Oolite Bulletins

I'm trying the new (1.82, I think ... oh there's another issue) version on a computer I have from work for "STUFF". LOVE the richer textures - is that what this "shaders" talk is about? And I'm successfully dipping toes into the tentacle-filled pool that are OXPs / OXZs ... interesting. But by the seven sphincters of the human digestive system (polite curses!) has someone been feeding Crank mixed with Crack to the attack AI?
I know that you normally attract "attention" when you're going through "Competent" to "Dangerous" or "Deadly." Normally, it's not a region I spend much time in. (I do trading until I can get a pair of Military Laser Fore +Aft, and a couple of boost on the shields, then go to passenger transport to pay for an Iron Ass). But in the new version I'm jumping into non-Anarchy systems and getting hit by a swarm of 6, 8, 10 pirates. I can hit the keys pretty fast, but I can't deal with 6 ships hitting me full tilt with big-bastard weapons.
Has someone been feeding the AI some crank? No, Crank isn't associated with being terribly cooperative (and the pirates do cooperate - I hit a pirate with sustained fire, and someone comes in and takes the fire for long enough to let the original target move away - GOOD AI !, but I'm dieing out there!)
Clearly some PRNGs (Pseudo-Random-Number-Generators) are at play here - I have to resort to replaying from a "save" time and again until I manage to get away from the Witch-point station as something more coherent than a dispersing cloud of plasma. Which, to be honest, is destroying the gameplay aspect of things (this may be different for "hardcore gamers" - Look, guys, I play games to relax, not get up to Crank/Crack levels of adrenaline replacement. If I want adrenaline, I go scuba diving in caves.) So the details of the PRNGs around this aspect may need some massaging.
Punting the appropriate aspects of the gameplay control out to the frontend menu system may help. Find out what levels people like, and put them in the explanation text for the controls ... ("I'm snorting crank, HIT ME!" through to "Hash on top of Prozac, I don't want trouble!" ... whatever) somewhere up in the menu.
Now I like shunting technical stuff into a front end that says "here be dragons", "here be fluffy dragons", etc ... But at the moment, I am feeling skewered by a PRNG.

Oh, similar point : menu for a system under development should include an option for "Nerds, give us your details" (or whatever) to dump version number, OXPs, OXzs, hardware probes ... yadda .... into a text file. Guys, I know I've not given you data - you know that a data dump option is likely useful. Particularly for version N.1, N.2 ...
But guys, now that I've seen the light, I'm going to have to get my personal laptop with a "video shader". Cool graphix! I take it that this is what the last decade or so of explosion in graphics bullshit has been about?

If your 'non-anarchy' system is close to an anarchy system, then it may well be raided by pirates - you need to think a bit more about which systems you're going to, these days. Pirates will usually demand tribute (so many TC of cargo), and if you eject the right amount, they will let you go. If they don't specify an amount, then 8-10 TC will often suffice. Fuel injectors are your friend - with those, you can live to fight another day (or use them to good effect in combat). As you've noted, the AI has improved a lot, and a more cautious approach is called for. If you think 1.82 is tough, you should've tried 1.80 - too tough, they said, so 1.82 has been toned down a little.

As for the gfx - ain't the game beautiful now, eh?

Pirates will usually demand tribute (so many TC of cargo)

This has been noted.
Sorry, but in Real Life, I've been mugged at gunpoint in the past by policemen. Demanding tribute ends up, immediately, with "an your shirt, and your underwear ... feel free to walk home, after emptying THIS bank card into our hands. Now. Or we feed you your left kidney. Then we ask you again, while you still have a kidney."
Are Ooniverse's pirates pussies?
The only effective tool I've found is the Energy Bomb (OXP) : Kill first, ask the debris for forensics.

RockDoctor wrote:

Sorry, but in Real Life, I've been mugged at gunpoint in the past by policemen. [...]

You've got it rough in Scottland. Not going to plan a vacation there anymore.

I already suggested (with success) to use a joystick/gamepad(with at least an analogstick) to another player. I hasitate to suggest buying one(If you do, there are quite cheap ones out there, that should do.), but if you already have got one wire it to your rig and use it. The pirates will get a lot more managable. Hardcore-level-gaming-skill depends one half on reflexes, one half on knowledge and one half on the ability to control (inputdevice-wise). That's right! three halfs! That's some serious skillz. (Yes, a 'z' as ending. That's also some serious oldschool kiddy skillz.)

Cody wrote:

If you think 1.82 is tough, you should've tried 1.80 - too tough, they said, so 1.82 has been toned down a little.

Now that sounds promissing. Is there an OXP that brings that advanced A.I. back?

You might want to also check you have got v1.82 (the latest version) not v1.80. 1.80 was recognised as being a bit too tough and somewhat un-balanced, and this was addressed in 1.82 which is much better in these terms.
There are quite a few new features in 1.80/1.82 which are worth noting. One of these is that assassins often gather at the witchpoint which might be what you are describing. These are linked to the Courier system, so if you are carrying packages you might have chosen un-wisely. Some of these look too good to be true, and they are. There are a lot of people out there happy to try to stop dodgy and suspect packages from being delivered, so look carefully at the offer and be a bit suspicious.
As for the graphics, yes the default ship set was changed in v1.80, with the old Elite-style ships being dropped in favour of the current set. The current set use the models from Griff's Normalmapped Ships OXP with textures by Capt. Solo but do not use full shaders, although they do have emission (glow) maps.
As the game should be playable on even quite modest computers these textures are still fairly basic, but for full graphical gorgeousness you have a couple of options. The full-shader version of Griff's ships is available, and a modern version of the old Elite-style ships (The Classic Ships OXZ) is also available for those who prefer a retro look to their game. Both are available from the in-game expansions manager.

