Introduce Yourself.

[iamthelowercase]

Well, I got an intimidatingly comprehensive welcome message from @Cholmondely, so I guess I had better introduce myself....

Hello, I'm case, or "thelowercase" or "@iamthelowercase" if we're being formal :) I came across the name "oolite" browsing around the Ubuntu repos years ago, but paid it no mind until around November of last year when I started getting ahold of some joysticks. It's not (no longer?) in the Debian archives, but using @Hiran 's starter and doing a local-install of the linux binaries worked fine.

I think in my first run I loaded up 90% of the english version of Stranger's World. Then I came across a wiki article that suggested getting real familiar with the vanilla game before adding any expansions, so I ran a -strict save for a while. The save I'm currently running has most of Stranger's World back on, Power To Engines, Missionaries, a HUD, and a few other things.

The expansion manager in my install of the starter is a bit borked right now, and I haven't bothered to fix it yet. That's scheduled for after I get my new machine put together and running. Otherwise there would be a few more things installed :) Including re-activating Stranger's Hard Way, which I had turned off but now regret.

There was a break for several months where I was playing Elite: Dangerous more than Oolite, and I have thoughts on them, but this is not the post for that.

[Cholmondely]

Hi - returning to Oolite after an enforced break... don't think I've ever introduced myself though..

Rob - started playing Elite on the old ZX Spectrum back in the day, got all the way to deadly but never lasted the whole course..

discovered Oolite several years ago, had it installed on my PC for a good while (Windows build).

Liking the new OoliteStarter and latest builds, have the game setup with many OXPs , currently halfway through visiting everywhere in Galaxy 1..

I have hit what i think is a bug - my kill count is stuck at same number (131) - does not increase when i dock...i get the emails on the email oxp system.

Which thread do i report it on... ?

How goes it? Where are you? What are you up to?

Tried any of the missions yet?

[mcarans]

After a long hiatus (my last post here was in 2011!) , I am back so I guess this is reintroducing myself.

Mike - played Elite on C64 all the way through Frontier and FFE on PC and some similar games like Freelancer.

I want to try Oolite again after such a long time to see what's changed, but unfortunately the Linux build doesn't work. Looking forward to a fix or the Flatpak version that is in the works so I can give it a twirl.

A long time ago I worked on the OXP sortable list (https://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/OXP_List) and I'm happy to see much progress has been made in OXP discovery and installation since then.

What are must-have OXPs these days?

[MrFlibble]

After a long hiatus (my last post here was in 2011!) , I am back so I guess this is reintroducing myself.

Mike - played Elite on C64 all the way through Frontier and FFE on PC and some similar games like Freelancer.

I want to try Oolite again after such a long time to see what's changed, but unfortunately the Linux build doesn't work. Looking forward to a fix or the Flatpak version that is in the works so I can give it a twirl.

A long time ago I worked on the OXP sortable list (https://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/OXP_List) and I'm happy to see much progress has been made in OXP discovery and installation since then.

What are must-have OXPs these days?

Welcome back Mike.

The 1.90 has had the download manager URL fixed in the last few days, and has libraries build on an old distro. That should work on almost anything.

Alternatively, I've been working on getting the libraries fixed in 1.91 on my fork here. All that differs is the libraries that get bundled. It should work on Ubuntu distros which still get updates. It also works on LMDE6, so I guess would work on current-ish Debians. I've not tested on other distros yet. A PR is in progress to get fix done on the Oolite project github.

Let me know how you get on, and which distro you're using.

[Cholmondely]

After a long hiatus (my last post here was in 2011!) , I am back so I guess this is reintroducing myself.

Mike - played Elite on C64 all the way through Frontier and FFE on PC and some similar games like Freelancer.

I want to try Oolite again after such a long time to see what's changed, but unfortunately the Linux build doesn't work. Looking forward to a fix or the Flatpak version that is in the works so I can give it a twirl.

A long time ago I worked on the OXP list page and happy to see much progress has been made in OXP discovery and installation since then.

What are must-have OXPs these days?

Welcome back!

It will be interesting to hear what you make of the changes since 2011!

Vanilla game gubbins: Be warned! NPCs are better at combat. Pirates are more deadly.
AND
safe systems are made more dangerous by nasty neighbours. Once-safe Corporate Ensoreus is no longer safe (no safe neighbours) - the GalCops battle valiantly but can never rest from resisting the ceaseless hordes pouring in from Ararus, Xeesle and Zaalela, Atriso, etc.


OXPS: Totally depends on what appeals!

We now have c. 1,100 - 1,200 of the blighters, so you really can tailor Oolite to what you want!

- Exploration - try SOTL Exploration (unfinished, but real exploration).
- Combat - beef up the McNasties with Skilled NPCs OXP makes 'em even nastier
- Ship's Library is now increasingly used for in-game data-dumps (eg The Rough Guide to the Ooniverse) and has a contextual ship's manual to boot
- BGS provides improved docking/launching/witchspace sequences and also background noises
- Library OXP replaces CCL and OXPConfig - it is used to configure some 50 or so OXPs
- Contextual Jukebox OXP (needs Library oxp) provides in-game music (Changes for Green/Yellow/Red alerts et cetera)
- HUDs have really improved since 2011 - check out the Vimana-X, Dangerous and CB-HUD Mark III
- Dockables - sneak a peek at this - and the addition of the external docking oxp has led to improvements in the Nuit Mk1 station as well as more Rock Hermits
- Ships - Griff has been producing some SpecGloss Vanilla game ships
- PlanetFall2 has totally rejigged planet landings. You now fight your way through turbulence to a landing elevator which brings your ship down to the planet surface. And you can hop on a train to another spaceport.
- DGill's Beta version of Ramirez's Feudal States adds a lot to them.


