PHost - Starship Special Functions

Index

• Introduction
  • Descriptions
• Hull Functions
  • Cloaking Functions
  • Alchemy Functions
  • Terraforming Functions
  • Scanner Functions
  • Movement Functions
  • Combat Functions
  • Miscellaneous Functions
• Setting up Hull Functions
  • Basic Syntax
  • The Initialize Assignment
  • The Hull Assignment
  • The Function Assignment
  • The Level Assignment
  • The RacesAllowed Assignment
  • The PlayersAllowed Assignment
  • The AssignTo Statement
• Alphabetical Index

Introduction

Certain starships can perform special functions. For example, there are a number of cloaking ships that can move without being seen, and some alchemy ships.

While the original HOST program and earlier versions of PHost had these functions keyed to certain hull types, PHost 3 and later allow you to assign these functions manually. PHost 4 even allows you to assign functions to individual ships, not just hull types.

This document describes all the hull functions supported by PHost and how they can be operated by the player. It also describes how hosts can configure these functions.

Descriptions

For each hull function, we list the hull numbers that can do this function by default, along with (an abbreviation of) the name of that hull in the standard ship list.

For each hull function, we also list the preconditions and a (ideally) complete list of relevant configuration options. The idea (read: the ideal goal we want to achieve, someday...) is that the precondition list is complete, i.e. when all preconditions are fulfilled, the action will be performed. However, too many things can go wrong to list them all:

• most functions can be disabled. The responsible configuration switches will be shown.
• when hosts decide to skip the relevant PCONTROL stage, the hull functions are of course not performed.
• remember that hosts can assign hull functions at will, so be sure to check with the current ship list.

Back to top

Hull Functions

Cloaking Functions

Cloaking is probably the most important hull function. When ships activate their cloaking device, they can move invisibly.

To activate the cloaking device, set the mission to Cloak. This implies you can not tow, intercept, lay mines etc. while cloaked. When your client program won't let you set the Cloak mission, you can also use the Cloak extended mission (via the extmission command possibly) which does exactly the same.

Bird Men that do the Super Spy mission will also cloak when possible.

This standard cloaking device burns fuel to operate. The fuel consumption is Trunc(HullMass * CloakFuelBurn / 100), where hulls lighter than 100kt count as 100kt. After burning that fuel (and the fuel needed to move), at least one kiloton must remain in the fuel tank.

Cloak fuel is burned before movement. When you have too little fuel to support cloaking and movement, the fuel is burned completely and cloaking fails (because movement will consume all fuel so there's nothing left). Cloaking alone will not empty your tank, though. If you have less than X+1 kt fuel, the cloak will not happen at all, and all fuel will be left there.

Cloaking has the following benefits:

• You can not be seen by others;
• You can not be attacked by others, but you can yourself attack (by setting a Primary Enemy, config option AllowCloakedShipsAttack). You can not attack planets when cloaked, though;
• The risk to trigger a subspace mine is lower when you're cloaked;
• ...plus some other goodies.

Combinations:

Cloak + Ramscoop

(v4.0i/3.4k:) The Ramscoop produces only half the normal amount of fuel while the ship is cloaked.

Cloak + AntiCloak

(v4.0i/3.4k:) Anti-Cloak ships do not decloak themselves.

Cloak + Hyperdrive

(v4.0i/3.4k:) Hyperjumping frees large amounts of energy. Therefore, ships which hyperjump must decloak.

Cloak + Chunneling

(v4.0i/3.4k:) Building up a chunnel sets free huge amounts of energy, therefore both Initiator and Mate have to decloak.

Preconditions for cloaking:

• Ship has cloaking device (of course!);
• Ship has fuel (CloakFuelBurn per 100kt ship);
• Ship has the Cloak mission or the Cloak extended mission, or ship belongs to Bird Men and has the Super Spy mission, the Special mission, or the Standard Spy mission;
• Ship is not too badly damaged (DamageLevelForCloakFail);

Cloak Failure: Cloaking can fail under certain circumstances:

• Random failure (technical malfunction, CloakFailureRate);
• Too little fuel. May happen due to robbing, web minefield fuel draining, and in certain movement situations.
• Tachyon field (Anti-Cloak ship). Note that up to version 4.0h/3.4j, an Anti-Cloak ship would have de-cloaked itself all the time;
• Wormhole travel;
• (v4.0i/3.4k:) Ship does hyperjump, initiates a chunnel, or acts as a chunnel mate;
• Ionic pulse triggered by Super Spy;
• Ship gets too badly damaged. Ships which get over the damage limit by a mine hit, a glory device or combat must immediately de-cloak;
• Ship is affected by an ion storm;
• Ship changes ownership. This is a direct consequence of the fact that all ownership changes reset the ship's mission.

Note that in PHost before 4.0j (and all 3.x versions), damage taken in combat can be repaired and does not de-cloak the ship. This was considered a bug and fixed in 4.0j.

If the preconditions for cloaking are not fulfilled, the cloaking device will not be enabled from the start on. If one of the preconditions is no longer true, or a cloak failure happens, the cloak will be canceled for the rest of the turn, even if the preconditions are again fulfilled later on. A little bit more plastic: cloaking devices are turned on only once, at the beginning of the turn. Afterwards, they can only be turned off.

The Hosting Stages document lists all places where cloaking can fail.

Relevant Configuration Options: (selection!) AllowCloakedShipsAttack, AllowCloakFailMessages, AllowTowCloakedShips, AntiCloakImmunity, CloakedMineTravelSafeWarp, CloakFailureRate, CloakFuelBurn, DamageLevelForCloakFail, MineHitOddsWhenCloakedX10, WrmTravelCloaked.

Relevant PControl Stages: AntiCloak_1, after BeamUpCredits, after WebDraining, Movement, AntiCloak_2, after Terraforming

Relevant Formulas: Cloaking.

