Fixed Smuggling Quest looking for info doesn't expire

[Levis]

I will add it to the questbook when also adding it to the interface. for now this is okay .

 

[Grey Roger]

I'd rather not have it in the interface. The "Colonies" interface is for comparing trade goods prices, and only updates when you visit the colony to find the current prices. The smuggling patrol state can go into the questbook, and updates can be found in tavern news. So the immediate state for use when doing a smuggling run can be in the questbook along with the coastguard times, and the long range view of smuggling states is in the ship's log.

 

[DeathDaisy]

I think itd be cool to have it together with the prices for contraband, I often look there to see where to go next. even better if the state was also updated with the tavern news, itd help with risk assessment as well as comparing prices

 

[Grey Roger]

Smuggling is a fun part of the game but it should not expand to dominate everything. And smugglers aren't the only ones with faulty memories. If every aspect of the game had reminders all over the place, the various interfaces would soon become useless. Better to keep things organised and in their places - smuggling information in tavern news, goods prices on the trade book, international relations on the relations screen, etc.

 

[DeathDaisy]

but the colonies/trade book screen already has half the page dedicated to smuggling, a line with patrol state would just centralize the smuggling info to save time and make it more accessible

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Maybe someone could make a mockup of how it would look like in Paint?
Probably takes 2 minutes to do and then @Grey Roger can decide based on that if it is something he would add to the main modpack or not.

 

[Grey Roger]

I shall await responses from other people before making a solid decision on this. Though my own preference remains not to include smuggling information in the colonies/trade book, if other folks want it, I'll let it in. @ANSEL, @Hylie Pistof - I believe you are not that interested in smuggling, so what are your opinions on adding smuggling states to the colonies book?

 

[DeathDaisy]

a quick mockup! Im imagining something like this, rather non-intrusive, altho Im ofc not the arbiter of neither its appearance nor inclusion

EDIT: or maybe this, think I might even prefer that one!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

There are never more than 5(?) smuggling goods for any given colony, right? While there are 6 export goods on that screenshot.
So there is definitely space in the interface that would otherwise be unused and there is already 1/3rd of the screen dedicated to smuggling anyway.
In other words: I have no objections in adding the smuggling state like on @DeathDaisy's mockup.

That being said, I do agree with @Grey Roger's point that smuggling should not take over the entire game.

 

[Grey Roger]

There are never more than 5(?) smuggling goods for any given colony, right?

I believe Antigua has rather more than 5 contraband goods.

 

[DeathDaisy]

There are never more than 5(?) smuggling goods for any given colony, right? While there are 6 export goods on that screenshot.
So there is definitely space in the interface that would otherwise be unused and there is already 1/3rd of the screen dedicated to smuggling anyway.
In other words: I have no objections in adding the smuggling state like on @DeathDaisy's mockup.

That being said, I do agree with @Grey Roger's point that smuggling should not take over the entire game.

Antigua has more, as everything is contraband, but the others never have more than 4 iirc

The first is probably not a good idea. Look at the contraband list for Antigua and you'll probably see why.

very true!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I believe Antigua has rather more than 5 contraband goods.

Antigua is a substantial exception. As @DeathDaisy says, everything is contraband because of its navy base status.
Maybe the code can be made into an exception too so that rather than listing individual goods, it could just say "Everything".

 

[DeathDaisy]

Antigua is a substantial exception. As @DeathDaisy says, everything is contraband because of its navy base status.
Maybe the code can be made into an exception too so that rather than listing individual goods, it could just say "Everything".

this spawned another idea, perhaps itd make sense if their patrol state was constantly at max? not that theyre constantly equally vigilant for smugglers, but being a military place, maybe they got heavy patrols around the shores anyway? dunno much about navy bases admittedly so dunno if that would realistically be the case. since high state gives higher prices and all cargo is contraband, it could be a goldmine for late game, god-tier smugglers. and maybe it could also make it possible to ditch the patrol state indicator for antigua?

EDIT: altho, I still think I like the second mockup best, so if its up there the amount of goods wouldnt be a problem

 

[Grey Roger]

Antigua is a substantial exception. As @DeathDaisy says, everything is contraband because of its navy base status.
Maybe the code can be made into an exception too so that rather than listing individual goods, it could just say "Everything".

Better to leave it as a big long list, which rams home the point that this isn't a trading post - dump your cargo at Charlestown first. (And, for that matter, your prize ships. Antigua dockyard will repair British naval and privateer ships for free but it won't buy or sell them.)

this spawned another idea, perhaps itd make sense if their patrol state was constantly at max? not that theyre constantly equally vigilant for smugglers, but being a military place, maybe they got heavy patrols around the shores anyway?

They haven't even found the tunnel from the outskirts to inside the naval base. Both the "Bartolomeu" and "Hornblower" storylines have episodes which would indicate that the shores around the island aren't particularly heavily defended. It is reasonable to conclude that security against smugglers, on land and at sea, is no stricter than anywhere else.

 

[Levis]

@Grey Roger I can see where you are comming from.
What would you think of having a readable book in your inventory the smugglers give you. In here you will automaticly update the smuggler state of an island if you hear it from the smugglers or read it in the tavern news. So if you want to do smuggling you can look in this "notebook" to see which island might be good.
It wouldn't be intrusive for people not doing smuggling but for people who do it, it might be a good thing to have, and if not they can just ignore or even sell the book.

 

[Grey Roger]

You have such a book. The ship's log copies anything you learn from the tavern news.

But a notebook which duplicates what is already in the ship's log is certainly better than the same information being duplicated on the colonies screen.

 

[DeathDaisy]

They haven't even found the tunnel from the outskirts to inside the naval base. Both the "Bartolomeu" and "Hornblower" storylines have episodes which would indicate that the shores around the island aren't particularly heavily defended. It is reasonable to conclude that security against smugglers, on land and at sea, is no stricter than anywhere else.

sounds good, hardly ever been at antigua so was just spilling my thoughts

@Grey Roger I can see where you are comming from.
What would you think of having a readable book in your inventory the smugglers give you. In here you will automaticly update the smuggler state of an island if you hear it from the smugglers or read it in the tavern news. So if you want to do smuggling you can look in this "notebook" to see which island might be good.
It wouldn't be intrusive for people not doing smuggling but for people who do it, it might be a good thing to have, and if not they can just ignore or even sell the book.

You have such a book. The ship's log copies anything you learn from the tavern news.

But a notebook which duplicates what is already in the ship's log is certainly better than the same information being duplicated on the colonies screen.

I still think a simple line in the colonies screen would be quite nice for quick risk/reward assessment my biggest gripe with the ships log is that it only logs when patrols change, if its unchanged for a long time youre outta luck, and they update twice a year at most iirc. even when you are on an island and do smuggling, it doesnt update, so if you forget after the quest is done that info is gone. a book in the inventory is fine, but it seems like a lot of extra steps for info that shouldnt really be more of a distraction than a third of the trade page already being dedicated to contraband Im not gonna push the idea any further, but I just dont see the harm

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I still think a simple line in the colonies screen would be quite nice for quick risk/reward assessment my biggest gripe with the ships log is that it only logs when patrols change, if its unchanged for a long time youre outta luck, and they update twice a year at most iirc. even when you are on an island and do smuggling, it doesnt update, so if you forget after the quest is done that info is gone. a book in the inventory is fine, but it seems like a lot of extra steps for info that shouldnt really be more of a distraction than a third of the trade page already being dedicated to contraband Im not gonna push the idea any further, but I just dont see the harm

I have to agree with @DeathDaisy here. It seems like a tiny change to make that shouldn't add a lot of clutter to the existing interface.
But I do see potential benefit for players who do smuggling.

 

[Grey Roger]

Thinking about this a bit more, I like that notebook idea from @Levis a lot. The reasoning is this:

We need to cater for all players - those who love smuggling and will do it all the time, those who hate smuggling and will never do it, and those in between who'll maybe do the occasional smuggling run in the course of doing other things such as quests or general piracy. The notebook should suit all of those.

The folks who smuggle all the time will always carry it.

The folks who never smuggle will never get it, whether it's another free gift from the agent in the tavern or whether you buy it from a sneaky trader.

The folks who do occasional casual smuggling can drop it into the ship's chest when they're not using it. (Should it auto-update even if it's in the chest, or only if you're actively carrying it?)

So: smugglers get a permanent log of patrol states, while non-smugglers don't get unwanted stuff on the colonies screen. Win all round.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Building on @Grey Roger's suggestion...
What if the information does display in the Colonies interface, but only if you have the mentioned "smuggling notebook"?
Then by carrying it or not carrying it, the player has the choice on whether to see it or not.

I imagine that would be easier to program than to create a new notebook interface that updates when needed.
Can't be more than 10 lins of code required in total, right?