{"action":"created","issue":{"url":"https://api.github.com/repos/RemoteTechnologiesGroup/RemoteTech/issues/271","labels_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/RemoteTechnologiesGroup/RemoteTech/issues/271/labels{/name}","comments_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/RemoteTechnologiesGroup/RemoteTech/issues/271/comments","events_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/RemoteTechnologiesGroup/RemoteTech/issues/271/events","html_url":"https://github.com/RemoteTechnologiesGroup/RemoteTech/pull/271","id":53351792,"number":271,"title":"Allow antennas to be controlled without connection","user":{"login":"Pharylon","id":2326271,"avatar_url":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/2326271?v=3","gravatar_id":"","url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon","html_url":"https://github.com/Pharylon","followers_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/followers","following_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/following{/other_user}","gists_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/gists{/gist_id}","starred_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/starred{/owner}{/repo}","subscriptions_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/subscriptions","organizations_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/orgs","repos_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/repos","events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/events{/privacy}","received_events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/received_events","type":"User","site_admin":false},"labels":[],"state":"open","locked":false,"assignee":null,"milestone":null,"comments":7,"created_at":"2015-01-04T22:50:46Z","updated_at":"2015-01-05T19:19:10Z","closed_at":null,"pull_request":{"url":"https://api.github.com/repos/RemoteTechnologiesGroup/RemoteTech/pulls/271","html_url":"https://github.com/RemoteTechnologiesGroup/RemoteTech/pull/271","diff_url":"https://github.com/RemoteTechnologiesGroup/RemoteTech/pull/271.diff","patch_url":"https://github.com/RemoteTechnologiesGroup/RemoteTech/pull/271.patch"},"body":"By setting ControlAntennaWithoutConnection to True on the configs, it... well... lets you control antennas without a connection. :)  The rest of the probe remains inoperable.\r\n\r\nReasons for allowing this are twofold:\r\n\r\n1. When adding RemoteTech to an existing game, it allows you to use existing probes, where the antennas are certainly inactive, and get them connected to the new network.\r\n\r\n2. It's a bit more realistic, as in real life probes are designed to attempt to reconnect if they reboot or otherwise lose connection. Of course, this doesn't exactly duplicate that logic, but it's closer than probes going inoperative all the time."},"comment":{"url":"https://api.github.com/repos/RemoteTechnologiesGroup/RemoteTech/issues/comments/68760238","html_url":"https://github.com/RemoteTechnologiesGroup/RemoteTech/pull/271#issuecomment-68760238","issue_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/RemoteTechnologiesGroup/RemoteTech/issues/271","id":68760238,"user":{"login":"Pharylon","id":2326271,"avatar_url":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/2326271?v=3","gravatar_id":"","url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon","html_url":"https://github.com/Pharylon","followers_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/followers","following_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/following{/other_user}","gists_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/gists{/gist_id}","starred_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/starred{/owner}{/repo}","subscriptions_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/subscriptions","organizations_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/orgs","repos_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/repos","events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/events{/privacy}","received_events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/Pharylon/received_events","type":"User","site_admin":false},"created_at":"2015-01-05T19:19:10Z","updated_at":"2015-01-05T19:19:10Z","body":"I totally agree with what you're saying about how nice it'd be to have fallback targets and all that. It sounds like a pretty good solution. On the other hand, this solution is super simple and here it is. Y'know? A bird in the hand is worth more than three in the bush.\r\n\r\nBut more of an argument (from my perspective) is this: I don't view it as a cheat. It's the way I *want* it to be. I don't think the game should ever make decisions for me. If my antennas turn on and target spontaneously because the probe lost connection... I mean, I guess that's better than a totally lost ship, but is that fun or intuitive from a end-user standpoint? What if it was a planned outage on the far side of a planet and \"seek mode\" drains electrical charge I needed? Or maybe I as a player just don't like the idea of it performing any actions I didn't initiate. This could be circumvented by creating a \"panic\" button on the probe so the player has to manually initiate it's emergency-seek.  But, is that really different than the user clicking on the antenna? The end result is the same. The user clicks on the probe GUI to re-initiate connection. \r\n\r\nPlus, in real life, [probes tend to have low-gain omnis that can reach Earth easily](http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/spacecraft/parts/antennas/). They're not great for transmitting scientific data, but you can use them to point the main dish. That could be simulated too, creating a special antenna that you still need line-of-sight for, but doesn't transmit science... but my gut feeling is that is over-engineering the solution. In the end, the question is really \"what's more fun\" not necessarily \"what's more realistic\" (although the two are often related!). \r\n\r\nSo I guess in summary I just think this is a pretty simple solution that covers most (but not all) issues with lost probes in a dead-simple way. Plus, it's an *optional* rule, like ignoring the speed of light. So hardcore players can just ignore it.\r\n\r\nAs for the difficulty in turning it on/off... for people that do view it as a cheat, isn't it kind of good to make it hard to turn on/off? I know I hate the Debug Menu. I've tried to turn off quickloads a few times. But it's just so easy to turn it back on, and I am weak. :D I actually looked for a mod the other day that would disable the debug menu! Though conversely, having a in-game menu to do things like this or change the antenna distance calculations or the speed of light delay might be nice too. "}}