[SCRIPT] Combat Tractor v1.30 [Updated 29/09/06] (M6 in sector survival kit)

Ikaruga · Post by **Ikaruga** » Thu, 1. Mar 07, 07:59

Nice work, really !!

This weapon is really powerful, I use it when I make dathmatch arenas (a script by LV, try it out ! ), when I have to fight ~20 M3s, they are no match when I use this.

Isn't it a bit too powerful ?

Shouldn't it be a bit more expensive ?
Or require more stuff ? (have more tractor beams in the cargobay, have microships, consume energy cells ... )

By the way, I noticed a bug : I can use it on a M3 (the Thor), and when I use it, M6s are affected.

Great work anyway !!

Bunny · Post by **Bunny** » Thu, 1. Mar 07, 09:38

Thanks for the feedback on the M3 bug.

The combat tractor is powerful but it was designed to give the M6 a fighting chance against khaak clusters. It just did not seem right that 8 khaak M5 could kill on M6.

There is a limit of 12 ships so it is still possible to get overwhelmed in a fight if one gets sloppy. Going against the biggest khaak cluster in an M6 is now risky but not suicide.

It is still quite difficult to shoot down snared ships, especially M5s that cork screw in and out range quite quickly. So it still takes quite a bit of effort to get the kill. Turret also have a hard time getting a lock.

Now using BPSGs against your victims is just plain mean

.

I do use a lot of missiles with this script in an M6, so that in a way is an additional expense. (Of course you could use LVs freight transporter to beam in the missiles from your kills as well - oddly enough doing that felt like playing elite again for some reason

)

KeBwOb · Post by **KeBwOb** » Wed, 15. Aug 07, 22:06

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=187410

Hi, I think I might have found a bad CTD bug with this, it looks like an Argon Centaur M6 vs. the Xenon P (M6) while the combat tractor is active can give a 50/50 chance of a CTD, maybe its something to do with the way this script treats M6s differently? Uninstalling/removing the script seems to remove the CTD threat, I don't yet know if just deactivating the tractor has the same effect yet, I will try that next. Its also possible the Xenon P does not have to be in the area of influence, just in the same sector may be enough to trigger. It could be worth checking out?

Edit: disabling it with its hotkey seems to be ok, but I have noticed someting else - I took on a BBS asassin contract and the target was a split elephant (TL). Still in the Centaur, I attacked and...CTD. Hmm, seen that before. I had left combat tractor running in the Centaur. Tried it again disabled, no problem. Looks like its not just the Xenon P, its either something to do with running it in an M6 or attacking enemies that are equal or bigger than you? No problem attacking anything M3 or smaller.

Bunny · Post by **Bunny** » Fri, 17. Aug 07, 10:13

Okay , I'll look into this. It might be difficult to reproduce though because the CTD is probably getting triggered by the graphics taking issue with the violent shaking of the ship.

Are you using PACs when you see the CTDs?

I get a slow down in graphics with the impact effect with these things and having the combat tractor on at the same time increases this effect.

Cheers

Bunny

Ruut · Post by **Ruut** » Fri, 17. Aug 07, 23:06

Is it possible to add computer Ia use this weapon too against us?
Could be interesting to get trap by an M2 xenon when we are into our M6.

KeBwOb · Post by **KeBwOb** » Mon, 20. Aug 07, 20:56

Bunny wrote:Are you using PACs when you see the CTDs?

Um, not quite, beta kyons

, so if it is something to do with weapon hits, that probably will amplify the chances of a CTD! Come to think of it, the times I have had a CTD with just being in the same sector as a big/bigger enemy yet nowhere near it & with combat tractor turned on, it may have been exchanging fire with NPC ships...

Bunny · Post by **Bunny** » Tue, 21. Aug 07, 09:03

Is your ship the only one running the combat tractor?

KeBwOb · Post by **KeBwOb** » Sat, 25. Aug 07, 22:23

The only one in sector, yes, though I have a mammoth in another sector, thats it.

