Oolite Bulletins

Slartibartfast wrote: ↑Sun Jun 26, 2022 9:08 am

Hi Alucard

have you read the here 5 or 6 post above?

matthias

Sorry I must have missed your earlier post

Thanks to those who posted problems with the Goods Container OXP.

A few seem to be having trouble installing the pods... so I should reiterate that if the "Fitting goods container #..." message doesn't appear, you should go and unmount and sell all pylon mounted weapons and try again. I had already drawn attention to this anomaly further up in this thread, but it bears repeating.

And once again I have no idea why this step is necessary, but it is in some cases (especially after purchasing a new ship).

And since one is not meant to 'fire' or 'jettison' a Goods Container in flight once installed, please don't hold me responsible for any strange behaviour or side-effects or 'nice feature' that might result

I have no intention of covering this eventuality in any future update. The containers work just fine for me in Oolite 1.90, and that's all I really care about

Edit: I always carry Goods Containers, so testing has been, and continues to be, exhaustive. Some of the "bugs" reported may be conflicts with other OXPs, even badly implemented non-core-game ships, so if your attempts to fit these cannisters persistently fail (even after selling and unmounting your pylons), please try my OXP with a 'barebones' instance of Oolite, adding maybe just Elite Trader and FE Ships Player to start, and see what happens.

D.R. of X.

An addendum to my last:

The base object for these containers is indeed a weapon - they are technically Quirium Cascade Mines (something I just 'fished out of the pool blind', so to speak). And their 'behaviour' is doubtless still in place. So it goes without saying that if you are sporting them, you should be running with weapons offline to avoid accidents.

However, should you be attacked/swarmed by miscreants, unable to inject away in time, I suppose you may drop one.

But if you thereby happen to kill more than three of the blighters, or indeed everyone else in range, you will certainly be accounted a very bad Brother indeed, finding yourself shunned by the Guild.

Then only a vow of penance will bring you back into the fold...

But at least you might come out of it with some extra tonnage for your craft (if one of the above reports is to be believed - though that didn't happen for me when I tried it).

Trade well!

D.R. of X.

[RELEASE]: Goods Container 20 TC - price 20,000 cr (tech level 6+).

The 20-ton Goods Container is now downloadable from the Wiki and from the in-game Expansions Manager.

This large cannister may be available at Zaonce, Isinor, Qutiri, Isence, or Lerelace, but you'll definitely find it at the Xexedi shipyard.

Estimated fitting time: more than 2 days.

NB. Since Goods Containers are technically classed as 'mines', they are not to be 'dropped' in flight! And you are advised to run with weapons offline while carrying them.

As a precautionary step prior to purchasing any Goods Container, please "unmount and sell all pylon mounted weapons" in the shipyard first. You will see a message confirming your container installation if all goes well, and then you may verify your ship's increased capacity on the Market screen.

A few examples, using FE Ships as a baseline:

20-ton Container:

Adder FE: 15 TC base + cargo bay extension = 30 TC + 1x Goods Container = 50 TC.

Krait FE: 17 TC base + 4x Goods Containers = 97 TC.

Viper II FE: 30 TC base + cargo bay extension = 45 TC + 3x Goods Containers = 105 TC.

Cobra Mk 3 FE: 55 TC base + cargo bay extension = 70 TC + 4x Goods Containers = 150 TC.

Detailed specifics and photos HERE

Trade Well!

D.R. of X.

Addendum:

The 5, 10, and 20 ton variants can of course all be 'mixed and matched' - just do the "unmount and sell" shuffle prior to adding a new container if you need to, then remount. Most of your initial outlay will be reimbursed. Regarding the 'shuffle', high likelihood is, if you have already done it once in the current game session, you will not need to do it again.

A note on the size of a 20-foot (6 m) Goods Container

The '20 TC' Goods Container's dimensions are as follows:

6.10m long x 2.44m wide x 2.59m high

That is to say, equal to the standard downworld size for this class of transport container.

Taking the Cobra III FE's quoted hull dimensions of 130 x 34 x 81 metres, it is not hard to see that a 20-ton Goods Container's external profile is negligible - just a small bump/bulge on the underside of the craft: only a little larger than the missile or mine it replaces.

Downworld, a 6 m container’s unloaded weight is 2,300 kg and can, in theory, be loaded to a maximum weight of 28 tons (25,400 kg). However, this generally depends in large part on possible restrictions and/or limitations of the shipping line, the nature of the cargo, and specific details of the shipment.

