Hi all
So quick question how exactly does one go about using wingmen? because it seems to me that the game lacks the necessary commands to make wingmen useful.
So I installed the cheat script in to x2 spawned a khaak m2 and a few khaak m3s I set the khaak m3s as wingmen and home base them to the khaak m2 trouble is when I go to the wingmen commands there is no command to tell the wingmen to attack the same target as the group leader in this case the khaak m2
It seems to me that setting ships as wingmen is completely pointless as I get the same set of commands regardless of whether I go to broadcast to all m3 ships in sector or broadcast to all wingmen.
There are no wingmen specific commands like for example attack group leaders target. I though the whole idea of wingmen was so that you can set up combat groups to make fleet control easier. so for example I home base a bunch of fighters to a larger ship like a destroyer and then when I give an order to the destroyer the destroyers wingmen will get the same command and therefore the whole group acts as a single unit without me having to micro manage everything because the lack of this makes fleet engagements all but impossible even in the later games where the fleet command and control is somewhat improved over the earlier games.
I has assumed that if I set ships as wingmen and then went to wingmen commands and did attack all enemies command that the wingmen would all stay together as a group and focus fire one target at a time till its destroyed before moving on to the next but they don’t they behave exactly the same as if I'd just done
broadcast to all m3s in sector > attack all enemies.
they scatter all over the place all engaging different targets which is stupid and inefficient, I know I could handle this manually by commanding the group to attack a specific target till its destroyed before ordering them to attack a new target but that is tedious as hell and interferes with my ability to do other things while my fighter group takes care of the enemy presence I should be able to automate this, so why can't I get my ships to behave in the same way as khaak clusters do aka engaging a single target at a time as a group till its destroyed.
clearly the desired behaviour must be possible as khaak clusters demonstrate the correct behaviour for a fighter wing yet I can't find a way to get my fighter groups to behave in the same way. due to the lack of the necessary commands so what command are khaak clusters running and why isn't that available to the player so that we can make are fighter wings behave as expected.
Wingmen question
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jlehtone
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Re: Wingmen question
X2?
FAQ https://www.egosoft.com/support/faq/faq ... &version=4 says that Fight Mk2 adds some commands.
There is "Attack my target". Fly the leader ship. Order another ship(s) to attack your target.
Jump out of the ship. Check what the ships do. IIRC, they continue to attack the target of the lead ship.
Now give the leader a target (with "Attack ...") and see what the whole wing does.
FAQ https://www.egosoft.com/support/faq/faq ... &version=4 says that Fight Mk2 adds some commands.
There is "Attack my target". Fly the leader ship. Order another ship(s) to attack your target.
Jump out of the ship. Check what the ships do. IIRC, they continue to attack the target of the lead ship.
Now give the leader a target (with "Attack ...") and see what the whole wing does.
Yes. The "wingmen" is a filter to send the command only to the ships that have the wingman flag. About who does, not what.Cursed Ghost wrote: Mon, 6. Apr 26, 02:15 I get the same set of commands regardless of whether I go to broadcast to all m3 ships in sector or broadcast to all wingmen.
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Cursed Ghost
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Re: Wingmen question
hi
I think you might misunderstand my query so I'll try to be a bit more clear.
what I'd like to be able to do is assign a bunch of fighters to a ship that I'm not flying then have the whole group roam the sector attacking all enemies as a group with all ships in the group attacking the same target allowing for the fast and efficient destruction of enemies.
the problem is the attack my target command only works on the ship the player is flying so its of no use for my purposes, the protect target command is also of no use because the protect command will only activate when the protection target is attacked the attack all enemies command is also useless because ships don't stay together as a group attacking the same target.
ok so here is a quick scenario for you lets say I'm in khaak space I have 60 fighters I want them to roam the sector in 3 groups of 20 with each group of 20 attacking a single target till its destroyed and then moving on to a new target automatically without any further input from me, and if I need to change order I should only need to give 1 order to each of the 3 group leaders.
to the best of my knowlage this scenario is not possible even with the basic patrol commands from the bonus pack or if it is I can't figure out how to get this to work because I've tried setting 1 ship to attack all enemies and then setting the other ships to protect that ship but to be honest this just doesn't work very well due to the way the protect command works.
