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Remapping of keys for a newbie

General discussion for players of Oolite.

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Jonah Hex
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Remapping of keys for a newbie

Post by Jonah Hex »

Hi there,
I LOVE Oolite and thank you all who had anything to do with bringing this classic back and in such a CLASSIC and CLASSY way.
Now...my first question as a newbie on this forum: I would really like to remap the fire lasers button to the space bar as it's painful to use as it is at them moment.

I am a bit of a classic elite freak so I do not have any expansion packs, but for this I would definitely load one up. I am running it on an Ubuntu machine and everything works great but I just don't know how to remap the keys.

Please help.

Thanks.

PS: Bonus questions

1) Does anyone have experience using a python as their next ship? How does it compare to the Cobra MK III once you also upgrade its shields etc?

2) Trading seems the quickest way to make enough money to do what you want (explore with different ships etc etc) but it's still pretty slow going and I guess even if you get a Boa eventually the problem you will encounter then is not enough merchandise to fill the huge cargo hold. Any general comments? (Yes I will read this entire forum over the next few days...)

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Re: Remapping of keys for a newbie

Post by Disembodied »

Hi Jonah, welcome to the boards! It's a two-drink minimum, aces are low, one-eyed jacks and the suicide king are wild ...

For changing the key mapping, see the wiki:


http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Oolite ... d_Controls

Especially see

http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Oolite ... ssignments

While I've never flown a Python myself, I understand them to be pretty solid ships. Slow, though, and maybe not quite as iron-assable as the Cobra III. If you take one, stick to short-ish jumps between stable-ish systems, and leave yourself a decent amount of fuel for your injectors.

As for trading, there are OXPs which introduce other dockable stations, which have their own markets where you can add to your cargo – for example the Convenience Stores in the Your Ad Here OXP. Even better, it's completely legal to ship out controlled commodities (slaves, narcotics and firearms) from any station except the main one ...
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Re: Remapping of keys for a newbie

Post by Disembodied »

Forgot to mention: when you've got a bigger cargo hold check out the F8-F8 contract haulage markets in the main stations. These are pretty big, and if you build up a reputation of making the deliveries on time, the profitability of the runs increases too.
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Re: Remapping of keys for a newbie

Post by Smivs »

Hi Jonah Hex,
I ran a Python, the Fatal Attraction for quite a while. She was as Iron-Assed as you can make one and while a bit slow was a good solid workhorse. I could see off most regular pirates (even in groups) comfortably, hence the name - they probably thought I looked a likely victim :lol: 'till they found out the hard way that I wasn't!
If you want to make money quick on a tight budget you won't go wrong with a Python. I eventually up-graded to a Boa Class Cruiser, then a Boa Clipper, the Bilbo Maru which has been my home for many years now, but I still have very fond memories of the Fatal Attraction.
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Re: Remapping of keys for a newbie

Post by Fatleaf »

And to give you a proper Oolite welcome:- Welcome to the friendliest board this side of Riedquat. 8)
Find out about the early influences of Fatleaf here. Also his OXP's!
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Re: Remapping of keys for a newbie

Post by Jonah Hex »

Disembodied wrote:
Hi Jonah, welcome to the boards! It's a two-drink minimum, aces are low, one-eyed jacks and the suicide king are wild ...

For changing the key mapping, see the wiki:


http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Oolite ... d_Controls

Especially see

http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Oolite ... ssignments
Thank you for this. unfortunately, while it helps a lot it takes me no closer to fixing my problem. Here is the situation:

Firstly, I am running Ubuntu Natty if that makes a difference. the config file is actually found in a slightly different directory from what the wiki says: To whit: usr/lib/GNUstep/System/Applications/oolite.app/Contents/Resources/Config

but I cannot find any AddOns directory anywhere near this tree list. There is (strangely enough also a directory called Resources at the same level as the Contents directory. I.e. usr/lib/GNUstep/System/Applications/oolite.app/Resources but this only has one file in it called info-gnustep.plist.

I believe the keycode for the space bar would be 32 (in decimal) but I cannot alter the keyconfig.plist file directly because it is a read only file and it says as I am not the owner I cannot alter the properties to make it alterable. I did copy a version of the keyconfig.plist file elsewhere and edited that accordingly, but then I cannot copy this into the config directory to replace the original (which I know is a bad idea as i should be pasting it in the AddOns directory, but this does not exist anywhere).

