[SCRIPT] TerraCorps Combat Pilot Project - 1.43 released 09/01/06

X-it · Post by **X-it** » Sun, 8. Jan 06, 00:38

Myros wrote:Ive managed to duplicate the freeze using a similar task force to yours.

I'll hunt through the files again first thing tomorrow and track down why its doing that, sorry for the problems the addon caused. I'll post a fix as soon as its tracked down.

M

Thank you.

Actually I came back here now to say that I got a freeze again after disbanding the task force, so I thought I had raised a false alert here. But if you say you have managed to reproduce it...

I haven't given the disbanded ships any new commands after disbanding, though. So that could be the reason for the new freeze.

Anyway I think this script must be causing it (the add-on), as I have never had such a freeze before installing it. I have the crashes to desktop sometimes, usually with PSG fire, but never a freeze with looping sound.

Hope you figure it out. Sorry to be the messenger of bad news, but happy if I could help track down a bug...

NZ-Wanderer · Post by **NZ-Wanderer** » Sun, 8. Jan 06, 06:36

Hokay I tried again with the updated version and this time both my pilots went to Captain Status

Only problem now, is when I goto transfer my 2 Captains into my 2 M6's...

I recieve the following message:

Your Paranid Nemesis is not a valid ship for this pilot to transfer into, please review the ranks and allowed ships in the manual...

Reviewing the manual, you have written:

Captain - M6 Cruiser and TL

So the only thing I can think of is that it "could" be because I am using the M6 Upgrade Mod.. ( http://forum2.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=112798 )

Could this be what could be causing the problem??

Another little thing I noticed...
When my Pilot reaches the "commander" rank, they are no longer allowed to patrol in my "home" sector..
Basically the way I read this, it means whenever someone atains commander rank I have to send him to sectors where I don't actually want him... (My whole idea of having my squadrons was to be able to have them patrolling sectors where I have factories...)
Maybe could there be 2 options for commanders?? 1) Continue training to attain further rank, and 2) Stay at Commander and Patrol in whatever sector he/she wishes..

Anoik · Post by **Anoik** » Sun, 8. Jan 06, 12:59

A little question from one of the players from the spanish forum. Can this script and the task force addon script run in X2? or they can't?.

Myros · Post by **Myros** » Sun, 8. Jan 06, 16:05

Ok guys, squished the freezing bug ... was caused by all fighter TFs all wanting to escort traders at the same time making an infinite loop.

Also tweeked the threshold for training TFs and calling assaults, now they must meet a basic level requirement (basicly 1 M3 and 18 M5s + a little extra) before they will assault or spam the players logbook, also increased the time between possible attacks/assaults calls.

And a few other things:
http://www.neuralstudios.com/work/cpilo ... force.html

I also updated the main script with a couple minor non critical tweeks if you want to grab it too.

M6s --- dont forget that a leader also neads "leadership" before they can piltot a M6, for training stick them in a M3 and give them a training TF they will gain leadership very fast that way.

Once a pilot reaches commander level they cannot do player started "combat tours' in friendly territory, off to pirate land then .... sorry but no reward without risk

This doesnt apply to the TF run patrols (at least it shouldnt I'll double check)

Not compatible with X2 sorry, both games use very different databases.

Cheers:)
Myros

Please post if any freezes show up again, I ran for around 4 hours without a problem using that same test TF you used, same place too so looks good.

X-it · Post by **X-it** » Sun, 8. Jan 06, 16:18

Thank you very much for the updates!

Is there a certain level of leadership a commander needs to pilot an M6? My only captain so far has the 'born leader' trait, and I think his leadership value is a little more than 50% now. And does this also apply to piloting a TL? Just to make sure before I spend all my money on it...

But now we should leave you alone for a while so that you can enjoy the rest of the weekend, what's left of it...

Myros · Post by **Myros** » Sun, 8. Jan 06, 16:21

25 IIRC for M6/TL, then 50 for M2 and 75 for M1

M

(Im actualy one of those idiots that enjoys coding ... nothing more relaxing than 40 pages of notes and flow sheets lying all over your computer desk ;p, but Im off to play my regular non-test game for a bit, Im having trouble getting the piltos high enough rank too lol, time to use my own cheat I think

)

[EDIT - meant to add, stop and disband all TFs after applying the latest TF version, thats needed to reset their internal software to use the new versions, once you reform them they'll be good to go. Hope fully thats the last of the cirtical bugs so wont have to do that again]

X-it · Post by **X-it** » Sun, 8. Jan 06, 19:20

(Sorry for another long post. Nothing really important in here, so feel free to skip

)

Ok played for a few hours now, so just a little feedback:

- I checked my captain again (with the born leader trait), and he had leadership stat of 47%. Before setting him up as task force leader again I moved him over to an M3 Perseus Vanguard I had in my TL doing nothing.

