(n64mon posted while I was replying, but this pretty much answers both posts anyways.)

First in answer to n64's question, the OnFail runs in real-time. However, the problem isn't getting the bomb on the ship but rather getting the text to display if there is a standard "dump cargo landside" aspect to the mission.

It'd be easy enough (both the "land in 2 seconds" part from n64's post and Kruger's suggestion), but then we run into the problem of getting the text to display and getting rid of the bomb on landing. If you make another mission available after the delivery fails, it can only be made to show up on inhabited planets (unless you make one particular mission for every uninhabited planet, which would be crazy). Therefore, if they land on an uninhabited planet they're totally boned because their pilot is saved and they can't dump the cargo. If you make it part of the fail text, it will show right after you get scanned, in which case why not just make it a normal mission failure? If you use a crön or a mission with a time limit of 1 to make it show up after landing, then it will also fire if the player jumps (and the 4-8 seconds before detonation gives ample time for that).

Hey, I have an original idea that meshes perfectly with the Firefly 'verse! Why not just move the player to a system called "Hell"? oh wait...

(further edit)

One thing that I put into the latest update of Anathema was an outfit that, if it wasn't properly maintained, could turn into a nonlethal bomb. However, after it blew, the player would also get an outfit that knocked out their shields and sensors along with putting a noticeable dent in their armor and maneuverability (and maybe fuel capacity). If you want to totally skirt the "now my pilot is screwed forever" problem but still make the explosion not feel like a slap on the wrist, you could do something similar. The ship survives, but suffers some major setbacks and sustains serious damage that can only be removed via a very, very expensive outfit. If you wanted to be really devious, you could make it a delayed explosion to try to get the player to land before it goes off (or even require it). Plus, it makes the risk of the mission slightly less superficial.

This post has been edited by Archon : 21 September 2009 - 02:16 PM

The more I think about it, the more it feels like I should just Sxxx another mission OnFail. The second mission should simply Gxxx the player the bomb outfit, and Dxxx it OnAbort. Then just have some exclamation about how "We're reading an energy buildup, we have to dump the cargo!" or something and force the player to hit the abort button or jettison.

I would go purely with the jettison option if I could, but I have a sneaking suspicion (untested) that you can't jettison mission cargo for non-abortable missions.

As an added bonus, if the planet the player manages to land on before blowing up happens to be the destination, you can just do a modified finishing desc for the "normal" mission where things go a bit differently but the player still gets paid.

This post has been edited by Lindley : 21 September 2009 - 03:19 PM

Actually, unless you want a few extra texts (like a new text upon reaching your destination), you won't even have to do the Sxxx. You could just make the critical mission gxxx on fail and dxxx on abort. If it's aborted and you haven't failed, nothing happens since there's no xxx to d. The only other reason you may want the extra mission is if you want the critical mission only to be abortable after it fails.

On the subject of jettisoning, I seem to recall there being two commands: one to dump non-mission cargo and one to dump everything. It may be like k vs option or command or commandoption or optioncommandshift k… you get the idea. Still, this may have been a little vestigial memory from EVC/EVO.

This post has been edited by Archon : 21 September 2009 - 05:48 PM

I think you are no longer allowed to dump mission-related cargo for the sole purpose of not airlocking passengers, as was able to be done in EVC/EVO.

Actually, while it seems that reducing shield/armor max while in flight doesn't work, reducing max energy does (at least it does for me when the mission granting the outfit triggers on ship capture). Just another tidbit for you.

So, it's confirmed: You can jettison mission cargo, but only for abortable missions.

Unfortunately, the OnFail field of a mission will fire twice : Once when it actually fails (eg, you get scanned) and then again when you land at the return planet if you have a FailText specified.

Needless to say this is probably a bug. However, I can work around it: Just means I need to set up another mission rather than using the FailText field.