1. Adding cargo pods to the Skunk ship and conducting trade through an in-station NPC.
2. Using a virtual freighter.
1. Proper cargo bay and in-station NPC - suggested by bbeach
Adding cargo capabilities to the Skunk
It is possible to add cargo pod containers to the skunk in the XML for the different types of wares. It's even possible to have those be upgrades to the skunk sold by the mechanic.
Trading
The player would dock and go talk to a Dock Master that would be present in all docking areas. Just as regular traders, this NPC would buy and sell proper wares, the same ones freighters deal with in space. They could charge you an extra for being the middleman and thus being an incentive to use freighter trade over "Skunk trading".
UI
As explained by bbeach on this thread:
2. Using a virtual freighter - this is my original post, a bit too verbosebbeach wrote:The problem is the UI. Pretty much anything "new" that we have to implement can only use the radial menu as an interface.
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I messed around all weekend with trying different [] parameters to various menus, but they're not documented at all. I couldn't get a generic selectable list to work that would return the selected element back to me.
I have not studied the game files far enough to know if this idea is feasible, and in any case with the bugs currently as they are, I have no way of conducting tests reliably, so I'd really appreciate the insight of those modders who understand the workings and extent of the scripting system better than me (most if not all of you).
Premise
Some have called the freighters "glorified backpacks", as they follow you around if you choose to, and essentially carry goods for you, sometimes in amounts that in other games you would carry yourself for trading with stations directly. Besides their physical presence and interaction with the universe, their implementation doesn't differ that much from a player inventory.
Concept
I wonder if it would be possible to create a virtual freighter, a ghost ship of sorts, that would follow you around and act just as this "glorified backpack". With some clever tweaks to the notification and orders systems it could be made to seem as if it was actually the cargo bay of the Skunk.
That is how inventories (players' and merchants') are implemented in some games, with the exception that I don't think we have a way to attaching a ship to the Skunk to act as a module, so we have to deal with the fact that this "ship" would be an independent entity in-game.
This is where I get into speculation, because my knowledge of the XML files is still very limited. I apologize for any nonsense I may spout, although I don't believe this is that far fetched from what I know so far.
Virtual freighter
A ship would have to be implemented with the following characteristics:
- · Small
· Very maneuverable and fast
· Preferably able to clip through geometry
· Invincible
· Invisible (or perhaps drone-sized)
· Not targetable by NPC ships (or the player for that matter)
This ship would be in possession of the player from the very start of the game.
For the purpose of upgrading cargo space, there could be several versions.
Trading
Once the player finds a trade order they like, they would order the "Albion Skunk" (as shown in the trade computer ship list), to handle the trade. The virtual freighter would proceed to trade just as any other trader. Given a free spot in the trading docks, the trade would happen much faster than if handled by a regular freighter, and the quartermaster would inform the player when the transfer was complete.
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As I said, although educated, this is speculation at this point. Please feel free to suggest any pitfalls you see in this reasoning and let's see if there is a way to achieve something like this or similar.
Thank you
