Drone Carrier Software 2 (DCS2) v2.07a

[Figge04]

I'll start building some tomahawks then , thanks

[richbroughan]

Hey DrBullwinkle o/

Just wondering if you'd managed to solve the issue with player-selected bombers using torpedos for the next release? Not saying that I'm impatient and want it now, just if you'd cracked that one yet?

[DrBullwinkle]

Yeah, that should be easy to fix.

[Etyneo]

Bullwinkle, I noted recently when selling my Griffon that I was able to get more credits for it when there were drones onboard (and DCS2 was active, of course...) than with no drones (and DCS2 turned off). I do realize that this behaviour is normal to the game and occurs any time you sell a 'carrier' with docked ships. The game takes into account the value of the docked ships when selling the 'carrier'.

I just thought I'd bring it to your attention in case you wanted to avoid people using this as some kind of money exploit. I was using default (non user specified) interceptor drones, and I made more money per drone selling them than I paid to build them.

I don't really have a problem with people doing it, but I figured I'd give you the info in case you wanted to do something about it. What you choose to do with the info is entirely up to you.

[DrBullwinkle]

I think the cure for that would be worse than the problem. I might be able to trap signal_sellware, *but* signals require special uninstall scripts. For sure, somebody will muck that up and wonder why their game crashes.

I don't worry too much about exploits anyway. If somebody wants to cheat, well, it is their game. I only try to trap really major problems (such as trying to steal a drone or its expensive equipment). Things that could easily be done by mistake.

Thanks for the report.

[richbroughan]

Yeah I think by the time you are into carrier territory, the few million from the drones is all-but irrelevant. Personally I've never sold a carrier, when I'm done with one it gets thrown out to the SEWN wolves

[gastovski]

A noob question but which lines i should edit for reducing price both bombers and interceptors?. Using XStudio by the way.

[DrBullwinkle]

which lines i should edit for reducing price both bombers and interceptors?

In the language file:

ID 301 (Base Drone Interceptor Cost. Default = 100000.)

ID 302 (Drone Bomber Cost Percentage Multiplier. Default = 2000%, or 20x the cost of Interceptor Drones).

[gastovski]

Thank you sir, by the way it's great mod otherwise i would never buy a carrier even i find one i would sell asap.

[Etyneo]

Yeah I think by the time you are into carrier territory, the few million from the drones is all-but irrelevant. Personally I've never sold a carrier, when I'm done with one it gets thrown out to the SEWN wolves

Actually, without the drones the Griffon sold for ~130 mil. With the drones it sold for ~330 mil. A bit more than a few mil...

[Etyneo]

I've noted some seemingly odd behaviour with regard to the ADS switch. When it is enabled while DCS2 is active, then DCS2 is cycled from ACTIVE > INACTIVE > ACTIVE, DCS2 still enables automatic engagement when it's reactivated.

While I'm not using ADS, I was hoping the use of the ADS switch would turn off the drones boosters, and allow me to use them as if they were regular fighters (aside from avoiding anti-theft issues).

Additionally, I'm becoming slightly annoyed with DCS2 issuing a Defend Sector order after it goes into automatic mode, particularly since it wants to go fully automatic after enabling drone production. This has caused my carriers to completely forget their previous orders and go running off. Quite annoying when I want the Aran parked in a specific spot, or to keep theDaedalus docked at the PHQ because I don't yet have shields or weapons for it, for example...

[LameFox]

Am I supposed to be using all 4 of the XML files in the archive's 't' folder? Because installing with the plugin manager put all 4 of them into /addon/t and the contents of each XML look similar if not identical (but they have different names), so I just worried that maybe I'm only meant to have one.

If 4 is normal, then for stuff like 'Bomber type(s) can now be defined in the t file,' when I wanted to do that I would edit the same setting in all 4 of them?



Some unrelated notes: is it possible to make the carrier automatically stop moving to launch/collect drones, like it would if they actually landed? A lot of them get run-over if I'm in the sector, especially bombers, who seem to launch very close to the carrier.

