Fix carrier blocking exploit

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One-Man-Bucket
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Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2005 7:00 am

Post by One-Man-Bucket »

As described here: http://www.freeallegiance.org/forums/index...st&p=649583

1) Park carrier really close to aleph where you expect bombers to come from.
2) Bombers that enter (even when going 1mps) will, thanks to the flat speed boost when exiting an aleph, bounce on the carrier and end up back in the previous sector, facing away from the aleph.

In my oppinion it's a clear bug (or "unintended game mechanic"), and it would be nice to get it patched before everyone starts doing it. Already bad enough that RT pulled that @#(! in a squadgame.

As to how it should be fixed. I'm not sure. It's fine that you have to "drive around" the carrier once you enter. Maybe let the speed boost you get from going through an aleph be relative to your current speed instead of a flat increase?

If you go max speed with your ship, you would get roughly the same speed bump as you get today, but creeping in slow would still let you come in slow.

I don't think it would be much of an issue with prox mines, since the speed boost you get is small enough to not matter much when entering a proxed aleph (if you go in at 1mps).
_xJammer_
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Post by _xJammer_ »

The speed boost is exactly the issue that results in you bumping back into the aleph indeed.

The mechanics can be used with any capital ship, con, and even probes, if you place enough of them at the correct location near the aleph.

From what I was told, this was introduced by Virulence a few years back, but then forgotten.

As long as the mass of the object in front of the aleph is higher than yours, you will bounce back. Hence pushing something like a con or another capship through the aleph will clear the block.
Last edited by _xJammer_ on Mon Oct 15, 2012 10:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
Adept
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Post by Adept »

The blocking ship actually gets nudged back each tine, as well as taking damage.

You can res the aleph, or just keep swarming in. Ints and scouts got in with some trying, and owned the carrier... So ultimately it didn't work. I don't think I'd mess with the aleph mechanics for this imperfect tactic.
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pkk
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Post by pkk »

Every ship exiting an aleph or base gets an additional speed added. This is a global core value (ICE Globals):

ExitWarpSpeed (currently 15 m/s)
ExitStationSpeed (currently 50 m/s)
Last edited by pkk on Mon Oct 15, 2012 11:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
The Escapist (Justin Emerson) @ Dec 21 2010, 02:33 PM:
The history of open-source Allegiance is paved with the bodies of dead code branches, forum flame wars, and personal vendettas. But a community remains because people still love the game.
TurkeyXIII
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Location: Melbourne, Aus

Post by TurkeyXIII »

Ironically, this speed boost exists primarily to prevent people from accidentally reversing back into the aleph.

I'm not sure if reducing/removing the speed will help. If I know how collisions work (I don't really), a sufficiently massive capitol parked less than your ship's length from the aleph will result in you being displaced backwards (and therefore into the aleph) regardless of how fast you're going.
Last edited by TurkeyXIII on Mon Oct 15, 2012 12:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
QUOTE (Randall Munroe)14.2: Turkey consumption rate of the average American in milligrams per minute[/quote]
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One-Man-Bucket
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Post by One-Man-Bucket »

Until this is fixed someone should, to keep things fair, make a post detailing how to exploit it.

A game "trick" that you can use to delay bombers coming through an aleph for a couple of minutes (yes really), allowing your team to scramble maximum defense is too powerful to only be known by a few commanders.
pkk
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Location: Germany, Munich

Post by pkk »

Park you capital ship that close to the center of an aleph, that every incoming ship bounces back into the sector it came from, no matter what speed it enters.

How to break that kind of camp:
Aleph Res (blocking ship can't move back into position in time)Capital ship or carrier with high speed (and mass)TechCon (because of high mass)
The Escapist (Justin Emerson) @ Dec 21 2010, 02:33 PM:
The history of open-source Allegiance is paved with the bodies of dead code branches, forum flame wars, and personal vendettas. But a community remains because people still love the game.
lexaal
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Post by lexaal »

Since it i now identified as exploit we could simply ban those who abuse it.
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Mastametz
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Post by Mastametz »

I have no opinion on this matter.
Last edited by Mastametz on Thu Nov 01, 2012 8:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Andon
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Post by Andon »

Sheriff Metz wrote:QUOTE (Sheriff Metz @ Oct 16 2012, 01:34 PM) FAO has long-since established the precedent that cheating is not such a significant offense.
Being offensive is really the only significant offense.
Then why are you still here?
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