Mobile Mining Mk2 (MM Mk2) v1.05 [TC][AP][SCR]

[DrBullwinkle]

You should put that (transporter device) in the "requirement" list.

Done.

[Klord]

Great...things are working well. Script is simple and awesome.

By the way...you are correct. Falcon Haulers are the best miners !
They are far more superior than the best TS miner (Caiman). Fast , agile & hell they can defend themselves against enemies.
(no wonder you highly recommend them as AI controlled fighters.)

[DrBullwinkle]

Great...things are working well. Script is simple and awesome.

Excellent. I am glad you like Mobile Mining Mk2, Klord!

By the way...you are correct. Falcon Haulers are the best miners !
They are far more superior than the best TS miner (Caiman). Fast , agile & hell they can defend themselves against enemies.
(no wonder you highly recommend them as AI controlled fighters.)

Yes, Falcon Haulers are the best all-around AI fighter; in part because of their XL cargo (which allows them to be miners).

However, there are more reasons that Falcon Haulers are great fighters. Most importantly, their huge 200 MJ shields allow them to survive most attacks (both In Sector and Out Of Sector). Their advantage over other fighters increases OOS.

Of course, they can also be very well-armed.

The only fighter that is stronger is the Falcon Sentinel, with its corvette-class 400 MJ of shields.

A wing of fighters that can survive almost any attack will usually win the battle in the end.

A wing of Falcons can usually kill an M2 Destroyer without losses. Most other fighters will take partial or full losses against an M2.

.

[DrBullwinkle]

.

Mobile Mining Mk2 (MM Mk2)
[ external image ] Mobile Mining Mk2 <-- v1.05 Improved continuation of mining after unload. (kurush)

[ external image ]



Enhances Mobile Mining in several ways:

• You can mine Nividium.
  Ships pause for shield recovery when low.
  Damaged ships go to nearby shipyard or homebase for repairs.
  Homebase can now be a military vessel (M0/1/2/7).
  Adds Wing Mining command to Trade menu. Command an entire wing to mine with a single setup.
  Continues to mine after unloading at Homebase.

Recommended

• Use with Marine Repairs v2 and Detector for terrific synergy! Detector finds Nividium rock clusters, MM Mk2 mines it, and Marine Repairs fixes your ships and trains your marines when ships get damaged during routine mining operations.

Guides

• For more information about Mobile Mining, see Bunny's classic Mobile Mining Guide. It was written for X3:Reunion, but is still correct for Terran Conflict or Albion Prelude.
  
  For a fully-automated approach, including selling your minerals, see: Mobile Mining Quick Setup Guide.

Compatibility

• Works for TC and AP. Should be compatible with anything that works with vanilla Mobile Mining.
  
  If you ask me whether it works with XRM, I'm going to tell you to punch yourself for asking.

Requirements

• Mineral Scanner
  Ore Collector
  Special Command Software
  Navigation Command Software
  Ship that will carry Ore. (In vanilla X3 TC or AP, that means XL size cargo.)
  Optional: "Homebase" Capital Ship (TL/M7/M1/M2/M0) (Both Homebase and miners require Transporter Device for this option to work.)

How to Install Mobile Mining Mk2

• 1) Install Mobile Mining Mk2 as an archive with the Plugin Manager, or copy the contents of the scripts folder into your addon\scripts folder (AP) or scripts folder (TC). If this is your first time, see LV's tutorial: Installing Scripts & Mods
  
  Note: You do not need to install the scripts.uninstall folder. It contains the vanilla mobile mining scripts, in case you want to uninstall Mobile Mining Mk2.

How to Use Mobile Mining Mk2

• 1) On a ship that meets the above Requirements, open the Special Menu. Then choose "Mine Minerals... [Mine.S]"
  2) Select the mineral that you want the miner to mine.
  3) Optional: If the miners are homebased to a TL that is in-sector, then they will offload their minerals when full, then return to mining. That way, you can have a single TS with multiple miners (Falcon Haulers are excellent, but a TS will do). Then a CLS2 can transfer from the TL to a sales location.
  4) Profit.

Tips

• I know that the guides all recommend TS's as miners. I don't know where that idea came from, but it is not the best, especially if the miners will be working In-Sector with the player. TS's have weak shields, poor maneuverability, and their guns are on the tail.
  
  Miners should have a TL (or other capital ship) in the same sector to offload minerals. So the cargo capacity of the miner ships is not so important.
  
  A better choice would be an XL-capable fighter (Falcon Hauler) or an M6.
  
  If you do use a TS, the best chioces are the new TS+ ships (Drake, Sturgeon, Snotra, Tern, Hayabusa) or Mistrals (Regular and SF) for their stronger shields and front turrets.
  
  Mobile Drilling System is neither required nor desired. Just have a few hornets on the player ship for initial asteroid-busting. After that, mosquitoes or any fast gun will break up smaller junks.

* - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
History

• v1.02 (2012-06-16)
  - Fixes problem with ships always stuck recovering shields.
  - Temporarily changes ship name when recovering shields or repairing.
  
  v1.01 - Mobile Mining Mk2 (Name change) (2012-06-14)
  - Adds Nividium to list of mineable minerals.
  - Ships pause to restore shields when needed.
  - Damaged ships go to shipyard or homebase for repairs.
  
  v1.00 - Mobile Mining for Nividium Initial Release - Bullwinkle (2012-06-11)

* - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Links

• Mobile Mining Mk2
  Bullwinkle's List

[RustInPieces]

In a future version of Mobile Mining Mk2, I may change it so that either the homebase or the miner must have a transporter device, but not both.

Sounds great.

I've been having a problem that's driving me up the wall.
I've got 70 TS miners in two wings. Blue wing has 30 Ore miners, White wing has 40 silicon miners.

Blue wing worked fine, I used wing commands to set homebase to a TL and unload there and they started mining.

White wing just does not want to work. I am trying to use a different TL for the Silicon, it has all the software the Ore TL has (carrier, supply, navigation, fight, transporter, special, docking, jumpdrive, etc)

When I try to set a White Wing home base, when I select the TL it does not change the home base of all the ships in the wing. I've clicked on clear wing home base and reset home base a bunch, neither one seems to help (Home base still set to wheat farm). If I choose Mine Minerals it does not give me the option to unload to the TL (neither TL appears, just the stations). If I use Leave Wing on a TS, I can home base and select it in Mine Minerals.

If I try to change the wing's Home base to another station, it works.


I checked all the miners to see if they had the required software, but I may have missed one (this was late at night). I'll try checking them all again. Edit: They all have required software. Also tried disbanding wing and created Orange Wing, had same problem.


Edit: I think the only other script I have that messes with Wings is Anarkis Defense Systems. It's not running on the TL.

[DrBullwinkle]

When I try to set a White Wing home base, when I select the TL it does not change the home base of all the ships in the wing.

Does it change the home base for any of the ships in the wing?

I do not see any reason why the script would interfere with assigning the wing to a home base. The wing assignment should be completely unrelated to Mobile Mining Mk2.

Do you have any mods that alter TShips? Which TL are you trying to use as a home base? What happens if you try to assign the wing to a different home base?

What class ships are in the wing? I do not know the exact rules for assigning wings to a home base, but some combinations may not work. Interestingly, wings can normally be assigned to home bases that would be impossible using the ship's command menu. For example, the only way to assign a home base to a hugeship (M7 or larger) is by first assigning the hugeship to a wing.

If you want to send me your saved game and list of scripts and mods, then I can try to take a look at it for you.

[RustInPieces]

Does it change the home base for any of the ships in the wing?

No

I do not see any reason why the script would interfere with assigning the wing to a home base. The wing assignment should be completely unrelated to Mobile Mining Mk2.

Fair enough.

Do you have any mods that alter TShips?

No. Mods I am using are Tubeless Complex Mod, Mobile Ship Repairs, and Complex Cleaner. Mobile Ship Repairs edits TLasers, but not TShips.

Which TL are you trying to use as a home base? What happens if you try to assign the wing to a different home base?

Mammoth. I can assign the home base to other stations or complexes and it changes all of them.

What class ships are in the wing?

TS only. 40 Mercurys.

If you want to send me your saved game and list of scripts and mods, then I can try to take a look at it for you.

Thanks, I would appreciate that. I'll try to remember all of them.

[RustInPieces]

http://www.sendspace.com/file/zxl2ji
Heres a ZIP of my scripts / t folders, and the mods I have installed , and a save file.

The TL I am trying to Home Base to is in Cloud Base South West.

