Some ideas about mass-lock radius, scanner range etc

[Ngalo]

Oolite has to look good at resolutions higher than 320x256. This means that certain decisions and numbers which worked very well in Elite would have very strange consequences now.

One of the consequences is that mass-lock range is quite a bit wider than in the original compared with the speed of your ship, so breaking a mass-lock takes much longer. Merely narrowing the range without changing other numbers will have other weird consequences - being able to torus drive away when you're still in laser range, for example.

While I think these issues - in-system travel, masslocking, combat ranges, etc. - are something I think could in theory be improved on, it's not a simple matter of just plugging in the equivalent numbers from Elite to replace the ones currently in use. You're absolutely right that the dynamics are different to Elite's, and the weaknesses you've identified in them are ones I would like to address somehow. It's just that the issues involved are really complicated and built into the Oolite gameplay and game balance at a pretty fundamental level (and even bits of the game engine, though those are being adjusted gradually) and there aren't easy answers.

I've thought about this a bit and I think these ideas may be worth considering (and OXP-able, up to a point, in crazy-workaround-infested fashion):

- Make mass-lock radius smaller. Not necessarily the Classic Elite value, but mabye somewhere close.
- The torus drive field interferes with whatever handwaviumy radiation your scanner uses, so that using the torus jump drive automatically reduces scanner & targeting system ranges to match mass-lock radius, while allowing them to be longer at other times. Optionally the starting scanner could be this limited at all times, but an 'Extended Range Scanner' equipment upgrade could restore the current scanner radius when not using the torus drive.
- Firing your lasers into an active torus drive field is not a good idea. At best it will distort the beam so you can't aim properly, dissipate the energy etc. It could also result in mass-lock or worse. This means laser ranges don't have to be tweaked, so you can still snipe at long range etc.

I think this would solve most of the problems cim has actually mentioned. Should I try to make a proof-of-concept OXP when I have the time?

[Paladin Tux]

I think the laser isn't possible just yet. Maybe in the later versions were they make
player lasers oxpable.


The mass lock debatable. Making it smaller may unbalence the game. So if you some how got into trouble with a WnderWorm (that might be me, and I'm not bad for a 13 year old) you could get the AI to inject away for a re run but then your mass lock is smaller so you could torus drive away before he turns around.

I think the ranges are appropriat. Gives you a feeling of really being a no body when you start a new game with a pew pew puny pulse laser that cannot reach that sidewinder at 16 km.

[BobSongs]

The mass lock debatable. Making it smaller may unbalence the game. So if you some how got into trouble with a WnderWorm (that might be me, and I'm not bad for a 13 year old) you could get the AI to inject away for a re run but then your mass lock is smaller so you could torus drive away before he turns around.

I think the ranges are appropriat. Gives you a feeling of really being a no body when you start a new game with a pew pew puny pulse laser that cannot reach that sidewinder at 16 km.

The idea of varied mass-lock ranges would be more for an OXP than for the base-game. I know that touching the game's basic design would cause many to complain.

However, I would have no objection adding an OXP to my own gaming experience that would limit an object's mass-lock range based ... well, on its individual mass. A greater consistency would also restore any perceived lost balance.

What I mean is: currently asteroids have no mass-lock effect. Looking at this impartially, I'd say that this was an imbalance. But imagine with me. We encounter (using this imaginary OXP, of course) an asteroid. We enter its mass-lock effect, just outside standard laser range. In a few shots the rock is dust and the mass-lock effect is gone, just like any attacking ship that would slow us down.

Here's an idea too. Running away from pirate ships wouldn't be any easier. They fly around us, upsetting any chance of hitting J and fleeing easily.

Again, these ideas would be for a game extension, and not for the base game -- which would remain unchanged.