What happened to limpets?

[MariusTitus]

Obviously u16 screwed up limpets. Hatch breakers used to zoom on their target, latch on and do their thing.
Now, they travel sloooooooooooooooowly even when speed is under 50, taking forever to catch up with their target. Heck, they even have hard time latching on if target ship spins a bit.
Literally useless now. Dear Fdev, pls fix (or make them stop the ship so I can cut them up in peace).

 

[Pigletslastand]

Limpets also have a problem returning to ship.. sometimes sit underneath not docking till you move.

 

[MariusTitus]

Limpets also have a problem returning to ship.. sometimes sit underneath not docking till you move.

Ye, that too, though that is older problem, they were doing it before this update.

 

[Schmack]

I was mining tonight and noticed they moved about 75% of the speed I was accustomed to, maybe even slower. At least they weren't killing themselves one after the other though.

 

[shockbait]

Update 16 Release Notes - Elite Dangerous: Odyssey

Features of Note Added <REDACTED> to <REDACTED>... New passenger evacuation missions have been added. Wealthy passengers will now...

www.elitedangerous.com

Collector limpets will now be much less prone to collisions when collecting objects near asteroid surfaces.

Wonder if it has anything to do with that? I noticed my collectors seemed a little slow collecting mats from dead Scythes (nowhere near any asteroids) but didn't think much of it. But I haven't been mining since U16 dropped and I've never actually used a Hatchbreaker.

It's very possible they broke something trying to fix something, as tends to happen.

 

[Nephthys Vasudan]

No issues here.... but then I was in a resource extraction zone blowing up pirates while 3 limpets gathered the trash/goodies - worked as expected.
Not sure about hatchbreakers as my PDT's took care of those right quick.
Wish I could prioritize things over other things tho.

I'd kill for a tractor beam (mumbles)

 

[Ned Flandalorian]

Which limpet controller are you using (size/type) ? The changes don't seem completely straightforward.

 

[CMDR X]

So the fix for limpets crashing into things was to slow them down??

Spoiler

Genius!

 

[Factabulous]

I went farming m/s for Escape Pods and the Hatchbreakers seemed fine, though I haven't done it for a while so maybe it was different in p15.

The Collectors though - they seemed to be more confused than ever by the Pods that weren't ejected correctly and just gave up and sat there like lemons. I preferred it before when they would suicide into the hull and I could start a new one off. Ah well, I got enough for my tests

 

[Ned Flandalorian]

I went farming m/s for Escape Pods and the Hatchbreakers seemed fine, though I haven't done it for a while so maybe it was different in p15.

Note that from the update 14 patch notes, megaships are meant to auto-eject their pods (when rescue ships are near) so in theory you don't need to hatch-break them. I've seen it happen on a couple of rare occasions but most of the time it doesn't.

 

[Factabulous]

Note that from the update 14 patch notes, megaships are meant to auto-eject their pods (when rescue ships are near) so in theory you don't need to hatch-break them. I've seen it happen on a couple of rare occasions but most of the time it doesn't.

Interesting I did see that at least once I think, but assumed it was part of the 'rescue' scenarios that play out. As you say, most times it doesn't seem to happen as the hatches still show 100% full when starting.

 

[Ned Flandalorian]

The rescue ships are also just as useless as ever at picking them up and making the scenario progress. Wish they could be as over-eager at picking up pods as they are at repairing our ships.

 

[MariusTitus]

Which limpet controller are you using (size/type) ? The changes don't seem completely straightforward.

Usually 1A, hunting single ships and there's no point shooting more limpets on 1 target. Haven't experimented with 3A or such, but it's probably the same.

 

[MariusTitus]

I went farming m/s for Escape Pods and the Hatchbreakers seemed fine, though I haven't done it for a while so maybe it was different in p15.

The Collectors though - they seemed to be more confused than ever by the Pods that weren't ejected correctly and just gave up and sat there like lemons. I preferred it before when they would suicide into the hull and I could start a new one off. Ah well, I got enough for my tests

It's a difference in travel speed towards their target - in case of megaships which are static there's probably no difference to be seen, but when you're trying to break a cargo hatch with ship that still travels, albeit slowly (dirty pirate here speaking), the difference is massive. Used to be you slowed down their ship, fired HB, it flew fast, latched on, now it traaaaaveeeeels slooooooooow towards the target, often taking so long to catch up it's pretty much useless. The collectors also seem slightly slower, which I can live with, as long as they do their purpose.

 

[St0rmFury]

It's a difference in travel speed towards their target - in case of megaships which are static there's probably no difference to be seen, but when you're trying to break a cargo hatch with ship that still travels, albeit slowly (dirty pirate here speaking), the difference is massive. Used to be you slowed down their ship, fired HB, it flew fast, latched on, now it traaaaaveeeeels slooooooooow towards the target, often taking so long to catch up it's pretty much useless. The collectors also seem slightly slower, which I can live with, as long as they do their purpose.

Oh man, that would make sampling caustic generators even harder than it already is now

 

[Pigletslastand]

Oh man, that would make sampling caustic generators even harder than it already is now

It is a tad inconvenient!

 

[Schmack]

So the fix for limpets crashing into things was to slow them down??

Spoiler

Genius!

Works for my wife too.

 

[Darth Ender]

i know 1A prospectors are slow as hell and i dont recall them being this slow before the last update. I have to slow my T10 down (even with scoop open - to like below 70) or the ship runs into the limpet after launch.

someone needs to inform fdev that space doesn't have drag and if i'm moving at a velocity, something i fire starts at that velocity and needs to accelerate to slow down. Limpets shouldn't immediately try slowing down to a set speed, especially limpets that intend to collide with whatever's in front of them. If they wanna make it a bit more involved, they can give limpets a max collision force metric and players can push things to the limit if they wanna risk it.

This would also apply to missiles and other slow projectiles where ship velocity is significant. This would open up strategies to do things such as stack volleys so that they reach a target at the same time even if fired sequentially. Fun.

 

[Scoob]

I was using a 1B Collector Limpet Controller last night, and I thought the Limpet was being a bit speedier than usual. I wonder if module size etc., as well as the ship it's on makes any difference? I will say though, I've not lost a single limpet due to collision when mining. I'd often have them launch already dead, having impacted the hull of my stationary ship. They were a nightmare.

 

[Lukozer]

Limpets also have a problem returning to ship.. sometimes sit underneath not docking till you move.

This is slow server syndrome... It's the space-going equivalent of when you are doing something like meta-alloy harvesting and having to wait for the Cargo Collected (or whatever it says) message to disappear from the cargo hatch display before you can pick up anything else.