Oolite Bulletins

Thargoid wrote:

just editting the wiki page and trying not to **** it up?

You said it.

Is there anywhere else I can get my hands on a manual while the wiki is down?

Hi, Trezker, and first of all welcome to the boards, and of course to this great game!

There is Ian Bell's (one of the two original authors of ELITE, the predecessor of Oolite) website http://www.iancgbell.clara.net/elite/ where you can study the Elite Flight Training Manual. At least it's a start.

Lorfarius wrote:

I was going to suggest a few tips on Docking but after playing the game for a couple of hours its become second nature :shock:

That docking computer seems like such a waste of money now. Yet when I began the game it was the unreachable Holy Grail.

You should buy good Joystic, then
You'd feel like dogfights with smaller ships Is waste of time.

(Cannot wait 4 multiplayer)

Thanks for the guide.

Good stuff!

Tok

polyh, Excellent idea to post such a guide! (I am way late here in welcoming it, I know).

I haven't read it all yet but (though a newbie!) have a comment on your pointer "The nav beacon is 10 kilometers away from the station, as soon as you have passed it you can witchspace to the destination you have hopefully chosen".
However, I have found it possible on launch to go to full speed on launch, keep heading from the station towards the beacon (providing there are no ships in the way ) and midway before reaching the beacon (judging the time nicely!) to start countdown and then make the witchspace jump - 'through' beacon, planet and all.

Possibly this is inadvisable.. It certainly may make onlookers nervous
(Station traffic controllers, beacon maintenance crews, one's own passengers..)

..errm.. typing this, while also playing Oolite in another window, I collided (non-fatally) with the beacon.
(Other happenings which I hope may amuse and inform are detailed below).

If doing this daredevil run, the timing I have found (or rather the spacing) to hit H for witchspace countdown is just as the Station crosses first mark below centre of space compass. Then you will Jump just before hitting the beacon. (Note: Just as the Station touches the mark, not as it passes the mark!)

..errm.. testing this just now, I left it too late, but it was close.. Hit beacon as countdown reached 1. Somehow (possibly I reflexly veered sideways, after collision) the Jump effect was distorted, in a very peculiar way I have not seen before - the rings not concentric and centred, but staggered and veering off to right of screen, and seemingly different in colour (more red less blue).

Hmm.. arriving in a new system with one's for'ard shields knocked way into the red zone.. not recommended.

Q. Does anyone else have peculiar collision/Jump experiences?

Addendum: arriving above (in Biorle system, from Xeeranre) I thought I'd try colliding with the witchpoint beacon. As one does. Surprise! Three good bumps, and it's gone! (and I'm alive).. no debris left, no on-screen message, nothing! Bystanders, a GalCop viper and a Cobra (clean), took no action.
The beacon's gone from the space-compass too (can't get 'W' identifier to appear).
Its absence may surprise any newcomers from witchspace entering Biorle system.

(I should add, I am indulging in these antics in a ship equipped with Shield Boosters and an Extra Energy Unit. Beacon-bumping's not recommended for soft-shelled Jamesons fresh out of Lave!)

Oops, I just did it again.. collided with the Station's navigation beacon on approach to Biorle Station, due to typing here.
I made my way to Biorle station, docked, traded, launched - and the witchspace beacon still wsn't to be found..
..but after a I made a quick round trip via two nearby systems, it had been replaced. That was smart work by whoever maintains these things

Hi armadillozenith and welcome to the Board you should find absolutely everything you want here on the WIKI Its more up to date, you used to have to go past the Nav beacon to hyperspace, but now you can hit H and then W immediately after launching, it may depend on your ships top speed so as a precaution it's alway best to aim to fly past the beacon otherwise it's press space commander.

armadillozenith wrote:

Does anyone else have peculiar collision/Jump experiences?

Yes but this is not the right board!

Welcome armadillozenith,
There are all sorts of 'tricks' like the ones you've found. Stick around the Board and you'll be amazed at what you'll learn.
Have you tried a mis-jump yet? Pull-up hard as the countdown reaches zero, and you'll end up in interstellar space, often with a welcoming committee of Thargoids to greet you.

Hi, armadillozenith, and a welcome from me as well!

You should note that 'jump' does not refer to the beginning of the countdown, but to what happens at the end of it. So yes, you can start the countdown by pressing 'H' any time and in any distance from the main station. But by the time the countdown reaches ZERO, you have to be at least 10 kilometers away from the station. Having passed the beacon is a good indication that you are far enough away. Crashing into the beacon is not generally considered a good idea, therefore it makes sense to aim at some point above, below, or sideways of the beacon.

How far you get in the 15 seconds of the countdown (or maybe less, depending on ship type), depends only on your speed during these 15 seconds. Therefore you can figure out at which point you can safely press 'H' for your current ship, but no general rule can be given for all ships, except the obvious 'the faster you fly, the earlier you can hit 'H''.

Interesting, I launch, and the moment crosshairs appear ( about half a second) I hit H then W, I don't have to avoid the nav beacon, it's still in front of me when countdown reaches zero. You do have to watch out for other ships flying towards the nav beacon otherwise you'll hit them up the exhaust pipe.

Sometimes during Reidquatien ale induced fugginess you can launch hit H and nothing happens cos you've forgotten to choose a system destination and in the process of F6ing and selecting your destination, you get "press space commander" cos you forgot to avoid the nav beacon, hopefully you've remembered the Elite/Oolite golden rule!

TGHC wrote:

Interesting, I launch, and the moment crosshairs appear ( about half a second) I hit H then W, I don't have to avoid the nav beacon, it's still in front of me when countdown reaches zero. You do have to watch out for other ships flying towards the nav beacon otherwise you'll hit them up the exhaust pipe.

Sometimes during Reidquatien ale induced fugginess you can launch hit H and nothing happens cos you've forgotten to choose a system destination and in the process of F6ing and selecting your destination, you get "press space commander" cos you forgot to avoid the nav beacon, hopefully you've remembered the Elite/Oolite golden rule!

*laughs* both of those happened to me. Ramming a police Viper in the engines happened too (BTW why do I have to become an Offender just for ramming it?...)

Zireael wrote:

*laughs* both of those happened to me. Ramming a police Viper in the engines happened too (BTW why do I have to become an Offender just for ramming it?...)

Try ramming a Police Vehicle in RL(tm) - Offender status would be the least of your worries...

TGHC wrote:

Interesting, I launch, and the moment crosshairs appear ( about half a second) I hit H then W, I don't have to avoid the nav beacon, it's still in front of me when countdown reaches zero. You do have to watch out for other ships flying towards the nav beacon otherwise you'll hit them up the exhaust pipe.

I think the actual minimum jump distance is a little smaller than 10km from the station, so you can indeed get away before crashing into the beacon. It all depends on timing.

When I launch, the first thing I do is to climb a little bit, then press 'H' and 'W' in no specific order. This way I am sure to avoid a collision with whatever lies in the path.

For the record, I've managed to jump successfully in my Python when only about 7km from the station...

I had guesstimating the point at which I could hit 'h' down to a fine art - leave the station, accelerate to full speed, flip to aft view, target the station (you'll need enhanced targeting to see the distance to the station), wait until you hit about 4km, then hit 'h'.

In 15s you'll be about 7km from the station and you should successfully jump to your next system.

Bear in mind, this was done in a Python. YMMV depending on the stats of your ship.