Advanced cloaking device. This device is identical to the standard cloaking device (see there for details) except that it doesn't burn fuel. Nonetheless, it needs at least one kiloton of fuel aboard the ship before and after movement to work.

Ships with advanced cloaking device can cloak inside ion storms, and, with that, are safe from negative effects of strong storms.

The advanced cloaking device only works up to a particular damage limit, like the normal cloaking device. Ships that have both an advanced cloaking device and a hardened cloaking device can cloak even when damaged.

Hardened cloaking device. This device is identical to the standard cloaking device (see there for details) except that it still works if the ship is damaged. The hardened cloaking device will not cease to work when the ship exceeds DamageLevelForCloakFail.

The hardened cloaking device will burn fuel, like the normal cloaking device. Ships that have both a hardened cloaking device and an advanced cloaking device will not burn fuel.

Anti Cloak ships emit a Tachyon field that renders enemy cloaking devices disfunctional. The field is effective in a radius of 10 ly. The Anti-Cloak ship constantly emits this field, so it will affect cloakers before and after movement: it decloaks all ships that are within 10 ly before movement, and it decloaks all ships that are within 10 ly after all movement.

Combinations:

AntiCloak + Cloak/AdvancedCloak

(v4.0i/3.4k:) Anti-Cloak ships do not decloak themselves.

AntiCloak + GloryDeviceLow/HighDamage

(v4.0i/3.4k:) When a glory device goes off, the explosion also emits Tachyon radiation which will decloak all ships in range.

Preconditions for Anti Cloak:

• ship has fuel
• ship has less than DamageLevelForAntiCloakFail damage

Some races are immune to Anti Cloak ships. These races can be configured using the AntiCloakImmunity option. Under HOST rules, Feds, Lizards and Birds are immune. PHost supports an additional model via the AlternativeAntiCloak option. With that option set, the owner of the Anti Cloak ship and all his ship-level allies are immune. In addition, ships can have Anti Cloak Immunity to avoid being decloaked.

Relevant Configuration Options: AllowAntiCloakShips, AlternativeAntiCloak, AntiCloakImmunity, DamageLevelForAntiCloakFail.

Relevant PControl Stages: AntiCloak_1 (before movement, Id order), GloryDevices (after movement), AntiCloak_2 (after movement, Id order).

This device is exactly like AntiCloak, but it will also de-cloak ships which were immune due to their Anti Cloak Immunity device or due to the AlternativeAntiCloak option.

Ships that are immune due to AlternativeAntiCloak (=you and your allies) still will not be decloaked with this device.

Preconditions for Advanced Anti Cloak: (same as for Anti Cloak)

• ship has fuel
• ship has less than DamageLevelForAntiCloakFail damage

Relevant Configuration Options: AllowAntiCloakShips, AlternativeAntiCloak, AntiCloakImmunity, DamageLevelForAntiCloakFail.

Ships with this ability are immune to Anti Cloak ships. They will stay cloaked even if they get in range of an Anti Cloak ship. (v4.0k:) This ability also prevents the ship from triggering a High Damage Glory Device (the better Low Damage Glory Device will still find them).

Anti-Cloak Immunity does not help against Advanced Anti-Cloak ships.

This ship function obviously makes sense only for ships which can also cloak. It has no effect on uncloaked ships.

It is also possible to declare an entire race immune to anti-cloak using the AntiCloakImmunity configuration option. That option has the very same effect as this ship function.

Alchemy Functions

Alchemy ships convert minerals and supplies into each other. There are three types of alchemy which differ in the type of alchemy reaction performed.

(v4.0i/3.4k:) You can give a ship multiple functions. It will then perform a sensible combination of these functions. In previous versions, ships can do only one of the three functions. If you assign it more than one function, it will only do the one with the lowest numeric code.

Alchemy does not require fuel.

Merlin ships convert supplies into minerals at a rate of three supplies for one mineral:

3 Supplies  -> 1 kt Tritanium
3 Supplies  -> 1 kt Duranium
3 Supplies  -> 1 kt Molybdenum

Normally, it does all these reactions in parallel. There are a number of (registered-only) friendly codes to regulate the reactions:

• nad, nat, nam: produce only two minerals (third letter is mineral not to produce)
• ald, alt, alm: produce only one mineral (third letter is mineral to produce)

The NAL code (unregistered) disables alchemy altogether, so the ship can be used to transport supplies without eating them.

Combinations:

Alchemy + Refinery

A ship with these two functions will convert three supplies into a mineral, and then instantly convert this mineral plus another supply into fuel, yielding a net reaction of

4 Supplies -> 1 kt fuel

This reaction can be suppressed with NAL, the other alchemy codes (ald etc.) have no effect. Ships with these two devices will only process supplies, minerals aboard the ship are not used.
This applies to PHost 4.0i/3.4k and later; in previous versions, the ship does the normal Alchemy function only.

Alchemy + AdvancedRefinery

A ship with these two functions will convert three supplies into a mineral, and then immediately convert this mineral into fuel, yielding a net reaction of

3 Supplies -> 1 kt fuel

This reaction can be suppressed with NAL, the other alchemy codes (ald etc.) have no effect. Ships with these two functions will only process supplies, minerals aboard the ship are not used.
This applies to PHost 4.0i/3.4k and later; in previous versions, the ship does the normal Alchemy function only.

Relevant PControl Stage: Alchemy

Relevant Configuration Option: AllowAlchemy.

Refinery ships convert supplies and minerals into neutronic fuel. They perform each of the following reactions as long as possible (i.e. there is "input" minerals and space in the fuel tank):

1 Tritanium  + 1 Supply -> 1 Neutronium
1 Duranium   + 1 Supply -> 1 Neutronium
1 Molybdenum + 1 Supply -> 1 Neutronium

The NAL friendly code can be used to disable the refinery function.

