Flying backwards

[stillsick]

I'm very new to this game so maybe this has reported many times but occasionally NPC ships are going through space backwards. It doesn't seem to affect the game (although I haven't picked a fight with one so would that cause problems?) apart from looking odd. I'm on 1.74.2 with Commies, Dictators, Behemoths and a couple of space station OXPs. I don't remember seeing it before I put in the Add Ons but not sure.

[Smivs]

Hi Stillsick, and welcome to the Board.
That's odd isn't it? And not something I've ever noticed. Is it a particular type of ship (Mamba, Sidewinder?) or do lots of them do it? I can't explain it , whatever...just weird

[stillsick]

Hello!
I don't think it's one type of ship but I'll have a closer look if it happens again. One time it was 3 or 4 all in formation which suggests they could have been police. I'll take a bit more notice next time and put up another post if it happens again. Like you say. . weird!

[stillsick]

OK!
It's not one type of ship. I have seen several types do it. Playing a bit earlier and had a Cobra 3 coming right at me facing the wrong way. After we passed I looked behind to look at it and she slowly, almost gracefully, flipped over to face the right way, without slowing down, and carried on it's journey!
If I can get a screen shot of a formation flying with one facing the wrong way then I'll try to post it - something I have seen.

Yours (not expecting any logical explanation!)

stillsick

P.S. This hasn't put me off the game!!

[stillsick]

Last comment from me on this I think: I removed all the OXPs (not because of this wierd but harmless thing) and have not seen it since, so it's sort of fixed.

[Smivs]

I think I saw this the other day. I came across an Anaconda with her 6 Cobra escorts, and as they were dead ahead I just flew between the mother and the nearest Cobra to her left. There was a slight bump and when I switched to rear view one of the Cobras seemed to be facing backwards which it certainly wasn't before. It soon corrected and I assume that the backward thing was because I'd nudged it aside (well actually it bumped me, 'cos I was only going in a straight line, Officer, Honest.)
This is probably not what you've seen, but I have now seen a 'backward' ship for myself, and it did look odd.

[stillsick]

Smiv, I'm very glad that you have seen it as I thought I was going a bit crazy!

[Cody]

I have actually flown backwards, although only very briefly, in Rolling Thunder. I was docking on manual, under Viper fire as is often the case, and an Interceptor launched at exactly the wrong moment, hit me full on the bow and glanced off, leaving me going backwards and watching the station slot receeding.
A very strange feeling indeed… newtonian effects in a non-newtonian Ooniverse.

I’ve also observed this with two npcs fighting each other, when one (i think it was a Ferdie) rammed the other.

[aegidian]

El Viejo, you nailed it.

As well as the Elite non-Newtonian flight patterns there is also an underlying newtonian physics mechanic going on as well. Personally I'd like for this to expand as I'd like to see the little puffs of vaporised hull from laser hits causing small vector shunts to the afflicted target. It'd give us a way to push asteroids around with pulse lasers, and I'm all up for a game of space billiards.

[Cody]

Didn’t Eric push an asteroid around with the nose of his ship a while ago, accelerating it?… I’m sure it was Eric.

[CheeseRedux]

...I'm all up for a game of space billiards.

I suspect, sir, that you have been hanging out with Dave 'Cinzano Bianco' Lister over Xmas.

[Smivs]

A long time ago I did try nudging a 'dead' Cobra around for a while. The plan was to try and get it to the station and see if I could dock it. Sadly, as I was still out close to the witchpoint this was never going to happen, but I did manage to move it quite a long way before I gave up. I always wonder what would have happened if I'd actually got it to the station.

[Eric Walch]

Didn’t Eric push an asteroid around with the nose of his ship a while ago, accelerating it?… I’m sure it was Eric.

Yep, I have done it often. My ultimate goal was to let it smash into a station. But aiming is very difficult and I never succeeded in this ultimate goal.
You need a strong ship like the BCC. Than with every bump the asteroid gains more speed. The problem arrises when the asteroid has reached your max speed. From that point you have to bump in the asteroid at injector speed.
All bumps have to be soft or the asteroid or you will vaporise. At injector speed, making soft bumps becomes very difficult

When you realy want to see ships flying backwards you must look at a buoy repair station. Ships on the external docks fly backward to leave the dock.

(But this is actually cheating as the ships are temporary replaced with flipped models that have the back at their nose)

[Switeck]

I've pushed around derelict ships before as well.
But with salvage missiles (from Dredgers OXP, which I hacked into almost never seeing a Dredger), I can get them to dock for profit.

[Zireael]

When you realy want to see ships flying backwards you must look at a buoy repair station. Ships on the external docks fly backward to leave the dock.

(But this is actually cheating as the ships are temporary replaced with flipped models that have the back at their nose)

Why do they? Makes no sense...