Oolite Bulletins

This Oolite is great!
Many thanks to those who invested a lot of time and effort to accomplish it!

I began playing Elite on the ZX Spectrum, and subjectively I think is the best version!

I have identified 3 issues with Oolite which 'subjectively' affect me:

1. No one hears you screaming in space, but I would like to hear a different laser sound when hitting the target. Is there any possibility to have a sound confirmation when hitting the target?

2. I percieve an inertia difference between rolling and pitching. Pitching stops more abrutptly than rolling. Is it possible to have the same inertia for both rolling and pitching?

3. Is it possible to redefine all keys, including "2", "F2" (menu) and all the other numerical and Functional keys?

Thank you!

Hi Bothkill, and welcome. I'm glad you're enjoying the game
Firstly, the laser does make a different sound when 'on target', but many people can't tell the difference You can actually change the sounds by replacing/over-riding the sounds in the 'Sounds' folder. Some OXPs do this already, so it might be worth a look in the OXP table for the sound packs. The table is sortable.
Pitch and roll are different for all ships, but normally roll is noticeably higher than pitch. These can be changed by editing the shipdata.plist...if you'd like advice on this, just shout.
Some of the keys can be re-configured, but not all. I think the 'F' keys cannot, but I may be wrong. Again to re-map your keyboard you will need to edit a property list (keyconfig.plist in this case).
Editing these plists is easy, so just let us know if you fancy a tinker and we can talk you through it.

1) Yes. There is a (very subtle) difference between the hit and miss sound in the default Oolite sound set. Some of the other sound sets have a much more noticeable difference between the two - try out a few and see what works for you.

2) The inertia is the same, but almost all ships have a much faster maximum roll rate than maximum pitch rate (the Cobra III rolls twice as fast as it pitches, for instance), so you'll stop pitching much faster than you stop rolling.

As with the original Elite, you can almost instantly stop a turn by lightly tapping the opposite direction's turn key. You could also write a mini-OXP to equalise your ship's maximum pitch and roll rates.

3) Redefining the function keys is not supported. Almost everything else can be remapped.

Thank you very much, both Smivs and cim for your replies!

1. I'll try to listen more carefully to notice the difference.

2. If that's intentionally designed then I'll try to adapt to it.

3. I've already edited the "keyconfig.plist" file and moved it to the appropriate folder. From your replies should I understand there's a chance to remap the "number" keys? So, I cannot remap "F8". What about "8" then?

Ha, yes that laser is quite discrete - the 'hit' is a bit more of a crunching thud sound.
Er, I don't think the numbers can be re-mapped either and the numpad is out as well I think. Sorry.

Edited to add:- you might find these two threads interesting - here and here

The possibility to change the function keys would be most welcome.

I'm playing on a laptop, to access the function keys I have to press the "Fn" button. It happens so many times that I'm too slow to hit the "Fn" button and that I press the non-function key first (or hit "Ctrl" or "Shift" in stead of "Fn"), adjusting the volume or screen brightness in stead of switching to the correct view, which is very annoying during a battle.

Edit: Hmm, I guess I need an external keyboard, just to play Oolite.

Gimbal Locke wrote:

The possibility to change the function keys would be most welcome.

I'm playing on a laptop, to access the function keys I have to press the "Fn" button. It happens so many times that I'm too slow to hit the "Fn" button and that I press the non-function key first (or hit "Ctrl" or "Shift" in stead of "Fn"), adjusting the volume or screen brightness in stead of switching to the correct view, which is very annoying during a battle.

Edit: Hmm, I guess I need an external keyboard, just to play Oolite.

The same functionality is mapped to 1-8, so you don't need the Function Keys at all.

Svengali wrote:

Gimbal Locke wrote:

The possibility to change the function keys would be most welcome.

I'm playing on a laptop, to access the function keys I have to press the "Fn" button. It happens so many times that I'm too slow to hit the "Fn" button and that I press the non-function key first (or hit "Ctrl" or "Shift" in stead of "Fn"), adjusting the volume or screen brightness in stead of switching to the correct view, which is very annoying during a battle.

Edit: Hmm, I guess I need an external keyboard, just to play Oolite.

The same functionality is mapped to 1-8, so you don't need the Function Keys at all.

My laptop has a Belgian AZERTY keyboard, to reach the numbers on the top row I need to press the "Shift" key. I tried that, but Oolite completely ignores the 1 to 8 keys on my keyboard, with or without pressing "Shift". The keypad numbers on the right (where I usually enter numbers in all other applications) also get ignored. I do need the Function Keys.

So I have two options: hack the source code or buy an external keyboard.

Welcome. May I recommend the BGS.OXP. It has a better laser sound and you also hear better when you hit a ship + the menu's and everything of Oolite gets a big upgrade.

pagroove wrote:

Welcome. May I recommend the BGS.OXP. It has a better laser sound and you also hear better when you hit a ship + the menu's and everything of Oolite gets a big upgrade.

Seconded!

Gimbal Locke wrote:

My laptop has a Belgian AZERTY keyboard, to reach the numbers on the top row I need to press the "Shift" key. I tried that, but Oolite completely ignores the 1 to 8 keys on my keyboard, with or without pressing "Shift". The keypad numbers on the right (where I usually enter numbers in all other applications) also get ignored. I do need the Function Keys.

So I have two options: hack the source code or buy an external keyboard.

There are programs available which can tell you the keycode for any key you press.. you could note them down and then add those values to keyconfig.plist directly, the same way the arrow and 'Home' keys are mapped.

Smivs wrote:

Ha, yes that laser is quite discrete - the 'hit' is a bit more of a crunching thud sound.

Good way of putting it Smivs.

Bothkill, it is definitely subtle, I didn't notice for the first couple days playing

CommRLock78 wrote:

Smivs wrote:

Ha, yes that laser is quite discrete - the 'hit' is a bit more of a crunching thud sound.

Good way of putting it Smivs.

Bothkill, it is definitely subtle, I didn't notice for the first couple days playing

The difference is quite suble, but in few days you get used to it. At the moment I rely a lot to the sound when I try to hit distant objects. I prefer it to any other kind of visual helps like target reticle (which I keep diasabled, since it's frequently misleading).

I found more difference between hit and miss sound in the pagroove soundset for bsg.

I play using a usb logitech gamepad (if you're used to a playstation they're ideal)
http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/gaming/co ... mepad-f310

Works on all my kit out of the box (mac and pc)

Gimbal Locke wrote:

My laptop has a Belgian AZERTY keyboard, to reach the numbers on the top row I need to press the "Shift" key. I tried that, but Oolite completely ignores the 1 to 8 keys on my keyboard, with or without pressing "Shift". The keypad numbers on the right (where I usually enter numbers in all other applications) also get ignored. I do need the Function Keys.

Ouch. Keycode fun.

Diziet Sma wrote:

There are programs available which can tell you the keycode for any key you press.. you could note them down and then add those values to keyconfig.plist directly, the same way the arrow and 'Home' keys are mapped.

Yep. We have also a small helper tool to create the mapping - [wiki]Keyconfig[/wiki].

@Gimbal Locke: Let me know if the tool needs some tweaks for you.