Also, even if something is hostile to me (and the carrier is set to show things as enemies if they're hostile) it won't launch the drones unless I set that faction to enemy manually. It'll launch them as soon as I do that (if there's an enemy), although they often still don't attack regardless of range - still trying to figure out why. I don't really know if that's important but I thought I'd mention it in case those were related somehow, since it seems not-attacking is a common issue.

[LameFox]

Oops, disregard those last parts: they sometimes launch inside my test-Morrigu, so stopping wouldn't help there. Edit: to be more specific, they appear to teleport out in a long line, but the line leads toward the carrier, so with enough drones eventually the line goes into the carrier and those drones have a very bad day.

Also the drones will launch but not attack for small ships, but if I cheat-spawn an enemy M6, they engage it properly.

[Etyneo]

Also the drones will launch but not attack for small ships, but if I cheat-spawn an enemy M6, they engage it properly.

This may be the issue I've been having where drones will launch with no orders, even with enemy fighters unengaged and within 10-20km of the carrier. I had not tried it with an M6 or bigger

[DrBullwinkle]

Am I supposed to be using all 4 of the XML files in the archive's 't' folder?

They all install by default, but only one language file will be used by the game. If you play in English, then that is the -L044.xml file. So only that file needs to be adjusted.

is it possible to make the carrier automatically stop moving to launch/collect drones, like it would if they actually landed?

No (it is done by KC code and is not scripted). But why would you want to do it anyway? Drones should launch and land via teleporter.

Bomber launching (and other AI issues) will be better addressed in future versions.

I suppose that I should recommend Litcube's Bounce: Player-Owned Autopilot Fix for any game that makes heavy use of carriers.

[LameFox]

Also the drones will launch but not attack for small ships, but if I cheat-spawn an enemy M6, they engage it properly.

This may be the issue I've been having where drones will launch with no orders, even with enemy fighters unengaged and within 10-20km of the carrier. I had not tried it with an M6 or bigger

I actually saw some quit fighting when the frigates and corvettes in a battle died, leaving only small enemies, so I eventually got the idea to ramp up the test subjects a bit lol.



In other news, the XRM hull multiplication packs seem to have a BIG influence on the default drones. 60,000 HP and 5,000 shields can't be normal can it?

I think for balance I'm gonna have to select some normal interceptor type.

[Etyneo]

Some more info regarding the ADS switch issue I mentioned earlier. The behaviour I observed is also observable for me if I turned ADS mode on before allowing DCS2 to build drones.

Additionally, even when set in the language file, DCS2 does not seem to want to place new drones in wings... L044 is for English...right?

[DrBullwinkle]

Yes, -L044.xml is the English language file.

Wings work fine for me. Best when used with a single carrier, because the current version uses the same wings on all carriers.

I will check the ADS menu item.

[LameFox]

After a bit more testing (still with XRM) where I spawned enemies nearby I'm consistently getting that the drones will engage:

M1, M2, M6, M7, TL, OWP's (forgot to test laser towers).

They are launched for, but ignore:

M3, M4, M5, M8, TS, TP.

It's like they only fight classes of enemies the carrier itself withdraws from (although whether that's turned on or off doesn't seem to make a difference). Even if the ships appear right in front of them. For the most part it's not actually that bad (M8's are a little worrying) since the carrier often wins on its own against these smaller types, but sadly some drones get wasted since they launch even when they refuse to fight.

I wonder if many other times people get a bug with them not attacking, it's just that they won't attack some classes? Been funny to watch the series of duels between carriers and spawned ships, anyway.

[Etyneo]

My testing has shown the same results and I also forgot to test LTs...

This can be somewhat annoying with the Bombers not working correctly, since the interceptors (I typically use the Eclipse) can't really do much to an M1/2 except in large numbers (a Daedalus full...for example...) and even then, it takes awhile if there's no other support.