Best expansion packs - just my two cents

[RGVV]

Good day,

I’ve seen the question in the FAQ: “What are the best expansion packs?” and the answer is of course that that will differ for each player and the goal of their game.

However, just my two cents, after playing Oolite for a week or so now, I think these expansion packs are really invaluable. They make the game or GUI significantly better:

Ambience, “Distant Suns”. No monstrous white sun no more. What a relief.

Ambience, “Docking Fees”. This expansion pack makes the game a little harder, especially in the beginning, but I think to charge visitors for coming to a station is fair and the welcoming story after docking is always funny enough.

Equipment, “Cargo Spotter”. Without this expansion pack it’s extremely hard to scoop drifting space cargo as this cargo, especially under specific lighting conditions, can hardly be seen. An invaluable add-on.

Equipment, “Weapon Laws”. This add-on makes the game a little harder, as specific “bad” equipment can only be bought from “bad” systems. A honest solution I think.

Mechanics, “Start Choices”. Just to experience how it feels to trade with nothing more than a bare Adder. I like that a lot.

Miscellaneous, “Equipment Remove Color”. Helps to avoid to remove your Military Shield Enhancement by accident by giving the remove options in the <F3> screen a red instead of a yellow color. Phew.

Systems, “Market Observer”. Replaces the <F8> screen with a screen where, among other data, the average price and the purchase price can be seen. Whether or not you’re going to make a profit can rather easily be determined at your station of departure.

A huge “Thank you!” from me to the makers - your efforts are much appreciated.

Cheers,

Robert.

[Cholmondely]

Good day,

I’ve seen the question in the FAQ: “What are the best expansion packs?” and the answer is of course that that will differ for each player and the goal of their game.

However, just my two cents, after playing Oolite for a week or so now, I think these expansion packs are really invaluable. They make the game or GUI significantly better:

Ambience, “Distant Suns”. No monstrous white sun no more. What a relief.

Ambience, “Docking Fees”. This expansion pack makes the game a little harder, especially in the beginning, but I think to charge visitors for coming to a station is fair and the welcoming story after docking is always funny enough.

Equipment, “Cargo Spotter”. Without this expansion pack it’s extremely hard to scoop drifting space cargo as this cargo, especially under specific lighting conditions, can hardly be seen. An invaluable add-on.

Equipment, “Weapon Laws”. This add-on makes the game a little harder, as specific “bad” equipment can only be bought from “bad” systems. A honest solution I think.

Mechanics, “Start Choices”. Just to experience how it feels to trade with nothing more than a bare Adder. I like that a lot.

Miscellaneous, “Equipment Remove Color”. Helps to avoid to remove your Military Shield Enhancement by accident by giving the remove options in the <F3> screen a red instead of a yellow color. Phew.

Systems, “Market Observer”. Replaces the <F8> screen with a screen where, among other data, the average price and the purchase price can be seen. Whether or not you’re going to make a profit can rather easily be determined at your station of departure.

A huge “Thank you!” from me to the makers - your efforts are much appreciated.

Cheers,

Robert.

Just to ask: how many of the expansion packs have you tried out? For example, did you try Headlights as well as Cargo Spotter? Or Distant Stars as well as Distant Suns?

And ... are these oxps much different from what you used when you were using the Power PC? (How long ago was that? The last Power PC came out in 2006, when Aegidian stepped down!)

[RGVV]

I don't know how many expansion packs I've tried out. I've read the descriptions on the website and in the Oolite wiki over and over again and eventually decided which could suit me. I haven't tried out "Head Lights" and "Distant Stars".

I liked the "New Cargoes" expansion pack a great lot, however, I was in an Adder (from the expansion pack "Start Choices"), and I discovered that a couple of times the total tonnage of the cargo bay was faulty. After installing the expansion pack the cargo bay increased from 5 tons to 8 tons capacity. After a couple of launches the size decreased from 8 tons to 5 tons again (with an inevitable loss of cargo). Later, when trading and launching and traveling some more, the capacity increased from 5 tons to 7 tons again. I think this is a bug so I de-installed it. Really a shame because I think "New Cargoes" is the best cargo expansion pack there is - it makes trade much more difficult but also more interesting.

On the Power PC, at that time I wasn't really aware of the existence of expansion packs, because there was no expansion pack manager yet and I didn't bother back then.

