Oolite Bulletins

Following a bit of discussion, it seems that the wiki would be a great place for OXPs. If you're new to Oolite (or if you've been in a cave for the last year), the wiki is at http://wiki.alioth.net .

To facilitate this, I have:

- upgraded the wiki to MediaWiki 1.9 (note: this involved a move of server, since 1.9 depends on php5, and I didn't want to break everyone's php4 scripts on hope.alioth.net). This means you may right now be getting '404 Not Found' or maintenance messages on wiki.alioth.net. The time to live on the DNS record is only 1 hour, so you should be OK within the hour (if you're desperate, just type 'providence.alioth.net' instead of 'wiki.alioth.net' into your URL thingy).

- enabled the uploading of ZIP files

Please let me know if you run into trouble - I've done some basic testing and it all seems to check out, but given that the wiki is now on a different server, it's more than likely some PHP global setting has been missed which may cause some borkage.

I suggest that the template is modified for things like ships to include a direct link to the ZIP file.

Categories:
Any page that points to an OXP - please put it in the appropriate category so they can easily be indexed:

* OXPShips
* OXPMissions
* OXPStations
etc.

(Don't worry if you make a mistake, you can always edit it and correct it). Any page linking to a zipped OXP should have one or more of these categories.

Could somebody (probabley Winston or Captain H) start us off with a blank templete, linked from the OXP page?

Somthing like a page that has set up:-

Mission OXPs
Space Station OXPs
Player Ship OXPs
NPC Ship OXPs
Equipment OXPs

Each time anybody adds a page with the information and dowload about their OXP, they could add an internal link in the Catorgary(s) to the OXP info / download page.

That way we'd have one page where you can quickly see all the OXPs on the Wikki by Catagory.

How about making an OXP list page similar to the ships and stations list pages? Split up by missions/ships/etc?

Ship OXPs can just go on the page for that particular ship (which in many cases, will already exist), and the category added to the ship page in question. I don't think there's any need to have a new page just for the OXP download (unless it has some special instructions, but most, I presume don't).

LittleBear wrote:

Each time anybody adds a page with the information and dowload about their OXP, they could add an internal link in the Catorgary(s) to the OXP info / download page.

That way we'd have one page where you can quickly see all the OXPs on the Wikki by Catagory.

MediaWiki has automatic category support. Just add [[Category:Foo]] (for instance, [[Category:OXPShips]]) to have the page listed on the relevant category page. Each page’s categories are listed at the bottom of the page. For instance, look at Category:Oolite, and click any of the links, then scroll to the bottom.

I've hit a problem here, tried to upload an OXP, 2.1mb in size, and I've got the error message that the file is bigger than the server is configured to allow.

PLEASE if you have a problem, PM me. I'm busy building an embedded project at the moment and so don't browse this forum very often - so if you post about it in the forum it may be weeks before I see it (if ever). If you PM me, I get an email telling me I have a PM

winston wrote:

PLEASE if you have a problem, PM me. I'm busy building an embedded project at the moment and so don't browse this forum very often - so if you post about it in the forum it may be weeks before I see it (if ever). If you PM me, I get an email telling me I have a PM

OK, will do next time (if there is one).

Yesterday I renamed the OXP categories to be more like descriptions and less programmery. This wasn’t a very big change, since I’m the only one who’s actually used the categories. They are now:

• Category:Ship OXPs
• Category:Station OXPs
• Category:Mission OXPs
• Category:Demo OXPs (for examples of making OXPs, not limited-functionality OXPs)

It’s easy to add more if none of these describe your OXP. Some of these turn up on Category:Oolite as subcategories, others do not. I’m not sure why.

Quick guide to posting an OXP to the wiki:

• Create a wiki account and log in. (This is not strictly required, but reccomended.)
• Use the Upload file page to upload a zipped copy of your OXP.
• Go to http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Your_OXP (replacing Your_OXP with the name of your OXP, ending with OXP). You should get a page saying that it has no text, and offering you the opportunity to edit it. Do so.
• Describe your OXP. Include a download link (of the form [[Media:your_oxp.oxp.zip|download here]]), and add appropriate categories at the bottom. Use the JavaScript test OXP or Freaky Thargoids OXP pages as examples (click the edit tab at the top to see how they’re written).
• Add a link on the OXP page.

Just a thought: It is possible to nest categories. So there could be a category OOlite, which contains the category OXP, which has subcategories Ships, Missions, Planets, Equipment and Experimental.

Best wishes,
Oscar

Is there an official XP distribution containing all the best / important XPs? Or are users expected to go through them one by one installing them by hand - seems like a poor way to get these mods out to the community as only really dedicated players will be content to do this much.

There is no “official” distribution of OXPs because there is no office of OXP goodness.

I think freegamer has a point. There are so many OXP's now, that anybody new to Oolite has to be committed to download and shift files around. Is it feasible to categorise them eg eye candy, difficult, easy, intermediate, etc, and then have one file for each category to download with a built in installer?

It would certainly make life easier for us non-techies, and maybe help prevent newcomers from being put off.

If you use the Wikki for finding OXPs then they are catagorised.

If you go to the Ships page (from the Main Page), then the OXP ships are listed with a picture and clicking gives you some info plus a dowload link.

The same goes for stations (from the Main Page).

The Missions page does not have a link from the Main Page, but if you go to this wiki page:- http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Oolite_Missions A list of all missions with info and download links is given.

If you go to the OXP page (from the Main Page), there is an alphabetical list (by the Doc). At the Bottom of the page is a catagory list, but this only shows the ones so far submitted to the Wiki. (Most are still on Oosat1 or 2 ATM). However, you can still find them on the wikki and use the download link from the wikki.

If terms of a list of the best:- I'd say:-

All Mission OXPs and all Station OXPs, together with Custom Sounds are must haves. (Take you about 30 mins to download and install all these)

Ships are really a matter of personal choice. Just put in a few that take your fancy and add a few more when you feel like it!

There will not be an “official” best OXP distrubution because no-one “official” has the time or inclination to make one. I also think it would be a bad idea for the core game team to be deciding which OXPs are “good”.

However, the Wiki provides a framework for users and creators to categorize OXPs, and there’s nothing stopping anyone from creating an OXP rating site and trying to get recognized as authorative. It would be a significant amount of work, though.