04-22-2022, 08:23 PM
Fair citizens of the 'Verse, I need feedback and opinions. (Stars above, I may regret this)
I've been tinkering in the player base plugin code for some time with aims to make improvements and such, and something that has long perturbed me about their current implementation is the disastrous lack of being able to set 2 prices on your base.
Tbh I was very excited when I heard Disco had player bases and I'm sure other share in my disappointment when learning that you only can show 1 value at a time. To me, if you're running an ore storage faciility, it makes what was an excited venture into a moneypit as unless you are one of those bases that do "only buy" and then "only sell" and switching all the time that way, you can earn no money for your facility's upkeep and therefore it is a net loss.
So the first issue I tackled naturally was this buy/sell.
Adding a sell value to the /shop menu was easy, and making the base handle the transaction logic to ensure the correct value changes hands whether you're buying or selling is easy and already working just fine on my test server (and been tested on existing Disco bases uploaded to my server to ensure they accept the new value nicely).
However, looking into the code, I've found absolutely zero ways to display 2 SEPARATE values (price on the left and price on the right) in the same menu. I can display one, or the other, and under certain conditions, make them change, but not in a way that has both buy and sell on the screen at the same time, and therefore not in a way that always makes sense, and it may not be possible. So, I've explored alternative methods, ever with the goal in mind to not mislead folks or have a "gotchya" moment.
![[Image: unknown.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/816731040432259102/967139246701936660/unknown.png)
First to clarify terms:
buy price - Refers to what the base buys from you the player
sell price - Refers to what the base sells to you the player
First, in my test server, I've put in place restrictions to stop base owners/managers from setting a "buy" (price the base buys from players) value higher than the "sell" (price the base sells to you). so that we never have a situation where someone maliciously aims to steal all your money.
Additionally, I've added the /price buy and the /price sell commands to allow the player to switch the display between showing what the base has their two price values set for. (More on this in a minute)
Next, I've disabled showing ANY price on the player side (your inventory side) when in the dealer (commodity or equip) window unless you use the /price commands to ensure you are aware what you're paying or receiving.
Lastly, in the spirit of familiarizing folks during the transitional period, I added a popup window explaining all of this when you enter a base.
Now my aim if this is implemented, is to eventually downgrade this popup to a single console line like the traffic alert one you see every time you dock OR a toggle-able command to disable it for you individually.
Below is a short clip of its execution on my test server to visualize this. Please keep in mind, the transaction code will always handle the correct values, regardless of using the /price commands, these just switch the numbers on your screen to clarify it for you.
Please give me your thoughts on this. Is this something that makes sense to you?
Is the buy/sell functionality as important to other POB owners as it is to me?
Do you have further suggestions or ideas?
Put them all in here please!
Tbh I was very excited when I heard Disco had player bases and I'm sure other share in my disappointment when learning that you only can show 1 value at a time. To me, if you're running an ore storage faciility, it makes what was an excited venture into a moneypit as unless you are one of those bases that do "only buy" and then "only sell" and switching all the time that way, you can earn no money for your facility's upkeep and therefore it is a net loss.
So the first issue I tackled naturally was this buy/sell.
Adding a sell value to the /shop menu was easy, and making the base handle the transaction logic to ensure the correct value changes hands whether you're buying or selling is easy and already working just fine on my test server (and been tested on existing Disco bases uploaded to my server to ensure they accept the new value nicely).
However, looking into the code, I've found absolutely zero ways to display 2 SEPARATE values (price on the left and price on the right) in the same menu. I can display one, or the other, and under certain conditions, make them change, but not in a way that has both buy and sell on the screen at the same time, and therefore not in a way that always makes sense, and it may not be possible. So, I've explored alternative methods, ever with the goal in mind to not mislead folks or have a "gotchya" moment.
First to clarify terms:
buy price - Refers to what the base buys from you the player
sell price - Refers to what the base sells to you the player
First, in my test server, I've put in place restrictions to stop base owners/managers from setting a "buy" (price the base buys from players) value higher than the "sell" (price the base sells to you). so that we never have a situation where someone maliciously aims to steal all your money.
Additionally, I've added the /price buy and the /price sell commands to allow the player to switch the display between showing what the base has their two price values set for. (More on this in a minute)
Next, I've disabled showing ANY price on the player side (your inventory side) when in the dealer (commodity or equip) window unless you use the /price commands to ensure you are aware what you're paying or receiving.
Lastly, in the spirit of familiarizing folks during the transitional period, I added a popup window explaining all of this when you enter a base.
Now my aim if this is implemented, is to eventually downgrade this popup to a single console line like the traffic alert one you see every time you dock OR a toggle-able command to disable it for you individually.
Below is a short clip of its execution on my test server to visualize this. Please keep in mind, the transaction code will always handle the correct values, regardless of using the /price commands, these just switch the numbers on your screen to clarify it for you.
Please give me your thoughts on this. Is this something that makes sense to you?
Is the buy/sell functionality as important to other POB owners as it is to me?
Do you have further suggestions or ideas?
Put them all in here please!
