Utilities are not Harppoints!

[Aasir Omondi]

Scanners and any utility should never be classified as a weapon (hardpoint). I should be able to enter supercruise or jump to hyperspace after scanning without "retracting" hardpoints when I actually have none. I should be able to scan wakes outside a busy station without authorities feeling threatened by my completely unarmed ship. Utilities and hardpoints must be divorced. The thing is, in Outfitting, the two are separate categories. Apparently not for everything else.

Divorce the two. The End.

 

[Riverside]

That would work for an unarmed ship, but could also work for one in analysis mode where even turrets set to fire-at-will do not fire.

 

[Chris Simon]

Scanners and any utility should never be classified as a weapon (hardpoint). I should be able to enter supercruise or jump to hyperspace after scanning without "retracting" hardpoints when I actually have none. I should be able to scan wakes outside a busy station without authorities feeling threatened by my completely unarmed ship. Utilities and hardpoints must be divorced. The thing is, in Outfitting, the two are separate categories. Apparently not for everything else.

Divorce the two. The End.

Utilities, like weapons are being deployed, except a couple like heatsinks, and has to be tucked away before jumping to SC.

 

[Aasir Omondi]

Yet they are in fact not hardpoints. It's not an issue over deployment, rather an issue of engine recognition and/or station recognition. And when we're talking about any scanner, they do not in fact deploy (consider outfitting animations and how scanners don't change anything).

 

[Chris Simon]

Yet they are in fact not hardpoints. It's not an issue over deployment, rather an issue of engine recognition and/or station recognition. And when we're talking about any scanner, they do not in fact deploy (consider outfitting animations and how scanners don't change anything).

I overlooked the part about authorities scolding your for using scanners, sorry. Is that how it works, now? Weird. It didn't use to.

Although the nitpick in me wants to point out that they ARE, in fact, hardpoints. They are spots on the surface of the ship where you mount things. That is a definition of a hardpoint. The only difference between utility hardpoints and armament hardpoints is size.
That aside, though, yeah, I agree with you, now that I've read your post properly and with both eyes unglued.

 

[Aasir Omondi]

Is that how it works, now?

This is how it has always worked, my friend. Nothing new.

 

[Para Handy]

I don't see an issue. The scanners are fitted to utility mounts and have to be deployed to use. You can't scan a wake without deploying the scanner, likewise KWS (I don't use the others - are there any you can use in s/c?). Just because outfitting doesn't show utility point fits as animating in and out doesn't mean that they don't.

You see ships in your sensor display as triangles if they have scanners deployed. An anomaly here is that some scanners seem to give a triangle in supercruise which is daft as only optional internal modules can be used then (e.g. the FSI), not scanners - but disco scan and dss use in s/c did show as triangles, don't know if they still do.

TL/DR - don't look for consistency or logic in the game.

 

[jnTracks]

Directed here from a thread I started.

If scanners need to be deployed to use, then the ones that work in SC shouldn’t. If scanners work in SC then they shouldn’t need to be deployed in normal space.
Fire groups: yes. They need to be assigned to an “activate” binding and pri/sec fire is perfect for this.

Even the DSS probes, which actually fire, don’t need anything deployed.

Come on. Simple QoL

 

[Para Handy]

Directed here from a thread I started.

If scanners need to be deployed to use, then the ones that work in SC shouldn’t. If scanners work in SC then they shouldn’t need to be deployed in normal space.
Fire groups: yes. They need to be assigned to an “activate” binding and pri/sec fire is perfect for this.

Even the DSS probes, which actually fire, don’t need anything deployed.

Come on. Simple QoL

Well as far as I remember only scanners that are integral or optional internal modules can be used in supercruise. Utility point mounted scanners cannot - PWS, manifest, kws and wakes. I don't know about the AX one but since space-cabbages don't supercruise then I suppose not. Am I wrong?

 

[Aasir Omondi]

Yes, but even if I have no deployable utilities, my scanners will prevent me from entering supercruise because they're "deployed." I'll get the stupid, ambiguous error saying hard points/cargo scoop/landing gear is deployed.

I do see what you're saying about non-essential modules having to actually deploy (hence animation when outfitting) but they're not weapons and a station should be able to know the difference between a wake scanner and a plasma cannon. I think it's a QoL issue. It's pretty obnoxious.

 

[Para Handy]

Yes, but even if I have no deployable utilities, my scanners will prevent me from entering supercruise because they're "deployed." I'll get the stupid, ambiguous error saying hard points/cargo scoop/landing gear is deployed.

I do see what you're saying about non-essential modules having to actually deploy (hence animation when outfitting) but they're not weapons and a station should be able to know the difference between a wake scanner and a plasma cannon. I think it's a QoL issue. It's pretty obnoxious.

I think you mean that even if you have no weapons nor utility-slot scanners fitted you can select "deploy hardpoints" and that gives you the error message if you try to jump/supercruise. I would venture to suggest that even with nothing fitted to a hardpoint, selecting "deploy hardpoints" will open the hardppoint (and utility slot?) covers and so the ship won't make the transition because of that. I know in the past I have found myself flying an unarmed trader and managed to "deploy hardpoints" and so got that message. I remember thinking that it would be good to have an indicator of some sort that showed "hardpoints deployed".

I don't think there would be much support for yet another keybind - "deploy utilities" - after all that would mean two operations just to achieve either deployment for combat or stowing for jump. I really don't see any problem in the way things work now - there are far more pressing issues with the game.

 

[Riverside]

I think you mean that even if you have no weapons nor utility-slot scanners fitted you can select "deploy hardpoints" and that gives you the error message if you try to jump/supercruise. I would venture to suggest that even with nothing fitted to a hardpoint, selecting "deploy hardpoints" will open the hardppoint (and utility slot?) covers and so the ship won't make the transition because of that. I know in the past I have found myself flying an unarmed trader and managed to "deploy hardpoints" and so got that message. I remember thinking that it would be good to have an indicator of some sort that showed "hardpoints deployed".

I don't think there would be much support for yet another keybind - "deploy utilities" - after all that would mean two operations just to achieve either deployment for combat or stowing for jump. I really don't see any problem in the way things work now - there are far more pressing issues with the game.

The various built-in scanners, when mapped to a firegroup will deploy hardpoints. I regularly forget to retract hardpoints when jumping away from a planetary POI I just scanned with the Composition Scanner (for the codex) while in Analysis mode.