(Newbie) Moving to a new system

[chomwitt]

i started playing . I follow the small tutorial in http://www.oolite.org/starting/

My main difficulty is after giong to a new system to find a station.
i use the Torus JumpDrive to fly toward the system's planet, but usually i am thrown out of it, (hyperspeed mass locked) to find out that that 'mass' is just another ship with 50% chance of being hostile.

If the ship is not hostile from curiosity i go near but nothing happes , neither it seems to heading towads a station . So i go far from it , i go into hyperspeed to be masslocked again from other ships.

So is it in the gameplay logic to always fly toward the system's planet and to bleed on your way finding the station ? Is the galaxy such a hostile place ?

[montana05]

So is it in the gameplay logic to always fly toward the system's planet and to bleed on your way finding the station ? Is the galaxy such a hostile place ?

Imagine the straight route witchpoint - station as a highway, a lot of traffic and therefore mass locks. All the traders on this route will attract more or less pirates looking for victims (depending on the system). You can avoid both if you chose not to go straight, the distance will be a bit longer but not many ships or pirates.

[Cholmondely]

I started playing . I follow the small tutorial in http://www.oolite.org/starting/

My main difficulty is after going to a new system to find a station.
I use the Torus JumpDrive to fly toward the system's planet, but usually i am thrown out of it, (hyperspeed mass locked) to find out that that 'mass' is just another ship with 50% chance of being hostile.

If the ship is not hostile from curiosity i go near but nothing happens , neither it seems to heading towards a station . So i go far from it , i go into hyperspeed to be masslocked again from other ships.

So is it in the gameplay logic to always fly toward the system's planet and to bleed on your way finding the station ? Is the galaxy such a hostile place ?

Exactly as Montana says above. Just avoid the shortest route and you will get there much quicker! You just have to keep an eye on your space compass!

Some traders are flying away from the orbital station out to the witchpoint beacon. If you investigate you will find a number of ships leaving the system through wormhole tunnels close to the witchpoint beacon (... and if there are asteroid fields (and possibly rock hermits) en route from the beacon to the station then some of the traffic may well be connected with the rock hermit and/or mining the asteroids).

The one attempt to explain why (which I've so far come across) suggests that there might be fuel savings or time savings for doing so. These do not seem to apply to players, just NPC's.

I'm not sure it makes much sense: surely the chances of being scragged by pirates must outweigh the meagre savings in the minds of any sensible freighter captain, unless he/she/it is part of a strong convoy.

[montana05]

The one attempt to explain why (which I've so far come across) suggests that there might be fuel savings or time savings for doing so. These do not seem to apply to players, just NPC's.

I'm not sure it makes much sense: surely the chances of being scragged by pirates must outweigh the meagre savings in the minds of any sensible freighter captain, unless he/she/it is part of a strong convoy.

There is a simple explanation for it, Oolite and a lot OXP's add ships to a system on pre-defined routes, witchpoint - main station is just the one where most of the traffic happens.

[Cholmondely]

The one attempt to explain why (which I've so far come across) suggests that there might be fuel savings or time savings for doing so. These do not seem to apply to players, just NPC's.

I'm not sure it makes much sense: surely the chances of being scragged by pirates must outweigh the meagre savings in the minds of any sensible freighter captain, unless he/she/it is part of a strong convoy.

There is a simple explanation for it, Oolite and a lot OXP's add ships to a system on pre-defined routes, witchpoint - main station is just the one where most of the traffic happens.

Yes, we both know that... the problem is coming up with an explanation for what appears to be a bizarre piece of game code!

If you have zillions of dockable OXPs loaded - Liners which operate on the route, and the Black Monks, Rescue stations, SIRFs etc all bouncing in space around the witchpoint beacon, then fair enough.

But in the Vanilla game ...

[montana05]

Yes, we both know that... the problem is coming up with an explanation for what appears to be a bizarre piece of game code!

If you have zillions of dockable OXPs loaded - Liners which operate on the route, and the Black Monks, Rescue stations, SIRFs etc all bouncing in space around the witchpoint beacon, then fair enough.

But in the Vanilla game ...

You do have a valid point, however, in finding explanations for bizarre game code you are much better than me, so I will leave you to the task.

[Cholmondely]

Yes, we both know that... the problem is coming up with an explanation for what appears to be a bizarre piece of game code!

If you have zillions of dockable OXPs loaded - Liners which operate on the route, and the Black Monks, Rescue stations, SIRFs etc all bouncing in space around the witchpoint beacon, then fair enough.

But in the Vanilla game ...

You do have a valid point, however, in finding explanations for bizarre game code you are much better than me, so I will leave you to the task.

Fair Dibs:

It's not legal. It's not economic. It's religious!



Followers of the Witchspace Lobster have a taboo which necessitates their flying to the witchpoint beacon when they need to travel to another system.

