[SCR] MARS Fire Control (v5.25 - 16.02.13)

[Gazz]

the repair is working, but it seems like the goblins are doing it by script - none of them have repair lasers fitted. what's going on?

Told you it's not possible. =P
Anyway, every ship is doing everything "by script". Every single bullet that was ever fired was a script action.

i don't mean to sound ungrateful... just that this amazing new feature is eating way more cpu cycles. did you say with the tships it should be easier?

Yes. Without the need for "software emulation" it will be considerably less... wasteful.

You see, without this it would have been yet another "add 10 hull points per second" repair script.
A simple loop! Preposterous!

Once installed, the script will auto detect the mod and start using it without any fuss or special messages.
It doesn't even have to be "the" mod. Adding the repair laser (mining laser) to all 3 fighter drones will do.

But even with the mod it seems that the repair laser itself is not quite optimised for widespread use.
Then again, maybe it's the "Kyon beam" slowdown I faintly remember. Been ages since I updated my gfx drivers...

[semiliterate]

okay i see, but.

now. instead of launching goblins, my teladi heavy osprey just drops them then picks them straight back up and says "cargo bay now contains fighter drone". this is in combat, the auto-launch, against a bunch of pirate fighters.

[Gazz]

I noticed that, too. Odd since I didn't even touch the launching procedure at all.
It's been the same since january.

[semiliterate]

it seems to work fine when they're repairing. something about their target selection or which sub they're running? happens with the manual launch as well, and happens if i'm stationary so i'm not running them down.

first time i booted (not sure if i'd given mars enough time to update) they did the same thing, but only until i turned the Repair option on.


EDIT: Hmm. on closer inspection, here's the behaviour i see.

when repair is OFF: goblins launch fine, out of combat (seem to work fine for non playerships). except that they launch to repair my damaged ship (i'm the target) and then just sit there around it, moving occasionally. auto-launch doesn't work.

when repair is ON: um, turns out this works the same.

is it the repair sub? 'cause it seems strange, that behaviour, especially given they launch fine if it's off - but try to repair me. also, switching while they're out doesn't seem to stop the repair script, or start it, but i suspect that's normal.

i hope this is more helpful than my normal bug report, which goes "baaaaaw fixit".

EDIT: hang on. it seems like maybe the check for combat in the repair thing is stopping goblins from launching from the playership any time the enemy is around, as well as the repair script running when the toggle says off. could be wrong.

conspicuously, auto-launch in combat kept giving me "cargo bay now contains fighter drone", whereas as soon as i was clear for, what is it, 7km? the cargo auto-launch kicked in.

[Gazz]

Fixed.

I think.

[semiliterate]

excellent!

[gandy|UKCS|]

There is a few little issues im having with MARS atm ( im not using the most current version, In game it says 426 but i thought it was 428 as i started using it after that release )

the first is.. when using the PALC on the turrets it seems to try and fire through almost everything.. asteroids, stations and other ships, to me mars does not take into account the type of weapon it is and that it has a fixed distance so any ship within its max range that passes through the beam has a very high chance of being hit. I know this is more a weapon issue than script but is there anything that can be done ?

The second is.. if you remove all weapons from a ship that has mars installed on and leave the sector and go back to the sector the ship is docked in you will be spammed with audio messages about how it cant load any weapons, and it will do it until you put weapons on the ship or leave the sector.

The other is a goblin issue.. only a minor one and not related to the script i think.

Some times when i go to jump to another sector some of my goblins will leave the ship to collect wares.. so they get left behind until i return to pick them up.

Is it possible to have it so when the jump command has been started the goblins cant leave the ship ??

Also will there be a mars lite version that just has the turret commands with none of the extra features ??

[semiliterate]

The second is.. if you remove all weapons from a ship that has mars installed on and leave the sector and go back to the sector the ship is docked in you will be spammed with audio messages about how it cant load any weapons, and it will do it until you put weapons on the ship or leave the sector.

by running MARS on your turrets, you are asking it to search for lasers and install them.

if it has no lasers, it can't be faulted, it's just doing what you say and panicking when it doesn't work!

The other is a goblin issue.. only a minor one and not related to the script i think.