Here is my X3 plugin manager package list

Code: Select all

Community Plugin Configuration :: Cycrow :: 1.51 :: 03/01/2012 :: Library :: Yes :: No
Hotkey Manager :: Cycrow :: 1.21 :: 03/01/2012 :: Library :: Yes :: No
Plugin Manager Library Scripts TC :: PluginManager :: 1.50 :: 16/12/2011 :: Library :: Yes :: No
Ware Manager :: Cycrow :: 1.10 :: 28/8/2011 :: Library :: Yes :: No
ads.zip ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
safe_undocking_gz.zip ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
Universal Best Buys/Sells Locator :: alex2069 :: 2.51 :: 30/12/2009 :: Other :: Yes :: No
remove press (key) to turn off flight mode message.rar ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
missilemonitor.zip ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
gates_no_rep_loss.zip ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
UnlimitedSalvageInsurance.zip :: Cycrow :: 1.00 :: 28/11/2009 :: AL Plugin :: Yes :: No
missile_safety.zip ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
Factory Complex Constructor :: Dusty :: 4.02 :: 25/11/2009 :: Other :: Yes :: No
gz_msl_display_tc.zip ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
Color Display Ranks Pirate Yaki.zip ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
MD control 1.13a.zip ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
Colored Object Fix v1.1b.zip ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
X3 TC Universe Colored Map 3.0.rar ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
Memia AutoScan Sector :: Memia :: 1 :: 06/08/2010 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Ship killed notifications :: ThisIsHarsh :: 1.0.3 :: 16/11/2008 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Satellite Early Warning Network :: Cycrow :: 1.22 :: 03/06/2009 :: Combat :: Yes :: No
Loadouts.zip ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
dock_lockup_fix.zip ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
Upgrade Kits (formerly Jumpdrive Kits) :: Lord Vader (Edits by Bullwinkle) :: 1.6.07 TC/AP :: 19/7/2010 :: AL Plugin :: Yes :: No
add jumpdrives and triplex to all EQ docks.rar ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
HephCorp_beta-0.72.zip ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
Universal_Banking_v502_zip.zip ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
Sector Coordinates Finder :: Graxster :: 1.0 :: 03/11/2008 :: Other :: Yes :: No
MarkingUnknownSectors_v1.2.zip ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
AutomatedSatelliteNetwork-V2.00.zip ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
marine.training.manager.v3.rar ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No
Improved Boarding :: Cycrow :: 1.23 :: 30/06/2010 :: Ship Command :: Yes :: No
Auto prep ships :: ThisIsHarsh :: 1.3 :: 25/09/2010 :: Fleet Management :: Yes :: No
Auto-Rename Player Property :: Graxster :: 1.0 :: 25/11/2008 :: Other :: Yes :: No
Mobile_Mining_Mk2_1.05-2012-07-28.zip ::  ::  ::  :: - Archive - :: Yes :: No

Unlimited Salvage Insurance is Cycrow's Salvage Insurance contract, edited to give free salvage insurance. Also edited qwizzie's map.
I also installed Lucike's Command Library


Thank you for taking the time to look at this.

[DrBullwinkle]

Which TL are you trying to use as a home base? What happens if you try to assign the wing to a different home base?

Mammoth. I can assign the home base to other stations or complexes and it changes all of them.

OK, a couple more questions: Do you experience the problem with only a single Mammoth? What happens if you try a different Mammoth? Or a different type of TL?

In other words, is it your Mammoth that is broken?

[RustInPieces]

I tried both Mammoths in Cloud Base South West. It worked fine for my first wing, but no Mammoths work with the second wing.

[DrBullwinkle]

I tried both Mammoths in Cloud Base South West. It worked fine for my first wing, but no Mammoths work with the second wing.

Try a different ship type then. What type of ship worked with your first wing?

The point of testing different things is to find out what is broken. From your description so far, it sounds as though it may be the TL's. So try a different TL, and a different TL type. Use the Cheat Package to spawn ships to test so that you can do the testing quickly.

[RustInPieces]

I got it to work!
I had to order all ships to leave the wing. Then I had to manually set each one's home base to the TL. Then, add all ships to wing.
After I did that it let me unload to TL.

[DrBullwinkle]

I got it to work!

I am glad you got it to work, Rust! Although that does sound like the hard way. Seems like something broken with your Mammoth or the wing itself (not Mobile Mining).

[DrBullwinkle]

'ello!

Your Mobile Mining MkII page is broken.. can't reply to anything, and the download link yields a button image. I just end up at forum home using reply.

The page seems to be fine, but I have noticed that the forum has been a bit flaky for the past few weeks. Try refreshing the page (and be sure that you are logged in) before clicking "Quote" or "Reply".

On Mobile Mining MkII v1.05

I like the added nividium mining to an already simple straightforward script. And I really like the wing mining. Nice touch!

But there's another couple of feature I'd like to see. Not to mention something I'd like to see gone.

• Unload all minerals, not just the selected one before mining. If your cargo hold is full of ore and you go for silicon, then there's nothing to do.

Interesting idea. The Mobile Mining script does not normally do an unload before it begins mining. I will investigate the feasibility of adding your idea when I do the next version.

[*] I'd also like to mine that elusive "Any" mineral.

Mine.T (on the Trade menu) opportunistically mines and sells minerals that are in demand nearby. Does that do what you want? Or do you really want Mine.S (on the Special menu) to mine all minerals? Remember that, in most sectors, "any" mineral mostly means "Ore", so your miners will tend to fill up on Ore before mining more valuable minerals.

[*] Adjust the speed before turning anywhere. 4ms and less will hardly deal damage to the shield of you ram a rock. 150ms will smash the ship to bits.

