Oolite Bulletins

Hey folks,

just started playing Oolite.
before the game starts to loose it's fun, I thought I'd save my progress - what little I've made - and post. I'm at Ensoreus and can't find the station. Spent way too much time looking at white dots on black right next to the planet and now am running low on fuel. What's the best way to find any of the stations? Are there any general rules?

Welcome to the boards. An Advanced Space Compass is very helpful for this (set it to N by cycling though the beacons with the # key and it'll take you right there), but I guess your too poor to buy one yet! However, you ship came free with a Standard Compass so you'll have to use the cheapo version for the moment. Set your sights on the center of the planet and fly towards it. You'll see that a little green dot is centered on your Hud display in the blue circle next to the energy bars. This represents the planet. When you get near enough to the planet the dot changes position suddenly. This means your on boad computer has found the station and the dot now repesents the stations position. Get the dot centered again and fly towards it. You'll then find the station. Green means the target is ahead of you, red that it is behind you. Bear in mind though that the station orbits the planet so it can be on the other side! If you are entereing the planets atmosphere with the dot still centered then you'll need to overfly the planet rather than flying into the surface!

Have a read of the Equipment and Instruction manual on the Wiki as this will answer most of your navigation questions. Its a good game, but it takes a while to get into!

Welcome to the boards and to this great game.
Also I think this First Flight Tutorial will be very helpful

http://oolite.aegidian.org/tutorial/

good deal... I got that one down. the wiki and the tutorial are very helpful - cheers!

Welcome to the Boards, stereohype! As you can see the commanders above have given you a great set of instructions to find the station. Just one small thing though, your prime motivators and in-system jump (Torus) drive do not use the Quirium Fuel that you carry, instead being powered by energy gleaned from the local star and stoed in onboard capacitance systems. The Quirium is used by your hyperspace (or Witchspace) drive. This drive is what creates the 'Witchspace' tunnel you travel through as you travel between systems. Unlike Elite's decendents, Frontier and First Encounters, you cannot physically run out of fuel to power the prime motivators or in-system jump drive.
By the way, would you like to buy a cute and fluffy companion for those long journeys between worlds? Only Cr30 each and you won't have to worry about buying companions for them......

Captain Hesperus

Hi, stereohype, and welcome to the boards and of course to this great game!

Just another hint: If you fly straight to the planet from the witchpoint (which is the point where you materialized in the system), you will sooner or later see the station orbiting the planet on your screen (bigger stations sooner, smaller stations later). The station is never placed behind the planet, if seen from the witchpoint, but it can be in a right angle from your direction.

You already have been pointed to the Elite-wiki. To get started, you may want to consult the Instruction Manual and perhaps the FAQs.

And of course: Have fun playing!

Right On, Commander!

those people at Lave academy ... education is no longer what it used to be... in my day things were way different and passing the exams actually meant one could pilot a vessel ......mumbemumbleglupgrump...>Proot?< Ah, there you are my sweet pet! 'guess it's time to feed you eh? ...
*wanders off, leaving the commchannel open*

- HEY, COMMANDER! ARE YOU STILL THERE?

- >Proot?<

- Ah! Good to get you still.

- >Proot.<

- Do you know that it's actually not necessary to feed a trumble? They pretty much take care of themselves, feeding on anything that doesn't fight back...

- >Proot!< >Proot!< >Munch!< >Munch!<

- Hallo, Commander? HALLO, COMMANDER? ARE YOU STILL THERE?

- *static noise*

...