Materialised... Are you sure he didn't just drop out of SC?
Most of the NPC behaviour can be rationalised if you're prepared to stretch the old imagination, but there are still one or two things that are clearly just quirks of the way the various routines work and of timing issues between them.
A couple of days ago I was docking with a Coriolis after an unusually good SC drop had left me a fair distance from the station but almost perfectly aligned with the docking port. I boosted towards it (impatient, I know, but I had checked the scanner and there was nothing in front of me) and an NPC spawned right in front of me, heading away from the station. We both "reacted" and fortunately chose opposite vectors, passing each other with inches to spare. A second later he jumped out leaving a high wake behind me.
I can only assume this was an artefact of the instance "populating" with NPCs going about their normal station activities, and I just happened to have dropped in right at the point where most ships jump out and was already on my way in before the "populating" routine had done its stuff. This NPC definitely did not come out of the station. He just appeared in space, a few hundred metres from his jump out point. Most of my docking approaches are from about 45 degrees off from the station axis, so I wouldn't even notice ships at the periphery of the scanner turning from unresolved targets into high wakes. But when you're right on top of the spawn point...
I guess the OP's experience was similar, but worse in his case since the NPC was armed and already aggro triggered.
The game's getting better all the time but stuff like this does still happen. And it's undeniably annoying.
A couple of days ago I was docking with a Coriolis after an unusually good SC drop had left me a fair distance from the station but almost perfectly aligned with the docking port. I boosted towards it (impatient, I know, but I had checked the scanner and there was nothing in front of me) and an NPC spawned right in front of me, heading away from the station. We both "reacted" and fortunately chose opposite vectors, passing each other with inches to spare. A second later he jumped out leaving a high wake behind me.
I can only assume this was an artefact of the instance "populating" with NPCs going about their normal station activities, and I just happened to have dropped in right at the point where most ships jump out and was already on my way in before the "populating" routine had done its stuff. This NPC definitely did not come out of the station. He just appeared in space, a few hundred metres from his jump out point. Most of my docking approaches are from about 45 degrees off from the station axis, so I wouldn't even notice ships at the periphery of the scanner turning from unresolved targets into high wakes. But when you're right on top of the spawn point...
I guess the OP's experience was similar, but worse in his case since the NPC was armed and already aggro triggered.
The game's getting better all the time but stuff like this does still happen. And it's undeniably annoying.
NPCs do have cloaking devices.
Ever been to a "I can't believe that worked!" USS?
Drop in, nothing on sensors.
Cargo/Data/Wreck Spawns.
Nothing on sensors.
Fly in Closer.
Use Debug camera for 360° visual check. Nothing.
Open cargo hatch. Nothing.
Move Even Closer.
2 Anacondas, and 4 Vulture appear, 500m away. Directly in front of you.
No waking in, just 'pop' and small fleet appears out of nowhere.
Cloaking Tech!
They should either;
Spawn just outside of your Sensor range, and fly in fast.
Or, wake in nearby, but in sensor range.
Or be there the entire time, stationary, in silent running so you can visually spot the trap, if you're paying attention.
Or, my favourite, have a single ship in silent running, lurking nearby. And after a while, if you approach the cargo, it calls for its gang to drop in.
Ever been to a "I can't believe that worked!" USS?
Drop in, nothing on sensors.
Cargo/Data/Wreck Spawns.
Nothing on sensors.
Fly in Closer.
Use Debug camera for 360° visual check. Nothing.
Open cargo hatch. Nothing.
Move Even Closer.
2 Anacondas, and 4 Vulture appear, 500m away. Directly in front of you.
No waking in, just 'pop' and small fleet appears out of nowhere.
Cloaking Tech!
They should either;
Spawn just outside of your Sensor range, and fly in fast.
Or, wake in nearby, but in sensor range.
Or be there the entire time, stationary, in silent running so you can visually spot the trap, if you're paying attention.
Or, my favourite, have a single ship in silent running, lurking nearby. And after a while, if you approach the cargo, it calls for its gang to drop in.
The art of spawning... It can make or break your immersion.
Artemis Zodiac
Banned
you guys telling me you have not discovered your own cloaking device yet in game?.....
mine is called solo mode
but in all seriousness a Klingon style cloaking shield would be awesome.......problem is its a online game sadly,they wont give us cool single player powers like that.
if I want that I have to go and re play star trek bridge commander lol
mine is called solo mode
but in all seriousness a Klingon style cloaking shield would be awesome.......problem is its a online game sadly,they wont give us cool single player powers like that.
if I want that I have to go and re play star trek bridge commander lol
You nailed it! different ships in a High grade emissions USS which I have never seen before so I stopped to investigate. The cloaked FAS materialized perhaps 500m away directly in front of me and started blasting away there were two other contacts on radar but I never got to see them, was too busy getting closed up to make a jump to look around. The ship in silent running at least should have no shields so should be easy to dispatch, his scum wing may be a different story.
So, are you scared of dying in a game? how does this work?
X-Terminator
Banned
Yes we want this too: -
[video=youtube;Lk9wSrZ0fWA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk9wSrZ0fWA[/video]
[video=youtube;Lk9wSrZ0fWA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk9wSrZ0fWA[/video]