(v4.0k:) Registered players can use the alX and naX friendly codes to restrict the mineral types converted. For example, nad will only convert Tritanium and Molybdenum into fuel, and keep the Duranium.

The Refinery operation does not require fuel.

Combinations:

Refinery + Alchemy

A ship with these two functions will convert three supplies into a mineral, and then instantly convert this mineral plus another supply into fuel, yielding a net reaction of

4 Supplies -> 1 kt fuel

This reaction can be suppressed with NAL, the other alchemy codes (ald etc.) have no effect. Ships with these two devices will only process supplies, minerals aboard the ship are not used.
This applies to PHost 4.0i/3.4k and later; in previous versions, the ship does the normal Alchemy function only.

Refinery + AdvancedRefinery

The ship will only do AdvancedRefinery, i.e. convert minerals into fuel without using up supplies.
This applies to PHost 4.0i/3.4k and later; in previous versions, the ship does Refinery.

Relevant PControl Stage: Alchemy

Relevant Configuration Option: AllowAlchemy.

Advanced refinery ships convert minerals into fuel without needing supplies.

1 Tritanium  -> 1 Neutronium
1 Duranium   -> 1 Neutronium
1 Molybdenum -> 1 Neutronium

The NAL friendly code can be used to disable the refinery function. Reportedly, this hull function is registered-only in Tim's host, in PHost it's not.

(v4.0k:) Registered players can use the alX and naX friendly codes to restrict the mineral types converted. For example, nad will only convert Tritanium and Molybdenum into fuel, and keep the Duranium.

The Refinery operation does not require fuel.

Combinations:

AdvancedRefinery + Alchemy

A ship with these two functions will convert three supplies into a mineral, and then immediately convert this mineral into fuel, yielding a net reaction of

3 Supplies -> 1 kt fuel

This reaction can be suppressed with NAL, the other alchemy codes (ald etc.) have no effect. Ships with these two functions will only process supplies, minerals aboard the ship are not used.
This applies to PHost 4.0i/3.4k and later; in previous versions, the ship does the normal Alchemy function only.

AdvancedRefinery + Refinery

The ship will only do AdvancedRefinery, i.e. convert minerals into fuel without using up supplies.
This applies to PHost 4.0i/3.4k and later; in previous versions, the ship does Refinery.

Relevant PControl Stage: Alchemy

Relevant Configuration Options: AllowAdvancedRefinery, AllowAlchemy.

Terraforming Functions

Terraforming ships slowly heat or cool planets until a certain temperature is reached. Planets with a good temperature support more colonists than planets with extreme climate (note that native population limits are also affected by extreme climate, but natives usually do not die when it's too hot/too cold, see NativeClimateDeathRate).

Terraforming ships are sometimes called Science Ships.

This ship will heat cold planets up to 50F, the optimum temperature for most races.

The temperature is changed in steps of TerraformRate.

Preconditions for Terraforming:

• ship has fuel
• ship has less than DamageLevelForTerraformFail damage
• ship is at a planet (after movement)

Combinations:

HeatsTo50 + CoolsTo50

If the planet this ship is orbiting is colder than 50F, it will be heated. If the planet is warmer than 50F, it will be cooled.

HeatsTo50 + HeatsTo100

If the planet this ship is orbiting is colder than 50F, it will be heated with twice the normal speed, because both hull functions operate simultaneously. Planets warmer than 50F will be heated up to 100F, at normal speed.
This applies to PHost 4.0i/3.4k and later; in previous versions, the ship does HeatsTo100.

Relevant PControl Stages: Terraforming (Id order)

Relevant Configuration Options: AllowScienceMissions, DamageLevelForTerraformFail, TerraformRate.

This ship will cool hot planets down to 50F, the optimum temperature for most races.

This function behaves otherwise like HeatsTo50, see there.

Combinations:

CoolsTo50 + HeatsTo50

If the planet this ship is orbiting is colder than 50F, it will be heated. If the planet is warmer than 50F, it will be cooled.

CoolsTo50 + HeatsTo100

The ship will perform only HeatsTo100.
This applies to PHost 4.0i/3.4k and later; in previous versions, ships with these two functions do nothing sensible.

This ship will heat cold planets up to 100F, the optimum temperature for Crystals (CrystalsPreferDeserts).

This function behaves otherwise like HeatsTo50, see there.

Combinations:

HeatsTo100 + HeatsTo50

If the planet this ship is orbiting is colder than 50F, it will be heated with twice the normal speed, because both hull functions operate simultaneously. Planets warmer than 50F will be heated up to 100F, at normal speed.
This applies to PHost 4.0i/3.4k and later; in previous versions, the ship does HeatsTo100.

HeatsTo100 + CoolsTo50

The ship will perform only HeatsTo100.
This applies to PHost 4.0i/3.4k and later; in previous versions, ships with these two functions do nothing sensible.

This ship will increase the ore densities on the planet until they reach 50%. All four ore densities (Neutronium, Tritanium, Duranium, Molybdenum) will be increased simultaneously. The densities will increase by TerraformRate points per turn.

Preconditions for Ore Condenser:

• ship has fuel
• ship has less than DamageLevelForTerraformFail damage
• ship is at a planet (after movement)

Relevant PControl Stages: Terraforming (Id order)

Relevant Configuration Options: AllowScienceMissions, DamageLevelForTerraformFail, TerraformRate.

Scanner Functions

Normally, ships scanning for wormholes using the WRS friendly code or the sensor sweep mission will only report the closest wormhole. Ships that have the ScansAllWormholes function, however, will report all wormholes that can be scanned.

This special device does not affect the probability that the ship will see the wormhole, just the amount of scanned wormholes returned.