To my mind, the most important development since your day is Stranger's World. Stranger, one of our Russians, created an entire suite of OXPs which adds a massive dash of astronomical/physical realism to Oolite. Hiran's Oolite Starter allows you to download the entire suite in one fell swoop.


Dangerously steering through Hyperspace in SOTL Exploration



Ship's Library showing a page from the Ship's Manual



BGS Hyperspace Jump sequence (newer)



Vimana-X HUD with all warnings showing and 12 MFDs



Dockables: Hathor Trade Station



Griff's SpecGloss Sidewinder (showing need for maintenance)



PlanetFall2 - Landing at a City



G1 Landing at Lesser Walsingham, G1 Digebiti (DGill's Feudal States)



Stranger's World - approaching the Orbital station at an Ice Giant

[Cholmondely]

Found this:

In terms of style of play, I am only just beginning (although I played Elite many years ago). I guess trading to begin with.

I would like any OXPs that add eye candy or improve sound.

I was reminded of how difficult it was to dock manually when I first started, so I guess any OXPs that help with flying in some way.

Missions I can add later (unless they're missions for beginners).

Trading:
Market Observer is a must. It adds comparisons to the F8 screen (based on averages from markets visited):

The rest of the gubbins on the F8 screen is from  XenonUI



More EyeCandy/improve sound:
 Povray Planets - showing Isinor below


 System Features Rings


(and BGS & Contextual Jukebox as above; Stranger's World adds in realistic solar systems as well as all the physics and astronomy)



Docking
 ILS (50₢ from TL5 and up) - also good for Rock Hermits, Behemoths, Liners etc.



Missions for beginners
 Tionisla Reporter,  LongWay OXP,  GalCop Missions,  Lave Academy OXP,  Taranis OXP




Oh! And if you want your very own Rock Hermit:  Hermitage (really, a game within a game!)

[mcarans]

Welcome back Mike.

The 1.90 has had the download manager URL fixed in the last few days, and has libraries build on an old distro. That should work on almost anything.

Alternatively, I've been working on getting the libraries fixed in 1.91 on my fork here. All that differs is the libraries that get bundled. It should work on Ubuntu distros which still get updates. It also works on LMDE6, so I guess would work on current-ish Debians. I've not tested on other distros yet. A PR is in progress to get fix done on the Oolite project github.

Let me know how you get on, and which distro you're using.

Thank you so much! I am using Kubuntu 25.04. I made progress with your fork. It started but with no sound.

Then I tried replacing the with system audio libraries as documented in the README, but could either start with sound but no speech or if using system espeak, got an error about a missing intonations folder. See https://github.com/OoMrFlibble/oolite/issues/5

[mcarans]

Found this:

In terms of style of play, I am only just beginning (although I played Elite many years ago). I guess trading to begin with.

I would like any OXPs that add eye candy or improve sound.

I was reminded of how difficult it was to dock manually when I first started, so I guess any OXPs that help with flying in some way.

Missions I can add later (unless they're missions for beginners).

Funnily enough nothing changes - that's pretty much what I'm looking for this time round too.

Thanks for taking the time to list the various OXPs and include screenshots. It is very helpful. I'm amazed at the progress!

[user2357]

Thank you so much! I am using Kubuntu 25.04. I made progress with your fork. It started but with no sound.

Then I tried replacing the with system audio libraries as documented in the README, but could either start with sound but no speech or if using system espeak, got an error about a missing intonations folder. See https://github.com/OoMrFlibble/oolite/issues/5

When you said "no sound", it reminded me of some elements of an issue I had about 5 years ago. If you still have no sound, and if you'd like it sorted, perhaps reading onwards from the following post might be of some assistance...? ...but I'm clueless regarding these deeper technicalities...

viewtopic.php?p=268705#p268705

All the best to you, and right on, cmd. mcarans. <o

[Cholmondely]

Funnily enough nothing changes - that's pretty much what I'm looking for this time round too.

Sorry - I forgot to mention the (non-Feudal) Systems OXPs. But then you did have them back in 2010-1.

These massively add to my game -  Dictators OXP,  Commies,  Anarchies OXP.

They give a different flavour to each of the more colourful political systems. And make travelling around each galaxy more interesting.

Redspear has been working on something similar for the Species, but it is still a work in progress -  Alien Systems OXZ

Phkb has been musing about adding Corporates (we have many of the elements for this, separately - see here).

The new Revolutionary Astrofarm (from the Dictators add-on -  Imperial AstroFactory).

[mcarans]

Oolite Starter is really helpful at getting all the expansions set up - it's such a great addition. The flying tutorial was so good - I had forgotten how to dock!