Oolite Bulletins

Posted: **Fri Dec 03, 2021 4:05 pm**

arquebus wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 3:50 pm

another_commander wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 10:18 am
Bottom line: Good stuff overall, but it would probably be better if you had added OXPs with full awareness of what each one of them does. That normally translates to adding them one at a time and familiarizing yourself with the changes each one brings to the game.
I did that with Skyrim. Ended up not playing for more than a few minutes for almost a month.

I enjoy my way better.

I approached Oolite the way that you approached Skyrim. I knew that I was not interested in even more ships, but that I was interested in stations & equipment (but not more weapons). And so I slowly added, until during a conversation with Stranger I decided that I should give his "World" a go. I have never looked back. But this was over months.

But I don't expect that everybody else will share my approach. The essence of Oolite to me is choice - and that includes choosing how you make your choices.

I enjoy filling out the wiki, but I can't expect everybody to want to read it!

By the way Arquebus, you might like to have a look at the Rough Guide to the Ooniverse. A lot of it is by Disembodied, who is a past master at this sort of thing. You have so far been at Lave, Zaonce, Tionisla, Isinor, Aronar & Isence(?).

Posted: **Fri Dec 03, 2021 5:31 pm**

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 4:05 pm
I approached Oolite the way that you approached Skyrim. I knew that I was not interested in even more ships, but that I was interested in stations & equipment (but not more weapons). And so I slowly added, until during a conversation with Stranger I decided that I should give his "World" a go. I have never looked back. But this was over months.

My problem is that I want everything! I want all the ships, all the weapons, all of it all of it. I don't actually expect to interact with 90% of what I add, but I like having the "expanded universe" available to me. My first day playing around with Oolite I installed about 300 OXPs (most of them ships, equipment and weapons, plus ambience). First day. And the only game-breaking issues I've had are with one of the cargo mods (causes the game to crash on load) and one of the AI ship formation mods (causes significant stuttering). There are lots of goofy interactions between some of the mods I have - I do know that things are interfering in places, but it's never unrecoverable. My tolerance level for "bugs" is *incredibly* high. I play Early Access titles on Steam almost exclusively.

(This is why you will never hear me complain about "bugs" I come across in Oolite during my playthrough. I might note the issue, and wonder if there's a workaround, but I'll never get annoyed or upset at the bug.)

I enjoy filling out the wiki, but I can't expect everybody to want to read it!

I greatly appreciate your effort here. I've done the same sort of thing with other games, physical and digital. (I maintain the only remaining and longest-running archive site for the tabletop space combat game Babylon 5 Wars, for example.)

you might like to have a look at the Rough Guide to the Ooniverse. A lot of it is by Disembodied, who is a past master at this sort of thing. You have so far been at Lave, Zaonce, Tionisla, Isinor, Aronar & Isence(?).

I will check it out right now!

Posted: **Sat Dec 04, 2021 4:20 am**

another_commander wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 8:54 am
I see you have installed Custom Shields, amongst others.

Turns out... I don't! There may be another oxp that mimics that behavior, but I definitely don't have that specific oxp installed.

Edit: never mind, I do. It's under the Ambience list, which is why I missed it.

Posted: **Sat Dec 04, 2021 9:22 pm**

Just finished Episode 8.

Maintenance
If you have not already worked it out, you should have done your maintenance at Xexedi (TL14).

Higher TL means that the maintenance lasts lo-o-onger. No differences in price.

Poor maintenance means

1) more misjumps/Thargoid encounters
2) more being stranded massive distances from the witchpoint buoy
3) fuel leaks (no fuel for injectors when you arrive!)
4) possible reason for your continual masslocks in the middle of nowhere (with nobody visible on the Telescope MFD or visible on your scanner).

The last is probably the result of one of your 400+ oxp's.

Fines (no docking clearance/no visa)
These go up as your unspent money reserves go up. If you have a ship full of 2,000,000 ₢ of platinum, gems, furs and luxuries and a feeble 5 ₢ left over in cash, the fines are a pathetic fraction of your 5₢.

If you have an empty ship with 5,000₢ in cash, you will pay 100-200₢ in fines (equivalent fraction of your 5,000₢).

Docking Computers & ILS
Docking Computers (1,500₢) let you dock immediately (but take 20mins of game time to do so) if you have the required visas (or don't need them for the system). No waiting.

ILS is different (50₢). ILS also lets you dock without waiting, but I never figured out how...

References:
Maintenance
ILS
Docking Computers

Entertainment while you wait...
I think that the instructions to wait in front of the landing buoy are just on automatic repeat, and come irrespective of your position...

Posted: **Sat Dec 04, 2021 9:48 pm**

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Sat Dec 04, 2021 9:22 pm
Just finished Episode 8.

Maintenance
If you have not already worked it out, you should have done your maintenance at Xexedi (TL14).

Higher TL means that the maintenance lasts lo-o-onger. No differences in price.

