[Script] STEALTH Lasertowers - Ring of Fire (v2.27 - 28.04.08)

[Gazz]

(Das entsprechende deutsche Topic ist hier)


Ring of Fire - The professional Lasertower solution
. Screenshot 2 . Screenshot 3 . (aka The Biggest and Baddest Bug Zapper Ever Built)

What this script does: it deploys 1-360 Lasertowers. Basically.

Of course there is a twist to it...
Instead of a messy heap where they end up crashing into each other they are deployed in a very accurate and orderly circle.
Also those Lasertowers have Cloaking Devices and they are not afraid to use em.

** Transporter Device required for deployment **

So... first you load up a freighter with Lasertowers.

If you want Stealth Lasertowers (you probably do =) an additional 2 Microchips are required per Lasertower.

If you do not produce these things yourself, the Fleet Support Software from the Bonus Pack can be sent shopping for you.

Then you can either fly the ship yourself or order it to deploy the LT somewhere. If a jumpdrive is installed it will be used to get to the location - even in system if that would save noticable time.

Up to 4 arguments are required to control the placement of the defensive ring but you can set defaults so you will usually be entering nothing but the destination plus 0-1 arguments.
(Due to a change in the script system you can no longer ommit Arguments)


1st argument:
The target or location to be protected by the Lasertowers.
Your ship will travel there, using a jumpdrive if available, and start deployment.

Only jump gates are special targets. Any LT Ring within 5 km of a Gate will be aligned with the gate's position and axis. Directly targeting the gate will snap the Ring to a fitting position and enforce a minimum radius of 1600m.
This default radius can support up to 60 Lasertowers although fewer
or a larger radius are preferrable.


2nd argument:
Number of Lasertowers to be deployed: 1 through 360

* Enter "?" or "0" to get the in game help page.

* Entering "all" will deploy all LT in the ship's cargo bay.
If the ship also carries any Microchips it will only deploy as many
Stealth LT as it has chips for.

* Config option: set ring : Lasertowers will deployed in a ring around the target.

* Config option: set spiral : Lasertowers will deployed in a multiple spiral around the target.

* Config option: set scan # : Entering "set scan 11000" will adjust the scanners of all your Stealth LT to 11 km. This includes already deployed ones.
Allowed values are 3000 - 20000. A cloaked Lasertower scans this range for enemies and will only uncloak if any are detected.
(The range of the Lasertower's weapon is 6600 m)

* Config option: set cloak : Stealth Lasertower cloaking is controlled by their software.

* Config option: set decloak : Disable cloaking for ALL of your S.L.T. until told otherwise.


3rd argument:
Radius of the circle in metres: -10.000 through +10.000 metres.

* Entering 0 will calculate the smallest possible radius and use it.
* Entering 1 will use the radius you saved with "set".

* Config option: set # : Entering "set 1920" as a radius will save this and always use this radius when you enter "1".

Entering a negative number for the radius will override the "sensible range" check and deploy as per your order.


4th argument:
Axis orientation. What axis the circle should be drawn around: X, Y, or Z
This argument is ignored when you select a jump gate as target.


Stealth Technology:
If the cargo bay contains 2 Units of Microchips per LT then all LT will
automatically be deployed as Stealth LT. They operate like perfectly normal Lasertowers while enemies are in range but the advantage is that they cloak completely when no hostiles are close.
And completely means that they do not show up in your sector / property list any more so even with 100 Stealth Lasertowers in the sector you will no longer have a problem with finding your ships.
Also less display lag and your ships have a much easier time navigating the sector.


Friend/Foe settings:
Stealth LT routinely update their scanners with your global settings.
Some races (Xenon) apparently can't be set to neutral to your LT but it works with pirates and other races.
A LT will remain stealthed and let a pirate pass until you set pirates to Foe.


Deployment:
The ship is stopped dead while the autopilot deploys Lasertowers and it can take a while with large numbers.
This is not very useful as an instant super-weapon and intentionally so. =)


OOS Performance:
Note that unlike "regular" Lasertowers, LT deployed by this script
(whether stealthed or not) are equally efficient in and out of sector.
Due to the mechanics of OOS combat, normal LT do well... suck.



. . . ZIP / SPK . . . English / German version


Installation:
1. Extract the ZIP into the main X3 folder while maintaining paths.
This puts everything in the right places.

2. Enable the Script editor by
changing your PILOT name to Thereshallbewings

3. Save and load the game.
Then you can change the pilot name back.

Alternatively... use the SPK version and click your heart out.


Resources used:
447013
497013
lib.ring.of.fire
plugin.ring.of.fire.lockdown
plugin.ring.of.fire.stealth
plugin.ring.of.fire.updater
plugin.ring.of.fire
setup.ring.of.fire

