Newcomer / Intro Dogfight fail - missles would not fire...

[Siderwinder]

So - I'm in my Adder, running a cargo of meat from here to there (which happened to be far away), and I come under attack from a Sidewinder in some little white-dwarf starsystem.
I can't evade, so I drop out of Shift to engage.

My burst lasers are working just fine, but Joystick-2 would not fire missiles... and actually I never heard the missiles lock at all.
I died.

This is the first time I've tried to use my missiles. I only recently bought a 12-port missile pylon. I'm pretty sure it's rated to carry smart missiles... although there is NO WAY TO TELL that from the description during outfitting.
There was just two missile pylons which were described 100% identically, except that one cost about twice what the other one did. I bought the expensive one.
My missiles cost 500CR each, which is the only way I can identify them as smart missiles.
I had 2 in the pylon... didn't expect to need a whole bunch.

I'm pretty sure during the engagement that they had opportunity to lock, as I spent a good amount of time running backwards w/ the target immediately in front of me...BUT - they never locked, and never fired.
I died.

Any hints as to why my missiles are useless?
All help appreciated.
SiderW.

 

[Krepose Gavayne]

Hi,

I was once confused about missiles, thinking that I'd found two identical types with one being more expensive than the other. Turned out that I was concentrating too much on the specs such that I'd not properly read the description. It does say whether they are seekers or dumbfires, and I think you might have bought dumbfires, as the B2 rack has a clip of 12 dumbfires. If that is the case then they would not lock, just shoot in the direction you are pointing when they are fired.

You do not mention any warnings given, so I shall assume that you have enough power and that they are enabled in the Modules interface.

Did you assign the missiles to a Fire Group, and also select that Fire Group? For example, I have a Fire Group with missiles as secondary weapons, and when selected I see "Missile Rack; 6/18" in the HUD, just above the targeted ship's image on my dashboard.


EDIT: I should not have said identical, but similar, enough that I was scratching my head until I read the description properly. Here is an image of missile racks in Outfitting:

EDIT 2: Just re-read your post and noticed you said 'pylon' which would indicate torpedo over missile (I shouldn't be on here this early with a hangover...).

 

[Strange Orange]

Check to make sure that you have added your missiles to the same fire group as your lasers- but with a different key.

When you're managing fire groups, the number at the top of the column you've highlighted is the fire group. But when you press the space bar on the corresponding circle of the weapon you're including in that group it will change to empty for not in that group, 1 for primary fire button, or 2 for secondary fire button.

You can only use one fire group at a time (and switch between them) so if you had your lasers on primary fire in one group and your missiles on primary or even secondary in another and didn't switch between the two groups, that may be why your missiles didn't fire.

 

[Siderwinder]

Hey Krepose,
Thanks for pointing out the Missile Rack description DOES indicate dumbfire vs seeking... I checked and my Rack IS rated for seeking missiles.... Now I know for sure.

StrangeOrange - I checked my fire groups, and I've only got one (and it's #1).. In that fire group I've got the lasers as "1" (orange), and the missiles as "2" (blue).
I also confirmed in my Options/controls that my primary fire control is the trigger on my joystick, and the secondary fire control is the thumbbutton on my joystick.
I also just undocked, flew out of the no-fire zone of the station I'm at and enabled weapons, just to confirm when I'm not actually being killed.
What I see in the weapons display crescent on the right side of my screen is the two lasers only. No indications missiles exist.
(Alt-ScrnPrt nor Ctl-ScrnPrt don't work so I can't show you caps).

So - good ideas from both of you (THANKS!) but I still can't explain what's up with my missiles.
Zippy is soooo confused.

 

[Himmel Tropf]

do seekers require a direct LOS to target and fire similarly to how under-ship cannon/laser won't fire on things in the blindspot above the ship? Have you tested firing on all angles from ship - ship?

 

[Krepose Gavayne]

This is confusing, indeed. Out of curiosity, have you tried swapping the 1 and 2 choices around, and also putting every weapon on 1 then afterwards all to 2? I'd be interested to know which configurations, if any, allow missiles to show (and whether the lasers disappear).

Have you tried binding secondary fire to a different button (not a trigger)? If that works then it'd be a step in the right direction to finding the fault.

BTW, F10 is the screen capture button.

 

[Siderwinder]

Hey Krepose - thanks for sticking with me.
I figured it out... finally.... It was 'stupid pilot' error.
I had been practicing stealth-approaches to stations, in case I want to try smuggling in the future.
Unfortunately, I had neglected to re-power my missile-rack! (brains of steel).
Everything else was powered on. I don't know how I overlooked the missile rack.

So - all's as it should be, and I have missiles as long as I remember to turn them on.
Thanks again!
Sider

 

[Krepose Gavayne]

Glad to hear you sorted it out.