In continuation of free ship spam removal of 2.5

[radcapricorn]

That was definitely a good thing. However, while ships are removed, the minefields remain. I've mixed feelings about this.

On one hand, it does spice up the game to some extent. Just yesterday I had a fight with some pirates, and the moment I realized it was happening right in the middle of such minefield, it made me pay much more attention to where I'm flying.

On the other hand, NPCs don't seem to care where they're going, so freighters and fighters alike often volunteer as demolition experts (not).

Despawning those mines seems an obvious choice, but there are ways to make this more interesting.

Perhaps, so long as there are mines in the sector, maintain a chance for "remove mines" mission spawn, that would direct you towards existing mines instead of generating new ones? Even without guidance, a simple "We think there are still 20 mines in this sector. If you remove 10, we give candy. If you remove all 20, we give big candy." That way players would have a choice - either leave them as is and hope for the best, go and manually remove mines which are an obstacle, or wait until they can make a profit doing so.

In addition, after certain quantity threshold, NPCs could start dispatching small scouts to shoot the damn things.

[Faustov]

Maybe it will help you - you can buy a bigger ship, like a condor or behemoth and fly through minefields without harm, then destroy or claim and sell the ships. Mini quest with mini reward from selling, but no Dev involvement required

[radcapricorn]

Ahem, I'm quite aware of existing ways of dealing with mines, thanks

Imagine yourself a new player. Within half an hour of the game, several sectors are bound to have minefields in them, more than one for certain; with no apparent reason for them to be there. What do you do? You come to these forums and complain.

The game made a poo-poo, it shouldn't just have cloth; cleaning solutions and fresheners are also welcome.

[Faustov]

Ahem, I'm quite aware of existing ways of dealing with mines, thanks

Imagine yourself a new player. Within half an hour of the game, several sectors are bound to have minefields in them, more than one for certain; with no apparent reason for them to be there. What do you do? You come to these forums and complain.

The game made a poo-poo, it shouldn't just have cloth; cleaning solutions and fresheners are also welcome.

No, I completely agree with you on this. In my game I had so many minefields I even lost a few trading ships already (well done AI... and I do mod all my ships, so it's an annoying loss), so I had to do something about it, since the response from Egosoft about the cleanups was none.

Some other ways, to help new players, as you wrote:
* take control of a trade ship, hire basic people as marines, keep clicking "claim" until the lucky marine manages to fly through the minefield and secure the ship, then sell immediately
* fly to a random encounter, then shoot an enemy ship, then fly behind minefield and wait

I personally wish splash damage was revamped so that a nuke could be sent into the middle of the minefield, destroying all + nice fireworks effect

[Scoob]

I was just about to ask a question regarding free ships, but I'll politely hijack your thread if that's ok...

I totally support the removal of free ship spam. In my last game I felt like I was playing hunt the free ship I got so many.

My question is are all the free ships generated at game start also removed? I assumed this was the case as I'd not encountered any, not that I was looking particularly hard. However, in an attempt to answer this question I went to the one location I remembered from prior games - the Odysseus in Xenon space - and it was nowhere to be seen.

I think the removal of the Odysseus is also a GOOD thing, but I wonder if any free ships remain at all? I noticed free ships aren't spawned after achieving reputation milestones either, which is also good. It's changed the entire pace of the game for me, so I value my meagre - mostly from bails - fleet all the more.

Anyway, just wanted to support your sentiment and ask a little question

Scoob.

[Imperial Good]

Imagine yourself a new player. Within half an hour of the game, several sectors are bound to have minefields in them, more than one for certain; with no apparent reason for them to be there. What do you do? You come to these forums and complain.

New players do not have this issue since it has been fixed since 2.50.

My question is are all the free ships generated at game start also removed? I assumed this was the case as I'd not encountered any, not that I was looking particularly hard. However, in an attempt to answer this question I went to the one location I remembered from prior games - the Odysseus in Xenon space - and it was nowhere to be seen.

They are not removed. There is still a free destroyer in Faulty Logic.

[Scoob]

They are not removed. There is still a free destroyer in Faulty Logic.

Really? Not in my game there isn't, unless it's been moved a LONG ways from the original position. I'll check again in a much wider search area, however it's always been in the same place in prior games, but not this one.

Scoob.

[Imperial Good]

Really? Not in my game there isn't, unless it's been moved a LONG ways from the original position.

Here is the data which creates it. This was extracted from 2.50 release.

Code: Select all

        <!--deep in xenon space - L ship-->
        <!--teleport sector="cluster_25_sector002_macro">
          <offset>
            <position x="-165396.516" y="-489.434" z="145876.938"/>
            <rotation yaw="-112.03669" pitch="0.620682"/>
          </offset>
        </teleport-->
        <find_sector name="$sector" macro="macro.cluster_25_sector002_macro"/>
        <do_if value="$sector.exists">
          <create_ship name="$ship" macro="macro.ship_par_l_destroyer_01_a_macro" sector="$sector">
            <owner exact="faction.ownerless"/>
            <position x="-165.396km" y="-0.489km" z="145.876km"/>
            <rotation yaw="-112deg" pitch="0.6deg" roll="30deg"/>
          </create_ship>
        </do_if>

[Scoob]

Thanks, I'm heading back there now to see if it's there, but moved slightly.

Edit: I take it back, it is there though a little further West than I remember. Also, it appears to be totally invisible to LRS. I did a scan, picked up the asteroids behind the Odysseus, but the Odysseus wasn't pinging, I had to find it by sight. Thought I'd use LRS to find it that first time.

Scoob.

[radcapricorn]

New players do not have this issue since it has been fixed since 2.50.

Yes they do. Ships may be removed, but the minefields that came with them are not.

EDIT: Now I am convinced that it isn't me that fails at communicating today. Have you read the OP, or title of this thread?
EDIT2: Sorry, that was snarky, didn't want to berate you. It's just that in one single day certain someone completely misunderstood me, then two certain someones completely ignored me (all in the beta forum). I was really starting to think it was me, so stepped away for a bit. But nope, hours later I see that remark from you, even though I quite clearly explained what this thread was about.

[Imperial Good]

Yes they do. Ships may be removed, but the minefields that came with them are not.

Are you saying that in 2.50 guild mission spawned ships with mines remove the ship but fail to remove the mines when the mission expires? If so this is a bug which must be reported clearly and separately in a thread in technical support forum.

It is important to emphasize that such issue is occurring with guild missions created since playing with 2.50 so that the topic does not incorrectly get brushed aside as just another complaint about previously spawned and claimable mission ships being left in old saved. A save which shows such mission, the ship and minefield which can be used to show the issue by making the mission expire or fail might be useful.

[radcapricorn]

Great, feel free to do that if you want. I plan to have better use of my time for the next few days.