no one will help you...

[Hoopy]

i create a new save file every time i dock (disk space is cheap so why not!) so i'd be happy to allow jumps to isolated systems.

But we would then need a mechanism of getting out from trapped systems. Maybe some strange crazy genius technician guy could wire up all your fuel, a Q bomb and 1000 Cr and get you to galatic hyperspace at the cost of destoying your drive. You'd then have to pay 20% of your base ship value (or something) to get it replaced at whatever system you ended up in.

[Commander McLane]

I knew only of Oresrati, so now there is a second "area of no return".

I would rather like to turn the question around: If possible, I would prefer a solution that would keep things as they are (systems are not reachable by default), but provide scripters with the means to change that in an OXP.

So only if you have the marooned.oxp (or whatever its name will be, could also be bermuda_triangle.oxp) installed and are playing through it, you would be able to get to Oresrati or the other place, and would be awarded your Galactic Hyperdrive to get out again. If you don't have installed the OXP you wouldn't be able to get in trouble, as the galactic jump-lock would be in place.

Is this doable with JavaScript? In the old system most certainly not.

[LittleBear]

It would be a long time before I actually write anything but I do really like this idea. The two system Island would be a perfect oportunity to make two big solar systems. Maybe 6 planets in each one with a station by each one. Different factions could live there, offereing missions at each station which can lead up along the trail to the final mission where you obtain a GH drive. Do you throw your lot in with the furry felines who say that can put you in contact with a drive maker, but he's gonna need some favours first? Or maybe the large craboids will be a better bet? An intesting feature would be although you might arrive with a fully equiped Iron Ass, once you use your e-bomb there its is and your've no way to replace it. Its gone and the rest of the missions will have to be completed without it. If your shield boosters get damaged, repairs will have to wait until you escape. Your 4 hardened missiles are now like gold-dust once there gone, your relying on standard missiles.

So I'd vote for just keeping one system where you can be marooned.

[JensAyton]

Is this doable with JavaScript? In the old system most certainly not.

Not at the moment. Probably not in future, either, because making isolated systems reachable is more of a static thing, something one would set up in planetinfo.plist. Then again it might be useful to make it scriptable as a secondary thing, so you could make it reachable only once.

[Disembodied]

Good to know that Oolite won't let you get marooned! But on the OXP front, it might be better if the solution to the problem wasn't a Galactic hyperdrive ("a Guh-lahctic Hah-purdrahve?"), as this would force players to exit a galaxy when they might want to try out some other missions set there. Would it be OXPable to create a one-off "long wormhole" which would allow for an escape to another planet in the same galaxy? Perhaps after allowing a bit of panic to set in as the player bounces around the two isolated systems? Obviously, to avoid a flood of "Oh no I'm trapped" posts, there would need to be some in-game commentary on the fact that you ARE trapped, e.g. ships broadcasting messages like "how the hell did you get here?", missionscreens on docking where crowds cluster around your ship, begging for news of the outside world, etc.

I like the Bermuda Triangle angle: flinging the player into some weird space-vortex which dumps them into the Beanxeat/Qutius pocket, where they have to accomplish x, y and z ("mapping stellar anomalies" in the company of an eccentric scientist, pursued by people who are quite happy being big fish in a little pool, for example) in order to determine when the rift will open up again so they can fly out to freedom.

[TGHC]

I'm back! had a few issues in RL to sort out, which took a bit of time.

Right now, Oolite will NOT let you end up in an isolated system. Currently the code ensures that the destination planet is connected with the rest of the world and if it is not, it will reposition you to the nearest planet that is near your entry point and is connected. So, at the moment there is no way to reach, for example, Oresrati in G8, the lower left sector of G7, or the islands of systems in G6 mentioned above.

There has been some discussion about this on the Berlios dev lists some time ago. It was decided to be left as it is, because of the possibility of having players trapped in a system with no way out, other than maybe editing a save file. A player could arrive at such a system without knowing it is isolated, dock and save and that would be it. Still, I would like to know what the general concensus is. Would you accept the risk of entrapment in a system?

I don't agree, all the remote constellations can be visited without being trapped, with one exception:-

Galactic hyperspacing was handled differently in earlier versions of Elite, some would always put you onto the same coordinate location in the new galaxy wherever you launched from, and other versions would put you on the identical cordinate you hyperspaced from. The latter was the one Giles adopted for Oolite, so if you wanted to drop directly into a particular planet in a the next galaxy, you had to line yourself up first in the previous galaxy. The net effect was that you could visit all the remote constellations by GH-ing to them. To get out of the remote constellation would only be possible by buying a GH again, and you would not get to see the rest of the galaxy untill you went right round the universe to get back again.

There is only one exception, a dead end which occurs in Galaxy 8, Oresrati in the lower left hand corner. Galactic Hyperspace here (from Rainza) and you are stuck - it's a Tech Level 5 so there is no possible way out.

There have been a few discussions on the board before about this and the best solution was in IMHO an OXP mission that awarded you a GH for completing the mission at this destination, this would then make the whole Oolite universe navigable.

Here is a definitive list of all the remote constellations:

Galaxy 3 - There are two remote constellations here - Atlaar and Ditere at the top, and Ordiesat, Ribiara, Ersodi, Birera and Lelebi underneath (which look incidentally look like a sidewinder when connected)

Galaxy 4 - There is one remote constellation here - Arditi and Tizaatdi at the top.

