Oolite Bulletins

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:55 am**

Doubly honoured - Accoorist made it in too!

My wife takes the credit (of the concept) for this one (spouse participation oh yes!) - but the image and the words are all mine!

Hope you like - will I be third time lucky?

(and why am I doing this and not at work? The joy of fatherhood and having a sick little girl at home today - bless her)

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 10:49 am**

Oh, I like that! Very nice. Great idea.

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:19 am**

Looks nice. Think we have enough now, but if you want to delete some of mine, that's fine. My candidates would be aesbion2, barry's, and pharma. I'd also consider grouping some together, the 2 Lance and Fernman, or Absolut Lethal Brandy and the safety message.

I'd also have the ads only spin on 1 axis, the way they spin now seems strange for a rectangular sign. But what do i know? I didn't write the OXP!

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:04 pm**

@johnsmith: Sorry but I'm not really up to moving them around and keeping track of credits etc. atm. Perhaps some other time. I'm a bit reluctant to remove those ads you mention, since I think they're fine. The way that buoys rotatate is controlled by the game.

@DaddyHoggy: Looks good. Please remember that the graphics supplied need to be excactly 258x128. And good to hear of some spousal contributions to the game. Right on, Mrs. DaddyHoggy!

ramon wrote:

This was of course the one that made me do the Anacondas with ads

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:23 pm**

Download YOUR AD HERE!!! v.1.0

Impressive how little time it took you all to come up with forty-eight ads. And how very Oolite they are

I had expected to have a lot more than a week for making models, flipping textures, generally figuring things out and finishing writing this OXP, but inspired by the rate of your input I got v.1.0 done to coincide with the first set of forty-eight being finished. Well just keep them coming. It might take a lot longer to get the second set in, but I'm sure that it will be there eventually. And besides they are so good that it's a nice little surprise to see every new one that appears here.

YOUR AD HERE!!! OXP for Giles William's Oolite

1.0

Do you want spam with that?

This Oolite eXpansion Pack adds the joy of being told what to do 3,654,754 times a day by corporations looking to harvest those hard earned credits that you put your life and your craft on the line to earn.

Do you want spam with that?

48 different ads made by different Oolite players for more flavour variance to your gaming experience. See the credits for individual images further down in this file. You can still contribute with new ads for the next set on the Oolite BB (https://bb.oolite.space/viewforum.php?f=4). Please note that your ads must be relevant to the world of Oolite and submitted as 256x128 pixel image files.

Do you want spam with that?

This expansion pack adds the AD-X corporations Terascreen for advertising in different versions:

Standard Terascreen - 44,017" monster screens that are used as witchpoint buoys in Confederacies, Democracies and Corporate States.

Terascreen Junior - The 17k" Terascreen which fuctions as navigational buoy in Corporate States.

Pi-42 - Convenience stores located in Corporate State systems with 4 billion or more inhabitants. Find it with 'C' on the Advanced Space Compass (like that other 'C'ommercial oxp beacon - the Hoopy Casino). They have a little of everything and are always open. And of course they have ads on them. A custom Terascreen on the front and smaller ads in the docking bay.

Micro-Terascreen - Ad screens fitted on Anacondas in Corporate State systems. This ship is a modification of the Anaconda model and turret from the basic set and Behemoth.oxp by Giles Williams. It comes in a player variant (without a working turret), that can easily be modified to hold your own unique ads which will not be shared by NPCs. Just edit the image .../Oolite/AddOns/YOUR_AD_HERE.oxp/Textures/yahpl.png - It is very simple: Keep the graphics you want to be on the starboard screen within the lower half of the image file (green area) and the graphics you want on the port screen on the upper half (red area).

Thanks to all who contributed.

