Boarding Ships - doesn't seem to be working

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Scoob
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Boarding Ships - doesn't seem to be working

Post by Scoob »

Hey all,

I've evidently totally forgotten how boarding works in X3, as I'm having zero luck boarding a ship.

The scenario:

I've found an abandoned Zephyrus which cannot be claimed via the space suit. So, I bought an Express, kitted it out and jumped it to my location. I then transferred one of the Marines from my Magnetar - which you cannot initiate boarding from - to the Express. Nice.

I then issue the "Board" command, selecting the Zephyrus and off it goes... then doesn't. The Express is just bumbling around near the target, it's command showing "Board Ship" with the Zephyrus as the target, but the action alternates between "None" and "Escort...", no Marine is launched.

I literally cannot recall when I last did boarding in any X3 title - it really wasn't my thing - and lots has changed since then anyway. What am I missing here? I expected the Marine to launch, board the already empty ship and take control of it. UI lets me select the Zephyrus as a boarding target, but boarding does not happen.

How should this be working? Am I missing something?

Edit: Well, that's weird. I reloaded and things started working. I kept the target's shields down - not sure what the "low enough" threshold is, so I kept it between 0 and 1% - and a Marine finally launched. They took AGES to get to the target (dull dull dull) before suddenly accelerating when close-by. I then kept shooting the shields but they must have gone too high at one point. However, things DO appear to be working now at least.

Edit 2: Lol, well, my boarding party were "eliminated" by the non-existent crew of the target ship.... I read elsewhere that with abandoned ships, just one Marine was all it took to effectively claim the target.
Scoob
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Re: Boarding Ships - doesn't seem to be working

Post by Scoob »

Not quite sure what I'm doing wrong here, but my Marines always die once they get to a certain point. I could have eight left, but they all die instantly at that point.

I found this guide about boarding. According to this, a TM Class ship has TWO decks, however, my Marines get to deck 3 (baring in mind they go: Fighting, Fighting (Deck 1), Fighting (Deck 2) etc.) then all die.

The ship is EMPTY, no defending Marines or anything, it's a neutral ship, and they appear to progress really well, but they die moments after hitting the "extra" deck 3 for some reason. Hull remains good (I repaired beforehand to be sure).

I've spent hours trying to claim this really lucky find (the TM-Class Zephyrus) yet it constantly fails. My original issues appeared to just be a glitch, "fixed" by reloading. Then I sent just one Marine which should be enough for a neutral ship (I read elsewhere) but evidently isn't. I then sent nine Marines, but they spent their time destroying the hull and bailed. I then REPAIRED the hull to 100% first, and sent them again and they just die moments after Deck 3 is hit.

Am I missing something else here? I don't recall Boarding - especially NEUTRAL ships that have already bailed - being such a chore.

System Override Software exists - I used that in the past, super easy - but on this play-through I'm not Pirate-aligned as I was in the past. Only they sell it.

Edit: Reading that guide, it looks like this might be the issue:

"On the final deck, if your boarding strength has gone below the boarding resistance, the boarding fails from running out of ammo, and all marines are lost."

That must be what happens for the insta-wipe of everything. The annoying thing is that a TM doesn't have a deck 3! So, my team should have won after deck 2 was taken...
Cycrow
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Re: Boarding Ships - doesn't seem to be working

Post by Cycrow »

TM's do have 3 decks in FL, the guide is for TC/AP.

however, neutral ships should be easier to board in FL then normal. Are you sure its actually neutral?

you do still need a minimum value of marines at the end, but with 9 marines, it should be enough unless all 9 and really low in fighting skill.
did you scann the ship to see if it has any Sentry Lasers installed?
Scoob
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Re: Boarding Ships - doesn't seem to be working

Post by Scoob »

Cycrow wrote: Sat, 17. May 25, 19:48 TM's do have 3 decks in FL, the guide is for TC/AP.

however, neutral ships should be easier to board in FL then normal. Are you sure its actually neutral?

you do still need a minimum value of marines at the end, but with 9 marines, it should be enough unless all 9 and really low in fighting skill.
did you scann the ship to see if it has any Sentry Lasers installed?
Ah, thanks for confirming, I wasn't aware that'd changed for FL. Yes, ship bailed, I found it in a damaged, neutral state showing as "No Pilot".

I did eventually gain control of the ship, but via the System Override Software. Ship did indeed have Sentry Lasers, though I didn't expect a bailed ship to have any resistance. I have read elsewhere that just one Marine is usually enough to Claim a bailed ship. I think my Marines just weren't quite up to the job, as various resistances still applied. I suspect it was an X3 Albion Prelude game where I last played with Boarding. I boarded a lot in Rebirth, and even more so in X4.

It's a weird thing going back to almost the X3 I played all that time ago...
Cycrow
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Re: Boarding Ships - doesn't seem to be working

Post by Cycrow »

it'll be the Sentry lasers that give it the resistance, these work even if there is no crew.

without them it would have been simple to board it
Scoob
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Re: Boarding Ships - doesn't seem to be working

Post by Scoob »

Cycrow wrote: Sun, 18. May 25, 00:09 it'll be the Sentry lasers that give it the resistance, these work even if there is no crew.

without them it would have been simple to board it
That makes sense. Are there Sentry Lasers on every deck? In some tries I tool losses on Deck 1 and 2, in others just a total wipe moment after entering Deck 3.

I do find boarding a little clunky, I mean, I assume suit-boarding simply cannot work against a hostile target as we have no way to disable engines (so the suits can catch up) and take out turrets (so the suits don't go boom) like we do in X4. I've done far more boarding in X4 (and Rebirth) than I ever did in any of the X3 games. I guess using Pods in an M7 is the way to go.
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Re: Boarding Ships - doesn't seem to be working

Post by Cycrow »

They are, they basically add a modifier to the combat at every level. Its like having 2 fully trained marines in defence.

To disable engines, you can use disrupter missiles, these can knock out the weapons and prevent engine tunings from working, so the ship will go slower.

also in FL, pods are available on more ships, not just the M7M's anymore, but most pirate ships can use them
Hwitvlf
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Re: Boarding Ships - doesn't seem to be working

Post by Hwitvlf »

Scoob wrote: Sun, 18. May 25, 15:24 I do find boarding a little clunky, I mean, I assume suit-boarding simply cannot work against a hostile target as we have no way to disable engines (so the suits can catch up) and take out turrets (so the suits don't go boom) like we do in X4.
I have done a fair bit of suit-boarding, especially early game. It's always been buggy in X3, but seems better in FL. I think the ship being boarded no longer fires on enemy marines (unofficial patch), but there still seems to be an issue where marines don't fly at full speed. Someone suggested that their speed is relative to the ship they are boarding, regardless, they often go insanely slow when boarding non-moving ships.

I'll have to try disrupter missiles! Generally I damage the hull to slow down the ship- 45% or so depending on the marine's engineering skill. Also, if you stay put, enemy ships tend to fly around you in circles which makes it easier for marines to catch, or just position the marine swarm between you and the enemy ship so that it flies through them. Slow M7Ms are especially easy for marines to catch, or civilian TLs (hospital ships etc). I think a well timed "launch all marines" (under additional commands), works much better than 'board ship'.

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