Oolite Bulletins

Albee wrote:

When I want to download and save a YouTube vid I have to fire up my old laptop running Windows XP to see the complete set of Temporary Internet Files

Completely off topic, sorry, but I use the ClickToFlash extension in Safari and have it set to replace flash movies whenever possible with HTML5 video. On YouTube, I can right-click a video when it is playing and select "Download Video" and then get a .mp4 video in my Downloads folder...

maik wrote:

Albee wrote:

When I want to download and save a YouTube vid I have to fire up my old laptop running Windows XP to see the complete set of Temporary Internet Files

Completely off topic, sorry, but I use the ClickToFlash extension in Safari and have it set to replace flash movies whenever possible with HTML5 video. On YouTube, I can right-click a video when it is playing and select "Download Video" and then get a .mp4 video in my Downloads folder...

Is this sort of digression allowed in this forum, or will the Moderators come down on us like a ton of bricks? (Thanks for the tip anyway -- I'll give it a try).

Albee wrote:

Is this sort of digression allowed in this forum, or will the Moderators come down on us like a ton of bricks? (Thanks for the tip anyway -- I'll give it a try).

Haha, thread derailment is an art much appreciated around the Board
However, it is not to be encouraged normally.

Smivs wrote:

Albee wrote:

Is this sort of digression allowed in this forum, or will the Moderators come down on us like a ton of bricks? (Thanks for the tip anyway -- I'll give it a try).

Haha, thread derailment is an art much appreciated around the Board
However, it is not to be encouraged normally.

In fact, it's been a while since the last derailment that took a turn towards wine culture

Albee wrote:

Is this sort of digression allowed in this forum, or will the Moderators come down on us like a ton of bricks? (Thanks for the tip anyway -- I'll give it a try).

This is a funny forum.

a) Rather than starting a new thread, they would rather you resurrect an existing relevant one. Most fora would rather have a relevant thread be closed when it is old, and a new one started - I have never understood why. Now I see this forum's approach "Always post in the relevant thread" I think the way the rest of the world does it is stoopid.

Just about every .OXP has its own thread. Always reporting bugs or suggestions or problems in that thread makes everyone's - especially the OXP author's - lives easier.

b) I note the moderators do occasionally move posts to the relevant thread. I find that tidying up most helpful; this is quite a tidy forum.

c) Around the time I joined, off-topic posting was met with AAAaaarrggghhhh ! DON'T DO THAT! but that may be because the developers were working on the v1.76 stable release. However, some of the regulars did that too. Since then, a bunch of newbies have come on board and posted on non-Oolite subjects and I think the stressed ones have either killed themselves or given up complaining.

There is an off-topic area but even posting off-topic in there can get grumpy responses. Either Oolite has a large community and accepts there will be people behaving like a community and talking about any old toffee, or it is a clique of a hand-full of people committed to the cause. Which is right? Don't ask me - that's a bit off-topic so I'm not getting involved!

There is the IRC channel too - there's a Gravity Waves performance on tonight (2016 minutes from now as I write this). Be there or be a Thargoid's wotnot.

d) I can't remember what (d) was going to be about. "Welcome", probably. I'm on the 3rd or 4th glass of wine...

SandJ wrote:

d) I can't remember what (d) was going to be about. "Welcome", probably. I'm on the 3rd or 4th glass of wine...

Half a bottle later... That's what I forgot: welcome!

Thanks to everyone who's responded -- you're a fantastically friendly and helpful bunch here at Oolite. I'm embarrassed to admit I feel myself choking up with emotion -- or maybe that's just residual joy from killing my first Asp in a Python (more credit due to whoever designed the amazing Target Reticle than to any piloting skills of mine, I hasten to add!).

SandJ wrote:

c) Around the time I joined, off-topic posting was met with AAAaaarrggghhhh ! DON'T DO THAT! but that may be because the developers were working on the v1.76 stable release. However, some of the regulars did that too. Since then, a bunch of newbies have come on board and posted on non-Oolite subjects and I think the stressed ones have either killed themselves or given up complaining.

There is an off-topic area but even posting off-topic in there can get grumpy responses. Either Oolite has a large community and accepts there will be people behaving like a community and talking about any old toffee, or it is a clique of a hand-full of people committed to the cause. Which is right? Don't ask me - that's a bit off-topic so I'm not getting involved!