I can do broadcast to all m3 ships > attack target and while that will result in the entire group swarming the target I have to continually designate targets which is tedious as hell and interferes with my ability to do other stuff.
if I do broadcast to all m3 ships > attack my target again that interferes with my ability to do other stuff like scanning asteroids because I have to keep the target I want destroyed selected not only that but I have to continually designate targets by selecting a new target so again that just isn't going to work
what I really need to be able to do is set 1 ship to attack all enemies and then assign the supporting ships to attack the same target as the leader, this would work in a similar way to what it would if you set 1 ship to attack all enemies and then set the supporting craft to protect the lead ship however instead of waiting for the leader to get attacked before engaging the supporting craft would engage immediately.
I think you might misunderstand my query so I'll try to be a bit more clear.
what I'd like to be able to do is assign a bunch of fighters to a ship that I'm not flying then have the whole group roam the sector attacking all enemies as a group with all ships in the group attacking the same target allowing for the fast and efficient destruction of enemies.
the problem is the attack my target command only works on the ship the player is flying so its of no use for my purposes, the protect target command is also of no use because the protect command will only activate when the protection target is attacked the attack all enemies command is also useless because ships don't stay together as a group attacking the same target.
ok so here is a quick scenario for you lets say I'm in khaak space I have 60 fighters I want them to roam the sector in 3 groups of 20 with each group of 20 attacking a single target till its destroyed and then moving on to a new target automatically without any further input from me, and if I need to change order I should only need to give 1 order to each of the 3 group leaders.
to the best of my knowlage this scenario is not possible even with the basic patrol commands from the bonus pack or if it is I can't figure out how to get this to work because I've tried setting 1 ship to attack all enemies and then setting the other ships to protect that ship but to be honest this just doesn't work very well due to the way the protect command works.
I can do broadcast to all m3 ships > attack target and while that will result in the entire group swarming the target I have to continually designate targets which is tedious as hell and interferes with my ability to do other stuff.
if I do broadcast to all m3 ships > attack my target again that interferes with my ability to do other stuff like scanning asteroids because I have to keep the target I want destroyed selected not only that but I have to continually designate targets by selecting a new target so again that just isn't going to work
what I really need to be able to do is set 1 ship to attack all enemies and then assign the supporting ships to attack the same target as the leader, this would work in a similar way to what it would if you set 1 ship to attack all enemies and then set the supporting craft to protect the lead ship however instead of waiting for the leader to get attacked before engaging the supporting craft would engage immediately.
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jlehtone
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Re: Wingmen question
First, I have not used X2 in 20 years. I have forgoten. A lot.
I was able to start the game and load an old save.
I see a Centaur "A" running Sector Patrol. I see another Centaur "B" escorting it. Its active command is "Attack target of A". Whether it was the sector patrol or manually given order, the B will clearly target whatever the A targets; they will attack together.
I do recall that one of the later X3s did add option to set up such wings without visiting each formation leader.
Anyway, the "my" does not refer to you, it refers to the ship that you did fly when you did issue the order.
I do play X4 now. In X2 and X3, if I configured the turrets of ship C to "Attack my target" (whether I did fly C or not), and then told C to attack X, then the turrets did shoot at X. I was shocked in X4, when I did issue those turret commands. I told (pilot of) C to attack X, but the turrets did not shoot at X. I was in another ship and did target Y. At that point turrets of C -- well, all turrets with "Attack my target" order -- did start to shoot at Y (if possible). This never did happen in X2 or X3.
One more thing. The "Wingmen" are specifically the ships that have been assigned as "wingmen". Your other ships that escort other ships are not wingmen. The "wingmen", "docked ships", "ships in sector" are filters that select whom you send orders to.
I saw also "Attack nearest ..." command in the game. When B runs "Attack nearest of A", it should provide close support for A, although not necessarily target the same foe as A.
I was able to start the game and load an old save.
I see a Centaur "A" running Sector Patrol. I see another Centaur "B" escorting it. Its active command is "Attack target of A". Whether it was the sector patrol or manually given order, the B will clearly target whatever the A targets; they will attack together.
