Oolite Bulletins

RyanHoots wrote:

Kinda on topic, I'm hoping to get a Constrictor when I become Elite, mostly because of the speed.

I hope you're not disappointed. It is very fast, for sure, like a dragster! But also like a dragster at those speeds a ship is all but uncontrollable. It's impossible to even get close to locking on a target as the ship is so 'twitchy', and only really becomes effective when you get down to 0.4 LM or less. So it's really not a 'combat ship' - if you remember it's actually a test-bed for a new shield...it's only fast to make the native mission work and be fun.
I suppose if all you want to do is run away.... (Only kidding)
Hack one and fly it though...it's quite an experience!

Smivs wrote:

RyanHoots wrote:

Kinda on topic, I'm hoping to get a Constrictor when I become Elite, mostly because of the speed.

I hope you're not disappointed. It is very fast, for sure, like a dragster! But also like a dragster at those speeds a ship is all but uncontrollable. It's impossible to even get close to locking on a target as the ship is so 'twitchy', and only really becomes effective when you get down to 0.4 LM or less. So it's really not a 'combat ship' - if you remember it's actually a test-bed for a new shield...it's only fast to make the native mission work and be fun.
I suppose if all you want to do is run away.... (Only kidding)
Hack one and fly it though...it's quite an experience!

Maybe if I turn the TAF down a bit it will work...
I didn't know about it's handling, that does sound useless. Maybe I'll need to spend some time in a rent-a-hanger. Challenge: make a .6 LM ship actually work in combat.

Smivs wrote:

I had to look up the Firefly, 'cos I had no idea what you were talking about. As far as I can see it's weedy and only has a frankly unbelievable top speed as a 'redeeming' feature. As it seems to be causing you problems, why not just remove it?

Put it in your game engine, get into a dog fight with it, and see what happens. That ship, and a couple other tiny speeders like to hit you with a quarium bomb in their death throws. The first couple of times I didn't know what had hit me, as I thought I had just destroyed that pesky little ship. Then I noticed the deep blue flash just as my shields dropped, and my hull integrity caved in. I didn't say I didn't like it. It adds a risk factor to the game that is quite exciting, causing me to develop new ways to handle myself in dogfights.

RyanHoots wrote:

Smivs wrote:

RyanHoots wrote:

Kinda on topic, I'm hoping to get a Constrictor when I become Elite, mostly because of the speed.

I hope you're not disappointed. It is very fast, for sure, like a dragster! But also like a dragster at those speeds a ship is all but uncontrollable. It's impossible to even get close to locking on a target as the ship is so 'twitchy', and only really becomes effective when you get down to 0.4 LM or less. So it's really not a 'combat ship' - if you remember it's actually a test-bed for a new shield...it's only fast to make the native mission work and be fun.
I suppose if all you want to do is run away.... (Only kidding)
Hack one and fly it though...it's quite an experience!

Maybe if I turn the TAF down a bit it will work...
I didn't know about it's handling, that does sound useless. Maybe I'll need to spend some time in a rent-a-hanger. Challenge: make a .6 LM ship actually work in combat.

Have you guys tried a Merlin? It's top speed is .55, and it is frangible like you wouldn't believe. Most of the ship has to be blown off before the ship itself will die. It's speed isn't a deterrent, just another weapon in a dog fight. Did you know you can outrun any missile with a Merlin? Imagine what the Constrictor can do. I found this out one day when, after I had fired off a hardened missile, I caught up to, and passed the missile before it could reach it's target. Shoot, I ended up blowing the target to shreds with my lasers before the missile even got in range. Kind of funky. Also, if the shields are getting dangerously low, in a Merlin you can just crank it up to full speed, do a lot of juking, and jittering, swooping in and out of the fight. I usually pick out the farthest target on my screen, aim the Merlin at it, line up the crosshairs and hit it with a full laser blast as I sweep past. Launching a missile as you zip over the top of your target can score a bullseye now and then, too.

Once again, I'm getting that feeling that I'm not flying Taylor Miller long...

Once again, I'm getting the feeling that I'm glad I stick to sensible ships in my Ooniverse.

Smivs wrote:

Hack one and fly it though...it's quite an experience!

I'll say!
Hacked my secondary savefile used for ship testing and went on a rampage... it went well (handling was horrible), the speed was amazing. Some Cobra Mk3 pilot used a triple hardhead bombardment, so I was toast.
Not a ship I want to fly everyday, but a very powerful and formidable beast. If I could have multiple ships (that is, if the devs add that feature, which I would love), I'd go for a Boa Clipper as my work ship, and a Constrictor as my "sports car" ship.

Smivs wrote:

Once again, I'm getting the feeling that I'm glad I stick to sensible ships in my Ooniverse.