Ask Sir Cody O.O.O.O. of El Viejo, our resident expert on their theology, for more detail:

You taunt the Witchspace Lobster at your peril!

As regards the Church of Giles the Creator, as everyone knows, St Giles's occultation commenced at what was eventually going to be the beacon point outside a now forgotten system (there are a plethora of arguments in the Church as to which system it was). So when the Holy Jens prepared himself to follow his sacred master, he too made his way to that very same witchspace exit to do so - where he overcame Ebortsa's ambush. It is obviously much better to embark on one's witchspace journey from the vicinity of the beacon.



I'm a tad unsure if the Church of the Holy Witchspace Guard has any views on the matter, though.


Reference: Another explanation (but requires an inexistent .oxp making fuel much more expensive and reducing fuel cost significantly only when jumping from the witchpoint beacon).

[montana05]

Fair Dibs:

It's not legal. It's not economic. It's religious!

I'm a tad unsure if the Church of the Holy Witchspace Guard has any views on the matter, though.

That was quick and quite entertaining. The Church of the Holy Witchspace Guard got it temples exactly on this route so pilgrims are encouraged to follow this path to enlightening.

[chomwitt]

Thanks for feedback.
I set course toward the planet at an angle , and then i approach the planet from the side . ( i mean from the side of the line defined by the bouy and
the planet).
That works well in avoiding pirates.
So i managed to travel to Leesti and then in Diso and do some trading.

Two other issues occured
1. I get fines and 'attitude adjustment' in both systems.
In Leesti i think it was because i got too close to station without a clearence. In DIso case
a couple of police ships dropped me out of hyperspeed just to fine me!. I was too away from the station.
Perhaps the reason was written on my screen but the messages go away very fast to read. (i'll pause the game
other time)
2. Due to approaching the planet from other course i get masslocked , presumable from the planet (because i think
the station masslocks you close to 50-100 km (a very rough estimate).
So i try to readjust my approaching maneuver in order to both avoid crowded lanes and the planet mass.

[montana05]

Two other issues occured
1. I get fines and 'attitude adjustment' in both systems.
In Leesti i think it was because i got too close to station without a clearence. In DIso case
a couple of police ships dropped me out of hyperspeed just to fine me!. I was too away from the station.
Perhaps the reason was written on my screen but the messages go away very fast to read. (i'll pause the game
other time)
2. Due to approaching the planet from other course i get masslocked , presumable from the planet (because i think
the station masslocks you close to 50-100 km (a very rough estimate).
So i try to readjust my approaching maneuver in order to both avoid crowded lanes and the planet mass.

Do you have any OXP's / OXZ's installed and if yes which ? You could see a complete list in your log file. There is particular one I suspect for a while to give bounties for no known reasons.

[Cody]

I get fines and 'attitude adjustment' in both systems.

Ah yes, attitude adjustment - I remember it well. A 5000Cr fine, and a serious time penalty!


Unless you've been a naughty boy, do what Montana says - check your OXPs!

[montana05]

Ah yes, attitude adjustment - I remember it well. A 5000Cr fine, and a serious time penalty!

Unless you've been a naughty boy, do what Montana says - check your OXPs!

I do get it once in a while, usually because I forgot to sell scooped firearms or narcotics before I launch.

[Cholmondely]

Two other issues occurred

1. I get fines and 'attitude adjustment' in both systems.
In Leesti i think it was because i got too close to station without a clearance. In DIso case
a couple of police ships dropped me out of hyperspeed just to fine me!. I was too far away from the station.
Perhaps the reason was written on my screen but the messages go away very fast to read. (i'll pause the game
other time)

I've never had this! But you can get recent messages back on-screen by pressing the appropriate button on your keyboard: `

Code: Select all

Action 	        Keyconfig Entry 	Key 	Keycode (Dec) 	Keycode (Hex) 	BBC Key

Comms Log 	key_comms_log 	         ` 	     96 	        60 	    ` 	

From http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Oolite ... d_Controls: bottom of the "in-flight controls" table

Or, on the Oolite Reference Sheets, it's on page 1 towards the bottom of the Flight Controls section in the right-hand column

Or, in-game, under Game Options, View Keyboard Configuration (I think this updates with your changes to the game) it is listed as "Comms Log" and is in the first column, towards the bottom (yet again!).

2. Due to approaching the planet from other course i get masslocked, presumably from the planet (because i think
the station masslocks you close to 50-100 km (a very rough estimate).
So i try to readjust my approaching maneuver in order to both avoid crowded lanes and the planet mass.

Yes, it's a problem - one needs to keep one's eye on the altimeter, and a HUD with a numerical readout for it helps much more (my Vimana HUD does this for me).

Also, Telescope allows one to see the mass-lock interference spheres around the planets (and other space craft). One needs to toggle the preferences to get the effect one wants (complicated - it is a complex OXP), but it does make that aspect of Oolite easier.

I find if I keep to the outer edge of the planet's rings, when it has them, that I'm usually safe.