Oolite Bulletins

Simon B wrote:

I have to make a lot of faces type "hole" which gets tedious ...

... because, of course, it is quite hard to type with your face... I just keep ending up with
kjhgiurbiuhvblrghvkdrsjgnbvksrvbhlukrvbhl rcnlrutvn nkrchtlrevtierut and key-impressions on my forehead.
Gah! Must....
find....
coffee....

Oooh - lots of downloads, some within minutes of uploading the zip.
So you'll all be frustrated since I just upgraded again...

http://www.box.net/shared/xblgi6b4af
... the cobras package has turned into a, sort-of, grab-bag of what took my fancy at the time. I've added an Aphid.

http://www.box.net/shared/pdm0zhlyxj
... the vipers collection got the glowy treatment.

Now i can focus on expanding the navy ships like I promised ages ago.
I suppose I should do something with stations...

Love it! Finally a good Aphid. Good Job.

I don't know if I've ever said it, Simon.. But some of your ships are just phenomenal. My Ooniverses would be much less colourful and interesting without them. Some days, they'd also be much easier to survive in. LOL

One ship of yours I keep running across in fights is I think the WETA FeA. It's the one that's chopped so you can see the sparkly/swirly torus drive (at least that's what I assume it is, since it looks like a torus). It's one of the ships in the Ooniverse where when I see it on the other side in a fight I have to go "Oh no.. Not again!"..LOL Shoot the crap out of it and there's a flash and maybe some plasma... and it's still there and still going! They can be brought down, but it definitely takes more work than most ships of it's size. I've never figured out if it's lost something frangible or has really weird shields or what. On the other hand, it looks cool enough that long dogfights against it are still pretty neat.

Anyway, great stuff.

Simon B wrote:

I suppose I should do something with stations...

Stations would be good

Ahhh yes: the FeA ships ... the Weta is basically a remodelled Asp - same stats but I think I gave the FeA version twin cannons.
A Weta is a large insect that lives in NZ bush, I'm always evicting them from my house. They look really scary, and they are agressive. It's also to trade name of the outfit that did the CGI for LotR. The pic on the side of that ship is a weta. Oh, and you're right, the torus thing is an exposed witchdrive ... the ship is a hot-rod. I'm quite pleased that people are getting it. I made a bluey torus that spins and put purple flashers around it strobing the opposite way. This was back when I thought to make a model for each ship equipment then assemble them into the ships and plant a hull around them.

The Maori ships look real primitive to me now. But I'd have thought the Taniwha's would be the ones to give you the willies? (3 military lasers cannot be good news...)




Stations: I've just drawn up a torus station ... the neolite coriolis should work well for this collection: shall I do one in materials so the non-shader people can have one too?

I've now looked up pics of the Weta insect, and I can say I am very glad I don't live in your part of the world! LOL I don't recall if I've run across a Taniwha. The Weta FeA ships turn up fairly often for me. But the number of lasers isn't always the big thing.

Visually, though, it being a hot-rod/chopper sort of design makes it a particularly cool ship to see in the game. I try not to pay too much attention to the raw specs, since I like getting to know the ships by encountering them in game. The Weta FeA sure doesn't feel like an Asp when you're going up against one (or more) of them. LOL I play with joystick, and in a Cobra MKIII, in the "precision" joystick mode, I can just about stay right on an Asp's tail. With a Weta, I have to keep toggling between precision and regular, so at the least a Weta seems a bit faster. My impression that it is much more durable, may come from it just being harder to keep in target reticule for any sustained period of time.

Mind you, don't take that as as a negative critique! There need to be ships that will really give a player a bit more of a run for the money, or Oolite becomes too much just a "shooting gallery" sort of game.

The first time I saw a Weta FeA and got close enough to get a good look at it, my thought was, "What the heck is.. Is that lunatic running with an exposed torus drive??" One usually assumes that in most ships, the torus drive is kept under some heavy shielding for a reason, and there's a certain impression one gets of a pilot who's flying something where it's bare. Radiation? Bah. They don't care, as long as it makes them fast enough to get you! The player perspective impression I had/have of the ship is that it's basically just a frame with engines, weapons, a minimal cockpit and a bare bit of hull over it for the sake of appearance. The sort of thing where you can think you shot it up pretty bad, but the owner can fix it back up with a few flattened out beverage cans and some fiberglass, duct tape and spray paint (ok, the space-age equivalents, but you get the idea) and be launching again, good as new, in less than an hour and be back on your tail with some friends that they have promised a keg party to celebrate your imminent demise.

