Oolite Bulletins

A couple of days ago, I was chasing down a pain in the ass Cobra pilot, and it turned into a prolonged battle. I finally chalked up another kill, but I started to think to myself, like would be so much easier if I could lock onto a target and match moves on the target automatically. This would allow me to actually have the time time to figure out which missile I am going to blast him or her to atoms.
I was wondering if that was possible or would that detract from the balance of the game. I am sure there would be a serious price for such a device, but it would be useful!

Not sure if I understand exactly what you are requesting.

If you are going to use a missile, just fire it. The missile itself will track its target. It's Fire-and-Forget™. Perhaps that's not what you were requesting.

'Tracking' in Oolite involves first of all choosing a target. If you have locked on your target, your ident computer does not only identify it, but displays a box around it, and a small arrow in the middle of your screen that tells you in which direction you have to turn in order to see your target. What more tracking do you need?

Perhaps your problem is that you haven't bought and fitted the Scanner Targeting Enhancement? Available in every equipment store with at least TechLevel 12. And while you're at it, don't forget to buy a Multi-Targeting System, and a Target System Memory Expansion.

However, if you mean automatically following your target, keeping your crosshairs perfectly on it without manoeuvring yourself: No, that's certainly not going to happen.

Unfortunately, my hands don't work well as they used to, therefore, my ability to jump around the keyboard has been very restricted. Something that locks and follows doesn't mean that there is a dead lock on the target, but it does follow the movement of the target and with minimal keyboard interaction, can fire upon the target.
Of course, maybe I just need to find a decent joystick that will play nicely under Linux on my laptop (assuming that it can handle pitch, roll and yaw) and call it a day!

kcallis wrote:

Unfortunately, my hands don't work well as they used to, therefore, my ability to jump around the keyboard has been very restricted. Something that locks and follows doesn't mean that there is a dead lock on the target, but it does follow the movement of the target and with minimal keyboard interaction, can fire upon the target.
Of course, maybe I just need to find a decent joystick that will play nicely under Linux on my laptop (assuming that it can handle pitch, roll and yaw) and call it a day!

I use a Thrustmaster Dual Firestorm 2 USB (two analogue thumbsticks lots of buttons that can be mapped to keyboard commands) - works a treat under Ubuntu.

Ahruman is a big fan of using the mouse as a virtual joystick.

CH Products Combatstick 568... Got it for myself as a late X-mas gift and LOVE it.

Saitek X52 FCS. Received it as an xmas gift.
It's a lethal weapon in my hands, I'll never leave dock without it.

I remember the need to have a very flexible joystick back during my Wing Commander days. In the mean time, maybe some one can give me a helping hand with mapping my keyboard. I am running under Ubuntu 8.10, and I have mapped my keyboard to swap with the control key with the caps lock key.
I would like to use the left control key and left alt key to replace the , and . key for yaw control. Just far, I have not been successful and I think it is because of the switching of the keys under X. Does anyone know how I can successfully make the change to the keyboard.

Getting old is a bitch, and it suck with you add in a little arthritis to the mix. I am having the same issue with Privateer, although I am having more fun with Oolite because of the extended missions and ships. I am looking forward to getting this thing working for me correctly!

kcallis wrote:

Getting old is a bitch...

Yes, but it beats the alternative.

Thargoid wrote:

kcallis wrote:

Getting old is a bitch...

Yes, but it beats the alternative.

So very, very true!

back to the "whoes got the best joystick", iv got a saitek X45, but it is super sensative.

but Cmdr Wyvern, your saitek X52 XCS is one heluva amazing bit of kit, and i thought my joystick was good.

I'll stick with my CH. I borrowed a friend's Saitek for a while, and it was nice. I just ran into the well-documented problem of needing a programmatic deadzone. With the CH, no such issues. I release the stick, and it glides back to neutral every time. I plan on adding the separate throttle assembly soon for the full HOTAS setup. Probably get a used off Ebay.

my saitek has a big spring thing that is supposed to push it back into place, but it just sticks everso slightly, and can be mayhem

@0235, Cheyd:
Saitek did something about the deadzone and other performance issues in the latest batch of drivers. The drivers now come with a deadzone tuning control panel.

I went straight to their website for drivers and software, instead of bothering with the outdated and buggy versions on the CD.

The CH Combatstick system is the best there is, but it's hella expensive for the full system.

DaddyHoggy wrote:

kcallis wrote:

Unfortunately, my hands don't work well as they used to, therefore, my ability to jump around the keyboard has been very restricted. Something that locks and follows doesn't mean that there is a dead lock on the target, but it does follow the movement of the target and with minimal keyboard interaction, can fire upon the target.
Of course, maybe I just need to find a decent joystick that will play nicely under Linux on my laptop (assuming that it can handle pitch, roll and yaw) and call it a day!

I use a Thrustmaster Dual Firestorm 2 USB (two analogue thumbsticks lots of buttons that can be mapped to keyboard commands) - works a treat under Ubuntu.

I got my hands on Logitech Rumblepasd 2., now comes the adventure of trying to understand how to configure the key movement...

In Ubuntu in Oolite I just used the predefined options under the F2 option menu in the game to assign one of my 14 available buttons to many of the keyboard keys in the game...