Oolite Bulletins

Hi All!

I have been testing the external fuel tank OXP but did not find it very useful at first. Arriving in G7 i finally found a use for the external tanks.
So i quick hacked together this litte OXP you can download at : http://91.143.109.70/k/THERIFT_v0.1.oxz

Try it out and let me know what you think of it!

Hi Jamesonson, welcome aboard.

Just wanted to let you know that the oxz is incorrectly packaged and not recognizable by the game. The problem is that it contains a folder named THERIFT_v0.1.oxp, under which the standard oxp structure exists. However, an oxz should have the standard oxp structure directly below it, without any .oxp folder in between.

thanks; fixed it. it should be ok now

Welcome aboard, Commander! That seems to be recognised, but was not installed as it requires a means to refuel in interstellar space.

hi!
try cutting out the following from the "manifest.plst" file
or try installing the FuelTank.oxp

A brief description would be handy - does the OXZ simply facilitate crossing the Rift, or is there more?

Cody wrote:

A brief description would be handy - does the OXZ simply facilitate crossing the Rift, or is there more?

At the moment yes its pretty much just that, its a quickly and dirty hacked together small mission to deliver a parcel across the rift with some hints you get at different planets of how to do that.
What i was thinking of when i started it was including the fuel tanks into the oxp in a way that makes them become available for the player as the benefit for succeeding doing the mission. Basically making this oxp a backgroundstory to the external fuel tanks.

but maybe it would be even better if i put in the FuelGenerator SMax just postet instead of the external tanks, since it would make the whole thing more challenging because one would have to fight thargoids while having to to deplete the energy banks and the shields to generate fuel to make the jump.

I think it would be best if inclusion of other OXPs were to be avoided. Reasons might include (but not limited to):

- Maintainability. If you include a version of another OXP in your own and then the actual maintainer of the other OXP releases a new version (maybe fixing a bug or changing the mechanics of something), then what are you going to do? Release another version as well? I can see that getting messy very quickly.

- Unnecessary. OXPs are designed so that they can have dependencies. Why include something in its entirety when you can instead upload your OXP to the Expansion Pack Manager with a dependency declared and then let the Manager offer to do any dependency downloads for you?

- Inclusion of potentially unintended game mechanics: For better or worse, there are OXPs out there that are not "atomic", meaning that they do what they advertise in the box alright, but then sometimes they also do "something else", like adding some new ship or changing a market or whatever. What gets changed may be something that one might not want in their game. Users should be the ones having the final word for what gets installed in their game and you may not be aware of all the changes an OXP performs when you decide to include it in your own.

I think the OXP is fine as-is, without any additional weight on it. The one thing I would consider looking at is the script that starts the mission. If I am reading it correctly, it will award the mission as soon as the player enters G7. Maybe it would be best if it let the player roam a bit in the new galaxy before triggering. Setting a chance of startup to something like 20% every time the player docks could do it.

Cool! Another question: does it facilitate leaving the Rift Worlds too? Perhaps with a return parcel?

Hi !

I have finished coding the Mission. Its a full roundtrip now and no dependencies on other OXPs any more since i have put in fuel depots at the jumppoints.
The new version can be downloaded at:

http://91.143.109.70/k/THERIFT_v0.2.oxz

Deliver contraband goods across the GREAT RIFT in G7. Discover the hidden smuggler trail to the other side and back again.
The mission is started by docking at one of the anarchy systems in the left down corner of the map close to the rift.
I have tested it yesterday even with thargon wars, thargon threat and behemoth xops installed and it is still not too hard to do with a average ship.

Please test it and tell me your thoughts and ideas.

Cool, I've just relocated a commander to the edge of the Rift. I'll run it later, when the sun's down.

I have just repacked the http://91.143.109.70/k/THERIFT_v0.2.oxz and replaced the download file on the server.
I fixed the typos in the mission texts (thanks Cody for your help) and the bug in the populator function that made astroids appear all in the same spot.

If I may offer a suggestion, I have seen that you have uploaded a changed OXZ but kept the same version number. This can lead to many problems if people start reporting issues with the expansiion and can't be sure which version they have. v0.2 may correspond to two different things at the moment and that can cause plenty of confusion. I would fully recommend you up the version number every single time you change something in the OXP, no matter how small or insignificant.

ok, just did it and uploaded http://91.143.109.70/k/THERIFT_v0.3.oxz