Dr. Nil

Credits:

Billboard 1, front: Griff - Edible Arts Graduates
Billboard 1, back: Griff - Bibeian Lethal Brandy
Billboard 2, front: Griff - Laveian Tree Grubs
Billboard 2, back: Griff - Laveian Tree Grubs
Billboard 03, back: DaddyHoggy - Open Ooniversity
Billboard 03, back: DaddyHoggy - Accoorist
Billboard 04, front: drew - Tianve Pulsar
Billboard 04, back: Judebert - Jack Voysey P.I.
Billboard 05, front: johnsmith - Don't FWI
Billboard 05, back: johnsmith - Inonin Tourist
Billboard 06, front: DaddyHoggy - OO-Haul
Billboard 06, back: LittleBear - Shot out screen
Billboard 07, front: drnil - OCC Teretrurus MK-I
Billboard 07, back: drnil - Grupo Langostaides Azules
Billboard 08, front: ramon - Marett Mosquito Trader
Billboard 08, back: ramon - Marett Mosquito Trader
Billboard 09, front: johnsmith - Bibean Lethal Brandy
Billboard 09, back: drnil - Status Quo
Billboard 10, front: Charlie - Benulobiweed Pallas
Billboard 10, back: Charlie - Benulobiweed Condor
Billboard 11, front: Charlie - Benulobiweed Merlin
Billboard 11, back: Charlie - Benulobiweed Swift
Billboard 12, front: Charlie - Benulobiweed Falcon
Billboard 12, back: Charlie - Benulobiweed Kestrel
Billboard 13, front: johnsmith - Monu Surprise Pills
Billboard 13, back: drnil - Trumble
Billboard 14, front: Griff - Cat Preserves
Billboard 14, back: johnsmith - Monu's Preservatifs
Billboard 15, front: Griff - Murrgh's Used Craft Showroom
Billboard 15, back: ramon - Grand Theft Astro
Billboard 16, front: johnsmith - Barry's Dry Docks
Billboard 16, back: johnsmith - Teance Tourist
Billboard 17, front: Judebert - Boyracer Phreak Attack
Billboard 17, back: Judebert - Boyracer Phreak Attack
Billboard 18, front: Judebert - Raaleian Edible Poet
Billboard 18, back: johnsmith - Blue Screen of Death
Billboard 19, front: johnsmith - Aesbion Tourist
Billboard 19, back: johnsmith - Aesbion Tourist
Billboard 20, front: johnsmith Goat Soup
Billboard 20, back: johnsmith - Lance & Ferman FdL
Billboard 21, front: ramon - Star Sports ZG Hockey
Billboard 21, back: ramon - Beyond Witchspace
Billboard 22, front: johnsmith - A Droid Is for Life
Billboard 22, back: johnsmith - Pilkerson
Billboard 23, front: johnsmith - Bugg-Off!
Billboard 23, back: johnsmith - Orerve Tourist
Billboard 24, front: johnsmith - Diso Tourist
Billboard 24, back: johnsmith - Lance & Ferman Missiles

AD-X spokeslobstoid wrote:
48 SLOTS AVAILABLE FOR SET TWO!!!

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:40 pm**

@Dr. SPACE - Nil.

Three for three - thank-you very much.

Apologies for the missing pixels - honestly, they definitely started as 256x128 - perhaps going from jpg to png in PSPro7 does something odd and I didn't notice.

I think the AD-X OXP is simply a brilliant concept and has given non artists (like me) who also can't 3D model for toffee (don't tell anybody because I've just finished a part time MSc in Defence Modelling in Simulation at Cranfield...) a chance to contribute and be part of a fantastic community.

I look forward to the next 48!

Well done to everybody - I haven't had this much fun with my clothes on for ages!

Thanks to all who posted their praise for my efforts - much appreciated. You've made a newbie feel truly welcome.

Perhaps - I'll set aside some time now to actually play the game!

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 2:20 pm**

DaddyHoggy wrote:
Well done to everybody - I haven't had this much fun with my clothes on for ages!

You play Oolite Nakid!!!!!

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 4:06 pm**

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:05 pm**

@TGHC - Try not to think about it - it will put you off your food...

On a more serious note - I have HUGE problems with YOUR_AD_HERE.oxp v1.0.

putting the oxp in the AddOns dir on my machine basically stops the game from working!

I've got two other oxps in the AddOns dir - custsounds.oxp (fantastic - but a different story) and tgy_dev.oxp (the Tionisla Orbital Graveyard - also fantastic and I found this in somebody's signature - so thank you v much to its creator).

