My ship blew up while trying to activate hyperdrive

[Ozric]

I had just undocked from a station and got myself far enough away so I could engage the hyperdrive and once I had, I sat back and relaxed. Then I noticed it was taking longer than normal, so I looked at my contacts panel and everything seemed to be OK there, just slow. Then suddenly the ship announced that the shields had gone offline, I glanced at my ship display to see the Hull Integrity crashing from 90% all the way to 0 I was completely powerless to do anything and I have no real idea why it happened.

The only thing I can possibly think was about 4 jumps earlier I had dropped out of Supercruise. After I had done that I noticed that there were cracks along the structure of the cockpit, where it meets the glass, but as there was no warning of any damage, or a need to have it repaired, I didn't bother.

Has anyone else encountered this? Is it because of the drop out of Supercruise and I just wasn't aware of it?

Answers on a postcard to...

 

[W4rSkuLL]

Maybe it was the heat. Powering up hyperdrive and SC drive builds up heat. You shouldnt let it pass 120% then your ship will take dmg. Its cooking itself. You can always cancel the Sc or hyperspace drive before jumping and let it cool down. If you have a Saitek joystick map a button for SC and hyperspace, makes it a lot easier to cancel it.

 

[Mu77ley]

If you were heading in the correct direction then the only real reason is that another nearby ship or body was mass locking you and you didn't notice your ship was badly overheating.

If it starts happening you can always cancel the jump and let the ship cool (or use a heatsink)

 

[Commander Dave]

You've overheated dude.
When you hit the jump switch the ship buttons down all its ports and that means the heat radiators get closed off so any heat your ship generates will get trapped inside.
This only happens whilst the drive is building up power for the jump or for supercruise.
But, if you are mass locked by another ship and you don't notice then your heat will build up and when it gets to 150% you'll start taking damage. Take too much damage and your ship goes pop.

I've seen people in big ships shadowing small ships just out of the station and staying with them until they explode or notice and get the hell out of there.

 

[Alric]

Another of the sillier things in the game in my opinion, that a ship would just destroy itself with no failsafe in circumstances that are fairly common.

 

[Commander Dave]

So does your car.
Or your boat, or your plane.
If you don't control them they will just keep going until they crash.
If you keep revving the engine it will destroy itself eventually even with a rev limiter.

It's up to you to manage the controls and be aware of what you're doing to make sure you don't drive into other people on a dual carriageway or blow up your engine or overheat your ship.

 

[Mister]

So what exactly does mass locked mean?

 

[nicomak]

So what exactly does mass locked mean?

that a massive object like a station, asteroids etc... is too close to you

other ships like anacondas can have some of that effect as well.
it wont prevent the jump, but it will make it charge much more slowly

 

[Sams]

This happens to me several times a day and there has been no mass issues stopping the jump.

I have since found out that if you press the hyperdrive button again it will turn off so the ship won't be destoryed. Most of the time (for me) I have to exit the game and come back in before it works properly.

I also found that moving the ship around while it charges can sometimes kick it back into working again.

I did ticket as a bug due to the mass issue not being a problem.

 

[PhanttoM]

Also remember that any kind of maneuvering will increase your heat levels. (accelerating, decelerating, turning, strafing etc.)

And they stack!

So if you're turning towards your destination while supercruise or hyperdrive is charging, you will quickly find yourself going past 100% heat even before the countdown starts.

 

[Alric]

So does your car.
Or your boat, or your plane.
If you don't control them they will just keep going until they crash.
If you keep revving the engine it will destroy itself eventually even with a rev limiter.

Car and plane makers go to great lengths to stop their products from destroying itself and killing everyone on board. I find it hard to believe that a spaceship would be built that would simply melt itself when there are numerous simple ways of preventing that from happening.

It's your own fault seems like a logical thing to tell gamers who aren't quite hardcore enough. But I'm not convinced that the families of dead passengers would accept that explanation when a simple failsafe would have prevented the tragedy.

 

[Sams]

I agree!

 

[ianw]

I watched someone do this outside Aulin today, 99% then 0% then boom!

 

[Commander Dave]

Car and plane makers go to great lengths to stop their products from destroying itself and killing everyone on board.

