Oolite Bulletins

Dear Commanders

I started this topic to perhaps have people share various ideas regarding the choices of various planet altering oxps.

system_redux seems to work most stable on my system yet its 15 MB.

system_demux also seemed to be stable yet it is also a large file. 39 MB

Now what makes odd sense is Povray Planets having a unique planet for every single one in every galaxy, I've heard the number is just over 2000+ in total when taking into consideration all 8 galaxies. That too also worked well on my system.

The Deep Horizons I went with low-res which ends up working out to approximately 11 MB

Now to improve performance with DH and even with full graphics on which sometimes I can get away with it. Is there a way I can have it NOT use nebulas?

I put int the Darkspace OXP to reduce that but with those oxps it seems to add them anyway?

Is there an OXP that offers random colours of the main sun? A nice green, bluish, or orange and possibly yellow tinge might make it more interesting.

One of the other curiousities I've been wondering about is that if you do use an oxp that places moons and other planets within each system would the orbits oxp be a good thing to have alongside it?

The next question I was thinking of relates to the ID system locking onto a celestial body and display its range. Also possibly a compass ad-on to the advanced space compass.

If its like a minor planet perhaps it could show up as the planet icon or simply P1,P2,GG (gasgiant), or moons as M1,M2 and so on.

I'm thinking it should be a simple case of scripting from world script and though I'm a noob to coding but my logic from what I've learned so far is if it checked the system properties that you're in and if moons=true then it would send to the compass to display when selected as M1, M2, and if the second planet had moons it would display as P2m1 or something like that I think it might make it easier to find them?


And a very quick off note.

When I shift F to display frames per second at the end of the bracket which displays the memory used for textures and entities it has a reading of P and then a number I had in the Atriso system (G1) it also displays p#, and then c#.

Thanks to someone I've been informed that the "C" refers to the collisions occuring.

Would someone be able to advise on what this p value actually means please?

Oh and another quick question how many days are officially in an Oolite year or does this vary per galaxy you are in?

many thanks for all your help. Its such a privledge being associated with all you awesome Commanders I've learned so much about the behind the scenes of how Oolite works and I appreciate the generosity you've all showed me.

MEGALODON...

MEGALODON wrote:

When I shift F ........ it also displays p#, and then c#.

Thanks to someone I've been informed that the "C" refers to the collisions occuring.

Would someone be able to advise on what this p value actually means please?

Both are pre-collision related. In order to detect collisions, the code must first determine which objects must be evaluated. In order to avoid that the distance from every object to every other object has to be calculated (like in pre-1.65 oolite), a filtering occurs. The p value shows the number of object-object distances that are calculated after filtering. p shows how effective the filtering was. (p stands for Pairs)
The c value shows the pairs of objects that are within 6 collision radii from each other, not the actual number of collisions. For those last pairs, calculation goes much further than just a distance check. (c stands for Collision checks)

MEGALODON wrote:

One of the other curiosities I've been wondering about is that if you do use an oxp that places moons and other planets within each system would the orbits oxp be a good thing to have alongside it?

The next question I was thinking of relates to the ID system locking onto a celestial body and display its range. Also possibly a compass ad-on to the advanced space compass.

If its like a minor planet perhaps it could show up as the planet icon or simply P1,P2,GG (gasgiant), or moons as M1,M2 and so on.

Have you tried the Frontier game? Based on Elite, it had systems with multiple suns and the navigation is much more realistic. It is available as a free download.

It would also give you some ideas for Oolite, I am sure.

The Deep Horizons despite its low size bogs down my system extensively, wish there was a way to limit spawning of nebula and number of moons and planets, haven't had a chance to try the gas giant skimming element because it hasn't spawned a Gas Giant.

system Redux and demux both seem to function stable.

Re: Frontier Yes I've tried it the controls are very awkward and frustrating. I love the simplicity of Oolite and being one with pilot training this makes the most sense as far as actually flying my ship. Frontier on the other hand seems to be confusing and frustrating, I keep crashing cause I can't alter the thrust vector to the aft.

