Horizons Interdiction madness ruining my game

[Mercury7]

It's the fact that they seem to be equipped with magic frame shift drives that annoys the heck out of me. You can be travelling at over 150 times the speed of light, they're no where in sight, not even in your contacts list. Then suddenly from out of the edge of your scanner, ZZZzzziiiiipp! They come flying over at super warp speed and stop dead right behind you and 2 seconds later, bam! You're being interdicted.

Of course that's not including the others that just magically appear right behind you out of nowhere, or the ones that some how manage to be there already waiting for you every time you drop out of SC. Which is especially surprising given that they appear to have terrible short term memory problems. "I knew I'd find you all that tasty cargo! Don't try to run." Hang on a minute, didn't we already have this conversation the last 3 times I ran away from you?

I think what's especially annoying and frustrating about it, is that it is purely straight up cheating by the AI and there is nothing you can do to avoid it. You're flying through the middle of space, there's no where to hide, you can't take a quick left, then a right and another right down that little backstreet to lose them. All you can do is fly in a straight line to where you are going and hope that you get there without too much hassle.

As for the space lanes, what rubbish! So if I make a bee line to a port from the drop in point at a star I'm in a space lane, but if I just deviate from that a little bit I'm not and somehow that makes me less likely to get interdicted? Despite the fact that I'm still just as visible on the scanner, as is everyone else as they were before I left the space lane. Utter nonsense.


An alternative idea to the current interdiction system:

I understand it's hard to make a chase and evasion game set in a big empty void. So how about instead of just having pirates pop out into SC from nowhere right behind us or have them chase us from half way across a system with their magic super fast drives. Why don't we have them lie in wait in ambush instead? As we're flying along we could perhaps detect disturbances like the USS's from which the pirates pop out and give chase and not with any super fast magic drives either. If they pop out ahead of our flight path they can still interdict us as we fly past. However it will also give us a fighting chance to try and avoid them, either by steering a course clear of any suspect signals or some last second evasive manoeuvres if we see them pop out in an ambush. They could set up a chain of ambushes ahead of you and have you weaving in and out try to avoid them. Would be a heck of a lot more fun than the current implementation. The same would work well for cops and smugglers too. And it would make the current space lanes make a bit more sense too if you were more likely to encounter them along popular routes.

+1! Quote of the day!

 

[rrobes]

rrobes, I got interdicted a few times yesterday and submitted three times, and each time my ship got thrown around the system. It really *** me off that when that happens really close to my stop, I wind up about an extra 5 to 20 LY further away.[/QUOTE


You know to cut to zero throttle immediately, that usually avoids the spin. Recently I did get spun even after cutting throttle, but it works almost every time. Yes, if you are spun you do end up somewhere else within the system, but I've never stopped outside the system where the interdiction occurred, it usually displaces you some LS away, not LY.

Keep working at it and you will get to this point: Today I was running a 34 mill CR cargo run from Maia and and got interdicted several times. avoided a few but took on two elite FDL's, some time later, I am 500k richer in bounties. Earlier, I took on a dangerous Anaconda that had stopped me, it was lawless but I got pi**ed that it bothered me with 2 energy grid assemblies in my hold, short time later, toasted snake, no bounty but some satisfaction.

I am nothing special, an old guy, but I try to control the encounters and have worked on my two ships exclusively, the Maia run was in my Corvette, a-class and fully modded as of today, the Anaconda was when I was in my Python, also a complete ship, on my way to pick the 'Vette.

You will get to the point were you are playing the game more than the game is playing you.

 

[Mike Reacher]

rrobes: I meant light seconds. My bad.
Chaz: Tonight, my running away via my Cobra's better speed actually worked a treat. But ...... I have tried running away while in a fight, and I'm going 298MPH or KPH or whatever FD calls it, and many times the bad guy overtakes me at about twice the speed. I try to catch him, which is impossible, as my 300 is slower than his 200 he then turns on sixpence and we do a head-on. At least the NPC turns off so we hit sometimes only.
Speed in ED,H is a strange piece of programming, I can tell you.
Gotta add: I'm going low cruise from sun to port and other lights (aliens maybe) (those bloody thargoids again) go from the sun to the 4,000 LS distance port in three seconds. 4. 2 8 ...No not 8. Never that slow.

