Escape Pods

drwhite7 · Post by **drwhite7** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 3:03 am

What the hell is up with th eescape pods? I keep getting killed while using them! Just now I had a commander on his 10th mission and had to eject. For some reason, the pod came out BACKWARDS. Yes, backwards, as in behind the ship, where the missiles were just about to strike my damaged ship. That is the DUMBEST direction you could ejected. Any other way I would have been safe. What the hell. There REALLY needs to be an option for which way you eject. Or at least you should NEVER be made to eject behind you. What the hell. Backwards. I still can't believe it.

Garnier · Post by **Garnier** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 3:32 am

10th missions not so horrible. It's chance though, and makes it a good idea to be careful. You'll get over it though.. dont worry.

drwhite7 · Post by **drwhite7** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 4:02 am

Yeah, I got over quickly enough. It's just that it mad eme eject backwards. Its so stupid... Is the direction of your escape pod ejection completely random?

cavemaniac1 · Post by **cavemaniac1** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:58 pm

Is the direction of your escape pod ejection completely random?

For some reason, the pod came out BACKWARDS. Yes, backwards, as in behind the ship, where the missiles were just about to strike my damaged ship. That is the DUMBEST direction you could ejected. Any other way I would have been safe. What the hell. There REALLY needs to be an option for which way you eject. Or at least you should NEVER be made to eject behind you.

Hooooooo-kay... The pod always ejects out the right side of the ship...

I've never had a pod come out backwards, though if my ship is going really fast, my pod is quickly left behind, at the mercy of a pursuing attacker. Actually, that raises an interesting point - though your pod ejects to the side, does it continue moving forwards as well? A bomb dropped from a plane continues moving forward at the same speed as the aircraft until the friction of the air retards it's progress. Does the pod's forward motion cease the instant it leaves the ship?

Regarding selecting which way your pod ejects, that would be pretty cool, but I have reservations. I remember reading about US B-52 bombers opperating out of Vietnam. The hot, humid tropical conditions were playing havoc with the planes and they were suffering all manner of system failures - usually as they attempted to to take off. They'd lumber into the air, something would fail and the crew would have to eject. Fine if you were the flight deck crew, their eject seats went straight up, but the rear gunner ejected DOWN and they lost a lot of men as they were only just off the ground. The reason the rear gunner ejected down was because of STRUCTURAL LIMITATIONS - the tail fin was above, the horizontal stabilizers were to the left and right and the guns were to the rear...

As has been noted on another thread, a partial fix to the Eject Question is to load more armour onto the right side of your ship so you have the option of riding out more missile hits on that side, rather than being forced to eject into the path of incoming missiles.

I think another option would be (cue GREAT IDEA FOR AN IMPROVEMENT TO THE NEXT VERSION OF CM):

Have the eject pod as a selectable option, like command centres and repair-bots.

When you build your ship you can chose which side (or front or back) you put the pod on (thus determining which side it ejects from) OR include multiple pods on different sides (like you do with extra command centres) so if you eject, the computer can determine which is the safest direction, or give you a choice. Having the pod as a regular componant subject to damage could add to the game play - if you couldn't eject I'll bet your aim suddenly improves! Or you'd have to hyperspace, or maybe go and hide until your repairbots fix a pod. Actually, I've previously noted that your hyperdrive should be a damagable componant too, for similar reasons.

You could also make cheap ships for your wingmen with NO escape pod, they'd be lighter and therefore more manoverable, but more vulnerable!

Actually, this raises a point that has always bugged me - how come DRONES can eject? Surely they're unmaned, so they wouldn't need an escape pod?

Bob Janova · Post by **Bob Janova** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 5:14 pm

Yeah, I've always wondered about drones too. Maybe the robot's 'brain' decides it'd rather not get fried?

Pods always come out to the right, though ... which is, annoyingly frequently, straight into the path of oncoming missiles.

Garnier · Post by **Garnier** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 5:24 pm

I have flown drones before, so obviously they are manned.

Fuzzy Wonky · Post by **Fuzzy Wonky** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 5:56 pm

Garnier wrote:I have flown drones before, so obviously they are manned.

That's right. So have I. "Drone" is but a name.