Hired Guns OXP

Overview

This is a small OXP that selectively offers the player a chance to hire a pair of escort ships for a single journey (from main station in one system to the main station of another one, via whatever route). The ships will follow you through space, and will fight along side you against any alien or hostile vessels that you may encounter.

The type of ship available as an escort will depend on the tech level of the system, and better ships command a higher hiring fee. These range from 750₢ at the lowest tech level for a pair of Sidewinders, right up to the top flight 1500₢ for a pair of demilitarised Viper Interceptors.

Contract of Hire

• Escort will only be offered to commanders of a good standing and with a clean criminal record.
• This is not a babysitting service, only commanders of at least Average rank will be offered contract terms.
• Availability of escort ships for hire is not guaranteed, although the chances are better for more lawful government systems.
• This service only available at the main system station.
• Once hired, escorts will serve until you reach the station aegis of any other main station than the one you hired them from.
• Jumping into a new galaxy will void this contract, any hired escorts will not follow.
• The type of ship available as an escort will depend on the tech level of the system they are hired in.
• The escorts will work with the commander under their orders (unless they deem them to be illegal or immoral).
• Any combat kills and bounty are transferred to the hirer, as is responsibility for any legal ramifications that may arise.

Requirements

This OXP requires at least test version 1.75 of Oolite. The OXZ requires at least v.1.79

Download

• Version 2.02 is downloadable as an oxz from the in-game Expansions Manager
• Hired Guns v1.26 can be downloaded from Box.Net by clicking on the link.

Version 2.02 contains a 2017 tweak to prevent the hired guns ramming the walls of the station in newer versions of Oolite.

Version history

• 09/04/2009 - Version 1.00, Initial release.
• 01/09/2009 - Version 1.10, script tweak to be compatible with Oolite 1.73.
• 13/04/2010 - Version 1.20, script change to use 1.74 code (now incompatible with <1.74) - ships are yellow on scanner.
• 05/07/2010 - Version 1.21, small script tweak to prevent breaking constrictor mission if escort kills it.
• 19/07/2010 - Version 1.22, another small adjustment to make escorts ignore derelicts (to stop salvage missile misunderstandings).
• 05/09/2010 - Version 1.23, added check during combat for targets ejecting. If so (if target becomes a derelict) then break off the combat.
• 13/02/2011 - Version 1.24, removal of upper limit, to allow running with 1.75.
• 19/02/2011 - Version 1.25, lollipop tweak.
• 29/01/2012 - Version 1.26, stop player cheating by using HG's to shoot inanimate objects.

From this point onwards maintenance has been performed by Uk Eliter

• 21/09/2018 - Version 1.3: implemented attempts to reduce the frequency at which the escorts kill themselves via collision.
• 09/05/2019 - Version 2.0: small bug fixes; the escorts now behave more intelligently; other, miscellaneous small improvements. This version of the expansion pack requires version >= 1.79 of Oolite.
• 10/06/2019 - Version 2.01: smaller bug fixes
• 10/06/2019 - Version 2.02: smallest bug fixes

The Dark Arts

This oxp contains some imaginative coding to handle low altitudes and high temperatures.

Acknowledgements

• The escort AI is based on the private escort hire ship AI from UPS Courier OXP, by Eric Walch.
• Thanks to Lestradae for play testing and thoughts.

Links

• BB thread (2009-17)
• Thargoid's OXP page.

Gameplay and Balance Indicator

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