Auto Prep Ships 

 Automate the tasks of repairing, upgrading, equipping and configuring groups of ships quickly and easily - without cheating. 


 Menu example (jpg) 


 Upgrade ship like command: orders a single ship to buy all tech upgrades (software, etc) to match a template ship, then transfers those tech upgrades to a target ship. Requires Supply Command Software. Useful in early game using M4/M5 as delivery ships for equipping single targets. 

 Repair Laser Production Complex AL plugin: adds Repair Laser factories to random sectors for each race. 

 Auto prep ships command:

• The main command - designed for use by the TM class, but will run on any carrier class ship with Supply Command Software. 
   
• On starting the command you are presented with a menu, where you select the tasks to perform (detailed below), and create a list of target ships to equip. 
   
• The list of target ships is processed task by task, sector by sector. So all ships in a sector are repaired, then all in the next sector. Then all ships in a sector are upgraded, then all in the next sector, and so on. 
   
• There is a log that appears in the command menu as the carrier preps the target ships. You can open the menu without interrupting the carrier, just be sure to exit by pressing ESC. 
   
• The carrier will use jumpdrive and refuel based on its autojump and refuel settings in the command console. 
   
• The tasks are performed in the following order:
  1. Repair: target ships will be visited and repaired via repair laser, if necessary. The carrier must have at least one turret with only repair lasers fitted. 
      
  2. Upgrade:
     • Upgrades include tunings, software and other tech such as jumpdrives. 
        
     • You specify the tuning percentages in the menu and create a list of tech upgrades by copying from another ship, then removing unnecessary items. 
        
     • Firstly, the target ships will be sent to buy tunings from the nearest dock. Once all ships have have done so, the main upgrade process begins. 
        
     • For ships that can dock, they will be ferried around to various docks to buy upgrades. Multiple runs will be performed as necessary (i.e. if too few docking spaces to do all ships in one go). 
        
     • For ships that cannot dock, you must assign one or more "Supply ships" to act as a proxy, buying upgrades to be transferred afterwards. Once the carrier finishes an upgrade run the supply drone proxy ship(s) will dock at a mutual station with the target ship(s) and transfer the upgrades. I recommend Argon Discoverers - they are cheap and carry M-sized cargo (thus can carry jumpdrives). 
  3. Configure: for this you need to assign a template ship to copy settings from. The settings to copy are enabled/disabled in the menu. 
      
  4. Equip:
     • For some equipping tasks you will also need to set a template ship (specifically: weapons, missiles, and ammo): 
        
     • If there are any wares that are not available on the carrier, then it can try flying to a storage ship to fetch from there. The storage ship is set in the menu - "Fetch equipment from" option. 
        
     • Wares will not be purchased. For that I suggest a combination with Manual Trade Extension. Use Manual Trade Extension to supply the equipment (possibly to a 'depot' intermediary ship) and Auto Prep Ships to equip. 
        
     • If even one item is missing then that whole set of equipment will be skipped (e.g. if a ship requires 4 shields and the carrier only has 3 then no shields will be installed). 

Changelog 
v1.3: 
- Added: log in preload menu. 
- Fixed: energy cell refuel quantity. 
- Fixed: probably lots from way back. 
v1.2.1 
- Fixed: problem equipping shields when already some aboard target. 
- Fixed: problem upgrading ships that are already aboard carrier. 
- Fixed: not recognizing when a target ship has been destroyed. 
v1.2: 
- Added: fetching equipment from a homebase ship. 
- Added: more options - set wing, add upgrades from template. 
- Modified: better handling of 'when finished' ferrying. 
- Modified: AL plugin now adds Repair Lasers to docks. 
- Fixed: turret loadout issue. 
- Fixed: various minor issues. 
v1.1: 
- Added: 'Dock when finished' option. 
- Added: "Add all damaged ships' to target list, when repair is enabled. 
- Added: 'Homebase' option for configuration according to template ship. 
- Modified: current sector of target ships appended to name in list. 
- Modified: slightly better information on current task in property view, etc. 
- Fixed: some minor tweaks and bugfixes. 
v1.0.1: 
- Modified: minor command slot change for compatibility 
v1.0: 
- first release.