- When I installed him in the ship, max speed went up from 163 to 192 or similar. Clever little bugger!

And he's still only 17 years. I see potential for this guy...

- I set him up as task force leader again, and this time he was assigned to TF-2. So apparently there is no chance I can have a TF-1 again in the game?

- I put the remaining 14 M5s under his command again, and checked his stats. Now his leadership rating was up to 62%! Seems he gained 15% just for getting those ships back under his command?

- I set up the TF in Kingdom's End again, and Rolk's Drift and Three Worlds as area of influence. Now I don't get all those 'full scale assault'-messages anymore. And they seem to be doing it like they did it before (about 5-6 ships on Sector Recon, with one ship in each neighbor sector at all times). I've also seen several ships been assigned to 'Rest and repairs' or something similar. Nice.

- No freezes yet! Just popped out of game to write this and to find suitable M4s to prepare for promotions. Almost have enough credits for an Elephant for my captain as well now. Will be interesting to see what he does to it when I move him over...

I'd love to have the captains being able to take back their old TF number after changing ships, though, or a number that is not currently used. There will be a lot of 'missing' TF numbers in the X-universe after a while. But other than that I'm a very happy puppy, thanks!

I've also adapted a new naming system for my ships, similar to some of the ones listed here, so thanks for the tips. Format is

M5SR Alpha 01 (Split Jaguar Raider 'first batch' (Alpha) and ship number.

When the pilot is promoted and I move him/her over to an M4 the name of that ship will be

M4SS Alpha 01 (Split Scorpion Sentinel first batch, same ship number)

...and the 'old' M5 will be sent to TerraCorp to get a new pilot installed, and will be called

M5SR Bravo 01 (I prefer to use phonetic alphabet designations, so the 'batches' will be named Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo etc.)

Well, off to play. Cheers!

NZ-Wanderer · Post by **NZ-Wanderer** » Sun, 8. Jan 06, 21:37

Hokay, thanks for that, I will transfer my 2 Captains to M3's and try out a TF for each of them

Will have to see if my 3 commanders will work in a TF, as I am very reluctant to send 3 ships into a pirate sector since the ego patch which made those sectors deadly...
I got about 30 or so Lieutenants as well now, only about 6 Ensigns left...

I been reading the docs on TF, but have a question which I couldn't quite figre out...
You say if you only want them to patrol a couple of sectors then put those sectors in more than once, and if you put the same sector in 5 times they will just idle..
Can I not get them to patrol 1 sector only (eg: one of my complexes sectors?? (not that this is a real problem if I can get them to do 2 sectors

One other final thing before I let you get back to your game...

When your ships or TF kill someone, does it affect your X3 race rank standings or your overall X3 miitary rank at all??

Myros wrote:M6s --- dont forget that a leader also neads "leadership" before they can piltot a M6, for training stick them in a M3 and give them a training TF they will gain leadership very fast that way.
Once a pilot reaches commander level they cannot do player started "combat tours' in friendly territory, off to pirate land then .... sorry but no reward without risk This doesnt apply to the TF run patrols (at least it shouldnt I'll double check)

Myros · Post by **Myros** » Sun, 8. Jan 06, 22:09

Thanks for the feedback guys.

As far as 1 sector patrols, prolly not .... thats what user called 'comabt tours were for. And I had to build in a way to clear all the sector without using another commmand slot (which are very limited). So figured that the best option.

Hmm not sure about the player ratings, I didnt change anything with the game so however its normaly done for your AI ships will be the same with TFs. I imagine it does as with things like traders you still get the merchant rank and faction increases. Not 100% sure though.

re born leader traits, those guys can get pretty decent bonuses once in a while over the normal TF leader gain. Great choice for a TF leader.

TF numbers, was just the simplist way to do it. Have one master variable thats just increased with each TF. If I were to set it up where numbers could be re-used it would mean searching through every number from 1 -?? to find used/unused adding another layer of scripting for a minor thing. If I get the time to research player input I'll figure out how to pop-up a player question so people can name their own TFs.

rest and recovery - aye, found it a good way to make sure all pilots get rotated through duties. They work 1 hour on 30 minutes off basicly. While on rest they get some time off, unless an attack or assault is called then its "all hands on deck!'