Perhaps you joined at a time when some people went a little overboard with off-topic posting? I have to admit that I don't really remember.

In general I would sum up our attitude towards off-topic posting as "fairly relaxed". As Smivs already said, thread derailment is an art which we much appreciate. This implies, however, that it's done in an artful way. Clumsy entry pimping is frowned upon, because it's just about the polar opposite of art. Of course you always have to take into account that massively derailing a thread may hurt the feelings of the person who started the thread for a specific reason, like in search for the answer to a specific question. Some people don't react with joy if their question is blissfully ignored, gleefully buried in irrelevant trash, and then unremorsefully forgotten in the first couple of replies. Go figure!

Something that will raise some eyebrows is multiple posting of the same thing in various threads on various subforums. It's untidy, just like every splattering is untidy. Also, it's sort of the equivalent of calling the board denizens deaf while trying to appeal to them. A tactical mistake in every communication.

Lastly, the boards have different areas and forums for a reason. The board index explains neatly what the different forums are for. Some newbies tend to post each and every thing in the Discussion forum, as if no other forum existed. Again, that's untidy. It's also completely unnecessary, because it is no more difficult to post in Expansion Packs, Testing and Bug reports, or Outworld than it is to post in Discussion. And nobody needs to be afraid that their post gets overlooked just because it's not in Discussion.

maik wrote:

SandJ wrote:

d) I can't remember what (d) was going to be about. "Welcome", probably. I'm on the 3rd or 4th glass of wine...

Half a bottle later... That's what I forgot: welcome!

Why is the wine gone??? I just want to know, can someone tell me please?

To learn, you're going to have to dig in and fight some. When I got sick of the trading grind I would leave a station empty and fueled all the way up, and hyper to a nearby planet. This would leave me out by the witchspace beacon, nearly full of fuel. Rather than dive out of the corridor to safe space, just head straight down the middle of the road. Worst case scenario, you get killed a lot and don't learn the enemy's tactics. Best case scenario, you get killed a lot and DO learn their tactics. Really the best way to learn is just to jump in and get used to fighting. Keep a close eye on the area right above the IFF for "Incoming Missile" which is your cue to hit the ECM in a hurry. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't.

Eventually, you'll notice that you get more kills, and get killed less frequently. (I had a night when I first started trying my hand at hunting, I saw 'press space' 11 times in one session without a single kill for my record.) I'm still a hack, and I get 'press space' more often than I'd like, but I'm learning. The best way to learn is to just try and learn how the pirates react when you get them under pressure. I see a lot pitching straight up and rolling over, a great reply is to try and 'trace' him as he pitches up so the laser stays on him. Each vessel needs slightly different techniques, what works with a Python won't work for a Krait, but their methodology is similar only differing in how rapidly the ship pitches up. If you can pepper him enough, he'll try to run away, so you dig into the Witchdrive injectors and go after him. You'll be firing at his back, which is ideal.

It just takes seat time, and more importantly, stick time. Some of the guys here, McLane, El Viejo, SandJ, others, they may have been making kills since Elite came out in '84, who knows. It's really hard to compare your numbers or my numbers to theirs when we've only been doing this for a few weeks versus them having done it for several *years*. Just relax; perfection takes time.

CapnSkweek wrote:

To learn, you're going to have to dig in and fight some.

You're right, of course, and I want to have a go. The problem is, these ship dealers are real rip-off merchants -- trade-in prices are scandalous, IMO (unless someone knows a good place to go, that is??). Having spent a vast amount of my hard-earned dosh swapping my well-kitted out Cobra 3 for a Python, I'm loathe to do the same swapping back. I think I'll hang on to the old girl for a while yet and delve deeper into this contract hauling malarky.

CapnSkweek wrote:

Rather than dive out of the corridor to safe space, just head straight down the middle of the road.

Yup, I've done this too. I don't mind it so much when they come at me in ones and twos, but when they come mob-handed it's generally Energy Bomb time -- which is fine until the next bunch appear!

CapnSkweek wrote:

Keep a close eye on the area right above the IFF for "Incoming Missile" which is your cue to hit the ECM in a hurry. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't.

These days I seem to be seeing more and more ECM-hardened missiles. Is this the game 'rewarding' me for ranking-up?

CapnSkweek wrote:

I see a lot pitching straight up and rolling over, a great reply is to try and 'trace' him as he pitches up so the laser stays on him.