COMMAND_TYPE_SPECIAL_31

Version history:
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1.01 First release.
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1.02 Speech added for completing deployment
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1.03 Another radius check since X3 has a way of BUMPING ejected cargo far out based on the maximum axis sizes of the ship/LT model.
While you CAN put a LT 500 m portside of an elephant, X3 does not allow it.
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1.04 LT actually belong to you (again) when you deploy them. Yay.
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2.01 Major update: LT are stealthy now
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2.02 Finished up things, t-files, formatting stuff mostly. No critical fix.
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2.03 Fixed "incompatibility" with "some script" somebody was running. It kept blowing up my LT. PS: Stick to your OWN ships for destroying. Thanks.
Added little lockdown script to prevent regular LT from moving around.
Edit: Not fixed. That script is still running amok with ->Destroy
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2.04 Took care of potential problem a ship being aggro on a LT while claoking.
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2.10 MUCH clean up work, proper ship limits enforced, better pathing, savable default settings, auto updating scripts, etc.
Also nifty voice message so you know your LT perform a software upgrade. =)
With the auto-updater in place an uninstall is now possible but not yet planned.
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2.12 Helluvalot of clean up. Files were sprouting left and right so I wrapped all the little helpers into 1 library file. Lots easier to keep track of everything.
The updater file will only stay around long enough to upgrade all existing LT to the new version.
Improved handling for when you have a LT targeted when it wants to cloak. Finally works as intended.
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2.13 Bugfix - Config was not saved properly so saving of config did not work and decloak commands were not readable by the cloaked LT.
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2.14 Arguably better performance OOS because LT now use COMMAND_KILL_ENEMIES. They still revert to NONE while cloaked and idle.
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2.16 COMMAND_KILL_ENEMIES alone had no discernible effect.
OOS behavior tuned so LT have the exact same firepower IS and OOS.
Fixed math bug. ROF calculated and suggested wrong minimum radius.
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2.17 Display bug fixed.
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2.18 All commands that the player can input are now found in the TFile and can be edited.
Also all default names or tags of the deployed LT are in the TFile.
Cleanup for some messages and the Readme files.
Added "deploy all you got" for number of LT.
Added "autocalculate radius" for radius value.
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2.25 LT should no longer mysteriously explode in some sectors.
Optimisation to save CPU power and fps.
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2.27 Small change to allow shared command button.
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[Lobai]

I've got some nice lasertower attack screenies (60 LT's or so) but that pic is just... the deathstar weapon.

[©ArtBlade]

now that is outstanding



you should have a look here, maybe it gives you more ideas

[kamikazepenguin]

So, how bad of a slideshow does it become?

[fortysix2nz]

I gotta get me one of those very nice

[pospi]

I still dont like using either this or Euclid's script- it made me feel like a dirty cheater so I uninstalled it. If it were refined so that you ordered it on a freighter and said freighter actually had to fly around and buy them, then place them, well I would most definitely use it. But also, that sounds like a hard script to do.

But thumbs up to those that like it - to each his own (:

[apricotslice]

I would prefer the command to work with a freighter of lasertowers that you already have. That way you either have to make them or buy them yourself.

That ring is impressive.

[LV]

now that is outstanding

does they not hit the gate if an enemy ship enters though?

[pospi]

not usually.. you just put them around the edge of the gate - ships avoid the area by default and they have enough range to take out anything trying to make a break away from the gate.

[Skillers]

Ermm, WOW! I wouldn't like to be the poor M3 on the receiving end of that (there's a single red M3 on your map)!

[Gazz]

So, how bad of a slideshow does it become?

With 150-200 LT in the sector (if they are not fighting) I lose maybe half the framerate. That's a lot of target acquisition scripts running there...
When they start firing it doesn't really matter.

I still dont like using either this or Euclid's script. If it were refined so that you ordered it on a freighter and said freighter actually had to fly around and buy them, then place them, well I would most definitely use it. But also, that sounds like a hard script to do.

I will NOT be using a script for a freighter to go shopping 'round the universe. The combined production of the races is rather low for LT so that would just be a big waste of time. The only way to really get those en masse is to produce them.

My intention is not to summon them out of thin air. You hae to load the freighter but after all, everyone can disable such things in a script easily. *shrug*
The only thing you get billed for is the upgrading to 125 MJ shields. There's no in game mechanism for that so I'll just run with it.

A script for a freighter to "deploy" those things instead of deploying them while staying in the center... I dunno. Is that such a big difference? Even "normal" deploying tosses the LT 1-2 km away from your ship and you can make a BIG ring just using this "normal" deployment range.

The problem with "real" moving around to deploy (if you chose to set the deployable range lower than currently in game) is colliding with LT + the thing you place them around. That will just be messy, especially around big objects (with big avoidance radius) like jump gates.
Or if you want to surround your complex (6km ring, coming up, Sir!) a freighter is SO not gonna navigate through that.

The thing I will PROBABLY do is to just increase the delay. I want that so you cant just instantly summon 300 LT centered around you with your mammoth. 30k cargo is not an issue in a TL. =)
3-5 sec apiece is no bother for small loads and if you want to go overboard, you can use SETA. Only that Instant Doomsday Device (just add water) is something I wanna avoid.

Gazz

[al_main]

If you have to load the freighter then i dont see why people are complaining that this is too much like a cheat script. If the transporter device was required for this command to be used then it would be perfectly consistent with the X-universe......

[apricotslice]

I will NOT be using a script for a freighter to go shopping 'round the universe. The combined production of the races is rather low for LT so that would just be a big waste of time. The only way to really get those en masse is to produce them.

Yes, I did that. So I have a cargo hold fuill of them now, I just need to deploy them in that nice circle.

[Lobai]

The big issue with this script and other large numbers of lasertowers (I'm a fan myself really) is that you almost have to put them in a system that you're not really planning on going because that's 200 *ships* you've got to scroll down through to get to anything else, it's rather annoying not to mention the lag...

Perhaps if someone could find a way to link them together into one *ship* so that it takes one slot on the sector map... *shrugs*

[apricotslice]

Perhaps if someone could find a way to link them together into one *ship* so that it takes one slot on the sector map... *shrugs*

thats actually why I'd prefer a Defense platform that you could load 100 lastertower weapons onto. You get to define the loadout, but it only shows up as a single item on the list.