" is the best that can be achieved.

So, instead of trying hard to achieve the impossible, I usually choose simpler calculations that produce approximately correct results.

If there are specific issues where my calculations are far off, then I can address them. However, *nobody* can do floating-point math in MSCI that produces exactly the same results as the vanilla game. It is not possible in most cases.
* - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I see my usual procrastinating is having an effect here

Sorry, I did not catch the reference... what is the connection with procrastination?

[Vayde]

I tend to take a bit to long to get to the point Dr B.

Also speaking of points you missed mine completely I was not suggesting paying marines with rocks and junk but making them use them when repairing ships, like the PHQ does

[DrBullwinkle]

If you bring me sufficient quantities of actually valuable resources, such as nividium, then I might be vaguely interested.

I could actually do something with that idea... such as slowly convert nividium to, say, energy cells.

Like 1,000 energy cells (size = 1,000) from 1 nividium (size = 8 ). Maximum = half of cargo bay. Cycle time of... what? 10 minutes? 30 minutes? Or when the player toggles a menu choice?

It could be like a compact source of emergency jump fuel. Expensive, but compact. Not suitable for a trader, but could be golden for your Drone Carriers on extended patrol.

And it would give you something useful to do with all of that nividium you have mined.

* - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Other than nividium, if you bring me rocks and junk, then I'm going to punch you.

[DrBullwinkle]

.



Marine Repairs v2
Marine Repairs v2 Full Description and Download

Your marines will repair the ship that they are on, any ship docked to the ship that they are on, or any station or complex that they are docked to.

Version 1.12 adds the following features:

• - Fight training is optional in the t file. Default is 'no' fight training. (kurush, Aegyen)

Version 1.11:

• - Improved cost calculation for repairing very heavy-hull ships (M1, M2, M0). Max cost for 100% repair now about 40% of purchase price.
  - Improved cost calculation for Station repairs. Cost calculation uses new Station Repair Cost Percentage (in t file).
  - Increased default station effectiveness multiplier from 20 to 50 (in t file). Means: Faster repairs for stations.
  - Fixed bug in training cost calculator -- should now approximate vanilla training costs.
  - Now repairs more station types.

Version 1.10:

• - Now repairs complex hubs (and stations connected to complex hubs).
  - Effectiveness improved for AP's stronger hulls (no change for TC).
  - Marines can gain small amount of training with each repair. Cost is similar to vanilla training.
  - Added Time and Materials charges for repairs.
  - Costs for training and repairs are configurable in the t file.

(Thanks to kurush for the ideas for complex repair and T&M charges).












.

[Aegyen]

Little interesting tidbit for you to chew on..

Re: ASD I saw some more interesting behavior out of this during an insomnia session.

I get into a sector and my pinger starts. I haven't been to this sector before, so I am limited by scanner range for the moment , and am just following the pings. Well, I should say ticks, at this point. I get about to the center, and change course, and the ping rate isn't changing that I can tell, so I go for a while in that direction, and am not getting any difference. Change course again, and all the sudden the tick turns into a ping... Keep going that way, and the ping rate increases a bit, but not picking up much tempo. Then, all the sudden it returns to the tick. I'm like, wait a sec, I point my nose in another direction, and there is my ping again! Was able to home right in on it, using that method.

Intended behavior, or not?

[DrBullwinkle]

Yes, that is intended behavior for the Abandoned Ship Detector (ASD).

When you are greater than 100km from the ship, then there will be no difference in the rate of the ticks. The ticks increase in frequency as you get closer.

When you are pointed in approximately the correct direction, then the ticks change to a "blip".

If the blips increase in frequency, then change to a tick, it means that you have gone past the abandoned ship. Remember, the blip does not mean that you are pointed *exactly* at the ship... just *approximately*. When you get close, the angle between your direction and the abandoned ship increases. When you fly past the ship, the angle is very large.

So, yes, when you have flown past the ship, you will have to change your direction in order to get the blips again. It happens, typically, when you are near the abandoned ship.