Oolite Bulletins

Hi there good buddies (especially Aegidian, Ahruman, anyone else who has a hand in Oolite development, and all .OXP creators).

I used to play Oolite a few years ago, but stopped playing games for a while (dont know why really).
The other day I was spending my lunch break in a newsagents, and saw a copy of RetroGamer mag with a cover story all about Elite.
I then remembered a wonderful remake of it. So I found it, downloaded it, and ended up here!

Anyway - to get to the point: -

Firstly - which .OXPs add a lot of variety to the Ooniverse, but are not particularly taxing to the CPU? I stupidly tried running all that I could find at once (160 of 'em), but quickly realised that this is NOT a good idea! I do like the rusty ships one though - adds some gritty realism to the world.

Secondly - I would like to help in supporting this game, but can barely code (managed a pong clone in basic once), and have almost no artistic skills - so I was wondering if there is anything I can do to help (I can write music in a lot of styles, but there's barely any music in the game anyway).
I am looking at maybe creating an .OXP some time, but that will be a very long way off. I might start with a SFX mod.
I may start filling in the blanks in the Oolite Wiki for something to do.
How does adding entries for all the ships, sound? Are the sizes reported in Dry Dock in metres?

Thirdly - Is it worth learning the current scripting methods, or should I concentrate on the new JavaScript system instead?

Fourthly - I cannot find a downloadable version of the Ooolite Reference Sheet PDF. All the download links do not work. Can anybody post it somewhere - or should I start work on a new one
[What should be in it though, other than the keymap, and explanation of HUD?]


Anyway - thanks again for a great game for all involved.

(p.s. Sorry for the long, rambling post, and no; I definitely do not want to buy any Trumbles

Ace Garp wrote:

I cannot find a downloadable version of the Ooolite Reference Sheet PDF. All the download links do not work. Can anybody post it somewhere

Err, \I think you'll find it in the same folder you installed the game in, called OoliteRS.pdf.

YMMV

Not in my version, sorry

I'm using 1.70 for Mac OS X, and it's not there.
I've also just downloaded the last 'official' version (1.65), and it wasn't there either.

There's and RTF ReadMe, and the GPL license, but no OoliteRS.pdf

I can't download the Windows or Linux distros either, as I won't be able to open those formats.


Also - just a thought - could I make a humble suggestion to .OXP authors?
Please could the ReadMe file be the same name as the .OXP, such as 'NewShips.txt', as I've put all the readme's in one folder, and had to rename about 90% of them.

I know that this may be a bit cheeky of me, but I'm sure I can't be the only one who does this (or am I?)

Hi Ace Garp

Welcome back to the game and welcome to the BB.

Commies shouldn't be that demanding on your resources.

Your Ad Here adds some visual variety. Since v.3 it's been possible to have as little as 50 ads in at a time to save system resources: Just put the Your_Ad_Here.oxp folder into your expansion folder and a single of the lettered Your_Ad_here_set_X.oxp folders at a time. When you get tired of the ads in the set, just use another of the lettered folders.

Plugging aside. Most oxps don't really cause that much of a slowdown with the exception of those released by Charlie. Charlie has made some great looking ships that can be a quite demanding on a lot of machines with all their lights and 'features'.

The standard reply to requests about which oxps is to add a few at a time and keep them in if you like them.

Writing for the wiki would be a good idea - a lot of ships have empty pages.

Have fun

It terms of adding variety, I'd go for all the station OXPs and the Docs Your Add here (250 different graphical adds replace w/p and docking beacons). Asteroid Storm is good for the variety of rocks, mabey limit yourself to about 30 ship OXPs at once (good variety without overloading the game). Thargon Threat Behmoth and Navy are a must if you like big battles between the Thargoids and Navy. Personally I like the missions most, so I'd install all the ones that run in the Galaxy you are in ATM. Eg there's no point installing Assassins until you are in G7 or Ionics until you are in G2.

And for the last two questions:

The old scripting method will be dropped in the future, sometime after the Mythical Next Stable Release, so javascript is the better bet there.

And here's the reference sheet! If you want to upload it to the wiki & update the non-working links to it, that would be really appreciated!

Cheers,

Kaks

Thanks all. I'll start experimenting with various OXPs.

I've uploaded OoliteRS.pdf onto the Wiki (had to zip it, as it wouldn't let me upload it otherwise), and amended the link in the Instruction Manual page.

I'll check for any other links later - but I HAVE to go to bed now (it's 11am, and I'm still up!)

Hye!

How does adding entries for all the ships, sound?

For me, extremely good, as I`m working on a ship pricing oxp and would need all the stats for all the ships ...

A hearty welcome from me too

L

Ace Garp wrote:

and no; I definitely do not want to buy any Trumbles

<sotto voce: Dammit my reputation precedes me...>

Welcome to the Friendliest Boards This Side Of Reidquat™, Ace (I remember that pointy-headed alien trader of 2000AD comics fame...). I hope you have a long and enjoyable time on this addiction game.

By all means do as you will here or on the Wiki, every contribution is welcome and just adds to the rich tapestry of background fluff that is rapidly amounting for Oolite.

Now, if you'll just forward Cr30 to my account, I can supply you with a cute and fluffy anti-Space Madness aid as required by GalCop Regulation 3329842-A*.

*Not to be confused with GalCop Regulation 3329842-B (All Galactic Naval personnel must be able to recite in its entirety the 1979 Village People hit song "In The Navy" when required and ordered by a senior officer), or GalCop Regulation 3329843-A (At no time may members of the Reservist Navy, of any rank or affiliation, wear or decorate their bunk areas with pink fluffy bunny slippers).

Captain Hesperus

Ace Garp wrote:

Hi there good buddies (especially Aegidian, Ahruman, anyone else who has a hand in Oolite development, and all .OXP creators).

Ooh! That’s me.

Ace Garp wrote:

I used to play Oolite a few years ago, but stopped playing games for a while (dont know why really).
The other day I was spending my lunch break in a newsagents, and saw a copy of RetroGamer mag with a cover story all about Elite.
I then remembered a wonderful remake of it. So I found it, downloaded it, and ended up here!

We were wondering whether that had anything to do with a recent spike in downloads.

Ace Garp wrote:

I am looking at maybe creating an .OXP some time, but that will be a very long way off. I might start with a SFX mod.
I may start filling in the blanks in the Oolite Wiki for something to do.
How does adding entries for all the ships, sound? Are the sizes reported in Dry Dock in metres?

1.71 will make it easier to implement music in an OXP (using the Sound.playMusic() JavaScript command). Wiki-writing is good, but avoid duplicated effort. Dry Dock sizes are game metres.

Is it worth learning the current scripting methods, or should I concentrate on the new JavaScript system instead?

JavaScript is definitely the way forward. However, not all types of script can be written in JS at this point. I don’t plan on dropping the legacy system for a while, but it won’t be gaining many new abilities.

On the other hand, legacy scripts work with the “stable” release 1.65, and one of the ways the test series is “unstable” is that the JavaScript interface keeps changing.

Ahruman wrote:

Wiki-writing is good, but avoid duplicated effort.

A lot of the articles linked to on the ships page are still stubs.

Good point. Lucky thing we’ve got Category:Oolite ship stubs, isn’t it? :-)

Ahruman wrote:

Good point. Lucky thing we’ve got Category:Oolite ship stubs, isn’t it?

Zounds! It's almost as if someone planned it!

Captain Hesperus

Ahruman wrote:

Good point. Lucky thing we’ve got Category:Oolite ship stubs, isn’t it?

Sure is