Oolite Bulletins

Back to oolite again...while I wait for ED to get developed...

Anyway I played it a bit before and TBH never really noticed, BUT after an hours or so play today after a re-install I really started to get quite aggravated by the hyperspeed mass lock detection size - especially after I got stuck in a space traffic jam behind a python going in the same direction to a station, our speeds being similar meant from witch space point to leesti coriolis I was mass locked the entire time.

Too many times of that and I'll be uninstalling it again - so ....

While I don't expect EZmode or anything is it possible to have an oxp or something that reduces the masslocked detection zone from max scanner range to min scanner range - ie. the diff between full zoom in and out on the scanner? Or at least something so that should I pop out with another ship almost at max range in front of me I don't get stuck like I did earlier today? I simply don't have the spare time anymore to waste it on idling in space because of other ships or asteroids - and if I got a larger slower ship..... it's just too big a time waster for me.

This would have the added bonus of being able to zoom to the action I can clearly see ahead of me in the distance on several occasions but has always finished before I can get there.

Do you have Fuel Injectors?

If you're following a Python, then you're in the heavy populated space lane and have failed "Get to Station quickly 101".

Get to Station Quickly 101:

On Jumping into system - point nose of station straight "up" (90deg to Witchpoint->Planet line)
Engage Torus drive for 10s in this direction and then push nose back down and point it at the planet (or just above it - but in sight) - this will keep you out of (most) ship's way and Witchpoint->Planet should take less than a minute.

If however if you want to stay in the space line so you can engage in combat then buy fuel tanks and fuel injectors and Inject your way past the mass locking ships to the combat.

Of course, if you don't actually have time to play and you just need to trade to rack up credits, or kills you could just edit your save game, give yourself a few million credits, a few thousand kills and then you won't need to actually play the game at all... (and the Devs won't need to rewrite to code so you can squeeze Oolite into your busy schedule)

RafeZetter wrote:

especially after I got stuck in a space traffic jam behind a python going in the same direction to a station, our speeds being similar meant from witch space point to leesti coriolis I was mass locked the entire time.

I'd second Smivs' recommendation for using fuel injectors as a way out of this. A couple of LY of fuel left over after jumping is usually enough to break through all the masslocks. Other equipment that comes in useful:
- Advanced Space Compass: by setting a course for the station immediately you'll be travelling down the edge of the spacelane rather than the middle, so you won't have as far to go to break masslocks (and you'll rarely get masslocked by the planet at the end)
- Wormhole Scanner: follow other ships to your destination, and you'll have more fuel for injectors at the other end. Easier if you're not too picky about your destination, of course.

That should hopefully be a workaround for now.

As far as OXP solutions go, you might also like the Escort Contracts OXP: yes, you'll still be following a Python, but this one will have torus drive and injectors itself, so you'll actually get to the station (or at least the next fight...) pretty quickly.

RafeZetter wrote:

is it possible to have an oxp or something that reduces the masslocked detection zone from max scanner range to min scanner range

No, this is not modifiable by OXP. It would also make it very easy to escape pirates if you could run away at torus speed.

There are definite problems with the mass-lock mechanism as it stands - especially in ships slower than the Cobra III - but they're not straightforward to fix.

One of the things I would like to look at is making the spacelane much wider, so that you can go sideways around a particular ship which is masslocking you to torus past it, without missing all the content on the entire lane. Another thing I'd like to look at it is making the lane more generally interesting, so that following a Python at conventional speeds isn't a boring trip in the first place. These are not easy to OXP right now, but the core features needed to make that more practical are on my list for future development.

I'll second DaddyHoggy's recommendation.

Going off the space lane is one of the primary evasion tactics. Want to trade between a TL13 corporate state and a TL1 Anarchy? Unless you are tooled up to the max and WANT to look for trouble then sticking to the space lane is not an option.

Space is big, it's easy to avoid people if you really want to.

!m!

Thanks! those are all great replies, and I'll let the snarky about cheating so I don't have to play at all, slide.

I've only got a little money still atm so injectors arn't on the cards yet - although that clarifies what they actually are for me, and I'd wondered what that compass was too

That escorts oxp sounds like a good idea once I'm a bit more capable of doing actual damage.

- But just for the record daddyhoggy - check my avatar plz - it's real - my personal genuine Gold Elite Status badge from the original game; I've put the hours in, but back then, I could. (and you'll find me, with the same name, part of the private backers forum on Elite Dangerous, so if you play the game but didn't stump up the green to back it - you're welcome.)

RafeZetter wrote:

although that clarifies what they actually are for me

They are useful to outrun missiles too.

RafeZetter wrote:

I've only got a little money still atm so injectors arn't on the cards yet - although that clarifies what they actually are for me, and I'd wondered what that compass was too

Yeah, the first few jumps before you can get injectors can be quite slow if you get unlucky with the masslocks. But they're cheap, so it'll only be a few more good trading runs.

[wiki]Oolite_Equipment[/wiki] might come in useful for finding out what all the new kit does and prioritising your purchases.

RafeZetter wrote:

Thanks! those are all great replies, and I'll let the snarky about cheating so I don't have to play at all, slide.

I don't think anybody's being "snarky" here... Like it has been said before "Oolite" is a one person game and therefore if you move the goalposts by hacking into the scripts - it's not really cheating.

Myself? Of course I fugging cheat... I was a multiple billionaire before I even docked with my first station.... that's something between me and my conscience - and consciousness is a habit I overtly try to avoid these days....

DaddyHoggy wrote:

If you're following a Python, then you're in the heavy populated space lane and have failed "Get to Station quickly 101".

Get to Station Quickly 101:

On Jumping into system - point nose of station straight "up" (90deg to Witchpoint->Planet line)

I prefer to point the nose "down" at the witchpoint so that you can "fall" more quickly out of the shipping lane. On the other hand, with your approach you get to "glide down in" to the station while I have to go "uphill"

Not wanting to encourage illegal activity but it occurs to me that if you have a quick look at your scanner, make sure there are no police in range then disintegrate him you have a treble bonus.

1) The python will no longer slow you down.
2) You can scoop up his dropped cargo.
3) You get one step closer to achieving Elite status.

Shipbuilder wrote:

Not wanting to encourage illegal activity but it occurs to me that if you have a quick look at your scanner, make sure there are no police in range then disintegrate him you have a treble bonus.

1) The python will no longer slow you down.
2) You can scoop up his dropped cargo.
3) You get one step closer to achieving Elite status.

Pick the Python apart carefully, and you may get his escape pod to scoop too, which will yield a reward at the station.

EV I like your thinking

RafeZetter wrote:

<snip>

- But just for the record daddyhoggy - check my avatar plz - it's real - my personal genuine Gold Elite Status badge from the original game; I've put the hours in, but back then, I could. (and you'll find me, with the same name, part of the private backers forum on Elite Dangerous, so if you play the game but didn't stump up the green to back it - you're welcome.)

I backed E:D, and Drew's novel and Boz's novel and Selezen's RPG.

Nice badge - I got to Elite on C64, but no badge to show for it. So well done you.

Apologies for edge to my comment earlier - you just irked me at a time when I hadn't finished my coffee - suggesting a fundamental change to game mechanics so that you don't have to spend so much time playing the game...

SevenT wrote:

and consciousness is a habit I overtly try to avoid these days....