Oolite Bulletins

Hey Commanders.

Please tell me ;

1. What exactly does a maintenance overhaul do? I've read the description but I wondered if your ship degrades over time slightly? Please explain this.

2. Do npc ships have different types of lasers ? (Pulse, Beam etc), And do the colours of the laser streaks denote what they are?

3. .....oh and also, what the hell kind of lasers does a Wolf Mk II have ? I was doing so well, came up against one of those in the Diso system, and he knocked me into the middle of next week !

I await the answers with trepidation

1. The trade in value of your ship drops off a lot over time. A maintance overhall restores it to full. Its always worth therefore waiting for an overhall and selling after you've done it. Also if you don't service, fuel leaks and misjumps become more likley.

2. Yep. NPCs do have different types of lasers (Pulse, Beam, Military, Twin Plasma Cannon or Mining) - same as the player. The colour though is just what that ship has. Eg a ship with blue lasers fires a blue beam whatever type of laser it has. NPCs can also have rear lasers, but don't have left or right guns.

3. Two Military Lasers. No tougher than the Military Lasers available to the player and other ships, but if you get caught by both beams its twice the pain. The wolf has to mount them outside its sheilds though, so you can shoot them off leaving it toothless. Some other ships will have two beams or two pulse. Some military ships can have lots.

I see. Thank you.

Wouldn't it be nice though if the lasers were defined by their colour

To avoid potential disappointment, it's worth noting that the Wolf II – and all other ships with multiple lasers – only have the one when used as a player ship. Still, the Wolf is a sweet little number, one laser or two ...

Commander Burton wrote:

I see. Thank you.

Wouldn't it be nice though if the lasers were defined by their colour

No, because it would be too big a restriction for ship designers.

The default laser colour is red for all lasers. Police and military ships use magenta coloured lasers. Different groups and factions in the Ooniverse use other distinct laser colours. (I probably once wrote a list of all the laser colours in use and put it somewhere in the wiki; at least I seem to remember something like that.)

Oh, and if you ever notice a big Imperial Courier
materializing in your back out of nowhere and opening fire with a white laser, run for your life (or probably don't, because it will be too late anyway)! That's me!

Physics would have it that the violet lasers are more destructive than the red - so purple vs red is about right.

Physics would also have it that
- a white laser is impossible
- you couldn't see them in hard vacuum
- mil-spec would probably be X-ray wavelength and therefore invisible twice over

...so we'd better not go there come to think of it!

Physics? This is Ooniverse.....

Commander McLane wrote:

Oh, and if you ever notice a big Imperial Courier
materializing in your back out of nowhere and opening fire with a white laser, run for your life (or probably don't, because it will be too late anyway)! That's me!

A white laser on an Imp, hmm? I'll remember that. What's your legality?
BTW, I don't run. But you might consider it an option...That is, if an engine is still attached...

Cmdr Wyvern wrote:

Commander McLane wrote:

Oh, and if you ever notice a big Imperial Courier
materializing in your back out of nowhere and opening fire with a white laser, run for your life (or probably don't, because it will be too late anyway)! That's me!

A white laser on an Imp, hmm? I'll remember that. What's your legality?
BTW, I don't run. But you might consider it an option...That is, if an engine is still attached...

@ Cmdr Wyvern- Bugger... Beat me to it you scaly beastie
@Cmdr McLane- when you see green laser fire & green plasma then you've got me on you're tail & you're about to be scooped

We NEED multiplayer Oolite to prove all this bragging once & for all....
Bring it on

Tivva wrote:

@ Cmdr Wyvern- Bugger... Beat me to it you scaly beastie
@Cmdr McLane- when you see green laser fire & green plasma then you've got me on you're tail & you're about to be scooped

Impy captains are very loud when it comes to bragging. They forget their precious ubership has a fatal design flaw: Those outrigger engines.
A flaw which I'm happy to exploit with some surgical laserectomy. A couple of weeks drifting sans thrust tends to humble the buggers.

Green lasers here, too. And cyan plasma blasts.

Bah, these plasma thingies--whatever colour--are probably a nuisance, but rarely more than that. My trusty lasers will have fried you before your turrets are even in firing range. Oh, and by the way: Turrets can (and will!) be surgically removed as well.

Commander McLane wrote:

Bah, these plasma thingies--whatever colour--are probably a nuisance, but rarely more than that. My trusty lasers will have fried you before your turrets are even in firing range. Oh, and by the way: Turrets can (and will!) be surgically removed as well.

Not the way I build em. They've practically the same colour as the deck plate mate. Whilst your trying to work out what's turret and what's ship;

I'z in my spacefingy, Swiss cheesin' your shields.

ClymAngus wrote:

Commander McLane wrote:

Bah, these plasma thingies--whatever colour--are probably a nuisance, but rarely more than that. My trusty lasers will have fried you before your turrets are even in firing range. Oh, and by the way: Turrets can (and will!) be surgically removed as well.

Not the way I build em. They've practically the same colour as the deck plate mate. Whilst your trying to work out what's turret and what's ship;

I'z in my spacefingy, Swiss cheesin' your shields.

Like I said, from a distance of 20 to 25 km it doesn't really matter anyway.