Sun skimming, your OXP problems, Managing equipment lists
arquebus wrote: ↑Tue Jan 23, 2024 2:24 am
As for the scooping part, I've not actually been able to do it, because I can't get close enough to any star. I melt before the scoop starts working. Which suggests I need heat shielding, but then that just raises a whole bunch of additional in-universe questions. (If you can't scoop without heat shields, why would anyone sell you a scoop without heat shields? If you can scoop without heat shields, but the number of stars where you can do it is drastically limited, why would you bother? Most of your fueling is going to be on stations anyway, only rarely being able to use your scoop.)
Just watched your first attempt.
Sun scooping without heat shielding is suicide.
SUICIDE!!
Unless you are Phkb (see his comments below)
That was why heat shielding was brought into the game - to allow sun scooping
without committing suicide! And when Planet Landing was added a couple of years later, that needed heat shielding too for the atmospheric friction.
•Cargo scooping does not need heat shielding.
•The size/colour of the star should not affect your technique - unless you are using Sun Gear OXP (part of Stranger's World) - where it determines how close to the sun you need to be.
Your OXPs don't seem to be working properly.
1) Hard Way OXP. This allows scooping without the need for heat shields at quite a distance from the sun (c.10,000km). You should have been scooping the solar flux with Sun Gear loaded.
So it was not working for some reason.
Perhaps you were too close to the sun when you stopped and tried to scoop. I'm not convinced. Perhaps another OXP interfered. I don't know.
And Hard Way should stop you manoeuvering so much in Torus - your movements should be quite limited - unless you are rolling.
And should eat your fuel with any movement - just as happens in all the other space games you play.
2) Diplomancy OXP. This needs a visa for
all Corporates (they want your dosh), and
all Commies and Dictatorships (they want to stop the wrong political types getting in). You should have needed a visa for Zaonce. And Ra (2 episodes earlier).
3) Rock Hermits. I have always been able to save at Rock Hermits. Something wrong there, too.
Some Solutions
1)
If you are using Hard Way, add in an MFD which gives a Solar Flux ReadOut - try
Useful MFDs
Useful MFDs - see screen shot below - notice the Solar Wind reading in the top left MFD (6 lines down).
2)
Without Hard Way, buy External Heat Shielding: It costs 1,500 ₢. and is available at Tech Level 5 or higher.
There is a YouTube video for sun scooping by Smivs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITefPraygXM
Notice how his temperature (CT bar) rises and rises before the scooping starts. And how long it takes for the temperature to fall again afterwards. And that is
with External Heat Shielding.
The stuff on the wiki is from 2013 or so - before Oolite v.1.80 was introduced with its amplified sun glare.
With Sun Glare you either need
(1) an OXP which cuts the glare (
Glare Clarifier or
Glare Filter)
or (2) a HUD which allows you to read the stuff on it (Xenon HUD or the Vimana-X - which you have - but you may need to modify it when docked using the F4 screen options (under "Ship Systems" - Vimana-X HUD Settings - configures warning pop-ups, glare-proofing and special info slots)
or (3) to keep a sharp eye peeled gazing at your Advanced Space Compass which needs to be set at the sun - so that you can see if it is in front of you or behind you or where!
Look (in his YouTube movie) at Smiv's Space Compass - the yellow dot with the green surround is the sun in front - when it goes behind, it the surround turns red). And see how his ship changes colour as it heats up and cools down. It's tougher in a Python - they are slower than a Cobra Mk.3, so it takes longer to get into scooping range and his ship heats up more. And it takes longer to leave the furnace (hence he injects out, because he's masslocked by the sun).
In your first attempt you flew into the sun - then turned around - then dithered, then changed your mind, then turned around... all the time your ship was getting hotter and hotter and hotter. Compare what you did with what Smivs did.
Note that the sun glare also affects NPCs - see
Manfred's Manoeuver
3)
Finding stuff on your Ship's F5 Screen.
Try Phkb's new OXP:
Loadout by Category - see screen shot below
4)
Missile info
Try Phkb's new OXP:
Missile Summary which displays your missile pylon contents on your Ship's F5 screen - see screen shot below
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Useful MFDs - notice the Solar Wind reading in the top left MFD (6 lines down).
Loadout by Category
The red "selling" lines come from another OXP - "Equipment 'Sell Item' Color" (used to be Equipment 'Remove Item' Color)
Missile Summary
Edited to incorporate Phkb's comments just below - and to emphasise the difference between the Arquebusian and the Smivsian approaches to sun skimming.
![[EliteWiki]](/images/elitewikismall.png){kind=small}
Cargo Scoop as Standard