F4 page (ship and system interfaces)
This page is only accessible while docked - naturally - it controls the interface between your ship and the station you are docked at. the station can be an orbital station, a rock hermit or even a dockable vessel such as a liner. The F4 page is where you can interface with the station, GalCop etc.
Key-commands
- The "Arrow keys" navigate around & between the pages, while the "Enter" key selects the option in question. Depending on how many OXPs you have loaded, the ship-station interface can easily run to 3 or more pages!
- There is (as yet) no F4F4 page.
Number of options on offer
The OXPs which you have loaded determine the number of options on offer!
In the Vanilla game, as can be seen to the right there are only 5 options: the 3 Deliveries (Passenger contracts, Cargo contracts & Parcel Contracts) and the 2 ship's systems - for changing your name from Jameson (but not your save file name) and for looking at ship statistics (eg a Viper's speed, missile bays, etc).
These are grouped by category:
- Activity
- Disembark from your ship: Life In The Frontier - explore the station! Visit the bar, the church, the opera, a park, etc...
- Log onto BBS: Life In The Frontier - Revival - job offers, lonely people, beggars etc...
- Your online status: Life In The Frontier - Revival - Life in the Frontier Revival missions status
- AddOns
- Config for AddOns: Library - for tweaking OXPs
- Captains Log
- PAD: Library - a personal assistance device with details of naval career, people met, etc.
- Commerce
- Commodity Markets: Market Inquirer - comparison of local market prices & quantities
- Speciality Cargo Trading: New Cargoes - access to markets, auctions, gossip & purchase of permits
- Contracts
- GalCop bulletin board (# available): contains the vanilla game contract deliveries and whatever else is added by other OXPs
- Danger
- Station self-destruct: Station Self-Destruction Codes
- Deliveries
- (Phkb's Contracts On BB moves these contracts onto the Bulletin Board located under the Contracts category above)
- Cargo contract deliveries (# available): Vanilla game code
- In-System Cargo Delivery:
- Parcel contract deliveries (# available): Vanilla game code
- Passenger contract deliveries (# available): Vanilla game code
- (Phkb's Contracts On BB moves these contracts onto the Bulletin Board located under the Contracts category above)
- Diplomacy
- This category is added by the Diplomancy OXZ
- Embassy district - for buying visas (and seeing how much time you have left on your current visas)
- Star Wars (also needs the ANA installed - toggles between Wars Map/Diplomancy Map/Warring Systems Map.
- System History - history of wars & alliances with local systems
- This category is added by the Diplomancy OXZ
- Game
- Cheat Screen: OoCheat - for awarding yourself extra money, invulnerability, extra kills etc.
- Gambling
- This category (with a variety of different options) appears depending on which OXPs you have loaded, and where you have docked!
- G.E.T. (Guild of Elite Traders)
- This category is added by the Elite Trader OXZ
- G.E.T. Best Trade Resetter: resets your "Best Trade" statistics
- G.E.T. Master Advisory: advice from the local guild master. If you had previously selected a commodity on the F8 markets page, you get information for that commodity for all markets in the system with a guild presence.
- G.E.T. Ship Status Report: report on how Guild engineers have improved your ship's performance
- Info
- Planner - a blank notebook for recording information. Thanks to the Vanilla game programming, using this is a pain in the unmentionables!
- Informational
- GalCop Galactic Registry - the vital in-game database of this galaxy - maps, systems, races, TL's etc.
- In-system distances: Market Inquirer
- Logs
- Commander's Log - short list of important events (maintenance overhauls, increase in Elite Rating, jump to new Galaxy)
- Communications log: MFD - CommsLog - collection of spoken/console messages received in flight
- Email System - allows receipt (but not sending) of emails announcing kills, awards, fines, equipment purchases, etc
- Flight Log - list of hyperjumps, and financial summary of profit/loss/money spent on equipment etc.
- Reputations and awards: GalCop Missions - shows improvement in reputation fulfilling missions (Library can also add in your other reputations from the F5F5 screen)
- View GalCop station docking counts from Home System
- News
- Galactic News Network: GNN - pops up when there is a newsflash.
- Organisations
- Explorers' Club - lists of what has been visited, select what is marked on your F6 screen...
- Ship
- Access Hypercargo: - HyperCargo - only shows at some stations (otherwise you need to use the F5-F8 key sequence).
- Ship Systems
- Edit ship registration: Vanilla game code
- Exhibitions (# visited): Gallery - select which exhibitions you wish to visit (hunters, escorts, pirates etc)
- Gallery of all objects (# objects): Gallery of everything which might exist in your game
- Gallery of all encounters (# items stored): Gallery of what you have so far met
- Heat sink control: Ship Configuration - this complex oxp makes the heating up of your ship a major game factor which can be combated by a one-use heat sink
- HUD and MFD selector: HUD Selector - select which HUD you want to fly with (and select the dials to go with some of them)
- Laser arrangement - move your lasers around!
- LMSS dockside services - move your lasers around!
- Manage primable equipment: Vanilla game code - comes up when you have added primable equipment (ie OXPs).
- Ship's Library - allows you to read the books in your ship's library.
- View equipment specifications: Ship Configuration
- View ship specifications: Vanilla game code - a library allowing you to access details of ships & stations in the game.
- Station Interfaces
- Black Market: Smugglers - market & smugglers' noticeboard
- Cargo Storage Facility: Hermitage - interface for managing your own Rock Hermit
- Coriolis/Dodecahedron/Rock Hermit etc Station traffic control: Station Dock Control - allows you to see which ships are docked, arriving and leaving.
- Dock Master: Smugglers - information about local Milkruns
- GalCop security kiosk: Bounty System - at a secondary GalCop-aligned station - buy licenses, see "most wanted list", see notice board
- GalCop security office: Bounty System - at the system's main GalCop orbital station - as above
- Illegal goods information: Smugglers - details of import and export bans
- Mineral Refinery: Hermitage - interface for managing your own Rock Hermit
- Personal Ship Hanger: Hermitage - interface for managing your own Rock Hermit
- Rock Hermit Management: Hermitage - interface for managing your own Rock Hermit
- Storage facility management: Equipment Storage - for storing equipment and cargo
- Transfer Cargo to Market: Hermitage - interface for managing your own Rock Hermit
- Training
- Combat Simulator: allows combat practice against pre-selected opponents
Note: you will never get all of the above. For example Smugglers and New Cargoes clash, so you will only get the entries from one or the other. Ditto for Life on the Frontier and Life on the Frontier - Revival.
Changing the page
- BGS 2.5.1 provides a backdrop of your ship's bridge - and appropriate station noises!
- BGS 1.10.9 provides a more visible backdrop - with a suitable cacophonic accompaniment. You may need to remove Library to be able to see it - which could nobble some of your other OXPs!
- It also provides a key on the left for the F1-F8 buttons.
- Werewolf's HUD nicely emphasises the monitor effect.
- XenonUI provides an on-screen reference list of key commands for this and the other F4-F8 pages
- Docked HUDs removes your HUD from the bottom of the page, leaving only the fuel bar & missile display. Some of the more recent HUDs do this automatically.