I'm new to Oolite

[erickcosta]

greetings, commanders. first I apologize for my english. I'm using google translator. I'm new to Oolite, but well advanced after two weeks of playing. My question is: why should I explore the galaxy if I can just settle in for a milk run? Why should I sell anything other than furs and computers? why change the Cobra III if this equipped is a wonderful ship?

[Milo]

Welcome!

Why explore? To experience everything the galaxies have to offer, to gain access to different equipment (tech level), or to find missions that are location-specific.

Why change ships? If you are doing only milk runs, more cargo capacity would increase your profits. The Cobra is a compromise between trading capacity and combat ability. Different ships are better for different play styles (trader, escort, bounty hunter, asteroid miner, salvager [with Towbar OXP or Deep Space Dredgers OXP], passenger taxi, or even pirate). There is no single best-for-everything ship, and a bigger ship is usually slower and easier to hit.

If your only goal is to increase your credits, the highest-paying contracts are long-distance cargo and parcel deliveries. Parcel contracts take no cargo space, so you can supplement your income by trading along the way.

Why sell anything other than furs or computers? In the base game, not much reason (other than contracts). Some OXPs adjust the economics a bit, so trading other commodities can be more rewarding.

If you use OXPs, you will find even more reasons to explore or change ships, as they make the various systems even more diverse, add more missions, add more ships, add more options for play-style, etc.

[phkb]

Welcome aboard, commander!

Milk runs are only designed to increase credits as quickly as possible. Yes, it works, and there are a few of them scattered around. But after the 20th run into the same station, it quickly becomes less like a game, and more like work.

I'd certainly suggest taking on some parcel and passenger contracts. The added threat of assassins waiting for you at the witchpoint, of having to plot your course across the chart to try and maximise speed while minimising the number of high-risk choke points, adds a lot of challenge.

Plus, all commanders should do the "8" - it's hard to get any respect at the various watering holes if you haven't been around the loop at least once!

[evilblade]

Plus, all commanders should do the "8" - it's hard to get any respect at the various watering holes if you haven't been around the loop at least once!

Sorry to jump on.. but I'm also new here and I'm wondering what this "8" loop is?

[Milo]

There are 8 galactic sectors, which can be reached sequentially using a Galactic Hyperdrive. From the 8th, another jump takes you back to the first.

[Cody]

The fourth octant is a bit strange, the fifth is excellent, the seventh is the best.

[stranger]

You can also try to start game using custom scenario, if you have Start Choices OXP installed. Starting in Cobra Mk I is my favorite game twist. You 'll really deserve sweet Cobra Mk III having combat and trade experience accumulated in modest starting ship!

[Cholmondely]

Just as a matter of interest, what did you end up doing?

Did you persevere with the milk-runs? Did you restart with a new ship and a different set of expansions? Did you embark on some missions? Or begin exploring? Or commence a manic expansion modification spree? Or merely wander off into the wilderness with another game instead?

[stranger]

Honestly, I have two conflicting motivations: exploring and survival.
Apart from gaining battle experience and associated Elite rating there is no any main quest in Ooniversum. Cross-chart traveling was my favorite task since original Elite. Now I have Explorer’s Club + Here be Dragons, so I really have possibility to chart unexplored vast Ooniversum! You need some milk runs to prepare for such long travel, of course.
On the other side, there is no any difficulty settings in vanilla Oolite, so you can set your personal Ooniversum using OXPs. There is no any learning curve from simple missions to more challenging in this open world, so starting in poor equipped ship is most challenging part of game. But this is fun part of game too. Accumulating some game experience you’ll decide: well, let’s start again and survive using more strict rules. So you just abandon previous exploration progress.
Being on dark side you need some time to develop and test new ideas. To create something really working is a funny and challenging part of game experience too, but you have less time just to play. So try to avoid dark side if possible

[Cholmondely]

Thank you for replying!

Actually I'm trying to tempt Erick Costa back onto the boards!
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I'd toyed with including "Here Be Dragons" in my personal cocktail of OXPs.

At the moment, it's quite irrelevant - my combat skills are so utterly feeble that I am regularly defeated by cargo pods. I gaze at the youtube videos (such as Konstantinos Sykas's posting of Another Commander's feats of derring do in Aug 6 2018) with wonder and amazement and without any expectation that I can even begin to understand what he's up to!

