Oolite Bulletins

snork wrote:

Moray with CBE

won't work.

a) Only the med-Moray is extendable. And that one is just as expensive as a Cobra Mk3.
b) The only Oolite-pure ships affordable from Cobra-3-resale value are the Adder and the Cobra1.

A Moray with a CBE? Is it not deserving of a OBE or even an MBE?

Something I've noticed is if the missile hits me in the front, I die...from behind it may not completely even remove the shield. Extra impact speed?

Switeck wrote:

Something I've noticed is if the missile hits me in the front, I die...from behind it may not completely even remove the shield. Extra impact speed?

Yes (I think). It works for those suicidal pirate collisions as well...If you can slow in time you stand a better chance of surviving.

Switeck wrote:

Something I've noticed is if the missile hits me in the front, I die...from behind it may not completely even remove the shield. Extra impact speed?

Could be. There is a legendary story from our MIA Trumble selling feline who hit the injectors and jettisoned a cargo pod which slammed into his target at high speed and vaporised it...

Theoretically, if a large object (like a ship) strikes you at a tangent, it'll blow away your shield while leaving your hull and hide more or less intact.

Missiles however, rely on their explosion to deal damage. Being further away from the center of the explosion deals less damage and vice versa. A direct hit from a missile would spell instant death for anything smaller than a frigate class vessel; but missiles will usually trigger before directly impacting their target.

In RL(tm) the clue is in the name - "missile" opposed to something like a thrown rock which is a "hitile".

Neatly summed up here: http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/cosford/col ... sile_id=20

DaddyHoggy wrote:

In RL(tm) the clue is in the name - "missile" opposed to something like a thrown rock which is a "hitile".

Y’know, that’s some hilariously messed up false etymology you keep repeating. :-)

Ahruman wrote:

DaddyHoggy wrote:

In RL(tm) the clue is in the name - "missile" opposed to something like a thrown rock which is a "hitile".

Y’know, that’s some hilariously messed up false etymology you keep repeating.

Not sure what you mean.

As I worked in Infrared Countermeasures for the MOD for 13 years - the differential is fairly clear cut, as are the defeat mechanisms.

Cheap and/or small "devices" (such as the Rapier system or a Man-Portable Air Defence System (MANPAD) such as the SA-7), must HIT the target to detonate and their blast propagation mechanism relies on the fact that they have hit the surface of, or have penetrated the skin of, the target. The MOD and the rest of the defence industry call these Hitiles, to differentiate them from weapon systems that rely on self detonating "a distance" from the target, a distance that is calibrated to allow the cone of shrapnel generated by the detonation of the charge to shred the target and cause maximum damage. Because these weapons do not need to hit the target to be effective and therefore must be defeated before they get to their detonation point we called them (correctly) missiles.

Hmm, as far as I know, hitile is a back formation from missile - missile existed as a word to describe something that is launched well before rockets were invented: whatever a catapult or a trebuchet launched was a missile, which is related to missive - 'something that is being sent'...

Edit: these guys seem to somewhat agree with me & Ahruman:

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=missile

Kaks wrote:

Hmm, as far as I know, hitile is a back formation from missile - missile existed as a word to describe something that is launched: whatever a catapult or a trebuchet launched was a missile, which is related to missive - 'something that is being sent'...

Edit: these guys seem to agree with me & Ahruman:

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=missile

True, but this is 13 years of indoctrination with the MOD you're fighting against - a very literal species.

Oops, caught in the middle of a re-rewrite!

DaddyHoggy wrote:

As I worked in Infrared Countermeasures for the MOD for 13 years - the differential is fairly clear cut, as are the defeat mechanisms.

Industry jargon is exactly that: jargon. It doesn’t take priority over the well-established meaning of a word – just as it would be ludicrous for a programmer to criticise the use of “bug” to describe an insect in the order hemiptera on the basis that programmers use it differently.

An arrow, or a stone, continues to be a missile weapon. The clue is indeed in the name: an inflection of latin mitto, “I send” (related English word: “missive”).

OK, OK, point conceded! Can't argue with a multi-linguist who clearly knows more about my native tongue than I do.

(However, I still claim its not my fault - I blame the MOD indoctrination and therefore the out-going Chief-Of-The-Defence-Staff)

There is another way of generating cash very fast:

Look regularly in the passengers contracts. There are sometimes very interesting offers at a value of several times the cost of a passenger cabin.
Buy the cabin, take the passenger on board, collect his advance fee and just ignore the passenger.

You have immediately some extra money to spend. At some time the passenger will get furious because you don't get at his destination and will leave your ship. At this time you can sell the passenger cabin again.

I tried this strategy once and noticed as drawback that the cabin uses space in your cargo hold for quite a time. So, I am not sure if the initial gain is less that the profit you could make with the lost cargo space.

Why not (try to) deliver the passenger ?
I liked how it gave me a short-term objective in the game.