Oolite Bulletins

Started rediscovering the magic of Elite now I've found this. Loving all the OXPs, bringing in stuff from Frontier and expanding in all sorts of ways. Small improvements in the mechanics that introduce cool new things without altering the classic formula too much.

The only thing I find tooth-grindingly frustrating and would want to see changed is the frequency with which systems get damaged in combat. The least love-pat on the top energy bank leaves you with c500 in repairs about half the time, it seems like. Given the epic, multi-pirate scraps I used to enjoy on the Amiga, it makes me cagier than I would like to be in Oolite.

I'd much prefer it if system damage wasn't even possible unless you were down to your final energy bank. Less realistic, perhaps, but it would punish you less for going in lasers blazing.

Queex wrote:

The least love-pat on the top energy bank leaves you with c500 in repairs about half the time, it seems like.

Ha! Wait 'til you get this amount of damage in a firefight... and it got worse:



Welcome aboard, Queex!

Coming in a future release:

Joystick destroyed.
Throttle down control destroyed.
Scanner destroyed.
External cameras destroyed.

Have fun docking!

Queex wrote:

Started rediscovering the magic of Elite now I've found this. Loving all the OXPs, bringing in stuff from Frontier and expanding in all sorts of ways. Small improvements in the mechanics that introduce cool new things without altering the classic formula too much.

The only thing I find tooth-grindingly frustrating and would want to see changed is the frequency with which systems get damaged in combat. The least love-pat on the top energy bank leaves you with c500 in repairs about half the time, it seems like. Given the epic, multi-pirate scraps I used to enjoy on the Amiga, it makes me cagier than I would like to be in Oolite.

I'd much prefer it if system damage wasn't even possible unless you were down to your final energy bank. Less realistic, perhaps, but it would punish you less for going in lasers blazing.

Hello Queex, and welcome to the friendliest board this side of Riedquat.

One or both of your shields must be next to nothing if you are getting systems damaged that much. I suggest you put some distance between you and the enemy. All of the core ships in vanilla Oolite, excluding the Constrictor and Viper Interceptor, have beam lasers at best. So if you are beyond a certain range they cannot hit you. In fact if you inject away a certain distance alert status will often change from red to yellow. An aft military laser is a must have. However if you like to mix it up close and I admit it is more fun, then you have to be prepared for bad outcomes sometimes.

Hello Queex,

maybe the problem is that you are trying to do too much, with an inadequately equipped ship ?
i.e. don't head into a big flock of pirates if your ship is not equipped to the max ? Even then, maybe reconsider when to fight and when to flee ?

Personally I like that vital-to-me equipment can get damaged - adds more challenge, when I am usually on a fixed course (cargo or passenger contracts) but for repairs of high-techlevel equipment I have to find a path that includes a high-TL planet on the way, without loosing too much time.
Or I even have to go with not having things repaired at all before everything is delivered, often making survival quite tricky.

I hope your ship has fuel scoops equipped ? - scooping remains of a fight usually makes up for small repairs.

El Viejo wrote:

Queex wrote:

The least love-pat on the top energy bank leaves you with c500 in repairs about half the time, it seems like.

Ha! Wait 'til you get this amount of damage in a firefight... and it got worse:

Welcome aboard, Queex!

Did you not have any cargo in the ship ? For me it is usually lots and lots of "[cargo] destroyed" messages, so many and so fast that only later I am able to see what equipment also went pouf.

Queex wrote:

I'd much prefer it if system damage wasn't even possible unless you were down to your final energy bank. Less realistic, perhaps, but it would punish you less for going in lasers blazing.

By complete coincidence I have already produced what you are asking for See this thread https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9404 Yes, the shield boosters, even military ones, are just an expensive system bottleneck I have therefore modified Thargoid's Naval Grid to dump colossal amounts of energy into the shields on demand (leaving 25% for emergencies). Now you can actually reap the benefit of that Naval Energy unit!
In practice this is not as much of a cheat as it might sound, you certainly won't be immortal, it's just another way of dying, but will preserve your cargo and equipment for the benefit of any surviving relatives I have been flying like this for a few days and it's still entertaining me . . . just don't expect to have energy to spare for such luxuries as ECM and the cloak.
IMPORTANT: Make absolutely sure the vanilla Naval Grid is working before you apply the mod, as I seem to recall I made the mod because it wasn't working . . . sorry can't remember all the things I did. Get back on this thread if you have problems and I'll look into it from scratch again.

