Documentation Included with First Versions of Oolite

[Cholmondely]

How do we go about backing up and preserving those notes? I had a sitecrawler program many yonks ago, around about that very same time, that could download any number of specified pages/"sub-url-addresses" from a website. Do such software still exist? Would something like that work on livejournal? Guess I'll have to do some research. I'd appreciate any participation and contributions from the floor as well.

As a first I'd try the Internet Archive and their Wayback machine at https://web.archive.org/web/*/oolite.org

So here you can see how oolite.org looked like end of 2008: https://web.archive.org/web/20081218034 ... olite.org/

Welcome back!

I would guess that a new OutputDir might be an idea - lots of new oxp's: IronAss vols 1-4, Wyverns new additions, Montana's steady stream, etc. Can we include any of the oxp's which are not oxz's?

[hiran]

Welcome back!

Thanks

I would guess that a new OutputDir might be an idea - lots of new oxp's: IronAss vols 1-4, Wyverns new additions, Montana's steady stream, etc. Can we include any of the oxp's which are not oxz's?

That index gets rebuilt automatically every month. Just download it from the releases page on Github:
https://github.com/HiranChaudhuri/Oolit ... r/releases

The indexer will cover everything that is distributed via the addons manager. I'd be surprised if OXPs were contained in that list, so someone would have to add that functionality.

[user2357]

Thank you, commanders!

Apologies for my spotty participation on my own thread. I can check in once a week on a sunday, but RL sometimes...

I have tried to capture https://oolite.livejournal.com/ by means of https://www.httrack.com/, but after about a week of more or less continuous downloading, and interruptions, and download sizes growing to more than 2GB, and then shrinking inexplicably down to less than 300MB again, and then growing again, and trying to adjust download settings more appropriately for greater efficiency, and retrying, and nothing but the oolite.livejournal landing page remaining accessible on my local HDD... I just gave up. Maybe, someday, I'll copy it all down on paper, by hand.

Going to follow up on the other leads you so kindly supplied here above.

Thanks, again.

Sincerely
user <o

[user2357]

FYI

Following some leads, I discovered, in Commander KZ9999's signature (last active 27 sep 2009) on these here Oolite bulletin boards a reference to https://github.com/OoliteProject/oolite ... liteRS.pdf, which, on the second last page, in the bottom right-hand corner, indicates 'Inspired by the OoliteRS by Darkbee / another_commander / Commander McLane'.

Now, to track down them other commanders as well. ...or perhaps rather find a possible bulletin-board thread where the original OoliteRS might have been discussed.

[Cody]

... find a possible bulletin-board thread where the original OoliteRS might have been discussed.

That discussion may well have been lost in the  Great Deletion.

[user2357]

... find a possible bulletin-board thread where the original OoliteRS might have been discussed.

That discussion may well have been lost in the  Great Deletion.

Possibly. That would be sad.

However, searching "OoliteRS" on these boards, the earliest reference I could find was on viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1617&hilit=ooliters&start=15, 29 Mar 2006, Commander TGHC's post, in reply to Commander Frantic's post regarding http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Oolite ... d_Controls, which led me click the "history" tab at the top of that wiki page, and discover https://wiki.alioth.net/index.php?title ... oldid=2566, the earliest version of "Oolite Keyboard Controls".

I find the rest of that thread on "Berlios Downloads PC-Oolite" also rather interesting.

[Old Murgh]

I have tried to capture https://oolite.livejournal.com/ by means of https://www.httrack.com/, but after about a week of more or less continuous downloading, and interruptions, and download sizes growing to more than 2GB, and then shrinking inexplicably down to less than 300MB again, and then growing again, and trying to adjust download settings more appropriately for greater efficiency, and retrying, and nothing but the oolite.livejournal landing page remaining accessible on my local HDD... I just gave up. Maybe, someday, I'll copy it all down on paper, by hand.

That's too bad that no ingenious automated transcribing method presented itself. Since it's almost all just text on a calendar and very few of the media links have any of their original stuffing left, I can't see it becoming more than a light file. I might test myself and see if copypasting it to the wiki is too taxing..

Now, to track down them other commanders as well. ...or perhaps rather find a possible bulletin-board thread where the original OoliteRS might have been discussed.

