Being able to see yourself in the BBS

[SWAHILI!!!]

I think that it should be scripted in so that people can see their names (and the names of other developers of this mod) in some random BBS story, i.e. something could be used like this for a story in a BBS somewhere:

Graceburn Technologies to Unveil New M1 Ship Class

Daniel Graceburn, founder and CEO of Graceburn Biotechnologies, recently made it public that he has been working on a prototype light M1 Carrier Frigate, and that he will be unveiling the first ship in Argon Prime at the Federal Argon Shipyard Alpha. An exact date is unsure of at the moment, but wherever it is, IBC news will be there!
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Or maybe something more like:

A New Sector for the Argon?
Early last Tazura, James Green, owner of Swahili Corperations discovered a new sector bordering Xenon Sector 347. The sector is currently being called 'Leighton's Revenge', but it is unlikely that it will become new Argon territory any time soon, as the Split who own the strand of sectors known as Tkr's Pride are claiming the sector for the Split. Stay tunned to KRC-5, the one and only Space News Station.

And many others like that.

What do you think?

[Chris Gi]

Here is another one:
Chris Gi voted to "Sexiest Man in the Whole Universe" :P

One of my favorite ideas! BBS-News! It shouldn't just contain messages like that. I'd like to see news of what is actually happening in the universe. I build a new station -> News: New Cahoona-Press opened today in sector XYZ. I retrieve the data cube from Khaak Sector -> News!

But I think this is a wonderful idea to immortalize the Contributors to this Mod. :thumbsup:

[SWAHILI!!!]

It would have to take loads of scripting (if it's even possible) to see new BBS stories as soon as you do something in the game, right?

[Gravemind]

ive got an idea with BBS why not:

"The X2 Pandora DEV Team needs your Help! In their Laboratory there was Documents about an New Ship "Name is Top Secret!" ^^ And it got Stolen by 1 of the DEV Team Member pls Help us and Search the DTeam Member and destroy him!.
Im the Guy with the Stolen Documents and you must Hunt me im in a Asteroid Belt with an M1 Argon Colossus and with my over 100 M5 Fighter ^^ and you must kill me ^^

[Chris Gi]

I don't know for sure right now, but if I'm lucky, normal news only need a single statement. News as the proposed news about new stations need a little more scripting. But I've already achieved this for the upcoming 'Mission interface'. You get a mission offer via BBS! But unfortunately there's no possibility to accept it by means of a button, as is the case with normal BBS missions. I think writing all this messages is much more work.

[SWAHILI!!!]

Sounds good!
I just wanted to see some new articles in the BBS. I actually read it sometimes. . . . . . .

P.S.: This is the 1,000th post for pandora!!

[Graceburn]

this is a great idea, but my last name isn't graceburn, also i think this idea would run well with the 'race specific texts' thread. i'm sure we all want to know wat other misfortunes have befallen the team uncovering xenon technology on the desert planet

[SWAHILI!!!]

I know that it's not you're last name.
I just think that 'Daniel Graceburn' sounds more X2-ish,

[Chris Gi]

i think this idea would run well with the 'race specific texts' thread

BBS news are organised in different divisions. There's a general part not related to any race and segments specific to the different races. I've read somewhere, the general part doesn't work, but I'm not sure, if this information is right.

I would like to see a lot of new stuff on BBS:
- news ( that aren't connected to anything, just for fun and/or atmosphere)
- news that reflect events in the universe ("Heavy Xenon attack on Argon Prime" - "New Station in Kingdom End" - "Paranids free Split Fire")
- additional mission offers

These texts optionally use the specific "language" of a race. But first of all, there has to be many new texts that need to be written....

[Graceburn]

i'd be happy to write some up, love reading the BBS, would be great to see something new, i installed the X3 demo just to read it, but it's mostly the same stuff anyway.

[Chris Gi]

:thumbsup:

If you manage to write some news within the next few days, I may be able to incorparate them in Version 0.10, if you send me texts in time. :)

[Graceburn]

okay, i'll boot up x2 and see if there's any unfinished reports, and write 4 or 5 up tomorrow.

[SWAHILI!!!]

Chris, you make it sound like version one of Pandora is almost finished.
Is it?

[Chris Gi]

No, I'm talking about Version 0.10. This is just an internal test version. There are too few things changed to make it an official release.

There are a few things to change, especially to create a full featured version of the Paranid SPP. This is an important part (in my opinion), because it will show a few things: how Paranid Ship will look like, and how SPPs will look like (and that we're able to change stations :D, another thing seldom seen in mods).

