So, about the system design that should be apparently possible, but to keep this all a secret various gamemasters always have to setup the connections to these systems manually ingame, that they don't can get looked up then for eG Interactive Map.
I think for setting up the derelict stations they also did that on another server to program that and keeping the codes to just implement it then on the official rp server then.
In terms of system design FL Engine should be able to do all of it, it is just programming field zones with given properties about gas pockets which DMG they inflict and radiation zones, with encounters they can also do strong patrol encounters of strong NPCs.
The idea sounds nice, with accessing anomalies to dangerous space maybe even outside of Sirius but to see amazing sceneries or dangerous mazes with good reward (Sci-Data or Codenames eG)
(07-23-2019, 05:29 PM)Durandal Wrote: The first thing that needs to be programmed here is proper RNG for Freelancer. It's physically impossible to give something a drop rate of less than 1% at present. What would be nice is a random 'lootbox' (NO, WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT CASH TO OPEN), dropped by certain high level NPCs that would then have a chance of randomly yielding a reward from a set contained in that type of box.
Yes, this. I've always lobbied for better NPC drops, especially from missions. This, coupled with making missions more profitable will bring considerable more interest in this area. And to be fair, 1% doesn't sound that bad, you don't wanna make it too grindy. I guess it also depends on the value of the reward, but if you make it too rare people just won't bother.
(07-23-2019, 03:50 PM)Invoker Wrote: I heard current uncharteds just kill you if try to logout in them. That is not hard to move player back to last visited base.
This will greatly upset people that lose connection because of server issues. There needs to be some middle ground, since it's not always intentional.
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(07-23-2019, 06:10 PM)teschy Wrote: And to be fair, 1% doesn't sound that bad, you don't wanna make it too grindy. I guess it also depends on the value of the reward, but if you make it too rare people just won't bother.
No, it was actually a huge problem. Breezing through 100 ships while grinding missions is actually pretty easy, and when the lowest you can set a drop to is 1% for something like a kinetic, it causes a lot of problems.
(07-23-2019, 06:18 PM)Durandal Wrote: No, it was actually a huge problem. Breezing through 100 ships while grinding missions is actually pretty easy, and when the lowest you can set a drop to is 1% for something like a kinetic, it causes a lot of problems.
I was actually thinking in terms of 1% odds per mission.
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Back when I researched the drop mechanisms, I didn't find a direct fix but a workaround. The issue was that NPC ships were supposed to drop codeguns from missions. So they either never did or they did way too often, depending on what values were used, without finding a good middle ground. The best workaround I came up with was to use what we can't fix and just lower the value of the loot. One can't break a gun into units less than 1, but we have Scientific Data. Now we have a different way of farming Scientific Data, sort of as a result of it, while I back then would have gone the extra mile of adding either a factory for POBs that can be fed with Scientific Data to produce the rewards, or just create a similar system to the Scientific Reward system for a specific commodity (I'd have renamed Drone Remains to Experimental Module Parts), where people can file a player request and request the reward in exchange for the commodity.
One way would have required a coder to do what Alley warned everyone to do: touching the PoB plugin. The other way would probably impact on the already huge backlog of requests and other staff-related shenanigans.
While Invoker often seems confident about his skills with FLHook, I've learned that most FLHook plugins are like Todd Howard products: They just work. And in the last three years I've often enough managed to break them accidentally, be it the jump drive range restriction we used to have, POB-related stuff that could have been abused heavily if @Alex. didn't fix it by powering through a night or the snub-only jump holes that were traversable by any ship if something specific was done.
(07-24-2019, 09:12 AM)Sombra Hookier Wrote: Now we have a different way of farming Scientific Data, sort of as a result of it, while I back then would have gone the extra mile of adding either a factory for POBs that can be fed with Scientific Data to produce the rewards, or just create a similar system to the Scientific Reward system for a specific commodity (I'd have renamed Drone Remains to Experimental Module Parts), where people can file a player request and request the reward in exchange for the commodity.
It's my understanding that the goal of this entire discussion is to find ways to automate the process of getting good loot. You are bottlenecking the whole process by bringing player requests into it.
And sci-data needs to go, it already puts an unnecessary strain on the staff, and the unreliable way of collecting it makes it unreachable for the majority of players, and a scalpers paradise. I don't know whose idea it was to add guns that cost 2 billion a piece, but I'm not buying it. It just lengthens the gap between players. And it's just not fun.
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The idea behind my post is to point out that automated processes are best if they don't rely on FLhook, which requires not only people to code the stuff but also to maintain the stuff as hook plugins are breaking left and right. PoBs die spontaneously and people were able to clone items with them - and if the fix Alex. did on it isn't 100% pristine, chances are there are still ways to cheat - and then there are the carrier plug-ins, be it the drones or the docking modules. People are asking for more plugins and say "this is easy to do with FLhook" but in the end, hacking the game is just not reliable. The point of player requests was brought up as a compromise, and possibly the one and only compromise at this point.
That, or a general redesign of the idea behind scientific data and rewards based on it.
The question is whether you want a very selected few people to code and maintain stuff over months and years, or do you prefer the solution that doesn't require people to be coders to handle stuff, or you ultimately come up with a solution nobody thought about at this point. Knowing the limitations of Freelancer and how much is currently reliably possible, I'm sure there isn't much air for options.
(07-24-2019, 10:01 AM)teschy Wrote: And sci-data needs to go, it already puts an unnecessary strain on the staff, and the unreliable way of collecting it makes it unreachable for the majority of players, and a scalpers paradise. I don't know whose idea it was to add guns that cost 2 billion a piece, but I'm not buying it. It just lengthens the gap between players. And it's just not fun.
Agreed. The intention was good, but the implementation has been terrible. At most, Sci data should be mostly worthless in terms of credit value and usable only for cosmetics. All other sci-data rewards should just be buyable in conn for high sums of credits - creating much needed moneysinks in the process. I also think sci-data should be farmable in missions.