[WIP] The Collector v0.4

[Nite Owl]

Have a look at GALCOP GALACTIC REGISTRY. It is an in game version of what was linked to in my previous post. There does tend to be an Assumption of Knowledge in some of the mission OXZs.

[Slartibartfast]

Hi

just looked in the download manager

there is no advice, that i need another oxp/z to solve this
( other osz are marked "brown" and download that automatic )

without knowing that - this converts to an (google)-text-adventure


btw.
same problem as in all other forums i've met
experienced users, didn't understand problems of new ones
especially, about "common known" shortcuts ( which are not common known by everybody )


matthias

[hiran]

Have a look at GALCOP GALACTIC REGISTRY. It is an in game version of what was linked to in my previous post. There does tend to be an Assumption of Knowledge in some of the mission OXZs.

Of course I can theck out the OXZ. Did you? There is a message in oolite.oxp.Norby.TheCollector.oxz/TheCollector_readme.txt saying

You should not dig into the included files if you do not want to cheat but enjoy a great play within the game.

Directly looking into the OXZ is cheating, and getting the information from someone who did could be assumed cheating as well.
So the question remains: How would a Jameson get the information without a godly act of injecting the information into his brain?

[Cholmondely]

Have a look at GALCOP GALACTIC REGISTRY. It is an in game version of what was linked to in my previous post. There does tend to be an Assumption of Knowledge in some of the mission OXZs.

Of course I can theck out the OXZ. Did you? There is a message in oolite.oxp.Norby.TheCollector.oxz/TheCollector_readme.txt saying

You should not dig into the included files if you do not want to cheat but enjoy a great play within the game.

Directly looking into the OXZ is cheating, and getting the information from someone who did could be assumed cheating as well.
So the question remains: How would a Jameson get the information without a godly act of injecting the information into his brain?

Well, I tried a year (or so) ago, and utterly failed. Flew off searching, and spend quite some time flying around the further reaches of the system to little avail, trying to work out what the directions really meant. Perhaps its time to give it another go...

That note of Norby's is rather Norbyish: I've found other notes of his tucked away, indicating how to keep things secret so as not to spoil dramatic surprises...

I do think that he's spot on.

The problem is that there are the plot secrets which militate against what one expects from the future technology (informational databases such as: The Galactic Almanac OXZ, Technical Reference Library & the GalCop Galactic Registry). To have both side-by-side is not so easy to manage!

[RockDoctor]

Download OOLITE GALAXY MAPS by phkb.

The wiki and also that URL is all 'outside the game'. I was wondering how the collector should be found with the hints given inside the game.
After all every now and then, when docking there is a screen telling me the same story over and over, and regardless whether I go straight for the question or I buy the escape pod I never get any additional clue.

Is it really the case that this mission is not solvable without information in the wiki or else?

That is a fair point.

I got annoyed with the OXZ after trying about 60 times to find the damned special station. So I uninstalled it, but I'm not in the correct galaxy with my current Jameson to check it again. As I recall, sometimes you get a "story" which includes mention of "an isolated section in the south east of this galaxy". And when you're in the right area the story changes again to "a nearby part of this galaxy". But it's been a while since I played it, so I may have the details wrong. It certainly was subtle in terms of clues, and I definitely had to google it before being able to see the clues in hindsight. In particular, the "Devil's Triangle" isn't particularly triangular.

Do the F7 "system data" screens mention the "galactic region" a system is in?

[hiran]

The wiki and also that URL is all 'outside the game'. I was wondering how the collector should be found with the hints given inside the game.
After all every now and then, when docking there is a screen telling me the same story over and over, and regardless whether I go straight for the question or I buy the escape pod I never get any additional clue.

Is it really the case that this mission is not solvable without information in the wiki or else?

That is a fair point.

I got annoyed with the OXZ after trying about 60 times to find the damned special station. So I uninstalled it, but I'm not in the correct galaxy with my current Jameson to check it again. As I recall, sometimes you get a "story" which includes mention of "an isolated section in the south east of this galaxy". And when you're in the right area the story changes again to "a nearby part of this galaxy". But it's been a while since I played it, so I may have the details wrong. It certainly was subtle in terms of clues, and I definitely had to google it before being able to see the clues in hindsight. In particular, the "Devil's Triangle" isn't particularly triangular.

Do the F7 "system data" screens mention the "galactic region" a system is in?

Well, in the meantime I did enough of spoilering so I found the necessary location to move on. It is a really nice idea.
But pity I was not able to figure out where/how to find it inside the matrix.

Maybe the hints one gets are sparse and subtle. That could be part of the gameplay then. So the general advice would have to be: Be patient.

But it is also annoying that if the hints are subtle you cannot go back to the space bar and talk to the person again, you cannot lookup how the conversation went last time so you either take notes or you may get bored as you do not notice the hints had changed after such a long time you saw the last one.

