Greetings,
Here's some insight into adding Marine pilots:
Passengers and Marines are basically the same but Marines are definitely the better choice for adding pilots. Marines are easily acquired while Passengers are not, and Marines have more options and skills to work with.
You move a Marine to the pilot seat using the command:
Code: Select all
= $marine->move passenger to ship $ship: set passenger as pilot=[TRUE]
The pilot, however, is just a copy of the Marine's data; it is not the actual Marine.
When a marine is moved:
- 1. The Marine is removed from the cargo bay.
2. The used cargo bay volume is reduced by the volume of the Marine (8 units).
3. The pilot's data is replaced by the Marine's data (name, trade skill, etc.).
4. The Marine is hidden onboard the ship, intact.
Once the Marine is moved, it can no longer be viewed on the ship but it is still there.
In order to have access to the Marine, you need to add a local variable to the ship that will hold a pointer to the Marine, regardless of where it is hidden.
Code: Select all
$ship->set local variable: name='The.Actual.Marine' value=$marine
The local variable needs to be added when the Marine is moved. Once the Marine is moved, there is no other way to access it.
The hidden Marine can then be read and updated as normal.
Code: Select all
$marine= $ship->get local variable: name='The.Actual.Marine'
$name = $marine -> get name
$fighting = $marine get marine fighting skill
$morale = $marine->get pilot morale
$marine->set marine skill: hacking=20
Even though the pilot's data is a copy of the Marine's data, it is not dynamic and does not update when the Marine's data is changed, and vice verse. The pilot's data still has to be updated manually when changes have been made.
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$marine.fightskill = $marine->get pilot fightskill
$ship->set pilot fightskill to $marine.fightskill
Of course, you can do the reverse, as well.
Code: Select all
$pilot.fightskill = $ship->get pilot fightskill
$marine->set pilot fightskill to $pilot.fightskill
To see a working example of this, add these scripts to your game:
The first script is a Mission Director script that will add a player owned, Argon Express to your current sector with 5 Marines and 5 Passengers onboard. When loaded, it will switch the player's aim to the Express. (Add the script to the 'director' folder.)
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
<?xml-stylesheet href="director.xsl" type="text/xsl" ?>
<director name="Test Ship" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="director.xsd">
<documentation>
<author name="A.Persyn" alias="A.Persyn" contact="a.persyn@thelegions.org" />
<content name="Test Ship" description="Add a TP with Marines and Passengers onboard" />
<version number="1.0" date="20111126" status="testing" />
</documentation>
<cues>
<cue name="TestShip">
<condition>
<check_all>
<check_age value="{player.age}" min="1s" />
</check_all>
</condition>
<action>
<do_all>
<create_ship name="Test_TP" typename="SS_SH_A_TP" race="player" racelogic="0" >
<position object="{player.ship}" />
<sector sector="{player.sector}"/>
<equipment loadout="maximum" loadoutmask="shields"/>
<cargo>
<ware typename="SS_WARE_TECH246" exact="30" comment="Rudder Optimizations"/>
<ware typename="SS_WARE_TECH213" exact="30" comment="Engine Tunings"/>
<ware typename="SS_WARE_SW_SPECIAL_1" exact="1" comment="Special Command Software MK1"/>
<ware typename="SS_WARE_SW_FIGHT_2" exact="1" comment="Fight Command Sofware MK2"/>
<ware typename="SS_WARE_SOLDIER_2" exact="5"/>
</cargo>
</create_ship>
<do_all exact="5">
<create_actor race="argon" voiceflags="32" location="passenger" object="Test_TP"/>
</do_all>
<set_target object="Test_TP"/>
</do_all>
</action>
</cue>
</cues>
</director>
The second script is an MSCI script that needs to be run while the playership is targeting the Express. It's a menu that allows you to add a Marine or Passenger as pilot.
