Fuel Station OXP

[MKG]

I'm puzzled by all of this. As I've just informed Wackyman, an Imperial Courier (which I thought was pretty big) fits in there easily - and I'm still using version 1.0. Everything works as it shouls and I sail away with full tanks. That's with the latest Oolite release on Vista, on-board NVidia graphics and 2 Gig RAM, if that helps at all.

[Yodeebe]

- it's easier for NPCs to hit a Caduceus than many other ships I flew.

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...but it's still the best ship in the ooniverse isn't it?!

[Screet]

- it's easier for NPCs to hit a Caduceus than many other ships I flew.

Screet

...but it's still the best ship in the ooniverse isn't it?!

Definitely! It's really funny that he released the ship exactly when I was about to ask for a ship like that to be built and I'm really happy with it. Without it, I probably would have had too much trouble to shoot down that dreadnought fleet because my graphics card didn't speed up, but had the framerate drop to a level where aiming was almost impossible with lasers - and the ships even went directly through my target reticule without being targeted because everything was too slow. As soon as I got the lock, the turrets didn't care about the graphics being too slow

I just tried with one of Simons BCCs, it did fit in without any problems, although refueling stopped because my craft was flying backwards instead of waiting. Increased thrust until refueling began again, reduced without going to minimum (reverse)...everything was well.

Then, apparently, I found a bug: I used injectors to speed out and burn some fuel, then turned around and tried to refuel from the other side, as the lights indicate that it should work from any side. However, I didn't get any fuel. When I went out, I got the summary for 0 ly fuel, 0 credits. Then I used the injectors again, turned, flying in from the side which worked on the first run - and had the same problem: 0 ly, 0 cr. As if the first refueling attempt somehow disabled the station.

The big question left is, why the Caduceus instantly explodes, especially since I was extremely slow. At such speeds I've been able to do a little bit of turning inside docking bays without being destroyed.

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[Screet]

Hmmmm. I've now used a Dredger Trader for another fuel-attempt - the Dredger Trader does fit into the fuel station without any problems!

While the Boa Class Cruiser is even able to fly through the station from the side (through the "bars"), the Dredger Trader begins to take damage very slowly when I rotate it within, most probably it's a bit too high and too long to rotate it within the station. Thus, it's really strange that the Caduceus does not take damage slowly, but instantly explodes! Is there a way to find out how the damage has been dealt to the Caduceus?

When I flew the BCC through the station from the side, as I mentioned, I did get the summary (0/0) - I'm happy that this not only works for the real entrance/exit, but also for such unexpected ways to enter and leave the station!

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[Thargoid]

V1.01 should have fixed the not refuelling on a second attempt issue. As for the Caduceus, I've not tested it as for me the ship's too unbalanced in terms of power from how it's been described. You can use it from either end, it should be no problem. And you have to get a little beyond the yellow bit with your viewscreen, as it's the centre of your ship that needs to be in the yellow area (your fuel scoops and couplings aren't in your cockpit ).

My guess would be it's got a big ass or something, so whilst the front of the ship fits in the station the back end may not and hence the crunch. The other thought is perhaps the turrets on the Caduceus could be causing the problem?

The model is unchanged for both version of the station, so if something fits in v1.00 it will fit in v1.01 too. I'll grab the Caduceus OXP and give it a try, but the station is designed for more normal sized ships.

[CaptKev]

@Thargoid, great OXP you've created here. I have just one small suggestion, how about adding fuel tankers flying from the sun to the refueling stations from time to time?

[Thargoid]

The back-story for the stations is being written (not by me) which will explain how and why they work. I've seen a draft and it looks great, but doesn't rely on tankers and station refuelling.

[ClymAngus]

ah oh, here we go again. Every time I think I've put this ship to bed it does the monkey on me. It could be a c-detection thing. Due to the fin maybe makes the collision box around it substantally bigger than the ship itself. Hmm I might have to make the fin a sub entity depending on how it affects the collision shape of the ship.

time to slip into debug mode.