Bunny · Post by **Bunny** » Sun, 26. Aug 07, 12:20

Hmm, the script only shakes the enemy ships in range. If nothing is near then the script is just looping and should not be doing anything graphics wise.

The CTD problem could be difficult to tracedown as it can be saved game related. I developed an ECM script and experienced CTDs. However, other people were testing it on XTM with no problem. So I tried a new start and the problem went away.

I would recommend you stop using the combat tractor script for now.

KeBwOb · Post by **KeBwOb** » Tue, 28. Aug 07, 00:33

Hang on a minute, I think there is more than one CTD at work here. In a battle with another Xenon P (*sigh*), combat tractor off, 8x beta kyons in the front fixed positions of the M7, all eight full beam (not pulsed like automated turrets would use them) via the player trigger and hitting the P, and bang, CTD. Almost every time. The target being hit has to register red (enemy), any other kind of target will not crash otherwise. Come to think of it, a good proportion of the CTDs I have had have been under this circumstance, with alpha/beta kyons up front being the only constant. It seems irrelevant if combat tractor is running or not when this happens, but it does not explain the just-as-frequent 'in-same-sector-as-M6-or-bigger-hostiles-but-nowhere-near-them' CTDs when combat tractor is turned on.

Could it all be something to do with the kyons, they are the only 'unusual' in all of this? No problem swatting any smaller stuff with eight beta Ks up front, but M3s or smaller don't last long anyway with them

, not long enough for any hit bug to trigger, bigger ships only, maybe...? Anyone else noticed anything odd with lots of constant-beam kyons hitting big enemy targets?

Bunny · Post by **Bunny** » Wed, 29. Aug 07, 16:23

Pretty sure the CTD in this case is the game taking issue with some graphics effect.
It's a long shot, but maybe upgrading the graphics card driver or DirectX version might help?

If you have some scripting knowledge then you could test the cause of the CTD.
- start a fresh game and script in the ship with the kyons and see if you still get the CTDs.

Which mods are you running?

KeBwOb · Post by **KeBwOb** » Sat, 15. Sep 07, 21:05

Combat Tractor looks completely innocent, its an Egosoft issue with patching the GOTY edition with 1.0-2.0.02 patch to 'fix' some issues, and cause some others in the process...

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php? ... 26#2249226

Bunny · Post by **Bunny** » Sun, 16. Sep 07, 12:11

Cheers KeBwOb for reporting this

Pogi · Post by **Pogi** » Thu, 2. Oct 08, 20:55

@Bunny..Suggestion..Why don't you make this so you can go out and grab a pirate or other enemy ship and bring him kicking and screaming back to a station for a bounty reward or claiming of the towed ship....Code in a special station to pop up in all the prime areas to dock your towed prize at and to claim your reward (notoriety or the ship)etc.....Another more "hands on" approach to salvaging and bounty hunting....Remember the salvage yard scripts for X2?...Would love to grab a hold of a Pirate Falcon Vanguard and drag him back to Argon Prime cussing me the whole way..lol..Of course you would have to mask his enemy status for the trip, as the local AI would waste him on sight...Thoughts?

Bunny · Post by **Bunny** » Sat, 4. Oct 08, 11:00

Getting the other ship to point the same way as your ship is simple enough. However dragging a ship would look jerky so instead it would be necessary to make it fly to projected point and keep updating it. Yeap it should be possible but it is a question of when. Masking enemy status is also simple enough. It would require some testing to see what influence it has on game balance.

At the moment I am not really in a position to do any major scripting work, hopefully this will change later this year.

Cheers

Bunny

rafezetter · Post by **rafezetter** » Wed, 21. Mar 12, 03:36

Bunny wrote:Getting the other ship to point the same way as your ship is simple enough. However dragging a ship would look jerky so instead it would be necessary to make it fly to projected point and keep updating it. Yeap it should be possible but it is a question of when. Masking enemy status is also simple enough. It would require some testing to see what influence it has on game balance.

At the moment I am not really in a position to do any major scripting work, hopefully this will change later this year.

Cheers

Bunny

any chance this got looked at?