break of continuity

[Djpess]

an absurd failure of continuity in the game almost made me lose a mamba with an insurance of 8kk +. A master enemy with a federal droship was found by me as the mission mandated. I started with the plasma cannon that almost dropped his shield. For some reason he sped up coming straight at me. When he collided with my ship, he got 20% armor and I got 80% armor. He being a coward ran away. I had no doubts, since it seemed that there he was aiming to attack some other npc. (in fact before I started to attack he was standing like a muggle while his target npc screamed in despair <-- this is another problem that happens everytime)

I left the place and when I tried to go back he interdicted me. I accepted interdiction by slowing down, however his ship was 100% armor as if by a miracle of the forces of darkness.

Ridiculous nonsense. It almost cost me the whole action, even because he came back attacking with missiles and my shield was still regenerating. I killed the with hate in my heart, but that should never happen in the game. It is a totally meaningless break of continuity.



this is really sad

 

[Enabledflyer]

Agreed

 

[Dragsham]

Never let em get away. Target their power plant or fsd or distributor

 

[Werewolf13]

Never let em get away. Target their power plant or fsd or distributor

Yep, Dragsham knows of which he speaks.

Back in the Day Power Plant or FSD or Distributor was the 1st thing I always targeted, always back when I used gimballed weps only. Then I got gud... and over confident... and I started using wep combos that were more effective and STOPPED targeting Pwr, dist or FSD and then the strangest thing occured - enemy kept getting away.

Now the 1st thing I do when a combat starts is target what Dragsham said. They don't get away now - well - at least not as often anyway.

Live and Learn...

 

[Bigmaec]

What Dragsham says.

Nevertheless it's a result of non-persistent (or semi-persistent) NPCs and for immersion that's really bad.

 

[Vasious]

Also if you wake scan and follow them, they will retain any damage

 

[Factabulous]

Your mistake was to let them run. If you kill 'em they don't get to repair* - time to git gud

* Ok, sometimes you get attacked by their ghost, but it seems you haven't played enough to see that one

 

[Ydiss]

It's not an obviously nonsense feature of the game, op. It's not something that could likely be improved. In fact, that kind of somewhat broken, enjoyment spoiling stuff is loved around these parts. It's not the game that's wrong, you made the mistake.

Yes, you just need to gitgud.

You've been told. Don't do it again.

Spoiler

/sarcasm

 

[Hacker#451563]

I killed the with hate in my heart

Nicely poetic.

 

[CaptainPugwash]

What Dragsham says.

Nevertheless it's a result of non-persistent (or semi-persistent) NPCs and for immersion that's really bad.

This was one of my hopes for Odysssey: so far we have no news of what they are planning server-side, and I doubt they will tell us even after it's fully released.

 

[Ydiss]

Seriously though, this is something that I wish fdev would change. Persistent npcs, most definitely ones tied to missions, was something they proposed in the original design docs and this inconsistency really messes that up.

It'd be OK if some did it if they had the right modules to repair. But that's not why they regenerate. And it's obvious.

Actually letting them escape isn't relevant. It's not possible for everyone to stop every possible npc opponent 100% of the time, even targeting drives or fsd; even if you can this is not the "fix" for a game dev continuity error. They will sometimes get away (and I think it's fine that they do). But then you should either have to hunt them down again and finish them off because the damage persists (and this option should be 100% possible with mission targets) or not see them again within a reasonable time frame (random targets).

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Seriously though, this is something that I wish fdev would change. Persistent npcs, most definitely ones tied to missions, was something they proposed in the original design docs and this inconsistency really messes that up.

If you escape to supercruise and then they reappear there to follow you, they'll generally have their damage persist - I've used this a few times when I get attacked by multiple mission enemies at once, because my shields regenerate way faster than theirs do.

If they escape to hyperspace ... well, I'd get repairs before coming back for a second go too. It just needs a little bit more of a delay in that case before the same mission enemy can be regenerated (e.g. "until you leave the system or fifteen minutes have passed") and then their repairs would be perfectly realistic and not need detailed persistence.

