Oolite Bulletins

Hey,

I'm kind of new to Oolite but not exactly new to Elite. I guess I've been playing on and off since the mid eighties. The game sure has come on a long way since then!

I started out on the Acorn Electron version and later played a much better version on some kind of BBC 2nd processor custom job partly housed in an IBM XT case?! Later, I played PC elite, then various emulations before finally discovering Oolite. You'd think I'd be Elite by now, but I've only ever made it to deadly.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that Oolite is *** AMAZING ***. The work that must have gone into producing this game is phenomenal. You've done a really great job. Thanks and keep it going!

Well, I have a few questions/suggestions:

- I've mostly always played as a pirate. Are there any OXPs geared towards this vocation? I've not found anything mission based. I was thinking of something along the lines of Random Hits but involving raiding convoys instead of assassinations. Or maybe something more story driven.

- As a pirate, it seems too easy to avoid getting a fugitive rating. I think you should be 'wanted' from the minute you attack any non-hostile who is clean. Every kill already gets recorded on some intergalactic database so you'd think that repeatedly killing innocent traders would be noted somewhere.

- Is it possible to save anywhere except a main station? Main stations don't seem to be the sort of place I'd usually go to.

- I think I found/fixed a very minor bug in one of the ship retexture OXPs. Is it worth reporting and what's the best way to go about it?

Many thanks and keep up the good work!

Hi Scoop, and welcome aboard. The  Anarchies OXP may be to your liking. At the moment, saving is only possible at main stations, but I think that will change in a future version of Oolite. I also play on the darkside a little, and often have to fight my way into a main station in order to save (or clear my legal status first).

Welcome scoop

i too think Oolite is amazing XD

Yeh As Cody said... Anarchies is a good option to expand your Pirating... and if you ever need to get into a station you could always Witshspace yourself around abit until your cleared of you Status(it heals over time ~ if u didnt already know )... and if you need fuel then just do a sun skim or get the Fuel Tanks OXP.(I dont know how to link things.. :/) so: http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Fuel_Tank

Yeh it let you keep some spare fuel and sometimes other NPCs drop it... very useful if you stay away from fueling spots for awhile. Also there is few"" other stations OXPs out there that are safe to dock at even if you are (in bad luck with the law )

Scoop wrote:

- I've mostly always played as a pirate. Are there any OXPs geared towards this vocation? I've not found anything mission based. I was thinking of something along the lines of Random Hits but involving raiding convoys instead of assassinations. Or maybe something more story driven.

If you do a bit of work for a royal court in Feudal States OXP, you can sometimes get privateering contracts from them.

Scoop wrote:

- As a pirate, it seems too easy to avoid getting a fugitive rating. I think you should be 'wanted' from the minute you attack any non-hostile who is clean. Every kill already gets recorded on some intergalactic database so you'd think that repeatedly killing innocent traders would be noted somewhere.

Future versions will note this, though not on your legal status.

Scoop wrote:

Is it possible to save anywhere except a main station? Main stations don't seem to be the sort of place I'd usually go to.

Not yet, though it will be in future versions.

Scoop wrote:

I think I found/fixed a very minor bug in one of the ship retexture OXPs. Is it worth reporting and what's the best way to go about it?

Most OXP authors are very happy to get those reports. The best way (unless the OXP's readme gives other instructions) is to post to the OXP's thread in the Expansion Pack forum.

Hi scoop - welcome
The best way to report OXP bugs is to post on the thread for the OXP in question. Nearly all OXPs will have a thread started by the author so it's just a case of finding it. Even minor issues are worth reporting usually.
To help you to find the thread (and to find things in general) this browser plug-in is really useful.

G'day Scoop, and welcome!

Smivs wrote:

To help you to find the thread (and to find things in general) this browser plug-in is really useful.

It's also worth looking on the Wiki page for the OXP in question. Many of them contain a link to the relevant thread.

(And I really like the idea of an OXP directly oriented towards piracy!)

Welcome Scoop in this cOommunity!

Scoop wrote:

Is it possible to save anywhere except a main station?

With [wiki]Save_Anywhere[/wiki] OXP you can save at any Station, Dockable or Rock Hermit. The trick is described in the Instructions.rtf .

Norby wrote:

Scoop wrote:

Is it possible to save anywhere except a main station?

With [wiki]Save_Anywhere[/wiki] OXP you can save at any Station, Dockable or Rock Hermit. The trick is described in the Instructions.rtf .

Maybe its been fixed, but I thought that OXP had been broken for some time?

I believe I have read that kills are counted by the enemy ship, with some sort of sensor. This sensor then sends data to the database, giving you your rating. This sensor isn't incredibly accurate, for instance you aren't given the kill if you are cloaked, and it doesn't detect legal status. This would explain why you can get away killing an innocent if no police are around. Although I think you can get a sattelite OXP that adds sattelites to detect this sort of activity.

Hans Olo wrote:

I believe I have read that kills are counted by the enemy ship, with some sort of sensor.

Kills are counted by the non-governmental—and slightly mysterious—Elite Federation of Pilots. The exact technical means are not disclosed; the game manual speaks of a photograph which is made automatically by your own ship, and sent to the Elite Federation instantaneously. Nobody is really buying into that, but no other explanation is available.

The Elite Federation is not concerned with the legality of your kills, only with their number. It is—as mentioned before—not affiliated with any government, and not responsible to any police force. However, having said that, there is another government force, namely the military, which has a strong interest in knowing who are the best fighters among all pilots. This may be the main reason why the governments tolerate the obvious disregard for law the Elite Federation is showing.

The military arm of for instance GalCop is relatively small and weak. They barely manage to keep the Thargoids in check, and cannot really prevent Thargoid incursions into planetary space. Thus the defense of GalCop space relies heavily on the fighter qualities of civilian pilots. Therefore every pilot who is hardened in many ship-to-ship battles is intrinsically valuable for the military, and by extension for GalCop. This may explain why the government, and by extension the police, are willing to ignore fighting-related crimes, if they aren't committed right under their noses.