this.shipDied() vs. turrets

[jh145]

I'm flying a Fer-de-Lance 3G+(t). To my almost unending joy, it has forward-facing turrets that are just wonderful for warming the paintwork of ships spiralling out of my cross-hairs. But ... purists may think it natural justice ... it means I often miss out on Random Hits kills!

The problem seems to be that this.shipDied(who,cause) has whom equal to null in the event of turret damage being the fatal blow (and cause is "energy damage" in that case).

It appears to be an issue in the core game too (I just sat still, hands off the lasers, while a Barracuda died in a kamikaze run towards my turrets, and did not score a kill). Are the plasma balls not "owned" by the player ship?

[Norby]

The current workaround is the [wiki]Turret Toggler[/wiki]: turn off turrets near important targets.

[jh145]

That workaround would go too far the other way, nullifying one of the most satisfying features of my ridiculous super-ship. I like my turrets wiping out mafia kingpins while I'm busy pouring another beer

Is unattributable plasma recognised as a core game bug? Do we agree it should be?

[Cody]

Is unattributable plasma recognised as a core game bug? Do we agree it should be?

No, and no! I ain't a dev, of course - merely a dumb pilot.

[jh145]

Why not? No-one's pretending that all kills are equally worthy.

[Diziet Sma]

Is unattributable plasma recognised as a core game bug? Do we agree it should be?

If the kill came from a weapon launched/fired from your ship, it should count as your kill, IMO.

RH already discriminates against kills by weapons of mass destruction, as it should. But plasma turrets, being an aimed weapon, ought to count as a legitimate kill, the same as a missile.

So I vote 'bug'.

[Smivs]

If the kill came from a weapon launched/fired from your ship, it should count as your kill, IMO.

Normally I'd agree, but plasma turrets on player ships are a cheat give an unfair advantage - they use no energy and once a ship is targeted they self-aim and keep firing. I think this is enough 'benefit' without expecting this auto-slaughter to count in the same way an accurately aimed laser shot does.
My views are well known - player ships (indeed any small, agile ship) should not have these at all. They are only appropriate for large, slow capital ships that are too ponderous to effectively aim a laser.

[cim]

Turret shots must count as being owned by the launching ship - there's far too much in the AI that would behave oddly if they weren't.

Tested now with a FDL 3G+(t) and was correctly credited both in script and in core functions for all kills made with turrets. Are you cloaking as well?

[jh145]

Are you cloaking as well?

Posssssibly... but I don't think so now that cloaking is auto-off when the fighting starts (I'm running 1.82-dev). I'll check.

A thought's occurred to me: might the NPC have launched a desperate last-ditch missile that melted immediately in my plasma and exploded right next to its owner, causing the fatal blast of energy damage? Arguably still my kill, even if somewhat of an "own goal".

[cim]

Cloaking is auto-off when you fire a weapon. Turrets don't count, however, and in 1.82 cloaking doesn't automatically break hostility so they'd keep firing.

The missile event you describe is theoretically possible - though core game missiles don't detonate if shot, so it would also need an OXP missile which did to be present.

[jh145]

OK, thanks. I'll leave it there unless/until I can reproduce the issue without any caveats.

[Norby]

So it is possible to this.shipDied(whom,cause) return player.ship in whom when a turret of the player score the last hit, as a fix for RandomHits (which use this event)?

[cim]

So it is possible to this.shipDied(whom,cause) return player.ship in whom when a turret of the player score the last hit, as a fix for RandomHits (which use this event)?

This should already happen except in the case where the player is cloaked at the point the shot hits.

[Diziet Sma]

Cloaking is auto-off when you fire a weapon. Turrets don't count, however, and in 1.82 cloaking doesn't automatically break hostility so they'd keep firing.

Then I'd call that a bug. Turrets firing ought to disable cloaking too. Especially given the bolded part above.

[cim]

Cloaking is auto-off when you fire a weapon. Turrets don't count, however, and in 1.82 cloaking doesn't automatically break hostility so they'd keep firing.

Then I'd call that a bug. Turrets firing ought to disable cloaking too. Especially given the bolded part above.

Probably cloaking should disable turrets, or you might find it very difficult to actually cloak a ship with them once combat had started.