A series of questions from a new player

[Vincentz]

First of all : wow. what an amazing game!
Secondly : Sorry if these questions have been asked 1000 times before.

As a fellow modder (civilization IV) I have to say that the amount of content added is mindblowing.
I've installed around 170 addons from ingame browser, and only Povray_Planets_Galaxy1_Textures_v1.1.oxp from external downloads.
Q1 : What external downloads do YOU think I might be missing? Are there any "essentials" that I'm missing?
(I only found out about Povray because looking at Google Images of Oolite).

I'm not a huge fan of the standard HUD, I do like the Fighter HUD Mk II, and Plagiarist_Hud.oxp, though especially the later seems to be missing some functions.
Regarding functionallity I do like the Coluber HUD except for the RedAlert function that moves stuff up to the crosshair (iirc)
Q2 : What are your fav HUD, and if I'm gonna make my own, is it ok to beg, borrow and steal from others?
I was thinking about making a fullscreen Widescreen HUD. I havent seen a single made. Any specific reasons?

The Cargo Contracts seems pretty useless to me. Example from game -> take 35 minerals 50 LY and earn 90 credits??? You even have to pay 400 credits upfront.
Q3 : What am I missing? The tradeoff seems so low, compared to a normal traderun, which could be 2 LY and MUCH more profitable.

Q4 : Regarding traderuns : Do the prices/stock resets or does it take into account that its the 50th Computers -> Alcohol traderun between industrial/agricultural planets?
(I'm really hoping for the later, so obvious traderuns "loose" effect. Sort of "hey! we are planting crops, and do not need 120 iPads for doing so, so stop bringing us those damn computers).

Q5 : Beer Cooler and Cup of Tea. Do they have any effect, or are they just for laugh?

Q6 : ; and : are supposed to switch MFDs? But nothing happens when I use them. How are they working?

Well, enough to start out with Prolly have lots more

[Cody]

We love questions here - and I use a customised Fighter Hud.

Mostly, it's perfectly acceptable to beg, steal, and borrow - you do have to pay attention to licence and such stuff though.
Contracts increase in value as your rep improves - you gotta start at the bottom as an unknown and work your way up.
Beer Cooler and suchlike are cannon fodder in effect - they might take a hit instead of something vital.

Others will provide more answers, no doubt.

[ffutures]

Some cargoes are VERY worthwhile if you can afford the deposit and are considered trustworthy (which you get by delivering lower-value cargo first) - look for long distance deliveries of gold, platinum or gems, especially to dangerous systems, because they take up relatively little space which means you can carry several and do a bit of trading too. Just watch out that that they are all on more or less the same route. And remember to check for the fastest route as well as the most direct, or you can find yourself in real trouble.

If I sound enthusiastic, it's because I've made 14 MILLION that way in the last few months, so much so that I've pretty much retired that pilot. I'm now trying one of the smaller OXP ships, the DTT Planet Express ship "Shiny Metal Ass" which is fairly good as a fast passenger / mail courier, but too small for a lot of cargo so the strategy is a little different. Going to see how long it takes me to get filthy rich again...

[Norby]

Q1 : What external downloads do YOU think I might be missing? Are there any "essentials" that I'm missing?

You can check player's recommendations including mine but you should read through the descriptions before decide to install an oxp to avoid surprises.

Q2 : What are your fav HUD, and if I'm gonna make my own, is it ok to beg, borrow and steal from others?

Mine is  Numeric. You can do anything in your machine, but if you want publish something, that is another story around licenses.

I was thinking about making a fullscreen Widescreen HUD. I havent seen a single made. Any specific reasons?

There are some in [wiki]HUD_images_here[/wiki].

Q3 : What am I missing? The tradeoff seems so low, compared to a normal traderun, which could be 2 LY and MUCH more profitable.

Contracts pay well later after you built up your reputation by delivering the cheaper ones.

Q4 : Regarding traderuns : Do the prices/stock resets or does it take into account that its the 50th Computers -> Alcohol traderun between industrial/agricultural planets?

As far as I know the core game follow the original Elite in this where there was no such feature. An OXP can do it in theory.

Q5 : Beer Cooler and Cup of Tea. Do they have any effect, or are they just for laugh?

Mainly for atmosphere.

Q6 : ; and : are supposed to switch MFDs? But nothing happens when I use them. How are they working?