In the vacuum of space there is of course no weight - only mass and volume. A recent G.E.T. feasibility study has shown that there would be no impediment to developing Containers of 30, 40, 50, and 100 tons. As a result, their go-ahead has been given to the FE Shipyards to proceed with production.

Detailed specifics and photos HERE

Watch this space for news.

Trade Well!

D.R. of X.

An Important Note on Future Packaging

I shall no longer be posting updates via the Oolite Expansions Manager. Instead, all future downloads will be in plain OXP 'wrappers', obtainable via relevant pages on the Oolite Wiki.

Regrettably, I have experienced the OXZ format and update process as excessively finicky, long-winded, and error-prone. In short, it is not an enjoyable nor indeed efficient method of expansion-pack distribution, in my opinion.

The OXZ packages of all my offerings will be removed on a timetable yet to be decided. Meanwhile, the existing OXZs will remain available via the in-game expansions list, but no more updating of these will occur.

So, please keep your eyes on both the Bulletin Board and Wiki pages for zipped OXP updates of Elite Trader, Goods Containers, FE Ships, and GETter HUD, which henceforward will be more frequent and include Preview versions as soon as code is judged stable enough for release.

Installation of a plain OXP is simplicity itself: Just unzip to Oolite-->AddOns.

Trade Well!
D.R. of X.

FE Shipyards is proud to announce the introduction of our Iteration 2 line of Goods Containers. I-2 Containers are larger, more durable and more reliable than their I-1 counterparts, and have an expected useful lifetime of 40-65 Lave years.

The initial manufacturing phase is already in progress, turning out I-2 containers in the 20 to 50 TC range for immediate preferential trial by traders.

Obtain your I-2 Container Class licences HERE today.



Picture: Useful information on installed Container classes, along with a fee-exemption request letter, via the F4 Interfaces.

Trade well!

D.R. of X. (FE Shipyards Technical Director)

Older (I-1) container classes have been removed from the Expansions Manager.

All new I-2 Container class licences are obtainable exclusively HERE. (this is where you will always find them henceforward, and in OXP wrappers - ie. zipped - only. Goodbye and good riddance to OXZs!).

Trade well!

D.R. of X. (Technical Director)

Reval wrote: ↑Sat Nov 19, 2022 7:54 pm

Older (I-1) container classes have been removed from the Expansions Manager.

All new I-2 Container class licences are obtainable exclusively HERE. (this is where you will always find them henceforward, and in OXP wrappers - ie. zipped - only. Goodbye and good riddance to OXZs!).

Trade well!

D.R. of X. (Technical Director)

Ahem! Of course, if you keep everything on the Expansions Manager, then you can include a meta-OXP which downloads everything needed for your variant of Oolite. (As far as I can ascertain, the only true variants are yours, Strangers World and the two unfinished SOTL scenarios.)

I admit that updating the Expansion Manager is a major pain in the unmentionables. Hence my unwillingness to subject myself to its torments just to mildly update the Hints & Addons for Beginners (Vital Statistics). I have a major update for Addons for Beginners (Vital Statistics) in hand if I can ever sort out those £₢%!%@₢!$£@%&%£₢!! shiplibrary.plists, but I see little point in entering the morass for anything lesser.

I know. The primary cause of my abandoning OXZs was exactly that pain in the...

I find I am far more productive without all that hassle in the back of my mind. I can release previews and final versions how and when I want, without 'registering' them. I don't even like the idea of the 'final release' - I like to keep everything fluid and flexible. A WIP, in effect.

And as to meta-OXZs, I wouldn't even know where (or how) to begin. And even if I did solve the conundrum of how to create them, I would still be hidebound to the 'final release', where things remain frozen and petrified.

[RELEASE] Goods Containers 10-50 TC (2.0 - meta-pack)

Goods Containers (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 TC Classes) are now available for download via the Oolite Expansions Manager and from the Wiki as an all-inclusive package (meta-pack).

FE Shipyards is proud to announce the introduction of our Iteration 2 line of Goods Containers. I-2 Containers are larger, more durable and more reliable than their I-1 counterparts, and have an expected useful lifetime of 40-65 Lave years.

The initial manufacturing phase is already in progress, turning out I-2 containers in the 10 to 50 TC range for immediate preferential trial by traders with more than one Lave year on our customer lists, and all Guilders of Grade 1 and above.

Our services to you, our regular and valued customer, extend to on-Station information displays of charges levied, number of containers of a particular class carried, other useful data, and for all FE shipowners and Elite Trader Guilders the privileged option to waive all handling and dismantling fees.

Trade well!

D.R. of X.