Anyone Else Losing Prospectors On First Firing Them?

Ralph Vargr · Dec 19, 2018

On both the main and alt accounts, the first use of the prospector drone results not only in it's loss, but the destruction of other drones in the cargo bay. Does not seem to recur on second shots, and further.

I'm used to collectors suiciding, but this is the first time I've seen a prospector drone lost to no reason (other than missing the target).

xxThe_Dice_manxx · Dec 19, 2018

I seemed to be losing them first shot but was not sure, I pulled the trigger and got the notification but no limpet.

I'm not sure it took a limpet off me tho I'll take note of stock before firing and make sure.

Viktor Dracul · Dec 19, 2018

Ralph Vargr said:
On both the main and alt accounts, the first use of the prospector drone results not only in it's loss, but the destruction of other drones in the cargo bay. Does not seem to recur on second shots, and further.

I'm used to collectors suiciding, but this is the first time I've seen a prospector drone lost to no reason (other than missing the target).

Only times I've lost prospectors is when I've been travelling too fast when I fire them.

Muetdhiver · Dec 19, 2018

All the time.

Prospector are super slow. So if your ship moves above 180, the really have a hard time getting clear of the ship.

They should :
Eject to 20-30m of the ship downward to avoid any collision risk, then boost to 650 m/s to their target.

At the moment they are really annoying to use, and in many cases moving the ship and visually inspecting for cracks is faster.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead · Dec 19, 2018

Yup, it's quite easy to run them over in certain ships now.
Even when moving slowly
I posted a bug report in beta.

It'd only take a Prospector limpet speed increase to fix it. It's not like it'll unbalance anything. Lol

bootsam · Dec 19, 2018

Yep, but it happened pre 3.3 too. Useless limpets. I do find them a tad annoying at times.

galahad2069 · Dec 19, 2018

Muetdhiver said:
All the time.

Prospector are super slow. So if your ship moves above 180, the really have a hard time getting clear of the ship.

They should :
Eject to 20-30m of the ship downward to avoid any collision risk, then boost to 650 m/s to their target.

Or they should just inherit the speed of the ship. What makes them slow down after having launched from a moving ship anyway?

BillD · Dec 19, 2018

I am losing them alot when launching from the Corvette. I lost none in hundreds of launches on the python. I think there is a collision happening with the corvette when moving too fast (well fast in corvette terms). I found strafing upwards as I launched reduce the loss.

Kenneth McGrew · Dec 19, 2018

galahad2069 said:
Or they should just inherit the speed of the ship. What makes them slow down after having launched from a moving ship anyway?

"Every body persists in its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed on it."

if you shot a gun from a train going 1,000mph

If the gun shoots bullets at 1,000 mph, then the bullet will always move away from the gun at 1,000 mph. TL

L the bullet would be doing 2,000mph relative to the ground

bit like why this ball shot at 50mph from a truck doing 50mph "doesn't move at all"

so prospectors getting stuck in your cargo scoop?!?

galahad2069 · Dec 19, 2018

Kenneth Mcgrew said:
"bit like why this ball shot at 50mph from a truck doing 50mph "doesn't move at all"

so prospectors getting stuck in your cargo scoop?!?

Thanks but I'm fairly familiar with basic physics.

No matter what, other slow moving limpet-like self-propelled objects in the game (missiles, torpedoes) don't seem to exhibit suicidality afaik.

IndigoWyrd · Dec 19, 2018

Reported it in the beta, never had it happen prior. Haven’t been mining since.

777Driver · Dec 19, 2018

Viktor Dracul said:
Only times I've lost prospectors is when I've been travelling too fast when I fire them.

Correct, however they worked fine prior to the latest update, seems strange that the behavior has changed. Have also noticed that collectors damage the ship (T-10) Have resorted to wasting a slot and fitting a shield gen or hull repair limpets.

Current work around (sheildless) is to remain stationary when the collectors arrive at the cargo hatch, and only launch prospectors when below 100m/s

Not a game breaker, still pulling in tens of millions on each mining run.

Muetdhiver · Dec 19, 2018

galahad2069 said:
Thanks but I'm fairly familiar with basic physics.

No matter what, other slow moving limpet-like self-propelled objects in the game (missiles, torpedoes) don't seem to exhibit suicidality afaik.

Reverb torps doing this would be kind of hilarious TBH.

[VR] Goooost · Dec 19, 2018

Yep. Not only that, but I'm extremely frustrated with mining. How can I probe 50 asteroids and only find one with a core? And I fudged that core because there isn't enough wiggle room on the sweet spot.

galahad2069 · Dec 19, 2018

Muetdhiver said:
Reverb torps doing this would be kind of hilarious TBH.

Lol, indeed

Kamiyoda · Dec 19, 2018

Goooost said:
Yep. Not only that, but I'm extremely frustrated with mining. How can I probe 50 asteroids and only find one with a core? And I fudged that core because there isn't enough wiggle room on the sweet spot.

Know what to look for and dont probe every asteroid you see? If it isnt a bright gold on your pulse scanner it isnt going to be a Deep Core Roid. These are rare and its faster to find them by boosting and using the pulse scanner to find them

KillaALF · Dec 19, 2018

Nope, no problems with prospectors for me. So far I've used a Python (original CMDR), a Keelback and an AspE (second CMDR), but have not lost a single prospector limpet. Of course, not that I know that only certain rocks can be cracked I use them much more sparingly than with laser mining, but still, I've fired off a good amount of them.

Ralph Vargr · Dec 19, 2018

Muetdhiver said:
All the time.

Prospector are super slow. So if your ship moves above 180, the really have a hard time getting clear of the ship.

They should :
Eject to 20-30m of the ship downward to avoid any collision risk, then boost to 650 m/s to their target.

At the moment they are really annoying to use, and in many cases moving the ship and visually inspecting for cracks is faster.

Ship velocity when firing is well under 100 m/s. Usually under 80 m/sec, with an open cargo scoop. Drones are supposed to have a velocity of at least 200 m/s.

This behavior only started after the new build went live, and for several ships.

Ralph Vargr · Dec 19, 2018

Kamiyoda said:
Know what to look for and dont probe every asteroid you see? If it isnt a bright gold on your pulse scanner it isnt going to be a Deep Core Roid. These are rare and its faster to find them by boosting and using the pulse scanner to find them

Our mining methods differ. I find a Gold Roid, work it, then work the asteroids near it, to conserve collectors. Then I find another, and move on.

On first using the new gear, I used to go after Gold Roids exclusively. Now, I've stopped looking for the loot boxes.

CaptainCaboose · Dec 19, 2018

I know in my T-9 I was having issues but it was easy to solve. The shape of the ship causes the prospectors to slide along the belly until they clear the nose. Due to the T-9's tokyo-drift method of maneuvering, I was firing a prospector while the ship angle was still changing and it was colliding every time.

To solve it, I got better at flying. I only fire the prospectors now when I've got no lateral movement, or, if I do, I immediately use "up" thrust after firing to give the limpet clearance from the ship.

Took some getting used to, now I don't notice it.

As for the OP's statement about losing drones in the cargo bay, I have no idea what that's about unless you're moving "down" while the limpet is bringing cargo "up" to your bay and you're smashing into the collector limpet.

Hope this helps.