 

[Factabulous]

What would happen if NPCs were more persistent though?

A) They are realistic - they head to a station and get repaired. So from our POV they cannot be found for 30 minutes, then appear fully repaired. I don't see that as fun gameplay, having to wait for them to repair.
B) They are unrealistic - they reappear damaged. In which case the complaints would be 'I always need 2+ attempts to kill an NPC, and it's boring as the second time they are half-ded'.

I just don't see either as better than what we have

Edit: Ninjad

 

[BL1P]

Its even funnier when the NPCs duplicate when your in a wing.
All of a sudden that assassination wing of an FDL + 4x vultures becomes 3 wings so you end up fighting 3 x FDLs and 12 x Vultures (all engineered)

and all of them have the same names, just triplicated

 

[B1rdy]

What Dragsham says.

Nevertheless it's a result of non-persistent (or semi-persistent) NPCs and for immersion that's really bad.

Not even for immersion, but it affects the way ED needs to be played negatively.

 

[Ydiss]

What would happen if NPCs were more persistent though?

A) They are realistic - they head to a station and get repaired. So from our POV they cannot be found for 30 minutes, then appear fully repaired. I don't see that as fun gameplay, having to wait for them to repair.
B) They are unrealistic - they reappear damaged. In which case the complaints would be 'I always need 2+ attempts to kill an NPC, and it's boring as the second time they are half-ded'.

I just don't see either as better than what we have

Edit: Ninjad

Or they can just be found in supercruise if you follow their wake. This gives you the opportunity to chase them down before they get to a station, which they absolutely should attempt to reach to get repaired. If you've properly geared up for bounty hunting then you'll be able to follow them and catch them. If not, then they'll get to the station and repair and you'll need to try again. In the event this occurs, they'll be visible again in supercruise and a new mission poi, just like normal and it'll remain in the same system until you kill them or fail.

It doesn't take me 30 minutes to cruise to a station and repair then travel to a poi. What systems do you bounty hunt in?

So yes, I absolutely think npcs behaving as we would would be ideal.

 

[Factabulous]

Or they can just be found in supercruise if you follow their wake. This gives you the opportunity to chase them down before they get to a station, which they absolutely should attempt to reach to get repaired. If you've properly geared up for bounty hunting then you'll be able to follow them and catch them. If not, then they'll get to the station and repair and you'll need to try again. In the event this occurs, they'll be visible again in supercruise and a new mission poi, just like normal and it'll remain in the same system until you kill them or fail.

It doesn't take me 30 minutes to cruise to a station and repair then travel to a poi. What systems do you bounty hunt in?

So yes, I absolutely think npcs behaving as we would would be ideal.

Then you choose B - good to know

(The OP was doing assassination missions, which can spawn a long way from stations - 30 minutes was just an example)

B) They are unrealistic - they reappear damaged. In which case the complaints would be 'I always need 2+ attempts to kill an NPC, and it's boring as the second time they are half-ded'.

 

[Drelthar]

Also if you wake scan and follow them, they will retain any damage

Which is mad and bizzarre that they CAN keep things persistent, but in some cases, it doesn't...

 

[Ydiss]

Then you choose B - good to know

(The OP was doing assassination missions, which can spawn a long way from stations - 30 minutes was just an example)

I didn't choose B. I chose C.

There's nothing unrealistic about them appearing in the target system (same or other) supercruise immediately after waking out, with the same damage values as they had before they waked out, then attempting to travel to the nearest station. Nothing at all.

So I'd prefer that to your B.

 

[Factabulous]

I didn't choose B. I chose C.

There's nothing unrealistic about them appearing in the target system (same or other) supercruise immediately after waking out, with the same damage values as they had before they waked out, then attempting to travel to the nearest station. Nothing at all.

So I'd prefer that to your B.

Lol. Your C is the same as B, but whatever - it's all theroycrafting