[Cody]

<whispers  random ship names>

[Cmd. Cheyd]

Shameless plug for ambience/equipment:
http://deephorizonindustries.com/Advanc ... puter.html

[Cholmondely]

Shameless plug for ambience/equipment:
http://deephorizonindustries.com/Advanc ... puter.html

Trying to work out your .oxps:

* Deep Horizon - Systems v2.0.8 (Beta)- Updated 3/2/2011
* Deep Horizon - Light Down v1.1- Updated 3/2/2011

Does Systems work or has it been clobbered by the newer variants?

Does it map all of Galaxy One or just provide planet textures randomly? Is it finished?

Does it allow Lave.oxp/Riredi.oxp/Diso.oxp & Tianve.oxp to do their things, or does it nip them in the bud?
______________________________________________________

Which other OXPs does Light Down conflict with?
______________________________________________________

Thanks - Cholmondeley

(see Guide to Ambience OXPs on the wiki).

[Astrobe]

A bit tangential, but there's a streamer named "opensource_gaming" on Twitch ( https://www.twitch.tv/opensource_gaming ) who plays and shows, well, open source games. He does not have a large number of viewers usually, but it is one way to promote Oolite.

But I think (didn't launched a vanilla Oolite recently) that bare-bones Oolite can be a bit disappointing (well, open source fans know that they can't expect AAA games, although a few FOSS games, including Oolite, went a long way), so if we wanted him to try Oolite, what would be the least effort and maximum effect minimal expansion packs set ? Let's say 5 max (cause 5 fingers..). From memory I would say:

- BGS (ambiance)
- Dangerous HUD (because this one has the best "wow" effect as far as I recall - and seeing some sort of cockpit in a ship is generally expected)
- Norby's engine sound (that the sound of your engine varies according to power is generally expected)
- Blackmonks (because of the nice looking extra station, ships, and general great humor)
- perhaps multiple lasers or some advantageous piece of equipment.

Of course, there are tons of other good ones (commies, YAH and constores, ...), but the idea is to give something to have fun with for a couple of hours, and perhaps make things a bit easier (because the guy shares his attention between the game and the chat during streaming).

[Redspear]

Tangentializing further...

Might it be nice if Your Ad Here included more advertisments for other oxps?

Even if it were only at the witchpoint buoy (and the solitary installed oxp) then you would have in-game advertisements/hints to other oxps: you'd learn about them as you play; becoming increasingly aware of the range and depth of what awaits via the download manager.

Of course some oxps might lend themselves to this approach better than others but then it's not a competition. Just a catchprase and a short blurb, it wouldn't even need a picture and (crucially) would remain merely background 'fluff' until the player acted upon (installed) it.

[Cholmondely]

Good day,

I’ve seen the question in the FAQ: “What are the best expansion packs?” and the answer is of course that that will differ for each player and the goal of their game.

However, just my two cents, after playing Oolite for a week or so now, I think these expansion packs are really invaluable. They make the game or GUI significantly better:

Ambience, “Distant Suns”. No monstrous white sun no more. What a relief.

Ambience, “Docking Fees”. This expansion pack makes the game a little harder, especially in the beginning, but I think to charge visitors for coming to a station is fair and the welcoming story after docking is always funny enough.

Equipment, “Cargo Spotter”. Without this expansion pack it’s extremely hard to scoop drifting space cargo as this cargo, especially under specific lighting conditions, can hardly be seen. An invaluable add-on.

Equipment, “Weapon Laws”. This add-on makes the game a little harder, as specific “bad” equipment can only be bought from “bad” systems. A honest solution I think.

Mechanics, “Start Choices”. Just to experience how it feels to trade with nothing more than a bare Adder. I like that a lot.

Miscellaneous, “Equipment Remove Color”. Helps to avoid to remove your Military Shield Enhancement by accident by giving the remove options in the <F3> screen a red instead of a yellow color. Phew.

Systems, “Market Observer”. Replaces the <F8> screen with a screen where, among other data, the average price and the purchase price can be seen. Whether or not you’re going to make a profit can rather easily be determined at your station of departure.

A huge “Thank you!” from me to the makers - your efforts are much appreciated.

Cheers,

Robert.

Robert, you have had a few more months ... have your views changed at all?

Personally, I prefer the Strangers World suite (all movement uses fuel), distant sun effects, real orbits & solar systems, more realistic economics etc. More realistic everything, really (except for the ship-station-planet scale ratios). Not yet tried adder start, docking fees or cargo spotter (my game play is too poor, the Elite Manual says that fees & taxes are covered in F8 market prices, and I use Headlights &/or the "z" button). Otherwise I agree with your choice.