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$title = null
$increase = 0
MenuStart:
$ship = get player tracking aim
$menu = create custom menu array
**************************************************************************************************
add custom menu heading to array $menu: title='The Pilot of this ship'
gosub TitleText
add custom menu item to array $menu: text=$title returnvalue=null
$object = $ship->get local variable: name='Hidden.Object'
if $object
gosub PilotData
else
$stats.array = 'Choose a pilot for this ship'
end
add custom menu item to array $menu: text=$stats.array returnvalue=null
**************************************************************************************************
add custom menu heading to array $menu: title='The Marines onboard this ship'
gosub TitleText
add custom menu item to array $menu: text=$title returnvalue=null
$marines = $ship->get marines array
if $marines
$count = size of array $marines
while $count
dec $count =
$object = $marines[$count]
gosub PilotData
add custom menu item to array $menu: text=$stats.array returnvalue=$object
end
else
$text= 'There are no Marines on this ship'
add custom menu item to array $menu: text=$text returnvalue=null
end
**************************************************************************************************
add custom menu heading to array $menu: title='The Passengers onboard this ship'
gosub TitleText
add custom menu item to array $menu: text=$title returnvalue=null
$passengers = $ship->get passenger array
if $passengers
$count = size of array $passengers
while $count
dec $count =
$object = $passengers[$count]
gosub PilotData
add custom menu item to array $menu: text=$stats.array returnvalue=$object
end
else
$text= 'There are no Passengers on this ship'
add custom menu item to array $menu: text=$text returnvalue=null
end
**************************************************************************************************
add custom menu heading to array $menu: title='Increase Marine Skills'
$text= 'Increase Marine skills by 1'
add custom menu item to array $menu: text=$text returnvalue=1
$menu.title = 'Choose a Pilot for this Ship:'
$menu.desc = 'Select a Marine or Passenger to be the pilot'
$selected = open custom info menu: title=$menu.title description=$menu.desc option array=$menu maxoptions=99
* If the player presses the escape key or the back arrow (both send the return value of -1), do nothing and exit the menu.
if $selected == -1
return null
* Verify that the datatype of the selection is either a passenger or marine.
else if is datatyp[ $selected ] == {DATATYP_PASSENGER}
* Set the local variable on the ship that will hold the pointer to the passenger or marine, depending on which was selected.
$ship->set local variable: name='Hidden.Object' value=$selected
* Move the selection to the pilot's seat
= $selected->move passenger to ship $ship: set passenger as pilot=[TRUE]
* When a passenger or marine is moved to the pilot's seat, the race of the passenger/marine becomes the owner of the ship.
* If this were to be an NPC ship that would be fine, but since this is a playership, the ownership needs to be reset
$ship->set owner race to {Player}
else if $selected == 1
$increase = 1
end
goto label MenuStart
return null
PilotData:
$stats.array = array alloc: size=32
$name = $object -> get name
$race = $object->get owner race
$idc = $object->get ID code
* These are the standard pilot info, they will always have a value from 0 to 30.
$fight = $object->get pilot fightskill
$trade = $object->get pilot tradeskill
$mor = $object->get pilot morale
$agg = $object->get pilot aggression
* This information applies only to marines, fighting will always have a value of at least 1, the others start at zero. The limit for each marine skill is 100 points.
