Ship stops

Vronsky · Post by **Vronsky** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:48 am

I've just downloaded Oolite 1.65 to run on a WinXP SP2 laptop. After taking Witchspace to any planet, J for jump works so long as it is not mass locked, but even with thrust on full (and showing full speed on the display) the ship is stationary until J can be used again.

Uncle Reno · Post by **Uncle Reno** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:01 am

Hi Vronsky, welcome to the board.

Quick question, do you see any space dust moving towards you when moving under normal thrust?

If there is, then you are still moving forward, it just takes a long time getting anywhere under normal thrust, if not then it sounds like some technical problem that I can't answer but I'm sure someone will be able to.

Vronsky · Post by **Vronsky** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:24 am

No - no space dust. Looking out of the side windows, the stars are stationary.

Uncle Reno · Post by **Uncle Reno** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:48 am

Vronsky wrote:
No - no space dust. Looking out of the side windows, the stars are stationary.

Well, the stars themselves are always stationary, its the spacedust that wizzes past you when you use the jumpdrive and if there is no movement of that at all then this is beyond me - can anybody else suggest a solution?

TGHC · Post by **TGHC** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 10:17 am

This might sound daft, and balantantly obvious so apologies, as well as the J, W & S keys are faster and slower. if they work ok, then you should see space dust moving, you should also buy fuel injectors, well worth the money and will speed things up for you, if not try reinstalling.

Vronsky · Post by **Vronsky** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:15 am

W & S (and all other keys) appear to work - that is the speed bar increases/decreases. I think the problem is the failure to display space dust. I temporarily overcame this by switching to full-screen mode, but then the dust disappeared again so there was no indication of progress. The real problem seems to be that progress is so very slow under normal drive that without the space dust it is all but imperceptible - doesn't make for great gameplay. The absence of space dust is prbably a glitch from the graphic card. I'm a veteran of the original Elite, and probably unconsciously expect the same sort of performance. As Oolite stands, I'd estimate that about 80% of the player's time would be spent drifting uneventfully towards a planet. Is there a bar anywhere on the ship?

Also noticed (after a final sleepy arrival at Zaonce) that the space station doesn't show on radar.

Sorry if this conveys a negative impression - I welcome the idea of an XP replacement for Elite, and like the general appearance of Oolite.

TGHC · Post by **TGHC** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:01 pm

In the early days of Oolite gameplay was a bit slow, but 1.65 works just like the Elite of old, except it's so much prettier! Shift+F during flight will show your frame rate which is a good indicator.

If it doesn't seem to run properly, I would definitely do a reinstall then.

Running slow is not generally a problem so I guess it's your setup. The techies on this board who know about graphics cards and drivers may be able to help.

Rxke · Post by **Rxke** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:14 pm

if your game runs slow or you experience other visual oddities, it is best to pay a visit to your graphic card's supplier homesite and download and install the latest drivers, often this solves most problems

Dr. Nil · Post by **Dr. Nil** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:46 pm

Vronsky wrote:
The real problem seems to be that progress is so very slow under normal drive that without the space dust it is all but imperceptible - doesn't make for great gameplay.

I recently made an expansion to give players an alternative to trips between systems which usually don't have to take more than 2-3 minutes once a player is beyond being a complete novice.

Vronsky wrote:
The absence of space dust is prbably a glitch from the graphic card. I'm a veteran of the original Elite, and probably unconsciously expect the same sort of performance. As Oolite stands, I'd estimate that about 80% of the player's time would be spent drifting uneventfully towards a planet. Is there a bar anywhere on the ship?

Sounds very much like you've already found it to me

Elite used to take like 20 minutes to load from tape and as I recall it, you could rarely finish a trip in those 2-3 minutes it takes even an unskilled pilot with very little extra equipment in Oolite. Oolite outperforms Elite in every thinkable way. Try to dig out the old hardware and take a look.

Vronsky · Post by **Vronsky** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:43 am

I put a stopwatch to it. From exiting hyperspace in the vicinity of Zaonce to seeing the 'S' icon appear in the vicinity of the space station took 15 minutes and 40 seconds. I used full speed and the 'J' key whenever it was not mass locked. The frame rate is 49/50 FPS. Is this typical?

LittleBear · Post by **LittleBear** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:48 am

Yeah. It's just that you don't have Fuel Injectors fitted to your ship yet. Once you have the credits to buy these, the same run will take about 5 minutes. Keep trading or you could take a loan with the Bank of the Black Monks! (If you install this OXP).

The Station will show on the Radar, but your range is only 25km. So you can see the Station visually (cos it is big!) before it appears on the scanner.

As in Elite, you start out with a patheticley equipped ship. The difference is that there is so much more stuff to buy and see in Oolite and the NPC ships have the option to buy all the stuff you can.

TGHC · Post by **TGHC** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 11:36 am

The other way to speed up is to avoid the busy space corridors between the witchpoint beacon and planet. Once you have hyperspaced, fly off at a right angle away from the planet for about 20-30seconds, you should then be able to Torus Jump drive all the way to the planet without being masslocked. It's a good ruse in the early days of building up credits to then afford some Injectors etc.

Brianetta · Post by **Brianetta** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 12:04 pm

Leaving the corridors also makes anarchies much safer, assuming you're not ambushed at the witchpoint.

Captain Hesperus · Post by **Captain Hesperus** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 12:13 pm

Brianetta wrote:
Leaving the corridors also makes anarchies much safer, assuming you're not ambushed at the witchpoint.

Though with LB's sunskimmers.oxp there's still a chance to meet up with trouble....

Captain Hesperus
"There's nothing more distressing than losing your cargo just when you though you were home-free."

Dr. Nil · Post by **Dr. Nil** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 1:06 pm

Vronsky wrote:
I put a stopwatch to it.

Instead of minutes could you give the result in a unit defined by the time it takes you to click F.A.Q. on the front of the Oolite homepage, scan through the F.A.Q. to the point that explains how to travel faster, follow the link to this forum and read the second post in the thread you're taken to? I'm sure that this unit would be even shorter than a minute.
So instead of telling us how terrible this game is because it takes you 15 minutes to get to a planet you could tell us that it takes you 35 I-could-look-in-the-FAQ-or-search-the-forum-on-how-to-travel-faster-very-easilies and thus look really smart by presenting us with an even bigger number.