Latest version of Oolite: some questions

[UK_Eliter]

Dear all

I've just tried the latest version of the game, having been away for a while, and there's a lot to like. However, perhaps I should read the documentation, because (1) Thargoids seem to be able to shoot me, at least pretty much as usual, when I am cloaked (i.e. as is usual when I am not cloaked, and this state of affairs is not usual!), (2) seemingly I pressed F7 (can't remember why) and that . . exited the game - unless it crashed. I hadn't updated OXPs for the new version, so perhaps it was a crash. The log doesn't seem to show a crash or a planned exit.

On OOlite 1.82 (not trunk), 64-bit, Windows.

[Cody]

Had you fired at the Thargoids? If so, that'll drop your cloak.

[UK_Eliter]

Hi Cody

I knew that. Or I think I did - I've been away from the game for a while, so perhaps I'd forgotten. I'll investigate. Thanks.

[Cody]

The cloak isn't quite as effective as before - it doesn't fox all ships. I find that with assassins, anyway.

[cim]

In 1.82 the cloak has been adjusted slightly so that it's not too much more effective against NPCs than it is against the player. The basic rules are:
- NPCs cannot switch their target to a cloaked ship, or detect it while scanning
- NPCs may maintain an existing target lock on a cloaked ship, but may not use missiles, and suffer accuracy penalties when aiming lasers. If they lose their target lock they may not recover it until the target uncloaks.
- if a cloaked ship fires on and hits an NPC while remaining cloaked, the NPC may choose at that point to lock on to it (but if it chooses not to has to wait until it gets hit again to change its mind)

So it remains very effective for sneaking past NPCs, and in a general furball a lot of them are likely to lose you in the chaos - but if you attack a group on your own you can't simply cloak, position, unload full military laser blast into target, recloak, run away, repeat.

[UK_Eliter]

Thanks cim. This is a good change.

Any advice on how to adjust existing expansion pack NPC AIs - specifically, plist (or plist + js) AIS - to accomodate this?

[cim]

Any advice on how to adjust existing expansion pack NPC AIs - specifically, plist (or plist + js) AIS - to accomodate this?

That should mostly be automatic - the relevant targeting routines are more low-level than that.

You might want to remove things like automatically running away on TARGET_CLOAKED events, if you have that already, and ATTACKED_BY_CLOAKED could be responded to differently to before. JS AIs shouldn't need modification unless you've created a custom function which checks for cloaked status.