I'm trying to use a "hardpoint" concept to overide the Max Turret and Max Gun fields in Nova, allowing for a much more flexible restriction to outfits (with it, I can assign limits to weapons, external mounting (sensors, armour, etc.), internal mountings (structural integrity fields, hyperdrive), fighter bays (creative approach to a virtual "max bay" feature) and such). The Max Gun and Max Turrets are described (in the tutorial, no less) as "legal restrictions and Admiralty Law." However, I want some outfits to take up more hardpoints, slots or bays than others do.

Let's say I want outfit RID #128 (Laser Cannon) to take up 1 hardpoint (oufit RID #249). I simply set "Available On" to "O249", the "On Purchase" to "D249 G250 (Used Hardpoint)" and the "On Sell" field to "D250 D257 (no hardpoints: see next sentence) G249". I use a crön to grant outfit RID #257 (no hardpoints) any day that the ship does not have any hardpoints available (this is, of course, removed once a hardpoint is freed).

Now I want outfit RID #133 (Heavy Matter Cannon) to take up 5 hardpoints. My question is:
• Can I put "O249 O249" or something similar into the "Available On" field to have it check for 2 copies of outfit RID #249?

If so, then this is quite simple, but I fear that "O249 O249" will operate independtly (yes, there is an outfit 249, appear:yes there is an outfit 249 appear) rather than cooperatively (yes, there are two of outfit 249, appear). If that is so, then I must have a more complex system that involved extra outfits that represent 5 hardpoints, etc (i.e. Laser Cannon's "on purchase" is changed from "D249 G250" to "Dxxx (5x Hardpoints), G249 249 G249 G249" and throws in the added complexity of finding a way to explain 5 hardpoints and 1 hardpoint away together (i.e. it would show up in the Ship Info box as "1 5x Hardpoints and 4 hardpoints" rather than "9 hardpoints").

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When viewing a Terrapin for the first time, I realized that anything flies-if you throw it hard enough!

It occurs to me that I might have been a little to verbose — occasionally when my mind outpaces my hands (120 wpm (I believe is thought-speed) vs. 60 wpm), I get wrapped around my words.

Straight forward, my question is:

does "Oxxx Oxxx" check for 2 of XXX or merely return true twice?

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When viewing a Terrapin for the first time, I realized that anything flies-if you throw it hard enough!

Quote

Originally posted by Zzap212:
**It occurs to me that I might have been a little to verbose — occasionally when my mind outpaces my hands (120 wpm (I believe is thought-speed) vs. 60 wpm), I get wrapped around my words.

Straight forward, my question is:

does "Oxxx Oxxx" check for 2 of XXX or merely return true twice?

**

Based on how the scenario executes it, Oxxx returns true for any number of object xxx. See the mission for regenerating Darts in the stock scenario for an example. Oxxx only evaluates false when none are present. If it could be used repetitively, it would have been used to give the player 1 Dart, rather than have to have none to activate.

Thus, since Oxxx appears to evaluate true if you have xxx (any number) than putting (Oxxx&Oxxx;) would evaluate true as long as one of xxx is present.

Did that make any sense?

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Yes, it did.

Thanks — I guess I just have to explain a hardpoint as "a point containing power for weaponry, no matter how small. A large weapon uses the same hardpoint as a little weapon." I guess I could say that a hardpoint is an opening on a ship's hull to provide power, not an actual hardpoint, as well or something not disimilar.

So just to recap, "Oxxx Oxxx" comes out as "1" if there are any of outfit xxx, not if there are two, correct?

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When viewing a Terrapin for the first time, I realized that anything flies-if you throw it hard enough!

Quote

Originally posted by Zzap212:
**Yes, it did.

Thanks — I guess I just have to explain a hardpoint as "a point containing power for weaponry, no matter how small. A large weapon uses the same hardpoint as a little weapon." I guess I could say that a hardpoint is an opening on a ship's hull to provide power, not an actual hardpoint, as well or something not disimilar.

So just to recap, "Oxxx Oxxx" comes out as "1" if there are any of outfit xxx, not if there are two, correct?

**

Since it's in the availability field, the expression as written would cause Nova to puke. In the availability field, boolean algebra is king, Oxxx Oxxx is meaningless in boolean algebra.

Depending on how it is correctly written, Oxxx and Oxxx could mean anything.

Example:
(Oxxx & Oxxx): Evaluates to true when one or more of oüft xxx is present, otherwise false
(Oxxx | Oxxx): Evaluates to false always.
(Oxxx & !Oxxx): Evaluates to false always.
(Oxxx | !Oxxx): Evaluates to true always.
!(Oxxx & Oxxx): Evaluates to false when oüft xxx is present, otherwise true.
etc.

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"If you can't feel the Force, you're not pushing it." -Prof. Li on the "Force"
Got g?
Ignorance killed the cat. Curiosity was framed.
"We're sending a complicated system into an unknown environment at very high speed. I feel calm. I feel ready. I can only conclude it's because I don't hace a full grasp of the situation." - Mark Adler

It was just an example

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When viewing a Terrapin for the first time, I realized that anything flies-if you throw it hard enough!

You could set up a system where a small weapon/outfit=one gun slot, a medium=one turret slot, and a large=one gun and one turret slot. Then you wouldn't have to worry about checking for multiple copies in a test string.

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I don't want to overuse the gun and turret slots.

I.E. Admiralty Law may have certified your ship to carry 10,000 guns, but your ship only comes with 2 hardpoints, so you can only mount 2 weapons.

I want the gun and turret slots to be as invisible and unobtrusive as possible because while it is necessary to maintain a balance in the game, the idea that a big ship can only mount 10 guns because of a safety design is absolutely absurd.

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When viewing a Terrapin for the first time, I realized that anything flies-if you throw it hard enough!

Quote

Originally posted by Zzap212:
**Thanks — I guess I just have to explain a hardpoint as "a point containing power for weaponry, no matter how small. A large weapon uses the same hardpoint as a little weapon." I guess I could say that a hardpoint is an opening on a ship's hull to provide power, not an actual hardpoint, as well or something not disimilar.
**

This sounds quite a bit like the way I would use the term "hardpoint" -- it's a spot on the hull prepared, in terms of structure, power supply, control system, and field of view/fire, to mount a weapon of any type.

Another way to explain this sort of limitation would be to call it a "fire control processor" -- in other words, a dedicated computer devoted to calculating targeting solutions for a particular weapon. If you figure out how to implement your more complicated system, in which a particular turret might "take up 5 hardpoints" as you put it, you might consider instead phrasing this as a turret that "requires 5 fire control processing units" -- in other words, 5 computers working in parallel to control different aspects of a complicated machine.

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If you want to cause a weapon to take up multiple gun or turret slots you will need to waste some outfits.
When the weapon is purchased, have it grant a few other outfits. These would have a tech value of 10000 so they wouldn't be seen at outfitters and would take up one gun slot each.
Or you could make the outfit for buying the gun both a weapon and a gun maximum modifier. I think negative values would work.

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Quote

Originally posted by Chuckles:
**
Example:
(Oxxx | Oxxx): Evaluates to false always.
**

Ummm....
That looks like:
"True if oxxx or oxxx is true"
Thus, the way I see it, it would have the same meaning as Oxxx alone.

-Az

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