Oolite Bulletins

what does primeable mean in terms of equipment?

Does it mean it isn’t plug and play in some way? I thought missiles and cargo shepherds etc that went in the torpedo tubes were primeable, but it turns out that other things are as well.

And it seems I can only use these things one at a time

Is that what it is? A way of having more equipment than key bindings

I know I seem to be answering my own question, but these are pure baseless stabs in the dark

phonebook wrote: ↑Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:11 pm

A way of having more equipment than key bindings

That about sums it up!

Primable equipment items need to be selected (ie primed) before they can be activated or used. You can cycle through the available equipment items by pressing the Shift+N key combination (to cycle in reverse, press Ctrl-Shift-N). You should see a HUD notification informing you what has just been selected. Once selected, the equipment is primed and ready to use.

Equipment items that need priming may also require activation. There are two keys available to a primed piece of equipment: N (referred to as "Activate") and B (referred to as "Mode"). What those keys actually do will depend on the equipment item itself, and it's worth reading the documentation for the equipment item to see what functions are available.

There are also two "fast activation" keys that can be set using the "Manage primable equipment" F4 Interfaces screen. These keys are "0" for the Defensive slot, and "Tab" for the Offensive slot. What these do in effect is execute the activation function of the selected equipment item without the need to prime it first.

Hopefully that helps a little. We have plans for the next version of Oolite to have more comprehensive coverage of primable equipment included in the supplied documentation.

Thanks, that makes things a little clearer. So a primeable piece of equipment can both work with the n and shift N way, and also the fast way? Tho the latter I have to specify first in the 4 menu? That’s what the two prime slots are for?

It can be assigned to joystick buttons too.

phonebook wrote: ↑Mon Jan 24, 2022 12:12 am

So a primeable piece of equipment can both work with the n and shift N way, and also the fast way?

"Shift-N" is to prime the equipment. "n" activates it. The fast way bypasses the need to prime the equipment first.

phonebook wrote: ↑Mon Jan 24, 2022 12:12 am

Tho the latter I have to specify first in the 4 menu? That’s what the two prime slots are for?

Yes, you use the F4 "Manage primable equipment" screen to select which equipment items will be activated by the associated keys.

And I think CTRL+ SHIFT+ N cycles backwards through the equipment list.

And then there's Mode, which uses a different activation key... X key if I recall.

Switeck wrote: ↑Mon Jan 24, 2022 12:57 am

X key if I recall.

I think it's "b" by default.

My bad, I had the keys remapped years ago.

For me, the B key drops bombs/fires missiles.

thanks to everyone, i've been getting the hang of this prime thing, it seems logical once you know what it does