(v4.0e:) If WrmScanRange is set to a value other than zero, ships will see all wormholes within that range. Ships with a ScansAllWormholes device will use twice the WrmScanRange.

Relevant PControl Stages: WormholeScan

Relevant Configuration Options: AllowWormholes, WrmScanRange.

Relevant Formulas: Scanning for Wormholes.

Bioscanning is part of the normal Sensor sweep mission, see there for more information.

When a planet is in scan range (SensorRange) and has less than DefenseToBlockBioscan defense posts, bioscanners have a 20% chance to detect native life on the planet. You will receive a message reporting the population and race of the natives as well as the planet temperature. Bioscanners will also detect when a planet has no natives. You will not receive bioscanner reports for your own planets.

New v4.1a: DefenseToBlockBioscan is new in 4.1a. Until version 4.1, the defense limit was hardwired to 20.

Special rules:

• The Evil Empire is able to fake bioscanner reports. All Empire planets with natives will be reported as having Amorphous natives instead of the actual race.
• If the bioscanner is owned by the Rebels, the Empire can not fake the reports; Rebels always see the true native race.
• PHost will combine bioscan reports. When you see a planet by means of a true bioscan (Rebels) as well as a faked one (Empire planet), it will report the true race.

Preconditions for Sensor Sweep (and Bioscanning):

• ship has fuel

Relevant Configuration Options: AllowBioscanners, SensorRange.

This special device is like the normal bioscanner (see there). However, it will report the natives for all scannable planets in range, not just 20% of them.

In particular, this may help you to find heavily-defended planets; those which can not be scanned by an advanced bioscanner (although they are in range) must have 20 or more defense posts.

Movement Functions

Hyperdrives are experimental engines that allow a ship to move about 350 lightyears in one turn. The hyperdrive works independent from the actual engine built into the ship. Hyperjumpers avoid all minefields.

When the waypoint is 340 to 360 lightyears away, the ship will jump to the exact point specified by the waypoint order. Otherwise, the ship will jump 350 lightyears in the direction pointed-to by the waypoint. Note that usual Planets front-ends round when displaying distances. If a front-end says a distance is "340.0 lightyears", it could very well be that the actual distance is 339.99 in which case the ship will jump 350 ly. A hyperjump, no matter how far, costs 50 kt fuel. Unlike in Tim's host, PHost permits jumps of exactly 340 or 360 ly. In HOST, the distance must be greater than 340 and less than 360, but not equal.

Ships that hyperjump can't intercept or tow. If they attempt to, the missions will be canceled.

Combinations:

Hyperdrive + Cloak/AdvancedCloak

(v4.0i/3.4k:) Hyperjumping frees large amounts of energy. Therefore, ships which hyperjump must decloak.

Preconditions for Hyperjumping:

• Ship has at least 50 kt fuel,
• Ship has nonzero warp,
• Ship has nonzero waypoint (HOST reportedly requires the waypoint to be at least 20 ly away; PHost does not need that),
• Ship has friendly code HYP
• Ship has less than DamageLevelForHyperjumpFail damage
• Ship must not be under successful tow. Note that all towing rules (including tow conflict rules) are checked, so only ships that are strictly stronger than the hyperjump ship can prevent a hyperjumper from jumping. A ship that was successfully towed can not hyperjump even if it breaks free later on.

Hyperjumpers are affected by gravity wells only when the AllowHyperjumpGravWells option is enabled. The speed does not matter in that case.

The standard ship list contains an engine called "Hyper Drive". That engine is not related to the hyperdrive special functions: ships which have the special function can jump no matter what engine they have.

Relevant Configuration Options: AllowHyperjumpGravWells, AllowHyperWarps, DamageLevelForHyperjumpFail.

Relevant PControl Stage: Movement.

Relevant Formulas: Hyperjumping.

Chunnel ships can initiate transwarp tunnels through which they can move large distances. They can move large fleets this way.

To initiate a chunnel, the Initiator sets his friendly code to the Id number of the target ship, as three digits. The target ship, hereafter called "the Mate", must also have chunnel ability. The following conditions must be fulfilled:

• The Initiator must have at least 51 kt fuel. Initiating a chunnel costs 50 kt.
• The Initiator must not move (Warp zero) and not be under successful tow.
• The Mate must have at least one kt fuel.
• The Mate must not move (warp zero) and not be under successful tow.
• The Mate must be owned by the same player as the Initiator, or, if AllowAlliedChunneling is enabled, by a player who has a full (bidirectional) ship level alliance with the Initiator.
• The distance between Initiator and Mate must be at least 100 ly (MinimumChunnelDistance).
• Neither Mate nor Initiator may have DamageLevelForChunnelFail or more damage.

When these preconditions are fulfilled, the Initiator will send a targeting beam to the Mate and initiate the chunnel. The chunnel, sort-of an artificial wormhole, will immediately collapse again. This will push any ship through the tunnel which is at the same position as the initiator and for which at least one of the following conditions holds:

• It has warp zero (maybe because it was towed to the Initiator)
• It is cloaked
• It is owned by the same player as the Initiator
• (v3.4b:) Its owner has a full, bidirectional ship-level alliance with the Initiator Firecloud owner
• It has no fuel.
• It has the same friendly code as the Initiator (i.e. the id of the Mate)

In particular, the Initiator will be pushed through the tunnel as well (as per the 3rd rule). Ships will leave the chunnel without shields, at the very same position as the Mate.

Combinations:

Chunneling + Cloak/AdvancedCloak

(v4.0i/3.4k:) Building up a chunnel sets free huge amounts of energy, therefore both Initiator and Mate have to decloak.

Chunneling + ChunnelSelf / ChunnelOthers / ChunnelTarget

Chunneling is completely equivalent to having a ship with all three of the lesser Chunneling functions.