I knew I should have done it at Xexedi but I didn't realize it affects the duration! I really like that. I mean it sucks for me! But I really like that bit of detail. I can't remember why I didn't do it at Xexedi... I think maybe because I was under a time crunch for the mission? Not sure.

Fines (no docking clearance/no visa)
These go up as your unspent money reserves go up. If you have a ship full of 2,000,000 ₢ of platinum, gems, furs and luxuries and a feeble 5 ₢ left over in cash, the fines are a pathetic fraction of your 5₢.

That's what I was assuming - it looked like the total went up as my cash on hand went up. Good to have confirmation.

Docking Computers (1,500₢) let you dock immediately (but take 20mins of game time to do so) if you have the required visas (or don't need them for the system). No waiting.

Is this the same as the Fast Docking hotkey?

I think that the instructions to wait in front of the landing buoy are just on automatic repeat, and come irrespective of your position...

That's too bad! It really seemed like it made a difference if I got into the right position - the message changed, but I still didn't have clearance, I was just told to wait. But then I couldn't reproduce that situation after the first few times.

Posted: **Sat Dec 04, 2021 9:51 pm**

One thing I would love to see as an OXP is having the fines be fixed, and specific to the system. And if you don't have the cash on hand to dock, they take all the money you do have and then force-sell goods to pay the rest, and if that doesn't cover it, they just boot you back out of the station.

Posted: **Sat Dec 04, 2021 10:15 pm**

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Sat Dec 04, 2021 10:15 pm

arquebus wrote: ↑Sat Dec 04, 2021 9:48 pm
Maintenance
I knew I should have done it at Xexedi but I didn't realize it affects the duration! I really like that. I mean it sucks for me! But I really like that bit of detail. I can't remember why I didn't do it at Xexedi... I think maybe because I was under a time crunch for the mission? Not sure.
You didn't do it, because it was on the F3 shipyard screen, and you skipped the page it was on. Lots of pages in high tech systems, easy to do. When you need it, it appears as orange - the only thing that ever does...
Docking Computers (1,500₢) let you dock immediately (but take 20mins of game time to do so) if you have the required visas (or don't need them for the system). No waiting for 17 ships to faff about...
Is this the same as the Fast Docking hotkey?
Spot on, old boy! Another option is to turn "docking protocol" off back on the game options screen either at start up - and possibly by hitting the F2 button either when docked, or while the game is paused
It really seemed like it made a difference if I got into the right position - the message changed, but I still didn't have clearance, I was just told to wait. But then I couldn't reproduce that situation after the first few times.
I tend to aim my ship directly along the red/yellow/green traffic lights so that I directly face the station dock.

Posted: **Sat Dec 04, 2021 10:39 pm**

arquebus wrote: ↑Sat Dec 04, 2021 9:48 pm
I think maybe because I was under a time crunch for the mission?

If you're running against the clock, that's when those minutes saved by docking manually start to count.

Posted: **Sat Dec 04, 2021 11:14 pm**

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Sat Dec 04, 2021 10:15 pm
You didn't do it, because it was on the F3 shipyard screen, and you skipped the page it was on. Lots of pages in high tech systems, easy to do. When you need it, it appears as orange - the only thing that ever does...

That must have been it, I can never remember which screen it's on, F3 or F4!

Posted: **Sun Dec 05, 2021 11:59 am**

Beefing up your ship.

Don't know about the lasers or missiles, I only play with the Vanilla game + Vimana laser (Vimana laser is a "cheat", I think, since the NPC's probably don't get it).

But:

Physical Armour

1) Ironhide Armour (+ IronHide Military Upgrade) add physical armour to your ship (this oxp is modified by HardShips below).
- costs money to fix when damaged

2) Boxes, Very Very Hard noses, Emergency generators et al - loads of bally stuff - see HardShips

Better recharge of shields

1) EEU/Extra Energy Unit & NEU/Naval Energy Unit - more energy for them
- Vanilla game code

2) Forward & Aft Shield Capacitors - more energy for them
- Shield Equalizer And Capacitors OXP

3) Energy Grid & Naval Energy Grid - faster energy for them
- Naval Grid OXP

4) Shield Equalizer - juggles energy between fore & aft shields
- Shield Equalizer And Capacitors OXP

Better shields

1) Shield Boosters & Military Shield Enhancement
- Vanilla game code

Fixing Equipment
1) Self-Repair System (SRS on Vimana HUD)/Repair Nanobots
- Repair Bots OXP
These work at random - you can't tell them to fix your shields - they may prefer to start fixing your ship's cat... and you can't stop them! Repair Nanobots (primable, 1 fix only) are thus a waste unless every piece of equipment is valuable. The SRS - (automatic, 10 fixes) - is much better value for money (SRS Light - 5 fixes- is upgradable to SRS) - giving you 10 doses of Repair-bottery before running out.
Pro's: much cheaper than shipyard repairs (except for the ship's cat),
Con's: takes time while flying. shipyards take game time but not gaming time. Complex equipment usually takes longer to repair. These bots do not do maintenance.

