Buoy (Oolite)

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Buoy
Navbeacon.png
Size (metres, W×H×L) 100 x 100 x 100
Cargo capacity 0 TC
Cargo bay extension N/A
Maximum speed 0 LM
Manoeuvrability Roll: 2.0
Pitch: 2.0
Energy banks 0
Energy recharge rate Poor (2.0)
Gun mounts None
Missile slots None
Shield boosters available No
Military shields available No
Hyperspace capable No
OXP or standard Standard
Available to player No
Base price N/A

Description

A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift.

They are most commonly used for as a beacon for navigation.

Every main station has a buoy ten kilometers from the entrance to the docking bay, allowing vessels to align themselves with the station. If the buoy is right behind you and the station right ahead, you are properly aligned.
Every system has a buoy at which one arrives when entering a new system from witchspace. This is usually called a Witchpoint Beacon.
Depending on your oxp cocktail preferences you may find that secondary orbital stations do not have buoys, or that rock hermits do!

Custom Paintjobs

The current buoys (Oolite v.1.90 and later) were designed by Commander Cheyd and incorporated into the Vanilla game code.

Individual Beacons

There are a couple of stations which come with specially designed beacons.


See Also

Snippet from Aegidian

The Nav Buoy was created initially as a target for testing out weaponry as I worked on the early Oolite. I placed it directly outside the station so that I'd have to do no more than launch and fire! Then I realised how useful it was as an aid to docking - so as I neared release I decided to keep it in the game.

In terms of Oolite's milieu I tend to see it as a sensor station (quite possibly manned) used for traffic control around a system's main port.

It was never intended to mark 'safe-distance' for witch jumps (although for the standard Coriolis station it is placed at that distance). Your on-board mass-detectors do most of the work of deciding how far from a given mass you need to be to safely create a wormhole.

(Aegidian (2006))