Oolite Bulletins

Hello hello... it's been years (couldn't even remember my old forum account, if it still exists).

Kudos to all of you who've been continuing the evolution of such a great simulation!

Anyway, the last thing I want to do as I jump back in is hammerfist my install with a bunch of OXPs that are going to alter the core experience out of the gate.

Is there an official "Recommended OXP List" or maybe a starter pack out there somewhere?

I want to add in whatever eye candy is available, and would love to check out some UI mods.

For those of you who've been keeping up, what are your indispensable OXPs, and would you rate them as recommended for beginner/intermediate/advanced players?

Thanks!

Crucial eye-candy OXPs:

• Systems OXP (planet textures, extra planets, moons - there are several)
  Hud of your choice
  BGS - The Background Set (cool docked screens, ambient sounds etc)
  Shipset (various ship texture sets are available)

For immersion: Randomshipnames

See the [wiki]OXP_List[/wiki]!

And hello!

Hi 80hd, and welcome.
Funnily enough somebody asked this very question but a few days ago and there are plenty of other threads on the forum along the same lines.
General Advice is eye-candy first (ships. stations etc and planets) then add others in slowly.
Take a look at the OXP table on the wiki. This is sortable to help you, so you can sort into ships, missions etc.
Have a good look at several...don't just grab the first one you see.
And most of all, Enjoy this wonderful game.

El Viejo: THANKS!

Smiv: Ugh... I did look... not hard enough apparently. I will check the thread out. Thanks to you as well.

80hd wrote:

Smiv: Ugh... I did look... not hard enough apparently. I will check the thread out. Thanks to you as well.

No worries This is a big and very active board and finding things is not always easy. There is a browser search plug-in which I find extremely helpful.
Even if you don't find what you want, someone here will always have an answer, so just ask.

Also Griff's ships, if your computer can handle it.

Funnily enough I put together a list on my wiki user page, only the other day! My list has links for each of the recommended OXPs.

As the main wiki is down again, here is the link on the backup wiki: http://wiki.maikschulz.de/index.php/Use ... _OXPs_List

Eye candy aside, new commanders most need an OXP that will allow them to make a lot of credits fast. I am a fan of [wiki]Galactic_Navy_OXP[/wiki], which adds stations to some planets. Prices for radioactives and food & liquor commodities are significantly higher at these stations, especially when at poor agricultural worlds. Just for fun, I started as a Jameson recently and made my way to Isinor, home planet for sector 2. I made three trips between the main station and navy station, ferrying the items mentioned above. When I had emptied the stores at the main station, I was almost 1000 credits richer. Only thing is... don't buy equipment at the navy base as they charge double the price they can be had elsewhere. There are other dockable and mission type OXP's that serve the same purpose:
[wiki]HoOpy_Casino[/wiki]
[wiki]Random_Hits_OXP[/wiki]
Your Ad Here!

CaptSolo wrote:

Eye candy aside, new commanders most need an OXP that will allow them to make a lot of credits fast

Not meaning any disrespect to your own play style (we all tailor our Ooniverses as we see fit, and that's wonderful), but: I would strongly disagree with the 'need' part of this.

I actually like the early part of the game where money is scarce and I have to think hard about choices, and my ship is one buttock short of an Iron Ass. Life is certainly hard without fuel injectors but that phase of the game passes so quickly, what's the rush to OXP your way out of it?

Some people might just want to go straight to being rich, and it's fine, but for a lot of us just finding the Isinor-Ensoreus run plus figuring out how to stay out of the lane is plenty fast enough

I'm with Talisker on this point.
To get the most out of the game (and indeed to really work-out how the Ooniverse 'works') I would recommend avoiding OXPs that have a profound effect on the game and particularly the markets/economy, and the balance of ships. This will include popular OXPs such as Galactic Navy and YAH to give just two examples. Also extra equipment and weapons OXPs should only be considered once the player has gained some degree of experience.
The fact is you may find you never want or need some of these OXPs. Over time I must have tried most of them, but I recently started a new Commander who is staying with the Cobra III and he plays a very 'pure' game. The only OXPs used are eye-candy - Accessories and Smivs'Shipset (for the ships, stations etc) with System Redux for the planets and one or two others. And I have to say I'm enjoying the game far more than I ever did with my old Iron-Ass Boa Clipper and all the 'game-changing' OXPs.
Stick to eye-candy and enjoy the game as it should be.

I've discovered through bitter experience that's it's all-too tempting to load up on every OXP under the sun, only to find yourself lost and overwhelmed in a "ooniverse" (did I say that right?) that's just a tad too unfamiliar from the Elite I wanted to return to. Hence I've gone back to basics and am only running the pretties for the time being.

It's not so much eye-candy, but it's definitely flavour: for me, one of the most game-enhancing (but non-gameplay-changing) OXPs I've used in a long time has been the [wiki]randomshipnames OXP[/wiki]. I struggle now to pass even the dullest-looking ship without wanting to see what they're called ...

Disembodied wrote:

... for me, one of the most game-enhancing (but non-gameplay-changing) OXPs I've used in a long time has been the [wiki]randomshipnames OXP[/wiki].

Aye to that, Big D!

I think I have a relatively vanilla-flavoured, beginner-friendly setup:

Colour:
BGS
DeepspaceHud
Explorers' Club
Famous Planets
GrittyCoriolis
Smivs'Shipset
System Redux
display reputation
randomshipnames (EVERYONE should have this)

'Special' systems
Lave
Diso
TOGY

System features (These are potentially unbalancing except for Tori, though I hardly use/notice them with my play style so may drop)
Dictators
Commies
Tori
YOUR AD HERE

Missions (non-intrusive, newbie-friendly)
UPS courier

Extra ships (somewhat balanced, mostly just there for variety of encounters)
Clippers
Z-ships (I fly a Python Courier at the moment though have my eye on a Boa 2, which is non-OXP again)
liners
tugs
FP Liners

Equipment
GalaxyInfo (I can't get this to work right now, may drop)

My current OXPs - used for both Commanders ('Deadly' flying Iron-Ass Boa Clipper, and 'Competent' flying 'quite-well-equipped' Cobra Mk III)

Eye Candy:-
Accessories
Smivs'Shipset
System Redux
Star Jelly
Liners

Ships:-
Clippers (For my Boa Clipper Commander, and because I like them)
YellOo Cabs (Just because I like them)
*Contractor MkII (For some fun if I meet the rare 'Pirate' version)
*Green Gecko (Some fun for my 'Deadly' Commander)

Others:-
RandomShipNames
Rock Hermit Locator (Boa Clipper Commander only)
*ToughGuys 3 ('Anarchy' for Cobra MkIII Commander, 'EveryDayMayhem' for Boa Clipper Commander)
Smivs'Tweaks (a 'Personal' OXP - Includes what became 'Delightful Docking', 'Combat HUD' and 'Cloak Repair' OXPs)
*Battle Damage (for both ships - customised for my custom Cobra MK III paintjob)

Most of these are ideal for 'new' Commanders, although several (*) also make life a lot harder