Oolite Bulletins

Zero Punctuation has a review for ED!

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ ... ous-Review

Dev update - 15/01/15:

Michael Brookes wrote:

Following up on my post last week I will provide more information on our process moving forwards and dates for the next two major releases. As you’ve seen since the game’s initial release we have issued a number of point updates, the latest being 1.05 this morning. These are typically restricted to urgent and/or low risk changes and will continue on a regular basis as they allow us to respond as we need to. These aren’t scheduled in the same way as the major updates, but will be ongoing.

More significant updates allow us to add new features and content (as well as sweeping up a host of fixes and tweaks that haven’t been deemed suitable for the intermediate point releases).

Currently beta testing will be available for those who already have beta access for the main game. For players participating in the beta tests there will be a separate mechanism for playing so testing does not affect your game and that you can continue to play the retail version as well. Options for players currently without beta access to be able to purchase beta access will be available. Details will be made available nearer the time.

Depending on how the update Betas go in test, we expect them to be released to everyone a week or so after the Beta release.​

As you all know we’re also working on paid expansions for the game and these will have their own beta periods as well, we’ll again make details available of how this will work as we near their release.

The first planned significant update will be 1.1 and will enter beta in the first week of February. We’ll be talking next week about how 1.1 will introduce a new way to collaborate with other players in the galaxy in preparation for 1.2’s major Wings update. We have some some good news for planners of long journeys - V1.1 will also have a significant increase in the maximum distance for the route planner. We’re currently looking at extending this to 1,000 light years!

Looking further ahead there will be a 1.2 update which is planned to enter beta testing in the first week of March. The focus for this update will be Wings and other multiplayer goodness. I’ll provide more detail in future updates.

More sales of Beta access, by the looks of it - ho-hum!

Doesn't that surely just mean that those who were Beta testers get to continue to test the major addons/patches before they are made available to everyone else?

Damn! The rotten bastards have gone and added a chrome paint-job for the Cobra MKIII - almost too tasty to resist!

I saw that in the newsletter! Still don't know how I feel about paying for paint jobs though. Nearly got the wire frame one but decided against it due to the stupidly high price tag it had.

I absolutely abhor the idea of paying for paint-jobs - but it is very shiny!
Methinks that £10 is way over the top - but they'll sell plenty, I reckon!

The only ones I have were the free ones from Black Friday. I spent £50 on Beta access that's more than enough I feel!

Where's Griff? I need a chrome paint-job for my late-model Cobra MkIII... Griff?

Yeah, I don't like the idea of paying for a paint job, either. Hopefully in time there will be a stable of basic free ones.

That said, I did end up buying one I couldn't resist. I know I'm going to stick in a Cobra MKIII for a long time so I figured I needed at least a little customization... so I got one of the basic jobs I liked.

But that's it until I swear

A thought I shared with some friends about the game:

What attracted me to the original Elite was the promise of space, adventure, and exploring the unknown. The '84 version didn't use our real universe (a C64 type computer didn't have the power) but the sequel, Frontier, did (mind you with very simple graphics). Still, it suddenly became possible to go anywhere you could see in the night sky and see what's there (based on our best guesses at the time). The latest version improves on this, but at the core, I think what draws people like me to a game like this can be summed up in one image.



Recreated in game



The reason it's so low res is I had to take it from a distance. Here's the full shot.

home

nice shot mossfoot, very nice...

Very nice indeed! Cannot wait for the planetary landing add-on to take screens like that in hi-res...

Bah! Suffered my first death at the hands of another player... that'll teach me to ignore a lousy 100 credit bounty (friendly fire accident) on my head while hunting pirates with other Commanders.

But I took the opportunity to start over in the game, choosing to lose my Cobra and go back to Sidewinder rather than use insurance on my ship. I didn't advance TOO much in terms of rep so I'm not sure I should bother with a complete wipe of my stats. The only thing I have to prove is to myself, after all.

But what this also means is, I'm thinking of restarting Mossfoot's Tales of Woe

For those playing looking for a bit of tension added to your game without going all the way for self-imposed IronMan where any death results in restart, I am working on an "Pilot Ejection Table"

Feel free to leave feedback about it here:

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=107694

And here's the chart to start with to let you know where I'm going:



Pilot Ejection Table (roll 1d20)

Natural 1 - DISASTER! (Nat 1 always results in death, regardless of modifiers. Invent an incredible reason for it.)
1-9 - Dead! (Wipe save. Restart. New Character. Anything modified under 1 still counts as 1)
10-11 - Alive, BUT due to insurance loophole, they won't cover your ship (Take the Sidewinder, but keep your character ranks)
12-20 - Alive! (Pay Insurance as normal. Anything modified over 20 still counts as 20)
Natural 20 - MIRACLE! (Nat 20 always results in rescue, regardless of modifiers. Invent an incredible coincidence to explain it.)


