Oolite Bulletins

Whenever I use my Aft-facing laser it takes a while to reacquaint myself with the reversed controls. How about a key (or a purchasable add-on) to automatically flip control to match the operation of the keyboard/joystick when facing Forward?

(I might then consider mounting weapons Port and Starboard too.)

Obviously it should only work if you have a weapon fitted to the port concerned.

Why not just autolocking lasers,
so you won't have to roll and turn so much?

(beware of the Eiltes when asking for life enhancing gadgets such as the one you just asked for) :p

Damn, I'm only "Dangerous".

But really, does anyone use Port and Starboard mountings? I've never bother cos the controls are just too wacky. You'd think an advanced space-faring age would have sorted this sort of thing out long ago.

oh yes. plasma cannons on sides are excellent when overtaking a slow, clumsy craft, nicely sliding into position. the first broadside can do a great deal of damage, and you feel very much like a pirate.

Murgh wrote:

oh yes. plasma cannons on sides are excellent when overtaking a slow, clumsy craft, nicely sliding into position. the first broadside can do a great deal of damage, and you feel very much like a pirate.

totally! great for infiltrating convoys - the escorts try to shoot you and sometimes hit the trader instead! i love it the side ports.

AAArh!
never tried that....however a rear twinblaster was the first piece of kit I purchased after I returned from Reorte.

edit: first OOlite related thing I'll do when I get home is try to make the Gaundlet transport a playership for fun. I'd like to see those turrets working for me for once.

Haven't done it on Oolite yet, but on Beeb Elite I used to have mining lasers on the sides so I could do a bit of mining. Mining was generally pretty boring and unrewarding (financially) though - I wonder if it's any more rewarding in Oolite...

Murgh wrote:

oh yes. plasma cannons on sides are excellent when overtaking a slow, clumsy craft, nicely sliding into position. the first broadside can do a great deal of damage, and you feel very much like a pirate.

Sweet! I'll have to give that a try... Finally, a use for port/starboard mounts AND the plasma cannon... Brilliant!

gus3 wrote:

Mining was generally pretty boring and unrewarding (financially) though - I wonder if it's any more rewarding in Oolite...

Interesting thought. There really should be something to spice up mining, e.g. some valuable cargo/equipment
(as a replacement of a splinter), randomly and with a probability based on the item's value. Something like
1 in 1000 for a really expensive device for instance...
I know, it's not "classic" (mining was always boring), but who cares.

gus3 wrote:

Mining was generally pretty boring and unrewarding (financially) though - I wonder if it's any more rewarding in Oolite...

Sometimes. An asteroid is 1cr, but sometimes they blow up in boulders, which are worth some too, and *those* sometimes blow up in splinters, again worth some, but if you scoop them, they are minerals. When starting out virtually empty-handed, never miss the opportunity to try your luck with them, if you're lucky, you end up with a hold full of free stuff.

This comes up a lot… is it in the FAQ? Either way, I agree – controls should be “fixed” for the view you’re using. Although side view would still be weird because roll and pitch rates differ.

Plasma cannons are definitely good for laying down a general field of fire - maybe even taking out missiles rapidly approaching from behind. Kind of reminds me of the 'Schrage Musik' cannon used by German night fighters in WWII - a set of upward-firing guns activated by radar and used to take out bomber formations. Very devious and very effective.

Mining lasers don't seem to get much of a look in - military lasers are the must-have accessory. I'm considering building a surface assault ship with mining lasers as the main armament - although these will have a slow rate of fire, this could be offset by a higher laser strength and accuracy, so it would still be a dangerous ship to mess with.

The purpose of mining lasers is that they increase the probability of an asteroid splintering into scoopable pieces, rather than vapourising, which usually happens with military lasers.

I'm kinda loath to have adaptable controls for each view.
It may be a bit difficult trying to target your guns using 'opposite' controls, but if you are trying to steer, it would be wierd figuring out which key is now roll left.