Oolite Bulletins

Gimbal Locke wrote:

pagroove wrote:

So anyone who pledges jus ask on David that he plays Oolite (with OXP's) for a bit of inspiration.

Sometimes I wonder if David Braben or Ian Bell are not here already, hiding behind some innocuous alias.

We are, after all, their "fan base".

Ian Bell has been on the site for almost two years - and yes it's the real him given the joining email address - I suspect he lurks though, if he visits at all, given he wandered around the site for an hour after joining but hasn't logged on since.

Prior to coming across Oolite I played many visually superior games, (This is not to say that Oolite’s graphics are not good), of both the single and multiplayer variety however whilst many of these games are enjoyable they simply do not match Oolite with regard to gameplay.

The original Elite was the only game that I could constantly go back to playing time and time again and Oolite has now taken on the same role for me.

Also this doesn’t take in to account the shear pleasure, sense of achievement and entertainment that I get playing my small part in putting together OXPs. Having become somewhat hooked on OXP writing I now spend more time doing this than playing the game!

The fact that so many people put in so much of their own time and effort for no financial reward is a breath of fresh air and is a major reason that I was inspired in the first place to look in to OXP writing in an attempt to give something back to this fantastic online community.

I have learnt so many new skills and have been offered so much help and advice working on OXPs and I still feel that I have only really begun to scratch the surface.

This combined with the Oolite forum really do provide an all inclusive experience and one which I have no desire to abandon.

Therefore with regard to ED I am exceptionally happy to hear that the game may be developed and will make a contribution to the fund and if released I will definitely purchase a copy however I will most certainly not abandon Oolite.

Shipbuilder wrote:

Having become somewhat hooked on OXP writing I now spend more time doing this than playing the game!

Beware the dark-side! It will entice you in, you'll be offered cookies, then when the hook is set... say goodbye to actually playing!

DaddyHoggy wrote:

Ian Bell has been on the site for almost two years - and yes it's the real him given the joining email address - I suspect he lurks though, if he visits at all, given he wandered around the site for an hour after joining but hasn't logged on since.

Ian Bell may not be as interested in Oolite (or even Elite anymore) as we would like to believe. Considering how old his own website is, and that it's years since he edited something on it, I'd say it's a reasonably safe bet that he has moved on.

Back to the question of this thread: I've already given my thoughts in the Elite:Dangerous thread, where Drew asked the same question, thus I just quote:

Commander McLane wrote:

drew wrote:

Given Elite:Dangerous, whither Oolite?

No question for me: my loyalty belongs to Oolite, I'm not going anywhere.

Also, as long as Elite:Dangerous is a Windows-only game, there isn't a competition anyway.

I came across Oolite in late 2005. To my dismay there was no working windows version available at the time. I was actually quite disappointed, as I had done regular searches on the internet for an updated version of Elite/Elite replacement since probably 1995. While I tried many space sims and games, I tended to return to Elite+, and I Reached Elite at least three times on Elite+. Well, finally, when 1.65 came out in late 2006 I was hooked. Never looked back. It's the only recreation that has managed to capture that same feeling that Elite gave me. I played FE2 and FFE, and did all the missions, but they didn't last. Not sure why, as I really enjoyed them and FFE especially where I got as far as Deadly twice. So I'm quite sure I'll keep Oolite on my HD also after E:D comes out.

It's good to see that Oolite offers a world different from commercial games and I think this is the strength of Oolite. It is the most easy expandable space game I know (500+ OXP's) and it is the ultimate sandbox. I believe THAT is the power of this game. + the best online community.

pagroove wrote:

It is the most easy expandable space game I know (500+ OXP's) and it is the ultimate sandbox. I believe THAT is the power of this game. + the best online community.

I reckon the game and the forum are inextricably entwined - that is Oolite's main strength!

Rese249er wrote:

I won't stop playing Oolite. I have been very tight on money and despaired of having anything nice... Then I found open-source, which led me to Oolite.
This game has shown me that the entire world of gaming is NOT commercialized, that a single-player game is still capable of absorbing one's attention, and that with enough determination the problems generated by commercialized games and platforms can be easily sidestepped.

Oolite is the best game I've ever played, and the only game I can say that I've helped improve in conjunction with other players. That means a lot to me.

Very true. .

By profession, I see a huge potential in using Oolite as an educational programming tool. Stepping into a world of programming can't be much easier. And you almost instantly see the effects in game. Amazing. Currently my mind is racing to find a way to use Oolite in my day job. I think it's safe to say that it's much more appealing to start modding a REAL 3D space game that trying to print "Hello World!" in a command prompt.

So I see Oolite as an excellent game and as a potent programming toy. And if I have understood it correctly there are a lot of people in this forum that use it as a programming toy rather than a game. You refer it as a "dark side", I believe.

From the educational perspective there is also great potential for 3d-modelling and graphical use (wings and gimp preferably). But I'm no good with those so can't really say anything more about that. I'll have to bite into those some time.

I would be amazed to see anything like this in the new Elite.

If there is another teacher aboard who has been thinking about using or maybe has used Oolite in education, please drop a line. Or pm, if you like. I would like to share some thoughts.

spara wrote:

...if I have understood it correctly there are a lot of people in this forum that use it as a programming toy rather than a game. You refer it as a "dark side", I believe.

Ha, yes that's the OXPs. Once you get started on making them you don't seem to be able to stop! It's like an addiction, is going over to the Dark Side.
Many a good player has abandoned any pretence to play the game in favour of the seduction of making OXPs, myself included. I probably haven't actually played for several months now.

Smivs wrote:

Many a good player has abandoned any pretence to play the game in favour of the seduction of making OXPs, myself included. I probably haven't actually played for several months now. :D

Wait… there are people who play the game?

JensAyton wrote:

Wait… there are people who play the game?

Yes... in the arcane language of the dark-side, they're known as end-users.

Your collective sacrifice does not go in vain.
End Users of the Ooniverse salute you!

I'm nowadays more playing the game but was once part of the 'Dark Side' too.

I'm chomping at the bit for ED, whenever it comes.

No matter what game I get obsessed with or how much time i sink into it, I always come back to Oolite eventually.

I don't see that changing