Note that this is NOT a request for help, but an offer, more or less. I hope that this overview of my own recent investigations will help others interested in what seems a little used, largely undocumented, and generally not well understood feature: Cargo Wingmen. I would personally like to see some more development in this area, as I think it opens up a wealth of new possibilities for the enterprising player. Here's hoping a few of you agree...
Observations on Cargo Wingmen
If you've already played Vega Strike (and who here hasn't?), you already know about the wingmen you can hire at the mission computer. For small fee, you can hire a few ships to fly with you to your next point of call, and help you keep out of trouble, or make trouble, if that's your thing. Hiring them is as simple as accepting a wingman mission, then hooking up with your new crew when you leave dock. They'll hang with you, following your orders (mostly) until you dock again, at which point the contract is complete. Not a bad deal for a couple of kilocreds. However, there's another way to add a few dogs to the pack, provided you've got the kennel.
Why Cargo Wingmen?
Whereas the regular wingman is hired at the mission computer, you "hire" a cargo wingman at the trade center, simply by buying a starship. In fact, this is the only reason to buy a starship there, because there's no profit in reselling them; they cost exactly the same no matter where you find or take them. They're deployed in flight by ejecting them as you would any other cargo, the difference being that as members of your flight group, they behave just like regular wingmen, following your orders, defending you and attacking your targets just the same.
Of course, they cost a bit more. As much as a whole ship, in fact, which gets to be mighty steep if your tastes run to the fancier styles. That doesn't even include the cost of outfitting them, which you will have to do, after you've deployed them. If you don't, they won't have any weapons to defend you with, nor shields protecting them! Given the extra trouble and expense, on top of the need for a carrier ship, why bother?
Well, there are a few benefits.
For one thing, cargo wingmen stick around. They won't bolt on you at your next port of call like the hired guns you met through the mission computer. They're with you for the long haul, for better or worse, at least until you sell them off, or manage to lose them somehow.
You also get to pick the ships. The mission wingmen come with whatever ship they brought to the battle. I remember finding myself leading a couple of Plowshares into an escort mission once. There went ten grand well spent!
Finally, while you do have to drop some coin on weapons and upgrades, and it really is a pain to dock and outfit each one individually, again, the choice is yours. Wouldn't you like to make sure your friend isn't bringing a knife to a gunfight? And, even better, make sure it's the right kind of gun??
So, are you sold on the notion? NO??? Well, pretend you are, so I don't have to think it's been a complete waste of time, okay? Oh-KAY!!!
Key Bindings and Setup
The manual indicates the following assignments for US keyboards:
- ] = Switch/Cycle turret control.
- [ = Switch/Cycle control through ships in flight group.
Key bindings are defined in vegastrike.config, and may be changed by the user. On my system, the user's copy is stored in the "hidden" user directory, ~/.vegastrike. Other systems probably put it in a similar location. Here is the relevant section of mine, with changes:
Code: Select all
<bind key="[" modifier="none" command="TurretControl"/>
<!-- <bind key="]" modifier="none" command="TextMessage"/> -->
<bind key="]" modifier="none" command="SwitchControl"/>
Code: Select all
<bind key="F" modifier="alt" command="CommFormUp" />
<bind key="B" modifier="alt" command="CommBreakForm" />
<bind key="H" modifier="alt" command="CommHelpMeOut" />
<bind key="D" modifier="alt" command="CommAttackTarget" />
<bind key="S" modifier="alt" command="CommDockWithMe" />
A Note on Command Names
For those who might be wondering, the command names assigned to keys and other controls in vegastrike.config are defined in the source file, config_xml.cpp, located in the main subdirectory, src. A very useful file to know about, it defines, among other things, a global command map. Just look for this line:
Code: Select all
CommandMap initGlobalCommandMap() {
Code: Select all
commandMap["CommDockWithMe"]=FireKeyboard::DockWithMe;
Code: Select all
commandMap["SwitchControl"]=GameCockpit::SwitchControl;
Cargo Wingmen: How They Work...
Now that we're set up, let's look at how all this is SUPPOSED to work.
Besides buying and flying them, starships may be carried as cargo by other ships large enough to hold them. Only a few of the available craft have sufficient hold capacity, including the Clydesdale, the Ox, the Mule, and the Plowshare. The Llama can squeeze in a Robin or Dosto in a REAL pinch, but I'd only do that on a real lark. BUT I digress!
When carried as cargo, ships may be launched, that is, jettisoned, the same as any other cargo:
- Cycle your left VDU, using the 'm' key, to bring up your cargo manifest.
- Scroll the manifest using the keypad '3' and '9' (PgDn/PgUp) keys until the ship you want to eject is at the top.
- Press Shift-z to eject the ship.
First of all, you want to order your wingman to form up IMMEDIATELY. The key combo, if your configuration looks like mine above, is alt-shift-f. You want to do this right away, before your new companion bolts for the black. We'll talk about that later. For now, let's review orders.
