if you dump cargo, at least some of the pirates may break off their attack to pick it up. If they do, keep running. Some of the others may keep following you and attacking: if you fire back then the ones you distracted with the cargo will rejoin the chase, so wait until they're off the scanner. Cargo gets dumped with most of your ship's velocity, so dump the cargo and then pull a sharp turn to get the pirates heading a different direction to you. You can cycle which cargo is dropped: start with the Food!
This brings to mind a question I've been wanting to ask for ages. When cycling through your cargo to select one for dumping, how do you know which item of cargo is selected?
Would it not be better for a message eg "Cargo Handler: 1 TC of Food selected" to show either in the message log or on the HUD somewhere?
.... When cycling through your cargo to select one for dumping, how do you know which item of cargo is selected
You can't. The only thing you see is its content. e.g. Food. But you can's see which of the food canisters. However, the last one scooped is the on top of the list when cycling through the cargo.
When cycling through your cargo to select one for dumping, how do you know which item of cargo is selected?
A message appears informing the player which item of cargo has been selected for dumping.
No it doesn't. Only after you have dumped something are you told what it is. Bit late when its floating away from you!
Huh? As I cycle through the commodities on board, which one is currently selected appears appears in the console.
Most games have some sort of paddling-pool-and-water-wings beginning to ease you in: Oolite takes the rather more Darwinian approach of heaving you straight into the ocean, often with a brick or two in your pockets for luck. ~ Disembodied
It's been around for as long as I can remember ... back to 1.68, in my case. It's just one of those things that Oolite surprises you with, every now and then!
It's been around for as long as I can remember ... back to 1.68, in my case.
Make that at least Oolite 1.65. The message is there since the cycling mechanism exists (which is pre-1.63).
JazHaz, are you using a localization OXP? It could be that it has accidentally erased the message. I don't know whether your HUD OXP could also be responsible.
The message is there since the cycling mechanism exists (which is pre-1.63).
But after 1.55, I just checked.
1.55 no longer works correctly on OSX 10.6. (It did with OSX 10.5 on that machine) It no longer draws the ships or planet, only the exhaust plumes. When going back to 1.40, the planet and ships are drawn again on that OS.