[Cody]

... take notes...

If you're not aware, you can do that in-game using Library's P.A.D. and the Captain's Log.

[Cholmondely]

... take notes...

If you're not aware, you can do that in-game using Library's P.A.D. and the Captain's Log.

There is also Planner.

BUT: they all seem to be a bit of a pain in the unmentionables - when you want to correct something, you have to delete everything you have written back to that point - and then retype it all.

[Cody]

... they all seem to be a bit of a pain in the unmentionables - when you want to correct something, you have to delete everything you have written back to that point - and then retype it all.

Ah, I see! I've not really used it, and I believe it was still a WIP. I'll check it out later.

[hiran]

... take notes...

If you're not aware, you can do that in-game using Library's P.A.D. and the Captain's Log.

Let me think about it.

I dock on a station. To my surprise (it happens too rarely to be predictable) I see some screen telling me something about the space bar.
I read something about the collector, which just looks about the stuff I had already read. At that time I can only press Enter.

So when I have the opportunity to write something into in-game documentation like P.A.D. or the Captain's log I have to refer to my fading memory.
OR I choose to not press enter, grap pen and paper and take notes while the message is on the screen.

You see the difference?

[Cholmondely]

... take notes...

If you're not aware, you can do that in-game using Library's P.A.D. and the Captain's Log.

Let me think about it.

I dock on a station. To my surprise (it happens too rarely to be predictable) I see some screen telling me something about the space bar.
I read something about the collector, which just looks about the stuff I had already read. At that time I can only press Enter.

So when I have the opportunity to write something into in-game documentation like P.A.D. or the Captain's log I have to refer to my fading memory.
OR I choose to not press enter, grap pen and paper and take notes while the message is on the screen.

You see the difference?

Often with missions there is a reminder on the F5F5 screen if one goes looking for it:

[RockDoctor]

you cannot go back to the space bar and talk to the person again,

I get you, but that is very "real life".
Last week, I took a Friday afternoon pint in a flea-bitten, sawdust-floored bar with someone who liked their Ska. Wanted to ask them about rumours I'd heard about a new "Specials" CD ... but. Not there this week. That is very much the nature of "exudate'n'sawdust" bars, I'm both sad and happy to report.
Do brick'n'mortar shops still sell CD's? It's a few decades since I felt a need to investigate, and I really don't know.

[Cholmondely]

Do the F7 "system data" screens mention the "galactic region" a system is in?

Sorry, I missed this.

The F7 page doesn't. And I've yet seen no oxp's which add that information.

But the F6 screen has that information added to the top of the chart by the Distant Realms OXZ

[RockDoctor]

Hmm, do I have that OXZ installed? No. but I may have in the past. Whatever - hiran's point that it's a rarely displayed datum is perfectly fair. If people made more use of it (and therefore, it was accessible in-game), then it would more reasonable, but it's not, so it's not.

Were "galactic regions" in the original game? I don't remember them in the bad old days of 36kb of ELITEs.exe (for the solid model executable) and ELITEw.exe (for the wireframe version). They may have been mentioned in the accompanying novel ... which I hear about until I got a version of the game on a "£5 for 20 games" CD some time after Win95.

Time for my occasional check for OXZ updates.

[Cholmondely]

Hmm, do I have that OXZ installed? No. but I may have in the past. Whatever - hiran's point that it's a rarely displayed datum is perfectly fair. If people made more use of it (and therefore, it was accessible in-game), then it would more reasonable, but it's not, so it's not.

Were "galactic regions" in the original game? I don't remember them in the bad old days of 36kb of ELITEs.exe (for the solid model executable) and ELITEw.exe (for the wireframe version). They may have been mentioned in the accompanying novel ... which I hear about until I got a version of the game on a "£5 for 20 games" CD some time after Win95.

Time for my occasional check for OXZ updates.

No, they were not.

They were introduced as part of the creation of the maps - which led to creating regions and also space routes. See Maps and read the short paragraph about Clym Angus' Vector Maps - and then click the link to the discussion back here on the BB and you will see exactly what happened. Capt Solo produced his own maps with his own regions.

But: the regions are all over the place - you just need to look. Phkb included them in his map/database for your browser, as well as in his excellent GalCop Galactic Registry.

If you've not had a good look at his GalCop Galactic Registry or at LittleBear's Galactic Almanac OXZ, do so. The Galactic Almanac is still a work-in-progress, but, dear to your heart (one presumes) he's including geological content in his planetary descriptions!



Gallery:
Clym Angus's Vector Map
Capt Solo's Map - for legend to Capt Solo's regions & routes
Phkb's Map/Database
Phkb's GalCop Galactic Registry

Clym Angus's Vector Map:


Capt Solo's Map:


Phkb's Map/Database:


Phkb's GalCop Galactic Registry: