Can stargates be 'locked'?

RPC · Thu Feb 10, 2011 8:06 am

I was reading this thread http://neurohack.com/transcendence/foru ... f=2&t=3669 and saw this:

As to choke points, what else do you call a stargate?

So does that mean that gates can be 'locked'? Do beings who are not Ancient Races in the QZ have the ability to 'lock' the gates, or are the CW and others in the QZ forced to patrol the gate instead, like the Huari in Huaramarca?

kay.py · Thu Feb 10, 2011 2:20 pm

A choke point doesn't imply impassibility, just that all traffic has to go through a small, easily guarded area. Pretty much all of the stargates fit this definition, with minor exceptions like to option of routing through Elyssium.

Of course, no-one actually uses the gates as choke points- even Point Juno is miles away from the gate it theoretically could be guarding (which may explain why there's Ares spread from there halfway to St Kats). Even the Iocrym, while positioned at the gate, stops human exploration well before that point rather than getting much use out of watching the gate.

Drako Slyith · Thu Feb 10, 2011 9:47 pm

Also, yes the stargates can be locked. SPOILER ALLERT

The Heretic gate is locked until the player unlocks it

Thu Feb 10, 2011 10:21 pm

You can lock any gate with (staSetInactive station) and unlock it when needed.

Alternatively, you could either just suspend the gate (objsuspend obj) or move it really far out of the system. The NPC ships will still use it, regardless, which is nice because it doesn't bring up any bugs.

Fri Feb 11, 2011 1:32 am

He was referring to in-universe abilities, not scripts

Fri Feb 11, 2011 4:44 am

stargates can be locked, just look at Heretic?

RPC · Fri Feb 11, 2011 4:57 am

I am pretty sure that the Heretic gate was locked by the Iocrym. I was asking if the CW or Ares could lock the gate. It would be a very interesting game mechanic to have 'military systems' like Pt Juno to require you to have a military ID before continuing if something like the Network was implemented into vanilla because you could potentially skip those systems to get further into the game.

Drako Slyith · Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:04 am

I was actually thinking of trying to make certain stargates military only, perhaps using a toll-booth to activate stargates. The problem is that they would have to be deactivated, and it would have freighters traveling through it, but if I could get it working as a pay to use, it could work well. As for whether Commonwealth can activate them, I suppose so. In the description it says it is the only method of faster than life travel KNOWN to humans. That implies they know how it works. Also, walk in, rip out a few wires, anyone could deactivate it.

Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:14 am

Drako Slyith wrote:I was actually thinking of trying to make certain stargates military only, perhaps using a toll-booth to activate stargates. The problem is that they would have to be deactivated, and it would have freighters traveling through it, but if I could get it working as a pay to use, it could work well. As for whether Commonwealth can activate them, I suppose so. In the description it says it is the only method of faster than life travel KNOWN to humans. That implies they know how it works. Also, walk in, rip out a few wires, anyone could deactivate it.

Scripting wise, its just a little lispy, but logically it probably just check for a military id.