Oolite Bulletins

As seen in discussion, the reticle_target_sensitive checks if player ship's center is on" the target" (Z-axis plus in forward view, Z-axis minus in rear view (?) etc.), no matter how the laser is positioned:
https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?f= ... 75#p210542

Eric Walch wrote:

...
It looks like the target reticule sensitive is neither looking at the laser nor the players view position, but just at the centre of he ship.
The Falcon has shifted both the view position and the laser position 24 meters to the right. The red color indicating that it is 'spot-on' can only mean that the ship's centre is 'spot-on'.

Most ships have the laser completely centred on the ship and than the viewpoint a little above it. For those ships the cross hair gets red when on target. But, apparently it is just accidentally that the crosshair sensitive works as expected.

What I propose is:
Change Oolite code so thath reticle_target_sensitive takes the relevant weapon_position into account so weapon/centerline parallax won't affect it.
Additionally the 'bullseye indicator' might be better as purchaseable equipment, if it is implemented better.

+1. Definitely. And it should be a purchasable equipment, not a hud definition.

Hmm.. I hadn't considered that solution.. excellent idea!

Thirded.

spara wrote:

it should be a purchasable equipment, not a hud definition.

It already is.. but so far as I know, it would still need defining in the HUD (though perhaps that can be changed)

Agreed, and fixed, at least when the reticle is in high-sensitivity mode.

Availability as purchasable (and non-OXP) equipment? I'd like to hear a bit more debate on that. My thoughts are:

Pros:
- fits in well with the Oolite style that basic usability enhancements which most space/flight games come with as standard have to be bought as addons (and so can be damaged).
- 1.79 is already introducing the "integrated targeting system" item and it might fit in nicely as part of that upgrade rather than a separate item.

Cons:
- as equipment goes, it's very powerful. I don't think it's so powerful it couldn't be balanced out by price/tech requirements, though, and we could potentially also make it fragile so it was easily damaged in a fight, but comparing my own flight skill with MilHUD (which has it) and the core HUD (which doesn't), it certainly helps me a lot.
- some HUD OXPs enable it unconditionally. If it was to become available as core equipment we would need to remove that HUD OXP option, and make the similar JS property read-only. This would be a compatibility break.

I'd vote for keeping it as it is, i.e. non-purchasable equipment. The potential compatibility break is enough reason in my opinion. Additionally, I believe that sometimes some things should be left as an additional bonus for the player and the target sensitive functionality is an example of this. We provide it as off by default but, if you want it, activate it. We've already had plenty of complaints about difficulty at the start of the game, might as well leave this in as a helper option for Jamesons.

another_commander wrote:

We provide it as off by default but, if you want it, activate it. We've already had plenty of complaints about difficulty at the start of the game, might as well leave this in as a helper option for Jamesons.

Except that most newcomers wouldn't even know it was waiting there, ready to be enabled, in the first place.. and would instead notice that it's available as purchasable equipment (as an OXP) for Cr1750.

I have it enabled, but it's really only eye-candy as I do most of my combat at close-quarters.

Now to think of it, I have come think it as a part of the STE. You get it after buying the ste upgrade when you get the reticle anyway. As such, maybe enabling it in the core hud might be something to consider?

spara wrote:

Now to think of it, I have come think it as a part of the STE. You get it after buying the ste upgrade when you get the reticle anyway. As such, maybe enabling it in the core hud might be something to consider?

I don't use the target reticle sensitivity, and I don't want it. So I'm against bundling it with any of the vanilla equipment items that I want to use.

Commander McLane wrote:

spara wrote:

Now to think of it, I have come think it as a part of the STE. You get it after buying the ste upgrade when you get the reticle anyway. As such, maybe enabling it in the core hud might be something to consider?

I don't use the target reticle sensitivity, and I don't want it. So I'm against bundling it with any of the vanilla equipment items that I want to use.

Oh, but it would be possible to toggle it off from the hud. Now it's a bit of a hidden feature. Maybe turning it off should be the hidden feature.