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 Post subject: Probes are BACK!!!
PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:03 pm 
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Yes, you head right. We have re-enabled probes. And a big fat :razz: to LordTonto. :evil: If you had purchased probes at any time they are now gone. Sorry but they had to be removed for the new changes in the probe code.

Your standard probes (Warp, Sentry and Realspace) are back with the addition of three new probes.

Seeker Probe

The Seeker Probe is designed to do only one thing... Find SG Gateway sectors in realspace. It cannot scan ships or planets. It can only use warp links to move around just like a Warp Probe. The probe will constantly move around the universe checking to see if the sector it moved into is a Gateway to an SG sector. If it is it will report back to the owner the name of the sector it found. That will be the Gateway sector from realspace to that SG pocket. The probe will ALWAYS stay in Realspace and never enter an SG Sector as its only purpose is to find more Gateway sectors. You can set the cloaking level for the probe to try and keep it from being seen while it is wandering the universe.

Hunter Probe

The Hunter Probe has only one purpose, find a player in a certain ship class and destroy them. The Hunter Probe uses the same technology as the Sector Missile. It will use the targeted ships energy to try and destroy the ship. It will automatically attack the targeted ship when the ship enters the sector or if the probe enters a sector containing the targeted ship.

When you create a Hunter Probe you have to select the player and ship class you want to target. You could select player "Fuzzy Bunny" flying around in a "Razorback" class ship. The Hunter Probe will NOT attack "Fuzzy Bunny" if they are using any other ship class. The target player MUST be using a Razorback. If "Fuzzy Bunny" is detected by the Hunter Probe entering the sector in a Voyager the probe will not attack.

You can also set the sensor and cloak tech levels for the probe. Once the probe attacks it is destroyed.

Sentry Trap Probe

The Sentry Trap Probe is basically the same thing as the Hunter Probe. The only difference is it never moves. It just sits where dropped waiting for the targeted player in the right ship to come through the sector. It's a perfect probe to drop off in a sector known to be traveled by an enemy player. You can only drop ONE of these probes in a sector and you have to be IN the sector where you want to drop it just like a normal Sentry Probe. Once the probe attacks it is destroyed.

These three new probes will hopefully give everyone an idea what kind of probes can be created for the game.

The code is totally modular so ANY kind of probe can be created and dropped into the game at any time. The game will automatically recognise any new probe as soon as it is added. We could have some really creative probes that do some really nasty things. ;)



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 Post subject: Re: Probes are BACK!!!
PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:50 pm 
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ca nwe have a link to/explanation of the other probes? I know it's written somewhere, but it's not in the wiki and I'd like to add all the probe descriptions.


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 Post subject: Re: Probes are BACK!!!
PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:54 pm 
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:cheers:


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 Post subject: Re: Probes are BACK!!!
PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 10:35 pm 
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By scanning a probe, can we see whose probe it is, and who it's out to get? That'd be really fun. I'd love to know who's out to get whom.



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 Post subject: Re: Probes are BACK!!!
PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 1:28 am 
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Im assuming these bad boys are bounty free?


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 Post subject: Re: Probes are BACK!!!
PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 1:34 am 
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The hunter and trap probes will ignore the target if they are bounty to the probes owner.

Oh and just a tip... Sensors and Cloak are the only thing you need on those two probes. And you need to cloak the hell out of them if you don't want them killed outright. :)



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 Post subject: Re: Probes are BACK!!!
PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 2:03 am 
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Tried one of the sentry trap probes with a friend tonight to see how they worked out. Wouldnt pick him up in his Voyager. Thought his cloak might be a bit high so he bought a pio and I changed it to look for his pio. Went through 5 times without getting picked up. Sensors of probe are 290.


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 Post subject: Re: Probes are BACK!!!
PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 4:47 pm 
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thank you for the probes, pj...
...
...
R&B please.



