Search Light Idea

Knight Rider · Post by **Knight Rider** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:56 pm

BraveHart came up with an idea in a post, that I was thinking about also, having a searchlight on your ship. I know I was in Sapphire trying to find the entrance to the huge asteroid, and I was thinking it would be nice to light it up with a search light.

Maybe this would be a great idea in a future update.

Can anyone comment on what you think about this idea?

Thanks,

Knight

[Edited on 2-7-2009 by Knight Rider]

49rTbird · Post by **49rTbird** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 5:01 pm

Only if it helps find more BARS (lol)

tha_rami · Post by **tha_rami** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 5:55 pm

Well, basically, it might be more practical for the ship to have an indicator like with systems near the entrance. A search light is on your ship, but only lights up in asteroid caves, I think.

Wavey · Post by **Wavey** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 6:12 pm

seems the entrances are at one end so fairly easy to find

Knight Rider · Post by **Knight Rider** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 6:30 pm

It wouldn't be a critical piece of equipment, I was thinking just an additional piece of equipment you could buy from the stations, just a thought.

[Edited on 2-7-2009 by Knight Rider]

Storm · Post by **Storm** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 11:54 pm

I like the searchlight idea... however it would only be a slightly practical "toy"/eye-candy. Maybe for lighting up the interiors of caves a bit. It might "look cool" to to strafe a searchlight beam across a station, a cargo canister, across the hull of a CapShip, across the surface of a planet you intend to mine (if it is dark/nightside).

(edit) If you ever saw the movie "The Black Hole" by Walt Disney... when the ship "Pentamino" was strafing the "Cygnus" with a searchlight... the game "Terminus" mentioned below had "the same look".

Specifically: If anyone has played the game "Terminus" (Vatical Entertainment/Vicarious Visions), the searchlight idea was very well implemented. If I recall (and I'm not absolutely certain that I am "recalling correctly", that was a long time ago), you could "steer" or "strafe" the searchlight. Not sure if it was with your joystick or some other control... it SEEMS that if you moved the joystick (or mouse if mouse control) WHILE pressing a certain key (IE "like a shift key"), then the searchlight aiming point could be moved. When you deactivated the searchlight, and later turned it on again it was automatically "centered" to the default direction.

[Edited on 2-8-2009 by Storm]

Blackthorne · Post by **Blackthorne** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:03 am

Originally posted by Knight Rider
It wouldn't be a critical piece of equipment, I was thinking just an additional piece of equipment you could buy from the stations, just a thought.

Equipment slots are sparse enough right now. Another subsystem would mean that one of my essentials would have to go, which a searchlight simply isn't worth IMHO. The stealth generator was hard enough to squeeze in...

Originally posted by Storm
If anyone has played the game "Terminus" (Vatical Entertainment/Vicarious Visions), the searchlight idea was very well implemented. If I recall (and I'm not absolutely certain that I am "recalling correctly", that was a long time ago), you could "steer" or "strafe" the searchlight.

You must be thinking of another game. IIRC the Searchlight merely illuminated the object in front of you, and wasn't too effective even at that...you needed to be pretty close, which only happened while mining. Well, I could spot those huge chunks of rock just fine, thanks, Vatical.

Could you possibly be thinking of Freespace or it's successor?

Blackthorne

[Edited on 8-2-2009 by Blackthorne]

MMaggio · Post by **MMaggio** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:06 am

You played Terminus? I love that game! I swear, if I didn't know better I'd think Vice plagerized that game!
Anyway, I like the game because navigation is much easier for me.
I still haven't managed to play as much of it as I would like. I did not know there was a searchlight! Sounds cool. Maybe that comes later.

Knight Rider · Post by **Knight Rider** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:13 am

Originally posted by Storm
I like the searchlight idea... however it would only be a slightly practical "toy"/eye-candy. Maybe for lighting up the interiors of caves a bit. It might "look cool" to to strafe a searchlight beam across a station, a cargo canister, across the hull of a CapShip, across the surface of a planet you intend to mine (if it is dark/nightside).

[Edited on 2-8-2009 by Storm]

I didn't even think about that. It would be a pretty cool toy to add to your ship.

[Edited on 2-8-2009 by Knight Rider]

Storm · Post by **Storm** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:32 am

Originally posted by Blackthorne

Equipment slots are sparse enough right now. Another subsystem would mean that one of my essentials would have to go, which a searchlight simply isn't worth IMHO. The stealth generator was hard enough to squeeze in...

Originally posted by Storm
If anyone has played the game "Terminus" (Vatical Entertainment/Vicarious Visions), the searchlight idea was very well implemented. If I recall (and I'm not absolutely certain that I am "recalling correctly", that was a long time ago), you could "steer" or "strafe" the searchlight.
You must be thinking of another game. IIRC the Searchlight merely illuminated the object in front of you, and wasn't too effective even at that...you needed to be pretty close, which only happened while mining. Well, I could spot those huge chunks of rock just fine, thanks, Vatical.

Could you possibly be thinking of Freespace or it's successor?

Blackthorne

[Edited on 8-2-2009 by Blackthorne]

I never got to play Freespace (et al)... a computer was lost in an accident (an apartment maintenance guy knocked it over, refused to pay for it, "it was in his way", pursuing it legally didn't help), and at about the same time a critical health issue almost killed me (long story). Basically : I was without a computer from sometime in 2002 until mid 2007.

I really do remember that in one of the Terminus patches the functionality of the searchlight was improved. Specifically sometime pre-patch (there were many patches, and I bought the game when it was first released), the searchlight caused crashes. After some patch, it no longer caused crashes, and when bound as an "aux device", you could "steer it / move it".

I admit it had little practical use, except as a "cool and interesting gadget for eye candy".

axisAdamWest · Post by **axisAdamWest** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:42 am

How about like a flare gun thing. Just like you can send out countermeasures, you'd be able to shoot out small flares. I'm picturing these as how they were in the Aliens vs Predator games (let me find a video).. like this-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ8ypiZT850

Actually, I'm not sure this would be even remotely useful in any situation. Hehe.

[Edited on 8-2-2009 by axisAdamWest]

Knight Rider · Post by **Knight Rider** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 1:01 am

I could see the possibilities. May be a missle flare that could give you 1 minute, even 5 minutes of light. Me persoanlly, I would want the searchlight.

[Edited on 2-8-2009 by Knight Rider]