So, this feels an appropriate time and place to de-cloak!
It's been quite a while since I last played Oolite properly, although I've tested out some of the latest changes for 10 minutes or so periodically. The lack of a computer capable of running at a decent frame rate is a little bit of a problem when it comes to dedicated play!
It's also been a long time since I posted anything on the boards. Real Life has been a bit of a harsh mistress, and rather distracting to boot, but I've gradually been getting back on my feet. I stopped reading the boards for time, but then gradually came back and caught up (you guys can be really prolific sometimes - finding over 300 topics in the "View unread posts" category was rather impressive!). Every now and then I see something on the news and just know that there will be a post in Outworld with the community discussing it.
You see, the thing about this place is that it is so welcoming. Commanders can come and go as they please, knowing that there is always warmth and a friendly avatar waiting for them. I have fond memories of communicating with and reading posts by some of you, and for those who haven't met me before, well, I kind of feel like I know you too.
Anyway, why am I re-appearing now? I am currently re-reading C. J. Cherryh's
![[Wikipedia]](/images/wikipediasmall.png)
Chanur novels, set in her Alliance-Union universe, and it struck me that the way she describes the Compact working is essentially how I envisage GalCo-op. Quoting from the afore-linked Wikipedia page,
The Compact is not a political organization, and has no government; it regulates only the open trade and accessibility of space stations to all civilizations, leaving them to resolve their conflicts and politics between themselves.
And something in my head said "You know what, it's time." So, here I am, ready to re-engage with my fellow space-farers, and prepared to immerse myself into the ever-tantalising Ooniverse.
Now then, for those who haven't met me before, what might you want to know? I first came to Elite playing on my dad's Acorn Archimedes, and so that version of Elite brings back much nostalgia for me. We would drop my mum off at work, and then I would boot up the computer and play half an hour or so of Elite before breakfast and school. And then I'd spend many afternoons and weekends on it too! I played the same version years later on an Acorn emulator on my dad's PC. I got much, much further that time, with, if memory serves, 7000 and something kills. Not ranked Elite, however, as ArcElite had different values. 'Twas "Very Deadly", or something similar. Then, about 3 years ago, I was searching the Ubuntu repositories (yes, I also dabble in being a penguin; Lubuntu being my preferred operating system) for games to play, when I came across Oolite. That was it. I was hooked.
Since then, I've played my way through most of the mission oxps, have even been a play-tester for a couple of them, and finally achieved my childhood dream of being ranked Elite! I have tended to install many different ships, stations and shipsets (I like variety in my 'verse), and a number of the systems/ambience oxps. I am more dubious about equipment/weapon oxps; I prefer the standard combat mechanics! That said, I even had a go at writing my own WIP oxp once, creating wormhole drones, as a way to familiarise myself with the Oolite scripting system. (I should probably see what happened to that - I can't remember how I left it!)
As far as my in-Ooniverse character identity is concerned, see a post I made
here for back story.
must admit I'd been wondering where you went..
