Newcomer / Intro Collector limpets fail after single use?

[HappySpaceInvdr]

I’ve been using collector limpets for mining missions, where they keep going for several minutes before expiring. I thought I’d start using them to clean up quickly after a combat mission… but each collector limpet expires after retrieving just one object. Is that meant to happen? If so, why?

 

[tolm]

If you have an object targeted when you launch the limpet, it fires out super-speedy like and grabs that one thing before expiring.

So, if you want ‘em to stick around hoovering up all sorts, make sure you have nothing targeted when you fire one.

 

[HappySpaceInvdr]

If you have an object targeted when you launch the limpet, it fires out super-speedy like and grabs that one thing before expiring.

So, if you want ‘em to stick around hoovering up all sorts, make sure you have nothing targeted when you fire one.

Ok, I’ll try that… but why doesn’t that happen when collecting the stuff you get from mining an asteroid?

EDIT: Oh wait… I may not have read your reply properly. You’re saying the problem occurs if I already have something targetted before I launch the limpet?

 

[Codger]

Ok, I’ll try that… but why doesn’t that happen when collecting the stuff you get from mining an asteroid?

EDIT: Oh wait… I may not have read your reply properly. You’re saying the problem occurs if I already have something targetted before I launch the limpet?

Yes, but it's not a problem. It's intended. If you want the limpet to pick up one thing as quickly as possible, then you target the thing and launch the limpet. It will rush over and grab that one thing, then expire.

If you have nothing targeted, however, when you launch a limpet it will search the nearby area and pick up any valid things, one at a time, move more slowly, and will last for quite a while (depends on what kind of limpet controller you have installed).

 

[SlickPBW]

Just to be clear. If you have something targeted that the limpet can collect, it collects that object at high speed then dies. If you have nothing targeted, or something that cannot be collected targeted, the limpet will operate at slow speed and collect everything it can before it dies from timing out or being destroyed by other means. When you mine, you typically target your prospector limpet and that’s not collectible so collectors collect mining chunks and materials using the second method I described.

 

[Esteban]

Yup. There's good reason for this behavior. Sometimes you're in more of a hurry to get goodies collected. Illegal black box missions, salvage ops, etc., where pirates are likely to visit and change the nature of the operation.

 

[Sapyx]

Limpets were designed back before "materials" that required zero cargo space were added to the game. Everything you scooped up (that wasn't minerals from shooting a mining laser) took 1 tonne of cargo space. So if you were, for example, going pirating, you'd want your limpets to die after retrieving 1 tonne of cargo, because the limpets take up 1 tonne of cargo space too; the idea was to swap limpet storage for scooped cargo storage 1 for 1. Having the limpets last too long would mean you'd simply have to be constantly ejecting your spare limpets.