Oolite Bulletins

The perimeter beacons can actually be made to show up as beacons in the advanced-compass.

In their shipdata.plist entry add something like the following:-The fist letter of the string will show up in the compass alongside the triangular beacon marker (like N for the Nav buoy, and the W for the Withchpoint beacon).

As to model counts - you could consider making small groups of graves into single models (but ships wouldn't be able to fly between them), adding a few large asteroids decorated with small monuments dotted over their surface (in the same way the hermitage is attached to the rock hermit asteroid), and possibly reducing the overall size of the graveyard slightly.

One of the key things that affects the FPS is collision detection, this gets more expensive when objects are within 6x their maximum diameter of each other - keeping monuments small will help, but in addition I'll add a special routine to scripting so that you can add objects to an area but will try to keep them spaced far enough apart enough not to trigger deep collision detection.

Hmmm... In The Dark Wheel, the graveyard is described as a doble spiral, slowly rotating. That possibility is in-game off, I guess, because everything should be interconnected (so forget adding stuff easily etc...)
Further, its a dodecahedron station 'below' the yard, so, as the description is from viewingpoint from the sun towards planet, that should be a station closer to planet.

Furthermore... looks like it's restricted for ships, you should enter the station and then you get a 'small slow, cumbersome tourship'

that *can* be coded, I guess, but should we? better stick with buoys and patrolling-ships?

Selezen, your buoy reminds me of WWII era sea-mines,

(sweats!) Yes it's hot here too.

The tube extension on the Krait is meant to be a turbocharged primarymover.


I think my station is fairly basic? It's just a octagon, with bits missing. (the docking-port (4), and the window-faces(8 ))

......./\
...../__\
.../.<>.\
...\____/
.....\.../
......\/
In essence a double piramid, very solemn.

I dont like the black marble-skin idea, but if others want I can easily make it darker. May even add some freezes .


Maybe we should use the behaviour of asteroids for the tombs, they do tumble, right?

Rxke wrote:

I'm assembling some stuff, right now (AI's mostly) but it's sooooo hot in here (37°C, sigh...)

Tell me about it. I have an open window and two fans, but all they are doing is blowing hot air around.

Rxke wrote:

(Off, taking a look at Selezen's work)

That won't take long!!!

Between fixing websites and trying to get a forum working at work today, I have had a bit of a play with the shipdata and script plists.

All I have done is duplicate what's there and set it to the correct locations and make room for three monument models (50 of each), plus the central station and six beacons.

Trouble is, now I need to learn how to place the objects in relation to each other. If anyone can help, please do, but I will try and find out through good old search on this forum.

I've been looking through a lot of the stuff on OOSAT, but can't find an example of relative positioning in the OXP files.

tumbling is no problem, question is: yes or no tumbling? I'm pro tumbling, it probably looks less static that way, but all tombs facing one way has something, too...
I think your tomb station looks good, but some people want to keep as close as posible to the original Elite stuf, if it has been documented... Maybe they can act as some sort of sub-stations, for the defense-fighters?

BTW: some tombs (if not all) will have defensive AI, to boot!

Giles: I like the asteroid with tombs idea, bit like the family graves.

But not so sure about downsizing... if it doesn't look huuuuge, it quickly looks pathetic...

Thanks for the info on collision detection. And the buoy info.

Selezen wrote:

Trouble is, now I need to learn how to place the objects in relation to each other. If anyone can help, please do, but I will try and find out through good old search on this forum

AFAIK, you can only use planet, witchpoint and sun as reference, simplest way is 0 0 0,5 dist sun-planet for centre, then x y 0,5 offsets

to get a stricter layout, you'll have to use metres as distance instead of the 0,5 I think, that'll be some guesswork... what's the distance sun planet?

so, 0 0 0.5 for dodeca, then the six a bit loer to the planet (>0.5 if you use sun-planet coordinates, etc...

OK, i've posted my current versions of the script and shipdata files at my site.

That beacon does look like a mine, now you mention it. Mind you, it could be a good deterrant...

I've incorporated Giles' comments into the script file.

Comments and ideas would be appreciated.

I like the idea of all the monuments facing the sun - sort of symbolic. Also, it might make it easier to render? And also would be creepier to fly through.

if the dark wheel say it's a dodo, then a dodo it is.

How far from the planet is the station?

So far, for the main dodo, it could be represented as
addShipsAt: dodec 1 psm 0 0 100000000

The beacons could be
addShipsAt: beacon 1 psm 0 0 100025000
addShipsAt: beacon 1 psm 0 12500 100037500
addShipsAt: beacon 1 psm 0 -12500 100037500
addShipsAt: beacon 1 psm 0 -12500 100050000
addShipsAt: beacon 1 psm 0 12500 100050000
addShipsAt: beacon 1 psm 0 0 100067500

Does that sound about right? Then the monuments can fit between
x: -125000 to 125000 and z: 1000025000 to 10000675000

and be scattered about the y plane as desired.

I may need more zeroes in there.

Wait one... Selezen, you don't have Oolite running? How do you test your stuff then?
(impressed)

Hmmm... (I'll go and hunt for open brackets, no idea what's causing this...)

I've just added a sample rendering from Wings to the main Oolite page on my site.

http://www.hughesd.co.uk/elite/content/ ... onisla.asp

It's a test of a derelict ship skin.

Folllwing Rxke's feedback on the beacon, I might try and design a better one tonight. When I'm not at work.

Rxke wrote:

Wait one... Selezen, you don't have Oolite running? How do you test your stuff then?
(impressed)

I haven't tested a damn thing since I started this. I'm flying blind!! I have no idea if anything will work!

I've been relying on reading comprehension for the designing.

The scripts I've posted probably will not work, as they will require incorporating into an OXP to work (along with the relevant models, textures etc). I'm just posting them to see if the logic is right.

I may install the PC version tonight to see if I can get it running.

Got the ship.plist sorted. I'll send you the new stuff (basically too much commas)
when I get the shipdata.plist going...

it runs!

except for the expected gazillions they get spawned, allright, got 206 object... and a steady 4 fps. That's not good, because I didn't get that with my hack, when I was fairly far away from the Yard. so they're probably too close together or something... Sadly, I can't tell, because I saw nothing. flying from the sun to the planet, nada.
(are they invisible because of no models (verrrry likely) but then what causes the drain on computer? (still calculating stuff that's not visible, myguess.)

so, i'll make some quick copies of the original tombs, rename them to gravemonument 1 (2,3...) and fly out again, see if i can see something.

Soooo... so far so good... (I'll send the plists rightaway, then tonight upload new version of oxp with your stuff to yahoogroup, maybe by then other stuff gets added by other people (hinthint)

update. Aha!

I mistakenly thought you put the yard between sun/planet, so i looked at the wrong place.

put less monuments in, to make my machine run a bit cooler
And, lo and behold! Monuments! In different shapes!
But very weird monuments, with blinkenlights around it, floating in space

But it's working. Now trying to find the station...

(uploaded version 2 of oxp to yahoogroups, with some screenshots in that map.)

Woohoo!! I installed Oolite PC and got it to work. No idea what to do in the game though. Now I have to download the key guide!

Now...how to install oxps...

YaY!

Be double sure to give the nice people sweating over the ports some feedback and (touch wood) bugnotifications!