RockDoctor wrote:

Oh, similar point : menu for a system under development should include an option for "Nerds, give us your details" (or whatever) to dump version number, OXPs, OXzs, hardware probes ... yadda .... into a text file. Guys, I know I've not given you data - you know that a data dump option is likely useful. Particularly for version N.1, N.2 ...

Check inside the folder oolite.app/Logs for the file called Latest.log. It contains what you described above and the amount of data that goes in it can be tweaked by editing logcontrol.plist, so it can end up containing several megabytes of information of the last game session, if you so wish.

RockDoctor wrote:

I'm jumping into non-Anarchy systems and getting hit by a swarm of 6, 8, 10 pirates.

In this case the best if you run using Injectors. The Ooniverse is big enough to select your enemy and attack only if you have chance. The main spacelane (from witchpoint to planet) sometimes contain small offender group (1-3 ships), hit these for more success.
[wiki]DeepSpacePirates[/wiki] is another chance for a good fight.

RockDoctor wrote:

dump version number, OXPs, OXzs, hardware probes ... yadda .... into a text file.

Check these in the Logs/Latest.log file. With [wiki]LogEvents[/wiki] this file show more about your last session.

For casual play, Fast-Track start from [wiki]Start Choices[/wiki] might be worth checking... Shameless plug? Where?

RockDoctor wrote:

Are Ooniverse's pirates pussies?

<grins> Apparently not...

Cody wrote:

RockDoctor wrote:

Are Ooniverse's pirates pussies?

<grins> Apparently not...

And you know what's the best part? They are not even using the full capabilities of AI available to them. Most of them are spawned with the equivalent of a below Average rank.

<chortles>

Are Ooniverse's pirates pussies?

It's kind of messed up to say that all pirates are felines. I thought our forum was above this.

RockDoctor wrote:

Has someone been feeding the AI some crank? No, Crank isn't associated with being terribly cooperative (and the pirates do cooperate - I hit a pirate with sustained fire, and someone comes in and takes the fire for long enough to let the original target move away - GOOD AI !, but I'm dieing out there!)

Recommendation that has saved my life a lot (cannot remember the person who told me - sorry!)...

When you drop into normal after witchspace jump, point nose down so 90 degrees to the station (I have the green circle at very top of compass), engage torus for a little bit. Then pull up at fly to a point just under the planet. Just before you get there pull up and fly straight to the station (should be visible now).
By flying off the main "lane" between jump point and planet you are a lot safer.

Hoooo, lots of suggestions.
- Changing routing off the main lanes and hitting the Torus drive or Injectors as soon as I come out of Whichspace ... yep, known and done that for years going beck to playing Elite off a 5.25in floppy in the work's computer.
But, you come out of Witch-space, there's 10 pirates around the beacon so you can't torus-jump out of there, and they've got injectors too ... there's just a sick sense of inevitability.
- Joysticks and the like ... I've never used one. Well, not since I broke my hand and couldn't use a nipple-mouse on the laptop... oh no, I remember using one a while back as a cheap-n-dirty set of resistance sensors. Do they still do laptops with a joystick port ... DB-15 wasn't it? I can't remember seeing one for absolutely donkeys years. Reflexes and hand-eye coordination ...not a lot I can do about them. The games master at school used to beat me (and the other nerds) with a stick to try to improve coordination and to impose interest in sports. That failed.
- Packages : Normally I do shove any passing packages in the hold which are going in the right direction for my passengers. (Fastest yield of money to build up the iron ass.) I'll watch them more closely.
- Logs : I'm seeing "Opening log for Oolite version 1.82 (x86-32) under Windows 6.1.7601" in the log file. A moderate amount of other stuff in there. I'll dig around if I need more info.
- The game is certainly prettier now. But this laptop will probably be back to the client at the end of the month, and I'll be back to my 10-year-old Linux box. So no point in crying over spilt graphics cards. I have been thinking about getting a new laptop though, maybe been something from this decade. The graphics card seems to make a huge difference to a seismic analysis package I'm trying to learn.

ocz wrote:

RockDoctor wrote:

Sorry, but in Real Life, I've been mugged at gunpoint in the past by policemen. [...]

You've got it rough in Scottland. Not going to plan a vacation there anymore.

Scotland's fine for a vacation. The police don't have guns, just clubs. It's Gabon where the police prowl the streets in gangs, looking for people to mug. Maybe it would be an idea for the government to like, pay them once in a while?
- But I still wouldn't believe the pirates claim that they'll leave you alone if you dump cargo. I know they're not human - furry frogs, or whatever - but to behave like that would simply not be human!

RockDoctor wrote:

But, you come out of Witch-space, there's 10 pirates around the beacon so you can't torus-jump out of there, and they've got injectors too ... there's just a sick sense of inevitability.

You must have an oxp installed that is spawning them, I don't get muggings at every jump.
Could you tell us what you have installed?