A FlatBed Tow Script for the Livery Mule with a Ramp.

[Niko Reznov]

Okay so I already know what some people are going to say about this and how people will complain that this can be abused and will be abused and it can also take away from mechanics but I am going to solve those problems as well if you just take the time to read this fully before going off in the comments saying it's not possible and people will abuse it! So here is my idea for this on how to make it Roleplay and how to make it work so it can't be abused non-rp'ly but let me explain the situation on how it works in the server as of right now for those who don't know.

When you have a Mule Livery it comes with a ramp that goes up and down on the back and you can actually drive cars and bikes in and out of it with no problem at all and close it up like you would on a regular vehicle transporter enclosed trailer truck. How it works as of right now when you drive a car into the back of it two different things can happen based on the circumstances when you try to drive with a car in the back of the truck.

Option 1 that happens if nobody is in the car in the back of the truck: The car will fall out as soon as you drive forward because the position of cars without players in them is saved to a server position and can't be moved by other vehicles or objects hitting them.

Option 2 that happens when somebody is in the car with the engine turned off in the back of the truck: The truck can drive in all directions perfectly fine without damaging the truck or the car in the back of it but the truck maxes out at a top speed of 10 as it is constantly trying to pull a car that is moving back and forth in the back of the truck making it almost undriveable.

So how do we fix these two problems to make this truck actually work and be able to RP taking your car to the race track or repair shop in the back of this truck? With the help of the flatbed script!

Flatbed's are scripted already the way this truck would have to be scripted by attaching vehicles to the back of the flatbed or in this case in the back of the inside of the truck box so that way they don't collide with anything and move along as a solid object with the truck like it is all one vehicle so the truck can drive at a proper speed.

How can we stop this from being abused?

 

To keep it behind locked doors and not abused for chop shop use and being a dick to other players: Only cars that can be loaded in are ones you own and have keys to with the /givekeys command.
 

For Stopping the vehicle pursuit power gaming: We put a timer script on it like pick locking/repairing cars has to avoid non rp power gaming fixes and thefts so a timer would stop non rp power gaming loading a car in the back of this while in the middle of a hot pursuit and if it's still a problem we can add a server rule to make it non rp like refueling in a chase to load cars in the back in the middle of a chase. We should also make it so the truck ramp door has to be down in order for the script to start allowing you to load a car in. (Kind of like how a trunk has to be open for you to put somebody's body or anything in it.)

Pro's + Con's?

Pro's:

- You can Roleplay transporting your car to the race track in the back of a race car trailer.

- You can Roleplay loading your car into the back of the truck to take it to a repair shop if the engine is broken down and no mechanics are available to tow. (Mechanic shops require one person on the ledge at all times to send a tow truck out so this will help players bring the cars to the mechanics when a mechanic can't go to them.)

- Transport your car from Mors Mutal, the impound, or another random location you left it at. So that way you don't have to walk all the way to your car just to get it back from where you left it if you don't have friends, a taxi, or a City Bee Rental available to give you a ride back to it.

- More unique roleplay scenarios can be done with vehicles.

Con's:

- The box size isn't the biggest so we would have to limit what size vehicles can go in the back of it. This can be scripted by what type of vehicles can go in it like only allow sports cars, sports classics, bikes/motorcycles, compacts, and muscle cars. Another way it can be scripted is by scripting every vehicle one by one that would fit in it but that would be more work.

- Server would have to script a block on parking the Mule in garages when it has a vehicle in the back of it.

- Server will have to script a block that only let's you put cars in the back of the truck that you own or have the keys to with the /givekeys command so this can't be abused by people picking up random people's cars to chop them.

- Would need a timer script like the picklock/mechanic repair system to load vehicles into the back of the truck to avoid non realistic power gaming situations like loading cars up in the back of the truck in a hot pursuit and we could also add a server rule like the non-rp refill in a chase rule. (A timer script would be the best way to avoid any kind of PG and would make it very realistic as it takes time to open up a truck and load a car in and secure it down and the timer will force people to roleplay it.)

