More varied questions

[pepak]

1) I installed the Ionics OXP. But I only got two missions from that - deliver a package for the rebels and destroy the Funnelweb. Then they thanked me and let me go. Is there anything else I can do with this OXP?

2) Does the game really play fair, meaning that what is true for me is also true for AI? Because I noticed two strange things about rockets:

a) One rocket explosion will only take some 40% of my shields (Cobra MK3 with Shield Boosters and Military Shields Enhancements). But once in a while a rocket destroys me right away.

b) I can't use ECM to destroy hardened missiles. But when I fire a hardened missile, it gets destroyed almost before it leaves my ship. What does that mean?

3) Which other OXPs present a player with missions? Or even better, which website lists OXPs with more detailed info than the Wiki (which pretty much only lists names and lets me guess as to what each OXP does).

4) Is it possible to turn off graphical effects such as those colored clouds in some star systems? They sure are pretty to look at, but they tend to slow my notebook's integrated videocard to a crawl.

[Dr. Nil]

Hi there

1) You have only scratched the surface. I don't remember where you have to go, but there's a lot more killing to be done in Ionics.

3) Have a look at this page in the Wiki.

4) What you want is the excellent Clear Skies OXP.

[Killer Instinct]

Ok.....(deep breath)
1)Ionics is an ongoing mission - briefs will appear...
2) From my own experience there is a bug with ECM hardend missiles - shame since they cost 350credits and have the worth of 30credits!!! (the phantom cargo containers are a hoot too)
3) Find a link for OoliteWiki - should explain most OXP mission (and don't forget to thank Winston for his efforts)
4) Slowed my game down too, I think this has been/is going to be sorted for later releases (my current release 1.68 seems to be ok and I've got a snail of a processor)

[pepak]

4) What you want is the excellent Clear Skies OXP.

Got it, but I still get clouds.

[Dr. Nil]

Ok. I don't know what to do then. As I recall, it did remove clouds for me (PC, 1.65) - but I may be wrong , it's been a while, since the sticky messages drove me out of business (I'm now training for a new career on a small planet in the south west quadrant of Galaxy 4).

[LittleBear]

Rename ClearSkys.oxp "zzzzzClearSkys.oxp" !

Oolite loads any OXPs you have in AddOns in alpabetical order. So although Clearskys sets the nebula effect to 0. If another OXP that alphabeticaly comes after Clearskys (eg Lave.oxp) sets it to a different number, ClearSkys gets "trumped" by the later command.

On the Hardheads I think the game does play fair as both an NPC hard-head and a player hardhead use the same AI. With a standard missile the AI says ECM = "becomeExplosion". IE an ECM triggered either by the player or an NPC will always cause the missile to blow up. With a Hardhead the AI says ECM = "roll the dice" there is a small chance that it will blow up and a large chance that it will keep comming. (Holding down E therefore may get rid of a chasing hardhead).

However the way random numbers are generated (I think) means that if the dice hit "blow up" every hardhead will blow, if fired at the same target if the first one did. I did a lot of playtesting writing OXPs with ships equiped with ECMs and most of the time they failed to destroy my hardheads.

On the Damage Question, I think this has to do with your speed. Even if you are in an Iron Ass equipped Tiger travelling at full (0.5 LM) speed and get a hardhead in the face then its "Game over man, Game over!" even with an Iron Ass. However the same hardhead hitting you whilst stopped will damage your Military Shields big time, but you will survive as long as they were near full. There's an element of realism to this as the kinetic energy of hitting a big bit of metal at half the speed of light is pretty vast regardless of the explosive energy of the warhead!

Experienced Commanders ALWAYS therefore trigger their ECM when an enemy is close before he has the chance to launch and keep their distance just in case the enemy is packing hardheads!

[TGHC]

Hit F2 and make sure "reduced detail" is on this should significantly reduce the clouds. Personally I like'em.

[LittleBear]

On the missions check the Wiki here:-

http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Oolite_Missions

We're trying to avoid spoilers, but if you read the whole page it will tell you what the OXP does.

EG:

"The Assassins Guild - 21 interlinked missions and assassinations. Murder to order in Galaxy 7! This link will take you to the new version of The Assassins Guild. The versions on Oosat 1 and 2 are old versions. Use Version 1.2"

If you read down the page you see another entry:-

"The Assassins Guild

* Must be docked anywhere in Galaxy 7.
* Must have more than 200 kills before the Guild will approach you.
* Must remain in Galaxy 7 to be offered further missions.
* Further Missions also depend on your Elite and Guild Ratings."