 

[rrobes]

rrobes: I meant light seconds. My bad.
Chaz: Tonight, my running away via my Cobra's better speed actually worked a treat. But ...... I have tried running away while in a fight, and I'm going 298MPH or KPH or whatever FD calls it, and many times the bad guy overtakes me at about twice the speed. I try to catch him, which is impossible, as my 300 is slower than his 200 he then turns on sixpence and we do a head-on. At least the NPC turns off so we hit sometimes only.
Speed in ED,H is a strange piece of programming, I can tell you.
Gotta add: I'm going low cruise from sun to port and other lights (aliens maybe) (those bloody thargoids again) go from the sun to the 4,000 LS distance port in three seconds. 4. 2 8 ...No not 8. Never that slow.

I don't know what you have in your thrusters but 298 in a Cobra seems low, have you gotten a dirty drive yet? Even a level 1 will help out significantly, my Python does over 420 on DD level 5 and was 350 on lesser levels, I know a Cobra can do better. This is one of the first mods you should do along with better shields. Both of those will allow to run away from almost everything that's around.

 

[Mike Reacher]

I don't know what you have in your thrusters but 298 in a Cobra seems low, have you gotten a dirty drive yet? Even a level 1 will help out significantly, my Python does over 420 on DD level 5 and was 350 on lesser levels, I know a Cobra can do better. This is one of the first mods you should do along with better shields. Both of those will allow to run away from almost everything that's around.

I have:2 x 2E beams, 2 x fr cannon, sh. boost, point def, adv disc scanner, planet app suite, ** 1A Mil Bulkhead, 4A power plant, 4A thrusters, 4A FSD, 3E life, 3A power dist, 3c sensors, and a 4C fuel. ********** I can sometimes cruise at 300 but boost to about 425, then I notice low wake speeds seem weird when looking at the speedo, and the timer together.

I want to get a Python before I use engineer bits, and the Python lets me carry what I pick up. 40 ton in Cobra is a slow process. I have lost 4 or five Cobras to interdictions in the past, and ins. plus freight has been a costly process. AI fix has speeded it up a bit now. Got 61 mil credits so far.
Important question: Inara list of engineer's requirement : If it says 0% does it mean it is never required?

 

[rrobes]

I have:2 x 2E beams, 2 x fr cannon, sh. boost, point def, adv disc scanner, planet app suite, ** 1A Mil Bulkhead, 4A power plant, 4A thrusters, 4A FSD, 3E life, 3A power dist, 3c sensors, and a 4C fuel. ********** I can sometimes cruise at 300 but boost to about 425, then I notice low wake speeds seem weird when looking at the speedo, and the timer together.

I want to get a Python before I use engineer bits, and the Python lets me carry what I pick up. 40 ton in Cobra is a slow process. I have lost 4 or five Cobras to interdictions in the past, and ins. plus freight has been a costly process. AI fix has speeded it up a bit now. Got 61 mil credits so far.
Important question: Inara list of engineer's requirement : If it says 0% does it mean it is never required?

If you have lost several ships to interdictions, it is time to do the basic Engineer mods. They will save your capital and speed reaching your goal. The basic ones are fairly easy. Felicity is the first engineer you should do business with. Get your Scout ranking and head over to Darnelle's Progress for the Meta-Alloys. Dirty Drive 1 is one specialized legacy firmware and the best way to get them in at encoded USS by scanning the pvt. beacon. get two or three and head to Farseer once she is unlocked.

I have observed that when rolling for a mod, it is usually the first roll that is the best. It unusual to get much of a significant improvement with multiple rolls. I did, however get one roll that was literally of the graph on my Python power plant mod. So collecting stuff for ten rolls is a waste.