Yes and no. IIRC, in both X2 and X3s, if you fly A and tell B to "Attack my target", then B will "Attack target of A" and it will continue to do so even after you switch to fly some other ship. Yes, the initial setup is inconvenient since you have to hop into each "wing leader" to issue the orders. Initially. When the wing is set up, it keeps rocking.Cursed Ghost wrote: Fri, 10. Apr 26, 01:58 the problem is the attack my target command only works on the ship the player is flying
I do recall that one of the later X3s did add option to set up such wings without visiting each formation leader.
Anyway, the "my" does not refer to you, it refers to the ship that you did fly when you did issue the order.
I do play X4 now. In X2 and X3, if I configured the turrets of ship C to "Attack my target" (whether I did fly C or not), and then told C to attack X, then the turrets did shoot at X. I was shocked in X4, when I did issue those turret commands. I told (pilot of) C to attack X, but the turrets did not shoot at X. I was in another ship and did target Y. At that point turrets of C -- well, all turrets with "Attack my target" order -- did start to shoot at Y (if possible). This never did happen in X2 or X3.
One more thing. The "Wingmen" are specifically the ships that have been assigned as "wingmen". Your other ships that escort other ships are not wingmen. The "wingmen", "docked ships", "ships in sector" are filters that select whom you send orders to.
I saw also "Attack nearest ..." command in the game. When B runs "Attack nearest of A", it should provide close support for A, although not necessarily target the same foe as A.
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Cursed Ghost
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Re: Wingmen question
I still don't see how you are supposed to get this to work in the expected fashion, even with the patrol command scripts from the bonus pack.
maybe I'm just missing something obvious but so far as I can tell there is no way to make my fighter wings do what I want them to do, which in this case is to fly round in a group destroying all enemies in the sector with each member of the group attacking the same target, without waiting for the group leader to be attacked, additionally I want to be able to set any ship as group leader which is something I can't do with the patrol command scripts.
lets say you have 10 fighters if you tell them to attack all enemies they wont stay together as a group and wont attack the same target
if I set one of the fighters to attack all enemies then there is no way to tell the other 9 to attack the same target as the one I set to attack all enemies, I suppose I could try getting into one of the ships and then tell the other 9 to attack my target and then switch back to my previous ship but isn't that just going to make the other 9 attack the target of the ship that I'm currently flying rather then attacking the target of the group leader?
another issue I see with this is even if it does work how would you get them to go to another sector after setting stuff up lets say that I set this up in argon prime how would I then get each group to go to khaak space I would have to set this up in khaak space which is something that's not really possible given the unlimited spawns not to mention the fact that its completely impossible to add more ships to replace losses not without a shed load of messing around.
ultimately this completely defeats the whole purpose of trying this in the first place which is to have all my ships to handle the spawns with out intervention from me so I'm free to do other stuff as far as I can tell this whole thing is totally unworkable.
maybe I'm just missing something obvious but so far as I can tell there is no way to make my fighter wings do what I want them to do, which in this case is to fly round in a group destroying all enemies in the sector with each member of the group attacking the same target, without waiting for the group leader to be attacked, additionally I want to be able to set any ship as group leader which is something I can't do with the patrol command scripts.
lets say you have 10 fighters if you tell them to attack all enemies they wont stay together as a group and wont attack the same target
if I set one of the fighters to attack all enemies then there is no way to tell the other 9 to attack the same target as the one I set to attack all enemies, I suppose I could try getting into one of the ships and then tell the other 9 to attack my target and then switch back to my previous ship but isn't that just going to make the other 9 attack the target of the ship that I'm currently flying rather then attacking the target of the group leader?
another issue I see with this is even if it does work how would you get them to go to another sector after setting stuff up lets say that I set this up in argon prime how would I then get each group to go to khaak space I would have to set this up in khaak space which is something that's not really possible given the unlimited spawns not to mention the fact that its completely impossible to add more ships to replace losses not without a shed load of messing around.
ultimately this completely defeats the whole purpose of trying this in the first place which is to have all my ships to handle the spawns with out intervention from me so I'm free to do other stuff as far as I can tell this whole thing is totally unworkable.
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jlehtone
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Re: Wingmen question
You can get answer to that question yourself. Make that setup and then test it. Then you will know which way it goes.Cursed Ghost wrote: Mon, 20. Apr 26, 01:07 I suppose I could try getting into one of the ships and then tell the other 9 to attack my target and then switch back to my previous ship but isn't that just going to make the other 9 attack the target of the ship that I'm currently flying rather then attacking the target of the group leader?
