[Script][TC/AP] Carrier Power Link System (CPLS) [V0.12 - Release]

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[Script][TC/AP] Carrier Power Link System (CPLS) [V0.12 - Release]

Post by Sam L.R. Griffiths » Sun, 21. Mar 10, 17:22

Inspired by this thread I am developing a Carrier Power Link System.

I would also like to acknowledge EmperorJon's thread here where the initial proof of concept work was worked on and published.

Downloads
Please see my blog over on TXU for the formal release of my mod.

[ external image ]

[ external image ]

Related LinksOverview
The Carrier Power Link System was initially developed during an unprecedented level of co-operation between the Commonwealth races during the Kha'ak war. The system was designed to counter the massive losses of Commonwealth capital craft during early Kha'ak encounters.

The initial design was intended to provide enhanced shielding to carriers that were extracting refugees from war zones but the research programme was scrapped when Operation Final Fury was conceived.

With the programme scrapped, the handful of scientists that were working on the programme sought alternative funding. The result being that the system was privatly developed and is available from various private resellers of the technology through out the Commonwealth for the nominal price of ~100,000,000 credits.

When the system is installed on a Carrier it enables the carrier to divert power from the shield generators of it's docked fighters to shields and/or weapons.

When the carrier takes excess damage to it's shields part of the energy drain is cascaded to the docked ships that are involved in providing power. If a supplying ship's shields drop too low, the power it was providing gets diverted back to the given ship's shields until they are fully recharged at which point it will provide power to the carrier again.

The CPLS has an intelligent power management system that directs power to where it is needed most.
  • 1) If the Carrier's shields drop too low then the CPLS will redirect power to the Carrier's shields until they are fully charged.
    2) If the Carrier's shields are with in safe limits then...
    • a) If the carrier's weapons require charging then power will be directed there
      b) If the Carrier's weapons are fully charged but the Carrier's shields are damaged then power will be directed there
      c) If both the Carrier's weapons and shields are fully charged then the power will be directed to recharging the supplying ship's shields
Due to power system differences the CPLS has a lower efficiency when directing the docked ship's shield power to the Carrier's weapon systems.

Initial system tests have proven the CPLS to be an effective system but due to the safety systems employed the CPLS does not make the carrier invulnerable. During a test flight in an Odin with 30 Cutlass and 10 Spitfyres on board the carrier was able to withstand a prolonged battle, however when the Odin started colliding with another capital ship the damage it was sustaining to it's shields was too much for the CPLS to handle.

Due to the loss of the carrier and all fighters during this test flight the designers introduced a second mode of operation which will result in the carrier's shields always being priority. This modification is more in keeping with the original concept but is in conflict with the desires of some of their Split investors. However, the Split investors were out voted by the investors from all the other races when the decision was put to the board.

Game Resources Used
  • Commands
    • [1250] COMMAND_TYPE_SHIP_50 (CPLS Command Console - COMMAND_TYPE_SHIP_RLSG_CPLS)
    Strings
    • 17:250000-250099
    New Data Files
    • director\md.rlsg.cpls.xml
      t\2500-L007.xml
      t\2500-L033.xml
      t\2500-L034.xml
      t\2500-L039.xml
      t\2500-L044.xml
      t\2500-L049.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.alert.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.buy.cpls.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.buy.repair.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.buy.retailler.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.buy.salesman.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.buy.upgrade.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.check.level.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.check.notreqd.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.coeff.drain.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.coeff.laser.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.coeff.shields.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.coeff.ship.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.damage.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.emergency.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.main.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.main.00.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.main.01.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.main.02.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.main.03.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.main.sub.00.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.main.sub.01.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.main.sub.02.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.main.sub.03.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.manual.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.news.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.price.main.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.price.upgrade.1.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.price.upgrade.2.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.price.upgrade.3.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.ware.cmd.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.ware.cmd.sos.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.ware.cmd.start.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.ware.cmd.stop.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.ware.cmd.sitrep.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.ware.key.xml
      scripts\plugin.rlsg.cpls.ware.key.sos.xml
      scripts\setup.plugin.rlsg.cpls.xml
Last edited by Sam L.R. Griffiths on Sat, 30. Mar 13, 08:29, edited 50 times in total.

