Oolite Bulletins

I did not put this OXP to Expansions Packs, because probably there will be a lot of discussion about this OXP. Half of you will hate me and other half will be quite happy.

This small OXP provides an autopilot to the player during combat.

To use the equipment, Prime it by N and lock on a target and press n. To deactivate it press n again.

Be carefull about your speed.

The OXP can be downloaded from Here

Okti wrote:

This small OXP provides an autopilot to the player during combat.

Sorry, but what does this actually mean? That my ship will automatically chase after the enemy ship I've targeted?

lohwengk wrote:

Okti wrote:

This small OXP provides an autopilot to the player during combat.

Sorry, but what does this actually mean? That my ship will automatically chase after the enemy ship I've targeted?

That's right. You must handle the speed yourself.

It may certainly generate plenty of discussion, but surely this topic belongs to Expansion Pack. Moved.

lohwengk wrote:

Okti wrote:

This small OXP provides an autopilot to the player during combat.

Sorry, but what does this actually mean? That my ship will automatically chase after the enemy ship I've targeted?

I've had a quick play with this.
To prime it, press 'N' (shift-n), then target your er, target. If the target then moves, pressing 'n' will instantly bring the target back to the centre of the reticule, or more accurately instantly re-aligns your ship so that the target is centered again.

Edit:- I tested a pre-release version of this, and I think Okti has fine-tuned it since then, so don't listen to me...try it for yourself

To make it more clear,

This OXP, when activated changes the ships orientation so that it always follows the target all the way. Well it can be used for good or bad, you can fire your laser to your target with out aiming. That's the bit which changes the game balance. But on the other hand it can also be used to take continues screen shots at short distance.

The Idea came to me while I was working on a Joint OXP project. I tried the timer before but it was not too realistic. So I used another method which is only available in 1.75. And it worked .

To make it as a real aiming OXP I need to sort out the other views. For the time being I can only handle the front view. I am not good at vectors, so if some one can guide me on changing the ship orientation for the selected view it will be much aprreciated.

Well it is an uber equipment, but even todays military techneolagy has target trackers, Why not in 1000 or more years

Okti wrote:

To make it more clear,

This OXP, when activated changes the ships orientation so that it always follows the target all the way. Well it can be used for good or bad, you can fire your laser to your target with out aiming. That's the bit which changes the game balance. But on the other hand it can also be used to take continues screen shots at short distance.

How about putting it on a gun turret, then make that turret buyable equipment? This lets player ships have two forward guns. Maybe make it illegal to own them, so you can only install them in some anarchy system. And you become a fugitive when you own one of these (or you can only buy these when you are a fugitive). Then you end up having lots of high-level assassins or hunters gunning after you. This, as well as making it very expensive, would take care of the game balance aspects. Oh! Maybe also give it a 10% chance of missing the shot.

Or make it a reward for a special mission, like the Naval Energy Unit or the Cloaking Device. After all, no one seems to complain about the game balance for these things.

Okti wrote:

Well it is an uber equipment, but even todays military techneolagy has target trackers, Why not in 1000 or more years

Prohibited by law or tradition. After all, it is not "sporting". Or, for the more cynical, makes it too easy to assassinate the politicians and other VIPs.

Okti wrote:

Well it is an uber equipment, but even todays military technology has target trackers, Why not in 1000 or more years

Because counter target tracking equipment that is standard on all ships has rendered them useless until someone like Okti comes up with new technology that beats the counter target tracking equipment. It's an arms race.
However this will be banned in my corner of the Ooniverse, after testing a little that is.

lohwengk wrote:

How about putting it on a gun turret, then make that turret buyable equipment? This lets player ships have two forward guns.

I haven't downloaded the OXP, but from Okti's explanation I fail to see how it has anything to do with guns, let alone two forward guns. Are you sure you posted in the right thread?

Commander McLane wrote:

lohwengk wrote:

How about putting it on a gun turret, then make that turret buyable equipment? This lets player ships have two forward guns.

I haven't downloaded the OXP, but from Okti's explanation I fail to see how it has anything to do with guns, let alone two forward guns. Are you sure you posted in the right thread?

I know his current Target Tracker OXP is about the ship. But the same code should be able to work in turret, right? Something like Thargoid's AMS, but using a laser instead of a dart and shooting at a ship instead of a missile. Mmm, maybe I can even do that myself one of these days, when I've installed and tested all the OXPs I'm interested in.

Anyway, like he himself implied, the Target Tracker OXP disrupts the game balance. But he can put in some conditions to counterbalance it.

Well, back to playing. And work. And sleep.

lohwengk wrote:

I know his current Target Tracker OXP is about the ship. But the same code should be able to work in turret, right? Something like Thargoid's AMS, but using a laser instead of a dart and shooting at a ship instead of a missile. Mmm, maybe I can even do that myself one of these days, when I've installed and tested all the OXPs I'm interested in.

Anyway, like he himself implied, the Target Tracker OXP disrupts the game balance. But he can put in some conditions to counterbalance it.

Well, back to playing. And work. And sleep.

As far as know, turrets do the tracking themselfs. At least couple of player ships has them. The one I am using has one. But they are sub entities of the ship. I don't know if they can be fitted to any ship without using subentities.

Version 0.2 is uploaded, which can be downloaded from Here.

Target Tracker now works with aft view as well.

Thargoid wrote:

No, they can't. Sub-ents are either on the ship within it's shipdata.plist or they aren't - it's not possible to retrofit them. So adding a "purchasable turret" in the sense meant above isn't possible. You could easily add the functionality, but you'd just end up with something like the AMS but without the missile. There would be no visible clue that anything had happened, other than perhaps a console message if one is included and of course maybe the missile or enemy in question blowing up.

Ah! Darn

Okti wrote:

To make it more clear,

This OXP, when activated changes the ships orientation so that it always follows the target all the way. [...]

I have to admit I like the idea of this piece of equipment. But, to make it more realistic you should take the ship's manoeuvrability capabilities into account. The instant realignment of the ship's orientation is highly unrealistic.
Furthermore, it would be nice if the equipment worked more like an autopilot. At the moment the Target Tracker overrides your ship's steering completely. I'd like to see a version which lets you operate your ship as usual, but keeps realigning your ship on target when you're not steering yourself.