[A17/B18] Orbital Hubs United - Dropships 1.2 (14.02.2018)

[Ceanox]

So. What is this said "Hidden object" That tracks orbit ships?

[AngleWyrm]

It's a programming storage device that contains the info about those ships. The ships are the part players interact with, and the storage mechanism is the part that gets stored into and retrieved from save game files.

[Edixo]

Good to hear! So no more wandering pawns as well?

Err...

I still get wandering pawns, but mostly when I screw something up with the hauling order. Like not assigning a pawn to haul, then make a second load with one assigned.

Also, I have two very weird and rather bad bugs. If there's already an item in the cargo bay when I assign loading, such as simple meals or silver, my colonists keep hauling that item into the cargo bay forever, one item at the time, even though it's not designated for loading. Also, if there's an item in the cargo bay when I open the load screen, it automatically defaults to having that item loaded in the amount that is in the cargo bay. If I change it to 0, the "number of items available in this colony" starts rising forever at 100+ items a second, rapidly climbing upwards!

Another bug is that I can fill the ship with fuel, launch it to a very close by base, and then all fuel is expended so that I can't launch my ship back.

I've also found out that all bugs I have are removed if I deconstruct my ship, save, reload, and rebuild it. Until a new bug shows up.

AFAIK, the weirder the bugs, the closer you are to having everything ironed out.

[Edixo]

In good news, I got this dude being hunted by raiders, so +1 to my immersion. He just needs a bit better social.

You could perhaps do something special for pawns with this backstory?

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[Cpt.Ohu]

Yeah, one big problem is the system I'm using comes from the drop pods, which do not consider the possibility of reloading anything. That's the reason why on reloading the cargo that's already in behaves weirdly. In the long term, I'll have to come up with an alternative system to account for this stuff.

As for the fuel stuff , I'm currently trying to balance it out better,also with regard to the world map objects. Eventually you'll have to land your ships somewhere and can't park them like Caravans, since the fuel will run out.

[AngleWyrm]

As for the fuel stuff , I'm currently trying to balance it out better,also with regard to the world map objects. Eventually you'll have to land your ships somewhere and can't park them like Caravans, since the fuel will run out.

What is their operating radius, there and back?
They're not one-way disposable items are they?
Is the range the same for every model of ship?
Can fuel be carried on board to trade storage space for range?

[Edixo]

Okay, so I can do one launch bug-free before shit starts fucking up.

[Cpt.Ohu]

As for the fuel stuff , I'm currently trying to balance it out better,also with regard to the world map objects. Eventually you'll have to land your ships somewhere and can't park them like Caravans, since the fuel will run out.

What is their operating radius, there and back?
They're not one-way disposable items are they?
Is the range the same for every model of ship?
Can fuel be carried on board to trade storage space for range?

They are aircraft, not one-shot pods. So they should be reusable.

Fuel capacity, fuel consumption and speed can all be defined per Ship model. Carrying extra fuel in the cargo wasn't on my radar so far. Maybe I'll add that as reserve. To make a somewhat realistic system I'll have to account consumption and speed by cargo load. Any input on how to balance this is welcome.

Okay, so I can do one launch bug-free before shit starts fucking up.

Seems like it. I haven't found a way to prevent the cargo loading bug. It was intended for one way loading after all. I'll change the entire system so you set the desired cargo another way.

[AngleWyrm]

Fuel capacity, fuel consumption and speed can all be defined per Ship model. Carrying extra fuel in the cargo wasn't on my radar so far. Maybe I'll add that as reserve. To make a somewhat realistic system I'll have to account consumption and speed by cargo load. Any input on how to balance this is welcome.

• Fuel consumption rate is a speed measurement in units/time, and I see where it says "100." What are the units and the time interval?
• I didn't find an instance of the word "speed." What is the tag for ship speed, and what are the units of distance and time?

[Cpt.Ohu]

I have overdone it with the fuel consumption. With a rate of 100, the ship spends 1 Fuel per Tick, which is 60 fuel per second.

Speed isn't in yet, but it will be another spec in the next update, so any combination of high/low fuel consumption and high/low speed is possible.

[AngleWyrm]

I have overdone it with the fuel consumption. With a rate of 100, the ship spends 1 Fuel per Tick, which is 60 fuel per second. Speed isn't in yet, but it will be another spec in the next update, so any combination of high/low fuel consumption and high/low speed is possible.

The main reason it was overdone is because it was represented as a unit-less number '100,' and unit-less numbers are very difficult to picture, get a handle on and cope with. Normative 0..1 ranged models have their uses in prototyping, but sometimes they form historical artifacts that creep in as chains of percentage modifiers which confuse understanding of the problem space.

When fuel consumption rate was expressed as 1 fuel/tick or 60 fuel/sec it then became a number that had a sense of meaning, a model that fit into the universe and could be adjusted with immediate feedback.

A suggestion for ease of use and development:
Default value, unit of measure and range in a comment
<fuelConsumptionRate>60</fuelConsumptionRate> <!-- 60 fuel/second [0..100] -->

[Edixo]

It makes me happy to see this mod bring ironed out. I'm giddy about beginning to fly around and reverse raid the raiders.

[Edixo]

Also, where can one beg for art to be made? I need this as a ship design.

[Dragonoftherim]

So... I'm not sure where to put bug reports so I'm  doing it here! I'm having an issue where when landing the ship it will disappear, then re appear at my base with all of the passengers wandering

[nbielinski]

So just gonna start by saying. Great googily moogily I love this mod. One of my main goals in Rimworld is to train a small army in a Camp near my base to be basically shock troops for my colonies. Got a problem? Pod launch the squad in.

That aside, I do have a bug or two. Launching expends all my fuel, no matter how far I go. And once I return from say, a trading mission (by setting my colonists to refuel the shadow where the dropship used to be) the colonists just seem to wander.

THAT aside, darn amazing concept and I love it in it's entirety.