Oolite Bulletins

I noticed this article going past on the Beeb this morning :

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-67945025 wrote:

World War Two raid on Japanese boats compared to Dambusters
...
Lyon's vision was to attack the enemy with a captured 40ft (12.2m) wooden Japanese fishing vessel, the Krait - named after a venomous Asian snake.
...

I don't recall seeing any in-game or in-fiction history of the "Krait", but it's a slightly more interesting etymology for a vicious but lightly-armoured little bleeder popular with cut-rate pirates who can't afford a proper iron-assable (?) ship. I remember in PC elite, they were the universal option of a rock hermit and their (weak) response to a gentle lasering, but I don't recall ever actually trying to fly one.
Oh, should I RTF-wiki-entry? https://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Krait_(classic) ; https://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Krait_(Frontier) - "Notable Features None that spring to mind. " ; https://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Krait_(Oolite)

I'm now wondering why Bell & Braben chose a serpentine theme for vessel names. Obviously one of them had recently read the RFC on the "naming of hosts", and with several hundreds of species (or local) names and several dimensions of comparison ... it's an interesting choice. "Sharks" might have been another similarly variable theme. Who would win in a fight between a Great White and a pack of Makos? Are Whale Sharks (I think they have a less blunt French name) essentially unattackable? Carriers could release swarms of "Remora" dornes ...

RockDoctor wrote: ↑Sun Jan 14, 2024 6:36 pm

I'm now wondering why Bell & Braben chose a serpentine theme for vessel names.

Admittedly this is a guess in my part but I suspect it was as simple as finding a 'cool' name for the player ship and then realising they had a quick, flavourful way of naming lots of ships very quickly. e.g. Small : adder/viper/sidewinder. Large : python/boa/anaconda.

As for the krait, it's real life namesake is rather more deadly but it's bite isn't that noticeable (fortunately, I haven't experienced this myself), perhaps suggesting it's a ship that could be underestimated. It was a common adversary in the version of elite that I played and 'jinky' enough to keep you busy at close range...

An aside here but the military laser really did change the nature of combat here, so unless facing large numbers, those dogfighting manouvers weren't really put to the test. Instead the player became more of a mobile cannon, doing all its best work at long range.