Some times when i go to jump to another sector some of my goblins will leave the ship to collect wares.. so they get left behind until i return to pick them up.

Is it possible to have it so when the jump command has been started the goblins cant leave the ship ??

tap the "launch goblin" key once with no target (or a jumpgate) and it will call a launch hold and recall all currently deployed goblins for a few minutes - or until you leave the sector.

Also will there be a mars lite version that just has the turret commands with none of the extra features ??

like the MARS lite version that fighters use?

[Gazz]

The second is.. if you remove all weapons from a ship that has mars installed on and leave the sector and go back to the sector the ship is docked in you will be spammed with audio messages about how it cant load any weapons, and it will do it until you put weapons on the ship or leave the sector.

If you remove all weapons you do not need a turret script.
Just turn it off.

Also will there be a mars lite version that just has the turret commands with none of the extra features ??

You mean the one where the user goes to the config menu and turns them off? I guess that might be possible.

[kelmen]

need to extract the MARS_Repair_Drones.zip content into Types folder, right?

[Zayltsin]

need to extract the MARS_Repair_Drones.zip content into Types folder, right?

Yip thats what the .PDF says.

[Gazz]

It was just pointed out that this TShips mod does other things, too.
I forgot that I had tripled the cargo capacity of all (I think) TL when I was building a complex. =)


BTW: I started with some Frequently Annoying Questions.

[SIKY]

Q: Would you please add add a version number to all downloadable ZIP files and
offer all previous versions for download (each with a version history) and
notify my by phone or email if you release a new version?

A: No.

My phone is 3306........
Big thank's again Gazz for the new update of this marvelous script and big thank's to Odin83 to have translated this in french so quickly

[Sinnerman264]

How about that enabling MARS on AI?

I'd love to make as strong as possible, but I didn't play much into the game and I play with Race Response Fleets, so I am wondering, in case that enabling MARS for AI makes AI super strong or something, should I enable it, or not?

Thanks!

[Gazz]

The thing is... you can turn it back off.

You'll just have to live with the consequences.
Which is to say, the knowledge that X3 kicked your butt in an almost fair fight...

[Sinnerman264]

That's what I wanted to know.

With it turned on, AI will be too strong, that's what I kind of guessed.

What are the possible situations when it should/could be turned on?

[arazar]

In the manual it says that MARS on all ships would put a big load on the CPU, how about MARS for AI?

Same problem here?

[semiliterate]

i'm guessing there's no way to have MARS installed on SOME AI ships?

'cause i will happily admit that it kicked my butt in an almost fair fight. without the turret scripts to balance combat, i can no longer slaughter capital ships in my corvette. but it seems like cheating, so a compromise would be grand.

i know compromise is not MARS' strong suite.

[Gazz]

With it turned on, AI will be too strong, that's what I kind of guessed.

Nah. The player is always stronger (as in smarter) than the AI.
Okay, most are.
And I'm giving you the benefit of doubt.

Since MARS will not cheat it boils down to tactics. The hardware is the same on either side.
It's simply trying to use every edge it can get. (and knows about =)
Like it will not try in vain to shoot HEPT at you when the ship's laser generator is dry. Instead it switches to EBC so other turrets can still fire a few salvos of Flak when a juicy target presents itself and the ship's heavier and longer ranged main guns also aren't rendered useless.


As for a big CPU load... define big.
I cannot.
If it works on your machine - awesome. If not it just doesn't work.
Maybe a faster (single or dual core) CPU with some nice fast RAM can. *shrug*

i know compromise is not MARS' strong suite.

Yeah, you got that one right.
It's not the fault of any particular turret or firing script, it's the principle it works on.
Like saying a jet engine with an afterburner uses too much fuel compared to a diesel engine. Not easy to compare...

i'm guessing there's no way to have MARS installed on SOME AI ships?

Hmmmmm.... *headscratch*
it might be possible to only activate it on the closest big ship (M6 and up) and the closest huge ship (really big and up).
(Would be silly if the enemy M6 300m in front of the enemy M2 had it activated but the M2 had not. =P)

Right now this is sector wide. All or none.

[Sinnerman264]

All right, it's a good answer. Thanks.

I guess, since I never have owned a capital ship, I will turn it off until I am more experienced.

Regards!