I did try to send an email to an old Darkbee address, but sadly, it bounced

[Old Murgh]

I have tried to capture https://oolite.livejournal.com/ by means of https://www.httrack.com/, but after about a week of more or less continuous downloading, and interruptions, and download sizes growing to more than 2GB, and then shrinking inexplicably down to less than 300MB again, and then growing again, and trying to adjust download settings more appropriately for greater efficiency, and retrying, and nothing but the oolite.livejournal landing page remaining accessible on my local HDD... I just gave up. Maybe, someday, I'll copy it all down on paper, by hand.

I did it, it wasn't too troublesome. The livejournal developer's journal is now backed up on  Aegidian devlog.

[user2357]

I did it, it wasn't too troublesome. The livejournal developer's journal is now backed up on  Aegidian devlog.

Thank you, Commander Murgh! <o Great job!

I just discovered it yesterday myself, and being able to scroll through it smoothly, makes reading just that little bit easier. I also appreciate the appendices, in particular the todolist.

"It's that little bit 'extra'
that makes the ordinary
*extra*-ordinary!"

Thanks again.

Sincerely
user

[Old Murgh]

Thank you, Commander Murgh! <o Great job!

I just discovered it yesterday myself, and being able to scroll through it smoothly, makes reading just that little bit easier. I also appreciate the appendices, in particular the todolist.

"It's that little bit 'extra'
that makes the ordinary
*extra*-ordinary!"

Thanks again.

Sincerely
user

Gosh. Thank you for the appreciation (and prompting the process to get the transcription started with).

It was mostly an enjoyable little project, sniffing out what possibly might be hidden in the wayback archives, and a bit frustrating to have to accept all the things that weren’t stored in the wayback archives. A shame about quite a few images that it would have been nice to affix for posterity. I think I’m out of tricks to find more of them. Wayback has still some old screenshots from the mainsite and some of those may have been used in the log, but it now seems difficult to match them to the original context, so this aspect now seems lost.

But the original todolist was a pleasant reveal. When I remembered it, I hoped hard it had been archived. It’s a neat representation of GIles’ accomplishment and ambitions.

[Old Murgh]

"...articulate and adept at choosing his words..." The eager newcomer repeats the salient part of Old Murgh's statement.

"I can't think of specific examples off-hand now," he continues opposite the table, "It's been a while, but I vaguely recall that, while reading through Aegidian's DevLog, a similar thought also occurred to me at least a few times: 'This guy uses his words carefully... There's more meaning here than what a simple devlog might usually convey.'

"I imagine now that sometimes it might have been playful, and, other times, rather born of frustration and exhaustion. Even in merely recording and reporting his progress, he was communicating on a deeper personal level with the followers of the project, revealing little bits of his soul to anyone who paid attention.

"It was clear that he cared greatly for the quality of this fan labour, and for the people coming along for the ride. He wasn't just churning out some code; he was pouring out some of the most precious parts of his being in the hopes of reaching as many participants -- as opposed to mere spectators -- as possible.

"That's probably why he kept the DevLog in the first place: to draw in as many participants as possible, showing them what the experience of his creative process is truly like. ...art, at the deepest level, if I've ever seen any... -- not just in creating a masterpiece, but more so even in creating an shared, communal experience... performance art even!

"That's my take, at least, coming along afterwards, and picking up some of the still-rich left-overs so many years later. I definitely will re-read the DevLog again. ... Can I buy you another one?"

Picking this up here where it began:
It feels like I’ve mostly scraped down what I can manage to find that is left of the oldest sources. From what was preserved by Wayback and Giles’ bundle of oldest files, this seems like pretty much what there is left. It’s a bit melancholic to get that certain sense of what is permanently lost in time.

My memory is about as close to jogged as it can get, and I don’t think I have much more for the added ‘outside perspective layer’ of the Devlog. Of course it’s possible to keep squeezing in stuff, but there is probably a «too much» line and I lose sense of when I’ve crossed it. Hopefully it’s a light mix of some different aspects that are appropriate coming from an outside voice rathen than the first person.

Another computer literate brain could surely add a dimension and make the complex coding story come alive and more accessible, but all have is the view of a layperson who was around most of the time. Hopefully the fun of it comes across.

[user2357]

Thanks, Murgh.

I agree... even only arriving this late to the party, it certainly is a bit melancholic for me too even just trying to imagine what has been lost... never mind imagining the heady euphoric fun of that moment in time... It must have been similar to the Elite: Dangerous kickstarter even before Kickstarter itself was a thing. (...although, in my opinion, Oolite turned out much better than E:D ever could hope to...)

