Oolite Bulletins

As you are all aware we now have a good mix of various styles of OXP ships, for those of you who want to use them, which can be downloaded and installed to complement the core ships.

My question is what type of ships are people most interesting in?

For example ships similar in style and specification to the core ships, ships very much different to the core ships, additional alien ships, ships from TV, etc

Speaking personally, I'd prefer to see ships similar to the core ships, with the same aesthetic. An alternative would be some rare encounter with a mysterious alien race - not necessarily as hostile as the Thargoids, possibly with the chance of some interaction via a large (mobile? nomadic?) station. Although that's possibly more like something that would be part of a series of missions.

<Puts on Devil's Advocate hat>
With ship OXPs out-numbering everything else by a country mile I question whether the game actually needs any more ship OXPs at all.
<removes hat>
The problem is, ships based around core-ship values never seem to get the interest they deserve, and therefore the temptation is for more and more ships which are uber or unbalanced. My vote would definitely be for more core-like ships simply because they make sense and fit in. Would I use them? Probably not as there is a good range to choose from anyway.
What I think we do need is 'different'. Ships which look great because they are not only very well made and textured etc, but also have something unique about them. But even that is no guarantee of success - one or two of our members have been producing some really radical designs, and sadly taking a bit of flack for it.
On a positive note, I think you might have shown one way forward with your escape capsules - maybe what we really need is more variety in areas like these, and cargo pods and even more asteroids etc.

I know most people disagree with what I'm about to say, but I would persoanlly like to see some more 'larger' vessels. I quite enjoy flying along the bigger vessels like the Star Liners, the Behemoths and Bulk Haulers. I know that most people don't like the larger vessels in the game but personally I think it adds more depth to the game rather than encountering small ships everywhere.

Pleb wrote:

I know most people disagree with what I'm about to say....

I don't! I like a few big ships around.

Pleb wrote:

I know most people disagree with what I'm about to say, but I would persoanlly like to see some more 'larger' vessels. I quite enjoy flying along the bigger vessels like the Star Liners, the Behemoths and Bulk Haulers. I know that most people don't like the larger vessels in the game but personally I think it adds more depth to the game rather than encountering small ships everywhere.

Actually, I second this. I also enjoy having for instance the Liners installed, and encountering one of them every once in a while.

Smivs wrote:

<Puts on Devil's Advocate hat>
With ship OXPs out-numbering everything else by a country mile I question whether the game actually needs any more ship OXPs at all.
<removes hat>

Actually, I second this as well. If you would compare the number of available ship OXPs with the number of ship OXPs I have installed, you would see a drastic discrepancy. Also, the vast majority of the ship OXPs I found worth installing have been released at least four years ago; since then, not much has happened anymore, as far as I'm concerned.

Disembodied wrote:

Speaking personally, I'd prefer to see ships similar to the core ships, with the same aesthetic.

And I second this as well.

However, all three posts quoted above implicitly raise an issue that isn't touched upon by Shipbuilder: Are you thinking about NPC-only ships or player flyable ships?

I don't care at all for yet more player ships and slight variants of existing player ships. I have settled on my ship years ago. As far as player flyable ships are concerned, the devil's advocate is right. I don't see a need for ever more of them.

However, I do like to encounter different ships. So there's always room for more NPC ships, even big ones, or alien ones.

This one:-

https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10239&

Or even a ship with breasts No, stop it!

<shrugs> I have no objection to large ships in-game (though I have none in mine), but as has been said, they shouldn't be player-flyable (most especially capital ships). I've actually designed a capital ship myself, but no way would I want to fly it.

The Tiapan..

Well it's about the only Snake named ship not in the set. It is a very venomous snake, by all accounts.

It's not particularly large and I'm not sure about it's agility, the closest we have , I think is the Fer de Lance or maybe the Asp mark II.. NPC or Player I am not fussed, due to it's venomous nature , I think , as with the Thargoid battle ship or the Caddy , a Plasma Turret may be excusable. Not much tonnage , possibly 5 to 10 TC a speed of around 3.4 to 3.8 , 6 to 8 Pylons (More Venom).

I'd have built the thing myself if I had the first clue about how even to begin an oxp . The Tiapan has been waiting to be born(In my head) ..In space no one can hear you scream,(that said, no one sells ice cream either) and the Tiapan is a predator and sounds at least in my head to be one very nasty piece of work indeed.

There's already an OXP ship called the [wiki]Taipan[/wiki] ...

Edit: For general interest, here are a few snake-and snake-related names still up for grabs ("Gorgon" is a good one, for something brutal):

Boiga
Cascabel / Cascavel
Daboia
Dugite
Gorgon
Himehabu
Harlequin
Ikaheka
Jararaca
Keelback
Lancehead
Lora
Machete Savane
Mamushi
Medusa (there's a Medusa HUD, but no ship)
Urutu
Wyrm

I think the Urutu already exists, in some form, and Lancehead is just another name for the Fer-de-lance (many snakes have multiple names).

El Viejo wrote:

I think the Urutu already exists, in some form, and Lancehead is just another name for the Fer-de-lance.

You're right, there's an [wiki]Urutu Mk.III[/wiki]. And you're right about the Lancehead, too. It could still be a FDL variant type, I suppose.

With regard to my query relating to ship preferences my question applies equally to NPC ships and player flyable ships.

Personally I have no problems at all producing ships which are NPC only. I have in fact already produced one NPC ship, a Cylon Raider Mk 1, which I appreciate isn't everyone's cup of tea but was something that I wanted to see in my Ooniverse.

My current project, a series of fuel tankers, is also intended to be a based on NPC ships.

Picking up on one of Smivs' comments regarding the escape pods that I have been working on I do intend to expand this OXP over time with additional models. The next escape pod model I have in mind is based on something that you could imagine detaching from one of the core ships i.e the cockpit section.

Other generic models of various items could also provide variety without effecting the way the game plays (This was the basis on which I based my Escape pod OXP).

One other thought.

Ship OXPs could be offered in 2 versions. One as an NPC only version and one also allowing the ship to be player flyable.