I do not think that there is anything I can do about that without rewriting the vanilla move scripts. However, in my experience, it is unnecessary. First, miners DO slow down when actually mining. (Probably. ) Second, Mobile Mining Mk2 will handle any damage appropriately.

And then there's this:

Your mining *repair* is broken - and very noisy! I kept getting something something "boss" every few seconds or so after my one and single mining ship got a scratch.

Can you give me the steps necessary to reproduce this? Damaged miners should seek a nearby repair facility. If they cannot find one, then they email the player and stop (as you suggest). Under what circumstances do they not behave as intended?

(And what do you mean by "boss"?)

the ship is supposed to be mining. Not run screaming to mommy for some minor bruises. A simple incoming message would do just fine in my case.

If you want your miners to mine until they die, then I recommend the vanilla mining scripts.

The repair script is only rarely called. The pause-for-shields feature handles the majority of damage from In-Sector collisions (and probably *all* OOS damage for miners with more than 75 MJ of shields). The repair function is only called when the miner really *needs* to be repaired. Without repairs, the miner risks completely destroying itself on its next collision. Remember that miners *TRY* to have collisions... that is what they do.

Also, it takes more than scratching the paint for the miner to repair itself. Miners go for repairs only when they have sustained at least 10% hull damage. I could probably increase that to 25% without causing major trouble for players, but does it really matter?

Finally, the pause-for-shields and repair features are truly necessary for In-Sector Mobile Mining. Without those features, IS mobile mining is impractical. That is one of the common limitations of the vanilla mobile mining scripts.

Using a ship naming plugin (be it rswe, snm or my own) tend to push ship names to their limits so any added "messages" will not be seen. Rather, you get the ellipsis (...) replacing the last three displayable characters.

Good point. Would it be better to put the status text FIRST in the name? Or is any kind of renaming going to be a problem for your script?

Miners in need of repairs display subtitle text and play a tone, in addition to changing the name. I could send an email to the player, although that could become annoying, depending on the mining mission. So let me ask this: Do you really *need* an email? What is wrong with just letting the script do its thing (assuming that we correct whatever problem you are having with repairs in general)?

And please add an uninstall script!

There is already an uninstall folder in the archive. It should restore the mining scripts to their vanilla state.

Problems with Detector:
Turning off the AL only lasts until next load.

Hope any of this helps.
- Orf

Yes, already reported, discussed, and committed to change in the next version. It is intentional behavior, although the "Mute Button" discussed in the Detector thread seems like a more universal solution.

Thank you for the feedback, Orf!

[jack775544]

@Orfevs Try deleting browser cache and cookies as it usually fixes issues with the forums if something bad happens.

[Orfevs]

Your Mobile Mining MkII page is broken.. can't reply to anything, and the download link yields a button image. I just end up at forum home using reply.

The page seems to be fine, but I have noticed that the forum has been a bit flaky for the past few weeks. Try refreshing the page (and be sure that you are logged in) before clicking "Quote" or "Reply".

Whaddayaknow. It woiks.
(Automatic log in. If I can reply to other messages, just not this, I doubt it's the login. So flaky forum seems about right.)

• I'd also like to mine that elusive "Any" mineral.

Mine.T (on the Trade menu) opportunistically mines and sells minerals that are in demand nearby. Does that do what you want? Or do you really want Mine.S (on the Special menu) to mine all minerals? Remember that, in most sectors, "any" mineral mostly means "Ore", so your miners will tend to fill up on Ore before mining more valuable minerals.

Basically I want to stripmine an entire sector like a colony of ants (with a voracious taste for rock).

• Adjust the speed before turning anywhere. 4ms and less will hardly deal damage to the shield of you ram a rock. 150ms will smash the ship to bits.

I do not think that there is anything I can do about that without rewriting the vanilla move scripts. However, in my experience, it is unnecessary. First, miners DO slow down when actually mining. (Probably. Wink ) Second, Mobile Mining Mk2 will handle any damage appropriately.

Ah yes.. that repair thing..

And then there's this:

Your mining *repair* is broken - and very noisy! I kept getting something something "boss" every few seconds or so after my one and single mining ship got a scratch.

Can you give me the steps necessary to reproduce this? Damaged miners should seek a nearby repair facility. If they cannot find one, then they email the player and stop (as you suggest). Under what circumstances do they not behave as intended?
(And what do you mean by "boss"?)

plugin.bw.mine.hull.damage:

Code: Select all

if $homebase
    ...
else
    ...
$msg = sprintf: fmt= "%s: I could not find a shipyard or homebase, so I have to wait for repairs, Boss. Hull=%s" , $ship , $homebase , $current.hull , null , null
display subtitle text: text= $msg duration= 5000 ms
write to log file # $PageID append= [TRUE] value= $msg
send incoming message $msg to player: display it= [FALSE]
return null
end

This. And I forgot one thing:
It said: hull == null.
Reproduce: No homebase. Using Mercury with 5MJ shield (starter ship from Humble Trader start). Damage to < 91% hull.

the ship is supposed to be mining. Not run screaming to mommy for some minor bruises. A simple incoming message would do just fine in my case.