[Graceburn]

I wrote this up, and think it would fit in well if we git rid of the jumpdrive:
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Jumpdrive To Be Abolished, TerraCorpStates

Today TerraCorp announced that it would be stopping production of the jumpdrive, producing them only for certain craft including the Pandora, which are currently being developed by Goner scientists. The reason for the discontinued production of the jumpdrive technology has not being released, but you can be sure the IBC will be there to release details as they come in.

Hanes Gilser â?? Science Correspondent IBC News
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TerraCorp announced that they will be recalling and stopping production of the jumpdrive because when craft jumped, the energy cells used for the jump would react with atomic compounds created by a jumping ship. These compounds would remain in the expended cells, causing radiation damage to anything within a 1 kilometre radius. The reason this atomic reaction has gone unnoticed for so long is because long range scanners have blocked out any traces of it, and its existence was made known â??a working class Teladiâ?? TerraCorp are refusing to release further details.

Hanes Gilser â?? Science Correspondent IBC News
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The IBC was today approached by a Teladi worker, who said he was the â??working class Teladiâ?? mentioned by TerraCorp in their last press conference at Argon Prime. He agreed to an interview and said: â??I was making repairs to the Trading Station in Spaceweed Drift, when a TerraCorp Mammoth that was delivering the parts for the repair, jumped while I was applying Teladianium Panelling. The next think I felt was a wave of intense pain, and saw dark green burns on my spacesuit and the side of the station. I went back inside to report to the manager, who called TerraCorp to report what we thought was a fault.â??
Part Two of this interview will follow next Wozura.

Hanes Gilser â?? Science Correspondent IBC News
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Part Two of the interview with Foologos Yahandis Rungissas VI: â??After the manager spoke to TerraCorp about the Mammothâ??s fault, TerraCorp found no problems, and tested it with another ship, and found this was common with all jumpdrives. We gained a profit of $374,567 Credits in compensation, so weâ??re happy with the result, although trading will be a little more time consuming!â?? TerraCorp has officially shut down production of the jumpdrive, and begun recalling drives already sold, stating that they will be bought back with and additional $1000 credits, to pay for any damage. Goner scientists have begun researching alternate ways of jumping, and creating ships that suppress the atomic compounds, and possibly even use them to recharge energy cells, possibly making a drive that needs to have energy cells installed once.

Hanes Gilser â?? Science Correspondent IBC News
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These all use the same heading, what do you think?

[SWAHILI!!!]

They're pretty good! :thumbup:

[Graceburn]

thanks ^^ , and these: â?????? are meant to be either - or ' but something glitched

[Chris Gi]

Yeah, cool stuff! Nice work. One thing though: you mentioned the Pandora in the first news. I think this has to be remove. Because the news should be visible very early in the game, when the Player will not know, that there's a ship named Pandora. This will be released later in the game.

I don't know if I'll incorporate this in Version 0.10. I have to check whether it works without additional scripting or not. If you mind the news come in this specific order, I sure can make it to display. But I don't know if I get the news in correct order without additional scripting.

[Graceburn]

it doesn't really matter what order they're put in, or if the pandora is taken out, that should save you some time to work on the important stuff. btw: the science correspondent for the IBC is called Hanes Gisller, not Gilser

[Chris Gi]

I totally disagree with you. I've just read the news again. They have to come in that order. They are too good (in exactly this order) to be arranged in any other way.
Some of the Vanilla news are arranged in a similar way, some news will be shown only if you've read preceding news. I have to check it out, if we can simply use the same mechanism. If not, I have to do some scripting, but sooner or later, if we make more use of the BBS-system, this work has to be done anyway.

[SWAHILI!!!]

I have another script that would come in handy in the game I'm currently playing.

Say you're trading in a TS, but you don't have enough money for a station, so, you dock at a station and find this BBS:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________
STATION LOW ON FREIGHTER CAPTAINS. HIRING NOW

Good Tazura, space pilot, that's a nice freighter you have. Do you want to put it to work?
Our Solar Power Plant Beta in Mines of Fortune is currently running low on crystals, and we don't have nearly enough freighters to get all of them.
If hired, you will receive messages through your ship computer telling you what ware to get and how many to get of them. You will get payed for each ware you bring in, and you get to call the Solar Power Plant your home.
So what do you say pilot, ready to do some work?
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What would happen if you select one of the choices (it would say something like, 'Yes, please consider hiring me'), your ship's homebase would immedietly be changed to that specific station, and it would send you messages saying when you need to deliver wares and how many you need to get.

What do you think?