I presume that in another 6 months - if I evade Alzheimers and trumbles - that I might transcend my "utterly pathetic" combat rating, but I'm nowhere near that yet.

But, by the time I do do that, won't I have made "Here Be Dragons" a bit pointless for my corner of the Ooniverse? Will it really add anything much other than a little confusion?

_____________________________________________________

As a matter of interest, (1) how long have you actually been (r)ooliting for - and how did you rediscover the game? And, further (2) in the two years since you joined this board, how have you maintained your interest? What were you doing in-game before you decided to download your dragons - and how long did that aspect of the game engage your interest?

_____________________________________________________

By the way, I've found your roolite site most impressive. While I can only manage to decipher some of the greek characters in Cyrillic, you have obviously worked very hard on making the game accessible to others. I've been trying to learn Italian so I gave the Italian expansion a bash - it did little other than knocking some of my cocktail of expansions out of the game! You've managed so much more!

[stranger]

Thank you for discussion and excuse me for my poor English!

Here be Dragons for me is charting and exploration of unknown world - this part of game experience is lacking in vanilla Oolite with already known info for all systems. I think it is not dramatic game changer for green Jameson. Starting game you have all crucial info for systems in 7 LY proximity, so selection of systems for milk runs such Leesti - Diso is not problem and all must-have upgrades available on Leesti and Zaonce. There are some most advanced upgrades lacking in Zaonce but with available upgrades you'll be well prepared to explore beyond Old Worlds and find most advanced TL systems.

Classic Elite on Spectrum was fantastic game experience. My attempts to find game like original Elite were unsuccessful and disappointing - before I find Oolite in 2011! Joined Russian Oolite community in the same 2011, starting to develop OXPs in 2012.

Just for clarity, roolite site was created and maintained by seventh. I'm just active member of Roolite community.

You can notify my prime motivations in Ooniversum:
More real astronomy
More challenging game rules

[Cholmondely]

I can assure you, your English is a darn sight better than my Russian!

How did you stumble across Oolite? And how has your playing evolved over the past couple of years? Which aspects of the game did you enjoy then - what did you drift into - and what do you enjoy now?

And what is it like flying gliders in Vladivostock? It's a bit on the chilly side, surely?

[stranger]

Well, I don't remember exactly how I find Oolite. Initially it was just old good Elite for me, but since discovering power of dark side it was part of fun to create Ooniverse, not just explore it.
I have reputation of survival expert in Russian community Reaching Competent or even Dangerous rating several times, abandon and starting again to test new possibilities and to improve skills. So pinned in Sector One yet. Honestly, my present reincarnation - rating Almost Harmless on Cobra Mk I. Just starting journey after milk runs.

Yes, we have chilly summer in Vladivostok (late summer and early autumn is very pleasant!), but Russian Far East is a mountainous region and it is more sunny weather if you have mountains blocking sea air mass.
There are ex-military airfields in Russian Far East such as Novorossia. It is situated approx 100 km from Vladivostok and has very different weather. Now it is base for amateur pilots (mostly powered airplanes similar to Cessna).
Sometimes we have very funny winter days. Winter is cold and usually windy but sunny and dark spots on terrain generates strong thermal currents. You can use it on calm weather.

Alas, I was forced to leave Vladivostok due to private reasons and living in Khabarovsk now, but hoping to return.

[Cholmondely]

So which of the other expansions do you tend to favour?

And which varieties have been translated for Roolite? Is it mostly the different varieties of ships, or the various modifications of the 'game mechanics', or the Dockables, or the HUDs or the various different weapons or the Ambiances or the various Communists/Feudalists/Anarchists?

And of the ones translated, which get downloaded the most? Do you have any feel for this?

(By the way, have you come across the Polish chap's VimanaHUD? What did you think of it?)

On another topic, do you think there is much difference in the styles of play in Russia versus the styles of play over on this side of our planet? Do you all end up ferrying passengers from A to B rather than go for careers as pirates, or what?



The pater was swanning around western Siberia a couple of decades ago. He said that that area - and Moscow & St Petersburg - were full of high rise buildings where the lifts never worked. He would be visiting various important people who lived on the 8th floor and had to walk up the stairs all the time!

