Oolite Bulletins

Oathbreaker wrote:

7. Find an elegant solution to the problem of "Oh crap did I just get randomly killed by a GalCop exiting the station even though I never even saw it on screen while trying to dock?"

The Docking Clearance Protocol is already available and was implemented also for resolving this very type of problem you are describing. Have a look for what it is and how to enable it in the wiki, you may find it an elegant enough solution as it is.

I think OXPs should be able to add a whole new part of the F5 screen, an allegiance listing whether the player was for GalCop (the default), a bounty hunting group from an OXP, or the Thargoids. With this ability, the Black Monks could be listed as such on the STE, the same with the Thargoids and Vipers.
Depending on the AI of allegiance members, they could kill anyone not in their group, like Thargoids, or be friendly to others (except for a few groups they dislike). Vipers would tolerate non-GalCop ships, but not Thargoids or Pirates.

Mauiby de Fug wrote:

You're talking about the Short Range chart accessed by "F6"? Try holding down "I" whilst on that screen and the planet names will change to icons representing just that.

Much obliged. Little things like that will fly straight over the heads of most newbies, and even old guys who played Elite on a Spectrum (don't remember) or C64 (pretty sure) or early IBMs. A small little button with an "i" on it would work wonders there.

11. AI-control that would rather jettison cargo than get destroyed. A system like EVN/Naev's "bribe the pirate for mercy" is probably a bit too much for Oolite, though it would certainly add immersion and pseudo-realism if ships that are hopelessly outclassed could beg for mercy and offer money or goods. The jettison-cargo when close to ship disintegration should be doable, though.

12. Auto-refuel module. See EVN/Naev.

13. Binocular/scope/zoom module.

Oathbreaker wrote:

Mauiby de Fug wrote:

You're talking about the Short Range chart accessed by "F6"? Try holding down "I" whilst on that screen and the planet names will change to icons representing just that.

Much obliged. Little things like that will fly straight over the heads of most newbies, and even old guys who played Elite on a Spectrum (don't remember) or C64 (pretty sure) or early IBMs. A small little button with an "i" on it would work wonders there.

On the other hand, this is why Oolite ships with a readMe that lists all key-commands, including those which are only valid on a certain screen (apart from "I" on the short range map there's also "?" on the contract market; and what are you gonna say when you've tried '^' on the long range map).

Oathbreaker wrote:

11. AI-control that would rather jettison cargo than get destroyed. A system like EVN/Naev's "bribe the pirate for mercy" is probably a bit too much for Oolite, though it would certainly add immersion and pseudo-realism if ships that are hopelessly outclassed could beg for mercy and offer money or goods. The jettison-cargo when close to ship disintegration should be doable, though.

Uh? This is a basic Oolite functionality since pretty much forever.

Please try not to shoot your next Anaconda or Boa to death immediately, but to keep it in the plasma-venting state, and see what happens.