Oolite Bulletins

Darkbee wrote:

Am I sounding very bossy right now? (apologies if I am, I realise its not my project...honest!)

Don't worry, if I get too overwhelmed with feature requests I just go and do what I want to do anyway.

This may change once I have Subversion up and running (server upgrade and a book to read first) and can start inviting more active co-development.

Okay, v1.26 has implementations of some of these suggestions. Further comments on how I implemented them and suggestions for how they may be improved, please...

Just played with 1.26. Blasted off to an anarchy system & had a go with the enhanced scanner/multi misslie (although I'm confused as I purchased one item & had both multi missiles & enhanced scanner, is this right ). Anyway I rarely use missiles but this enhancement was good fun to use. Oolite is becoming an awesome game, since 1.22 I don't think I've played a better version of Elite, infact it really is starting to move into a class of it's own truely 'Oolite'!

The ID computer really seems superfluous to requirements... why would I ever want to use it?

If missles are now automatically locked on when you have an ID target... then why not just lock a missile on, in the first place? (which will still tell you what you're locked onto anyway). Not withstanding the fact if you have the scanner enhancement that will ALSO tell you what ship you've locked onto. So my question is, how does the ID computer help, or add anything to the gameplay? I vaguely remember reading that, locking onto ships with missiles should be considered an act of aggression, which could be used to explain why you can't just lock missiles on ships, willy nilly, to find out what they are.

I would suggest that if you want to keep the ID computer, then if you lock onto a ship WITHOUT using it (i.e. directly with a missile, using T), then you should not be told what target you've locked onto (i.e. the "missile locked onto poor defenceless anaconda" should be removed or made generic). Furthermore, using the direct missile lock method, could or should risk the possibility of the ship becoming hostile.

The only time I could think of that an ID computer would be useful (and we assume that the missiles have their own targetting capability) is if you have run out of missiles. Even then, can I not still use the T key in combination with my scanner enhancement to identify ships? (even if I can't actually fire a missile on them)

I like what you've done but it does seem a bit clumsy at the moment. I have not played with it extensively yet but I just wanted to brainstorm on the forum. No doubt I'll return with some more ideas once I get a chance to play it a bit more.

I have some questions but it'll probably be better if I figure out the answers myself... one that springs to mind is, if you have targetted multiple ships and locked on with missiles... can you still cycle through the locked missiles and thus change the target that shows up on the scanner enhancment?

Darkbee wrote:

if you have targetted multiple ships and locked on with missiles... can you still cycle through the locked missiles and thus change the target that shows up on the scanner enhancment?

Yes.

I don't think the IDcom is superfluous. it's certainly your last tool once you've spent your missiles and you appreciate the directional help given by a "lock", but even with a full hand of missiles I prefer peacefully IDing ships first.

if every ship I lock missiles onto is given an alert and sees its status go red, some should definately become aggressive. no less so the police. what cop ever just shrugged off being pointed a gun at?

since Giles is looking into sophisticating this AI beviour, maybe there'll be a shift to a more diplomatically sensitive era.

maybe (blahblah) only the IDcom should have the distance, name and status, and while Missile Lock just concentrate on the frame and arrow, and distance, to easier see what modus you're in. or it's fine as it is.

It gets so busy in the space-lanes sometimes that it can be hard to remember what, on your busy scanner, you have actually identified. So, proposal for further enhancement: how about an option to mark as "unidentified" anything on the scanner that your STE has not already told you about, for example by having all the un-id'd little yellow sticks flash slowly.

11 years. We have a definitive new winner.

***Applause***

<chortles> Leafy will be disappointed to lose his title!

jh145 wrote:

having all the un-id'd little yellow sticks flash slowly.

This approach assume that your scanner can get info from your front only. Not so hard to make an OXP which turn on the standard alternating stick color in this case, for example yellow-orange.

Personally I think the identification is possible from any direction within range, so my MFD in Telescope show the type of nearby targets, this save the locking of them.

Edit: typo fix in url.

another_commander wrote:

We have a definitive new winner.

Never mind that; has that poll been running for more than 10 years? And only 15 people voted...

Norby wrote:

... so my MFD in Telescope show the type of nearby targets, this save the locking of them.

Oooh, nice piece of kit. Must install ... thanks!

Wildeblood wrote:

Never mind that; has that poll been running for more than 10 years? And only 15 people voted...

In fairness, that was probably 75% of the forum membership, at the time..

I think the current version 1.80 has all the ID equipment needed already available. Having all visible ships Id'd on the hud at same time would be very messy and distracting.