Oolite Bulletins

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 12:48 pm

Somebody also needs to tie in some of the Expansion's Manager's OXZ's with already existing unlinked pages in the wiki:
Eg: Target System Plugins, FPO Lave, FPO Zaonce, Extra Thargoids, Shaky Drive etc., etc.

spara wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 2:34 pm

For example in _my_opinion_ the inclusion of Griff's beautiful ships to the core was an error, since there goes the motivation to create better looking ships .

montana05 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 2:45 pm

spara wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 2:34 pm

For example in _my_opinion_ the inclusion of Griff's beautiful ships to the core was an error, since there goes the motivation to create better looking ships .

Griff is the best I ever encounter, I will probably never be able to offer the same quality. Was it good for the game ? I think so. I still will create lower quality textures for a simple reason, Griff didn't do.

spara wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 2:53 pm

Yup. Love Griff's creations. This also highlights the difference in our views of the game. I don't see a game that should sell itself to a gamer, I see a cleverly disguised programming tool that sells itself to a tinkerer. Like Minecraft in a way. But that's just my opinion. Lucky world, I'm not calling any shots around here

montana05 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 3:08 pm

Elite was great, but over the years some improvement was needed. Cim had the right move the problem is currently we are stucked.

montana05 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 3:08 pm

spara wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 2:53 pm

Yup. Love Griff's creations. This also highlights the difference in our views of the game. I don't see a game that should sell itself to a gamer, I see a cleverly disguised programming tool that sells itself to a tinkerer. Like Minecraft in a way. But that's just my opinion. Lucky world, I'm not calling any shots around here

I don't call any shots at all. Just in a red province with too much time on my hands. Every game needs some improvement, look at Civ before and now. Elite was great, but over the years some improvement was needed. Cim had the right move the problem is currently we are stucked.

Cody wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 3:16 pm

Hello spara: talking of tinkering, your Navigation MFD and cim's galactic misjump don't play too well together.

maik wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 3:17 pm

montana05 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 3:08 pm

Elite was great, but over the years some improvement was needed. Cim had the right move the problem is currently we are stucked.

Maybe stuck, but in a good place

Cody wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 3:38 pm

Just about everything's heading south, from what I can see!

Blowing down the back roads, heading South!

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 11:58 am

Interesting. As with the debate over counting kills of abandoned ships, I'm not sure that I agree. Sorry! Admittedly, I'm truly familiar with a mere handful of other computer games (Diablo I & II, MacPopulous II & Civilisation III) so I don't have the context to truly judge what a modern game needs to attract players.

For me, I'd argue that the game engine is good - although I can see very good arguments for keeping the graphics up-to-date. It is simple, even though it is illogical in places. I'd argue for including the following oxps as part of the core game with the option to opt out of them:

• XenonUI: vital reminders of what the numerous keyboard options are for the various GUI screens (F5/F6/F7/F8).

• Ship's Library OXP: with free MFD to read the ship's manual in flight [needs MFD friendly HUD & instructions on their use].

• GalCop Galactic Registry: vital database of the galaxy

• MarketObserver: provides vital comparison information for commodity prices on the F8 screen to help profit on trades

I'd also add a bunch of others of the ambience variety, and a few of the others.

Personally I see my Ooniverse through the lens of the introduction on the Oolite.org website:

The two thousand star systems of the Cooperative once enjoyed a golden age of peace and prosperity, and perhaps the wealthiest of them can still pretend to. The trade ships that once safely travelled between planets now have to be well armed and escorted to fend off pirate attacks, from small-time criminals desperate for their next meal, to powerful robber barons extracting tithes from everyone who passes through their space.

The Cooperative's police force, concentrated near a few influential planets, can no longer maintain order. The mercenaries they hire for a few credits a kill are too few, too unreliable to do so either. And in the darkness between the stars, an old enemy lurks, fearless, perhaps waiting for order to collapse entirely.

So I expect to spend my early years running away until I can build up my ship. When I have done so, I will know enough about the game to work out which .oxps I want to add to it. I don't expect a super ship. And the pirates would have them too.

Now what would be super, would be to either use the game mechanic built in by Cim or Norby's collection style of .oxp to have different universes: A more friendly Cherryh-style trading universe. Perhaps another with an organised enemy (daleks or klingons or whatever). A discovery universe. etc.

I'm not sure that any of that would need changes to the game engine. More like a selection of Norby's Collection-style oxps with one or two new oxps to fill in the gaps (emulating Cherryh would need "family-run" large trading ships & externally docking space stations, for example).

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 11:07 am

hiran wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 7:39 am

So that extension is what I thought it would be. I was even able to purchase it, then I was not able to activate/use it. It may be a hen/egg problem...

Definitely is! You need a HUD.oxp loaded which supports MFDs (I presume that the Vanilla game HUD doesn't), and you need to understand the use of the : and ; keys to control the MFDs.