Yeah, leave the fun ones to those of us with no sense at all.

I get the feeling that mandoman plays a game that's right insane in the membrane.

I find those little go-carts Boyracers ride in annoying enough: hard to hit cause they're so small, but can't take much abuse when you got a bead on them. Basically a missile with a laser attached and an idiot for guidance. I'm glad they don't carry kamikaze q-bomb charges as well; the Random Hits marks that resort to that tactic are bad enough.

The new Vendetta can cruise at .420, but it's still wise to match your target's speed with it, once you're on his six and blasting his ass off.

RyanHoots wrote:

Not a ship I want to fly everyday, but a very powerful and formidable beast. If I could have multiple ships (that is, if the devs add that feature, which I would love), I'd go for a Boa Clipper as my work ship, and a Constrictor as my "sports car" ship.

My "sports car" ship is the SunBat MkII. Front, AND aft lasers, and I won't say how fast it goes.

Cmdr Wyvern wrote:

I get the feeling that mandoman plays a game that's right insane in the membrane.

I find those little go-carts Boyracers ride in annoying enough: hard to hit cause they're so small, but can't take much abuse when you got a bead on them. Basically a missile with a laser attached and an idiot for guidance. I'm glad they don't carry kamikaze q-bomb charges as well; the Random Hits marks that resort to that tactic are bad enough.

The new Vendetta can cruise at .420, but it's still wise to match your target's speed with it, once you're on his six and blasting his ass off.

Yeah, I suppose it IS a bit of an insane Ooniverse on my screen, especially after getting all this feedback. I must come from a different background, or something. When I was a teen, fast was great. Now I'm an adult, and fast is STILL great. If you think the way I play is insane, you should see the stuff my son plays. I'm dead in about two seconds in his games.

RyanHoots wrote:

Hacked my secondary savefile used for ship testing and went on a rampage... it went well (handling was horrible), the speed was amazing. Some Cobra Mk3 pilot used a triple hardhead bombardment, so I was toast.
Not a ship I want to fly everyday, but a very powerful and formidable beast. If I could have multiple ships (that is, if the devs add that feature, which I would love), I'd go for a Boa Clipper as my work ship, and a Constrictor as my "sports car" ship.

Crank the Constrictor's max_energy to 512 (8 banks), give it has_energy_unit, has_shield_booster, and has_naval_shield_booster, then it should be everything the Navy officer says it is.

Cmdr Wyvern wrote:

Crank the Constrictor's max_energy to 512 (8 banks), give it has_energy_unit, has_shield_booster, and has_naval_shield_booster, then it should be everything the Navy officer says it is.

Oh yeah! Already been there, and done that, with my Merlin. It was nearly indestructible to begin, but after doing similar to what you just said, it basically WAS indestructible.........well, maybe not quite that, but it was harder to kill than the original, by far.

I posted the download link for the Marauder1.0.oxp on the first post of this thread. Hope you all enjoy it. I sure had fun making it.

Smivs wrote:

RyanHoots wrote:

Kinda on topic, I'm hoping to get a Constrictor when I become Elite, mostly because of the speed.

I hope you're not disappointed. It is very fast, for sure, like a dragster! But also like a dragster at those speeds a ship is all but uncontrollable. It's impossible to even get close to locking on a target as the ship is so 'twitchy', and only really becomes effective when you get down to 0.4 LM or less. So it's really not a 'combat ship' - if you remember it's actually a test-bed for a new shield...it's only fast to make the native mission work and be fun.
I suppose if all you want to do is run away.... (Only kidding)
Hack one and fly it though...it's quite an experience!

I can testify to it's lack of maneuverability. I once wanted to test what would happen if you had a ship that went 1.0 lm. I made the super-cruiser, an oxp modified off of a player constrictor oxp. I injected out of mass lock range of the station and kept on cruising for a while. I then turned back to the planet and the main station and engaged torus drive. I saw the planet was coming up way too fast, I killed the torus drive, and then reached mass lock range half a minute. I pulled up sharply to avoid the planet and to lose some speed. It wasn't enough...

Just a few dozen seconds later...
Bang! Press Space Commander!

mandoman wrote:

Yeah, I suppose it IS a bit of an insane Ooniverse on my screen, especially after getting all this feedback. I must come from a different background, or something. When I was a teen, fast was great. Now I'm an adult, and fast is STILL great. If you think the way I play is insane, you should see the stuff my son plays. I'm dead in about two seconds in his games.

Fast is great. In the right place. But my Ooniverse is not the right place. Oolite is a space trading and combat game, not 'Spacelanes Racer'
And whatever you say, introducing elements (ships) which don't make sense and 'break' the essence of the game is not something I will ever understand. And trying to 'fix' the break by adding even more silliness is not the answer either. That's just pouring more fuel on the fire!