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[patndave]

Ok - first post - just found you guys & my eyes lit up... been a long time since Elite on the BBC & the Atari.....

Anyway..... this may have already been asked but I didnt find anything on it by searching....

As a replication of the original this is great. The OXP's then provide a great enhancement on the original.

BUT.

If we are looking at enhancements then what about the basics of navigation? x,y,z coords in space & an ability to record (log) the same of other objects (eg main stations)?

Reason being, whilst it can be entertaining trying to dock with an asteroid by mistake (ouch) if you have visited the station before then really you know where it is - so wouldnt it be logical that you can build up a database of where the stations are. This would also save the mistake of flying the wrong way around the planet to find something you have already been to (and hence should know where it is).

Relying on sight is fine - but navigators would use their first visit to normally plot the position of these objects in order to know where they were the next time they came.... it doesnt even have to be automatic - a "paper & pen" approach (type-able log book) would suffice given the raw information.

Don't know if the stations actually orbit the planet's, are in a fixed position or a random position (the last would make any plotting very difficult).

Anyway, thats my first post done - now just to leave work so I can catch the next flight out of Lave.

[Layne]

Step one, welcome new player without terrifying him.

~HIIIIII THERE!!!~
Can I take your coat? Your hat? This vase, were you using it? What's your blood type? Favorite color? Favorite flavor? How many thargoids can dance on the head of a pin?

(Smoothly done.)

Step two:

Well, I'm not sure if stations actually orbit, either. But, there's a handy bit of equipment you can purchase called the Advanced Space Compass, which will guide you to every legitimate docking facility in a system. (Rock Hermits and the occasional Hacker/Salvage outpost aren't legitimate by GalCop standards.) Nearly every OXP that adds stations to the games will have a tag for their stations on the ASC, making it easy to find your way to any station directly. Until then, you'll get a docking indicator on your regular space compass once you're close enough to the planet, and that will guide you towards the station.

[Cody]

Don't know if the stations actually orbit the planet's, are in a fixed position...

The latter - and welcome aboard, Commander!

[patndave]

Whoooo! Are we active or what!!

Answers in order:Yes, No, Yes, Green, Green, Green, 42. And I also have a spare towel.

Actually had read about the advanced compass - which is fine for advanced sorts & doing legitimate stuff but is still no use in those "ahem" more delicate systems.

One day I will actually have a signature.....

[Layne]

Actually had read about the advanced compass - which is fine for advanced sorts & doing legitimate stuff but is still no use in those "ahem" more delicate systems.

'Delicate systems'? I wasn't aware that any were fragile. Haven't broken a system... yet. Or were you referring to some sort of constitutional weakness of digestion?

Pretty much every station shows up on the ASC. If you're really desperate to find Rock Hermits, there's an OXP that adds those to the compass as well. Salvage gangs are actually pretty easy to spot-- look for a really huge asteroid with a sort of luminous edge at a distance (the edge being an array of equipment/ships attached to the exterior). Hacker outposts do require a clue to find without a lot of fruitless hunting, but if you have the Anarchies OXP you'll figure it out sooner or later, and that's part of the fun.

Aside from that, I have to admit I'm not sure what you're asking about, in regards to 'delicate systems'?

[Takahashi_Yuuki]

Don't know if the stations actually orbit the planet's, are in a fixed position or a random position (the last would make any plotting very difficult).

This makes me wonder, is it even possible to make things orbit each other? Would make one hell of an OXP if so.

[Layne]

This makes me wonder, is it even possible to make things orbit each other? Would make one hell of an OXP if so.

One of the additional planet/moon oxps (Deep Horizons Systems, to be exact) gives a pretty nice /illusion/ of things orbiting by giving some spin to the moons. They're technically stationary but it's a lovely effect.

[Smivs]

Hi patndave, and welcome to the Board.
At least you were able to find us.......

[Vincentz]

Don't know if the stations actually orbit the planet's, are in a fixed position or a random position (the last would make any plotting very difficult).

This makes me wonder, is it even possible to make things orbit each other? Would make one hell of an OXP if so.

This.
Its the weakest point of Oolite imho.
You never really explore the solar systems. You just travel on a path from A to B. Witchpoint to Station/OXP Stations/Planets/Moons/Sun are always on a direct path (I guess for AIs?).

I tried to put some distances in, to make more deepspace flight, but problem is it requires lots of resources for the extra space and that AI pretty much uses a small highway, so getting a little bit off course meant no AI encounters at all.
In theory I think it would be possible to place planets in an orbit (based on the seed and time) and the stations/moons in orbit around planets (using same seed and time) so if you enter a station and gets new equipment, the time spend would make planets/moons have new position based on the (fake) orbit.