The standard keyboard bindings give you four orders you can issue to your wingmen: Besides forming up, you can order them to break formation (b, but DON'T, right now!), attack your target (d), and come to your assistance (h, and remember, these are alt-shift- commands). In addition, cargo wingmen are supposed to be able to dock with you, and be loaded back into your hold. That's what the "dock with me" order is for, but as already mentioned, it doesn't have a standard binding. I assigned it to alt-shift-s, partly because alt-shift-d was already taken. You might have a better idea. In any case, feel free to give it a try now, but be ready to order your wingman back into formation. Watch his distance and direction, and you'll soon see why.
Okay, now we've had some fun ordering our little friend around, let's try taking over his craft. Nothing easier, if you've added the necessary binding! Just hit the button, and suddenly you're flying HIS craft, instead of your own. In fact, if you had him on your wing, you should be able to see "yourself." You might have to turn a little, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to try to target "yourself", too, before "you" get away.
When you've switched, you'll very likely see the mother ship sliding away from you. This is because the AI takes control of any ship you're not flying directly, and is probably trying to do the same thing it was doing as your cargo wingman: get the hell away from you! Before things get out of hand, you'll want to either match speed with it, order IT to form up (sounds strange, maybe but it actually works), or retake control of it. Note that if you've launced more than one wing ship, or have regular wingmen with you, you'll have to cycle control through ALL of them before you get back to your own ship. Keep a close eye on your shield status, as the ship it displays will match whatever type you're presently flying. That way, you'll know when you're back on the mother ship.
...Or Don't
Right, then! We've launched a wingman or two, maybe ordered him about a little, took over for a bit... now, let's get the little bugger inside again, shall we? Well... that may be a little tricky.
Here's the problem: the AI that flies these ships doesn't seem to want to be anywhere NEAR you if it can help it, although it WILL stay in formation when told. In fact, the only time it WILL hold position is when it's on your wing, at which time it will do everything it can to stay there. That means, if you try to point yourself at it to tractor it in, it will dutifully pull around to stay on your wing. You can try to keep turning, hoping to eventually catch it, but because most small vessels generally move faster than the larger ones can turn, odds are you're not going to win that race.
This is what the "dock with me" order is for. In theory, this directs your wingman to park itself in front of you, in order to be tractored in. In fact, that's the message you see when you issue the order. Problem is, that ain't what the little bugger does when you tell him! Just like "break formation," he hits the throttle and bolts for the black, not to return unless you order him back!
I've tried several ways to drag one of these guys back in, with no success so far. I've taken one over and placed it in front of my Mule before switching back, hoping to haul him in with the tractor before he could break loose to get back to my wing. I've ordered one to dock, then ordered him back to my wing when he bolted, again hoping to haul him in on the beam. I've managed to hold them for a SHORT while, trying to ease them in and land them like fish, but eventually they manage to slide out of the tractor's cone. That's with an AUTOTRACKING tractor beam LOCKED ON, mind you! There is just NO WAY to do it without a working "dock with me" order, and even if there were, it's WAY more trouble than it ought to be. The most RIDICULOUS part of this mess is the way YOUR OWN FLIGHTGROUP tries to get away from you as possible at the first opportunity. I mean, I don't know about you, but I do try to get a shower in each day...
Conclusion
So the cargo wingmen features ARE available, but they need a bit of work before they're ready for prime time. Most important, the "dock with me" order needs to be ironed out. It seems to me the simplest thing might be to recode it based on the "form up" order, since that seems to keep the wingmen fervently on your flank. All that's needed is to change their preferred position to one directly in front of you, and, one hopes, not too determined to keep a minimum distance. Of course, it would also be nice if my own flightgroup tried to stick together with its purported leader, rather than scatter to the four (metaphorical) winds for lack of orders to the contrary.
A Few More Thoughts
I'm curious on at least one other point. When control has been switched to a cargo wingman, you can dock the ship and upgrade it just like your primary vessel. You can also carry any number of the same ship class (as long as the mother ship has room in the hold), deploy them all, and upgrade each individually. What I don't know, and probably won't be able to find out unless I can get one of these wingmen back onto the primary, is whether each ship's individual upgrades is retained.
Here's the thing: when I bought several Dostos and Hyenas, just two lines showed on the manifest, listing the ship type, and its quantity. As near as I can tell, you don't get to pick WHICH of either set gets deployed when you eject one; the game just chucks one out there. SO... does the game remember what each ship had when you tractored it in, or... not? If not, I think we have more more serious issue to address.
I really like the potential flight group aspects of this game. The thought of running a working fleet, over and above the single lone vessel tooling about from place to place, has a certain appeal to me. If the AI situation were straightened out, along with tracking multiple ship loadouts, that could make this a much greater possibility.
and dont think the wingman will be there when a save game is made and reloaded, no, it is gone, thats the