If you want your miners to mine until they die, then I recommend the vanilla mining scripts.

No, I don't want them to mine until they die. But such minor damage (10%)shouldn't matter at all. They still got shields, and the only reason aside from being attacked is that there was this big rock in the way - somehow. I mean, they're miners, not fighters. As long as there are any shields left, they can regenerate, right?

The repair script is only rarely called. The pause-for-shields feature handles the majority of damage from In-Sector collisions (and probably *all* OOS damage for miners with more than 75 MJ of shields). The repair function is only called when the miner really *needs* to be repaired. Without repairs, the miner risks completely destroying itself on its next collision. Remember that miners *TRY* to have collisions... that is what they do.

If a ship is standing still, it's in no danger of hitting anything. That won't take nearly as long as heading off somewhere through a dense rock field in damaged state for repairs. And if you got hit by a Titan or some such while waiting for shield gen, I guess insurance could cover your losses..

And the repair script was definitely not called rarely in my case. I removed the repair script once I got repeated ***repairing*** in the ship name and repeated messages. This was the one and only ship (capable of) mining.

Also, it takes more than scratching the paint for the miner to repair itself. Miners go for repairs only when they have sustained at least 10% hull damage. I could probably increase that to 25% without causing major trouble for players, but does it really matter?

I dunno. I could just alter it myself to my own tastes. But I'd consider deep space miners a hardy lot that brush off such damage as a minor nuisance. Prideful lot you know

Finally, the pause-for-shields and repair features are truly necessary for In-Sector Mobile Mining. Without those features, IS mobile mining is impractical. That is one of the common limitations of the vanilla mobile mining scripts.

Yeah, pause-for-shields is imperative. As for hull damage: It's just that the player may have other means of repairing ships. I've gone through several stages. Using nanite hull repair in lack of other options. Slow and requires hands on action AND it drains the shields.. Then after getting a few more ships, I use an M7 with marines as a multipurpose ship that can jump into action anywhere anytime for any reason. Then finally I usually got a TL or M1 serving as pure mining ship with marines (and marine repairs) that earn their keep.

Using a ship naming plugin (be it rswe, snm or my own) tend to push ship names to their limits so any added "messages" will not be seen. Rather, you get the ellipsis (...) replacing the last three displayable characters.

Good point. Would it be better to put the status text FIRST in the name? Or is any kind of renaming going to be a problem for your script?

Wouldn't matter much to my script. Unless you use the specific script to remove an object from TCAN control, the "repair" message should be gone by next update which is normally every 15-20 seconds. ( So, thanks to that message I got to fix a bug in my script. I wondered why it stuck around... )

Miners in need of repairs display subtitle text and play a tone, in addition to changing the name.

Yeah, I noticed that tone. Scared the living shit out of me first time I heard it.

I could send an email to the player, although that could become annoying, depending on the mining mission. So let me ask this: Do you really *need* an email? What is wrong with just letting the script do its thing (assuming that we correct whatever problem you are having with repairs in general)?

Firstly, I'll probably miss seeing the subtitle since there's already too much information coming through there already. So I don't actually pay attention to what it says anymore. Way too busy managing my ships.

So I'd like to go to my message log to see what's up. However, that could take a while. That's ok if the ship got minor damage. I got better things to do and can take care of it in due time. But I wouldn't want the miners to stop mining.

An incoming message with a bit more "alert" look to it could tell me it's really in need of repairs. That suddenly ups the priority. So it's ok for them to go repairing. I'll just stop the script if I got other means of repair.

-- Why not make a repair ship script while you're at it? Sole function - stand-by maintenance. Just big enough for marines and with a jumpdrive. Then you can finally put those TPs to some real use.

Finally, a message (with display it and player log entry) sent when your ship's about to pop is hard to ignore. ** RED ALERT ** when (chance of) severe damage involved. As in attacked or cannot afford to hit another rock.

And please add an uninstall script!

There is already an uninstall folder in the archive. It should restore the mining scripts to their vanilla state.

Ah.. yes. I noticed a bit too late. Sorry.
So it's not so desperate a plea anymore, but I wouldn't mind seeing that as an option in-game though.

Problems with Detector:
Turning off the AL only lasts until next load.

Yes, already reported, discussed, and committed to change in the next version. It is intentional behavior, although the "Mute Button" discussed in the Detector thread seems like a more universal solution.

I see. I'll post any suggestions I should have there in that case. *cough* hotkey *cough*

Hope any of this helps.

Thank you for the feedback, Orf!