[Killer Wolf]

i've just tried Start Choices for a bit "fun". it was until i played it anyway. i go out, do and interminably slow crawl out to some asteroids to get some bounty, and EVERY TIME a group of 4 ships turn up, threaten to kill me unless i drop cargo - duh, really - then destroy me.
EVERY time. whether i go to the hermit area or any other asteroid field.
are they programmed into the oxp, cos i've been around that route in my normal games and never come across them.

[Cody]

You might like  Home System, KW.

[Killer Wolf]

Having put a few hours into this game after finally twigging a way to get off the starting blocks and avoid that gang of pirates, i have to say that it kinda highlight a fair imbalance in game ships for a trader lifestyle.
you start in an Adder, 2 CT, crap speed. get a cargo bay extension and you can get to 5 CT. the next step up - so i thought - was a Cobra Mk I. Worked my ar$e off, got one. and...it's crap. "adder w/ 2 energy banks" is about right, and i don't think it should be. the speed is barely better, you can't fit a cargo extension {WTH?!?!] and it's 100k. but...that's it for traders, unless you want to wait another 25K-ish and get the Mk III. Seems to me there's a big step-up gap for traders. the Mamba has a tiny bit more cargo, the gecko has nothing. and what is the diff between the Mamba and Mamba Escort? The specs appear exactly the same, having not trawled the plist?

[Old Murgh]

Having put a few hours into this game after finally twigging a way to get off the starting blocks and avoid that gang of pirates, i have to say that it kinda highlight a fair imbalance in game ships for a trader lifestyle.
you start in an Adder, 2 CT, crap speed. get a cargo bay extension and you can get to 5 CT. the next step up - so i thought - was a Cobra Mk I. Worked my ar$e off, got one. and...it's crap. "adder w/ 2 energy banks" is about right, and i don't think it should be. the speed is barely better, you can't fit a cargo extension {WTH?!?!] and it's 100k. but...that's it for traders, unless you want to wait another 25K-ish and get the Mk III. Seems to me there's a big step-up gap for traders. the Mamba has a tiny bit more cargo, the gecko has nothing. and what is the diff between the Mamba and Mamba Escort? The specs appear exactly the same, having not trawled the plist?

The Aegidian OXP Cobra MkII and Moray Medical Boat should fit in that space between Cobras 1&3, small steps up in cargo space and price.
You mention several non-hyperjump ships, are we running Illicit Unlock? Is it worth the hassle of piggybacking wormholes?

Not knowing, but I'd guess the difference between Mamba and escort version is for practical role and AI reasons behind the scenes, and no in-world difference.

A modest cargobay expansion possibility for the Cobra1 doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

[Killer Wolf]

i have illicit unlock but haven't bought anything from it, maybe in another game. i was debating mining for a bit but the Transporter only goes 0.1LM, which is ridiculous for me as i have limited time - crawling the lanes in an Adder is bad enough, even injectors barely make it tolerable.
The Morays have decent cargo but silly prices, way out of reach as a step-up from an Adder.
if there's a separate plist for them though, it doesn't make sense NOT to make them differ - say, the Escort model would have no cargo space, as they've used the space for mechanics to improve speed and energy or maybe an extra missile.

[Old Murgh]

i have illicit unlock but haven't bought anything from it, maybe in another game. i was debating mining for a bit but the Transporter only goes 0.1LM, which is ridiculous for me as i have limited time - crawling the lanes in an Adder is bad enough, even injectors barely make it tolerable.
The Morays have decent cargo but silly prices, way out of reach as a step-up from an Adder.
if there's a separate plist for them though, it doesn't make sense NOT to make them differ - say, the Escort model would have no cargo space, as they've used the space for mechanics to improve speed and energy or maybe an extra missile.

Yes, you're right, the MedMoray is only 5k less than Cobra3, the regular Moray has only 7TC. That just leaves the Cobra2, but at 115₢, not very close to Adder price range. Maybe you have a calling to create a somewhat but not quite as subpar ship as the Adder?

Seems the Mamba Escort is a like_ship of Mamba with same AI but different roles, texturefiles and a beam instead of pulse laser. It could have different stats than the regular. Maybe you are tempted to tweak it according to your world view?