Now when I add YOUR_AD_HERE.oxp I get the following symptoms: Game takes approximately 20seconds to start (screen is blank after I double click the oolite icon as per normal) - if I chose to load previous commander then the game takes about a 60s to go to my info screen having selected my commander. If I say 'N' then it still takes about 3-4s compared to 0s without the OXP.

When I launch from a station this can take 3s or more to actually do anything (compared to 0s normally) - once in flight the game pauses/stops randomly - frame rate drops from 60+fps to 4 (but this isn't true because it stops completely for large fractions of a second). The audio from custsounds gets out of sync with the video/countdown (the audio is not interrupted). At Witchspace 0s the game hangs up again - 5-10s before the Witchspace tunnel appears (again compared to 0s normally). It pauses again on the 'otherside' for about 2s after the space scene appears and moving the stick actually causes anything to happen!

If I quit the game with <SHIFT>+Esc remove just YOUR_ADS_HERE.oxp from AddOns and restart the game - its fast and stutter/pause free again.

Please please can anybody help?!

I am destined never to see my handiwork tumbling majestically through space.

My machine spec - if its any help is:

XP Home SP2
Athlon XP2500+
768MB DDR333
128MB GF FX5600 Ultra
Oolite 1.65 straight from the website just a week ago

Can't understand why it runs so brilliantly without this particular oxp and so badly with it. Have I done something wrong?

Apologies if this is the wrong part of the forum for this question but its a continuation of previous thread and I don't know how to cross post (if possible at all)

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:22 pm**

I was also having performance problems on my Mac, hadn't got round to investigating yet. I have way too many OXPs!

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:47 pm**

My PC is running a little slow with AD-X in (I have every OXP installed), but not too bad (maybe a 2 sec delay on launching and exiting witchspace). Maybe due to giving the boards the role of a nav-beacon with a percentage chance. Perhaps Oolite it therefore having to do a lot of maths to "decide" which nav-beacon to put in front of the station (standard or one of the 24 varients) and the same thing when exiting hyperspace. Perhaps if the Doc changed the role to "addboard" and scripted them at the beacon, Oolite would run faster (as then it just needs to do 1 calaculation rather than 25).

A check for ships Addboard, number found = 0 add Addboard 1, requires one opteration, but the native code telling it to add a beacon and then having to go: is the becaon addboard1? (chance 0.4), roll this dice, check dice, add addboard1 if dice hit, No = check if Addboad2 is the beacon and so on maybe causes a slow down.

@DaddyHoggy. Fraid the wait on Oolite loading is just a factor of having loads of OXPs installed. I play with 80 odd installed and have to wait about a minute to get that rotrating cobra up. Runs fine once loaded up! In fairness to the poor EXE, you are asking it to load about 300 Megs into memory and populate 2000 shipyards with over 20,000 odd ships picked at random from a list of 200 oddships ships and decide what equipment each individual ship will have!

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 6:42 pm**

Hi. I don't have the time to look into it right now, but adding this many models does of course have the machine work harder. Running a game like Oolite already demands a lot from a 3-4 year old machines like mine. And of course variance and added graphics come at a cost. I might do a cut down version later, though. Luckily OXPs are as easily uninstalled as they are installed and 2.7mb is not a lot to have lying around in the unused folder for ones next RAM upgrade. Try out your OXPs one at a time and see what game speed you can live with.

@LittleBear. I don't think scripting the appearance of the buoys would do anything. First one would have to remove the buoy put in place when the system is populated (I have no idea how to script this removal from an oxp or where to place the new one to be in the right spot), then it would still have to make the exact same choice that it now makes with roles. Also bear in mind that the game only checks for a single one of each model once - when first populating the system, which shouldn't really be that much - compared to if it at the same time has to put eg. 10 pirates in which each are chosen from perhaps 50 ships (at least

) with the role pirate. Actually putting things in scripts is a bit more taxing since the game has to check for eg. whether you're exiting hyperspace every 10sec.