if is marine: passenger/astronaut=$object
$price = $object->get marine buy price
$salary = $price / 10
$fskill = $object get marine fighting skill
$hskill = $object get marine hacking skill
$eskill = $object get marine engineering skill
$mskill = $object get marine mechanical skill
$over = $object get marine overall skill
$fskill = $fskill + $increase
$object ->set marine skill: fighting=$fskill
$hskill = $hskill + $increase
$object ->set marine skill: hacking=$hskill
$mskill = $mskill + $increase
$object ->set marine skill: mechanical=$mskill
$eskill = $eskill + $increase
$object ->set marine skill: engineering=$eskill
$mtot = $fskill + $hskill + $mskill + $eskill
else
$mtot = 0
$fskill = 0
$hskill = 0
$mskill = 0
$eskill = 0
$over = 0
$price = 0
$salary = 0
end
$env = $object->get environment
$total = $fight + $trade + $mor + $agg + $mtot
$price = convert number $price to string
$salary = convert number $salary to string
$fight = convert number $fight to string
$trade = convert number $trade to string
$mor = convert number $mor to string
$agg = convert number $agg to string
$fskill = convert number $fskill to string
$hskill = convert number $hskill to string
$mskill = convert number $mskill to string
$eskill = convert number $eskill to string
$over = convert number $over to string
$total = convert number $total to string
$stats.array[0] = 1
$stats.array[1] = $idc
$stats.array[2] = 70
$stats.array[3] = $name
$stats.array[4] = 260
$stats.array[5] = $race
$stats.array[6] = -510
$stats.array[7] = $price
$stats.array[8] = -460
$stats.array[9] = $salary
$stats.array[10] = -430
$stats.array[11] = $fight
$stats.array[12] = -405
$stats.array[13] = $trade
$stats.array[14] = -380
$stats.array[15] = $mor
$stats.array[16] = -355
$stats.array[17] = $agg
$stats.array[18] = -285
$stats.array[19] = $fskill
$stats.array[20] = -260
$stats.array[21] = $hskill
$stats.array[22] = -235
$stats.array[23] = $mskill
$stats.array[24] = -210
$stats.array[25] = $eskill
$stats.array[26] = -185
$stats.array[27] = $over
$stats.array[28] = -120
$stats.array[29] = $total
$stats.array[30] = -1
$stats.array[31] = $env
endsub
TitleText:
$Pos01 = 1
$text01 = 'ID Code'
$Pos02 = 70
$text02 = 'Name'
$Pos03 = 260
$text03 = 'Race'
$Pos04 = -510
$text04 = 'Price'
$Pos05 = -460
$text05 = 'Salary'
$Pos06 = -430
$text06 = 'F'
$Pos07 = -405
$text07 = 'T'
$Pos08 = -380
$text08 = 'M'
$Pos09 = -355
$text09 = 'A'
$Pos10 = -285
$text10 = 'FS'
$Pos11 = -260
$text11 = 'HS'
$Pos12 = -235
$text12 = 'MS'
$Pos13 = -210
$text13 = 'ES'
$Pos14 = -185
$text14 = 'OS'
$Pos15 = -120
$text15 = 'Total'
$Pos16 = -1
$text16 = 'Location'
$title = array alloc: size=32
$title[0] = $Pos01
$title[1] = $text01
$title[2] = $Pos02
$title[3] = $text02
$title[4] = $Pos03
$title[5] = $text03
$title[6] = $Pos04
$title[7] = $text04
$title[8] = $Pos05
$title[9] = $text05
$title[10] = $Pos06
$title[11] = $text06
$title[12] = $Pos07
$title[13] = $text07
$title[14] = $Pos08
$title[15] = $text08
$title[16] = $Pos09
$title[17] = $text09
$title[18] = $Pos10
$title[19] = $text10
$title[20] = $Pos11
$title[21] = $text11
$title[22] = $Pos12
$title[23] = $text12
$title[24] = $Pos13
$title[25] = $text13
$title[26] = $Pos14
$title[27] = $text14
$title[28] = $Pos15
$title[29] = $text15
$title[30] = $Pos16
$title[31] = $text16
endsub
return null
The advantages of using the hidden Marine approach rather than different local variables should be obvious when you see the menu display.
Since the Marine is going to be used as a pilot, the Marine skills aren't really necessary, but they can be re-purposed to represent other stats like Number of Missions, Ship Kills or anything else that fits the 0 to 100 scale. It does have its limitations but ultimately it is much cleaner than a bunch of local variables.
Have a nice day!
A.Persyn
)