Well, I like the script and would like to see it better - while still being straightforward without too much fuzz.
I'd like to see a more complex script as well that's more configurable but retaining the same functions. Of course, it wouldn't be "Mobile Mining" any more in that case.

[DrBullwinkle]

I want to strip-mine an entire sector like a colony of ants

OK, that's a good enough reason for me. I will add a menu choice to mine *All* minerals.

Reproduce: No homebase. Using Mercury with 5MJ shield (starter ship from Humble Trader start). Damage to < 91% hull.

Ah, OK, now I see the problem. The script needs to exit all the way out if it cannot find a way to do repairs. Thank you for reporting this bug, Orfev!

Workaround: Add a Home Base for your miners.

BTW, you tried mining with a 5 MJ shield? Seriously?

I don't want them to mine until they die. But such minor damage (10%)shouldn't matter at all. ... As long as there are any shields left, they can regenerate, right? ... I'd consider deep space miners a hardy lot that brush off such damage as a minor nuisance. ... Finally, a message (with display it and player log entry) sent when your ship's about to pop is hard to ignore. ** RED ALERT ** when (chance of) severe damage involved. As in attacked or cannot afford to hit another rock.

Yeah... um... no.

I think you misunderstand the importance of repairing the ship. Setting the repair threshold lower increases the chance that your miner will kill itself on the next collision. Otherwise, the script already does what you request. It goes for repairs when it NEEDS them to ensure survival.

I can put the threshold limit for repairs into the t file so that the player can adjust it. If you *want* a chance of miner death, then set the limit lower than the default.

In any case, if I give the player the choice, then you'll stop pestering me about it, right?

the player may have other means of repairing ships.

Sure, I am in favor of supporting alternative repair strategies. I can probably figure out a way to do that without breaking the current synergy with Marine Repairs. All you really need is to pop up the email message from the damaged miner, right?

Miners in need of repairs display subtitle text and play a tone, in addition to changing the name.

Yeah, I noticed that tone. Scared the living shit out of me first time I heard it.

Perfect!

Why not make a repair ship script while you're at it?

Oh, you mean like Marine Repairs 2? Great idea!

And, as a bonus, I already did it.

And please add an uninstall script!

There is already an uninstall folder in the archive. It should restore the mining scripts to their vanilla state.

Ah.. yes. I noticed a bit too late. Sorry.
So it's not so desperate a plea anymore, but I wouldn't mind seeing that as an option in-game though.

Technically, Mobile Mining Mk2 is a mod. But it is a mod of scripts, so it cannot be put into a .Cat file. The only way to uninstall it is by replacing the scripts with the scripts in the uninstall folder. Sorry... but you already have the best I can offer.

Luckily, you won't want to uninstall it after I fix the bug that you pointed out.

*cough* hotkey [for Detector] *cough*

Yep, that's already the plan. If and when I ever add a menu to Detector, I may also put the mute option on the menu. But I think that people want a hotkey "Mute Button" to instantly mute the Detector, so that will happen first.

I like the script ... I'd like to see a more complex script as well that's more configurable but retaining the same functions.

Well, we have discussed options for changing the repair threshold and for popping up the "going for repairs" email instead of just posting it to the player log. Also a menu choice for "All" minerals. I will add those. I also have two great ideas from Litcube -- at least one of which will be added, for sure.

Are there any other configurable options that you (or others) want to see?
.

[Orfevs]

BTW, you tried mining with a 5 MJ shield? Seriously?

Uhm.. might have been 5KJ.. I never really pay attention to their sizes.

I think you misunderstand the importance of repairing the ship. Setting the repair threshold lower increases the chance that your miner will kill itself on the next collision. Otherwise, the script already does what you request. It goes for repairs when it NEEDS them to ensure survival.

Aye, but if it's only at 90% after one hit, the chance that the next one will kill the ship isn't really that big. I admit it's there. Perhaps if you took into consideration the current max speed of the ship vs its actual hull value.
I mean, there's a difference in impact and damage taken when you take these things into consideration. The value could differ greatly from ship to ship. I cannot tell the damage ratio of speed + hull + shield vs impact right now, but if you got that you can make one line of calculation for this and set the repair percentage threshold accordingly. I'm no math-magician though.

I can put the threshold limit for repairs into the t file so that the player can adjust it. If you *want* a chance of miner death, then set the limit lower than the default.

Different ship configurations, different thresholds..

In any case, if I give the player the choice, then you'll stop pestering me about it, right?

Well, I'll just try my approach with scalable threshold in any case, so sure thing

the player may have other means of repairing ships.

Sure, I am in favor of supporting alternative repair strategies. I can probably figure out a way to do that without breaking the current synergy with Marine Repairs. All you really need is to pop up the email message from the damaged miner, right?

