Oolite Bulletins

Lorfarius wrote:

I bought a Docking computer and I dont think it saves me anytime at all. Im at the skil now where I can easily fly full speed into the dock without hitting the sides and using the DC seems to take forever as it lines up, circles, speeds up, then slows down etc. Is therereally any benefit to it besides being able to leave the docking sequence running whilst you Alt Tab out of the prog to do other things?

Yep. It's the famous "Press Shift+D Whenever You Enter The Safe Zone" maneuver.

pepak wrote:

Talking of fuel leaks: Is it just a chance that every single time I scoop a fuel tank, my own ship's fuel tank develops a leak and I invariably lose all my fuel?

If you mean the fuel pods from A_H's Cargo pods teaser, I believe the pods with green flashers award fuel, while those with red flashers cause a fuel leak.

pepak wrote:

Is there a way to force rescue? Once in a while I get a slave instead of a passenger and I feel sorry for him (also, he earns me up to 50 times less than a passenger, and I feel sorry about that as well).

Unfortunately, your Tichy CargoMate™ recognises escape pods as cargo pods and, since they have live 'cargo' assumes they are Slaves. As yet, the Tichy Corporation have not made modifications to the CargoMate™'s inventory system to allow it to distinguish cargo pods from escape pods. This doesn't affect the pilot though, since carrying escape pod 'slaves' won't affect your legal status.

Though, if Maegil's Slavers_Are_Scum.oxp comes out, there may be trouble......

Captain Hesperus

Yep. It's the famous "Press Shift+D Whenever You Enter The Safe Zone" maneuver.

Yes I know But speed wise I cant see the benefit

Lorfarius wrote:

Yep. It's the famous "Press Shift+D Whenever You Enter The Safe Zone" maneuver.

Yes I know But speed wise I cant see the benefit

When you press Shift+D, you immediately dock, no lining up, speed up, slow down. Just straight to the F5 Status Screen. It also takes twenty minutes of 'in game' time.

Captain Hesperus

Captain Hesperus wrote:

Unfortunately, your Tichy CargoMate™ recognises escape pods as cargo pods and, since they have live 'cargo' assumes they are Slaves. As yet, the Tichy Corporation have not made modifications to the CargoMate™'s inventory system to allow it to distinguish cargo pods from escape pods.

That just isn't right. I may destroy a competitor's ship, but I just despise slavery. I would never deprive a fellow human being of his freedom. That's just so morally wrong. At least as long as insurance pays 6 to 50 times more than a slave. There has to be something to be done to the poor souls who are heading to the slave market. Should I perhaps eject them into the sun or something?

Captain Hesperus wrote:

Lorfarius wrote:

Yep. It's the famous "Press Shift+D Whenever You Enter The Safe Zone" maneuver.

Yes I know But speed wise I cant see the benefit

When you press Shift+D, you immediately dock, no lining up, speed up, slow down. Just straight to the F5 Status Screen. It also takes twenty minutes of 'in game' time.

Captain Hesperus

Doh! Ive just been hitting C and letting it fly in then. So its not a waste of money after all! To be honest Ive been scared of going anywhere near the D key. Its placed far to close to the main controls for my liking and it can be very easy to just dump your cargo with it.

pepak wrote:

That just isn't right. I may destroy a competitor's ship, but I just despise slavery. I would never deprive a fellow human being of his freedom. That's just so morally wrong. At least as long as insurance pays 6 to 50 times more than a slave. There has to be something to be done to the poor souls who are heading to the slave market. Should I perhaps eject them into the sun or something?

I understand your concerns. Maybe you could write an OXP that allows you the option of releasing slaves rather than selling them......
I can see it now, William_Wilberforce.oxp

Captain Hesperus

Finally bought a docking computer! Love the music.

Despite the wiki saying it's slow, it took about the same time I would (my technique was to run right at the station, then right at the navigation beacon to avoid "out of round" if you will.)

I'm surprised that the computers don't do a perfect docking. Though they didn't bump anything, it was a little nerve-rattling. Had I been doing that docking manually I probably would have pulled away and tried again.

The "instant" docking is much faster but you miss out on the fun.

Oooh, just shot down 3 pirates. I captured 1 ton of slaves, hope they don't affect my legal status...

Fraoch wrote:

Oooh, just shot down 3 pirates. I captured 1 ton of slaves, hope they don't affect my legal status...

I was rather surprised that in Oolite it doesn't matter what you buy or sell. You become marked for smuggling if, and only if, you leave a space station with illegal cargo. Which is quite annoying if you land with one scooped ton of Narcotics only to discover that this particular station trades them for 1.6 Credits...

pepak wrote:

Which is quite annoying if you land with one scooped ton of Narcotics only to discover that this particular station trades them for 1.6 Credits...

If that's the case, buy as much as you can, then Hyperspace and sun-skim until the 'Offender' status is cleared, then sell it at a juicy profit.

Captain Hesperus

Captain Hesperus wrote:

pepak wrote:

Which is quite annoying if you land with one scooped ton of Narcotics only to discover that this particular station trades them for 1.6 Credits...

If that's the case, buy as much as you can, then Hyperspace and sun-skim until the 'Offender' status is cleared, then sell it at a juicy profit. :twisted:

Captain Hesperus

I forgot to add, "and has none in stock".

Meh, profit is profit.

Captain Hesperus

Captain Hesperus wrote:

If that's the case, buy as much as you can, then Hyperspace and sun-skim until the 'Offender' status is cleared, then sell it at a juicy profit.

Do you mean if you just putter around a system it'll clear?

Fraoch wrote:

Do you mean if you just putter around a system it'll clear?

Jumping to neighbouring systems a few time will lose you your 'Fugitive' or 'Offender' status, as long as you don't get into any fights.

Captain Hesperus

If you hit SHIFT D then you're instantly docked (as long as the S is up on the HUD). The reason some scooped pods come up as slaves is that not everybody is sensible enough to buy insurance. The insurance is the Commander's guarantee that he won't be sold as a slave, since the insurance will pay more for letting him go.