Oolite Bulletins

Is there such button ? In the ZX and PC XT Elite there was a possibility to swich to aft view having controls inverted.

Mad Hollander wrote:

Is there such button ? In the ZX and PC XT Elite there was a possibility to swich to aft view having controls inverted.

No, there isn't. But hey, welcome

maik wrote:

Mad Hollander wrote:

Is there such button ? In the ZX and PC XT Elite there was a possibility to swich to aft view having controls inverted.

No, there isn't. But hey, welcome

Oh, damn, I was pretty sure it is
When I fight with a dozen of ships the laser stops working very soon and without such inversion aft view becomes useless.

Without any misses the military laser stops working just about python or boa killing. How to deal with lazer temperature ?

Mad Hollander wrote:

Oh, damn, I was pretty sure it is
When I fight with a dozen of ships the laser stops working very soon and without such inversion aft view becomes useless.

Without any misses the military laser stops working just about python or boa killing. How to deal with lazer temperature ?

If you have a joystick, you can turn it around ... but if you fly by keyboard you just have to learn to invert your brain.

Dealing with laser temperature is an art, frankly: conserve your shots, and keep your distance, is my advice! Fire, flip, fire again, then dodge and weave until your guns have cooled ...

Yes, as Disembodied mentioned if you use a 'stick you can just turn it around
Having said that with practice you'll soon get used to and very good at using the aft gun without any 'help'. It's just one of the skills an Ace pilot has to master.

There are several possible tactics. Here's what I do:

- Use some missiles to keep the biggest ships busy. (I like plasma torpedos, they are cheap and ECM resistant. They will not destroy your enemy, but they'll buy you some time.)
- Shoot the small ships first: they deal the same damage as big ships, but they take fewer hits to be destroyed. (The exception to this are the Thargoids: kill the motherships first.)
- Learn to use aft and side view: when your front laser is hot, the others are still cool. By the time those are hot, the front laser is cool again. This takes practice: I'm still pretty lousy at this myself, but improving. Do some exercises on asteroid shooting.
- Retreat and go in again when your lasers are cool. Fuel injectors may be handy for that.
- Use the sniper sight to attack from a distance.

I haven't used my aft laser for a very long time (and have never used my side lasers). Get in close, and use the mil laser as a single-shot weapon, is how I play.
For additional firepower (if needed), mount a  railgun - an excellent dogfighting weapon, is that.

Gimbal Locke wrote:

Shoot the small ships first: they deal the same damage as big ships, but they take fewer hits to be destroyed. (The exception to this are the Thargoids: kill the motherships first.)

+1 on this ... one of the best pieces of combat advice you'll ever hear!

El Viejo wrote:

I haven't used my aft laser for a very long time (and have never used my side lasers). Get in close, and use the mil laser as a single-shot weapon, is how I play.

Similar to my play style.. but I do use short bursts when the opportunity presents. I mostly use the aft laser to deal with stern-chase situations. The target is reasonably steady then, and it's easier to remember that inversion is needed.

Diziet Sma wrote:

I mostly use the aft laser to deal with stern-chase situations. The target is reasonably steady then, and it's easier to remember that inversion is needed.

That becomes far too easy after a while, which is why I stopped using the aft laser in the first place!

El Viejo wrote:

Diziet Sma wrote:

I mostly use the aft laser to deal with stern-chase situations. The target is reasonably steady then, and it's easier to remember that inversion is needed.

That becomes far too easy after a while, which is why I stopped using the aft laser in the first place!

Yeah it is easy - too easy really - but is a useful technique nontheless. The root problem really lies in the NPC behaviour, where they just sit behind you in a fairly central position and never try to get closer.

The term turkey shoot comes to mind, to be honest!

Hey.. if they wish to become roast turkeys, I'm happy to oblige.

Seriously, though, I seldom use it, except to occasionally encourage some annoying git to go elsewhere..

Mad Hollander wrote:

Is there such button ? In the ZX and PC XT Elite there was a possibility to swich to aft view having controls inverted.

I used this feature a lot in the ZX version.

Maybe you should request this feature in the "Suggestion Box"?
I'll back you up, but unfortunately I don't see too much interest for this among the more experienced players.

Bothkill wrote:

I'll back you up, but unfortunately I don't see too much interest for this among the more experienced players.

That should not stop you from asking, and it has been requested before, so you are not alone.
I suspect that it's a matter of how difficult/complex it is to implement the feature in the code.