[Chris Gi]

Did I understand you right? You get a SPP (almost) for free?

[SWAHILI!!!]

No, it wouldn't change owner race.

And also, no, you'd have to pay a flat fee of 144,000 credits or something.

[Chris Gi]

I still don't quite understand.

If I get hired, my freighter works for the station, right? It should buy the wares demanded, sell it at the station, and besides the profit it gets from buying and selling, I get additional money (and a better reputation :D ) for helping them out. Right?

And also, no, you'd have to pay a flat fee of 144,000 credits or something.
What do you mean?

[SWAHILI!!!]

Okay, so, you're flying around, looking for wares to trade, when you dock at a station to do some trading, and you read the BBS.
As you're scrolling through the list of stories, you see one that says something like 'Freighters on Strike! Need Captains with TS for work!'
You read the story (the one I posted earlier), and then there's two choices at the bottom that you can choose from, 'Yes, I would like to be hired' or 'Please Tell Me More' or something like that.

If you choose 'Please Tell Me More', you'll get another page of information saying what will happen if you get hired (station sends you messages when it's low on wares, ect, you get paid for each ware delivered, as well as an extra fee that isn't too big, say something like 15 credits a ware plus an additional 10 credits per sector traveled through. That way if you get 850 units of energy cells from The Vault, and your homebase is in Home of Opportunity, you'd get a grand total of 25,500 credits. If you deliver 500 units of Silicon for 670 credits a pop, that's 335,000 credits, and depending on what sectors you get it from, and where your home is, there's a possibility of making some real money here. And also, I like your idea about your notority with that race going up, too).

Oh, and the flat fee is the amount of credits you have to pay, you know, like for other missions, you have to pay some credits to do it, maybe you'd have to pay a small fee in order to get hired or something.

Does it kind of make sense?

[Chris Gi]

You have to pay a fee to accept a mission? I never had to do this (except for the Lottery and the sector maps).

That's really a lot of money you can make, too much I'd say.
But what about taking the idea a little further? We could create a trader's guild. The flat fee you have to pay to become a member of the guild, and as a member, you get missions from different stations (you make only single runs). You start with less lucrative missions like 'Get 100 units of EC' from stations near you (~2 sectors), and as your reputation increases you get more lucrative missions like 'Get 10.000 units of EC' (from all over the universe). And eventually you get access to dock at the 'Trading Guild HQ', the only place in the whole universe where you can buy the new Super-Freighters :D .

What do you think?

[Adlantis]

You have to pay a fee to accept a mission? I never had to do this (except for the Lottery and the sector maps).

That's really a lot of money you can make, too much I'd say.
But what about taking the idea a little further? We could create a trader's guild. The flat fee you have to pay to become a member of the guild, and as a member, you get missions from different stations (you make only single runs). You start with less lucrative missions like 'Get 100 units of EC' from stations near you (~2 sectors), and as your reputation increases you get more lucrative missions like 'Get 10.000 units of EC' (from all over the universe). And eventually you get access to dock at the 'Trading Guild HQ', the only place in the whole universe where you can buy the new Super-Freighters :D .

What do you think? :thumbsup:

[SWAHILI!!!]

I like it!

I'm also looking forward to seeing the new Super Freighters in X2. . .

[Chris Gi]

The Super Freighters will not be available in the upcoming V 0.10. I guess, it will take me a few days just to retexture the Teladi Super Freighter I was curently working on. I planed to incorporate it in V 0.10, but it is too much work to get it done. Or I will use a poorly textured version, I haven't decided it yet. It depends on how soon the rest of the stuff is done....

[SWAHILI!!!]

Cool.

I really like the new backgrounds, it makes them look a lot more like they're actually in space, with loads of stars, which kind of lacked in regular X2.

[rhonkar]

Hello (I'm adobis on Egosoft's forums) , I thought if in our factories there were BBS, it would be cool, if it's possible :whistling:

[Chris Gi]

Hi rhonkar,

welcome to the Pandora Forum ;)

I'm not sure if I understand your question. Do you mean a BBS System in the player's stations? That's not possible, I'm afraid. This is handled by the game engine, and thus can't be changed by scripts. ;(

[rhonkar]

Thanks! Well you get the point, that was what I wanted to mean. Ok I understand, that's sad, because if there would be any it would be more alive inside our station!

Well thanks for the answer and keep up the good work.
And screens in the gallery are just wonderful!

