TB's RF Receiver Hidden Package Sidequests v1.8 addon

I was looking through the item_radio.script and felt that the RF Receiver isn't used enough, so created this addon to add something fun to the game and for me to learn more Lua. (Arrays are fun!)

Please feel free to make suggestions for this addon. I personally enjoy the exploration and finding things (which you may have guessed from my previous addons). Also, please comment if something isn't working as is supposed to be intended!

NOTE ABOUT THE "DELIVER THE PACKAGE TO SOMEONE" QUESTS: If you transfer the packages into a stash one by one, you can find out which one you are supposed to deliver when your PDA beeps the task list update! Another future plan is to try and avoid this confusion with custom images.

How does it work?

Firstly, this does not require a new game start.

This addon runs in parallel with the standard gameplay, adding the following:

Once you obtain enough goodwill points for a faction, they will drop a useful package in a nearby level. The placement of the package is picked at random from a reasonably sized list of coordinates for that chosen level, so you will need an RF Receiver to help you find it!

This addon is designed to work with whichever faction you choose to play, as the quest is given based on goodwill points accrued for any faction.

Currently, only one package can be in existence at once, so a queuing system is included. If you obtain more goodwill points with any faction while a package already exists, a package will be queued for that faction and current location.

The RF Receiver will also sound some additional beeping, depending on how close the player is to the package being located.

It also takes into consideration if you have yet obtained the Psy-Helmet, so that the package placement is in levels that don't fry your brain. If you obtain the Psy-Helmet, then levels such as Radar are considered.

A demo video of what to expect

Difficulty

In Anomaly, the progression setting "Tourist" gives higher goodwill points, "Scavenger" is normal and "Survivalist" gives lower points. Depending on what you choose to play, the package messages will be more or less often.

PDA Messages

I have not yet worked out how to add entries to the PDA Task List, however the messages themselves seem to be sufficient.

Obtaining 50 goodwill points with any faction will show this message:

Obtaining 250 points will show this message:

The player will receive an occasional reminder:

New icons for each "anonymous" faction messenger are included for the PDA messages:

The packages themselves are pseudo-package items that use various in-game object models (the closest I could find to match the quest package inventory images). Once picked up, they turn into one of the eight standard quest packages. I have done this because the standard quest packages all share the same "expert toolset" objects, which looks silly.

Also, by using the standard quest packages, NPCs will not pick them up if they find them first (although I may try coding a time limit, something like "Find the package before someone else does!").

If you forget where the package is or which frequency it can be found on, simply check the history in the Messages tab in your PDA!

Happy RF Receiving Stalkers!

Changelog

V1.8

Fixed another crash related to underground levels. This time it was if the player had accrued more goodwill points while in an underground level, this was added to the package queue, of which when selected the underground map didn't have linked levels, so it crashed.

Thanks to ptolthegoodguy for spending the time to help me work out where I had miscoded the script!

V1.7

Added all the RF Receiver sound effects as -10dB variants, I find that all the radio sounds are a bit too loud, not just the default static sound.

Fixed the OGG comments for each sound with SAV&T.

Added a flag to hopefully prevent a rare bug, maybe?

V1.6

Expanded the "Hidden loot!" message to actually show you what the hidden loot was:

Also, fixed the endless package queue bug and added a function for upgrading from v1.5 to clear the package queue, leaving a few in the queue based on the current factions in the queue. I have added a console message to show you how big the queue was, and what it is now (much more sensible).

If you, for any reason, want to keep your big queue (my queue size was 3112 in my current game!), you can comment out line 818 in TB_RF_Receiver_Packages.script like so:

  if not m_data.tb_radio_1_6_has_run_once then
    --COMMENT OUT CALL TO fix_queue_from_1_5_to_1_6 TO KEEP THE BIG QUEUE
    --(which should never have happened anyway)
    --fix_queue_from_1_5_to_1_6()  --<-- Put 2 dashes (--) at the start of this line
    m_data.tb_radio_1_6_has_run_once = true  --<-- Keep this line
  end

Thanks to Aorushome for noticing this bug!

V1.5

Totally forgot to consider if the player gets more goodwill points while they are in an underground level. (What a stupid mistake!) This has been fixed.

Also, added a check to see if an emission or psy-storm is occurring, and if so to not send the message until after the event.

ALSO, I had a message from someone explaining that they had a crash at the end of the story during "Operation Afterglow", where something (Anomaly script or other mod script) had removed the package, or at least the package could not be found!
I have added in a check to make sure that if there is supposed to be a package in a level and the object number doesn't exist, then to message the player via PDA to check the console, so you can send me some information that may help catch this bug if it happens again!

V1.4

Forgot to add a RemoveTimeEvent for the reminder message, hopefully this will stop the PDA message flooding issue. Thanks Real_leaper for pointing this out!

V1.3

Edited the default item_radio.script to make the default beep for the packages different to that when searching for dead people. The three extra stages of beeps still exist with sound files changed to "beep", "beep, beep" and "beep, beep, beep" for distance to the package.

Added a chance to get some extra bonus loot items when opening the package (by hooking into the itms_manager.use_package_random(obj) function). Nothing excessive other than some medical supplies, potential upgrade kits and perhaps a junky artefact.

A couple of enemy NPCs now have a 50% chance to spawn at the package location, but I still haven't worked out the AI system yet, so they start walking randomly away from the package spot.
Better than nothing, but of course, not yet finished.

Altered some package coordinates so that the NPCs don't get stuck in a wall, which may still happen, but work is in progress! ;)

V1.2

HUGE thanks go to HarukaSai for offering to help with the Russian translation. All text is now properly formatted in XML files, and the sentences are pieced together from these.

Also have added a little extra text for a clue to where the package can be found in each level. The new texts are e.g. "... somewhere in the southeastern region of [level name]" or "... somewhere in the northern region of [level name]".

Currently, this still applies to the larger level like Jupiter and Zaton, but the initial default radio beeping noise range is 150 m before the extra proximity beeps come into play. Yes, there is some running around, but this is what it's all about for those who like the challenge!

Future plans include:

• The possibility of seeing some opposing faction NPCs searching the area of the package
• Adding more potential locations (currently around 20 coordinates per level, size depending)
• Some kind of timer meaning if you leave it too long someone else has already found it
• Creating custom loot instead of just using the default quest packages contents
• Replace packages with customised ones that clearly differ from the quest packages
• Probably more, depending on how much I can learn, heh!

Also, I highly recommend Brian_Damage's Less Eardrum-Blasting RF Receiver addon. Thank's Brian, my ears also thank you as that default radio static is indeed a bit too much!