NPC collect lockboxes

[Falcrack]

I noticed with patch 2.5, that I can command my AI captains to collect lockboxes. As in, I observed it go up to the lockbox, orient itself correctly, shoot the locks, and get the loot! I just thought I'd share that, I thought it was pretty cool.

Also, the AI logic for docking and avoiding ramming into stations seems much, much better now. Good job, Egosoft!

[Socratatus]

Well that`s good news.

[Falcrack]

Less good news, I tried it again, with me in the ship while my NPC captain went up to another lockbox. Flew up to it, oriented itself correctly, shot at the locks, and immediately my ship blew up, game over!!!

Not just an AI thing, earlier today I had gotten blown up while manually shooting at a lockbox. Makes me think something changed with 2.5 so that some of the lockboxes are booby trapped to explode when shot at. I knew before that sometimes they would release mines when opened, but had not previously seen it where they would immediately explode.

[MakerLinux]

Less good news, I tried it again, with me in the ship while my NPC captain went up to another lockbox. Flew up to it, oriented itself correctly, shot at the locks, and immediately my ship blew up, game over!!

This is expected if he/she is less than five stars, isn't it?

[Falcrack]

Less good news, I tried it again, with me in the ship while my NPC captain went up to another lockbox. Flew up to it, oriented itself correctly, shot at the locks, and immediately my ship blew up, game over!!

This is expected if he/she is less than five stars, isn't it?

Except that the same lockboxes, when I load the save right before trying to open it, blow up my ship whether I or the NPC is trying to open it. I really think some of the lockboxes are seriously booby trapped now, more so than before.

[Axeface]

Less good news, I tried it again, with me in the ship while my NPC captain went up to another lockbox. Flew up to it, oriented itself correctly, shot at the locks, and immediately my ship blew up, game over!!

This is expected if he/she is less than five stars, isn't it?

Except that the same lockboxes, when I load the save right before trying to open it, blow up my ship whether I or the NPC is trying to open it. I really think some of the lockboxes are seriously booby trapped now, more so than before.

Messing up opening a lockbox shouldnt kill the player or ship anyway... insta-gibbing the player for messing something up and forcing a reload is awful design.

[Lone_Wolf_3115]

I have opened several Lock Boxes from My Space Suit, with the Hand Laser, A Bit Slow, but it Works. I even tried to get them to Stop From Spinning, but have not as yet.

[MakerLinux]

Messing up opening a lockbox shouldnt kill the player or ship anyway... insta-gibbing the player for messing something up and forcing a reload is awful design.

Why? It's space. It's dangerous. You're fiddling with someone else's property. Well, of course destroying said property when it's forced open is dumb, but overlooking that, you need to be a pro and have proper weapons for opening that particular tuna can. Small ships with weak, focused beams (laser and pulse) are better.

Unless you're talking about lockboxes that ALWAYS blow up. Is that the case? If it is, I would agree that it should not happen.

Funny thing, I was messing with an explosive-ridden lockbox yesterday, and I was trying to shoot it from increasing distances until I found a safe distance to shoot. I found out that even when you're so far away that you can't even distinguish the locks, if you shoot the lockbox you always instantly die, not even with an explosion effect.

[Axeface]

Messing up opening a lockbox shouldnt kill the player or ship anyway... insta-gibbing the player for messing something up and forcing a reload is awful design.

Why? It's space. It's dangerous. You're fiddling with someone else's property. Well, of course destroying said property when it's forced open is dumb, but overlooking that, you need to be a pro and have proper weapons for opening that particular tuna can. Small ships with weak, focused beams (laser and pulse) are better.

Unless you're talking about lockboxes that ALWAYS blow up. Is that the case? If it is, I would agree that it should not happen.

Funny thing, I was messing with an explosive-ridden lockbox yesterday, and I was trying to shoot it from increasing distances until I found a safe distance to shoot. I found out that even when you're so far away that you can't even distinguish the locks, if you shoot the lockbox you always instantly die, not even with an explosion effect.

Im not against them exploding, im against them killing the player in one hit. It should just damage my ship or destroy subsystems on my ship, but not destroy it. Losing assets or getting damaged punishes a mistake because the player has to live with it, just forcing a reload isnt a punishment its just wasting the players time and breaking gameplay continuity.
Hell, ship death (disable) and player death should be seperate things too! Now we have a spacesuit and spacelegs, why not? (Star Citizen is going to do this and its going to be glorious).

[LameFox]

Yeah some lockboxes have OHK me since release I think. Not sure if it's when they open or are destroyed, because when I immediately die it's hard to see if I shot the lock off or missed it.

[ei8htx]

Pretty sure you were always meant to open them by hand in your space suit.

Blasting it with a ship-mounted weapon is what's causing it to blow up in your face.

[MakerLinux]

Pretty sure you were always meant to open them by hand in your space suit.

There are some lockboxes that spin quit fast, shooting them on your slow-moving suit (even with the booster) is cumbersome.

Once you get the jist of it and watch the little dots that show where your weapon is pointing, you'll learn to wait until they converge in a point to shoot properly. This is also useful for shooting the untargetable mines surrounding some lost ships; the mines may be untargetable, but when the dots converge, it's a sign they locked onto the target.

Challenge for advanced players: try and shoot the locks of an 10-locks spinning lockbox with a plasma gun! THAT would be a great sign of skilll...

[Falcrack]

With 2.5, most lockboxes are not booby trapped, but a significant minority are. They blow up on me even when I was right on with my aim. It wasn't a matter of missing the lock. It blew up while I was commanding the ship, and my AI controlled ships which I gave the "collect lockbox" command too. My ships will inform me when they find lockboxes, and I can choose to tell them to collect the lockboxes. There is also a global option to always have them collect the lockboxes by default. However, given how often I've seen them blow up in my face today, I think the global option to have them collect the lockboxes is kinda risky.

[Socratatus]

I always, always space walk it and do it by hand... But I like spacewalking, drifting by myself in space as I get to work, like real astronauts.

Seems somewhat hamfisted to try and shoot the locks off with your ship`s gun. Like using a howitzer to open a safe.

[Falcrack]

As an update, the lockboxes that explode look like they have explosive canisters on the the outside. Also, I was mistaken earlier, as long as your aim is good with these, you will not blow up. But accidentally shoot the lockbox instead of the locks for these, and you go boom.