lost the constrictor

[beeze]

Finally found him in BENEEN



..here we go!

UPDATE!
Argghh..lost it ..it zipped away at speed - and I had no fuel left to follow

UPDATE(2)
All planet names (capitals) have been encrypted (spoilers). Go here:-
http://www.rot13.com/index.php
...to see them

[Commander McLane]

What do you need fuel for to follow him?

Just activate your torus drive ('J'-key) when he's out of scanner range. Your torus speed is much higher than his injector speed. Of course you will be mass-locked as soon as hi comes into range again, but then you just repeat. Let him run away, follow with 'J'-speed, let him run away, follow up with 'J'-speed... Until he finally runs out of fuel. Now you've got him!

(The trick here is that NPC's don't have 'J'-speed. The only thing they can do is to use their injectors. So at the end of the day you will always be faster.)

(And of course that doesn't work for a pursuit through the space corridor, where you get mass-locked all the time. But the chances that your opponent flees exactly along the corridor are pretty small.)

[beeze]

I tried to use 'j' but got 'mass-locked' with another craft - so it was a non-starter. Only injectors ('i') could have zipped me nearer

Now all I'm getting is this:-

"There's a real deadly pirate out there."

...which doesn't really give me any clues as to which system he's in

Beeze/

[TGHC]

If there's no hint on F7 go to the last place you found him, he 'might' reappear

[beeze]

That's what I'm getting on F7 for ALL planets within 7.0LY radius. Just the message, "There's a real deadly pirate out there."

I'm going back to the system where I spotted him now.

UPDATE:
Ah ha..returned to HFYREV after a brief trip to ERPRKRYN/DHRQYR (good trading planets; as recommended in another thread), and I get the message

"You can tackle the vicious scoundrel if you like. He's at BENEEN"

Now the jump from HFYREV to BENEEN is 6.8LY (boo) and I want some fuel if I need to use witchdrive - so I'm stopping by RFTROV and then jumping (shorter) to BENEEN.

UPDATE(2)
All planet names (capitals) have been ROT13'ed. Go here if you wish to decrypt (spoilers etc)
http://www.rot13.com/index.php

[Eric Walch]

I tried to use 'j' but got 'mass-locked' with another craft - so it was a non-starter. Only injectors ('i') could have zipped me nearer

Now all I'm getting is this:-

"There's a real deadly pirate out there."

This ship will not move to other systems. However, it will stay at the location there he ended after stopping with fuel injection. This could be far away from the spacelane so you will never be able to find him.
Best solution for this type of problem is to jump out the system and in again. Or save the game and reload it again. In both ways you force oolite to initialise the system again and a well programmed oxp will also reset the target to one of its starting points.
This method is generally valid for most oxp's.

[beeze]

Got him !!!



I tried to go via RFTROV to get closer to BENEEN in terms of fuel, but after battling my way to RFTROV (multi-government) there was not hint with F7 (i.e. still saying he was at BENEEN).

So I re-loaded from HFYREV and jumped (6.8LY) to BENEEN and he was waiting by the beacon. After I brief battle he leapt away 25km+ and 'target lost'. Luckily I used 'j' since no other ships around, but he kept going beyond my range each time.

Launched some (hardened) Missles - he aways managed to ECM them But he got his attention and he zoomed back for a fight. He managed to deplete my forward shields, but I got him with a sustained burst from my forward military lasers!

Good chase! Was on 530 kills - now on 786

Commander Beeze/

Postscript: Now I'm off to find some Naval Energy Units. Then I will get some Military Shields - I've got 80k credits so far. Then I'm going to do the Ionics OXP

UPDATE:
All the planet names have been encrypted as they may spoil the mission for other players. If you wish to decode, simple go here:-
http://www.rot13.com/index.php
..and enter the planet name above to decrypt

[Captain Hesperus]

Got him !!!



I tried to go via E***** to get closer to O***** in terms of fuel, but after battling my way to E***** (multi-government) there was not hint with F7 (i.e. still saying he was at O*****).

So I re-loaded from U***** and jumped (6.8LY) to O***** and he was waiting by the beacon. After I brief battle he leapt away 25km+ and 'target lost'. Luckily I used 'j' since no other ships around, but he kept going beyond my range each time.

Launched some (hardened) Missles - he aways managed to ECM them But he got his attention and he zoomed back for a fight. He managed to deplete my forward shields, but I got him with a sustained burst from my forward military lasers!

Good chase! Was on 530 kills - now on 786

Commander Beeze/

Postscript: Now I'm off to find some Naval Energy Units. Then I will get some Military Shields - I've got 80k credits so far. Then I'm going to do the Ionics OXP

Congratulations Commander! Is it possible that you could edit your post to not include the planet names, since it's something of a spoiler for those players who haven't had the mission yet....

Captain Hesperus

[beeze]

Ok - I've updated my post and put the planet names in ROT13.

I sort of assumed my mission ending at the final planet was random and other Constrictor mission wouldn't end up at exactly the same place

Beeze/

[Captain Hesperus]

Ok - I've updated my post and put the planet names in ROT13.

I sort of assumed my mission ending at the final planet was random and other Constrictor mission wouldn't end up at exactly the same place

Beeze/

No worries, it's just that the mission is scripted rather than having a random end location.

Captain Hesperus

[Alex]

I found that just going about your normal business and making some dosh he pops up every so often. Recon I had about 6 leads on him before I finally nailed him.

[Super Jamie]

If you go through the mission code, there are indeed about 6 planets that provide you a specific clue as to where the Constrictor is, all in sequence.

All planets are supposed to have a vague hint on the F7 screen. I think the idea is to go about your business, and if you're lucky you'll pick up the scent.

The mission code generates a Constrictor somewhere in the final system, if the Constrictor is still alive.

Sometimes you shoot him and he zooms off, so just jump out of the system then jump in. Sometimes he'll be waiting at the Witchpoint for you, sometimes he won't.

I don't think it would be too much of a spoiler to supply the first planet name in the hint chain, there's still a bit of route-planning and hyperspacing involved.

[Eric Walch]

I don't think it would be too much of a spoiler to supply the first planet name in the hint chain, there's still a bit of route-planning and hyperspacing involved.

Indeed, the first system name would be no spoiler as in original elite you would always start at that specific planet after a galactic jump. In current Oolite the entry point varies with the location you came from and that is sometimes far from the location the scent can be picked up.

Probably this mission needs a little rewriting in a way that you will get a clue in the first system after a Galactic jump. In the original Legacy code it was difficult to script it that way and when I translated it into JS I kept as close to the original code. But to keep in line with original Elite it should probably give a clue after galactic jumping to one of the systems were the first clues start.
Opinions

[Commander McLane]

I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to send the player to the first clue in the current line from wherever he made landfall in Galaxy 2.

So I second that.

[Eric Walch]

On second thought, after looking at the locations of the first clues, I think it is okay this way. There are 13 planets that have the initial clue to where the constrictor started its journey in G2. I always was in the believe those systems were close together.

Looking them up in the map shows they are actually scattered randomly over the galaxy. And with 13 out of 256 systems, every 20th will give the initial clue. That should be enough for a player to find one in a reasonable time. The only thing to be added could be a conformation message, the constrictor entered the galaxy in that specific system and disappeared with unknown destination.