Lock command

The LOCK command selects one ship as the current scanner and fire-control target. Entering it without an argument releases the current lock. The broader history, persistence rules, and enhanced-lock upgrade are covered under Locks.

Syntax

LOCK ship-letter
LOCK

ship-letter is a letter from the player's current scan table. The command resolves that letter to a live ship slot and stores the slot, not the letter. The target must be detectable when the lock is established. A bare LOCK clears the stored target.

For example:

SCAN SHIP A
LOCK A
TORPEDO @
SCAN SHIP @
LOCK

This scans A, locks that ship, fires a torpedo using the stored target, scans it again through the lock, and finally releases the lock. The intervening commands still perform their ordinary range and equipment checks.

Using @

Both classic 3.2e and ge-next accept @ as the target argument for TORPEDO and MISSILE. SCAN SHIP @ also works in classic 3.2e through the common lookup routine; ge-next documents it explicitly. @ refers to the saved slot, so a target's current scan letter need not be looked up for every command. It does not supply an automatic firing solution. Guided weapons still need a working launcher, ammunition, and a valid target within their own fire-control conditions.

Standard phasers do not aim with @: they fire on a relative bearing and can strike more than one ship. In ge-next, an explicit lock can nevertheless signal an intentional attack on a teammate or a ship in distress, overriding those protections for applicable phaser fire.

Feedback and command restrictions

In classic 3.2e, setting or releasing a lock does not notify the target. A command using @ fails if the stored target is no longer valid; see Locks for when classic checks and clears that target.

In ge-next, first locking another user's ship warns that user immediately. Repeating LOCK on the same ship does not send another warning. A bare LOCK informs a still-active target that the lock has been released, while the locking player may receive a Scanner lock lost! notice when ship-state maintenance releases it. Later scans of a target already locked by the scanner do not repeatedly announce themselves to that target.

A cloaked ship cannot establish a new lock in ge-next. Moderate jamming can make an attempt fail, while heavier jamming prevents it outright. A target hidden by cloak or nebula conditions cannot be newly selected. If an existing lock survives brief concealment, SCAN SHIP @, TORPEDO @, and MISSILE @ must still pass their normal visibility and weapon checks. For how long locks persist, why they expire, and what the enhanced-lock upgrade adds, see Locks.

Syntax

Using @

Feedback and command restrictions

See also