BUG: Nebula Plow

Tanelorn · #1 December 10th, 2005, 07:29 PM

multiple times now I've gotten stuck in a nebula because my plow wasn't working. It's not separating the clouds quickly enough and I get caught in the nebula. So a trip that should take a couple hundred days turns out to be a thousand!!! There's some bug with how the plowing effect is calculated. When I'm hung up, I'm moving very slowly AND the nebula is being plowed slowly. Something has to rearrange the priority so the plow splits the nebula first.

c0d3monk33 · #2 December 10th, 2005, 09:50 PM

I've noticed this too...I suspect it's something to do with having a ship equipped with a fast drive (say the Gravity Implosion Drive) and the Nebula Plow...

Those pesky clouds just don't get shunted out of your way quickly enough...

Zogu · #3 December 10th, 2005, 10:52 PM

I wonder if it's a bug. After all, the plow has to push not only the immediate nebular clouds, but also the whole nebular width. Think of it as a "domino effect" on the nebula. I guess you have to ponder the use of the Plow if you want to cross a very large nebula right across the middle. No gizmo is ever perfect...

I tend to be extra careful with the Plow. When I have to cross large nebulas, I try first to "divide" it in smaller chunks through my first travels (criss-crossing and working close to the edges). Then, crossing through the middle is a breeze.

James Sterrett · #4 December 11th, 2005, 02:18 PM

Getting the Plow to work as you expect takes some trial and error. Use it with the Nebular Extent Calculator installed and you can see the impact it has.

Just like a snowplow, it doesn't clear away ALL of the snow/nebula. (Or, if you have our local town snowplow service, it doesn't bother to try to get the area in front of your driveway.

)

c0d3monk33 · #5 December 12th, 2005, 11:21 PM

I realise it's probably not technically a 'bug' as such, rather more a 'feature' of the way the plow has been implemented.

It is however still very annoying as the player has very little control over when and where the plow will be ineffective...

Puke · #6 December 12th, 2005, 11:56 PM

sure, the player has control. dont try to go into a nebula without building up speed, and dont go too deep into a thick one or you will get bogged down.

youve got plenty of control, the component just isnt as great as a hyperdrive.

now maybe you could mod in different levels of plow, so that better ones didnt get bogged down as easy. i dont know if thats a variable, or not.

Phoenix-D · #7 December 13th, 2005, 12:03 AM

The only relevent section in the plow's file is TYPE plow..everything else is flavor text. Not terribly encouraging.

Brainiac4 · #8 December 13th, 2005, 12:51 AM

I don't think it's a bug as such. The behavior of the plow depends on the angle you are plowing at and the amount of nebula. If the nebula is really dense, it takes time to get out of the way.

Tanelorn · #9 December 15th, 2005, 12:22 AM

well, that's all nice and all, but it is a bug. It's a bug because the plowing action acts quickly when your ship is moving quickly, and acts slowly when you're bogged down by nebula. So, when you're moving more slowly, which should be giving the plow plenty of time to divide the nebula, it instead works the worst.

The coorelation between slow move speed and slow plow action tells me that it's a bug, and the priorities of ship nebula speed and plowing calculations are the cause.

When you are crossing a nebula, and a 200 day journey becomes 2000, it makes you want to never use or depend on the plow again. So, of course, including an item that claims to do something, that is worth 5 coins, and doesn't work, is a problem.

I don't remember the plow ever having problems in the demo. Could there be a difference between the demo code and the full version?

Phoenix-D · #10 December 15th, 2005, 03:43 AM

Oh, the plow definitely has the same issue in the demo..