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Post by Sam L.R. Griffiths » Tue, 23. Mar 10, 03:13

Please excuse the self promotion, I have an update in status. :wink:

Update
The provisional scripts for the CPLS are now complete, there are currently two modes of operation.
  • Mode 1: Carrier Weapons given priority until Shields of Carrier are yellow (<50%)
    Mode 2: Carrier Shields given priority followed by Carrier Weapons
A third mode being considered is.
  • Mode 3: Ship shields given priority, then Carrier Shields, then Carrier weapons.
There is also potential for a fourth mode.
  • Mode 4: Ship shields given priority, then Carrier Weapons, then Carrier Shields.
What do you guys think?

Initial testing has shown that the CPLS turns an Odin with 30 Cutlass and 10 Spitfyre into a tougher cookie but does not make it invincible (either with Mode 1 or Mode 2 which cut out the power from a docked ship if it sustains more than 50% damage to it's shields).

These last two modes would probably prove to be ineffective but it largely depends on the rate of damage sustained by the carrier. Mode 4 might prove to be the most useful of the 2 as it is geared for maximising offensive potential while minimising down time.

Currently in Modes 1 and 2, the Power Link will go off-line for several seconds while the shields of the docked ship are fully recharged. For example, a docked ship with 10MJ of shields and 1000KW shield generator would be down for about 5 seconds once the carrier has passed on about 500MJs worth of excess damage.

In proposed modes 3 and 4 the CPLS would be completely ineffective if the rate of damage sustained is too high, however the recharge between mini-engagements would likely be boosted greatly.

A potential implementation of a mode 5 would distribute the power based on relative percentages with the lowest percentage getting priority.
Lenna (aka [SRK] The_Rabbit)

"Understanding is a three edged sword... your side, their side... and the Truth!" - J.J. Sheriden, Babylon 5 S4E6 T28:55

"May god stand between you and harm in all the dark places you must walk." - Ancient Egyption Proverb

"When eating an elephant take one bite at a time" - Creighton Abrams

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Playbahnosh
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Post by Playbahnosh » Tue, 23. Mar 10, 07:16

This actually sounds awesome and not so immersion braking like some other scripts. Well done! :)

If I ever get to own a Carrier, I'll be sure to get this one, but since I never owned anything bigger than a M6, I'm quite terrified to be piloting such a huge hunk of metal just yet. (the only "carrier" I own is a Magnetar with 3 half-assed, capped fighters)

Also, the technology behind it seems plausible to me according to what I know about the X universe, and the description is top notch, I love it :)

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Post by Sam L.R. Griffiths » Tue, 23. Mar 10, 07:43

Playbahnosh wrote:This actually sounds awesome and not so immersion braking like some other scripts. Well done! :)
Thank you, but I think some credit is due to Live Aus and EmperorJon for the initial inspiration :D
Playbahnosh wrote:If I ever get to own a Carrier, I'll be sure to get this one, but since I never owned anything bigger than a M6, I'm quite terrified to be piloting such a huge hunk of metal just yet. (the only "carrier" I own is a Magnetar with 3 half-assed, capped fighters)
The CPLS would be usable on ANY Carrier (not just M1s ;)) including the Hyperion, TMs, TLs, and the carrier M7s. The only requirement at the moment is one or more docked ships with shields at the given carrier.

Your Magnatar could gain ~1500KW (probably more) of shield regen or ~300KW of weapon regen from those fighters (providing they have at least 1 shield fitted ;))
Playbahnosh wrote:Also, the technology behind it seems plausible to me according to what I know about the X universe, and the description is top notch, I love it :)
I had not thought about submitting it for a future Bonus Pack but perhaps it will be a potential candidate when it is complete with the CPLS ware.
Lenna (aka [SRK] The_Rabbit)

"Understanding is a three edged sword... your side, their side... and the Truth!" - J.J. Sheriden, Babylon 5 S4E6 T28:55

"May god stand between you and harm in all the dark places you must walk." - Ancient Egyption Proverb

"When eating an elephant take one bite at a time" - Creighton Abrams

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Post by Playbahnosh » Tue, 23. Mar 10, 08:10

Roger L.S. Griffiths wrote:
Playbahnosh wrote:This actually sounds awesome and not so immersion braking like some other scripts. Well done! :)

If I ever get to own a Carrier, I'll be sure to get this one, but since I never owned anything bigger than a M6, I'm quite terrified to be piloting such a huge hunk of metal just yet. (the only "carrier" I own is a Magnetar with 3 half-assed, capped fighters)

Also, the technology behind it seems plausible to me according to what I know about the X universe, and the description is top notch, I love it :)
The CPLS would be usable on ANY Carrier (not just M1s ;)) including the Hyperion, TMs, TLs, and the carrier M7s. The only requirement at the moment is one or more docked ships with shields at the given carrier.