When the message warrants the players attention, then a "display it" flag would be good. If not so important, then no "display it", but incoming message still. In either case, the player log is there to see what's been happening and should always be added. After all, you don't get a message saying there's a log entry.

Why not make a repair ship script while you're at it?

Oh, you mean like Marine Repairs 2? Great idea!
And, as a bonus, I already did it.

And this repair-ship already responds to hails and comes lumbering in with their marines ready to fix up your junk then?

Technically, Mobile Mining Mk2 is a mod. But it is a mod of scripts, so it cannot be put into a .Cat file. The only way to uninstall it is by replacing the scripts with the scripts in the uninstall folder. Sorry... but you already have the best I can offer.

Luckily, you won't want to uninstall it after I fix the bug that you pointed out.

Dang! You may be right!

I like the script ... I'd like to see a more complex script as well that's more configurable but retaining the same functions.

Well, we have discussed options for changing the repair threshold and for popping up the "going for repairs" email instead of just posting it to the player log. Also a menu choice for "All" minerals. I will add those. I also have two great ideas from Litcube -- at least one of which will be added, for sure.
Are there any other configurable options that you (or others) want to see?

I had some ideas, but those would effectively ruin the "simple" part by involving more in-game configuration - as in extra menus. So I put them out of my mind. They wouldn't be "improvements" over the old script. Rather whole new features.

[DrBullwinkle]

I thought about scalable thresholds, but have two reservations:

1) I know how to calculate the maximum energy of a collision in real life, but not in the game.

2) It probably wouldn't matter. Not much, anyway.

The mass of asteroids is far greater than the mass of any ship. No matter what ship you've got, if it has no shields, then it is entirely capable of one-hit killing itself on the next collision. Any time the repair script is launched, the shields have already been stripped. Since miners *try* to have collisions, the risk of instant death is high.

I spent a lot of hours testing the repair system and thresholds before I arrived at the current system. Try it if you do not believe me.

In fact, you seem to want to experiment anyway, so how about if you do your tests with scaling the damage threshold and see if you can come up with a pattern that I can use in the script? If you can come up with something more precise than a single threshold percentage, then I would be happy to implement it.

Since you are the only person who has ever been dissatisfied with the current repair system, there is no point in my changing the script until you can tell me exactly what you want.

If you have other ideas for the script, I would be happy to hear them, as well.

And, yes, Marine Repairs is automatic. You need a home base for continued mining operations anyway, so put marines on the home base. If the miners can hold marines, then put a rookie marine or two on each miner. As a bonus, your rookies will slowly be trained. Problem solved, no?

As an alternative to Marine Repairs, you could equip a corvette (M6) with repair lasers gathered from Abandoned Ship Spawner for AP wrecks. Then use the included commands to command your Repair Corvette to "repair all ships in sector" where your miners are mining.

There... I actually made two repair scripts for you.

Regarding your Mercury, 75 MJ should be the minimum shields for any miner. More is definitely better. Falcon Haulers are far superior to a TS for mining (as are corvettes).

A wing of Falcon Haulers with a TL home base (with marines doing repairs) is just about perfect for AI mining. If you are piloting the home base, then an M7 is even better than a TL, due to its much-stronger shields and its forward guns.

[Orfevs]

I thought about scalable thresholds, but have two reservations:

1) I know how to calculate the maximum energy of a collision in real life, but not in the game.

2) It probably wouldn't matter. Not much, anyway.

The mass of asteroids is far greater than the mass of any ship. No matter what ship you've got, if it has no shields, then it is entirely capable of one-hit killing itself on the next collision. Any time the repair script is launched, the shields have already been stripped. Since miners *try* to have collisions, the risk of instant death is high.

When you got a miner doing its thing long before you have any kind of homebase, such as at the start of the game - I really wouldn't want it to do anything that involves movement until the shields are back up to 100. With no shields, of course the ship will blow up on next impact.

And the homebase may well be in an adjacent sector. Without a jumpdrive, things might get interesting when it starts on it's way back.

I spent a lot of hours testing the repair system and thresholds before I arrived at the current system. Try it if you do not believe me.

In fact, you seem to want to experiment anyway, so how about if you do your tests with scaling the damage threshold and see if you can come up with a pattern that I can use in the script? If you can come up with something more precise than a single threshold percentage, then I would be happy to implement it.

I'll see what I can do

Since you are the only person who has ever been dissatisfied with the current repair system, there is no point in my changing the script until you can tell me exactly what you want.

I'm pretty sure I've done that already
In priority order:

• Shields charged too 100%
• Ship Hull above maximum(scalable) threshold - go dig!
• Go for repair at medium(scalable) threshold - then return to work.
• Full stop at minimum threshold - send mayday and wait for help.
• Mine until cargo hold is stuffed. If no homebase, notify "boss". "Boss, I'm really stuffed. Need to dump..." or something along those lines..

