Oolite Bulletins

I suggest that OXPs should have a standardized format of, completely optional, "cover art" associated with each of them. The game's expansion downloader allows only a one-sentence description of each OXP, and a picture is worth a thousand words, after all. No implementation is suggested at this time, however the download manager will need an overhaul at some point in the future, and when that time comes it would be desirable to include cover art functionality in a format that had been defined, agreed and understood-by-all well in advance.

What I would like now is simply some discussion, in the most general terms, of how this might be best achieved, leading to some specific decisions to guide OXP maintainers who might wish to participate. From that perspective of OXP maintenance, what we would need to decide and know is:-

- Shape, size and file-format of cover graphics.
- Location of the graphic file: inside the OXZ package, or in a separate download?
- File name convention(s).

Again, no implementation is suggested at this time, just some discussion of whether, how, and how best it could be done.

Good shout.

oocon.png, 32 bit (rgba). 1024x1024

Inside oxz's.

Trivially extractable for web/manager, where appropriate, with same prefix as oxz name. e.g. Oolite.oxp.Zafrusteria.ShrewsRights.png

would for operating collecting all png inside a 1 oxz be more pref.

So that one could view them without loading all oxz's in the manager.
perhaps a function could be made for these to be viewed via f3-f4 during play.

To keep things organised, I'd suggest having a new key in the manifest.plist, probably "cover_art", which would be a filename in the "Images" folder.

phkb wrote: ↑Fri Mar 13, 2026 9:42 pm

To keep things organised, I'd suggest having a new key in the manifest.plist, probably "cover_art", which would be a filename in the "Images" folder.

Yes. But... "Images" is a pooled resource where any OXP can access any file; the advantages and inconveniences of that have been discussed before. But this is about files that are not for the use of the OXP itself, not really intended to ever appear during game-play, so wouldn't it be preferable to avoid adding to the overcrowding in "Images"? What about a new "Metadata" folder, to include optional extensive information about the OXP, things like cover.png, licence.txt, instructions.txt, lore.txt?

The advantage of using the "Images" folder is that it would allow using them in-game, possibly for something like Library OXP. The disadvantage is that it would seem to require a strict dictate about filenames - see Mr Flibble above - to actually make them useable/useful and avoid name collisions.

And a question: is it correct that unrecognized keys, like "favourite_chocolate", appearing in manifest.plist files are safely ignored, and cause no harm?

cbr wrote: ↑Fri Mar 13, 2026 2:22 pm

would for operating collecting all png inside a 1 oxz be more pref.

So that one could view them without loading all oxz's in the manager.

I would assume that wherever they start, they would need to be gathered into a central gallery to be used, similarly to how all the manifest files within OXZs are extracted and merged into one catalogue that Oolite then downloads.

I have to say that the optionality to me is key. But then it is necessary too (too many OXPs won't get one unless somebody unleashes an AI on all our 1,100 OXPs).

And I'm sure that there will be some for which the adage of a picture being worth 1,000 words will be true.

We'll see!

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2026 8:36 pm

I have to say that the optionality to me is key. But then it is necessary too (too many OXPs won't get one unless somebody unleashes an AI on all our 1,100 OXPs).

And I'm sure that there will be some for which the adage of a picture being worth 1,000 words will be true.

We'll see!

That shouldn't be the problem as the oxz Admiral has them all in his precious pocketsy