Unusual planet jump failure

[CheeseRedux]

I have to give them CLASS_THARGOID and risk the Navy to attack them. Perhaps they could get one or two escorts each? But at the end of the day this would only add to the total number of Thargoids in the vicinity, and that's not what this idea is about.

I'm decidedly fuzzy on AI behaviour, so it's entirely possible that the next paragraph will be total nonsense. Anyway:

Isn't it likely that if some non-Thargoid NPC happened to target one of the jammers it would become distracted before actually destroying the thing? With laser fire flying everywhere, it seems likely that it would be fired at and switch targets, no?
Following on from that, giving the jammer escorts could actually increase the chance of destruction-by-NPC; if the escorts managed to "pull" a ship or four away from the main fight, they might end up far enough away from the main fracas that there's nobody close enough to distract from the jammer (once the escorts are gone).

[Commander McLane]

What range does an energy bomb have? I haven't used one in Oolite, so I haven't witnessed one first hand since my BBC Micro days, but assuming they do have a certain blast radius, could you place the jammers sufficiently far apart that a single energy bomb couldn't take out more than one? Would that be an acceptable way of avoiding making them overly resilient?

The energy bomb has scanner range, as has the witchjump-blocking power of the Jammers. So that's a tie. If I can just take out the Jammers on my scanner, I am no longer mass-locked. (Granted, in those cases where I have insufficient fuel the Jammers' witchjump-blocking ability is irrelevant anyway.)

Could you give it a high energy (to avoid destruction by Energy Bombs) but a low - zero recharge rate so it can easily be whittled away?

That's the way I'm currently going.

In most cases you won't have all four jammers on your scanner. If you're exactly at the coordinate-origin they will all be 25000 meters away. But you're spawned inside a radius around the coordinate-origin, therefore at least one will normally be outside your scanner range. You still have to find it, even if you could take out the others at once.

Isn't it likely that if some non-Thargoid NPC happened to target one of the jammers it would become distracted before actually destroying the thing? With laser fire flying everywhere, it seems likely that it would be fired at and switch targets, no?

Depends entirely on the distribution of Thargoid ships in the vicinity. There may be one going after a ship that attacks a Jammer, or there may be none. But it's true, in a sufficiently evolved furball no non-Thargoid NPC will go unnoticed.

[Switeck]

2) An energy bomb has a destructive energy of 1000.

While off-topic, that damage needs to be reduced to half. Even 400 damage would be sufficient to destroy most "small craft" while leaving previously undamaged Anacondas, Boas, and Boa 2's at least barely alive. That would vastly reduce its use as an automatic "I win!" button against Thargoids in interstellar space.

[Commander McLane]

Hah!

I found a simple way of immunizing the Jammer against both q-bombs and energy bombs.

So it's back to non-ridiculous amounts of energy for it (500, which is 100 less than a Thargoid Warship).

[Smivs]

The energy bomb is being done-away with anyway. I can't remember if that's just in Oo2 when it comes along or the NNSMSR* of Oo1.

*Next not-so-mythical stable release.

[JD]

The energy bomb has scanner range, as has the witchjump-blocking power of the Jammers. So that's a tie. If I can just take out the Jammers on my scanner, I am no longer mass-locked. (Granted, in those cases where I have insufficient fuel the Jammers' witchjump-blocking ability is irrelevant anyway.)

How important is the jump-blocking though? Can't it be circumvented fairly easily? F'rinstance, if the jammers are arranged in a planar fashion, then you just head off in a perpendicular to the plane, and you'll be out of range pretty quickly. Alternatively, whatever their configuration, just travel far enough beyond their perimeter, and again you're in the clear. Or if you destroy just one from close range, the remaining jammers will be too far away to affect you.

I'm intrigued though. Are you going to reveal your cunning plan for fending off the WMDs?

[Commander McLane]

I'm intrigued though. Are you going to reveal your cunning plan for fending off the WMDs?

Actually it's rather crude:

Code: Select all

this.shipTakingDamage = function(amount, whom, type)
{
    if(type === "cascade weapon" || amount === 1000)
        this.ship.energy = this.ship.maxEnergy;
}

Either it's a q-bomb ("cascade weapon") or the damage to be dealt is exactly 1000 (energy bomb). Both cases will lead to instant recovery of the Witchspace Jammer, regardless of previous damage (that's the crude part).

[Mauiby de Fug]

Ooo, neat!

[Gimi]

Clever, the jammer fires it's emergency energy booster if it is hit by a cascade weapon or an energy bomb. Would be really cool if it the lost a sub-entity (like a cylinder), to indicate that it has recharged. (Probably asking too much.)
Why doesn't the emergency energy booster fire when the jammer is hit by laser fire you may ask. Well, I imagine that the jammers are disposable devices, and that the Thargoids laser them to death before leaving to avoid leaving evidence and technology behind.

[DaddyHoggy]

Surely, being a trans-dimensional entity, the e-bomb or q-mine energy is simply channelled harmlessly out of this plane of reality into the Thargoid's native ones by the same mechanism that produces the energy that collapsed the wormholes in the first place and thus the Jammer remains intact - however the focused coherent energy from a laser actually striking the device cannot be so channelled...

[Cody]

Surely, being a trans-dimensional entity, the e-bomb or q-mine energy is simply channelled harmlessly out of this plane of reality into the Thargoid's native ones by the same mechanism that produces the energy that collapsed the wormholes in the first place and thus the Jammer remains intact - however the focused coherent energy from a laser actually striking the device cannot be so channelled...

Excellent! [twangin' guitars]

[DaddyHoggy]

Just trying my best at some coherent handwavium!

[Gimi]

Surely, being a trans-dimensional entity, the e-bomb or q-mine energy is simply channelled harmlessly out of this plane of reality into the Thargoid's native ones by the same mechanism that produces the energy that collapsed the wormholes in the first place and thus the Jammer remains intact - however the focused coherent energy from a laser actually striking the device cannot be so channelled...

So, if I'm allowed to elaborate on that, the trans-dimensional properties of the energy expelled by Q-mines and energy bombs recharge the mechanism, while the coherent mono-dimensional properties of laser fire will destroy the mechanism.

Works for me.

[DaddyHoggy]

Yup!

[Cody]

coherent handwavium!

Damn near sums up Oolite, does that.