The Magnatar could gain ~1500KW (probably more) of shield regen from those fighters (providing they have at least 1 shield fitted ;))
:o

I mean :o

So you say, that I can use this script to boost the shields of even the magnetar? That sounds awesome! I had some problems with the murder/load-savegame rate with it, since it can't really stand the pounding of a pirate/khaak/xenon fighter squad long for enough for the fighters to launch and pick them off. The figures seem good to me, but...

That hundred million credit fee for it seems way overkill for a simple TM (I yet to pass the 20 mil mark on my account, not to mention 100 to waste). Could that fee be tweaked accordingly to each ship class? Also, when installed, can I buy this software in EDs?

EDIT: I just had an idea, a suggestion really. If the carrier receives some extreme amount of damage in a short period of time (like firestorm barrage or collision) that puts a heavy load on the power transfer system, or in imminent destruction, it could generate emergency power to save the carrier (150-200% transfer rate) but have a high chance of actually frying some or all the shields of the donor fighters or damage their systems/equipment (maybe even destroy the craft entirely in the hangar bay). This could be a safety net with some painful strings attached, maybe an optional feature in the menu. How 'bout it?

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Post by Sam L.R. Griffiths » Tue, 23. Mar 10, 09:01

Playbahnosh wrote:
The CPLS would be usable on ANY Carrier (not just M1s ;)) including the Hyperion, TMs, TLs, and the carrier M7s. The only requirement at the moment is one or more docked ships with shields at the given carrier.

The Magnatar could gain ~1500KW (probably more) of shield regen from those fighters (providing they have at least 1 shield fitted ;))
:o

I mean :o

So you say, that I can use this script to boost the shields of even the magnetar? That sounds awesome! I had some problems with the murder/load-savegame rate with it, since it can't really stand the pounding of a pirate/khaak/xenon fighter squad long for enough for the fighters to launch and pick them off.
With the CPLS the fighters may not have to launch, but if they do remember that while the CPLS system is active the fighters may incur shield damage prior to launch.
Playbahnosh wrote: The figures seem good to me, but... That hundred million credit fee for it seems way overkill for a simple TM (I yet to pass the 20 mil mark on my account, not to mention 100 to waste). Could that fee be tweaked accordingly to each ship class?
The 100 million price tag might be a bit steep, but we can balance it during the Beta testing once there is a real feel about it's value.
Playbahnosh wrote:Also, when installed, can I buy this software in EDs?
The intention is that it will be either available from a rare (say 0.1% chance) THINK mission guy (could be available for a cheaper price from them) or from the Corporate HQs (for the full cost, but perhaps a cost reduction based on rep with the corporation... say 75% maximum discount at top rep band) - To get the price adjustment to work would possibly have to add a corporate rep with a THINK/CREDIT mission.

For now I can make the test scripts available to anyone interested but it will require you to run it on the carrier using the script editor.
Playbahnosh wrote:EDIT: I just had an idea, a suggestion really. If the carrier receives some extreme amount of damage in a short period of time (like firestorm barrage or collision) that puts a heavy load on the power transfer system, or in imminent destruction, it could generate emergency power to save the carrier (150-200% transfer rate) but have a high chance of actually frying some or all the shields of the donor fighters or damage their systems/equipment. This could be a safety net with some painful strings attached, maybe an optional feature in the menu. How 'bout it?
Nice idea, I will look into it. Kudos to you if I can make it work :D
Lenna (aka [SRK] The_Rabbit)

"Understanding is a three edged sword... your side, their side... and the Truth!" - J.J. Sheriden, Babylon 5 S4E6 T28:55

"May god stand between you and harm in all the dark places you must walk." - Ancient Egyption Proverb

"When eating an elephant take one bite at a time" - Creighton Abrams

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Post by Playbahnosh » Tue, 23. Mar 10, 09:48

