Oolite Bulletins

Fritz wrote:

@spara: I don't know if it's important, but I found entries concerning the traffic jam in my log file, long before I had seen or targeted the rock hermit:

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19:34:06.420 [station.launchShip.failed]: Cancelled launch for a Asp Mark II with role assassin-heavy, as the GalCop Station Laxema 1 has too many ships in its launch queue(s) or no suitable launch docks.

There are other hints of any malfunction in the log.

"GalCop Station Laxema 1" sounds strange. Some other OXP in work here? This might also be a docking bug in core. I don't see how pirate hermit could induce that, but you never know.

Cody wrote:

Hmm... 11,700 for a maintenance overhaul, which takes 32 hours, eh? Very cool! Not only that, but I've just been given a flying lesson by an ace in an Adder! They've got me trapped in their rock hermit, the fiends! It seems I'm gonna have to fight my way out... but then I did have to fight my way in! <chortles>

Souns exactly the kind of fun I was aiming at . I'm not happy with the AI yet and equipment shop needs work, but I'm glad it's already giving entertainment.

Cody wrote:

Unrelated question: you can save at rock hermits, but you can't edit the ship's registration... is that correct?

Yes, ship's registration is main station only feature.

GalCop Station Laxema ...

This is only my naming OXP, technically almost the same as Randomshipnames. It does nothing else with the stations.

Could a pirate hermit's shipyard be able to repair lower-level stuff, but not offer it for sale?
I'm thinking purely combat-related kit such as the ECM and Multi-Targeting systems.

Report continued:

Finally, some aegis raiders managed to interrupt and reset the docking queue, and at least an hour later I managed to dock and save at the main station...

Then I returned to the pirate hermit, which looked the same as before. This time I was attacked on approach, and after I had killed a group of pirates, I approached from the other side (from the sun to avoid the glare), and I was attacked again.

Did you do anything with the pirate's AI? I fought most of them from a distance, and I had the impression that the ships attacking me were aiming very badly, but they did a good job avoiding my lasers by avoiding to fly in a straight line (both things are connected of course).

I fought them off and tried to approach the hermit again. There were about 8 to 10 ships left (I had killed 16), and one of them was about to dock. It seems I had earned some respect because I wasn't attacked again, and so was able to dock and to collect some bounties.

(Question: It didn't happen this time, but could it be possible at a pirate hermit that police is waiting to arrest the captured pilots? If yes, this should be fixed in the core game.)

The TL seemed higher than normal, and I could have bought pulse and beam lasers, and passenger cabins. I could even "repair" one of my cats. But 225 Cr was quite expensive for it!

The market seemed very full for a rock hermit. Apart from textiles, gem stones, and alien items, everything was available, the biggest amount being alloys (this seems reasonable considering the method pirates use to acquire goods).

I bought some slaves, furs, and gold, and saved the game. After launching I had condition red, but the ship causing this was fleeing before I even had targeted it. The other ships (9) remained peaceful, and I was able to depart for the main station without problems.

I was attacked a little later, with the hermit just outside scanner range, but this could have been a coincidence. It was quite a large group, but nothing too unusual in an anarchy system. Some bounty hunters joined in the fight, so it probably wasn't part of the hermit AI anymore.

Police waiting to arrest captured pilots at rock hermits is a problem generally.

key_autodock (insta-dock in realtime) should work for jams. (Main stations only.)

I didn't waste money for docking computers... perhaps I should!

I still wonder if it was a very strange coincidence, because I never experienced something like this, and it happened after my first encounter with a pirate hermit after installing the OXP.

I did have around five blocked queue incidents in the past, but it always happened while I was carrying contracts and being bothered by assassins. I assume, this is not a bug, but a feature, because it makes the game more interesting. If nothing else happens (like aegis raiders appearing), you can unblock the queue by killing the assassins, and at least once I didn't even need to kill them all, so perhaps only the group leader can block the queue.

But it never happened that the blocking had caused a huge accumulation of waiting ships before I arrived, so the queues were blocked when I was near to the station already. So today was something different definitely.

AutoDock.oxz provides a way of using the main station's docking protocols without needing a docking computer. They charge for this service, though!

I wonder what the assassins pay...

Next visit to the Laxema pirate hermit: Only four ships outside on approach, they attacked me, I killed three and followed the fourth outside hermit scanner range. When I returned some minutes later, the space around the hermit was full of ships again (at least 10). Does the OXP keep track of how many ships are inside?

I wasn't attacked immediately, but when I came closer, suddenly two of them went red on the scanner and demanded cargo. But before I did anything, the rock hermit blew up. I didn't fire, and I didn't see other ships firing. Is it possible that the attackers fired at the hermit because most of it was between me and the entrance? Perhaps it should be made a little bit stronger than usual...

Now, what seemed to be the only pirate hermit in G4 is history...

Just wondering ,

Is this add on compatible with the Rock Hermit Locator oxp
and will they show up on a Long Range Scanner ?

Fritz wrote:

Is it possible that the attackers fired at the hermit because most of it was between me and the entrance? Perhaps it should be made a little bit stronger than usual...

They continued to fire at me all the way up the slot, mostly hitting the hermit itself. Are hermits generally too weak?


@Duggan: it should be fine with RHL, I'd think... but I've no idea about the LRS.

Asteroids have 100 energy, rock hermits 1000 (although a hollow rock should be weaker!). I don't know if spara has increased it, but 1000 is not much more than a strong ship equipped with shield boosters.

I always felt that asteroids are much too weak in comparison, even when playing Elite.

The rock hermit is still there.

Either there is a bug in the core game, or the OXP prevents the hermit from being deleted from the list. I have to admit that I never destroyed one in a saved game, so I don't know if this is the usual behaviour.

Hmm... hermits having always been my friends, I've never tried to destroy one. Dropped one into a sun once, but that was a mission objective.
They are certainly too weak, by those numbers... but how would one explain them being as strong as a station, say?