If anybody has some more pro's or con's or anything else they can think of or would like to add please feel free as this is all I can think of off the top of my head at the moment and I will add them!

Edited January 28, 2021 by Niko Reznov

[PopcornDE]

+1

I would say that it would help so more roleplay can be done. Great idea

[Speed Racer]

This is a suggestion that I'm very hesitant supporting. I love all of the pros listed, however the Flatbed's ability to pick up vehicles is a very forceful script that I think needs to stay locked behind being a member of an official government faction to ensure that RP standards are upheld with it and that Powergaming does not ensue.

Picture this:

There's an ongoing vehicular chase. The person being chased has the brilliant idea of parking their car up in a mule to hide and get away. They radio their friend to set it up for them. They roll up to the mule and their buddy is sitting in the driver seat of the Mule. The person running away has a macro ready for "/me rolls the car into the mule," while their friend is waiting with the ctrl+x open to click the car and TP it inside the mule. They then get in the Mule and drive away.

Based on the very evident habits of people rushing RP to win situations, I think it's very easy to imagine this kind of scenario happening should they be given the ability, and I don't think it's something I want to see. It's already bad enough watching police skip RP on using Tow trucks because it's not in their handbook to do so (Edited to reflect an unintentionally false accusation, I've only been told my multiple police officers of various ranks that nobody in the faction is told they have to RP tow trucks and made a false assumption about the handbook based on that.); imagine the general population gaining access to a script that makes vehicles inaccessible to other players while still being mobile all on the fly.

 

Very cool concept, it would be great for the character I play, but I gotta -1 this out of lack of trust for the playerbase to properly use it.

Edited January 27, 2021 by Speed Racer

[Andy Mason]

Great Idea ,however as @SpeedRacer said people will abuse it in chase cases and people will abuse it for chopping car , However to avoid that there are couple of things that can be done in my opinion firstly like it is considered NRP if you refuel mid chase same can be applied here , mules cannot be used in active chase cases , secondly a timer can be added for loading a car onto the mule like a significantly long timer , that timer will do two things it will be long enough that people can actually RP loading car onto the mule while the timer is running as they cannot rush the process and secondly if someone decides to still use the mule in chase case it will be nearly impossible to do that , and there is one more thing we can do to avoid using it to transport cars to a location ,picklock and chop it is that only owner of the car can load the car to any mule like he has to sit in the mule and he can only load it . I really love this idea cuz like my man said it will provide a lot of RP opportunities like transporting track cars and alot of other things , also it will ease the process of taking a car to mech shop if its perma stalled. It is a very decent idea tho it is certain abuse will happen unless proper steps are taken.

Huge +1 from me.  

[Pegasus_]

58 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

It's already bad enough watching police skip RP on using Tow trucks because it's not in their handbook to do so;

Not true, the handbook state that we need to RP it and not to "snatch-and-grab". It does also state, however, that we can speed it up by using the integrated lift.

Generally a good idea though, but would like to see some limitations as no 'mule-ing' in an NCZ to steal cars and such.

[Speed Racer]

10 minutes ago, Pegasus_ said:

Not true, the handbook state that we need to RP it and not to "snatch-and-grab". It does also state, however, that we can speed it up by using the integrated lift.

Edited my previous post to reflect this.

[CalvinKlein]

Big +1 I remember when we stole a super car as criminals would , and it was perma stalled but RPly the parts would still be worth a lot and can be chopped so we did some interesting rp and loaded it in the back of a mule and desync just made the mule go to 0hp as we were on our way to the chop shop 

[Niko Reznov]

13 hours ago, Andy Mason said:

Great Idea ,however as @SpeedRacer said people will abuse it in chase cases and people will abuse it for chopping car , However to avoid that there are couple of things that can be done in my opinion firstly like it is considered NRP if you refuel mid chase same can be applied here , mules cannot be used in active chase cases , secondly a timer can be added for loading a car onto the mule like a significantly long timer , that timer will do two things it will be long enough that people can actually RP loading car onto the mule while the timer is running as they cannot rush the process and secondly if someone decides to still use the mule in chase case it will be nearly impossible to do that , and there is one more thing we can do to avoid using it to transport cars to a location ,picklock and chop it is that only owner of the car can load the car to any mule like he has to sit in the mule and he can only load it . I really love this idea cuz like my man said it will provide a lot of RP opportunities like transporting track cars and alot of other things , also it will ease the process of taking a car to mech shop if its perma stalled. It is a very decent idea tho it is certain abuse will happen unless proper steps are taken.