LOCATION INSIDE OF SYSTEM
Inside Station +9 (only other modifier should be Life Support)
Outside Station (in visual range) +5
Near populated planet (in visual range) +2
Resource Extraction Site (if other miners present) +2
Within populated system but between planets +1
Unpopulated but trafficked system +0 (if you saw at least one other ship on radar while in Supercruise)
Unpopulated and untrafficked system -1 (nobody else was in the system when the incident happened)


LOCATION OF SYSTEM
Within 10LY of Capital System (Sol, Alioth, Achenar) +1
Within Other Federation, Alliance, Empire Worlds +0
Other Centrally Located Worlds (Independent or Uninhabited) -1
25+ LY outside of populated systems -2
100+ LY outside of populated systems -5
1000+ LY outside of populated systems -10


CIRCUMSTANCES OF SHIP DESTRUCTION (non combat)
Crash Into Star -10
Crash Into Another Ship +5 (assume they'd contact Search and Rescue)
Crash Into Another Ship (but other ship also explodes) +1 (for the additional distress signal)
Stranded in Space +2 (no fuel, or hull integrity so low can't possibly reach home - this assumes the best possible distress signal scenario)
Stranded in Space with Other Ships in System +6


COMBAT CIRCUMSTANCES (best guess)
Each Enemy Pilot In Battle -1 (max -5)
Each Friendly/Neutral Pilot In Battle +1 (max +5)
(Note: in Conflict Zones these can be assumed to cancel out)
Low Intensity Conflict Zone (both sides) +2 (assumes non-combat rescue ships present on both sides to pick up pilots)
High Intensity Conflict Zone (underdogs) +1 (marginal failure can be assume captured as POW instead of death)
High Intensity Conflict Zone (favored forces) +3 (marginal failure can be assume captured as POW instead of death)


LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM
Note: It's fair to assume that the quality of your life support system goes beyond just how much oxygen you have left. More expensive ones would have more powerful distress beacons, longer lasting thrusters that will help clear you from debris, and more energy to go into the stasis field until you're picked up. Size doesn't matter, only grade. Given how incredibly cheap LS is (even on an Anaconda, at least compared to the initial ship cost), this is more a matter of the absolute best giving a slight advantage. If you don't remember what your Life Support system was, it should appear on your insurance screen as a component to replace or remove.
A +1
B +0
C -1
D -2
E -3


DISCOVERY SCANNER (unpopulated systems only)
Exploring and surveying can be a dangerous thing, and no amount of life support or stasis fields will help if you're never found. That's why Discovery Scanners are designed to emit an SOS "pulse" during an ejection sequence, alerting Search and Rescue as to the system the accident happened. This pulse effectively fries the scanner (not that you needed it anymore anyway). Obviously the further out you are, the less likely a rescue is going to happen, but explorers all alone in the deep dark no doubt appreciate the extra bit of hope. In populated systems, however, this pulse provides no extra benefit (given the number of other ships also sending out distress signals).
Basic Discovery Scanner +1
Intermediate Discovery Scanner +2
Advanced Discovery Scanner +3
(Don't forget the modifiers for unpopulated systems under Location of Crash)


Some Examples of How This Plays Out
Crashing inside a space station (+9) with an B Class Life Support (+0) means you are in the best possible circumstance to survive (final modifier +9), but still have a 5% chance of death on a Natural 1 (come up with a creative bizarre way your ejection seat went splat). You also have a 5% chance of not having insurance cover your ship due to a loophole in your policy (on a 2, modified by 9 = 11). Anything else results in a safe ejection and normal insurance screen. Upgrading to A Class Life Support here would remove that insurance loophole risk. Having a D or E class system would result in a slightly increased chance of catastrophic failure and death (should have got those airbags, not just seatbelts )

Crashing into a star (-10) a thousand light years from home (-10), in an unpopulated and untrafficked system (-1), even with Class A Life Support (+1) and an Advanced Discovery Scanner (+3) means you can't possibly live (final modifier -17), BUT a Nat 20 will still result in a miracle, so be sure to come up with a creative story as to how your escape pod DIDN'T burn up and who actually found you a thousand light years from home and picked you up. Otherwise, wipe that save.

However, crashing into a star (-10) in a populated area (+1) but in an Independent system with less Search And Rescue at its disposal (+0), with Class A Life Support (+1) means you're still probably (literally) toast (final modifier -8). You'll survive on an 18 or 19, but insurance won't cover you (modifies to 10 or 11). On a Nat 20, of course, something amazing still happens and you get to use the regular insurance screen.

Getting into a dogfight in a Low Intensity Conflict Zone (+2) that's around the low orbit of a populated planet (+2) in an Alliance system (+1), with E Grade Life Support (-3) gives you okay odds of surviving (final modifier +2). Aside from the Nat 1 insta-death, you could still die on a 2 to 7 (modifies to 4 to 9) and hit the insurance loophole snag on a 8 or 9 (modifies to 10 or 11). Time to upgrade that Life Support system!

Don't have Dice?

There are plenty of apps and sites out there for random dice rolling. Here's a simple one that will allow you to add in the end modifier as well before you roll: https://www.wizards.com/dnd/dice/dice.htm


This chart is a work in progress, so by all means, throw in suggestions on how (and why) certain modification should be changed, removed, or added.

What do you think? Good start?