Roger L.S. Griffiths wrote:The intention is that it will be either available from a rare (say 0.1% chance) THINK mission guy (could be available for a cheaper price from them) or from the Corporate HQs (for the full cost, but perhaps a cost reduction based on rep with the corporation... say 75% maximum discount at top rep band) - To get the price adjustment to work would possibly have to add a corporate rep with a THINK/CREDIT mission.
The Corporate HQ one seems plausible. You could add a backstory to the description as one of the corporations bought the patent for the software (like Atreus or Terracorp) and they are the only ones who can sell it. Making it too rare would just diminish it's gameplay value. The softwares (yes, softwares, explained later) should be available for purchase at the given HQ but only at a very high company rank, since it's an experimental software.
The 100 million price tag might be a bit steep, but we can balance it during the Beta testing once there is a real feel about it's value.
the 100 million is blatantly overpriced, even for a software of this caliber. Hell, I could buy 2 additional carriers for that money. It's simply too much. But I have an idea:

Make different versions of the software, like MKI-II-etc, priced accordingly. The MKI should be less effective and available for small "carriers" like the TMs, the MKII would be more efficient and work on bigger ones, like the Hyperion and M7s, and the MKIII would be the ultimate software only available to M1s and TLs. Although the lower versions could be used on bigger ships, it would be much less efficient than the one designed for their respective classes (MKI would only improve, say, 1-2% of a M1 shields). Also, when not used with the proper software, it would prone to malfunction and randomly drop shields of the carrier or fry donor fighters. These malfunctions could be omnipresent in all versions, regardless of proper class usage, in a very small chance (0.5%) it being an experimental software.

This would solve the pricing problem (every class it's own version), and present some believable functionality. IMHO, at least.
For now I can make the test scripts available to anyone interested but it will require you to run it on the carrier using the script editor.
Well, I would volunteer to beta test it, but I'm very vary of scripts ATM, some of them fried my game two times now, losing months of playtime, so I don't know if I want to use any new ones, not to mention non-debugged ones. But I'll think about it.

Nice idea, I will look into it. Kudos to you if I can make it work :D
Kudos to YOU if you can make it work, it would be an awesome piece of software and immersion :)

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Post by imperium3 » Tue, 23. Mar 10, 11:27

The 100 million price tag might be a bit steep, but we can balance it during the Beta testing once there is a real feel about it's value.
It may not be that far off, considering how much time and money it could save you from continuously buying and equipping new carriers.
The intention is that it will be either available from a rare (say 0.1% chance) THINK mission guy (could be available for a cheaper price from them) or from the Corporate HQs (for the full cost, but perhaps a cost reduction based on rep with the corporation... say 75% maximum discount at top rep band) - To get the price adjustment to work would possibly have to add a corporate rep with a THINK/CREDIT mission.
Why not give it to Jonferco or Strong Arms - at present no one seems to really bother visiting those corps. Since Strong Arms are meant to be primarily a weapons corporation, it could work quite well lorewise.

I like the look of this script, especially some other "interesting" implications such as what happens if you fill an Aran with heavily-shielded corvettes :twisted:

On the subject of the Aran, how does the script handle ships docked to ships docked to ships?

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Post by Playbahnosh » Tue, 23. Mar 10, 11:47

imperium3 wrote:On the subject of the Aran, how does the script handle ships docked to ships docked to ships?
Now there's an interesting idea! I don't know how the game handles docked ships, but according to the tech description it should be possible if the docked ship also has the software installed, and the ships docked in that one, etc. Certainly worth exploring I think :)

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Post by imperium3 » Tue, 23. Mar 10, 16:55

Playbahnosh wrote:
imperium3 wrote:On the subject of the Aran, how does the script handle ships docked to ships docked to ships?
Now there's an interesting idea! I don't know how the game handles docked ships, but according to the tech description it should be possible if the docked ship also has the software installed, and the ships docked in that one, etc. Certainly worth exploring I think :)
With the Aran's capabilities though, it runs the risk of someone making a daisy-chain of the things that is actually invincible. :D Given the time and investment required for that though (and the rarity of the Aran), I don't think it's anything Roger should worry about. There aren't any other ships that can do recursive docking, are there?

Besides, it'd be epically cool!

Back on topic, I'm not sure that the Mk I, MkII and MkIII would work as you intend, given that AFAIK the only way to restrict which ships can have which ware is their cargo bay size, and all carriers have XL...

The idea itself is brilliant though, and offers scope for customisation - like a super-rich magnate installing CPLS MkIII on his personal TM for better protection. This might not be feasible depending on the CPLS ware's cargo requirements, of course.