You must install addons and usually buy the related equipments which display data on MFDs. I suggest [wiki]HUDSelector[/wiki] which contain support for setting up MFDs and there is a list of OXPs with MFD in this wiki page.

[Vincentz]

Thanks for all the replies

I didn't explain what I meant with fullscreen HUD very good.

What I had in mind was something like this

(actually, I think I just found the building blocks for my HUD )

Edit :

Is it possible to change Alpha for the frame PNG to 100% (in file it says 1.0 but is still transparent), or is it always some degree of transparent when its a HUD? (all the HUDS I've seen have been iirc).
(PS. yes, it looks horrible, its just a test )

[Cody]

Ahh, you meant a full-on cockpit? Interesting...

As for OXPs you might not have: have a look at Griff's  ships for 1.80 (and add this if you decide to use them instead of the core set). Oh yeah... Torus stations and Zieman Habitats are good eye-candy too, as is the Deep Horizon Nav Buoy. The  OXP list is very handy!

[Cody]

Is it possible to change Alpha for the frame PNG to 100% (in file it says 1.0 but is still transparent)

I have my Fighter Hud set at overall_alpha = 1.00; and the dashboard is totally opaque.

[another_commander]

Q1 : What external downloads do YOU think I might be missing? Are there any "essentials" that I'm missing?

If your system is not completely low-end, you may want to check ZygoUgo's Cinematic Skies and Nebulae OXP in the wiki. It does wonders to in-game atmosphere for me.

This is vanilla Leesti without Cinematic Skies:
Forward View

Port View on arrival:



And this is with Cinematic Skies:
Forward View

Port View on arrival:



Regarding the transparency, I believe it should work. Are you holding Shift down when applying changes to OXP plists for cache refresh?

[Norby]

Is it possible to change Alpha for the frame PNG to 100% (in file it says 1.0 but is still transparent)

Must set both overall_alpha and the alpha of the image in legends to 1.

Code: Select all

	legends = //these are drawn, in order, before the dials
	(
  		{ x=0; y=-100; x_origin=0; y_origin=0; height=500; width=500; image = "trumblebox.png"; alpha=1;},
...
	);
	overall_alpha = 1;

[Vincentz]

Thanks again guys

I had accidentally turned off Search Sub Folders in my Notepad++
It was indeed overall_alpha = 1, plus the Hold Shift While Loading.

It does bring another question/problem : It overlays the menues, comms and F5-F8 menues. (it doesnt overlay the MFDs though).
I think however I might change the opaque HUD image to be connected to the crosshairs, so when going to pause/F5-F8 menues the image doesnt show.
It could be interesting to make separate side/rear HUDS as well, and as these seems to have separate crosshairs, it might be doable (?).
To add total immersion, im thinking making separate fighter/transporter HUDS as well. Well, one can always dream right?



I really like the modularity (addons can be added/removed without restarting new Commander). Is there a way to reset ingame. I.E. changing the alpha, then load game with shift held down, and new alpha is shown, or does game needs to be restarted?

Also I really like the ZygoUgo's Cinematic Skies and Nebulae OXP, and the distant sun it gives, however it have the imho same "problem" that Distant Suns addon, that the dark side of planets/moons/stations/ships, become pitch black. While it prolly is more realistic, I kinda like it with darkish shadow, rather than all black. Is it changeable or is it fixed because of lightsouce actually IS the sun?

[another_commander]

I really like the modularity (addons can be added/removed without restarting new Commander). Is there a way to reset ingame. I.E. changing the alpha, then load game with shift held down, and new alpha is shown, or does game needs to be restarted?

Not sure about this particular case, but generally yes, there is a way and it is called the almighty Debug Console. You can find a download link for it in the Downloads page at http://www.oolite.org. As I've mentioned many times in the past, anyone doing mods for Oolite should not be without it. It is an external app that allows you to execute Javascript commands, methods etc. from within the game, in real time. Any property that is visible to the JS interface can be viewed and, if writeable, changed on the fly. Scripts can be set up and executed on the fly. Ships can be spawned, huds changed, supernovas initiated, you get the idea.

Apart from the console, scripts can also change all the above, as they use the same JS interface when running.