For regular sectors that should be no issue. You order the leader of the formation to fly somewhere and the others will follow.Cursed Ghost wrote: Mon, 20. Apr 26, 01:07 another issue I see with this is even if it does work how would you get them to go to another sector
However, the Kha'ak sectors do not have Gates, do they? One has to use jumpdrive to get there? Can one even tell an another ship to jump there?
If one can, then the followup question is:
if every ship in formation has jumpdrives and the leader jumps somewhere, will the others jump too, or fly conventionally?
(I cannot remember the answer, but that too is something that you can test.)
If the ships are fighters, then there may be an another possibility. If the leader is told to dock, will the followers dock too?
If they do, then the whole formation can dock into Carrier and the followers will keep their "Attack target of leader" order.
In that case you could use Carrier(s) to haul the fighter wings into Kha'ak sector.
Most likely.
I did visit Kha'ak sector in X3R. There was messing around, although X3R had more fleet control options than X2. I posted that tale ages ago: viewtopic.php?t=194631
Alas, the image repo is gone. I did found one of them: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zk9cmb ... sp=sharing
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Cursed Ghost
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Re: Wingmen question
So it turns out that there may actually be an attack same target as ... command.
with the script editor active I had a look at what command Khaak M5s where running and its was this !ship.cmd.attacksame.std.pck if that's what I think than that's what i've been looking for a command that lets me instruct my wingmen to attack the same target as a ship I designate as leader which would help players control groups of ships more easily, sadly however it's not available to the players wonder why and if its possible to make it available to players.
unfortunately couldn't figure out how to unpack that so I could take a closer look and it doesn't show up in the script editor either.
with the script editor active I had a look at what command Khaak M5s where running and its was this !ship.cmd.attacksame.std.pck if that's what I think than that's what i've been looking for a command that lets me instruct my wingmen to attack the same target as a ship I designate as leader which would help players control groups of ships more easily, sadly however it's not available to the players wonder why and if its possible to make it available to players.
unfortunately couldn't figure out how to unpack that so I could take a closer look and it doesn't show up in the script editor either.
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jlehtone
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Re: Wingmen question
I did load X2 again. Could barely remember anything, but I did manage to:Cursed Ghost wrote: Mon, 27. Apr 26, 19:29 So it turns out that there may actually be an attack same target as ... command.
with the script editor active I had a look at what command Khaak M5s where running and its was this !ship.cmd.attacksame.std.pck if that's what I think than that's what i've been looking for a command that lets me instruct my wingmen to attack the same target as a ship I designate as leader which would help players control groups of ships more easily, sadly however it's not available to the players wonder why and if its possible to make it available to players.
* Purchase three Mamba, with both Fight Mk1 and Mk2. Named them T1, T2, T3
* Transported to T1
* Ordered T2 to "Attack my target"
* Ordered T3 to "Attack my target"
* Transferred to a Disco
* Ordered T1 to attack Argon Mercury
=> All three Mambas did attack the ship
=> T2 shows "Attack my target T1" (Attack.T) as its command
* Ordered T1 to dock into station
=> All three Mambas did dock
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Cursed Ghost
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Re: Wingmen question
Interesting certainly not as convenient as being able to do
Broadcast to all ships in sector > broadcast to all wingman > attack same target as ... > select a ship to be group leader
Then tell group leader to do something like attack all enemies or patrol sector etc but if it works I guess ....
Broadcast to all ships in sector > broadcast to all wingman > attack same target as ... > select a ship to be group leader
Then tell group leader to do something like attack all enemies or patrol sector etc but if it works I guess ....
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Cursed Ghost
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Re: Wingmen question
Thinking about it in addition to the Attack Same Target As … command.
I have a few other ideas for additional commands because X2 is lacking a lot of very basic functionality, and as far as I'm aware none of this is currently available in X2, and in truth a lot of this isn't available in the later games either, some of it is like scan asteroids / attack shields / patrol sector but most of it isn't and I'm actually surprised no one ever though of any of this.
Combat Commands
Attack All Enemy Ships
Attack All Enemy Ships Type ...
