The event plugin

[Zed26]

Apologies if it's already been raised in another thread, but I noticed since the update that there's a new FLHook plugin for events.

The example inside is for the Westfalen supply event (which Snak3 mentioned recently).

Thanks to the extensive dev work, these now look fairly simple to set up, so what can be done with them?

• Mobilize haulers to focus on something other than just trading/mining for immediate profit
  
• Keep military factions on either side active protecting/attacking suppliers
  
• Giving a fixed route for pirates to expect activity (traders and military)
  
• These events can involve unlawful bases too, stimulating smuggling
  
• Spark some forum activity making deals, placing embargoes, etc.

Of course, there won't be much incentive to keep active without an ultimate reward for either side, so what can be given?

• Temporary (or even permanent/long term) commodity changes for the winning faction- we're already seeing this, but an in-game reason for them might be nice
  
• Temporary access to a special ship, such as Garrett's entertaining super mortar battleships
  
• Additional rationale for more permanent changes to station ownership, tech access, NPCs in the region?

Good ideas, bad ideas? Got something in mind already?

[Zayne Carrick]

You have admin approval for such ideas?
If not, this thread is rather pointless.

[Zed26]

Well, I'm not sure why that cynical and counterproductive comment was necessary. The thread is for ideas, and discussion with the admins. Considering the recent increase in dialogue, visible events, and addition of the plugin (it's not just an intangible idea and can actually be done), perhaps approval isn't as impossible as one might think.

[Wildkins]

It'd be pretty cool for a lot of things. It could be tied into SRP and other events: As Westfalen showed, it can help to bring in more players and bring back the activity from the drought we've been experiencing, and in turn, can mean a reward as small as credits or as large as territorial shifts, system-wide or even sector-wide. It's a nice realm of possibility, and I'd love the idea of more dynamic gameplay, personally.

Perhaps we could have a couple events tied in with the recent Texas raids? Liberty would have to bring emergency supplies to Houston and Battleship Missouri, to keep their defenses active, or else their defense guns turned offline for a duration? Just speculation, and I don't know if that's entirely possible within the realm of this plugin, but it's a neat-o feature nonetheless.

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RP Feedback

[SnakeLancerHaven]

What happened to the Event Servers 8| back in 4.85 they were so awesome.

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R.I.P Tabris...
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[Highland Laddie]

I certainly like the idea of a more dynamic interaction between Events and RP outcomes.

[Thyrzul]

Apologies if it's already been raised in another thread, but I noticed since the update that there's a new FLHook plugin for events.

The example inside is for the Westfalen supply event (which Snak3 mentioned recently).

Do you realize that the example you linked is a more than two years old thread? I wouldn't call that "new".

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[Zed26]

Yep, I understand the event was from years ago.

However, the plugin hadn't been included with the mod for some time. With the addition of event.cfg in the flhook_plugins folder in this update, admins can quickly set up events. I'll go over some additional info that may not be very exciting, but was at least educational for me. Here's the example event:

Code:

;debug = 1
;cargo = liberty_westfallen_1, rh02_02_base, commodity_crew, 10000
;cargo = liberty_westfallen_2, rh02_02_base, commodity_superalloys, 100000
;cargo = liberty_westfallen_3, rh02_02_base, commodity_ship_hull_panels, 100000
;cargo = liberty_westfallen_4, rh02_02_base, commodity_engine_components, 100000
;npc = rhienland_westfallen_1, li01, ,li_p_grp, 1000

So let's crack it open in simple terms and look at what's going on behind the scenes. There are 2 types of missions - "cargo" and "npc".

Cargo missions are simple: nickname, base name to sell commodities at, the commodity, and the amount - so the first line is:

• Nickname: "liberty_westfallen_1" (first Liberty objective)
  
• Base for delivery: Battleship Westfalen in Hamburg
  
• Commodity: crew
  
• Units required: 10,000
  
• Sends the following message with each delivery: "X units remaining to complete mission objective"
  
• On completion, sends: "Mission objective completed"

NPC missions are: nickname, system, sector, faction, number of NPCs to kill - so the 5th line starting with "npc" is:

• Nickname: "rheinland_westfallen_1" (so this was meant to be the Rheinland objective to win?)
  
• System to kill in: New York System
  
• Sector to kill at: This has been left blank in the example, so unspecified (anywhere in the system?), but this can be used to designate a specific spot (such as around a certain base) to kill NPCs.
  
• Faction of NPCs: LPI
  
• Number of NPCs to kill: 1,000
  
• Supposed to send the following message: "X ships remaining to destroy to complete mission objective" (but commented out/not active, probably to reduce spam)
  
• No completion notification yet, but it just needs a simple else block to print one

It's for the lulz, it doesn't really matter...

The Westfalen event made a good quick test due to the activity in Liberty, short route, and few commodities required, but there are lots of possibilities for a serious event, such as using commodities not found near the objective base, requiring supplies at multiple bases (even in different systems) to spread things out - even different commodities on the same base by opposing sides to simulate a fight for control. I personally prefer PVP, but if you want a more PVE experience, one could set NPC killing missions in areas with capital ship patrols (low NPC spawns during high server population can also make them harder to find).