[Graceburn]

The flat fee you have to pay to become a member of the guild, and as a member, you get missions from different stations (you make only single runs). You start with less lucrative missions like 'Get 100 units of EC' from stations near you (~2 sectors), and as your reputation increases you get more lucrative missions like 'Get 10.000 units of EC' (from all over the universe). And eventually you get access to dock at the 'Trading Guild HQ', the only place in the whole universe where you can buy the new Super-Freighters :D .


maybe we could make a new rank, and maybe at the stat of the game, there could be a list of different guilds, and each one has a hq, and specific missions, and new ranks, unless this is all hardcoded?

[Sammy]

Well, the idea of guilds is old, used often in other games - but with a different name (not 'guilds' but something alike) I would really appreciate this idea! After X2 Pandora will have a big improvement on economy, this would be a fine, very fine addition! Maybe different corporates?

PS: We discussed corporates as a part of the economy, like a few stations are belonging to one corporate, in the beginning. As far as I know this idea got either lost or was rejected. Although it was mainly my idea I forgot (damn unreliable mind) the final reason... Can anybody (that means: Chris Gi) please help out? :D

[Graceburn]

If corporates aren't used, maybe factions?

[Chris Gi]

The idea is neither lost nor rejected. I just didn't get the scripts the way we originally designed it. I stopped to develop the scripts for several reasons: every one was busy doing other things (so it was unsure if Pandora would ever be realized), and the profit the factories were making was too small. Indeed, most of the time they lost money or didn't bought ressources needed, because they were too expensive.
Therefore I decided to put the work aside.

Mmbecker postet in the German forum about a similar idea. I invited him to join the team, but he refused because he had just started scripting and he didn't felt comfortable with the idea of working on a mod. But he seemed to be willing to share the scripts with us. I occasionally have contact with him over PM, but I haven't heard of him lately, it seems he got stuck, too.

I had planed to bring the whole economic stuff up again, once you have seen version 0.10 and you have a first impression of how it works. I would like to see new wares, new factories and a new price system to compensate for the losses that are to be expected from the missing jump drive.

Another point:
I'm not quite sure if we speak of the same things when we use words like Guild, Corporations, Factions.
Guild:
I proposed a trader's guild (based on SWAHILI!!!'s idea) with special missions and a trader's guild rank. In the end, you are able to buy the new super freighters.
Guilds can be a good addition, but there has to be a reason behind them.
Corporations:
This is basically an opponent when it comes to trading. They try to build stations of their own, making more profit than you do.
Factions:
A small part of a bigger group persuing other goals. There is a faction in Pandora: Sector 21, a terroristic group of the pirates with political aims.

[Graceburn]

I thought that at stations there could be invitations to each group, depending on your combat, trading, and race rank.
i.e: you are on good terms with the teladi, and have a high trading rank, you dock at a teladi station, and see a BBS message inviting you to the trader's guild.
you are on good terms with the split and have a high combat rank, you are asked if you would like to join the split navy (combat guild)
you are on good terms with the argon, and have a trading and combat rank, you are asked to join the Argon Secret Service (Bounty hunters guild, maybe we could ask if we could use the bounty hunter script floating around the EGO forum, and edit it a little)

[Sammy]

That leads to a complete new idea... I'm sorry but I'll post this in the secret area...

[AmadanLegre]

Okay, so, you're flying around, looking for wares to trade, when you dock at a station to do some trading, and you read the BBS.
As you're scrolling through the list of stories, you see one that says something like 'Freighters on Strike! Need Captains with TS for work!'
You read the story (the one I posted earlier), and then there's two choices at the bottom that you can choose from, 'Yes, I would like to be hired' or 'Please Tell Me More' or something like that.

If you choose 'Please Tell Me More', you'll get another page of information saying what will happen if you get hired (station sends you messages when it's low on wares, ect, you get paid for each ware delivered, as well as an extra fee that isn't too big, say something like 15 credits a ware plus an additional 10 credits per sector traveled through. That way if you get 850 units of energy cells from The Vault, and your homebase is in Home of Opportunity, you'd get a grand total of 25,500 credits. If you deliver 500 units of Silicon for 670 credits a pop, that's 335,000 credits, and depending on what sectors you get it from, and where your home is, there's a possibility of making some real money here. And also, I like your idea about your notority with that race going up, too).

Oh, and the flat fee is the amount of credits you have to pay, you know, like for other missions, you have to pay some credits to do it, maybe you'd have to pay a small fee in order to get hired or something.

Does it kind of make sense?

My understanding is you can't interact with scripted BBS "missions". Atleast, that's what I've been led to believe. Am I wrong?

[Chris Gi]

No, you're right. The way, SWAHILI!!! presented the interface, is way beyond the possibilities of X2-scripts.