Attack Shields
Protect Home Base and Land
Protect from Missiles/Drones
Guard Location … Range …
Special Commands
Collect / Beam Astronauts
Collect / Beam Drones
Collect / Beam Minerals
Collect / Beam Spaceflys
Beam Ware
Beam All Wares in Sector ...
Navigation Commands
Scan All Asteroids in Sector
Explore Universe
Return to Ship
Attack All Enemy Ships
Ships running this command would not attack pirate bases when running in a sector like Rhonkar's Clouds or Orebelt even if the pirate base is hostile as they would only target ships.
Attack All Enemy Ships Type ...
This would be helpful again Khaak clusters as you could tell your wingmen to only attack enemy M5s which would then leave you free to try and capture the Khaak M3s which make excellent wingmen.
Protect Home Base and Land
This would be helpful for protecting your stations because the issue I've ran into with the default commands is that after your ships launch to protect your station they don't return to base once the threat is eliminated which can result in them being destroyed another issue is that defence force ships don't stay together as a group and focus fire targets to make sure they are eliminated quickly and efficiently.
Attack Shields
This would be helpful when trying to capture ships as you could for example launch a bunch of drones and have them pound on the targets shields keeping them low which would in theory make the target more likely to surrender particularly if the player has a high combat rank.
This would help give drones some utility because right now there just not very useful since they don’t have enough fire power to do anything offensively unlike the Keris drones from X3 which are extremely dangerous in large numbers since EMPC are significantly more powerful and a big enough swarm of Keris drones can take down even capital ships.
Perhaps drones in X2 should be upgraded.
Protect From Missiles/Drones
This command would also be a good for use with drones as you could launce a bunch of drones and have them target any missiles/drones that are attacking you a friendly target or group of friendly targets such as a ship or convoy that you are escorting.
Again this would help to give drones a bit more utility since they just aren't very useful right now.
Scan All Asteroids in Sector
A command that allow you to automate scanning of asteroids, something from the later games in the series that I really miss in X2
Would also be helpful towards the end of the plot when you need to scan the asteroids in Orebelt and if it was performed with navigation drones it would make this mission safer, easier and faster.
Ahh Navigation Drones something else from the later games in the series I miss in X2 while it's not something I use a lot they are kind of handy.
Explore Universe
Don't feel like mapping out the universe your self ? Don't want to scan each sector your self ? Don't feel like scanning asteroids your self ?
Then this command is for you buy a Paranid Pegasus outfit and upgrade it and then have it run the Explore Universe command the ship will then find every sector in the game, will find all stations, gates and asteroids in every sector, and will scan every asteroid in the game also, once your ship cant find anything new it will land at a friendly station in inform you the job is complete.
Xenon Sectors will not be explored, instead the ship will simply take the long way around and avoid them, since its not possible to reach the Unknown Sector next to Xenon Sector 534 via an alternate route that sector will also not be explored, additionally if more than 1 ship is running the Explore Universe command then they will coordinate to get the job done faster.
Return to Ship
A useful command for drones that are still active after the threat has been eliminated, simply stop your ship open your cargo bay and then broadcast to all drones in sector and issue the Return to Ship command to have any remaining drones return to your cargo bay.
Conversely if you have the transporter device and special command software then broadcast all drones order them to stand by and then use the Collect / Beam Drones Command to have your ship beam all your remaining drones back into your cargo hold.
I know drones are meant to be disposable but that’s still no reason to be wasteful.
Collect / Beam Minerals …
Useful for those that want to engage in Mobile mining this would make ships that are equipped with an Ore Collector and Special Command Software collect all the chunks of minerals.
Guard Location … Range …
Another useful command if you for example wanted to guard the North Gate in Black Hole Sun to stop all those pesky Xenon ships that keep coming through.
So if you had a destroyer in Black Hole Sun then you could give it the following directive.
Attack all enemy ships within 4km of the north gate in Black Hole Sun.
This would then cause your destroyer to camp the north gate taking out any hostile ships that get with 4km of the north gate, hostile ships beyond the specified range will be ignored.
Collect / Beam Spaceflys
A Helpful command for those that are equipped with a Spacefly Collector, Cargo Life Support System, Ion Disruptors, Special Command Software and a Transporter Device, as ships running this command will collect those stunned Spaceflys automatically which would make the whole process a lot less tedious.