Thank you, Murgh, again, for preserving the Devlog in the wiki, and your layperson view from the outside; those side notes certainly do add a first extra dimension. Here's to hoping someone else from the original crowd might be inspired and motivated by your invaluable contribution to add some of their own perspectives as well to the richness that is already there, and perhaps even revealing some deeper insight into the complex coding story.

I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again: even just researching Oolite's history for the past decade and a half (I haven't really started playing yet) has changed my life for the better; it keeps me sane. This might sound overly melodramatic, but this hobby is my anchor. I cannot imagine my life without these daily Oolite dopamine hits. I am unashamedly addicted (and like all addicts everywhere... "I can stop whenever I want to"). Therefore, I salute all participants in this wonderfully-ongoing community project with the deepest appreciation: you guys contribute to the joy of my life in ways you cannot begin imagine, and ways which I will never be able to express in their completeness.

thanks

...is such small word.

To Aegidian! ...and to Murgh! ...and all Ooliters! Barkeep, let's have another round, on me, for everyone!

[Old Murgh]

Yes, absolutely, to all the Ooliteers!

.. It must have been similar to the Elite: Dangerous kickstarter even before Kickstarter itself was a thing. (...although, in my opinion, Oolite turned out much better than E:D ever could hope to...)

Heh, that reminds me, that was even a source of some humour back in 06.

Cruelly we predicted they would still be waiting in 3134

.. has changed my life for the better; it keeps me sane..

That's a lovely thing. I can certainly relate to the feeling that Oolite is a water-bearer of the soul of Elite, something I haven't managed to see that EV is -or tries to be. That uniqueness is special, which Giles certainly understood and took great care to preserve. Thankfully enough sources remain so that should be easy to see.

In a way, the limited sources might make it a little easier to get a grasp of the timeline. The years after I left seem chaotic to me, even with all the BBthreads intact, it all explodes in different directions.

It would be cool and helpful to read something like a clear narrative of the years since, which I still only have a superficial grasp of (even though Cholmondely leaves a lot of good summaries spread around). The ongoing story under caretakers Jens Ahruman and Cim, the evolution of the modelling of Ramon and Griff, the so many emerging coding heavyweights -from what I read Svengali strikes me as a mad genius.. A lot of people that I would have liked to have stuck around to interact with.

And then there are folks who arrived just after I left who are still around. Soon, two decades some of them, that's pretty unique too.

That would be great, to see, the blow-by-blow account of the continuation, unfolded and mapped out in detail. One mustn't wait until it's too late.

[user2357]

It would be cool and helpful to read something like a clear narrative of the years since, which I still only have a superficial grasp of (even though Cholmondely leaves a lot of good summaries spread around). The ongoing story under caretakers Jens Ahruman and Cim, the evolution of the modelling of Ramon and Griff, the so many emerging coding heavyweights -from what I read Svengali strikes me as a mad genius.. A lot of people that I would have liked to have stuck around to interact with.

And then there are folks who arrived just after I left who are still around. Soon, two decades some of them, that's pretty unique too.

That would be great, to see, the blow-by-blow account of the continuation, unfolded and mapped out in detail. One mustn't wait until it's too late.

I nominate Cholmondely! Although he might have some RL to deal with at the moment, I get the impression that he is busy working his way through all the chaos, gradually pulling all the threads together, in order to present things ultimately in a more organised manner. I think it cannot be overstated how big this task actually is, for which I have the greatest respect, and it will probably take a good many years to sort through everything. All good vibes and positive energies to Cholmondely!

(Myself... I'm just trying to get a handle on the foundations still: BBC Elite, the Firebird Elites, Elite Plus, ArcElite, NES Elite, Elite-A, E:TNK, the Oolite Devlog, and Elite-B.)

[Old Murgh]

Yes absolutely. For such a big job one can only nominate oneself. But just putting it out there that it is a worthwhile and noble project.

(Myself... I'm just trying to get a handle on the foundations still: BBC Elite, the Firebird Elites, Elite Plus, ArcElite, NES Elite, Elite-A, E:TNK, the Oolite Devlog, and Elite-B.)

A few there I have no handle of.
For a recent impression of ArcElite I can recommend Drew Wagar's youtube miniseries, if you haven't seen it.

His desire to complete the final "Zartid" mission grows obsessive in the final episode and the game still keeps slaughtering him, making him even more possessed. I'll say the end is laugh out loud funny, which is a little unusual for a genX gaming stream