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 Post subject: Re: Probes are BACK!!!
PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:06 pm 
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Yep, there was a problem with both the hunter and trap probes. I have fixed it and made a few other changes.

If you want to create a Hunter or Trap probe they now cost the same as a Sector Missle ($1,000,000 credits).

If you pick up a Hunter or Trap probe after dropping it you will LOSE the $1,000,000 in credits.



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 Post subject: Re: Probes are BACK!!!
PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 3:29 am 
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Thanks for the quick work PJ


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 Post subject: Re: Probes are BACK!!!
PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 12:50 pm 
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Aww! You guys are jerks. I can't target the Alliance or the Feds with probes!

The only reason they don't die from SMs is because the evade them, but they can't evade probes. But I can't target them... :(



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 Post subject: Re: Probes are BACK!!!
PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 4:36 pm 
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Valience wrote:
Aww! You guys are jerks. I can't target the Alliance or the Feds with probes!

The only reason they don't die from SMs is because the evade them, but they can't evade probes. But I can't target them... :(


Can't let ya go and break the game ya know :)



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 Post subject: Re: Probes are BACK!!!
PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 5:58 pm 
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Modular code sounds good. And LordTonto - these probes would be a great start to the Research and Build techs. I am sure this is where PJ is going with the modular code.

Being a builder, I hate to suggest this- how about a planet buster probe. searches for a planet and blows up, draining energy or harming production in some way.
And a Probe killer probe. Looks for other probes.



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 Post subject: Re: Probes are BACK!!!
PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 6:38 pm 
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I like Max H's second suggestion. That sounds cool.

How 'bout a spy probe? Finds the enemy ship and puts a spy on them. That's easily WAY more useful than a sector missile (could be used to track down and kill the ship with or without energy or locate enemy sectors). You'd have to upgrade cloak so the other guy doesn't realize he's been spied, of course. That'd be really cool, I think.



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 Post subject: Re: Probes are BACK!!!
PostPosted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 12:59 am 
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We have made a few changes in the probes. Hopefully the last changes for awhile.

We have changed the limit on the number of probes you can have. In the past the limit was the number of probes you carried on the ship. You could have an unlimited number of probes floating around the universe. Unfortunately probes makes MANY database calls for just a single probe. The Hunter Probe makes the most. So we have to limit the number of probes in the universe. The number of probes you can carry is now limited by the TOTAL number of probes you own. This includes any probes you have dropped. If you have more than the current limit of 20 probes you can continue to use them. But you will not be able to buy anymore until you have less than 20.

We have also changed Hunter and Trap Probes so they are destroyed when they attack their target. They were able to attack their target over and over as long as it stayed in the same sector. Nice idea but it was unbalanced and not in keeping with how a sector missile works.

The last change is to the player logs. All hunter and trap probes will cause a log entry to appear in BOTH the probe owners log and the defending players log no matter what. Even if the attack didn't destroy the ship both players will get a log entry. This way you will know when you have been hit and when you probes have hit someone. The player that was attacked will also get an instant message.

In your Probe List you will notice it now shows the target and ship class being targeted for the Hunter and Trap probes. This makes it easier to know who you are going after. :)

There is one more change we are going to make probably tomorrow and it involves the Hunter Probe.

Right now the Hunter Probe just randomly moves around warp links like a Warp Probe. We are going to add a little intelligence to the Hunter Probe. The probe will move around just like a Warp Probe. It will be sniffing out the trail of the last ship in the sector. If it is a ship owned by the targeted player it will switch to HUNTER mode. It will ALWAYS move every time and FOLLOW the trail left by the target. I will not switch back to Warp Mode unless it loses the trail. Normally probes decide if they want to move every 10 minutes or two ticks. When a Hunter Probe is in HUNTER Mode it will move every 5 minutes or every tick.

We MAY even add the ability for the Hunter Probe to sniff all of the sectors connected by warplinks like a long range scan when it is in Warp Mode.

Just image it following you into your SG bolt hole. :D



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