Oolite Bulletins

hi there,

i am amazed that oolite is so near to the original (as far as i remember it). i just took out my old manual to elite (atari st). and i found a thing i really miss in oolite: RETRO ROCKETS!

the best thing to hold your enemy at distance AND in view to keep your laser warm!

any chance to get some retros?

i fly version 1.35.

How about a full manual thruster pack conversion?

That way you could disengage the standard Elite computer assisted controls and go for undamped 6x2 way thrusters.
(Roll+ Roll- Pitch+ Pitch- Yaw+ Yaw- X+ X- Y+ Y- Z+ Z-, yup, only twelve keys required, could just about manage that with two hands!)

Bit bemused by 'retro rockets' - surely it must have retro rockets to slow down... ...I assume he means spinning the space ship round whilst moving in a given direction, thereby firing at an advancing enemy as you retreat from them - why not use the rear weapon?

This is used in top-down 2D space games like EV, but I reckon would be seriously risky in 3D - could be a bit of a hoot in a melee!!

The only time I remember retro rockets being of any use on the Atari ST version of Elite was when you were near to the sun and could fire the rockets to get away from it without having to turn your ship around. Other than that I found them pretty useless. For those that are not familiar with the ST version; Retro Rockets were essentially a limited (5 uses I think) reverse speed boost (i.e. it sent you flying backwards). The advantage of them was that they didn't require any witch fuel but they were, in a sense, a one shot deal which was definately a disadvantage (an expensive one shot deal at that if I remember correctly)

Given that we have fuel injectors, I personally, don't feel there is a need to ressurrect retro rockets.

just to clarify:

retros are boosters that kick your ship backwards some kilometers.
very useful if you are surrounded by lots of enemies (THARGS!) to get out of the fights center. and your laser is still aiming at that center, so you can hold the trigger!

thats what i need them for.

atze wrote:

just to clarify:

retros are boosters that kick your ship backwards some kilometers.
very useful if you are surrounded by lots of enemies (THARGS!) to get out of the fights center. and your laser is still aiming at that center, so you can hold the trigger!

thats what i need them for.

OR, you could work in reverse (which is basically forwards... ) anyway... Stick a laser on your rear and use Fuel Injectors to run away firing... it's a bit trickier but it works.

aegidian wrote:

How about a full manual thruster pack conversion?

That way you could disengage the standard Elite computer assisted controls and go for undamped 6x2 way thrusters.
(Roll+ Roll- Pitch+ Pitch- Yaw+ Yaw- X+ X- Y+ Y- Z+ Z-, yup, only twelve keys required, could just about manage that with two hands!)

Me want some.
Maybe only manual forward and reverse thrusters. Let the gyros be on auto or else...

aegidian wrote:

How about a full manual thruster pack conversion?

That way you could disengage the standard Elite computer assisted controls and go for undamped 6x2 way thrusters.
(Roll+ Roll- Pitch+ Pitch- Yaw+ Yaw- X+ X- Y+ Y- Z+ Z-, yup, only twelve keys required, could just about manage that with two hands!)

Slightly more useful would be the option to align your controls with the view you are currently using. In other words you don't have to mentally reverse your controls when firing from the aft view. Even better, it woul be possible to use the side lasers for a change.

Obviously the thrust would still be in the forward direction, but that would be pretty cool.

AJ wrote:

Slightly more useful would be the option to align your controls with the view you are currently using. In other words you don't have to mentally reverse your controls when firing from the aft view.

Hell no. That'd *really* confuse me. It's good to be reminded you're looking aft (or left or right) occasionally. . .

I remember them on the Amiga - kinda useless, apart from the retreat to cool off option, but if you can afford Retros you can afford a gun on the back.

aegidian wrote:

How about a full manual thruster pack conversion?

That way you could disengage the standard Elite computer assisted controls and go for undamped 6x2 way thrusters.
(Roll+ Roll- Pitch+ Pitch- Yaw+ Yaw- X+ X- Y+ Y- Z+ Z-, yup, only twelve keys required, could just about manage that with two hands!)

Yes please

Actually you could probably manage with just one hand once you learned the combinations... after all there are some that are just silly (Y+ and Y- simultaneously, of course)...

I'd suggest a key which would dampen off any roll and perhaps another which would dampen any movement along the XYZ axes...

Slightly more useful would be the option to align your controls with the view you are currently using. In other words you don't have to mentally reverse your controls when firing from the aft view. Even better, it woul be possible to use the side lasers for a change.

On the zx spectrum version of Elite there was a key that allowed you to reverse the controls (up=down, roll left=roll right etc) so that you could use your rear view much more effectively. So there is a 'canon' prerogative for this. Not sure about other versions.

Since the Elite ships must be fly by wire in this far advanced century, that sort of thing would probably be a common place mod, or standard fitment I would have thought.

So.. no for retros, but yes to controls linked to (atleast) the rear screen.

Cheers,

Drew.

drew wrote:

On the zx spectrum version of Elite there was a key that allowed you to reverse the controls (up=down, roll left=roll right etc) so that you could use your rear view much more effectively. So there is a 'canon' prerogative for this. Not sure about other versions.

I think this was also in the Amiga or C-64 version. It was basically a difference between the climb and dive directions, one for those who wanted to fly the craft as if it was an aeroplane and one for those who wanted to have the crosshairs move into the direction that they pushed the joystick into...

aegidian wrote:

How about a full manual thruster pack conversion?

That way you could disengage the standard Elite computer assisted controls and go for undamped 6x2 way thrusters.
(Roll+ Roll- Pitch+ Pitch- Yaw+ Yaw- X+ X- Y+ Y- Z+ Z-, yup, only twelve keys required, could just about manage that with two hands!)

That sounds like good fun - it might make manual docking heaps easier too.

Last elite i played was amiga version. (I do not count frontier and ffe)
I must say that i find retro rockets useful. I used it in most difficult situations. Let's say that where i launched retros in amiga, i eject ship in escape pod now
It would be nice to have that piece of equipment again. It is not a must to have it.