Nope. DavyT has got the problem down correctly. It doesn't matter if you afterburn for 2 seconds and then hit the drift key: enemies start floating away pretty soon after. However, they still spend time shooting at you, so you don't want to try this WITHOUT afterburners, because you *will* get torn up.

I recognize this as a bug (if this was intentional it's not very good design), but at the moment I think it's a 'good' bug because I find it way too hard to evade Wasp missiles. What we really need is some kind of upgrade to counter Wasp missiles automatically. This could actually introduce a new dynamic to the gameplay, if you had several levels of Wasp missiles and of Wasp immunity upgrades. E.g. a level 3 Wasp immunity upgrade can counter Wasp missiles level 3 and below, but not a level 4 Wasp missile.

Edited by - Bhurak Starkiller on 10-03-2003 06:12:39

Haha, this could work against humans too, i can imagine a group of human pirates "hehehe, look at this asshole drifting away with his engines off, lets spare this newbie, he probably got nothing good on his ass anyway"

"I Would Rather Die Standing Than Live On My Knees"

Am I the only one that thinks that Rear Admiral Electricbrain doesn't understand how to do this properly? Please read my step by step instructions carefully and try again

Edited by - DavyT on 10-03-2003 07:01:36

Glad to see you edited your post, DavyT, but be careful about getting pissy about these sorts of things. We don't want a Max Steele rerun. Anyway, I don't see how EB got your instructions wrong. What happened to him seems to describe what happens to me when I use engine kill in just the manner you describe. Enemies don't suddenly float away. Rather, they just follow you too slowly and fire at you even if you're out of their range, after which they cease following you (which isn't any different than the range at which they would stop following you had you successfully engaged your cruise engines, which is still too hard to do IMO). The only anomaly here is that they chase you so slowly.

Thx, BS.

Davy: LOL, how could i do it wrong? Thats the way ive always played for months when i use engine kill. Afterburn, engine kill, turn, etc. They just happened to chase me for about....10 seconds or so. I expected them to drift away immediately but they continued to fire at me until the 10 seconds are up then they stopped and dropped back.

- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

I think we're starting to split hairs here... the AI is broken when you use engine kill, whether its 40% of the time or 100% of the time, whether you lose them in 10 seconds or you lose them in 5. Its weak and IMO should be addressed.

it´s weak yes, but is not a bug. and the seconds make a difference. you seem not to understand what a bug at all is. a failer in coding, not a failer in logic

Lol. Sure, you can rationalize it by just saying that the pirates are stupid or something, but I doubt this behavior was intended, in which case it IS a bug (which doesn't necessarily have to be a syntax error, just unexpected or undesirable behavior within the program).

Edited by - Bhurak Starkiller on 10-03-2003 10:09:01

Ah, now I see why this never works for me. I keep tapping the thruster to juke around a little. I guess that prevents them from breaking off.

-Stregone

Heh, they still try and shoot you.. but their aim is also messed up then.
It *might* even work for Multiplayer, some way, unless the attacker is directly in line with the floating defender.

Coz, I think the crosshair might be placed at the wrong 'side' too. Ofcourse, this wouldn't actually work in a game, because the attackers are usually right after the victem.

Heh. Try shooting a missile when you're floating -180 degrees.

I just want to agree that ship speeds should be different... a freighter should not be able to so easily outrun any ship. Like, I wasn't able to escape through Omicron Alpha and Tau systems w/ loot from Unknown system in the Rheinland Heavy Fighter, but then I wasn't prepared for it (low on shield batts and nanobots... I stumbled upon it all and went deep behind enemy lines when I had no business making such a venture at the time). Basically, I'd get hosed at jump holes by Outcasts and "others", but in most cases, running is easy in ANY ship, and I'm quite sure I could make the Omicron run in the Valkyrie if I really wanted to and was prepared. The only point at which the Engine Kill Retreat DOESN'T work is in heavily populated asteroid fields, but yeah, I just afterburn, engine kill, turn and fire to make life difficult for my pursuers, drop a few mines, and I'm gone... ship speeds should totally be different, and thruster SPEEDS (not just efficiency) should be different (every one I've found has been speed 200 and I've finished the campaign).

On a related note, what kind of madman flies a freighter without fighter support!?! I would TOTALLY want to hire some fighter support to formate on me while I'm making dangerous trade runs. I know it's "Freelancer" and all, but does that really mean you don't have any friends!?! Come on... gimme a few wingmen!

You can certainly form up with a few wingmen on multiplayer.