If you have other ideas for the script, I would be happy to hear them, as well.

Aight. Just got to recall what I was thinking of first. lol
Thing is I use prospector along with this one. Both have its merits, but I also feel both lack something. It'll get back to me eventually. Just have to retrace my steps.
Well, there are two things from the top of my head:

• Have a fighter class ship as a "buddy" to shoot the rocks that are too big - supporting the mining ship. That way you don't need a laser of any kind, just the ore collector.
• Otherwise, if you could fool the ship into thinking there's a rock 10 meters away and just break through anything at slow speed - wait for shield - continue breaking.. whatever the target, it's always at a certain distance. Constant.

And, yes, Marine Repairs is automatic. You need a home base for continued mining operations anyway, so put marines on the home base. If the miners can hold marines, then put a rookie marine or two on each miner. As a bonus, your rookies will slowly be trained. Problem solved, no?

No.

• Not enough assets to build a homebase at game start including the next hours of play. Probably not enough to pay marines on a ship either.
• Seems I cannot place marines on a TS ship even with cargo lifesupport. And yes, I know how you adore the Falcons, but it takes time before you can actually get enough to buy one, let alone build up the relationship to the Teladi to buy any.
• Using a TS (which happens to be that crummy Mercury in my case with the Humble Trader start) I need to wait until it's filled up, then take it for a spin to sell the load. Since I cannot rely on mining alone, I use the Discoverer, weaponless as it is, as personal vessel looking for places I could sell the load, pick up satellites and place them etc until I can automate it. (They didn't think of that with the "flight school" - now shoot the crate! WTF!?)
  
  I know, better to use the TS to actually trade rather than mine. Irrelevant. Thing is, I got this TS and need to put it to use mining while sowing chaos and destruction in my unarmed Discoverer.
  There's no way I'm gonna spend hours bumping into rocks. Got enough with EVE online. Mining. Always mining. Nothing but mining. To get a bigger ship so you can mine more. EVE Online - the space mining simulator.

I could say "make it an upgrade you have to buy for an indecent amount of credits" - problem solved. Still, puny TS ships may still exist until something better replace it.

As an alternative to Marine Repairs, you could equip a corvette (M6) with repair lasers gathered from Abandoned Ship Spawner for AP wrecks. Then use the included commands to command your Repair Corvette to "repair all ships in sector" where your miners are mining.

Now we're starting to inch closer to my vision. But so far it's just "one more to the tasklist of ship management".

There... I actually made two repair scripts for you.

Excellent. Now if you could join those two and have the ship respond to SOS hails, then send your marines out like a boarding party to repair your ship while you're at it, we're cool...

MARS repair drones could also do the job, but you need MARS. Pointless on a TS that isn't a Mistral, and extra expenses.
Thing is, I wish to put the odd ships you usually dump back into the shipyard to some use. Make them an actual asset. Not too large cargo hold makes s TS excellent for mining. And what's the point of TP again? That was lost with X2 where we had "real" taxi services. Using them to board capital ships is a gamble. Otherwise they can do rubbish jobs like collecting crystals for powerplants or refuel capital ships. In-between jobs, the pilot could double as floor sweeper in the hangar or some such.

Regarding your Mercury, 75 MJ should be the minimum shields for any miner. More is definitely better. Falcon Haulers are far superior to a TS for mining (as are corvettes).

Aye, but 5MJ was all I got you see. And I had to put the stupid thing to use somehow. It's a *waste* using MK3 or EST on such a miniscule TS.
While EST will upgrade the ship in due time, the fact remains you cannot earn much money with it due to it's pitiful cargo hold. 4K? There's more room in my wallet!

A wing of Falcon Haulers with a TL home base (with marines doing repairs) is just about perfect for AI mining. If you are piloting the home base, then an M7 is even better than a TL, due to its much-stronger shields and its forward guns.

I know what's perfect, and that varies with each player. What we're going through here is the not-so-perfect-scenario and struggle-to-get-a-foot-in-the-door-scenario. With NO homebase. At all.
I let the miners/traders tend to themselves while I'm out busting up the competition. Got no time to babysit my TS ships. But that's something I must do if the repair script go about its business and go crashing my ships on its way to repair dock.

Keep in mind that as ships lose their hull, they also lose their max speed.
In fact, it may be in their best interest to go for repairs once their speed is low enough (and they still got shields and they're fully recharged). Too low and it would take ages before reaching any destination.
And the lower the hull, the greater the chance of losing other things normally stuck to the ship, like the shields themselves, so it's a fine balance.

Thing is - when you got that mining homebase and an armada of falcon haulers and/or TS miners everything works perfectly (aside from the fact you cannot change the mining minerals without manually emptying out the cargo first). It's when the homebase and credits are lacking it becomes troublesome. The script doesn't take that into consideration.