Problem is it's as big as it is. A reduced c-box will only delay the inevitable as soon as the fin slaps the opening then whammo! It could actually do with being divided into the 3 wings and the head, to give you a better c-box outline.
That would cause problems with the shaders and probably the turrets (being a sub-entity of a sub-entity).

Alternatively you could reduce the size of the ship.

Or increase the size of the filling station. Thoughts gentlemen?

[ClymAngus]

Looking at several other ships with sub entities (and angled wings, possibly the worst design for c-boxes), I'm thinking more and more that cutting the ship to bits ain't going to fix this. So the options appear to be clear.

1) Don't fly a caddy into a fuel depot. (it's a feature not a bug)
2) Scale down the caddy.
3) Scale up the depot.

[Thargoid]

Personally I'd go for option 1).

Then it adds another element to the ship choice. You want a big fast strong ship that won't fit in a fuel depot and you need to go somewhere else to tank up, or a smaller weaker and lighter armed one that you can fuel quickly and go?

The fuel depo wasn't designed to fuel up anything, it was aimed at more general ships rather than the big monsters.

[ClymAngus]

Is there any way of getting it to say as much over the com?

Not being pernickity (I like the solution too) but you've at least got to give your hapless player a hint before they end up wearing the fuel depot like a wedding ring. The thought of turning someone into a 10 foot long burning spokey-dokey with little or no warning seems a little cruel.

Personally I'd go for option 1).

Then it adds another element to the ship choice. You want a big fast strong ship that won't fit in a fuel depot and you need to go somewhere else to tank up, or a smaller weaker and lighter armed one that you can fuel quickly and go?

The fuel depo wasn't designed to fuel up anything, it was aimed at more general ships rather than the big monsters.

[pagroove]

Those fly through stations are the future. They can serve as much more than a fuel station. We can also have a big ships dock like that near the stations. So that Behemotsize ships can dock with those stations? HINT

Passenger terminal anyone?

[Thargoid]

Remember my first post, that this (and ring-racer) are spin-offs on something else I'm working on...

[Lestradae]

Those fly through stations are the future. They can serve as much more than a fuel station. We can also have a big ships dock like that near the stations. So that Behemotsize ships can dock with those stations? HINT

Passenger terminal anyone?

Hm. Hmm. Hmmm.

Well, well

[Cmd. Cheyd]

Submitted for Comoonity approval:

A recent invention from AOO Solar (a publicly traded company based on Gearzaen, GalChart 3), the SWAFT, is described as ‘A revolutionary advancement in modern fuel scoop technology,’ by Farfelnel Aessiq, AOO Solar spokes-rodent.

“We are proud to announce the widespread availability of the Solar Wind Automatic Fuel Transfer Station (SWAFT) - our industry revolutionizing station. Our reward of the GCW contract for the immediate installation of SWAFT stations throughout the Galactic Charts will change interstellar travel and commerce as we know it.”

He went on to explain the operation of the station is based on a patent-pending, super-efficient fuel scoop system similar to that used on modern spacecraft. The station operates the scoop continuously, gathering minute traces of Quirium pushed out by solar winds. This small amount of quirium is too small for ship-mounted, general-use fuel scoops to recover. The station uses an ultra-efficient design patented by AOO Solar, and must operate continuously to gather the necessary fuel. When a ship enters the station, the station’s fuel scoop system is reversed, thereby, dumping large concentrations of fuel directly into the scoop intakes of the awaiting vessel. If the vessel does not have fuel scoops, a slightly slower direct transfer system is employed. Details of this system were not released.

There were some chuckles following the engagement from less reputable news reporters when one member of the press corps asked if the shape of the new fuel station was inspired by a device, known as an ‘exercise wheel’ , created by humans for pet rodents. The AOO Solar spokes-rodent, a member of the native Gearzaenian species, declined to comment.

A spokes-representative of DTP Design, who manufactures the Fuel Collector under military contract, commented that AOO Solar might be infringing on existing DTP Design intellectual property rights and the possibility of future litigation when contacted by this reporter. An AOO Solar spokes-rodent was unavailable for reply at this time.