contraband checking/handling could be more detailed

[Ave]

1. anyone even an ejected pilot can check my contraband!
I think this should be a special equipment which could be added to ships, and could even be a part of a mission to check/scan other ships. And an ejected pilot definitely shouldn't have it

2. there should be an option to pass down contraband without being hunted. If i pick up a pilot in space (or even junk), i'm not necessarily a pirate.
The junk endangers traffic, the pilot must be saved anyway!
So, if i pick these up, i should be able to pass them legally (for a minimal price). Or illegally, for their black market price.

[prolog]

Agreed. It'd be nice if some enhanced equipment was required to be able to scan people.

[Halleck]

Or perhaps have an option to attempt a bribe...

[klauss]

Him: "Mantain course for contraband search"
You: "I have no contraband here... really... and if I don't get there yesterday they won't pay for this shipment"
Him: "So?"
You: "So... I bet there's a way to solve this... conundrum..."
Him: "How do you say we solve it?"
You: "I have a couple vid discs here you'll..."
Him: "Standby for contraband scan."
You: "Or... I have this extra payment I received last week. I really don't know what to do with all this money... would you happen to have some use for 1500 credits?"
Him: "Now that you mention, you don't look like a smuggler at all."

[Halleck]

Heheh. Or polish up on long-range force persuasion.

Him: "Mantain course for contraband search"
You (waving hand at vidscreen): "These aren't the crates you're looking for. Move along."
Him: "These aren't the crates we're looking for. Move along."

[Oblivion]

For mechanist, andolian, and confed space. Droid scanners that will not accept bribes:

Drone ship: "This is Odessa Patrol 87, Homeland Security. Civilian Utility-Cargo Vessel Schlimazel, stand by for routine scan."
You:"..."
Drone ship: "Warning. Unregistered enslaved lifeforms on board. Do not attempt to flee, you're ship has been marked. Please eject the contraband. Fines amount to calculated 180,000 credits. If you are unable to pay at this moment, please follow my ship."

[Sunfire]

2. there should be an option to pass down contraband without being hunted. If i pick up a pilot in space (or even junk), i'm not necessarily a pirate.

i agree... maybe i want to be a nice guy and save the life of my ally... or negotiate the cost of his rescue right there... OR... maybe i need another gunner on my ship... im sure an understanding could be arrived at...


Pilot: i could really use your help here.. these andoians seem to not like me
You: and what is that help worth to you?
Pilot: Im uh... rather short at the moment
You: you have no money? prepare to be abandoned...
Pilot: Need a gunner?
You: Not one that obviously sucks...
Pilot: Im a pretty good cook...
You: already have one
Pilot: Repair guy?
You: My droid is more than sufficent
Pilot: Janitor maybe?
You: Very well... prepare to be taken onboard... you will work off your debt for no less than 2 years at which point you'll be free to live happily ever after... awaiting bank conformation of life transfer...
free crew! yay!
:BOOM!:
You: oops. Oh well.... those andolians really didnt like him that much after all....

[Halleck]

BTW, there is a little known function called "FreeSlaves" which will convert slave contraband into hitchhikers. There is also an "Enslave" function that will convert non-hitchhiker passengers into slaves (I think that's what it does). You can bind these to hotkeys in vegastrike.config.

I'm not sure how effective it is, but as a precaution I like to free the pilots I pick up in space. At least when I'm playing elite strike (privateer remake).

[Sunfire]

BTW, there is a little known function called "FreeSlaves" which will convert slave contraband into hitchhikers. There is also an "Enslave" function that will convert non-hitchhiker passengers into slaves (I think that's what it does). You can bind these to hotkeys in vegastrike.config.

hrms... i recall this in the PR version.... i havent actually tried it in VS.... i guess im thinking that id like it to actually matter if i free them... like a "thanks bub! let me buy you a drink"

and i think it would really be cool to have 'slave' crew members... (see aforementioned convo) you could hire gunners to operate your turrets, or you could go save their lives... (not really slaves... more indentured servants)

i guess i was thinking of what could happen in the game when its a bit more developed... threads about crews for your capships come to mind... things like feeding them and keeping their morale up... even indentured servants need food...

OR... it would make sense that an ejected pilot would want to pay you not to turn him into a slave... say the going rate for a slave is 900.... maybe he'll pay you twice that to save his butt... (not a 'mission' per se... but something that pops up in the middle of cruzing thru the galaxy)

and i have a question because i cant remember at this point... if you tractor in an ejected pilot of a particular faction... hes automatically a slave... how does that affect your standing with his faction? does it at all? maybe you could help your standing with a faction just by saving their lives... rather than pressing '1' a bajillion times...

sorry... i think i got OT by thinking too much...

[Sunfire]

while im spewing OT ideas...

how about you rescue a pilot, set him in a ship in your fleet, and he has to be your wingman for the next X amount of missions... (obviously it would have to be a pilot you rescued from enemy action and not someone you just blew up... hence the term rescue)

i understand that the pilot of the ship you just blew up you may want to freeze and sell into slavery... (and therefore rightly be contraband... you friggin pirate!) and not have him around to sabotage your capship...

also, itd be neat if at some point individual pilots could come back at you for revenge no matter what their faction is.. (if you blew them up previously and let them escape) or come to your aid if you rescued them earlier...

[andyfrommk]

What I want to know is how do contraband scans detect luddite religious tracts or iso propaganda, also I was in the middle of a battle with pirate hyenas and they kept messageing me about how they detected contraband aboard my vessel, fricking hypocrites.

[darthbob88]

That would be a neat option to have, making a captured pilot your wingman. I'd imagine it as being like "You have X pilots in your cargo. You can Sell them, Dump them as contraband, or you can Impress them into your fleet as wingmen." On the other hand, it might make a good balancer to have a possibility of rebellion, in which the pilot decides to mutiny, or whatever, and turns passively hostile. He'll still be ticked, and he'll have one of your birds, but he won't come after you. I figure that should provide enough downsides to balance it all out.

[Dark-Blood-Hound]

Yeh, if you made Captured pilots your Wingmen, it would sort of like enslaving them. (Like the contraband cargo, "slaves").

[triato]

Also, I'd like cargo missions to tell you which contraband will you carry, Is it illegal weapons? ISO members?

Part of any game is the fantasy, and the player may feel morally ok with some contraband but not with other.