Oolite Bulletins

I have: Oolite 1.65 Windows/PC version

When fighting pirates I have seen them drop glowing balls of light. Is this flares or chaff? If not, what is it?

I think it's just a visual cue that the ship is getting heavily damaged, i think it's refered to as 'throwingSparks' by the game code.
another neat touch is that the exhaust plume starts to flicker when a ship is close to being destroyed!

Griff wrote:

another neat touch is that the exhaust plume starts to flicker when a ship is close to being destroyed!

I have noticed that! Nice touch! The engines flicker at first, then seem to turn off for 1-2 seconds before I finish him.

We can be more precise than that:

While you're shooting on a ship it gets damaged (obviously). One of the most likely parts to be damaged are the engine, simply because they're so big. I take it you know how space ship engines work. Basically they use the same Quirium as fuel that is also used for witchspace jumping. (Hence by injecting more Quirium you can greatly improve the engine's capacity.) The fuel burnt in your engine creates a plasma, and this is actually what propelles your ship.

Now, as the engine continues to take your laser fire (or anybody else's, for that matter) it becomes increasingly unstable. You notice that as a flickering in the exaust. When matters get worse, plasma starts to leak out. So what you are seeing are small bursts of plasma escaping the containment. Now you know that the end is near. Just a few more hits, and the whole engine will blow up, resulting in the immediate destruction of the complete ship. Voilà.

And be honest: You could have found out that yourself, couldn't you?

At which point my lasers overheat.

Once they've "gone sparky" though there nearly dead. Even overheated the laser will still fire a blast every second or so. With a Military Laser, a couple of overheated blasts is enough to finish the ship off. Even the Mighty Thargoid Warship cannot withstand a full volley of Military Laser, nor can an Asp.

The toughest ships tend to be very slow (Thargoid carrier for example) so you can simply fit 4 lasers and give it a blast of each. Don't think I've found anything that can survive that yet.

Although anyone who has ever managed to hit a moving small ship with a side laser deserves some sort of award!

Hoopy wrote:

Although anyone who has ever managed to hit a moving small ship with a side laser deserves some sort of award!

You can do that as a surprise attack to a trader (or any other unsuspecting victim). Approach him from behind and get alongside his ship, adjusting your speed and direction to his. Don't get too close, or he will do evasive manoeuvers. Usually a couple of 100 meters is fine. Watch him strolling next to you through one of your side cameras for a while. Enjoy. Then fire a broadside from the corresponding laser into his belly. Enjoy more!

Although you won't be able to finish him off this way, because he will dive and evade your fire as soon as he can react. From then on it's the usual pursue-and-fire routine (front laser).

(And if you think I'm nasty, well, read my signature!)

If it's a mere trader then he should be dead long before you get as close as 100m

Hoopy wrote:

If it's a mere trader then he should be dead long before you get as close as 100m

Well, yes, but this was about using your side laser, wasn't it?

Hmm yeah, i seem to have confused myself.

What I meant was anybody using a side laser to hit another small ship which had already started evasive maneuvers...

you know what i mean!