Be aware, the higher you go in rank and the better the quality of your ship, your opponents will also improve. I see 90%+ dangerous/elite opponents and a fair number of them have mods or they are programmed to cheat as you have found. So if you don't do the engineers you will put yourself at a disadvantage.

If you start early you will be able to get through it and be ready when you have the capital for the Python. I won't kid you, it is a grind and a half but pace yourself.

 

[Elyk.McG]

I am with janice winters and was flying through a empire territory. Im about to leave janice. Anyways,every system was hostile and i got interdicted over and over and over again. 3 times in one system, a system that was only a pitstop, i wasmt there for more then a minute.i dont hate em but it was just too much

 

[MrFailfactory]

Getting Interdicted 3-4 times in the same system by the same NPC that magically catches up to you and hooks you like a fish can DIAF. If I escape the first time, that should be it.

Riôt

 

[dlocke]

7 interdict ions from same NPC between star and station...I finally got there but I am done with this crap.... I will quit doing CG and missions and just go back to straight trading. This is a game killer if you ask me...Once or twice well OK but 7 times...really and no local authorities ever show up to help....ridiculous

 

[rrobes]

7 interdict ions from same NPC between star and station...I finally got there but I am done with this crap.... I will quit doing CG and missions and just go back to straight trading. This is a game killer if you ask me...Once or twice well OK but 7 times...really and no local authorities ever show up to help....ridiculous

This is the strange thing about the game, yesterday I was running cargo missions near LHS 28 and I received interdiction messages just a couple of times. I fought an elite Anaconda (psycho-ramming, chaff-spamming variety) for fun, a nice 233k bounty, but otherwise undisturbed. The day before, I did the same thing near LHS 28 but had a significantly higher number of interdicttions, got about 500k in bounties when I decided to fight.

I have read several comments from CMDRS reporting relatively few interdictions during their game play, while others are swamped.

From a personal observation, once I got elite combat and topped out my two ships (combat-oriented but able to trade), the interdictions slowed down (keyed to your ship/rank, most of the time).

There has to be a mechanism at play here or just the cruel RNG lords at work.

 

[Lokus Midgard]

I find it depends on the time of day. Also, whether or not you're armed appears to flag you up on the servers as more 'applicable' for sudden NPC interdiction encounters.

 

[Mike Reacher]

I have been having interdictions from some ship I have not identified yet, but different pilots (mostly) and I have been submitting, and boosting. FSD tunes in again and I head to my target station and the ship catches me again and this goes on till I get the cargo (or no cargo) to the station. I wait to see if he will come close and go red. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
Last night I think it was a Python and I could practically wave to the Python while we sat outside the letterbox.
The feds who don't seem to show up to fight like they use to showed up and I got a few shots in. (got a bounty)
Up till that point the feds would go and scan the bad guy but do nothing. There has obviously been a change to the dynamics recently.
I have been earning about a mil a day, but when I buy a Python, I better be prepared to fight as it can't go as fast as my Cobra to run away.
That is why I wont engineer till I get a Python. I can afford the basic Python now, but I still need a big gun. And Mil armour.

PS: I'm getting there! (It is called grinding)

PS again: I think the ships kicking my ummm ... are Vultures. They seem to have a big gun that does a lot of damage real quick.

 

[Mike Reacher]

Chucked across the void again.
Today, I was interdicted as I dropped out of low wake to dock. I submitted. Got spun around. Was at .60 Light seconds from port.
I attempted to approach the port again, interdicted. Submitted. Not spun around. With control gained, I was 7.6 LS away from the port. Such stupid idea.
If spun, yeah wind up where ever. When not spun, be where you were. Another rant about stupid programmers idea.

Oh yeah. Yesterday, I was interdicted, and submitted, but spun really crazily and while I was spinning, the interdicter was shooting at me and when I stopped spinning I was down to 60% hull. I think the programmers ought to go get some training from the Freelancer mob.