Can anyone that understands Ubuntu/oolite please help? I am a complete moron when it comes to this techie stuff. all I know how to do is shoot down pirates, fer-de-lances, kraits, asps, you name it, but I have no idea of how it all works, and frankly, don't much care. I just want the fire button to become my space bar so I can kill pirates more efficiently.

Thanks again for your help. Although I couldn't yet fix this, your suggestions have already increased my IQ by 2 points!
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Re: Remapping of keys for a newbie

Post by Jonah Hex »

Fatleaf wrote:
And to give you a proper Oolite welcome:- Welcome to the friendliest board this side of Riedquat. 8)
Thank you kind sir, this forum is indeed friendly and helpful, as I can tell from my early scanning. But then...you all play Elite. Of COURSE you are cool :mrgreen:
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Re: Remapping of keys for a newbie

Post by DaddyHoggy »

How did you install Oolite? Did you follow Getafix's install guide? (under the Linux link)

How you installed it will affect where things are and who has permission to do what - it can be "fixed" - some of it more easily than other bits.

(but knowing how you installed it, would be a good first step)
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Re: Remapping of keys for a newbie

Post by Jonah Hex »

Smivs wrote:
Hi Jonah Hex,
I ran a Python, the Fatal Attraction for quite a while. She was as Iron-Assed as you can make one and while a bit slow was a good solid workhorse. I could see off most regular pirates (even in groups) comfortably, hence the name - they probably thought I looked a likely victim :lol: 'till they found out the hard way that I wasn't!
If you want to make money quick on a tight budget you won't go wrong with a Python. I eventually up-graded to a Boa Class Cruiser, then a Boa Clipper, the Bilbo Maru which has been my home for many years now, but I still have very fond memories of the Fatal Attraction.
Thanks for this, it's very encouraging. I have rushed to "Above Average" in 2 days since downloading the game, and as a result am getting killed quite a bit and also am engaging in rather dubious "acquisition of goods" practices (aka piracy) but this is just to get me to an interesting level of ability and money, after which I think I will ply the trade lanes for a bit as an honest trader that hunts pirates for fun (have to burn off that Karma somewhere).
I was really very very pleased to see the results of the poll that at least 1/3 of Elite players do not even consider piracy and probably only less than half or so ever really engage in it knowingly. Considering this is a game, I think it shows a different class of player, and also...that if this were real, most people would be model citizens. I am happy and proud to be part of this amazing community. I am very new at the oolite version, but in the original on the BBC I achieved many weird things, along with my brother (the gunner) and a friend (who did all the navigation keys) I just piloted and put things in the sights, there was 3 of us on that keyboard at all times...

Anyway, I realise there are many OXP packs etc. I have not installed any yet but I suppose at some point I will. One of the things holding me back is that the technical aspects freak me out a bit. I tried to do the Pause and press T to see the textured planets but nothing happened, but saw later this function may be disabled? I am not even sure which version of Oolite I have, where do i see this? So I can make more intelligent comments regarding my lack of ability.

Lastly...THANK YOU for telling me your Python experiences. Am I correct in thinking you did this without the OXp at first? Some of the other ships you mention are I think OXP ones...I really don't know how the ooniverse will change if I add in OXp packs and that is why I am being careful. Will read more in the forums too. But thanks for the warm welcome and instant attempts at helping.
Elite is obviously ...well...for Elite people...!
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Re: Remapping of keys for a newbie

Post by Jonah Hex »

DaddyHoggy wrote:
How did you install Oolite? Did you follow Getafix's install guide? (under the Linux link)

How you installed it will affect where things are and who has permission to do what - it can be "fixed" - some of it more easily than other bits.

(but knowing how you installed it, would be a good first step)

I did the noble thing people like me do: used the ubuntu Software finder and pressed the "install" button on the GUI.
That was it.
I was not kidding when i said I am a (possibly slightly retarded noob).
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Re: Remapping of keys for a newbie

Post by DaddyHoggy »

The Linux Distribution-neutral installation details can be found here:

https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9570
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Re: Remapping of keys for a newbie

Post by Smivs »

Jonah Hex wrote:

Anyway, I realise there are many OXP packs etc. I have not installed any yet but I suppose at some point I will. One of the things holding me back is that the technical aspects freak me out a bit. I tried to do the Pause and press T to see the textured planets but nothing happened, but saw later this function may be disabled? I am not even sure which version of Oolite I have, where do i see this? So I can make more intelligent comments regarding my lack of ability.