I have also found a remake called Pioneer which is really muck free I don't have to alter folders or download extra files.

MEGALODON wrote:

The Deep Horizons despite its low size bogs down my system extensively, wish there was a way to limit spawning of nebula and number of moons and planets, haven't had a chance to try the gas giant skimming element because it hasn't spawned a Gas Giant.

system Redux and demux both seem to function stable.

Re: Frontier Yes I've tried it the controls are very awkward and frustrating. I love the simplicity of Oolite and being one with pilot training this makes the most sense as far as actually flying my ship. Frontier on the other hand seems to be confusing and frustrating, I keep crashing cause I can't alter the thrust vector to the aft.

I have also found a remake called Pioneer which is really muck free I don't have to alter folders or download extra files.

I have only installed System Redux and find it does what I want without affecting frame rate. You can actually change the number of moons and planets by editing the script file in SR's config folder. I never messed with it for the simple reason that I had no issue with it. According to another member on this board the number of nebula can also be changed but I will leave that to him as I have not messed with that either. I like eye candy as much as the next person but game play has priority in my ooniverse.

Thanks for your reply Captain solo

I agree gameplay is so important.

Any info re programs to help manage ram?

Also how are your non shaded Griff core ships coming along I wouldn't mind trying it out.


Thanks again.

MEGALODON wrote:

Is there a way I can have it NOT use nebulas?

DH-Systems doesn't affect the number of nebulas. It leaves that setting at the game default. However, DH-Lights Down does alter this. You could download Lights-Down and change line 4 of the planetinfo.plist file from

MEGALODON wrote:

Is there an OXP that offers random colours of the main sun? A nice green, bluish, or orange and possibly yellow tinge might make it more interesting.

DH-Systems does this, within the limits set by the game. The game won't let you go too far away from white. So, don't expect to see this:

MEGALODON wrote:

The next question I was thinking of relates to the ID system locking onto a celestial body and display its range. Also possibly a compass ad-on to the advanced space compass.

Nothing currently available. I have a project that I was working on, but stalled out on due to RL.

Thanks for the help it should free up some performance.

Now the gas skimming aspect I've not had a chance to really explore.

IS there something I can edit re limiting the number of moons and planets and if it seeds the system with 2 moons then it won't add 4 other planets.

Also is the orbits oxp a good thing to have would you feel with these multiple planet moon combinations ?

When its chosen other planets I have yet to see a gas giant to try the gas giant skimming oxp add on.

Your help is invaluable but that oxp unfortunately kills my fps and if there's a way like the nebula to minimize it that would be so helpful.

Thanks for everything

MEGALODON

MEGALODON wrote:

that oxp unfortunately kills my fps and if there's a way like the nebula to minimize it that would be so helpful.

Uninstall it?

Oh I already did that its kind of a shame though maybe without nebula it might be more stable on my system

MEGALODON wrote:

IS there something I can edit re limiting the number of moons and planets and if it seeds the system with 2 moons then it won't add 4 other planets.

Inside the DH_Systems.js file you'll fine the following on lines 7-23: Just edit those last couple lines, and enjoy. I added those specifically so that users could manipulate the script's behavior without really having to know how to code. The v2 version is intended to work with OXPConfig so that you don't even have to go into the script.

MEGALODON wrote:

Also is the orbits oxp a good thing to have would you feel with these multiple planet moon combinations ?

No. I've seen Orbits cause crashes on exit from the main station. I don't favor it's use.

MEGALODON wrote:

When its chosen other planets I have yet to see a gas giant to try the gas giant skimming oxp add on.

Gas giants should actually appear as the main planet with DH_Systems. It's the biggest complaint people have with the oxp is the frequency of those gas giants. In truth, if/when I ever finish the textures, they will be quite rare, but since they are one of the few textures I have finished, they crop up in the pool more frequently than desired.

Perfect thanks again for the info...

I'll try playing with some settings. Much appreciated.