Mass Lock Factor?

Ashnak

Ashnak
Could someone please jog my memory where the mass lock factor is derived from?

I know that in general, the larger the ship, the higher the MLF.

However, in particular, why do the Python (350 t hull, 292 t max cargo, MLF 17) and Anaconda (400 t hull, 468 t max cargo, MLF 23) have a higher MLF than the T-9 (850 t hull, 788 t max cargo, MLF 16)?

I was a bit perplexed yesterday when my (fully laden) T-9 was mass locked by an Anaconda :S.

If nobody can come up with an at least moderately reasonable explanation, I'll try to report this as a bug :D
 

Kamiyoda

Kamiyoda
Wasn't it something to do with the orginal game basically spawning everything around the player ship and they just kept it around in later games for reasons?

Or is that too meta? If its correct at all. Memory is fuzzy
 

Vorxian

Vorxian
Because Anaconda and Python are combat ships and the T9 is a trade ship. The game likes to punish PvE / traders.
 

Shadowdancer

Shadowdancer
Ashnak said:
I was a bit perplexed yesterday when my (fully laden) T-9 was mass locked by an Anaconda :S.
Click to expand...
AFAIK the mass lock factor only takes into account the locking ship, not the locked ship, so an Anaconda would have the same effect on a Sidewinder, a Beluga, or a Farragut with all the FSDs in the galaxy bolted on to it.
 

philngraves

philngraves
Shadowdancer said:
AFAIK the mass lock factor only takes into account the locking ship, not the locked ship, so an Anaconda would have the same effect on a Sidewinder, a Beluga, or a Farragut with all the FSDs in the galaxy bolted on to it.
Click to expand...
Lol, no. MLF only applies to lower MLF ships. If MLF is larger than yours, you are mass locked. As to the type 9, non combat ships get pooped on. Maybe hardpoints generate bonus MLF. As someone else said, handwavium.
 

Shadowdancer

Shadowdancer
Hm OK, misremembered that.

Giving combat ships a means to lock down others for a while does give them the opportunity to do some limpet piracy without more violence though (so no need to completely disable or destroy a cargo ship), so it's not entirely bad.
 

IndigoWyrd

IndigoWyrd
Mostly bumonium, pulled out when needed.

Pretty sure it comes from a table entry in a database and is somewhat arbitrary.
 

Truesilver

Truesilver
Front page of Coriolis for handy list of all MIF.**

MIF affects all ships of equal or greater MIF, hence ships inhibit their own kind. The radius of effect increases with MIF.

Contrary to a persistent yet baseless myth, numbers of ships are completely irrelevant. It's a binary check with no addition.

**Strictly, player-pilotable ships exert only Mass 'Inhibition' Factor, which just slows a low wake down. Mass 'Lock' completely prevents low or high wake and is exerted only by much larger bodies such as stations or rings.
 

Ashnak

Ashnak
Truesilver said:
Front page of Coriolis for handy list of all MIF.
Click to expand...

Of course. Doesn't answer the question of the why, though. Why does the Anaconda have a 50% higher MLF than a ship twice its mass? Except for Handwavium and/or because the Anaconda (and Python) simpy is special.
 

philngraves

philngraves
Ashnak said:
Of course. Doesn't answer the question of the why, though. Why does the Anaconda have a 50% higher MLF than a ship twice its mass? Except for Handwavium and/or because the Anaconda (and Python) simpy is special.
Click to expand...
Because it is a cow. One must have a cool snake name, or require rank unlocks. The name of the ship and the number of cool points that name garners is directly proportional to its MIF. Swearz.
 

Truesilver

Truesilver
Ashnak said:
Of course. Doesn't answer the question of the why, though. Why does the Anaconda have a 50% higher MLF than a ship twice its mass? Except for Handwavium and/or because the Anaconda (and Python) simpy is special.
Click to expand...

Because it was introduced as the singular endgame ship.

When the light little FdL was introduced in 1.2 it was given the second highest MIF in the game after the Anaconda, because it was billed as the endgame 'bounty hunter'.

(Three months and one thousand ganks later and FDev busted it down to 12.)

In short: game reasons. If MIF was normalised by mass, you betcha FDev would long since have introduced a purchasable mass lock module to facilitate piracy, BH, etc.

In short, Yuri Grom bombs notwithstanding, mass inhibition could actually be made a lot more punitive than now, even with normalisation by mass.
 

Powderpanic

Banned
Powderpanic
Masslock was a nice idea, which would have added much depth and immersion to the game. Sadly it essentially became a pointless and made up addition to the game.

It has nothing to do with the mass of an object next to you or anything other than a gamey add-on made up by FDEV on a spreadsheet somewhere.

You cannot jump away from a space station for 5km in any ship.
You cannot jump away from a RES for 5km in any ship.
You cannot jump away from a planet surface for 5km or so, in any ship. You then you cannot highwake again in supercruise for another made up distance.
You cannot jump away from a prison ship for like dunno 15km or something. A ship smaller than a Space station and certainly smaller than a planet.

But you can highwake away from 20 Cutters, in a sidewinder. With no penalty
A Python can masslock a T9. A T9 which is biggger and heavier, cannot masslock a Python.
A T10 ( a T9 with a spoiler ) can masslock a Vette.

Highwake ignores masslock in any situation when you are not next to one of the above listed static structures.
Making Piracy and bounty hunting essentially pointless unless you take on a smaller weaker ship. Even then, that smaller ship needs to be pretty baddly flown and built to not survive every single time.

Stupid wasted mechanic.
 
Last edited:

Shadowdancer

Shadowdancer
Powderpanic said:
You cannot jump away from a RES for 5km in any ship.
Click to expand...
You cannot jump out of a ring system, you need to get out of its plane.
You cannot jump away from a planet surface for 5km or so, in any ship. You then you cannot highwake again in supercruise for another made up distance.
Click to expand...
It's 2km AGL, and from there you can low- and high-wake as you want.
 

Powderpanic

Banned
Powderpanic
Shadowdancer said:
You cannot jump out of a ring system, you need to get out of its plane.

It's 2km AGL, and from there you can low- and high-wake as you want.
Click to expand...

That's pretty much what I said.

Pretty sure its 5k away from the rocks and if its 2km to low wake into SC from a planet ( Much bigger rock ), to then be masslocked again. Thank you for the update.

Still a wasted mechanic.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom