X3TC - Miner-variant ships, no MDS up front?

[xavierd]

Just wondering, why don't the 4 "Miner" type TS have a single MDS-only slot up front?

[pjknibbs]

Why would they? It's probably safer and easier to cruise past an asteroid and then shoot it from your rear turret than to dive straight at it!

[cobra mk2]

I also wish that at least one of the TS's could mount MDS's up front.

When trying to aim the MDS turret at the back it is soooo slow and i imagine it wold be easier to aim it if it was at the front.

However i'm sure i've read a post a week or two ago that said that the AI doesn't use turrets so it is unable to use the MDS out of sector. Maybe this is the whole point as to why you can't fit an MDS up front.

[Ripskar]

Mistral does have the turet at the front if you want to do it yourself.
But once you've got the AI doing it it doesn't particularly matter.

[Tenlar Scarflame]

Also, you can mobile mine sans MDS. You won't be smashing the big asteroids that register on the sector map, but there's generally plenty of debris to be cleaned up using just a PAC. Cheaper than an MDS and easier to acquire.

[Nanook]

....
However i'm sure i've read a post a week or two ago that said that the AI doesn't use turrets so it is unable to use the MDS out of sector. Maybe this is the whole point as to why you can't fit an MDS up front.

I think you misunderstood what was being said. Turret weapons are indeed used OOS, but they aren't treated separately from other weapons and turret scripts have no effect. Any turret weapons are simply added to the firepower of the ship. So MDS's, or any other turret weapons do indeed break up rocks OOS. Which is why if you use them that way, i.e., AI-controlled, there's no need for a front weapon on miners.

[cobra mk2]

So MDS's, or any other turret weapons do indeed break up rocks OOS. Which is why if you use them that way, i.e., AI-controlled, there's no need for a front weapon on miners.

Thanks for the correction nanook, i may start equiping more of my miners with MDS's now.

[mrbadger]

Autonomous miners only mine from small rocks. the PAC works for those.

I have a pretty large mining fleet, and all but a few use PACs.

[cobra mk2]

So MDS's, or any other turret weapons do indeed break up rocks OOS. Which is why if you use them that way, i.e., AI-controlled, there's no need for a front weapon on miners.

and then....

Autonomous miners only mine from small rocks. the PAC works for those.

godammit... now i'm all confused again.

Let me get this straight, OOS Miners can use a MDS located in a turret but they would only use them to break up the smaller rocks and debris.

So in otherwords even though they have a MDS fitted, the A.I. wont use it to break up the big (scannable) asteroids OOS and so IT IS pointless fitting MDS's to Remote Miners


Can someone please cofirm this for me.

This game is unreal. Just when i think i've got it sussed along comes another problem to bushwack my feeble brain.

They should do study courses for this game at college or something.

[Threesixtyci]

You got it...
The AI isn't allowed to destroy asteroids on their own.

Also, I'm pretty sure even IRE's can destroy an asteroid, given enough shots (I mean I've seen them blow up during fir-balls, before.), but the mining laser only needs one shot to make them blow up.

Hmm, is reload time of lasers and turret speeds calculated OOS, because if it isn't.... mining laser has an extremely high damaged rate. That could be why Egosoft only allows them to be mounted on the rear of specific ship that have only one gun slot. Full Forward Bank of those OOS, would eat anything for lunch. Especially, if reload rate and turret speed are ignored OOS.


Also, it used to be that rocks wouldn't respawn, only Asteroids would.
After a patch in TC rocks now respawn as soon as the last rock in a cluster, gets collected.

[Nanook]

...
So in otherwords even though they have a MDS fitted, the A.I. wont use it to break up the big (scannable) asteroids OOS and so IT IS pointless fitting MDS's to Remote Miners...

Not necessarily. If you notice, the Miner variants of the TS's can ONLY use MDS's. They can't equip other weapons in those particular ships. So if you use those, the MDS is your only option. Well, except for the Caiman Miner, which can still equip normal guns in its front main gun slots.