I like the idea of systems getting damaged, but I find it happens a tad too often for my tastes. Delving into the source, there's a constant defined that seems to affect how often damage to the energy banks will cause system damage. It might be cute if that factor varied by which energy bank you were on (perhaps linearly, with a mean value equal to the current set-up).

Pretty much the first thing I did once I started was use IllicitUnlock to ditch the Cobby and spend the money on a tricked-out Mamba. Missiles? Rear-firing lasers? Who needs 'em? I think there are a couple of bits of kit I still need to get from high-tech worlds, and I don't plan on seeking out missions until I've got my old Frontier ride back- the legendary Constrictor.

Of course, trading is now out of the question so all my money is coming from bounties and scooped cargo. It's slow going, but the sense of triumph I had when that pirate turned out to be carrying 88kg of platinum was wonderful. Little things like messages of thanks when I assist traders and Vipers make it all worthwhile.

It's going to be a while before I get chance to purchase top-drawer kit to slosh energy around, though. I'll look into it as and when

While m4r35n357 has laid out one equipment solution, you might also want to consider Thargoid's Repair Bots OXP - specifically the Repair System this OXP brings to the table.

Systems will still get damaged in combat, so you won't miss out on those "injectors gone, ECM gone - uh oh..." moments, but would be spared having to scrape up the funds for repairs after every tussle.

Plus you get to balance the expense of an instant repair (when docked) versus waiting for the repair system to do its thing...

...And the higher tech the damaged equipment, the LONGER it takes. A cloaking device could take hours.

Things have got a lot better now that I've given up and got a rear laser, and recovered some of the old skills. I remapped the keys so that the arrows are pitch and yaw, and that makes it easier to seek targets to snipe at.

The controls seems very twitchy, though. Often it's impossible to get a Gecko in the sights before they're in range to open fire. I'd love mouse control for some fine control when firing, but at the moment mouse control adjusts your movement sliders rather than lets you change facing sensibly.

Repair Bots might be an option, I disregarded it on my first pass through the OXP list as it seemed a little too advantageous. Quick question, which its wiki page doesn't mention- if you get the non-pylon version, do you still need to refresh its nanobot supply from time to time?

In the meantime, I've offed the Constrictor, killed one Thargoid (quite often I find clouds of inactive Thargons after the Navy has dealt with the main threat- I'll install Thargon Threat to try and get more of a crack at them myself). I also scooped 133g of Gem-Stones from one crazy pirate, and soon after discovered the 127g capacity limit of a station. Still need about 70k before I can get back in a Cobra Mk III, though.

Queex wrote:

Repair Bots might be an option, I disregarded it on my first pass through the OXP list as it seemed a little too advantageous. Quick question, which its wiki page doesn't mention- if you get the non-pylon version, do you still need to refresh its nanobot supply from time to time?

No, they self-regenerate. Once the repair system is installed, it takes care of itself (and you).

Makara wrote:

the expense of an instant repair (when docked)

Not instant... watch your ship's clock next time. The cloak can take days to repair, as can other kit.

El Viejo wrote:

Makara wrote:

the expense of an instant repair (when docked)

Not instant... watch your ship's clock next time. The cloak can take days to repair, as can other kit.

Ah yes - should have mentioned that. I've missed more than one contract waiting for essential repairs/maintenance to be done.
Instant for the player then, but not in terms of the game clock

Today's haul- 198g of gem-stones in a single bulk container.

Also, now getting really good at taking out swarms of pirates again. Still wish the controls were less twitchy, though.

Queex wrote:

... Still wish the controls were less twitchy, though.

Well, one option would be to reduce the handling of your vessel (by setting up overrides for the pitch & yaw), although that would also make it more sluggish in general flight.

As it sounds like your issue is more with precision aiming in combat, you might want to follow the example of several users on this board and set the Time Acceleration Factor to 0.5 during combat situations so the game runs at half speed. This thread discusses automated ways of doing this (be warned, in the grand tradition of the Oolite BB it gets a bit rambling and techy at times, but contains many precious gems of information Kind of appropriate as it was split from the discussion of a mining vessel...) although you might want to try switching by hand first to see if this is helpful.