Buoy (Oolite)

Buoy
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.

• 

  Accessories OXP Buoy (Smivs)

• 

  Better Buoys OXZ
  Navigation & Witchpoint buoys (Smivs)

• 

  Deepspace Buoy
  (Simon B)

• 

  Sung's Buoy

• 

  WPB OXP
  An antique version (Murgh)

Individual Beacons

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

• 

  Sothis Buoy (KillerWolf)

• 

  Mandotech Station & Shipyards

See Also

• WPB (WitchPoint Buoy) Older version of buoy for poorer systems (Murgh - old, but rebundled)
• Buoy Repair OXP Repair company for defect or destroyed nav-beacons (Eric Walch & Svengali: 2015)

• New Smivs Buoy (YouTube)

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))