Myros

Anoik · Post by **Anoik** » Sun, 8. Jan 06, 23:13

Nice info Myros. If you have a little of time you should do a FAQ or manual with info like that.

Myros · Post by **Myros** » Mon, 9. Jan 06, 09:08

Good idea, if I get time this week I'll try to put together a more complete info/faq page.

Version updated to 1.43 ...removed some debug text.
Also updated the task force addon to prevent a problem when removing a ship from a TF and the leader still having it listed in one of his internal arrays.

Myros

999-JAY-999 · Post by **999-JAY-999** » Mon, 9. Jan 06, 10:01

Amazingly in depth... once I get my head round this more I will dive in...

(must be my age!)

NZ-Wanderer · Post by **NZ-Wanderer** » Mon, 9. Jan 06, 10:05

Naaa, can't be your age, I'm one of the oldest around here and even tho my head is spinning trying to figure it all out I am getting there slowly, so hang in there, it looks great what I managed to figure out so far

999-JAY-999 wrote:(must be my age!)

NZ-Wanderer · Post by **NZ-Wanderer** » Mon, 9. Jan 06, 10:08

Ohhh thanks, I finally got 2 TF's created and I was wondering what I was gonna do when I could afford some more M4's to replace the aging M5's my Lieutenants are flying..
Now I won't have to worry about mucking up my TF's

Myros wrote:Version updated to 1.43 ...removed some debug text.
Also updated the task force addon to prevent a problem when removing a ship from a TF and the leader still having it listed in one of his internal arrays.
Myros

999-JAY-999 · Post by **999-JAY-999** » Mon, 9. Jan 06, 10:20

Oh I see we have another 2004 FS Enthusiast on board...

NZ-Wanderer taking time out from planes for space craft I see.... hehehe

Just read through Myros Details on his site for this fine script .... Seems straight forward enough me thinks.

But just tell me is this pilot thing something that can be placed in the ship 'WE' fly at the time or these pilots that are integrated into the ship meant to fly the ship alone...

What I am trying to say is are they CREW or self flying individuals or both ?

(noting post about PILOT from FARSCAPE you see.... AS I LOVE FARSCAPE)

Thanks.

NZ-Wanderer · Post by **NZ-Wanderer** » Mon, 9. Jan 06, 10:40

Hehehe yea, need a break from FS2004 every now and then

Was into X2 and now X3

Ohh I can answer that question....

NO you do not have crew, they pilot their own ships...

999-JAY-999 wrote:NZ-Wanderer taking time out from planes for space craft I see.... hehehe
But just tell me is this pilot thing something that can be placed in the ship 'WE' fly at the time or these pilots that are integrated into the ship meant to fly the ship alone...
What I am trying to say is are they CREW or self flying individuals or both ?
Thanks.

X-it · Post by **X-it** » Mon, 9. Jan 06, 10:53

But you can also fly the ship yourself if you want from time to time. The pilot will not be lost, and will continue flying when you exit the ship. You can also keep these ships in your TL/carrier or have them as wingmen etc, and they will increase in rank always (but quicker if they're commanding their own ships or belong to a task force). Each pilot can have their own traits, and can do certain things to the ship they control, like increase speed and steering above max. And they gain skill so that they fight better over time.

Wonderful 'little' script.

Anoik · Post by **Anoik** » Mon, 9. Jan 06, 11:18

Would be nice if you can assign Combat Pilots to be your wingmans. And to do them earning more experience than if they are doing nothing, but less than if they are in a Task Force or doing combat tours with the basic script.

Myros · Post by **Myros** » Mon, 9. Jan 06, 14:00

You can Anoik.

Little trick is take your combat pilot wingmen with you (3 of them), have them in follow mode or protect mode on you.
When you get to a sector with enemies call them into a 'combat tour' with the sector your in as the target.

Once you see them form up put the tour leader back on follow mode on you. They will fight, get credit for kills, gain exp and when they enemies are dead they will get back on your tail. They will stay in this enhanced combat mode until you leave that particular sector.

Eventual I'll get around to using up another command slot maybe ang giving the player a wingman tour option where they will stay with you for X amount of time and act like they do on a regular combat tour but with the player the lead ship instead of another combat pilot. In fact thinkign about it it may not even need another command slot. I'll see what I can do this week.

Myros

(Found a little bug with the TF escorts so grab 1.06 when you can, in rare curcumstances the bug could have caused your TF commander to get a brain freeze and lock up your game.)
http://www.neuralstudios.com/work/cpilo ... force.html

Anoik · Post by **Anoik** » Mon, 9. Jan 06, 15:43

Nice info Myros, good to know that