Opinions wanted

Poll: In the shipyard, how should multiple variants which share one name be handled? (14 member(s) have cast votes)
In the shipyard, how should multiple variants which share one name be handled?
Add variants without changing variant names
(3 votes [21.43%])
Percentage of vote: 21.43%
Add variants and make each variant have a different name
(3 votes [21.43%])
Percentage of vote: 21.43%
Add new outfits instead of ships to let the player buy the variants
(6 votes [42.86%])
Percentage of vote: 42.86%
Do not add any more variants which share a name with another variant
(2 votes [14.29%])
Percentage of vote: 14.29%

Well, progress is being made with the 1.0.8 Ship Variants update, but I have a problem which is tricky enough that I want a few opinions on how to deal with it. So far, Ship Variants adds almost all the current variants in the game. But, many are left out, the majority of which have the same variant name as a variant already offered in the shipyard. For example, there are 3 Starbridge Class C variants, and 4 Pirate Starbridge Class C variants. These are completely different ships, and I would love to add them, but their names pose a problem. The plugin keeps the shipyard quite tidy, but adding these ships will probably change that. (Imagine going into the shipyard and finding 16 different Abominations for sale, and half of them have the same name. Eeek.) In addition, adding these ships means either adding them in the bar as escorts for hire, or else letting escorts be capable of being upgraded into them. So, what do all of you think is the best way to add these other variants for purchase and for hire so that they don't make players confused, and so whatever the result is, it looks good and not out of place? And if you think more variants won't work and you don't care about not being able to buy them, then vote for that option.

Will there be any difference in 1.0.8 other than more variants?

Guy, on Nov 19 2004, 05:46 PM, said:

Will there be any difference in 1.0.8 other than more variants?
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For the most part, yes, the major part of the update is adding more variants in the shipyard, bar, and outfitters. The other part of the update is pretty much fixing errors and typos. But that's basically what every Ship Variant update has done, so besides those two things, what else could a plugin that adds ship variants add?
If you would like a detailed list, what the 1.0.8 update aims to do is this:
1. Figure out what needs to be fixed, in both the Ship Variants plugin itself, and in the associated fix plugins that can be used with it, like Fighter Variants. This needs to be done, because there are errors in the plugin, but they're hard to find if don't take a good look at everything. This is being done as the update is being done, so it doesn't hold work back.
2. Fix a few errors in the ship stats, like weapons, contribute and require flags, etc.
3. Allow all variants that are offered in the shipyard to also be capable of being obtained as escorts through upgrading. Several ships can currently only be obtained as escorts by capturing them.
4. Change the fighter prices in the outfitter to match the fighter prices in the shipyard.
5. Allow several fighters that can be bought as a ship but not as an outfit to be offered in the outfitters as well.
6. Add the Auroran House variant ships in the shipyard and as escorts.
7. Add other perviously unoffered variants in the shipyard and as escorts, like the ships I'm deciding on how to handle.
8. If any of the fix plugins associated with Ship Variants need to be changed or updated, these will also be fixed.
9. Keep the plugin as well organized and polished as it was in all previous versions, and add a few personal touches. You'll see. <cryptic grin>

This post has been edited by WraithSniper : 20 November 2004 - 10:54 PM

I'm thinking that an outfit that upgrades your ship is good. Kinda like the starbridge upgrade, except to different versions. Jst make sure you explain the differences between the versions of the variants.

Hey, is there a way in the bar to tag the flag similar to the outfit flag "hide all other same weight items with lower id (or higher, whatever) when this one is visible"?

I would think the outfits to convert the ship (move my vote from no name change to outfit) would be a cool idea, plus have it so only one of any same name ship is available for escort duty at the time, and make it not entirely clear from the description in the escort place what the difference is, make it explained more organically (ie make it sound like the same ship with a different pilot/etc). That might be neat. If you cant do the supress same weight thing, there are workarounds that achieve the same thing.

I have a bunch of schemes, the most simple being set up tech levels so that each bar only ever has one variant of a variant, so you need to explore to find the right one. The most elegant is to use a cron to rythmically set and clear availability bits for the hire field. But workarounds might be entirely irrlelvant.

Why do you have to change all of that stuff? If you make all of the variants purchasable, even if there are several subvariants, (like 4 pirate class c starbridges or whatever) and they are all labeled Class C Pirate starbridge or the respective name, you should be able to find out which subvariant armament it is by looking in the info button. Unless I am missing something...

erikthered, on Nov 22 2004, 01:59 PM, said:

Why do you have to change all of that stuff? If you make all of the variants purchasable, even if there are several subvariants, (like 4 pirate class c starbridges or whatever) and they are all labeled Class C Pirate starbridge or the respective name, you should be able to find out which subvariant armament it is by looking in the info button. Unless I am missing something...
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I'm doing this because if I do add more variants and I don't change the names of them or make them clearly seperated, I do not want this following situation to happen:
A newbie hires a Starbridge, Class A. He flys around, then figures out how to upgrade his escort. He upgrades it to a Class B. He looks at the escort dialogue and sees "Upgrades to: Class C" He upgrades it again, then opens the escort dialogue and sees this very confusing message:
"Starbridge Class C. Upgrades to: Class C." Confused, he upgrades the ship again, opens the escort window, and sees the exact same thing. Having seen Class D Starbridges, the player is very confused as to why he can't get the ship to upgrade to a Class D, and he will assume it is a bug. He then goes and tells me I screwed up the game somehow.
I'd like to completely avoid that problem and not confuse players. The question is simply what is the best way to do that.
After a little experimenting, for now I'm simply going to change the new variants to have different names and be offered along side the base variant ship in the bar, like the way used variants are offered.

Ah, well, then I would think that modifying the name or maybe the subtitle would be best.

The problem with making the upgrade ships outfits is that you can't see the new ship's stats. I think it would be best to put them all in the shipyard, whether you change the name or not.