Is this true out east as well? I sneaked a peek at the Wikipedia entries on both of your cities - they both looked very impressive - and very built-up.

Hope you are keeping well and surviving the Siberian lockdown!

C

[stranger]

Well, let’s try to answer.
Part by part, OK? There are at least three questions: my personal OXP preferences, Roolite community, life in Russia. All three needs to be considered carefully.

I’ll begin from my personal preferences.

I don’t interested in additional ships per se. Never understand idea of uberships like Supercobra. It has too high energy rates, making regular combat unbalanced. Good ship for special missions maybe, but to refine battle skill using more honest ship is more interesting way for me.
But I like OXPs with extra challenge like Random Hits. So if Random Hits implements plenty of extra ships with impressive parameters – let’s be Random Hits Shipset also!

I don’t interested in custom skins. With Griff textures integrated onto core game vanilla ships seems pretty cool. No pressing need to customize it.

Extra dockables – if it has unique interesting role and provides interesting additional market or activity - yes. Just for variety – no. To ease game – absolutely no. So Salvage Gang or Seedy Bar is nice, Constores and other service in witchpoint proximity – not for me.

Usually I don’t interested in additional equipment. There are must-have exceptions of course like extra Galactic Drive Pod, additional fuel tanks and Planetary Compass. Extra equipment such Telescope of Fast Target Selector seems quite logical trend in space combat, but it makes game too easy. Personally I prefer to navigate, pilot, select targets and combat manually without auto helpers. It gives me ways to maintain skill of situational awareness. Some equipment like Auto-ECM or Shields Equalizer sometimes behaves in combat in unwanted ways. And some equipment just seems too magical. How can you scan cargo of another ship or know it shields condition before opening fire?
Again, Breaking Equipment is welcomed addition to my personal Ooniverse. It adds more realistic rules of engagement.

I don’t interested in additional weapons. It looks sweet but I don’t need it to improve my game experience. Having experience in modern jet flight sims you have only one cannon and two types of missiles to win air-to-air combat. It’s quite sufficient.

Custom HUDs. IMHO most custom HUDs prefers originality and candy sweet visual appearance over clarity. I was deeply impressed by visual clarity and ergonomic layout of old CB HUD. It was cancelled, so I upgraded it to my own SW HUD based on CB HUD layout.

Ship customization is a complex question. Equipment bay of limited capacity is a nice idea – unlimited equipment bay in vanilla game creates hole in game mechanics. Ship Configuration is nice OXP but I don’t us it – it is too game changing for me. I need only equipment bay of limited capacity, not wide range of custom equipment. So I’m using my own OXP borrowing some elements from phkb’s code. Not presented yet. Me think to declare equipment volume as optional parameter in equipment plist and equipment bay volume capacity as optional parameter in shipdata.plist will be nice addition to future game release.

Missions and additional activities are cool additions to vanilla game, but usually I prefer to explore Ooniverse on my own way, so I never take time-pressing contracts. Explorer’s Club + Here be Dragons is ideal set for my gamestyle.

Systems - actually all system-specific OXPs such as Anarchies, Commies, Dictators, Feudal States, Galactic Navy are in my must-have list, some with my readjustments. Unfortunately, individual system overhauls like TOGY or old Lave, Diso and Tianve are rare and mostly obsolete.

So we have two remaining categories – Ambience and Game Mechanics.

Ambience is maybe most subjective issue. You can prefer Hollywood-like space opera sky with fluorescent nebulae or more realistic dark space. Focusing mainly on ambience I prefer my our solutions like Sun Gear and Planetary Systems over existing ones.

Game mechanics is most complex part of game. I like OXPs, adding challenge and preventing exploits of holes in vanilla game mechanics, such as Skilled NPCs, Deep Space Pirates and my own Hard Way. Custom Shields is nice OXP too (formally it is in Ambience category, but really it is cool addition to battle mechanics). There are some interesting but unbalanced OXPs in this category, so you need select OXPs for your personal list carefully. And you may attempt to create you own solutions. Lacking coding skills for complex solutions I prefer to focus on technically simple game-changing OXPs such as Energy Rebalance.

There are too many interesting OXPs to be mentioned in brief post! So sorry for such biased selection.

I plan to continue later (next week maybe), stay tuned