ah - yes and no
1.the way cargopods are setup in FL is WRONG - cargopods are equipped in the loadouts, this makes no sense because FL has a system that assigns the correct pod to the correct commodity; pod_appearance = cargopod_whatever

2.the reason why it doesn't work as it should, is that none of the transports were given the correct hp_types in their shiparch entries for their cargo points

3.to fix it, simply add this to every transport/etc with HpCargo# points
hp_type = hp_cargo_pod, HpCargo01, HpCargo02, etc and remove all cargopods from their loadouts

why did i say no then?
because for some aggravating reason FL won't do this for players, and afaik it won't work for anything but freighter types.now, it does actually kinda work for players - you can add the pods in the ship package and if the points are coded it will drop the cargo as they are destroyed, but since players simply have to destroy all their pods & land to prevent future looting, there's no point in trying that approach.

what reason is there to use it then?
it simplifies creating loadouts for transports, and adds a nice touch of realism. for example, with Arghs XML toolkit the light hauler carries a cargopod in its NPC loadout, but if we remove that and the commodity(so it won't stack the commodity in with the faction's trade good)and just add the hp_type, we'll always know just by looking at the hauler whether its loaded or empty and get an indication of whats in it. besides that, you can add new pods for new commodities, like bundles of ship parts etc, and not have to manually add them to ships you want to carry them

Edited by - Cold_Void on 3/24/2006 3:05:38 AM

I was actually wanting to create a large, valuable commodity that would instagate looting. Any player seeing this commodity would automatically want to destroy the cargo ship. Just for the cash worth of the commodity.