First stun the Spaceflys with Ion Disruptors, then run the Collect / Beam Spaceflys command to have your ship collect those Spaceflys automatically.
In addition to adding new commands id also try to improve upon the default commands to make them a bit smarter.
for example
ships running the attack all enemies command would focus fire the closest target, additionally ships running the attack all enemies command would priorities missiles over there current target if the missile is targeted at them.
so if one of your wingmen is attacking one target and a second target shoots a missile at your wingman then your wingman will prioritise destroying the missile before returning to its previous target.
ships running the protect command will priorities missiles over there current target if that missile is fired at the target they are set to protect once the missile is destroyed they will return to the previous target. Additional ships running the protect command will prioritise there own safety and the safety of other members of the protection detail to ensure they are not destroyed because a dead guard can't protect anything and escorts are expensive.
Therefore should the target that is being protected or any member of the protection be detail be attacked the entire protection detail will focus fire that target till its destroyed if being engaged by multiple hostiles then each member of the protection detail will focus fire the closest target to ensure hostiles are eliminated as quickly as possible. This shouldn't be to hard to do because the computer already does this to the player when the player attacks a group of pirate ships or a Khaak cluster so it wouldn't be to much of a stretch to make the players ships running the protect command act in a similar way.
I think I'd try to improve the collect wares command as well because its to slow and the circle of shame bug is irritating and ironically its actually faster to continually re-issue the collect all ware in sector command after each cargo pod is collected if there are a several to be collected then it is to just issue the command once and wait for the computer to do its thing.
Therefore ships running the collect wares command would cut engine power turn to face the thing they are trying to collect then engage full engine power, additionally I'd remove the annoying delay between collecting and turning to face the next cargo pod because the delay is unnecessary because in all likelihood by the time the ship collects the second cargo pod the first will have already been transferred out of the cargo bay anyway therefore after collecting the first cargo pod the ship would turn to face and start moving towards the second Immediately.
I have a few other ideas for additional commands because X2 is lacking a lot of very basic functionality, and as far as I'm aware none of this is currently available in X2, and in truth a lot of this isn't available in the later games either, some of it is like scan asteroids / attack shields / patrol sector but most of it isn't and I'm actually surprised no one ever though of any of this.
Combat Commands
Attack All Enemy Ships
Attack All Enemy Ships Type ...
Attack Shields
Protect Home Base and Land
Protect from Missiles/Drones
Guard Location … Range …
Special Commands
Collect / Beam Astronauts
Collect / Beam Drones
Collect / Beam Minerals
Collect / Beam Spaceflys
Beam Ware
Beam All Wares in Sector ...
Navigation Commands
Scan All Asteroids in Sector
Explore Universe
Return to Ship
Attack All Enemy Ships
Ships running this command would not attack pirate bases when running in a sector like Rhonkar's Clouds or Orebelt even if the pirate base is hostile as they would only target ships.
Attack All Enemy Ships Type ...
This would be helpful again Khaak clusters as you could tell your wingmen to only attack enemy M5s which would then leave you free to try and capture the Khaak M3s which make excellent wingmen.
Protect Home Base and Land
This would be helpful for protecting your stations because the issue I've ran into with the default commands is that after your ships launch to protect your station they don't return to base once the threat is eliminated which can result in them being destroyed another issue is that defence force ships don't stay together as a group and focus fire targets to make sure they are eliminated quickly and efficiently.
Attack Shields
This would be helpful when trying to capture ships as you could for example launch a bunch of drones and have them pound on the targets shields keeping them low which would in theory make the target more likely to surrender particularly if the player has a high combat rank.
This would help give drones some utility because right now there just not very useful since they don’t have enough fire power to do anything offensively unlike the Keris drones from X3 which are extremely dangerous in large numbers since EMPC are significantly more powerful and a big enough swarm of Keris drones can take down even capital ships.
Perhaps drones in X2 should be upgraded.
Protect From Missiles/Drones
This command would also be a good for use with drones as you could launce a bunch of drones and have them target any missiles/drones that are attacking you a friendly target or group of friendly targets such as a ship or convoy that you are escorting.
Again this would help to give drones a bit more utility since they just aren't very useful right now.