Also noticeable is that even though we only spend a few minutes in systemspace, so planets and moons would more or less not have moved in that time period, ISS actually orbits earth in 92 minutes.

Though all this said, I think this have already been discussed to death, and consensus is that Oolite is not a space sim (given distances/sizes, space "construction" and lack of Newtonian physics), but a space trader.

[spara]

Don't know if the stations actually orbit the planet's, are in a fixed position or a random position (the last would make any plotting very difficult).

This makes me wonder, is it even possible to make things orbit each other? Would make one hell of an OXP if so.

This.
Its the weakest point of Oolite imho.
You never really explore the solar systems. You just travel on a path from A to B. Witchpoint to Station/OXP Stations/Planets/Moons/Sun are always on a direct path (I guess for AIs?).

I tried to put some distances in, to make more deepspace flight, but problem is it requires lots of resources for the extra space and that AI pretty much uses a small highway, so getting a little bit off course meant no AI encounters at all.
In theory I think it would be possible to place planets in an orbit (based on the seed and time) and the stations/moons in orbit around planets (using same seed and time) so if you enter a station and gets new equipment, the time spend would make planets/moons have new position based on the (fake) orbit.

Also noticeable is that even though we only spend a few minutes in systemspace, so planets and moons would more or less not have moved in that time period, ISS actually orbits earth in 92 minutes.

Though all this said, I think this have already been discussed to death, and consensus is that Oolite is not a space sim (given distances/sizes, space "construction" and lack of Newtonian physics), but a space trader.

Orbits and orbiting are totally doable, but as said, have been discussed to death. These might be of interest though:

Orbits OXP: https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8216
Satellites OXP: https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13687
Re-scaling experiment: https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16159

[Norby]

Welcome patndave!

Don't know if the stations actually orbit the planet's, are in a fixed position or a random position

Stations where you can save must be stationary as documented in the deterministic setting.

Your current coordinates are shown in Developer releases when you press Shift+F but this is not commonly used to find a station. My help in addition to the compass is [wiki]Telescope[/wiki] which mark all non-hidden stations in the system with green lollipops at the edge of the scanner in green alert.

[Layne]

Don't know if the stations actually orbit the planet's, are in a fixed position or a random position (the last would make any plotting very difficult).

This makes me wonder, is it even possible to make things orbit each other? Would make one hell of an OXP if so.

This.
Its the weakest point of Oolite imho.
You never really explore the solar systems. You just travel on a path from A to B. Witchpoint to Station/OXP Stations/Planets/Moons/Sun are always on a direct path (I guess for AIs?).

Though all this said, I think this have already been discussed to death, and consensus is that Oolite is not a space sim (given distances/sizes, space "construction" and lack of Newtonian physics), but a space trader.

The game you're looking for is Frontier (on DosBox if need be) or any of its Windows-compatible reworkings (GLFrontier, GLFFE, JJFFE, etc.). At the risk of ruffling feathers it's got a lot that Elite/Oolite lacks. But of course, it's considered by most to be more space-sim oriented and not as 'fun'. (To a given definition of 'fun', I find it quite wonderful myself.) Unfortunately, there's been no attempt to recreate it on the same scale as Oolite does for Elite. Pioneer is the closest thing to an open-source remake and it's very much still in beta testing, and they decided to change all the ships/game universe for copyright concerns. Oolite also has all the hundreds of OXP's going for it, of course.

[Vincentz]

Just tried out Pioneer. Not a big fan of Newtonian physics (for takeoff etc its pretty cool, but dogfighting? nah).
To bad the best of the two worlds can't be combined, coz it does have a lot going for it.

[Layne]

Just tried out Pioneer. Not a big fan of Newtonian physics (for takeoff etc its pretty cool, but dogfighting? nah).
To bad the best of the two worlds can't be combined, coz it does have a lot going for it.

You do get used to it for dogfighting, it just takes some work. (Hint: turn off your engines and rely on manual thrusters only.) I totally agree that Pioneer isn't nearly as polished or usable as Oolite. The original Frontier can be run using DosBox or several other emulations. I can't play it much now because I've only got a laptop with a trackpad, and flying/fighting is /impossible/ in Frontier without at least a mouse. But the sheer scale of the game gives it a sense of wonder that Oolite can lack. Frontier is huge-- realistically huge, with vast distances even within planetary systems, and it feels that way. Oolite, by contrast, is very cinematic in scope-- everything is close at hand and there's not much sense of distance; it's rather like being in a space opera. Both games are wonderful in their own way, but the overall feeling each one has is utterly different.