My guess is that Oolite loads every model into memory and textures it when loading up to avoid a delay when calling up new ships. This means that the delay when loading the game with many or model heavy expansions is due to the game reading everything from the harddrive to memory which quickly fills up and has the OS load the memory to a swap file on the harddrive. So because OXPs have become some many and large, this function to avoid delay may now actually cause more delays because a lot of what the game thinks is memory acces actually happens to and from the harddrive. I might just have to get more memory. I had this problem a long long time before this oxp.

Edit: The folder .../Oolite/AddOns/YOUR_AD_HERE.oxp/Config now contains a file called Xshipdata.plist. The file can be renamed to shipdata.plist (after renaming or deleting the file with that name already in the same directory). This gives a cut down version of Your Ad Here!!! by removing the Anacondas with ads and the C-42 trading stations.

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 6:54 pm**

Hhm you might be right, but I don't think your models and textures a particulary memory intensive. The models and textures in Assassins are pretty complex and are presumabley loaded up when Oolite fires up. I only found a slow down when I added ships. 400 ships fighting at Esauvive in the civil war caused a 10 sec hang when entering the system. But only at the mission stage where I was actually adding these ships in loads of different groups with 30 odd script commands!

Fly to the same system when the mission variable is not at the stage to cause the ships to be added and there is no slow-down, so I don't think it is the ships models or textures being loaded that causes a slow-down.

You are only adding one ship, so I dont think any slow-down can be caused by the loading of the AddBoards textures, nor by just adding one extra ship. As you say the game normally adds 10 to 30 ships when populating the system.

So possibley its the maths of all the role-chances. That said, I'm not having a noticable slowdown on my system. Couple of seconds is well worth it to see the varierty your OXP adds!

Woudn't need to remove the bouy (I think that might be the problem). Just leave the native bouy as it is and add the Addboard within say 1km of the w/p and name it a "X-Add Board" (or whatever). That way you are just adding 1 item to the system rather than replacing an existing item.

I might be wrong, but by giving the role of the w/s becon to the Boards, instead of telling Oolite to add 1 ship arn't you requiring it to perform a load of calculations to decide which w/p becon to add?

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 7:16 pm**

If Oolite holds each separate model in memory it's not so much only a matter of how many textures are used but in this case a matter of how many times each texture is used. The point of this OXP was to do a lot of variations and while the graphics folder might seem to have a neat size compared to many other OXPs each texture does get used by a lot of different models. One of the things I really went for was that it should easy to change the ads and to implement that, I had to make variations of every object with ads, which use each ad texture at least once (twice in come cases). No fun making an Anaconda with ads if everyone of them you see has the same ad for those plain old Qurear mud tennis socks

The screens will most probable get additional roles in a coming version. When I place a lot of them for testing calling them up as buoys their AI wakes up btw and they start broadcasting their message (I haven't typed any of the suggestions into the description.plist yet, though) but they don't rotate.

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2006 7:34 pm**

Thanks for the extra info guys on how Oolite works and what it's doing in the background.

I honestly don't mind the longish delay at the start of the game - I don't mind the pause before the hyperspace jump or another when I arrive but the freezing is also happening when just flying about and much worse (from an enjoyment perspective) while fighting - so I'm not firing where I think I am and when it unfreezes the baddies have made big positional changes. But like I said before this only happens with your_ad_here oxp installed even when I'm nowhere near a buoy.

I'll unplug my cable modem and shutdown AVG - that should free up a bit of background memory and processing (if this oxp needs it it can have it!) - if that doesn't work I'll defrag my HD - and if that doesn't work I'll drop my FSB down to 266 and go from 768 to 1024MB (my last stick of 256MB is only 266 not 333 like the rest so I've never fitted it - but I'll go for more memory required over less but faster!)

I soooo want to have this oxp running!

Oolite Bulletins

YOUR AD HERE!!! 300 ads (sets A, B, C, D, E, F & G)

Spot the theme - oone last time!

Release of 1.0

The missing pixels puzzle

Re: The missing pixels puzzle

Houston - I have a problem :¬(

Hmmm....