Tractor Beam and Shield Generator - an unrequited love story

Tue Apr 08, 2003 3:33 am by Thundercleese

Why is it that my tractor beam is able to get cargo through my shields and into my hold while my shields fend off intense laser fire, yet jettisoning cargo forces my shields to go down?

My feeling is that - back in development - your shields would go offline under both circumstances. Then, the feature was scrapped when they fired the QA team and replaced them with monkies (and too many of the monkies died because they tried to tractor in loot during in a firefight - we all know how monkies can be sometimes!) Somehow, the jettison cargo feature was never discovered by the monkies, and therefore never "fixed".

[Tractor
nickname = ge_s_tractor_01
ids_name = 263744
ids_info = 264744
volume = 0.000000
mass = 10
max_length = 1500
reach_speed = 2000
color = 178.500000, 178.500000, 255.000000
operating_effect = tractor_beam
tractor_complete_snd = tractor_complete
lootable = false

Any thoughts on how to make using the tractor beam disable your shields?

Tue Apr 08, 2003 4:42 am by Xocyll

It doesn't necessarily make no sense, though it looks like it at first glance.
The tractor "beam" may not be a beam so much as a tube that extends through the shields and brings the cargo in through it.
Since there is no "pressor" beam, the only way to get cargo out is to shut down the shields, open the door and kick it out.
E.E."Doc" Smith wrote about this kind of stuff in the 1930's, so it's not exactly a new concept.

Tue Apr 08, 2003 8:22 am by CW

Why get into all that when you KNOW this is all fiction?

They probably wanted to make looting more challenging so that you have to think twice before jettisoning your load of water for that cargo ship's gold in the middle of a fire fight.

-----------------------------------------------------------
War does not decide who is right, only who is left.

Tue Apr 08, 2003 9:36 am by Thundercleese

Ok, ok, enough debate, I'm tired!

Any thoughts on how to make using the tractor beam disable your shields?

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