Oolite Bulletins

Shipbuilder wrote:

I must admit that I like the concept of this ship. Rather like a B Wing fighter from Star Wars.

Kind of, I guess, though it isn't nearly as cool as a B-Wing. Hmmmm, you have just woken some ideas.

I'm calling this ship the Terminator. I actually had a different ship with the same name, before my computer crashed last Spring, but it was quite radically different than this one. This ship is in the very early development stages, as I thought about making this a really huge, Behemoth-like ship, though not quite that big, and it would just be eye candy NPC. The one I'm testing is small enough that the Stations will give it docking clearance, and the docking computers will handle it for you. I'm just not sure what I want to do with it yet.

mandoman wrote:

I'm calling this ship the Terminator. I actually had a different ship with the same name, before my computer crashed last Spring, but it was quite radically different than this one. This ship is in the very early development stages, as I thought about making this a really huge, Behemoth-like ship, though not quite that big, and it would just be eye candy NPC. The one I'm testing is small enough that the Stations will give it docking clearance, and the docking computers will handle it for you. I'm just not sure what I want to do with it yet.

Okay, now that is a beauty. I think it needs a nice texture, I can do that if you want. I'd suggest making it a GalCop patrol ship, for the more dangerous systems.

Texture? You don't like my paint job, LOL!!

I keep thinking about that texturing, or shadering, or what ever it is, and I'm still very uncertain about it. I tried following the tutorial on how to make one, a couple of different times, but I could never get the hang of it. I just like to try to paint the things, and add a decal of two, here and there. I suppose that makes me a retro-grouch, eh?

mandoman wrote:

Texture? You don't like my paint job, LOL!!

I keep thinking about that texturing, or shadering, or what ever it is, and I'm still very uncertain about it. I tried following the tutorial on how to make one, a couple of different times, but I could never get the hang of it. I just like to try to paint the things, and add a decal of two, here and there. I suppose that makes me a retro-grouch, eh?

I recommend using GIMP to add a metal texture, just so it looks a little bit more realistic. You can use transparency so you can still see the colors.

Yes, but it all depends on what you see as realistic. Look at the Enterprise from Star Trek. None of the versions looked "Textured" to me. I believe most were painted white, with blue and red lettering, and numbers. I guess some of the ships I see looked kind of fakey, even though they have been given a metallic texture. I don't think any of the Core Ships look that great, unless you get the versions revved up by Griff, or Thargoid, or a couple of the other shader dudes out there. It's all in your taste, I suppose. I'll send you a copy of the Terminator if you want to texture it. It would be interesting to see how it comes out.

mandoman wrote:

Yes, but it all depends on what you see as realistic. Look at the Enterprise from Star Trek. None of the versions looked "Textured" to me. I believe most were painted white, with blue and red lettering, and numbers. I guess some of the ships I see looked kind of fakey, even though they have been given a metallic texture. I don't think any of the Core Ships look that great, unless you get the versions revved up by Griff, or Thargoid, or a couple of the other shader dudes out there. It's all in your taste, I suppose. I'll send you a copy of the Terminator if you want to texture it. It would be interesting to see how it comes out.

Sounds good.

Personally, I think solid colors look pretty bad in Oolite, but that's just my opinion.

This is the Alpha Centauri. It is meant to be a liner, and it is huge. It's a player ship, but I don't think you can get any bigger than this and still be a player ship. I also have a few pics of the ship cut in half, length wise, to kind of illustrate how the interior might look. My ships don't seem to be overly popular any more, so I don't know when I'll release the Alpha Centauri.

I like very much big ships and this Alpha Centauri looks very nice.

Yeah, I quite like that Understated but quirkily stylish at the same time. And your cutaways are excellent!

Thanks, glad you guys like it. I sure like building them, and making those cutouts is just about as fun as making the exterior.

I am throwing out a request for someone that knows how to write AIs and Scripts. The ship I'm working on now has three sections, two of which can operate separately from the others. I've thought about it, and if I set up the subentities correctly, the ship as a whole would be frangible, so that two parts of the ship can survive an attack, but the third would vaporize. The part that would vaporize are two quirium tanks, and if a script were done correctly, I bet they could be set up so that there is a chance factor as to whether they are empty, or full. This would be important for the reason that if they are full, and take a destructive hit, the resulting explosion would be the equivalent to a quirium cascade mine explosion. If the tanks are empty, the tanks just disintegrate, leaving the forward "Escape Fighter" section, and the huge "Hauler Section" undamaged. However, either one of those two sections can be destroyed separately from the other, so the pilot can survive to either escape, or fight it out with it's aggressors in the surviving section. The "Escape Fighter" section would be the faster of the two, therefore having a better chance of escaping. It would retain what was the forward laser of the whole ship. The "Hauler Section" would still be full of other kinds of cargo, and not be as fast, and would retain the less powerful aft laser of the whole ship, and the missile launcher as well. I figure that the bigger "Hauler Section" should also have a higher max energy than the "Fighter" section. When the two sections are still together, the max energy would be slightly higher than just the "Hauler Section" would have by itself, and would recharge slightly faster as well. The "Escape Fighter" section would have a lower max energy, and a lower recharge rate, but would be quicker in maneuverability,.and have a higher max speed. The fact that it retains the more powerful of the whole ship's two lasers is why it is called the "Escape Fighter", because it can do either/both.

I can't pull this off alone, and it won't kill me not to have it happen, but it would be fun to see if it can be done should someone with scripting, and AI capabilities want to see if they can write what is needed to pull it off. I am more than happy to discuss this, either here, or by pm with any interested commander. If no one is interested, that's okay too.

Mandoman - I like the look of your Alpha Centauri it will be a shame if you don't release it.

What I do especially like are your sections through your ships. Very very nice work

Thanks, Shipbuilder. I've been admiring your Serpent Class Cruiser. Gonna have to add that one to my collection.

Another little ship in development. I'm thinking of releasing a "package.oxp" once more called MandotechOvoids. I have several ships that have an oval look, so that may be appropriate. This is Razzer.