Note that if you have a ship with Chunneling, and remove one of the lesser chunneling functions (using the RacesAllowed assignment in shiplist.txt, or the inhibitfunction command), the ship will still be able to chunnel. PHost does not break up the Chunneling ability into its pieces and remove one piece.

Relevant PControl Stage: Chunneling (Id order)

Relevant Configuration Options: AllowAlliedChunneling, AllowChunneling, DamageLevelForChunnelFail.

The ChunnelSelf ability is a simpler version of the Chunneling ability. A ship with this ability can only move itself through the chunnel, it cannot take other ships with it (unless it also has the ChunnelOthers ability).

All preconditions and restrictions are the same as for Chunneling, see there.

Combinations:

ChunnelSelf + ChunnelOthers

Ships which have both Chunnel-initiating capabilities will always move themselves as well as all other applicable ships through the Chunnel. There is no way to decide that you do not want to transport a particular category this time.

The ChunnelOthers ability is a simpler version of the Chunneling ability. A ship with this ability can only open up a chunnel through which other ships can move, it will not itself pass through the chunnel (unless it also has the ChunnelSelf ability).

All preconditions and restrictions are the same as for Chunneling, see there.

Combinations:

ChunnelOthers + ChunnelSelf

Ships which have both Chunnel-initiating capabilities will always move themselves as well as all other applicable ships through the Chunnel. There is no way to decide that you do not want to transport a particular category this time.

The ChunnelTarget ability is a simpler version of the Chunneling ability. A ship with this ability can serve as the Mate in a chunnel, it cannot itself initiate a chunnel (unless it also has one of the chunnel initiating abilities).

All preconditions and restrictions are the same as for Chunneling, see there.

The ramscoop gathers thin interstellar matter, compresses it and turns it into neutronic fuel usable by standard starship engines.

The ramscoop produces RamScoopFuelPerLY kilotons of fuel for each light year the ship moves normally. The ramscoop does not work when the ship is being towed (up to PHost 4.0e/3.4h, intercepting ships don't get fuel, too). This can easily yield a net gain of fuel, hence ramscoop ships can travel large distances without needing to refuel at a planet.

The ramscoop's fuel is produced after movement is complete. A ship which has 5 kt fuel can burn only these 5 kt during movement. Even if the ship produces much more fuel, it cannot use it for its movement this turn. Therefore it is possible for a Ramscoop ship to run out of fuel during movement, but still end the turn with a full tank.

Operating the ramscoop does not require fuel. If a fuelless ship manages to move normally (AllowNoFuelMovement), it will produce fuel and end the turn with fuel.

The ramscoop only operates when the ship moves normally. A ship that is being towed, hyperjumps, or is dragged by an ion storm does not produce fuel. Ships that travel through a chunnel or wormhole only produce fuel for the part of the journey they move under their own power using their regular engines, not for the part moved in hyperspace. The ramscoop will operate for intercepting ships.

Combinations:

Ramscoop + Cloak/AdvancedCloak

(v4.0i/3.4k:) The Ramscoop produces only half the normal amount of fuel while the ship is cloaked.

Preconditions for ramscoop:

• Ship moves normally (not being towed, not hyperjumping)

Relevant Configuration Option: RamScoopFuelPerLY.

Gravitonic accelerators make a ship travel twice as far as ships with conventional engines. At warp 9, a gravitonic ship goes 162 light years per turn. For these 162 ly, the ship uses the same amount of fuel which a normal ship would burn for 81 ly. That is, Gravitonic ships use only approximately half the fuel a normal ship would use.

Gravitonic accelerators also double the tow strength of the ship.

Gravitonic accelerators have no effect on the Ramscoop; if it moves 162 ly, it will also make fuel for 162 ly.

This function enables a ship to tow other ships. Only ships which have this ability can tow other ships or break out of hostile tows.

In PHost versions up to 4.0h, ability to tow was defined by the AllowOneEngineTowing option and the number of engines the ship has. Since 4.0i, this ability can be freely assigned. The default assignments mimic the previous behaviour.

This function is also a precondition for boarding.

Relevant Formulas: Towing.

A Level 2 Tractor beam is stronger than the standard tractor beam most ships have.

Ships with Level 2 Tractor beam are stronger than others.

• (v4.0j:) With AllowAlternativeTowing enabled, the ship behaves as if it had two additional standard engines, or one additional gravitonic engine.
• With HOST-compatible towing, ships with Level 2 Tractor beam always win over those without. Until PHost 4.0i, this behaviour also applied to alternative towing.

The Level 2 Tractor beam only has an effect if the ship has fuel and a nonzero warp factor. If it has no fuel or does not want to move, its tractor beam is turned off and so even the added strength has no effect.

(v4.0i:) Ships with Level2Tow can automatically tow. In PHost up to version 4.0h, they would have to fulfill the other conditions for towing, too. For example, a one-engine ship could not tow under the old rules even if it has Level2Tow; under the new rules, it can.

See Mission Tow, Tow conflict resolution.

This device provides extra protection for a ship's engines. The ship is not slowed down by damage, as it would usually happen. Even if it is heavily damaged, the ship can still go Warp 9. It is also not slowed down by mine hits (but Web mine hits stop it as usual).

The Ion Shield provides protection from strong Ion Storms. Ships that have an Ion Shield are not dragged along by these storms, nor are they damaged or have crew killed. On the downside, they do not receive experience either.

The Ion Shield does not prevent ships from being de-cloaked by ion storms. That's what you need advanced cloak for.

Ships do not need fuel to operate their ion shield.

Combat Functions

Ships with this ability cannot be attacked by planets with ATT or NUK. They only fight a planet if they choose to attack it.

This ability does not give you any special protection against other ships. Other ships can attack a PlanetImmunity ship as usual.