Also I really like the ZygoUgo's Cinematic Skies and Nebulae OXP, and the distant sun it gives, however it have the imho same "problem" that Distant Suns addon, that the dark side of planets/moons/stations/ships, become pitch black. While it prolly is more realistic, I kinda like it with darkish shadow, rather than all black. Is it changeable or is it fixed because of lightsouce actually IS the sun?

For this, you can alter the ambient_level variable found inside the OXP's planetinfo.plist and set it to a higher value to let the environment's lights illuminate the universe objects more. For the next version (1.82) we have made this value controllable via JavaScript so scripts (or the aforementioned Debug Console) can change it on the fly.

[Wildeblood]

Also I really like the ZygoUgo's Cinematic Skies and Nebulae OXP, and the distant sun it gives, however it have the imho same "problem" that Distant Suns addon, that the dark side of planets/moons/stations/ships, become pitch black. While it prolly is more realistic, I kinda like it with darkish shadow, rather than all black. Is it changeable or is it fixed because of lightsouce actually IS the sun?

The ambient_level setting - the light on the shaded side of objects - is independent of the sun. That is altered by Cinematic Skies, not by Distant Suns. See this page for all the details, the sections titled "properties of the sun" & "properties of the sky":-

http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Planet ... of_the_Sky

http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Planet ... of_the_Sun

[Vincentz]

Thanks once again for you help. I really appreciate it.

While you wait for my next questions have a look at my first Oolite mod :
https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17322
Its pretty darn simple, but a good training exercise, and I haven't seen any font replacements, so I thought I'd share it.

edit : btw, I'm trying to remap keys, and can't find any resources for the right codes.
I tried with these (atleast the ESC is 27, but the insert and delete are 305 and 306)
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/AS2LCR/Flas ... 00520.html

I want to use Numpad keys (Num0 and Num.). Anyone knows where or how I can find the correct key codes?

[Norby]

It overlays the menues, comms and F5-F8 menues.

A solution: add an equipment_required field to the image, then a new equipment into equipment.plist with damage_probability=0 and visible=no (moreover for 1.81 compatibility need a script also which prevent to buy it instead of simply setting the required techlevel to 99). Then make a worldsrcipt where in the guiScreenChanged event handler you can use player.ship.awardEquipment("MYEQ") or remove depending on the view.

make separate side/rear HUDS

The viewDirectionChanged event handler is your friend, if you have 4 images with 4 equipments.

More complex if you replace the whole hud.plist as the alternate NumericHUD with 4*4 MFDs does. You can look into the code if you want but I think the image+etc. replacement within the same hud.plist using equipments can be enoungh and easier.

Is there a way to reset ingame. I.E. changing the alpha

In the debug console you can run a PS.awardEquipment("MYEQ") command to show/hide elements requiring this eq. If you define more image lines with the same .png but different alpha and eq then you can try all of them during flight.

the dark side of planets/moons/stations/ships, become pitch black.

Check this: [wiki]Headlights[/wiki]

[Vincentz]

Thanks for info
I have started a little HUD project, just to get to know the basics first , and have a couple of questions :

First a screenie and the files http://www.mediafire.com/download/xz8dp ... UD.oxp.zip


Q1) Alignment : I'd like to either Center the Compass (Ororqu) / Jumpdrive (Gerege) destinations or right align Jumpdrive.
While I can align the compass to the left, it doesnt seem to work for jumpdrive (for right align)?
Also I'd like to center align Primed Equipment (not that important though).

Q2) Direction of Bars : Where is the nearest spacebar? Nah, J/K
Is it possible to make a bar go the opposite way? Right now all bars either go down->up or left->right.
I'd love the Forward Shield to go right->left. Is it doable?

Q3) Colors I know the bars can be changed, but what about the texts (specifically the Compass (Ororqu) destination and the clock, but also the Scoop/StationPolice icons.) I tried different ways but was unsuccesful.

I guess thats all for now
Please also let me know what you think about the HUD. Pros/Cons the sort.
PS. I'm considering making the scanner background semi-transparent, so Scoops can be spotted better. Not sure its a good idea, so scanner info is more difficult to see. Pros/Cons?


edit : a stupid question : I send a PM asking for Username/Password a couple of days ago, so I can upload my 3dFont.oxz to oolite.org, but its not marked as sent, it sits in the Outbox. I can't find anywhere to send it. Is it send, or do I need to take some action/do something?


dbl edit : now also in fashionable blue