Lastly...THANK YOU for telling me your Python experiences. Am I correct in thinking you did this without the OXp at first? Some of the other ships you mention are I think OXP ones...I really don't know how the ooniverse will change if I add in OXp packs and that is why I am being careful. Will read more in the forums too. But thanks for the warm welcome and instant attempts at helping.
Elite is obviously ...well...for Elite people...!
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When you start Oolite you should see a screen briefly while it loads with the Oolite icon. At the top of this is the version number and release date.

As for OXPs, I'd start with eye-candy - better-looking ships, planets etc, then slowly add other OXPs that interest you. My Python exploits were early on in my career so I didn't have many OXPs installed, and in fact only have around 15 now. These are mostly eye-candy, plus a handful of OXP ships including my Clipper. I guess I'm a bit of a minimalist, but I personally don't want to stray too far away from Elite, so I've mostly concentrated on making things look better, although as I've become fairly proficient now I have also toughened up all the baddies to keep the challenge alive.
Remember it's actually easier to remove OXPs than install them, so if you find you've installed something you don't like, remove it.
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Re: Remapping of keys for a newbie

Post by Jonah Hex »

DaddyHoggy wrote:
The Linux Distribution-neutral installation details can be found here:

https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9570
Thanks for this, unfortunately it does not help.
I even thought of just adding the directory AddOns to the Resource directory, but it does not let me because once again...I am not the "owner" of the directories/files so can only read them (very frustrating).

I am kind of giving up I have reached the limit of my newb/retard ability in linux to understand how to fix this....
If anyone can help please PM me, I would very much welcome it.
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Re: Remapping of keys for a newbie

Post by Jonah Hex »

Smivs wrote:
Jonah Hex wrote:

Anyway, I realise there are many OXP packs etc. I have not installed any yet but I suppose at some point I will. One of the things holding me back is that the technical aspects freak me out a bit. I tried to do the Pause and press T to see the textured planets but nothing happened, but saw later this function may be disabled? I am not even sure which version of Oolite I have, where do i see this? So I can make more intelligent comments regarding my lack of ability.

Lastly...THANK YOU for telling me your Python experiences. Am I correct in thinking you did this without the OXp at first? Some of the other ships you mention are I think OXP ones...I really don't know how the ooniverse will change if I add in OXp packs and that is why I am being careful. Will read more in the forums too. But thanks for the warm welcome and instant attempts at helping.
Elite is obviously ...well...for Elite people...!
Hex
When you start Oolite you should see a screen briefly while it loads with the Oolite icon. At the top of this is the version number and release date.

As for OXPs, I'd start with eye-candy - better-looking ships, planets etc, then slowly add other OXPs that interest you. My Python exploits were early on in my career so I didn't have many OXPs installed, and in fact only have around 15 now. These are mostly eye-candy, plus a handful of OXP ships including my Clipper. I guess I'm a bit of a minimalist, but I personally don't want to stray too far away from Elite, so I've mostly concentrated on making things look better, although as I've become fairly proficient now I have also toughened up all the baddies to keep the challenge alive.
Remember it's actually easier to remove OXPs than install them, so if you find you've installed something you don't like, remove it.

I'm not sure how to "friend you" in this forum ( I saw in the UCP there are friends and enemies) but you seem to have a very simialr approach to Elite as I do. I am checking your site as we speak. My problem is that frnakly I seem to have a problem understanding HOW to add OXPs and in fact just the problem of changing the trigger to the space bar instead of the a key is stumping me. Story of my life, good trigger finger, small brain.... :)
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Re: Remapping of keys for a newbie

Post by Mauiby de Fug »

In your HOME folder, there should be a hidden folder called .Oolite (can be found by going to View, Show Hidden Files, in the Nautilus menu. Inside that folder there should be a folder called Logs, but most likely not one called AddOns yet. Create the AddOns folder here (in .Oolite, not Logs), and paste your edited keyconfig.plist file into the AddOns folder. Any oxps you want to install can be placed here and they hopefully ought to work.
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