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Post by LiveAus » Tue, 23. Mar 10, 20:21

What an awesome script!

A full-loaded carrier becomes a tank, holding the damage done by the enemy ships, while smaller ones eat away their shields and hull.

I am so getting this script!
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Post by Sam L.R. Griffiths » Tue, 23. Mar 10, 21:06

imperium3 wrote:On the subject of the Aran, how does the script handle ships docked to ships docked to ships?
In theory... any docked ships with CPLS running would gain shield regen from their docked ships (not something docked ships seem to normally have) and a percentage of any damage incured on the parent ships would be passed down to the docked ships if it the docked carrier sustains 100+ damage in a second it's docked ships would sustain 1+ damage (1% of it).

Potentially it could shorten or eliminate CPLS down times due to shield dran, and reduce the shield drain sustained by the docked ships but I think it would not make a big difference given the Aran is not really a front line combat ship as it has no weapons... the only real benefit might be it could potentially make an Aran an extremely resillient target (perhaps useful as a decoy?)... will check the numbers on this.
Lenna (aka [SRK] The_Rabbit)

"Understanding is a three edged sword... your side, their side... and the Truth!" - J.J. Sheriden, Babylon 5 S4E6 T28:55

"May god stand between you and harm in all the dark places you must walk." - Ancient Egyption Proverb

"When eating an elephant take one bite at a time" - Creighton Abrams

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Post by Sam L.R. Griffiths » Tue, 23. Mar 10, 21:16

imperium3 wrote:Back on topic, I'm not sure that the Mk I, MkII and MkIII would work as you intend, given that AFAIK the only way to restrict which ships can have which ware is their cargo bay size, and all carriers have XL...

The idea itself is brilliant though, and offers scope for customisation - like a super-rich magnate installing CPLS MkIII on his personal TM for better protection. This might not be feasible depending on the CPLS ware's cargo requirements, of course.
Thinking on the Mk I, Mk II, and Mk III concepts there is probably scope for balancing by increasing/decreasing the benefits/drain/thresholds for each of the variants. I will think on it, but until I have a ware implemented it will be rather subjective.
Lenna (aka [SRK] The_Rabbit)

"Understanding is a three edged sword... your side, their side... and the Truth!" - J.J. Sheriden, Babylon 5 S4E6 T28:55

"May god stand between you and harm in all the dark places you must walk." - Ancient Egyption Proverb

"When eating an elephant take one bite at a time" - Creighton Abrams

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Post by Playbahnosh » Tue, 23. Mar 10, 22:29

Yeah, there could be 3 kinds of it, regardless of restrictions, with each model being more expensive but more efficient too, so if you buy MKI it would work great on a TL, but there must be some way to restrict the MKIII from small ships...wait...

Dude, you said it yourself, you can't restrict wares by ship class (and every ship that has hangar bays is XL cargo), but you can restrict with cargo space!!:idea:

Make the MKI fit on TMs by making it volume 500 for example, but the MKII would be 2000 and the MKIII would be volume around 10K, so it would only fit to TLs and M1s. I know there is some overlap in cargo capacity with the M7, so I don't really know what to do about that, but it seems like a start. It also seems technically feasible that the components, wiring and somesuch should take up a considerable amount of space, so it's not an easy gain. And uninstalling the whole thing should also cost money, since you need to remove the wiring, the capacitors, etc. That way, people would think twice before blindly buying it and you don't need to raise the price too high when these kinds of strings are attached. If you can, you should install a certain "install time" to the component, like in the playerhq repairing, because installing such a huge system into a ship is not done overnight. Its a complete refit, if you will. You could do it, by simply swapping the player's ship with a CPTS-enabled model copying everything else. It should have MUCH less cargo space and be possibly slightly slower and less maneuverable because the system taps into the energy grid.