Primitive, ok. But in a dangerous sort of way. But there is no reason why some ships out there might not be quite primitive, just as some are sleek and smooth, some look industrial, and etc. Different cultures, tech, and attitudes would pretty much mandate a lot of diversity.

Yeah, I know that ships are actually just some pretty graphics and a few variables, but I don't think of them that way when I play. It just wouldn't be any fun!

The ship (and most of the ships in the wakapiko OXP) has a lot of personality, it feels like there's a story to it and the (fictional) pilots. I've been thinking of trying a Weta FeA the next time I see one in the shipyard. I tried a Mako a while back, and they're a good ship, though the handling wasn't what I'm used to.

pagroove wrote:

Love it! Finally a good Aphid. Good Job.

I always liked the aphid - I think I forgot to add "escort" as a role though.

People should let me know if there are annoying conflicts ... the experimental package is the "navy" one, which will definitely unbalance the game (I dunno though, you may like the risk of a destroyer when you launch with narcotics - they are not fast?) But the aphid for eg could be a mk2 or a drop-in replacement... players choice, which do people like?

I sort-of like the idea of a SB's faves OXP for the stuff I have enjoyed fiddling with.
I suspect the katapo will get another makeover soon

Ganelon wrote:

I've now looked up pics of the Weta insect, and I can say I am very glad I don't live in your part of the world!

Not something you want to see sitting on your chest when you wake up in the morning, they can get as big as your hand but they are totally harmless - by comparison, across the ditch almost everything is completely lethal.

LOL I don't recall if I've run across a Taniwha.

It's in wakatoro I think ... a light cruiser, it has one to three nacelles and a laser each.

The Weta FeA ships turn up fairly often for me. But the number of lasers isn't always the big thing.

the frequency can be adjusted in the plist ... add a number less than 1 in brackets after the role.

The Weta FeA sure doesn't feel like an Asp when you're going up against one (or more) of them. My impression that it is much more durable, may come from it just being harder to keep in target reticule for any sustained period of time.

Or from being a multi-model ship marked nonfrangible.

Mind you, don't take that as as a negative critique! There need to be ships that will really give a player a bit more of a run for the money, or Oolite becomes too much just a "shooting gallery" sort of game.

Well this is what I'm trying for - since the ships are just graphics on a set of stats, I can make a ship do anything and look like anything doing it ... so I want to make stuff that adds to the feel of the game.

There are OXPs out there that add very fast ships that carry a lot of cargo but that just makes the game boring. Sure I can make an anaconda with speed of 1000, piled with turrets, and manoeverable to boot ... and it would be fun for about an hour or so tops. Just like I can edit the save file and give myself millions of credits and instantly make the game uninteresting. I'd like to have more detailed behavior controls in the scripts so scripted fighters can duke it out in duels ... allowing designers to compete on AIs. Right now I'm trying to work out how to script in a set message when a ship is hit by fire ... like each hit and he says "ow" or "please don't, there are females and sprogs on board" ...something.

The first time I saw a Weta FeA and got close enough to get a good look at it, my thought was, "What the heck is.. Is that lunatic running with an exposed torus drive??"

Well thank you, you've made my day That is exactly the reaction I was looking for.
Thus we may see an update.... I did ultra-smooth models for the Namu and Mako a while ago but OOlite couldn't render them.

One usually assumes that in most ships, the torus drive is kept under some heavy shielding for a reason, and there's a certain impression one gets of a pilot who's flying something where it's bare. Radiation? Bah. They don't care, as long as it makes them fast enough to get you! The player perspective impression I had/have of the ship is that it's basically just a frame with engines, weapons, a minimal cockpit and a bare bit of hull over it for the sake of appearance. The sort of thing where you can think you shot it up pretty bad, but the owner can fix it back up with a few flattened out beverage cans and some fiberglass, duct tape and spray paint (ok, the space-age equivalents, but you get the idea) and be launching again, good as new, in less than an hour and be back on your tail with some friends that they have promised a keg party to celebrate your imminent demise.