2) Engine Repair Bots: Can fix damaged Injectors & Broken Engines within a minute, to help survive and run from a bad situation. Need 1TC of Machinery for each fix.
- HardShips OXP

3) Towbar Repair Bot: Can fix a broken towbar once. Repair starts automatically when needed. The bot cannot repair a destroyed towbar.
- Towbar OXP

Posted: **Sun Dec 05, 2021 12:10 pm**

arquebus wrote: ↑Sat Dec 04, 2021 9:51 pm
One thing I would love to see as an OXP is having the fines be fixed, and specific to the system. And if you don't have the cash on hand to dock, they take all the money you do have and then force-sell goods to pay the rest, and if that doesn't cover it, they just boot you back out of the station.

Write it!

The fines come either the Vanilla game code or the Diplomancy OXP. You would need to work out how to override the Diplomancy oxp, but overriding the Vanilla game code should be easy if you have any programming skills...

Reference:
OXP howto
Oolite Docking Clearance Protocol (v1.72 or later)

Posted: **Sun Dec 05, 2021 4:24 pm**

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Sun Dec 05, 2021 12:10 pm
The fines come either the Vanilla game code or the Diplomancy OXP. You would need to work out how to override the Diplomancy oxp, but overriding the Vanilla game code should be easy if you have any programming skills...

I do not.

But I may give it a shot at some point!

Posted: **Mon Dec 06, 2021 12:57 am**

Just seen #11. Enjoyable. Thank you for taking the trouble!

My combat skills are lousy. And when I'm in combat, I can't see the mistakes which I make - it's all too fast. The super thing about your films, is that I can see the mistakes which you make - which seem jolly similar to mine.

Is there any chance that you could please put up the one where you got massively marmalised by the boojums? I think that I might just learn something from it...

Issues.

Most of the points you raised I can't help with, sorry, but you should buy the Extra Energy Unit if you have not already done so. It pretty much doubles the effectiveness of your shields. And a couple of missiles might keep the chaps with the fuel injectors away from you when you run. They are pretty cheap - and might even pay for themselves if you collect bounties from their use. And I'd also buy another fuel tank - just in case. Once your first missile/pylon is armed, "y" toggles between them.

Combat MFD details are here: I find it quite confusing, and much prefer the targeting module which you also bought. I think that the MFD's can only show text, hence the contortions of the Star System Lane Indicator MFD below:

And also why I find the Vimana HUD so good (HUDs can do things that MFD's can't).

The version of the CommsLog that you downloaded was mine - that's why the locutions are so peculiar... I was trying to give Digebiti (home to English aristocrats) some flavour... and got, just a tad, carried away... Sorry

I am amazed that your HOTAS does not work. I thought it was just an AppleMac issue, and that Windows worked perfectly. It took me 18 months before I could get my Thrustmaster to work with my AppleMac, and my CH throttle still doesn't. I am convinced that that is because the CH throttle is programmable (the joystick isn't). The Thrustmaster is - and nobody gave the instructions as to how to emasculate the programming to let the jolly thing work normally.

Posted: **Mon Dec 06, 2021 1:33 am**

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Mon Dec 06, 2021 12:57 am
Is there any chance that you could please put up the one where you got massively marmalised by the boojums? I think that I might just learn something from it...

Unfortunately I didn't keep the video. I'm sure I'll run into something like that again, though!

Most of the points you raised I can't help with, sorry, but you should buy the Extra Energy Unit if you have not already done so. It pretty much doubles the effectiveness of your shields.

I will do that, then! I didn't realize it impacted shields, I couldn't pay attention to the energy level during the fights.

Combat MFD details are here: I find it quite confusing, and much prefer the targeting module which you also bought.

Yes, I do like it more. I only wish there were a way to get a rough estimate of how badly you're hurting the other guy.

The version of the CommsLog that you downloaded was mine - that's why the locutions are so peculiar... I was trying to give Digebiti (home to English aristocrats) some flavour... and got, just a tad, carried away... Sorry

I absolutely love the flavor text for all the ships. It's very immersive.

I am amazed that your HOTAS does not work. I thought it was just an AppleMac issue, and that Windows worked perfectly.

I can get the stick to work but not the throttle. Mine is a Logitech Saitek X56. The game recognizes both (and the log shows that it sees two devices) but I can only assign the stick controls. The throttle controls don't register. And if I have my gamepad attached as well, I can assign to the stick and the gamepad but still not to the throttle. So there's something peculiar going on there.

Posted: **Mon Dec 06, 2021 6:55 am**

arquebus wrote: ↑Mon Dec 06, 2021 1:33 am
I can get the stick to work but not the throttle. Mine is a Logitech Saitek X56. The game recognizes both (and the log shows that it sees two devices) but I can only assign the stick controls. The throttle controls don't register. And if I have my gamepad attached as well, I can assign to the stick and the gamepad but still not to the throttle. So there's something peculiar going on there.

Does the throttle work correctly with other games? It looks like there might be a joystick driver issue there.

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