Okay, I'm going way off on a tangent here, but I can't help myself when I'm getting inspired, I hope you don't mind :wink:

EDIT: Or you could do the install time with a simple timer, so the technicians load the gear into the cargo hold and give instructions to the crew on how to install is (sort of like a D.I.Y. kit), so the ship could be on it's way, but it takes time until it becomes functional, like an hour or so. And the component, when activated should put a drag on the engines and the maneuvering thrusters. It's only fair if you have a massive near-indestructible fortress, it should be slow and clumsy as hell.
These could be balaned in the other versions, MKI has barely noticable lag, but MKIII would essentially stop a TL dead in the water, but it would be roughly the same % of lag with like TL-MKI on M1 class because of more powerful engines. I don't know if that makes any sense to you...
It would essentially stop people from installing MKII or III to a TL because the drag would essentially stop the ship dead in space, but that same amount of drag would be much less on a bigger ship because of powerful cap-ship engines. Am I making any sense here? :wink:
Last edited by Playbahnosh on Tue, 23. Mar 10, 23:23, edited 2 times in total.

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Post by EmperorJon » Tue, 23. Mar 10, 22:39

I did once chain Aran's across an entire sector to see what happened.

Tommorow night:


Aran chain
Software
Each aran loaded with fighters anyway
XC023 with IR Xenon on Insane.

I'll post piccies. :twisted:
______
I'm Jon. I'm mostly not around any more. If you want to talk, please message me! It's cool.
______

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Sam L.R. Griffiths
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Post by Sam L.R. Griffiths » Wed, 24. Mar 10, 02:09

Playbahnosh wrote:Yeah, there could be 3 kinds of it, regardless of restrictions, with each model being more expensive but more efficient too, so if you buy MKI it would work great on a TL, but there must be some way to restrict the MKIII from small ships...wait...

....

Am I making any sense here? :wink:
Kind of... Cargo size would be too restrictive (10k cargo would be only work for a TL or the Aran)... limiting ship speed/control would not quite work I think, too tricky to get the balance right and could prove counter productive... Some nice ideas, but I think some form of system overload risk to the carrier and/or docked ships might be a better option.

There is a simple way that the Mk I, Mk II, and Mk III could be restricted to OPERATING on certain classes... the commands to engage/disengage the CPLS would be only available for the relevant class(es). The description would indicate which ship type the variant of the CPLS is compatable with.

I think a more balanced option would be decreasing risk of complete CPLS shutdown in the event of sustaining excess damage to the carrier's shields.
  • Mk. III - 0% risk of automatic CPLS Shutdown
    Mk. II - 1% risk of CPLS Shutdown in the event of a ship disengaging
    Mk. I - 1% risk of CPLS Shutdown in the event of excess shield damage
CPLS Shutdown as a result of excess shield damage would require the system to be restarted but would result in all the connected fighters having their shield energy completely depleted and the CPLS being off-line for 5 seconds.

Cost wise...
  • Mk. III - 100M
    Mk. II - 20M
    Mk. I - 4M
What do you guys think?
Lenna (aka [SRK] The_Rabbit)

"Understanding is a three edged sword... your side, their side... and the Truth!" - J.J. Sheriden, Babylon 5 S4E6 T28:55

"May god stand between you and harm in all the dark places you must walk." - Ancient Egyption Proverb

"When eating an elephant take one bite at a time" - Creighton Abrams

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Playbahnosh
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Post by Playbahnosh » Wed, 24. Mar 10, 02:33

Roger L.S. Griffiths wrote:Kind of... Cargo size would be too restrictive (10k cargo would be only work for a TL or the Aran)... limiting ship speed/control would not quite work I think, too tricky to get the balance right and could prove counter productive... Some nice ideas, but I think some form of system overload risk to the carrier and/or docked ships might be a better option.

There is a simple way that the Mk I, Mk II, and Mk III could be restricted to OPERATING on certain classes... the commands to engage/disengage the CPLS would be only available for the relevant class(es). The description would indicate which ship type the variant of the CPLS is compatable with.

I think a more balanced option would be decreasing risk of complete CPLS shutdown in the event of sustaining excess damage to the carrier's shields.
  • Mk. III - 0% risk of automatic CPLS Shutdown
    Mk. II - 1% risk of CPLS Shutdown in the event of a ship disengaging
    Mk. I - 1% risk of CPLS Shutdown in the event of excess shield damage
CPLS Shutdown as a result of excess shield damage would require the system to be restarted but would result in all the connected fighters having their shield energy completely depleted and the CPLS being off-line for 5 seconds.