This tells you what you need to do to trigger the Mission. If you click the Assassins link on my Signature there'll be a brief description of the OXP and a link to the "Powers and Organisations Page". This will give you some information (the sort of thing every Commander knows by watching the News etc - and will give you hints as to where missions take place). But we don't by any means reveal everthing!


Reading the Missions Page in full will however tell you what you need to do to trigger the start of all of the (now almost 80) missions in the game. You must of course have placed an OXP mission in AddOns before it will work.

[JensAyton]

2) Does the game really play fair, meaning that what is true for me is also true for AI? Because I noticed two strange things about rockets:

It’s intended to. I can’t guarantee that it does. That said, damage modelling is different for the player since NPC ships don’t have shields.

4) Is it possible to turn off graphical effects such as those colored clouds in some star systems? They sure are pretty to look at, but they tend to slow my notebook's integrated videocard to a crawl.

TGHC has the right answer.

[nijineko]

i get that the oxp files go in the addons folder. but what goes in the extras folder? maybe i missed something on the wiki about it?

[JensAyton]

Nothing goes into the Extras folder. If you want the BBC key layout, you can take it out of the Extras folder and put it in AddOns. :-)

[Arexack_Heretic]

@NijiNeko:

'nother cat on the boards.

*Hides his furry rodent tail*

[Captain Hesperus]

@NijiNeko:

'nother cat on the boards.

*Hides his furry rodent tail*

We're just establishing a balance with those furless-ape decendants. We have no desire to take over.

yet

Captain Hesperus

[nijineko]

rest assured, unless you are a rat comprised mainly of variously charged photons, you have nothing to worry about.

yet another question: does every version of oolite play the same, as in same planets and galaxies, or is each on randomly generated at game start, or what?

and another: assuming the same oxps are installed, if i start posting about cool stuff i found in this one system, are others going to be able to go and find the same stuff?

for example: i found this freaky huge asteroid in this one system. i would not have found it had not it been in a direct line with the witchspace beacon and the station, but in a very odd location. about as far away as the witchspace beacon but on the opposite side of the station from said beacon. i would not have noticed it had i not been in combat and on the lookout for things moving at odds with the starfield.

at first it looked like a ship in the far distance, but as i got closer it still did not show up on my scanners. and finally i jumped to it. occasionally i'll run into a ship or two along this route (it's not lined up with the sun either, btw. if you were to take the ws beacon, the planet/station, the huge asteroid, and the sun, it forms a cross, with the sun at the feet.

i'm reluctant to harvest it, as it's such a unique formation as observed in my travels. there are also other regular asteroids surrounding it.

[LittleBear]

The planets and galaxies are the same in every version of Oolite (there the same as Elite). But many OXPs will modify or alter systems. "Flavour" OXPs (like the Doc's Commies.oxp - really cool this one - should install this dictaors, anachies.oxp and pirate coves.oxp) change the make up of systems. In Commies for example all Commie systems will have "People's police" patrols, "thought police patrols" and enemies of the people cramed into barley space-worthy vessals to mine asteroids. Other OXPs add planets moons and missions at particular systems. The experience will be the same for every player who has that OXP installed.

On your "Big Rock" question, do you have Asteroid Storm installed? This OXP adds an asteroid related mission to a certain system near Lave, but it also adds massive asteroids to the Ooniverse generaly. 12 new types of asteroids are added all with different models and textures by Charlie - based on some asteroids in the Real World Earth Sola system. Some are truley hugh and will appear when targeted as "Large Asteroid". The game adds asteroids randomly to all systems. But which asteroids appear depends on which OXPs you have installed. With no oxps all asteroids will be the standard Oolite model. With the OXP installed they'll be 14 different types. The Large asteroids are rare though (10% chance of an asteroid being a Large Asteroid). All players will see them, but as they are added randomly every time you make a jump anywhere if you saw one at Lave say it won't necessarlily be there for sombody else at Lave or even if you go back as the "dice" are re-rolled on every jump. Scripted Systems (like the moons planets and ships and missions the OXP adds will be the same for everybody. Eg if you have Assassins installed all players will find the same things lurking for them at a System well known for its gas giants.

TIP : If you want to see more asteroids in the game install pirate coves.oxp.

Here's a Large Asteroid posting a clear danger to an orbital station....