Oolite Bulletins

Posted: **Mon Feb 26, 2007 11:46 am**

I like this concept a lot!

Even in semi-retirement LB manages to push the game just that little bit further...

Posted: **Mon Feb 26, 2007 12:19 pm**

I take my hat off to you and salute you LB.

Once again you've gone outside the box and come up with a brilliant idea, totally off the wall, well done.

Erm.... all you've got to do is make it work now!

Posted: **Mon Feb 26, 2007 12:29 pm**

I've heard it said that people in "retirement" are busier than when they "actively worked." LB is proving that true with these great ideas.

Posted: **Mon Feb 26, 2007 1:12 pm**

In proper nerd mode myself and the Captain are doing a paper plan of the 1st "level" via PM, with us each writing room descriptions. Be a few "objects" to pick up which have to be used to solve puzzels (of sorts). "Aarh, so THATS what the albino trumbel is for!"

But it is meant mainly for atomosphere so don't expect too much, should play through in 10 minutes or so! Should have a paper plan finished this week.

Posted: **Mon Feb 26, 2007 1:44 pm**

have you ever looked at DarkBASIC? i got that for an abortive attempt at a game (too many projects, too little time :-( ) - pretty damn good, could build a simple FPS thing w/out too much bother i think given people's talents here - writes just like BBC BASIC which i used to know backwards. how it would integrate tho... :-/

Posted: **Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:59 pm**

Wow - this sounds fantastic and a worthy addition to the Elite universe. Used to love FF when I was a kid (and still do heh heh). Now two of my childhood pastimes are (potentially) being combined. Go for it!

Cheers!

Gareth

Posted: **Mon Feb 26, 2007 11:56 pm**

Sounds like a fine change of pace.

You got my vote.

Posted: **Tue Feb 27, 2007 4:29 pm**

Finished writting the mission_text with the Cap. We have 22 entries. So its 10 locations with 2 objects. The others are used as you interact with things. So its small by F&F standards, but shouldn't annoy players who are not into this sort of thing! (In terms of Oolote code, what were're doing is giving a really long mission briefing with a vast number of choices!) I'm replaying assassins ATM polishing things as I play through. To Do:-

1) Replace the News Broadcast that mentions the New Weapon being sighted with one that refers to it being developed.

2) Write a Mission Briefing asking you to go to System X to collect the Graviton Missile.

3) Do Gravition Missile (think I can do this faily easily by looking at how Wyven did the Nuclear Missile).

4) Do AI for missile (Just be easy to do an AI that just attacks the Balrog Class Dreadnaught as I have one from Asteroid Storm that just makes the Asteroids ram the station). The reason the Missile will only attack the Balrog is explained in the Text Adventure! If you fire one and no Balrog is found, it just self-destructs.

5) Add Script to place the Special Station in the system (way out of the space lanes, but you'll have a Beacon guide) and send the navy after the player. Easy as I have the ships and AIs for this already.

6) Script to display the Text Adventure mission text. SHOULD be straight forward as its the same code as for displaying the choice giving breifs in black monks, just more of it.

7) C&P Griff's Dreadnaught into shipdata.

I'll see if I can find some pics from the orginal Elite Manual (to keep the reto 80s feel!) to use as background images for the text adventure. Only trouble is size. Cannot upload more than 10 Megs. Cos Assassins already has a lot of ships, planets moons and images for the briefing screens, its already pretty PNG heavy.

Expect to have Final Version out by end of March!

SMALL SPOILER WARNING!
(This is page 1 of the FF game book, as it were, so its how you start the text adventure and shows the format) :-

SMALL SPOILER WARNING!

Code: Select all

You stand in the Main Hangar beside your berthed ship. A Cobra Njx is berthed to the right and a Python to the left. Otherwise the hanger is empty of ships. The nearby Cobra Njx is equipped in Iron Ass configuration and sports an insignia above the forward laser mount. The insignia bears the words “Fly free or die” above the image of a dove.

The dead bodies of many harmless fat birds are strewn across the hanger. All appear to have died in combat. Some are dressed in white uniforms bearing a similar insignia to that upon the Cobra Njx. Others corpses are dressed in black uniforms bearing a hawk insignia and the words “Tarkin Rules All”.

Three exits lead from the hanger. The left exit leads to the Crew Quarters, the centre exit to the Happy Rebel Bar and the right to the Station Managers Office. Will you:-

1)	Take the left exit.
2)	Take the centre exit.
3)	Take the right exit.

Posted: **Tue Feb 27, 2007 9:35 pm**

Hang on, where's the 'Hotwire the NjX and scarper' option?

Captain Hesperus
"Face it, real life sucks."

Posted: **Tue Feb 27, 2007 9:43 pm**

"The ship is secured in its docking clamps. Without Main Power you cannot move it, anymore than your own ship. (turn to page 1 commander).

Posted: **Tue Feb 27, 2007 10:36 pm**

Sounds fantastic LB - I hope one day to make it to Gal. 7 just so I can play Assassins!

DH (nursing very bad back (shifting 120Kgs of self assembly wardrobe by oneself is not compatible (it would seem) with good health) - however the painkillers and whisky are taking the edge off it...

Posted: **Tue Feb 27, 2007 11:59 pm**

what size do the graphics have to be for the mission screens is it still 512x512 or a more standard screen size like 1024x768........just a thought really seeing as I have thursday & friday free.

Posted: **Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:01 am**

@ Ramon: Yes, it's still 512x512. Bigger sizes will not be resized by Oolite (as I mistakenly wrote somewhere else), but centered. So you would only see the center part of it.

@ LittleBear: Small typo: "Other corpses", not "Others". And how I'm looking forward to all this!!! Pure excitement!!!!!

Posted: **Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:34 am**

ramon wrote:
...just a thought really seeing as I have thursday & friday free.

Any chance of seeing some shots of the 'DW' Anaconda then. However preliminary or sketchy.

Posted: **Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:55 am**

ABsolutely wonderful.

All we need now are a few lemmings marching along looking for a way out

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