For those of you with joysticks, how do you generally configure them? Presently I've got axis-2 (left/right) set to 'yaw' rather than the default 'roll', as I find it a lot easier to track the bad guys this way. I do still have 'roll', on the Attack 3's throttle control, but wouldn't normally use it unless my docking computer got shot up and I needed to do a manual dock.

CapnSkweek wrote:

Some of the guys here, McLane, El Viejo, SandJ, others, they may have been making kills since Elite came out in '84, who knows. It's really hard to compare your numbers or my numbers to theirs when we've only been doing this for a few weeks versus them having done it for several *years*.

Pirates too, I expect, the lot of 'em. Like I said, I'm just thankful Oolite isn't multiplayer. Mind you, though I don't have much stick-time in this game, I must have spent years playing X-wing, Tie-fighter (my favourite) etc. Ship behaviour and enemy tactics will be different, of course, but I'm still hoping I can get up to speed pretty quickly. Time will tell.

Albee wrote:

Presently I've got axis-2 (left/right) set to 'yaw' rather than the default 'roll', as I find it a lot easier to track the bad guys this way.

Sorry, that should of course read "Presently I've got axis-1 (left/right) set to 'yaw' rather than the default 'roll'..."

Albee wrote:

For those of you with joysticks, how do you generally configure them? Presently I've got axis-2 (left/right) set to 'yaw' rather than the default 'roll', as I find it a lot easier to track the bad guys this way. I do still have 'roll', on the Attack 3's throttle control, but wouldn't normally use it unless my docking computer got shot up and I needed to do a manual dock.

My main joystick ciontrols:-

Axis 1 (backwards/forwards) pitch up and down
Axis 2 (side-to-side) roll left/right
Button 2 ECM
Button 3 Fire missile
Button 4 Sensitivity toggle
Button 5 Arm missile

I have the 'wheel' set for yaw, and use Button 7 for the Cloak and Button 6 for the Camera.

All other controls are on a re-mapped keyboard - Joystick in my right hand, keyboard to the left for my left hand.

Albee wrote:

The problem is, these ship dealers are real rip-off merchants -- trade-in prices are scandalous, IMO (unless someone knows a good place to go, that is??).

Only trade your ship in immediately after a maintenance overhaul. That's when you get the most for it, because it's in a much better shape.

Albee wrote:

These days I seem to be seeing more and more ECM-hardened missiles. Is this the game 'rewarding' me for ranking-up?

No, but perhaps you've installed some new ship OXPs recently, which contain ships that use only hardheads?

Anyway, the thing to keep in mind about ECM-hardened missiles is that they are ECM-hardened, not ECM-proof. If your first burst of ECM doesn't kill them, chances are that the second or third burst will. However, repeated use of your ECM will drain your energy considerable, so sometimes running is still better than getting ECM-trigger happy.

Albee wrote:

CapnSkweek wrote:

Some of the guys here, McLane, El Viejo, SandJ, others, they may have been making kills since Elite came out in '84, who knows. It's really hard to compare your numbers or my numbers to theirs when we've only been doing this for a few weeks versus them having done it for several *years*.

Pirates too, I expect, the lot of 'em.

Ahem. Most of us prefer the term privateer. Or, as I like to put it: the only thing even more profitable than to buy cheap and sell expensive is to not buy at all and sell expensive. If you know what I mean.

Albee wrote:

I don't mind it so much when they come at me in ones and twos, but when they come mob-handed it's generally Energy Bomb time -- which is fine until the next bunch appear!

This is when you use the rear laser. The nice things about being chased are:
- they are trying to keep themselves in your rear sights;
- they get spread out so only the nearest can attack you;
- you get to take out the fastest in the group first;
- if they do fire a missile at you, you have ages to shoot it or ECM it and if it hits you, the kinetic energy is reduced (actually, I have no recollection of ever being hit by a missile fired by a ship that was chasing me).

Albee wrote:

CapnSkweek wrote:

Some of the guys here, McLane, El Viejo, SandJ, others, they may have been making kills since Elite came out in '84, who knows. It's really hard to compare your numbers or my numbers to theirs when we've only been doing this for a few weeks versus them having done it for several *years*.

Pirates too, I expect, the lot of 'em.

Pah! Going by the poll, most are not. Those kills came from bounty-hunting, self-defence or saving the multi-species from the alien menace.