Galaxy 6 - Two remote constellations - Tetier and Estebiin at the bottom, and Qutius and Beanxeat above.

Galaxy 7 - There is a large remote constellation in the lower left corner containing 26 planets.

Galaxy 8 - Oresrati in the lower left hand corner. Hyperspace here (from Rainza in Galaxy 7) and you are forever condemned - you cannot buy a GH here it's only a tech level 5, of course you can exit without saving. commit Hari-kiri, and you'll be back in Rainza.

Apparently it is not possible to visit any of these now so we've lost 39 planets!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd rather go back to the previous method and have a single (but tough) mission OXP that triggers when you arrive at Rainza telling you to GH to Oresrati, and then awards a GH on successful completion, that way you can never be stuck anywhere and you would be able to visit every planet that exists, without getting terminally stuck.

[LittleBear]

A warning could be given by triggering a mission take a package to X (the system where the jump is made from). Once there you are paid but offered a large sum to take somthing to the "Feline King of YYY" and a warned that you'll need to find your own way back. Accept Y / N. If you accept the you make the G Jump and land trapped on the Island. Off you go to the Feline King who pays you a hansome sum. Of course, those credits are totaly useless to you until you make your escape, as there are no ships or upgrades for sale in this backwater (snigger). But the King makes you an offer, do this little task for me and I'll put you in contact with a Craboid who can tell you somthing to your advantage....

[Disembodied]

If it's possible to create a Bermuda Triangle effect (a large, unnatural-looking wormhole which takes you to an otherwise unreachable system if you fly into it, or a weird drive malfunction -- a Charged-Vacuum Emboitment?), then the 26-system pocket in Galaxy 7 looks tempting... it would need a lot of planetinfo rewriting but you could create a whole mini-ooniverse in there. Equipment, even fuel, could be wildly expensive, and the Galactic Hyperdrive escape route could be manually removed. Since the quadrant is cut off from the rest of the galaxy there's no reason why your database should be correct: tech levels could have shifted, there could be an ongoing interstellar war between two groups of systems... it would create an opportunity for actual exploration!

This sounds great in my head. Whether or not it's technically feasible, I leave to others to find out!

[TGHC]

The point is that in Elite you can visit all these planets, but now you can't.

I would like it to be reinstated.

[FSOneblin]

< <
> >

There is anther way you can get to these systems, that I'v tested with some experimental accounts, you can hack more than 7 light years of fuel. You didn't here it from me.


EDIT: Dang it! how do I do the tiny text!

[another_commander]

How about this: A boolean key in planetinfo.plist, something like <key>all_systems_reachable</key> that the game will try to read and set the code to act accordingly. If this key is found set to true, all systems will be available. If not found or set to false, things stay as they are now. This way, it will be up to OXPers and users themselves to decide how they want this handled.

Some attention will be required though. Because galactic hyperspace arrival points can change this way, some (probably future) missions that may rely on arrival at certain systems in a galaxy might not work exactly as expected.

[Ark]

Sounds good to me !!

[Commander McLane]

There is anther way you can get to these systems, that I'v tested with some experimental accounts, you can hack more than 7 light years of fuel.

You can hack as much fuel as you want, but it doesn't matter. It just means that you don't need to refuel for a while. The 7 LY-range of your drive isn't effected by how much fuel you have.

[The Edible Poet]

Very cool idea for an OXP littlebear, I like the sound of that.

Had a thought for another solution to the unreachable planets problem.

At the moment if you try to set coordinates to an out for range system and try to jump, your ships computer prevents you from initiating hyperspace i.e. it's safety systems are kicking in, preventing you from initiating a jump that would leave you stranded in whichspace once your drive reached the limit of it's range.

How about some sort of "hyperdive safety management system Hack" that disabled your ships computers safety protocols, thus allowing you to make a "half way" jump to whichspace. You would then have to hurriedly refuel (so you'd need the fueltank OXP), reset coordinates and initiate the second leg of your jump, whilst running the gauntlet of whatever was lurking in whichsapce waiting for you.

I'm guessing this might allow some of the unreachable systems to be reached. It's could be a purchasable equipment OXP or as a "reward" for completing the missions in the OXP Littlebear suggested earlier (that way you could stay in the same galaxy afterwards).

i.e. the backwater you get stuck in doesn't have sufficient tech level for a galactic hyperdrive to be available but the engineers there are smart enough to hack your ships computer. And after the mission was complete the commander would then have the option to take a "risky" shortcut every now and then if he wanted to (which some people might appreciate).

Or, if it was available as purchasable equipment the downside could be that "hacking" your drive would make it less reliable, increasing the chances of fuel leaks and misjumps.

Anyway, just a thought. Apologies if it's all been suggested before.

[ovvldc]

Still, I would like to know what the general concensus is. Would you accept the risk of entrapment in a system?

Personally, I consider it a quirk worth saving. And as LittleBear and others have suggested, it is a good place for a mission OXP.

As it stands, I thought Oresrati was the only place you could never get away from (given sufficient money you could buy a new GH in the other islands). Having a dead end at the end of the universe is somehow fitting . Having sizeable chunks of of a galaxy totally inaccessible is definetely bad.

I think the GH could do with some sort of warning system, showing a map of where you will end up if you jump right there. If that is technically feasible..

Best wishes,
Oscar