Version: 1.8
Date: 05.04.2007
Scripter: moggy2
- Commands Overview:
- . Setup Group
- this command allows you to define the group
- the ship you run this command on will be the group leader
- you can set the name and number of the group,
- entering nothing for the name will use the existing group name
- you select the number, and type of ships to add to the group.
- by default, ships added to the group will be given the command to protect the leader
- ships will take the leader's homebase as their own
- . This Group: Attack Leader's Target
- this command allows you to set some or all ships in the group to the command attack target of...leader
- you can select how many ships should not be set to attack their leader's target
- . Group Management System
- this command allows the ships to be have as group members
- it makes sure the group stays together, by giving the order to protect the leader if this ship has nothing else to do.
- it handles the automatic resupply of energy for jumpdrives, missile and ammo, when docked at stations that sell the supplies, or carriers that have the supplies.
The Setup Group command will ask for 4 options when it is run.
The first option is the Fleet Name. This name will be given to all the ships in the group. You can enter various key words which are replaced by different values for each ship in the group, such as the fleet number and type of ship.
The second option is the Group Number. This is used by other scripts to identify this group. There is nothing to stop you having 2 groups with the same number, in this case some scripts will affect both groups at the same time.
The third option is the number of followers to assign to this ship. Entering 3 in this option would assign 3 other ships to follow the ship the command is run on, making 4 ships in the group all together.
The fourth option is a class filter to allow you to select new followers from one particular class of ships, M5's, just fighters, etc. In most cases you can just select the class ship.
setting the Group Name:
When setting up the group, you can specify the name of the group. You can simply enter a name, in which case the group number, ship type and ship number will be appended to the name for each ship. You can however be more specific about what information is shown in the names of the ships in the group.
The following keywords can be used in the group name:- %fnum This is the group number, specified in option 2 of the setup group command.
- %shiptype This is an abrieviated version of the type of ship, eg P.Buster, Nova, etc.
- %snum this is the ship's unique number within the group. Every ship is given a different number, to differentiate it from the others in the group.
- %class this is the class of this ship
- %sector this is the current sector the ship is in
- %home this is the homebase of the ship
- - or a single space. Use the current group name. Useful if you just want to change the group number
- -last or -l. Use the last entered group name. Useful if you want to have the same naming convention for several groups with just different group numbers
- -default or -d. Use the default name pattern: Group(%fnum) %shiptype %snum
- -unset or -u. This option disbands the group. The group parameters are removed from the ships in the group and the names are reset to their names before they became part of a group.
- -unset1 or -u1. This removes just this ship from the group.
- -null or -n. This is the same as -unset except that the ships names will be reverted to the game default for their class, ie. your buster
Group Management System Command:
The Group Management System Command is what performs the group maintenance such as refueling or restating ships to follow their leader. It is automatically started when you create the group with the Setup Group command, but can be shut down and restarted when ever necessary.
If the leader of a group is killed in combat, another group member from the formation will take its place. However, if any group members run an other errand at the time, they will be orphaned and act like leaders from thereon.
Other uses:
The GMS is not limited to fighter groups. There are many other possible uses other than controlling combat groups. How about a group of TS's setup for Manual Trade Commands as a trade convoy, or a group of Discoverers with Fleet Support Ship software to deliver Jumpdrives to remote ships?
Reasigning ships to new groups:
When the Setup Group command is run not all the stored variables are reset. This allows existing groups to be updated without having all the exisiting ships settings reset. This can cause problems if you want to reassign a group ship to another group.
Normal group ships can be reassigned with out too much problem. They will keep their default command from the previous group. A normal group ship with no command will be seen as 'free' by the Setup Group command
Leaders of groups pose a slightly different problem. You can assign former leadships to a be members of a new group, but they will retain the default command of Attack all enemies rather than rejoining their group. The only way to remove their leadership tag is to 'unset' them from any group by running the Setup Group command using the -u or -u1 option. Group leaders are not seen as 'free' ships by the Setup Group command. - . Setup Group