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Question about... disabled crafts


kschang
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This was prompted by a little adventure last night.

I was protecting a neutral station (I think it was Antis) and I was able to disable FOUR fighters... 2 N-fighters and 2 Sentinels.

I ordered my shuttles to tow them to the station so I can get the reward, one at a time, of course.

One of them won't get close enough. I told him to come back so I can put in a different pilot.

The other ship towed the fighters, but won't get any closer. I can't figure out the problem. I tried ordered this, that, jump, etc. The shuttle will tow the object in a jump, but it won't move in normal space.

I told the shuttle to go after a different disabled fighter, while I went after the one that won't move. The shuttle works fine for the other fighters...

Then I noticed the fighter is doing 1800+ in velocity! No wonder the shuttle isn't making any headway! Keep in mind this is a DISABLED fighter... With 0 hull and 0 shields. I had to use A/B to get into range to tow it myself. And even then, my ship was noticeably slower (by almost 100).

So my question is... what is the definition of "disabled"? Clearly that defintion doesn't include "engines"... Or was that not quite intended?

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quote:


Originally posted by Kasey Chang:

So my question is... what is the definition of "disabled"? Clearly that defintion doesn't include "engines"... Or was that not quite intended?


Disabled depends on several factors which affect the overall integrity value (number at the top of the TTD) of the object. You probably didn't notice that while you were pissing around, it fixed its engines first and took off. That happens. Different NPCs have priorities for systems to repair during a disabled condition. Some repair their weapons first and then wait for you to come get them.

Rule of thumb, if its not emitting an SOS, then its not completely disabled.

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quote:

Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr:

Disabled depends on several factors which affect the overall integrity value (number at the top of the TTD) of the object.

[snip]

Rule of thumb, if its not emitting an SOS, then its not completely disabled.

But then it WON'T be disabled after it fixed its engines, right?

My point is PTA won't attack "disabled" targets, but my main guns won't hit something that small, and missiles will likely blow it to smithereens.

Maybe when something's "fixed" again (or at least underway) the disabled flag should be taken off... But that's debatable.

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quote:


Originally posted by Kasey Chang:

Maybe when something's "fixed" again (or at least underway) the disabled flag should be taken off... But that's debatable.


Thats not how it works. Read what I wrote again.

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quote:

Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr:

quote:

Originally posted by Kasey Chang:

Maybe when something's "fixed" again (or at least underway) the disabled flag should be taken off... But that's debatable.

Thats not how it works. Read what I wrote again.


I *know* that's not how it works, SC... My point is if he FIXED his engines or weapons or whatever, then he's NOT really "disabled", is he? But that's merely my opinion.

Or let me ask a related question... Can a ship that WAS disabled repair enough systems so it is NO LONGER considered disabled? At what point does the flag come off?

I know a ship/fighter can turn on or off the SOS signal. Seen that happen before. But disabled?

Next time the "disabled" ship runs away, I'll just feed it another missile if I can't catch up. As fighter pilots say, "a kill is a kill".

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quote:


Originally posted by Kasey Chang:

Or let me ask a related question... Can a ship that WAS disabled repair enough systems so it is NO LONGER considered disabled? At what point does the flag come off?


Yes. Read what I wrote above again. Hint: manual p38

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Got it. After posting the above message, a ship got away from me... It was no longer disabled, AFTER I shot it up and went after other things.

Apparently PTA seems to leave most fighters alive enough to run away, yet too fast for shuttles to tow.

Hmmm... Maybe there's a way to program to PTA to "shoot until dead"... Nah.

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quote:

Originally posted by Kasey Chang:

Next time the "disabled" ship runs away, I'll just feed it another missile if I can't catch up. As fighter pilots say, "a kill is a kill".

i'm sure there's some sort of directive against opting to destroy crippled craft (besides, they self-destruct after a while unless i'm mistaken)

quote:

Apparently PTA seems to leave most fighters alive enough to run away, yet too fast for shuttles to tow.

No they're not - try harder!

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DISABLED does not mean totally incapacitated. They may still be able to flee as you have seen.

quote:

Kasey Chang

Apparently PTA seems to leave most fighters alive enough to run away, yet too fast for shuttles to tow.

Nope. PTA shoots at enemies. What you are failing to take into account is the fact that you may not be close enough for the PTA to get a good hit every time. The enemy can go into an SOS/disabled state at these times thus it is no longer an enemy thereby causing your PTA to shut down for that craft.

quote:

RM

i'm sure there's some sort of directive against opting to destroy crippled craft

There is no such restriction against you personally destroying any craft.

quote:

RM

(besides, they self-destruct after a while unless i'm mistaken)

I think you are mistaken RM. Crippled yet functional craft try to flee, even if they are barely functional. If their intregity is too corrupt/low they may "self destruct" later.

I have said before. BCMG is not pass/fail. Too many variables throughout the game. Unless you consider live/die as pass/fail then yes.

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  • 1 month later...

One thing that I've seen a few times is that if a fighter is moving quickly and is disabled, it will sometimes keep on moving, right out of the area if left alone long enough. If you find a disabled fighter that's moving at a constant course and speed, take a look at it with target view (or inverse tactical). If it's flying away with no engine emissions (and frequently not even facing in the right direction), then it's fully disabled - it just isn't /stopped/.

My guess is that the engines are needed to stop, so if they get shot out too quickly it just goes flying off, helpless.

Retrieving these things can be a chore - typically, it involves taking a shuttle ahead of it in hyperspace and doing a nose-on intercept with the tractor beam. What makes it even more interesting is that if you turn off the tractor beam, it will keep flying away - so forget about handing it off to the CC! I've had a few incidents where I was tractoring one of these "runaways", and shut down the tractor beam by accident. Usually it just goes streaking away into space, but once it slammed right into my CC.

Something that I haven't tried yet, but intend to, is to amass a collection of "runaway" ships, jump to a system with an enemy station, and place them so that when the tractor beams are shut off, they'll be on a collision course.

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quote:

My guess is that the engines are needed to stop, so if they get shot out too quickly it just goes flying off, helpless

Exactly right toxicfrog. When a ship is disabled very quickly it will not have time too shut off it's engines, which is the only way to slow down. Without friction, a ship will keep on it's course indefinately. This has happened to my own fighters before, and I couldn't catch up to them no matter what I did, so I reloaded the game. Personally, I don't waste the time capturing ships, I just blow em up!

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It often happens to me that when I launch a shuttle to tow a ship in the vicinity, after it arrive on its target and activate the tractor beam, it seems to be stuck.... I mean that when I order it to go somewhere or to deliver the ship to a station the shuttle won't move.....

In the VID display it shows that it acquire the new target but simply don't move......

Surely there is something I miss but can't find what......

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