Huge +1 from me.  

@Andy Mason Pretty much sums up my response for you @Speed Racer, yes I am fully aware that it's a possibility that will happen but that's why we would want to figure out all the ways it can be abused and script ways to stop it before it's fully into the server and a thread discussion like this is a great place to figure it out!

To keep it behind locked doors and not abused for chop shop use and being a dick to other players: Only cars that can be loaded in are ones you own and have keys to with the /givekeys command.
 

For Stopping the vehicle pursuit power gaming: We put a timer script on it like pick locking/repairing cars has to avoid non rp power gaming fixes and thefts so a timer would stop non rp power gaming loading a car in the back of this while in the middle of a hot pursuit and if it's still a problem we can add a server rule to make it non rp like refueling in a chase to load cars in the back in the middle of a chase. We should also make it so the truck ramp door has to be down in order for the script to start allowing you to load a car in. (Kind of like how a trunk has to be open for you to put somebody's body or anything in it.)

If you have any other ideas on how this can be abused please let me know @Speed Racer because it would be great if we could make this work out and find a way to stop it from being abused!

[Niko Reznov]

11 hours ago, CalvinKlein said:

Big +1 I remember when we stole a super car as criminals would , and it was perma stalled but RPly the parts would still be worth a lot and can be chopped so we did some interesting rp and loaded it in the back of a mule and desync just made the mule go to 0hp as we were on our way to the chop shop 

Unfortunately for you and the rest of the criminal role player's this script would have to be blocking you from being able to steal and chop cars that you do not own and you would have to have the keys with /givekeys from the vehicle owner or you must own the vehicle you are trying to load into the truck. Yes I understand you would love this for the type of role play you do and yes it has been done in real life but think about it like this. The way it's done in real life they have to break into the car, set the car to neutral and turn off the parking brake or hotwire it to drive it, open the truck up and than roll or drive it into the back of the truck, tie the vehicle down securely in the back of the truck, close the back of the truck door and lock it, jump back in and drive off. If you spent all that time breaking into the car just to hotwire it (The way stealing cars works in this server because you can't fix cars you don't own) than why would you go through all that extra time and effort just to load it into the back of a truck when you can just drive the speed limit and not have to worry about the cops pulling you over. I see loading it into the truck as more of a risk of getting caught because the alarm would have gone off from you trying to picklock and get into the car several times and than you have another timer to load the car into the back of the truck and by the time you finally have the car pick locked and loaded into the truck you would have already had the cops called on you and responded to the scene or the owner of the car would have showed up with his friend and a gun or two. If you are trying to say you can load a vehicle into the back of a truck without even getting into the car that's power gaming because you can't tow a car if it's in park with the parking brake up unless you tow it with a tow truck and lift up the wheels that deliver power to the ground off the ground so it doesn't lock up and stop the wheels from spinning. Thank you for the support though!  Also chopping cars is already easy enough and OP enough against the new players and this would just scare them away more in my opinion if you just want to load cars into the back of the truck without even pick locking them and it would just be even more OP if you can just pick a car with a dead engine and load it into the truck and drive it to the chop shop and chop it and that would make EVERYONE rage quit because it's already hard enough to get a car towed to the mechanic shop and nothings a bigger piss off in this server than getting your car chopped and you can't get it back for 4 hours. It's the same reason why mechanics are script blocked to fix cars unless the owner is beside it.

Edited January 28, 2021 by Niko Reznov