Relevant Configuration Options: AllowPlanetAttacks, PlanetsAttackKlingons, PlanetsAttackRebels.

Ships with this ability will not lose weapons in combat. They can use their full arms even when damaged.

In PHost versions up to 4.0h, this ability was part of the Fed combat bonus. In 4.0i and later, it can be freely assigned.

Commander ships can aid other ships in battle, by their mere presence. They are lead by charismatic commanders, who provide mental support to the other ships' commanders and weapon officers.

A ship or planet affected by the aura of a Commander ship will behave as if it had one more experience level (unless that would exceed the experience level of the Commander ship). For example, a Level-3 Commander ship will improve all your inexperienced ships by one level for the duration of the battle, except for those ships which are already Level-3 or higher.

Preconditions: The following preconditions define whether a Commander ship will affect another ship.

• Commander ship is at same position as other ship/planet.
• Commander ship has fuel.
• Commander ship has higher experience than other ship/planet.
• Commander ship belongs to the same player as the other ship or planet, or the players are allied and have a mutual combat-level alliance.

The improved experience level only affects combat behaviour. Affected ships do not temporarily receive extra ship functions, even if their temporary combat level would grant them some (see level-restricted ship functions). The effect does not "stack": ships receive at most one bonus. If a ship is affected by multiple Commanders, only the one with the highest experience level takes effect.

Miscellaneous Functions

The Lady Royale is a pleasure ship. As such, it has a gambling hall aboard. Every colonist clan aboard that ship will lose one megacredit to the bank (i.e. you as the ship owner) per turn. This even applies to clans you are beaming to a foreign planet or ship.

The maximum amount of money made on the ship equals the cargo room size: that's the maximum number of clans that can play on the ship.

Relevant PControl Stages: GamblingShips

Relevant Configuration Option: AllowGamblingShips.

The Imperial Assault is a special form of ground attack. When the Super Star Destroyer beams down at least 10 clans to a planet, these clans -- stormtroops actually -- will take over the planet, no matter how many clans defend the planet.

Preconditions for Imperial Assault:

• Ship has fuel (else the cargo transfer fails)
• Ship is not damaged
• Ship is dropping at least 10 clans
• Planet owner does not offer planet level alliance to ship owner

Imperial assault will kill all clans on the planet and replace them by the just unloaded people.

In versions up to 4.0h, Imperial Assault ships are immune to ATT and NUK when Imperial Assault is enabled. In 4.0i and later, they must have the PlanetImmunity function for that.

Relevant PControl Stage: CargoDump (Id order)

Relevant Configuration Option: AllowImperialAssault.

Ships with this ability can board ("tow-capture") fuel-less ships by locking a tow beam on it.

This ability can only be used if the ship also has Tow or Level2Tow. If it has neither of these abilities, it does not have a tow beam, so it cannot target the ship to be boarded.

In PHost versions up to 4.0h, ability to board other ships was defined by the AllowPrivateerTowCapture and AllowCrystalTowCapture config options and the ship owner's PlayerSpecialMission. Since version 4.0i, this ability can be freely assigned. The default assignments mimic the previous behaviour.

To use this ability, tow the target ship. See the description of the Tow mission for details.

You do not need this ability to capture ships in combat by killing off their crew. Every armed unit can do that.

Relevant Formulas: Boarding (Id order).

The Glory Device is a special means of self-destruction. When triggered, it will explode the ship and turn the explosive energy into deadly Berthold rays. This will damage all ships that are at the same position:

• Enemy ships will get damaged by the same amount as one mine hit.
• Own ships, and ships you offered the ship and combat levels of alliance, will get 10% (1/10) of that damage. The "low damage" in the name refers to just that.

When detonated in orbit of a planet, the planet will be damaged.

• 1/4 of the planetary structures will be destroyed.
• 40% of the population (colonists and natives) will be destroyed. Lizards and Crystals are immune to this, as are Bovinoid and Reptilian natives. Another exception are Amorphous natives: These will all be killed and turned into supplies (1 supply per 10 clans). This is the only way to get rid of Amorphs.
• When the planet is owned by the same player as the GD ship, only the Amorph thing happens; planetary structures and other populations remain intact.

The Glory Device can be triggered in two ways:

• With the pop friendly code, the glory device will go off immediately (after movement, before combat).
• With the trg friendly code and the Kill mission, the glory device will go off when it detects a cloaked ship owned by any race you have not offered the ship level of alliance. When the ship doesn't have a kill mission but a primary enemy setting, only ships belonging to that race or to the declared enemies will trigger the glory device (unless they are allied).

Preconditions for Glory Device:

• Ship has fuel
• Glory Device is triggered using trg or pop (i.e. it will never go off when not asked for)

Combinations:

GloryDeviceLow/HighDamage + AntiCloak

(v4.0i/3.4k:) When a glory device goes off, the explosion also emits Tachyon radiation which will decloak all ships in range.

GloryDeviceLowDamage + GloryDeviceHighDamage

Ship does low damage to own units. Until 4.0i, glory device would have done high damage.

Relevant PControl Stage: GloryDevices (Id order)

Relevant Configuration Option: AllowGloryDevice.

Relevant Formulas: Glory Device.

This special device is like the "low damage" glory device, except that it does 20% (1/5) mine hit damage to own and friendly ships, twice as much as the "low damage" version.

Note that the damage done to enemy ships is the same for the High Damage Glory Device and the Low Damage Glory Device. Thus, the Low Damage device actually is the better of the two.

(v4.0k:) When used in "Trigger" mode (trg), this device will not find ships that have Anti Cloak Immunity, or are immune through the AntiCloakImmunity configuration option. Only the "low damage" glory device can detect those.

An unclonable ship can not be cloned using the cln friendly code. The cln code will simply be ignored.