Cost wise...
  • Mk. III - 100M
    Mk. II - 20M
    Mk. I - 4M
What do you guys think?
So you can, in fact, restrict the usage to ship classes, that's awesome! Yeah, it should be noted in the description to what classes the package is for. If the dude buys a package not for his ship, then it simply wont work, his loss, I love it! :D

Simply shutting down the CPLS system when something major happens is the exact opposite of what this software was designed for, remember you wrote it in the description, that it was designed to raise the survivability of carriers under heavy fire or on S&R missions. The system shutting down when exactly that happens is quite the opposite IMHO ;) In my reading, it should function like a safety net, like what I described a few posts back, under heavy attack or imminent destruction it should overboost shield performance sacrificing the donor ships to save the carrier, probably giving it enough time to crank the jumpdrive and get the frack out of there. While in normal function, it should just boost shield and weapon (possibly thruster) power. The safety net only activates in emergencies, and instead of just shutting down, it saves you ass :) Sure enough, this safety net could be turned on/off as player preference, and when the shields are depleted the system would also shut down, that is correct.

But you are the designer, I'm just some random dude screaming stuff :)

Yo, I don't know a lot of scripting in TC, I never touched it, but I'm fairly okay in PERL, PHP and some other languages, maybe I could figure out how to help you implement some features.... as soon I figure out how to edit scripts in this thing...hmm...

On the pricing: I think it should be a little more reasonable, it shouldn't cost more than a fully functional capital ship, that's just not right. The basic functionality could be downbalanced in favor for some price drop, so it won't be an god mode cheat, just a small boost when you really really need it. As my advice:

MKI: 500K
MKII: 5M
MKIII: 20M

I think it's more reasonable, but you be the judge.

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Sam L.R. Griffiths
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Post by Sam L.R. Griffiths » Wed, 24. Mar 10, 04:05

imperium3 wrote:
The 100 million price tag might be a bit steep, but we can balance it during the Beta testing once there is a real feel about it's value.
It may not be that far off, considering how much time and money it could save you from continuously buying and equipping new carriers.
I am inclined to agree with this point of view, but as a compromise I am planning to halve the prices for the initial release.
  • Mk I = first prototype with a flaw meaning there was a 1% chance of the system shutting down when the carrier's shields were subjected to heavy damage under all modes of operation (available for ~2M)
  • Mk II = second prototype which was an improvement over the first because they fixed a flaw in the design where the power matrix was vulnerable to prolonged heavy damage but the new power matrix had a flaw meaning there was a 1% chance of the system shutting down when a supplying ship's power system disengaged for safety reasons under modes 0 and 1 (Carrier Power Priority modes). (available for ~10M)
  • Mk III = final prototype/product with no flaws in the power matrix (available for ~50M)
Emergency shutdown of the CPLS in Mk I and Mk II have been implemented as total power drain of the shields of the connected ships with a 5-6 second power system reset on each connected ship.

The new versions of the scripts have been uploaded (see my first post) and all modes and versions can be tried out. I am not planning on introducing ship type restrictions at this time as this could cause complications for some people who may want to use this script/mod in conjunction with other mods.

However, rebalancing of the energy transfer co-efficients and the concept of an Emergency Carrier Shield power boost has not ruled out.
Lenna (aka [SRK] The_Rabbit)

"Understanding is a three edged sword... your side, their side... and the Truth!" - J.J. Sheriden, Babylon 5 S4E6 T28:55

"May god stand between you and harm in all the dark places you must walk." - Ancient Egyption Proverb

"When eating an elephant take one bite at a time" - Creighton Abrams

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EmperorJon
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Post by EmperorJon » Wed, 24. Mar 10, 19:35

How do I start it? Where do I buy the upgrade!? :lol:
______
I'm Jon. I'm mostly not around any more. If you want to talk, please message me! It's cool.
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Sam L.R. Griffiths
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Post by Sam L.R. Griffiths » Wed, 24. Mar 10, 20:11

EmperorJon wrote:How do I start it? Where do I buy the upgrade!? :lol:
At the moment you need to use the script editor to start/stop the system.

The current relevant scripts are:-
  • plugin.rlsg.cpls.start
and
  • plugin.rlsg.cpls.stop
I am currently working on introducing the wares...
Lenna (aka [SRK] The_Rabbit)

"Understanding is a three edged sword... your side, their side... and the Truth!" - J.J. Sheriden, Babylon 5 S4E6 T28:55

"May god stand between you and harm in all the dark places you must walk." - Ancient Egyption Proverb

"When eating an elephant take one bite at a time" - Creighton Abrams

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