Yeah - it would go well with the Tigers OXP.

Note: FeA is what I called the souped up versions ... so the Weta FeA is a souped up Asp. there is a Namu FeA as well. "Fe" means "Iron" right, so the "A" stands for ...?

Primitive, ok. But in a dangerous sort of way. But there is no reason why some ships out there might not be quite primitive, just as some are sleek and smooth, some look industrial, and etc. Different cultures, tech, and attitudes would pretty much mandate a lot of diversity.

Not what I meant ... I meant the modelling approach and shaders are primitive compared with how I do things now.

The ship (and most of the ships in the wakapiko OXP) has a lot of personality, it feels like there's a story to it and the (fictional) pilots.

I think some people found the Maori-theming evocative ... there's a thread around here someplace describing the back-story and concepts.

I tried a Mako a while back, and they're a good ship, though the handling wasn't what I'm used to.

That one was an original ship: started out as a Cobra mk4 ... in between the mkIII and a Supercobra. They were all originally replacements for the core ships and people here objected to just keeping the names so I changed them, and reskinned to suit.

The fighters are all named for insects. The cobras and fdl replacements are named for sharks.
The taniwha is an original ship - named for a kind of guardian-spirit-of-the-land ... usually thought of as a dragon.
A "waka" is a canoe - a generic name for boats and ships. "Piko" means "small" and "toro" means big.

Not what I meant ... I meant the modelling approach and shaders are primitive compared with how I do things now.

Understood. But I still have to say they look good, and they "fit", even when encountered with ships from other sets. As a player, I don't find the difference too jarring. They're believable. But don't take that as in any way discouraging a rework if sometime you feel so inclined. You come up with some really excellent ideas. I like the backstory, the innovations, it is good depth.

the frequency can be adjusted in the plist ... add a number less than 1 in brackets after the role.

Well, sure. But as you mentioned yourself, too much "tweaking" can make the game boring, especially if one is making it easier. I rarely if ever tweak ships. I figure they are somebody's creation, they're art. I like to at least assume that the designer gave a lot of thought to everything including the specs. I like to appreciate it for what it is. If I actually end up flying one, I may put a decal on it and/or "christen" it with a name to personalise my particular one.. But stats, structure and etc are things I prefer to leave alone.

Besides, I feel there should always be some ships, small as well as large, that can be a bit of trouble. Where a player sees some blips on the scanner go red, does some ident and thinks "Uh-oh..This will take a bit of work."

I'm not complaining about the Weta FeA (yup, I'd already figured out FeA way back when I first installed the OXP and started running into them). Not any facet of it. I like the wakapico set, or I wouldn't have been playing with it in my Ooniverse for the past several months. My only point intended in posting in this thread was to compliment you. Great stuff, and the new ships also look very intriguing, I look forward to getting a look at them in the game.

I think I may have tried the larger "waka" ships OXP as well at some point, but might have removed it if I was getting handed my head on a stick a bit too often. Not sure, that would have been some months ago. LOL

New versions of re2dux and faves uoloaded.
New ship to test ... off comment: wakapico-re2dux. ONly contains a super-smooth namu right now, no player editition so edit a save file and tell me what works and what doesn't.


... note: I got the wingtip lights to flash

I think I remembered to put this thing in one of those updates...

... someone want to script a special action for shooting it? Initally I thought perhaps shooting it spawns two more though fractals can really chew through the poly count... it could spawn little ones which spawn really little ones which can be scooped for alien items?

... my modelling is getting better ... it's nice to do one of these just for the exercize.

Simon B wrote:

I think I remembered to put this thing in one of those updates...

... someone want to script a special action for shooting it? Initally I thought perhaps shooting it spawns two more though fractals can really chew through the poly count... it could spawn little ones which spawn really little ones which can be scooped for alien items?

Sweet idea!

Or they could be scooped for machinery, and would somehow be alive, and multiply in your hold, and from time to time eject one of the bigger objects?

Simon B wrote:

... my modelling is getting better ... it's nice to do one of these just for the exercize.

Very pretty - I like a lot!

Looks awesome Simon, and that TIE fighter is fantastically good, is it going to make it into an OXP?