This can be used to make traded ships more valuable.

A CloneOnce ship can only be cloned once. After cloning, both the original and the clone will be unclonable.

This can be used to make traded ships more valuable.

Ungiveable ships can not be given away.

A give command and the gsX friendly code will be ignored. A starbase's Force surrender mission can not take over these ships. When it tries to, and would succeed, the automatic intruder detection will explode the ship. When the starbase owner offers a planet level alliance to the ship owner, the ship will just remain there.

You can still take over these ships by capturing them in combat, and by boarding them.

This special ability is intended to enforce trading rules ("you may not trade ships over 400 kt"). Because it is impossible to tell apart "friendly" and "hostile" surrendering from the host side, we decided to block "Force surrender". Capturing was left possible because we believed taking it out would change the game too much. Boarding was left enabled because taking it out would remove one key race ability of Crystals and Privateers.

GiveOnce ships can be given away once. When you give it away (using give, gsX or Force surrender), it will become Ungiveable; see there.

Academy ships specialize on educating new crew members for other ships.

• Academy ships receive more experience than normal ships from Training. The exact value is configurable, and defaults to four times the normal value (see EPAcademyScale).
• Academy ships can exchange crew with other ships. This way, they can provide your battleships with educated crew to make them better, and they can replenish crew after you lost some in battle without having to return to a starbase.

Repair ships can repair other ships in space. Unlike normal supply repair or Cyborg Self Repair, this kind of repair does not consume supplies and can repair any amount of damage. See the description of the Repair mission for details.

Back to top

Setting up Hull Functions

Hull functions are configured in a file hullfunc.txt. This file is usually provided by the ship list designer as a part of the ship list. The hullfunc.txt file is a plain text file in a similar format as pconfig.src. PHost looks for this file first in the game directory, then in the root directory. If it did not find one, it uses built-in defaults compatible with the standard VGA Planets Host.

(v4.0:) Alternatively, hull functions can be set up in the section hullfunc of the file shiplist.txt, using the same format as described here. When PHost finds a shiplist.txt file, it will not use hullfunc.txt.

Basic Syntax

Like pconfig.src, hullfunc.txt contains assignments of the form

item = value

Comments (lines starting with #) and blank lines are ignored. The file is processed from top to bottom.

The Initialize Assignment

The first line of the hullfunc.txt file should be an Initialize statement. This statement initializes PHost with a default hull function set. Essentially, it cancels all assignments before it.

• Initialize = Default: Provide default hull functions. Most ship lists will start with this one. The default assignments assign functions to certain hulls, available to all players. The defaults are listed among the descriptions above.
• Initialize = Clear: Removes all hull functions. Use this for very special ship lists. It is recommended that you don't deviate from the standard settings too much, at least for the Gravitonic and Cloak settings, because the standard clients have these hardwired to particular hulls.

The Hull Assignment

The Hull assignment defines the hulls which all subsequent assignments (up to the next Hull assignment) will apply to.

The right-hand side of the assignment is a comma-separated list of hull specifications, where each hull specification can be one of the following:

• A hull number, followed by an optional comment
• A range of hull numbers
• An asterisk to denote all hulls
• A hull name, or the initial portion of a hull name

Examples:

There is no distinction between uppercase and lowercase letters in hull names. Care must be taken, however, to spell the name correctly and to not use too few letters so that the name is ambiguous. For example, using a hull name of Super will select the Super Transport Freighter even though it may have been the intention to select the Super Star Destroyer.

Note, also, that the name of the hull will be compared against the names stored in the hullspec.dat file. Thus, using a hull name is ship-list dependent, while using a hull number is not.

The Hull assignment statement does nothing except set the hull number for subsequent assignments. The associations between special functions and hulls are not changed by such an assignment.

PHost versions up to 3.4j/4.0h only accept one hull in each Hull assignment.

The Function Assignment

A line of the form

Function = 16

indicates that all subsequent assignments will apply to special function #16, up to the next Function assignment. Like for hull assignments, any amount of text may follow the number, as in

Function = 16 (Cloak)

You may also specify the function by name, which is probably easier to remember:

Function = Cloak

Like for hulls, you can also abbreviate the name.

The Level Assignment

Special functions can be limited to ships at a particular experience level. A line of the form

Level = 3

indicates that the following RacesAllowed or PlayersAllowed statement will apply only to ships at level 3 and above. You can also specify a range. A function defined with

Level = 0-2

applies to ships at levels 0 to 2, inclusive.

This assignment only applies to the one following RacesAllowed or PlayersAllowed statement. The next-but-one statement will again generate special functions which are not limited to any level. If ConfigLevel is non-zero, PHost will print a warning if you write a Level assignment followed by two or more of these action statements, because this is most likely not what you want. To turn off the warning, place a (redundant) Hull assignment between the statements or merge the action statements into one.

Level-restricted devices are managed by creating "virtual" special devices. For example,

Function = Cloak
Level = 2
Hull = Large Deep Space Freighter
RacesAllowed = +

defines a new special function "Cloaking device which works on level 2 and above", and assigns that function to the Large Deep Space Freighter. Normally, you don't have to think about that, but it has the following implications:

• You can only define a limited number of modified devices. This limit is 256 as of PHost 4.1e. Previously, the limit was 64. If you try to define more functions than your PHost version supports, PHost will abort with an error message. Note that if you have assigned such a modified device to a ship, that device will stay around until the ship gets destroyed.
• The "Cloaking device which works on level 2 and above" is a different device than the ordinary "Cloak" device.

  Function = Cloak Hull = Large Deep Space Freighter RacesAllowed = -5

  will not disallow Privateer LDSFs to cloak at level 2. It will take away the ordinary cloaking device; the ship will still have its level-2-and-above device. To take away that, you must include the Level = 2 line again.
• The modified devices are reported to client programs in util.dat record 57.

The Level statement only works in PHost 4.0h and later. Older versions reject it.

For compatibility with PHost 4.x games, PHost 3.x versions since 3.4j accept this statement, too. Since there are no experience levels in these PHost versions, only devices declared to work at level zero will actually be assigned to ships in these versions.

The RacesAllowed Assignment

An assignment of the form

RacesAllowed = 1 2 3 4 5

indicates that the current hull and special function should be associated and available to races 1 through 5.

Unlike Hull and Function, this is an action statement. That is, it makes a connection between a hull and a special function. You can think of it this way, Hull and Function assignments are like typing numbers in edit fields of a dialog box, a RacesAllowed assignment is like pressing the 'OK' button of the dialog box. The Hull and Function assignments set up the parameters, the RacesAllowed assignment makes the actual connection.

The right-hand-side of this assignment consists of a list of race numbers that may either allow or disallow a race from having access to the current special function on the current hull. Acceptable values for each race number term are:

This list of race number terms is interpreted sequentially from left to right. Some examples:

Note that the RacesAllowed assignment uses the PlayerRace config option to determine which players are given access to a special function on a hull. For example, with the following config setting:

PlayerRace = 1,1,1,1,1,5,3,3,3,3,3

then the assignment

Hull = Merlin
Function = Cloak
RacesAllowed = +1

will allow a Merlin to cloak if it is owned by players 1 through 5, since these players are all playing race #1.

RacesAllowed assignments are cumulative and will extend previous associations between the current hull and current special function. For example:

Hull = Meteor
Function = Cloak
RacesAllowed = +3
RacesAllowed = +4

This will allow both races 3 and 4 to cloak their MBRs.

In PHost versions up to 3.4j/4.0h, only the last statement will take effect. In those versions, only race 4 would be able to cloak their MBRs.

The PlayersAllowed Assignment

An assignment of the form

PlayersAllowed = 1 2 3 4 5

indicates that the current hull and special function should be associated and available to players 1 through 5.

Like the RacesAllowed assignment, this assignment is an action statement, making a new association between a special function and a hull. Unlike RacesAllowed, however, this one bypasses the PlayerRace configuration and assigns directly to the specified players.

For example, with the same setting as above,

PlayerRace = 1,1,1,1,1,5,3,3,3,3,3

then the assignment

Hull = Merlin
Function = Cloak
PlayersAllowed = +1

will allow a Merlin to cloak if it is owned by player 1 only, even though other players are also playing race #1.

The AssignTo Statement

This statement specifies whether PlayersAllowed and RacesAllowed statements assign their properties to hulls or ships. It affects only statements which follow the AssignTo. You can mix hull-specific and ship-specific abilities as you wish.

• AssignTo = Hull: assigns functions to hulls (like it ever did). When you allow the Small Deep Space Freighter to hyperjump only when owned by race 10, Rebels can hyperjump with it, everyone else can not. When the Rebels give away an SDSF, it loses its Hyperjump device, when they capture/receive one, it will get one.
• AssignTo = Ship: assigns functions to ships when they are built. When you allow the SDSF to hyperjump when built by race 10, all SDSFs built by the Rebels will be able to hyperjump, no matter who owns them. When the Rebels capture a foreign SDSF, that one will not jump.

Note that, when you edit hullfunc.txt in mid-game (not recommended!), functions assigned to hulls will be upgraded/removed from existing ships; functions assigned to ships will not.

This statement only works in PHost 4.x or better. PHost 3.4b ignores it, older ones reject it.

Since the major Master programs do not handle ship-specific hull abilities, PHost will assign the ship functions to ships created by the Master program in turn one. That is, if your Master program created the above small deep space freighter without the hyperjump function, PHost will give it one. If you already gave a ship a function before running PHost for the first time, that ship will not be touched.

Back to top

Alphabetical Index

A

Academy (Miscellaneous Functions)
AdvancedAntiCloak (Cloaking Functions)
AdvancedCloak (Cloaking Functions)
AdvancedRefinery (Alchemy Functions)
Alchemy (Alchemy Functions)
AntiCloak (Cloaking Functions)
AntiCloakImmunity (Cloaking Functions)

B

Bioscan (Scanner Functions)
Boarding (Miscellaneous Functions)

C

ChunnelOthers (Movement Functions)
ChunnelSelf (Movement Functions)
ChunnelTarget (Movement Functions)
Chunneling (Movement Functions)
Cloak (Cloaking Functions)
CloneOnce (Miscellaneous Functions)
Commander (Combat Functions)
CoolsTo50 (Terraforming Functions)

F

FullBioscan (Scanner Functions)
FullWeaponry (Combat Functions)

G

Gambling (Miscellaneous Functions)
GiveOnce (Miscellaneous Functions)
GloryDeviceHighDamage (Miscellaneous Functions)
GloryDeviceLowDamage (Miscellaneous Functions)
Gravitonic (Movement Functions)

H

HardenedCloak (Cloaking Functions)
HardenedEngines (Movement Functions)
HeatsTo100 (Terraforming Functions)
HeatsTo50 (Terraforming Functions)
Hyperdrive (Movement Functions)

I

ImperialAssault (Miscellaneous Functions)
IonShield (Movement Functions)

L

Level2Tow (Movement Functions)

O

OreCondenser (Terraforming Functions)

P

PlanetImmunity (Combat Functions)

R

Ramscoop (Movement Functions)
Refinery (Alchemy Functions)
Repairs (Miscellaneous Functions)

S

ScansAllWormholes (Scanner Functions)

T

Tow (Movement Functions)

U

Unclonable (Miscellaneous Functions)
Ungiveable (Miscellaneous Functions)

Last updated 31 May 2015.