Scan All Asteroids in Sector
A command that allow you to automate scanning of asteroids, something from the later games in the series that I really miss in X2
Would also be helpful towards the end of the plot when you need to scan the asteroids in Orebelt and if it was performed with navigation drones it would make this mission safer, easier and faster.
Ahh Navigation Drones something else from the later games in the series I miss in X2 while it's not something I use a lot they are kind of handy.
Explore Universe
Don't feel like mapping out the universe your self ? Don't want to scan each sector your self ? Don't feel like scanning asteroids your self ?
Then this command is for you buy a Paranid Pegasus outfit and upgrade it and then have it run the Explore Universe command the ship will then find every sector in the game, will find all stations, gates and asteroids in every sector, and will scan every asteroid in the game also, once your ship cant find anything new it will land at a friendly station in inform you the job is complete.
Xenon Sectors will not be explored, instead the ship will simply take the long way around and avoid them, since its not possible to reach the Unknown Sector next to Xenon Sector 534 via an alternate route that sector will also not be explored, additionally if more than 1 ship is running the Explore Universe command then they will coordinate to get the job done faster.
Return to Ship
A useful command for drones that are still active after the threat has been eliminated, simply stop your ship open your cargo bay and then broadcast to all drones in sector and issue the Return to Ship command to have any remaining drones return to your cargo bay.
Conversely if you have the transporter device and special command software then broadcast all drones order them to stand by and then use the Collect / Beam Drones Command to have your ship beam all your remaining drones back into your cargo hold.
I know drones are meant to be disposable but that’s still no reason to be wasteful.
Collect / Beam Minerals …
Useful for those that want to engage in Mobile mining this would make ships that are equipped with an Ore Collector and Special Command Software collect all the chunks of minerals.
Guard Location … Range …
Another useful command if you for example wanted to guard the North Gate in Black Hole Sun to stop all those pesky Xenon ships that keep coming through.
So if you had a destroyer in Black Hole Sun then you could give it the following directive.
Attack all enemy ships within 4km of the north gate in Black Hole Sun.
This would then cause your destroyer to camp the north gate taking out any hostile ships that get with 4km of the north gate, hostile ships beyond the specified range will be ignored.
Collect / Beam Spaceflys
A Helpful command for those that are equipped with a Spacefly Collector, Cargo Life Support System, Ion Disruptors, Special Command Software and a Transporter Device, as ships running this command will collect those stunned Spaceflys automatically which would make the whole process a lot less tedious.
First stun the Spaceflys with Ion Disruptors, then run the Collect / Beam Spaceflys command to have your ship collect those Spaceflys automatically.
In addition to adding new commands id also try to improve upon the default commands to make them a bit smarter.
for example
ships running the attack all enemies command would focus fire the closest target, additionally ships running the attack all enemies command would priorities missiles over there current target if the missile is targeted at them.
so if one of your wingmen is attacking one target and a second target shoots a missile at your wingman then your wingman will prioritise destroying the missile before returning to its previous target.
ships running the protect command will priorities missiles over there current target if that missile is fired at the target they are set to protect once the missile is destroyed they will return to the previous target. Additional ships running the protect command will prioritise there own safety and the safety of other members of the protection detail to ensure they are not destroyed because a dead guard can't protect anything and escorts are expensive.
Therefore should the target that is being protected or any member of the protection be detail be attacked the entire protection detail will focus fire that target till its destroyed if being engaged by multiple hostiles then each member of the protection detail will focus fire the closest target to ensure hostiles are eliminated as quickly as possible. This shouldn't be to hard to do because the computer already does this to the player when the player attacks a group of pirate ships or a Khaak cluster so it wouldn't be to much of a stretch to make the players ships running the protect command act in a similar way.
I think I'd try to improve the collect wares command as well because its to slow and the circle of shame bug is irritating and ironically its actually faster to continually re-issue the collect all ware in sector command after each cargo pod is collected if there are a several to be collected then it is to just issue the command once and wait for the computer to do its thing.
Therefore ships running the collect wares command would cut engine power turn to face the thing they are trying to collect then engage full engine power, additionally I'd remove the annoying delay between collecting and turning to face the next cargo pod because the delay is unnecessary because in all likelihood by the time the ship collects the second cargo pod the first will have already been transferred out of the cargo bay anyway therefore after collecting the first cargo pod the ship would turn to face and start moving towards the second Immediately.