Fuel Scoops not performing well

[davcefai]

I hadn't played Oolite for about a month. When I got back, having updated, I found some negative changes.

The main one is that Fuel Scoop performance is severely degraded. If I don't line up a scoopable item just so it either takes a very long time to get scooped - if I maintain course and speed - or it gets away if i manouvre at all.

Is this a deliberate modification?

I am running v1.2 - Aug 4 2008

[JensAyton]

I hadn't played Oolite for about a month. When I got back, having updated, I found some negative changes.

The main one is that Fuel Scoop performance is severely degraded. If I don't line up a scoopable item just so it either takes a very long time to get scooped - if I maintain course and speed - or it gets away if i manouvre at all.

Is this a deliberate modification?

Yes, that was a deliberate change in 1.65, or possible earlier. It was part of a set of changes to make scooping look somewhat sane when seen with external views. Blame Giles. :-)

I am running v1.2 - Aug 4 2008

Oolite 1.2? That’s from 2004! :-)

[davcefai]

Oops! Firstly, 1.2 was a typo. I was running 1.72.

Yesterday my frustration level hit new heights and I installed 1.71.2.x86.package downloaded from Berlios.

Glee! I found the following differences.
1.72 refers to the fully updated "nightly build" version.
Positive:
1. Scoops scooped faster and more reliably.
2. The Station Beacons survived until I got there.
3. Thargoids fought with me, not each other.
4. Compass showed Scavengers, Hermits, etc

Neutral (?):
Pirate Lasers seem less powerful. In v1.72 3 or more pirates attacking could destroy my ship within seconds. The only way to survive was to turn on the cloaking device, change course drastically and use the injectors to get a fair distance away before turning off the device and re-engaging them carefully.

Negative:
In 1.72, attacking escort ships provoked an immediate response from at least some of the other escorts and the mothership. In 1.71 they often don't seem to notice that they are being picked off individually.

It seems to me that these differences have crept into the nightly build since the beginning of July.

[Lestradae]

In 1.72, attacking escort ships provoked an immediate response from at least some of the other escorts and the mothership.

You list this change as negative, doesn`t that actually make sense?

[davcefai]

I've been doing too much work using Cartesian coordinates!

In my list, "positive" meant that the earlier version was better. Negative meant that the earlier version was worse.

v1.72 handled escort behaviour better, therefore my downgrade resulted in a negative experience in escort behaviour.