Parameter 2 (T): Id of ship to tow
Tow the ship specified in the "T" parameter. The ship must be at the same position as your ship. Your ship will use more fuel to move the mass of both ships, and take the towee with it (just locking a tow beam doesn't cost anything). The ship that tows will move normally. In particular, it can run on mines while the towee will be safe from mine hits while being towed (if it breaks free, because the tower explodes at a mine or runs out of fuel, it can use the remaining time to move normally; during that time it will no longer be safe).
When you're a Crystal or Privateer, and the towee is out of fuel, you'll take over the ship by towing it (boarding). To prevent this (maybe because you're towing a friend's fuel-less ship), set your friendly code to nbr.
Preconditions for all tow-related actions:
- you must see the towee to set this mission. You can only tow a cloaked ship if you see it (that is, if it's yours, or if its owner offered you a ship-level alliance) or showed you the ship.
- towee must be at the same place as the towing ship.
- tower must have fuel.
- your ship must be able to tow:
- PHost 4.0i and later: this is defined by the Tow function
- PHost up to 4.0h: your ship must have at least two engines. One-engine ships can only tow if AllowOneEngineTowing is enabled.
Preconditions for Boarding:
- tower must be able to board
- PHost 4.0i and later: has boarding function
- PHost 4.0h and below: ship must be Crystal or Privateer (PlayerSpecialMission) and boarding must be enabled for his race (AllowPrivateerTowCapture, AllowCrystalTowCapture)
- tower's friendly code must not be nbr
- towee must belong to a foreign race which did not offer you ship-level
- towee must not have fuel
Preconditions for Towing:
- you must not hyperjump
- you cannot tow a ships which you do not see unless AllowTowCloakedShips is enabled (this rule applies when you set a tow mission, and the ship later cloaks. By default, you will then lose the tow lock)
- ship must fulfill all restrictions of tow conflict resolution. In particular, your ship must not itself being towed
Breaking free off a tow: When TowedShipsBreakFree is enabled, the towed ship can break free off the tow if the towing ship does not complete the mission successfully. This applies in two cases: the tower hits a mine and explodes, or it runs out of fuel. In neither case, the tower can keep the tractor beam up, so the towed ship can again move freely. It will move towards its waypoint for the remaining time of movement. For example, a ship with warp 9 tows another one with warp 6. Unfortunately, the tower runs out of fuel after 60 ly = 74% (of 81 ly) of its movement. The towed ship can now move approx. 9 ly = 26% (of 36 ly) of its normal movement. A ship can only break free if that would allow it at least one lightyear of movement. Ships with Warp 1 and normal engines therefore never break free.
Relevant Friendly Codes:
- nbr: no boarding
Relevant Configuration Options: AllowAlternativeTowing, AllowBoardingParties, AllowCrystalTowCapture, AllowPrivateerTowCapture, AllowOneEngineTowing, AllowTowCloakedShips, TowedShipsBreakFree, TowedShipsCooperate.
Relevant PControl Stages: BoardingParties, TowResolution, Movement.
