Random Contacts

[Nanaki]

Originally Posted by Trucidation

I agree, space is entirely too damn quiet for a war to be going on - this mod sounds freaking awesome but is it still giving you trouble? I noticed that the convoy mod you posted a couple posts back is larger than the fleetmodbeta attachment.

The fleetmodbeta attachment was meant for other people to look at to see if they can fix the issue, unfortunately im just not good enough with Lua to fix it myself. It only comes with the barebones script and does not completely work on its own (it is missing the randomcontact entries for the convoys and fleets). I did complete the work on the location files, but I figure theres no point in distributing a full version of the mod until I (or someone else) figures out how to fix this very serious bug that the mod has.

The issue lies with the GetRandomPortalIndexes function, listed below:

function GetRandomPortalIndexes(portalList)
local portalCount = getn(portalList);

if portalCount == 1
then
return {1, 1};
end;

local randomIndex = RAND(portalCount) + 1;
local newPortalIndex = randomIndex;

while (newPortalIndex == randomIndex)
do
randomIndex = RAND(portalCount) + 1; -- RAND is ZERO based
end;
return {randomIndex, newPortalIndex};
end;

The script works fine as long as portalCount does not equal 1. However, if Portalcount equals one, the despawn script for the flight's escorts prematurely triggers, which results in a capital ship's escorts despawning literally milliseconds after they spawn. Thus while this script works perfectly in certain systems (especially with multiple jumpgates), all capital ship spawns that are limited to only one jumpgate will spawn with no escorts whatsoever.

Here is the despawn trigger below:

local escort1 = getglobal("flight_randomformation_"..__formation_n umber.."_escort1");
if escort1 ~= null then
local escort1 = getglobal("flight_randomformation_"..__formation_n umber.."_escort1");
local trigger_deleteescort = CreateTrigger();
trigger_deleteescort:AttachEvent(_EVENT_FLIGHTINSI DEOBJECTVOLUME);
trigger_deleteescort:SetObjects(escort1, currentContact[3][portalEndIndex], 120);

trigger_deleteescort:AttachCondition(trigger_delet eescort_Condition);
trigger_deleteescort:AttachAction(trigger_deletees cort_Action);
trigger_deleteescort:Activate();
end;

function trigger_deleteescort_Condition()
local myTriggerContext = GetTriggerContext();
local portal = myTriggerContext:GetDestinationObject();
local flight = myTriggerContext:GetFlight();
local pos = flight:GetPosition();

portal:Start(5, 0);
return TRUE;
end;

function trigger_deleteescort_Action()
--SLOG("Action done....");
local myTriggerContext = GetTriggerContext();
local flight = myTriggerContext:GetFlight();
flightelete();
end;

It annoys me because I know what the problem is, but I have not the foggiest idea how to fix it.

[skrzacik]

Nanaki
i need this mod !!!!
do anything what u cn becouse is a little to quiet in space
good luck with modding

Nanaki, if I understand correctly, GetRandomPortalIndexes is to set a destination portal for a convoy/fleet? So in a system with only 1 portal, the destination portal = start portal, right?

I think the problem is when the fleet spawns it also runs through the "are we at the destination portal yet?" check, so it despawns immediately. We need a way of telling the fleet to NOT check for destination until it's reached at least 1 waypoint.

[Nanaki]

The problem is that Triggers are the only way to have code remain with ships persistently... SW triggers are really limited in what they can do. The only decent solution I have come up with so far involves attaching a timer trigger to the despawn trigger, where it will only activate after 60-120 seconds. Now, if the spawned fleet hangs around the gate for longer than that for whatever reason (fighting, traffic, etc) then it will still bug out, but considering that is mostly rare for the most part, it will definatly reduce the issue to a minimum. Wont eliminate it entirely though, im afraid.

So no flags to check whether they've moved at least 1 waypoint before triggering the despawn?

Oh well, a timer is fine too. The only issue I see is if the spawn is hostile; when the player portals in and fights them, they'll despawn in mid-battle when the timer is finished, right?

[Nanaki]

Originally Posted by Trucidation

So no flags to check whether they've moved at least 1 waypoint before triggering the despawn?

Nope. Triggers are rather limited on what they can and cannot do.

Oh well, a timer is fine too. The only issue I see is if the spawn is hostile; when the player portals in and fights them, they'll despawn in mid-battle when the timer is finished, right?

That is correct. As I said, its not a perfect solution, but its the best one that I can do given the limited knowlege and tools at my disposal.

[skrzacik]

Is any way to incrase numbers of fighters in pirates patrol
i ask becouse fights are to easy even when i take hard difficult
max what i saw was 5 fighters
is any way to make 10 fighters patrols without complicated script modding?

[Goblin Wizard]

Every sector has his own activate.script. You can find there lines like this:
NewPirateFlight("PiratesGroup_1", "pir01", Vector3(0, -10, 0), 1, 14, Vector3(3, 0, 1));
"14" stays for quantity and quality of fighters being spawned. It's further modified by difficulty level. You can choose value between 1 and 20. Without modifying tables you won't get more than 6 ships in a group.

Inside RandomContacts.script you can find:
local strength = ComputeRandomInvervalValue(power-4, power+3);
change this line to:
local strength = 20;
and randomly spawned groups will always have max power.