No they don't.
That's the job of training and regulation.
That's why you have lessons and a test and you have to remain within the boundaries of the law in order to have maximal chances of a successful trip.
Should you choose to step outside of those boundaries there is absolutely nothing whatsoever in place to prevent you using a car, a screwdriver, a toaster, a printer, a shopping bag or a fighter jet as a weapon and of killing people with it. Nothing.
There is nothing whatsoever to prevent you from destroying your car, boat, wheelchair, motorbike, skateboard, aircraft or spaceship should you choose to do so, or by ignorance doing so inadvertently. Nothing.

It's your own fault seems like a logical thing to tell gamers who aren't quite hardcore enough.

That's your characterisation right there. It's not mine.
It matters not if they are "hardcore" or otherwise.
All they have to do is learn how to fly their ship or drive their car, what its capabilities are and how to use the machine with maximum effectiveness.
The manufacturers of power drills do not build systems into their products to prevent you drilling a hole in your face.

But I'm not convinced that the families of dead passengers would accept that explanation when a simple failsafe would have prevented the tragedy.

Spare me the emotional whining of people who can't be bothered to take responsibility for their actions and want mechanisms in place to make sure the ignorant can go on being ignorant but can't come to any harm.
The solution is not to protect them.
The solution is to educate them and if necessary train and test them.
Stop them being ignorant by helping them to not get into trouble in the first place.

Is it not up to you to manage the controls and systems and be aware of what you're doing to make sure you don't come to grief ?
Is it not up to you ?

 

[fireFly1000]

Another of the sillier things in the game in my opinion, that a ship would just destroy itself with no failsafe in circumstances that are fairly common.

When I am under pirate attack and I want to get out of there, I wouldn't want a failsafe to rain on my parade.
You can always abort the jump if you see excessive heating under normal circumstances.
If you are not paying attention in a crucial moment like hyperspacing then you deserve to have your ship blown away.

 

[Ozric]

My conclusion then is I must have been mass locked by something I didn't notice

I certainly wasn't moving around as I always align myself to my destination before engaging the Hyperdrive. To be fair sometimes I do align, ask my computer to engage Hyperdrive and then look away, as there's not normally an issue. That will teach me!

I don't think there should be failsafe system by default fitted to ships because, apart from anything else, there are times when you need to push your ship to the edge of it's limits. Maybe if you really want one then you could purchase one to fit to the ship.

 

[Alric]

The manufacturers of power drills do not build systems into their products to prevent you drilling a hole in your face.

True. And similarly, ships will not stop you from flying at full speed in to an asteroid or dying in battle. However, if a power drill had a tendency to blow up in your face, it would be recalled. If a car exploded killing everyone in it any time you let the engine overheat, it would be recalled.

Is it not up to you to manage the controls and systems and be aware of what you're doing to make sure you don't come to grief ?
Is it not up to you ?

Yes, it is. But it's also up to the manufacturer to ensure that there is a significant margin in between normal use and catastrophic self-destruction. The hauler, for example, is a ship that is intended for cargo runs. It's not meant for combat or extreme situations. Yet it is particularly easy to damage it through overheating. It is absurd that a cargo ship would literally start to melt during not too far from normal use.

Spare me the emotional whining of people who can't be bothered to take responsibility for their actions

That is not emotional whining, that is an illustration of what would happen in-universe. Simulation cuts both ways. What if the pilot loses consciousness, what if controls fail, or any one of a hundred other things happen that could cause a problem? The ship just merrily destroys itself with the loss of all hands when a thermometer would have been enough to prevent it? Not realistic.

Pushing a ship so far beyond it's safe operating range that it literally melts itself should require a conscious override, and most certainly should not happen without some bedlam of alerts well before physical damage and destruction takes place.

 

[RCKJD]

Which ship was it? The Hauler heats up a lot faster than a Cobra as example. A few boosts away from the station and your heat can go over 75%. If you have another ship nearby, then it interferes with the spool up sequence and it can easily overheat.

 

[Hootmon]

Get a feel for how fast the Charging bar should be filling up. If it seems to slow then abort, wait for things to cool down, then try again.

 

[Uridium]

There are plenty of warnings... flashing lights.... etc, that are shown before you overheat.

Not to mention the OP saw that his jump was taking longer than usual to spool up. He just didnt know what that meant with regard to his overheating etc. (Its a learning process, he wont do it a second time).

As for Alric - I can get in my car, prop up the drive wheels and burn out the engine simply enough if I don't pay attention to the dashboard warnings, the screeching noises and the smoke coming out from under the hood!!!.