Oolite Bulletins

Greetings to all,

I'm delighted now that I've found Oolite to kill time and take me back to antediluvian times, though -- it has to be said -- in this, sadly, lays the crux of my problem. As the last time I played Elite was when C64 ruled the roost, I've no idea how to buy new ships. I really tried to find the answer by using search, but to no avail. Might well be that I'm trying with wrong words or am just not too well-versed, but the problem remains.

So my question is: How is one able to change from a Cobra Mk.III to, for example, Python? Do I need something else beside the pile of credits?

From what I've understood, at least some of the ships should be available for the player with a whole fleet in OXPs if one feels the need to add some extra to the basic game?

And if you'd, yet again, stoop to the lower levels, would you tell me the OXPs commonly considered to be the ones to get? Realistic Shipyards, I think, is one of these. I understand that loads of OXPs tax the system, but I believe I can safely bolt on a few add-ons to Oolite on my MacBook Pro?

And if one is to act mostly in mercantile manner, would the best "iron ass" be the Python or one of the Boas? I guess there are better ships to be found in OXPs, but as I will start with the basics, I'd like to run with the original crew.

Sincerely,

rvlvr

When docked press f3 to get the ship equipment list then press f3 again to bring up the ships for sale list.

Hello, welcome to the boards. Might I remind you that no board or person is perfect, except Amen Brick. To buy a new ship, press 3 or F3 twice, and you should see some new ships. With the realistic shipyards OXP, the prices are priced realistically, so your ship might be cheaper or more expensive. without the oxp, you need 200,000 Cr. without, you need 176,000 I think. I hope You find the ship of your dreams.

Don't Panic: FSOneblin

Thank you. Much appreciated.

Sincerely,

rvlvr

Hi rvlvr, and like FSOneblin says, welcome to the boards! It's a two-drink minimum and please – don't feed the trumbles.

F3-F3 should indeed bring up the shipyard. Availability of ships will depend on how rare they are and the stability/tech level of the system you happen to be in. Make sure you haven't selected "Strict play", though, otherwise you'll be unable to change ships.

The Python is a good old workhorse, but you might want to consider some others, like maybe the Python Class Crusier, for example. Choosing OXPs is a matter of taste as much as anything else, but you have to remember that anything you can have, the bad guys can have too!

There's a table of pretty much all the current OXPs available here, and information on a bunch of ships here. Other interesting OXPs (personally speaking) are those which provide extra trading or other moneymaking options: you might want to consider Commies, Dictatorships, Your Ad Here (for the Convenience Stores, if nothing else – although this OXP can apparently cause some slowdown on some systems if you install all the ad sets), Galactic Navy, Random Hits, HoOpy casino, UPS Courier...

If you're finding money a problem in moving up to a new ship there's always the M-Pack (Rusties) option, or if you're feeling bold, the Black Monks. One key bit of kit I'd look into is the Fuel Tank. And there's always the Ore Processor if you feel like doing a bit of mining.

My advice is: play around with the OXP mix and see what suits. If it's not to your taste, or your system seems to be struggling, take stuff out (although obviously if you're flying a ship that only exists in an OXP, you'll need that OXP installed to continue flying it).

Greeting rvlvr! Welcome to the boards.

Others have already told you how to find where the shipyard is - I would suggest you install the "rusties" oxp - all the classic ships, each a little worse for wear (less shielding, underpowered engines, etc), but a chance to buy something bigger, or just different from your Cobby3 and put some money in the bank.

Enjoy. That's the most important bit!

Welcome to the Board

Hi rvlvr, good to have you on board

Firstly you need to have a good look at the Wiki it's a goldmine of information.

The OXP's to add is a subjective thing amongst the Commanders here, and it really depends on what you want out of the game, and to an extent what type of kit

There are a lot of new ships, and realistic shipyards is a good and quick way to add variety and a rational approach to ship pricing, but beware it is huge and you need a high performance bit of kit to run it, 2Gb ram dual core etc, have a look at the Wiki entry Some of the ships included in RS are very powerful and consume young Jamesons like swatting flies so be prepared to "press space commander"


Non Ship and mission "eye (and ear) candy" OXP's are a must have, so try these:

System Redux
Gritty Coriolis
Cargo and Wrecks
Diso
External views
Globe Station
Military station
Monument
Orbits
PA grooves stations
Sungs detailed textures
Tianve pulsar
Tionisla graveyard
Torus station
Trade outpost
Trans-hab station
Your Ad here
Clear skies (makes it easier to see things from a distance)

Replacement HUD's choose one of:

Dr Hud
G-hud
Klepto Hud
Medusa Hud
Mega Walnut hud
Milspec Hud
NG Hud

Replacement sound sets again choose one of:

Amiga replacement sounds
Custom sounds
Hals hot sister
Mild Audio
Murghs replacement sounds
Wiggys replacement sounds
Xaotics replacement sounds

Hyperradio lets you play your own music

As far as missions, trading, political flavours are concerned there are several options, you can select for a particular galaxy or for the whole universe, they add extra ships, stations, environments and it really depends on what you want out of the game:

Good universal oxp's you can add:

Asteroid storm
Hoopy's casino
Random hits
Anarchies
Commies
Deep space pirates
Sunskimmers
Oo haul
Ups courier
Farsun

That lot should keep you busy

EDIT: oops missed Fighter Hud

(slaps forehead)

Regarding the different OXPs:

I found that running the Realistic Shipyards is not an option with my MacBook Pro. I guess it just isn't powerful enough for that package.

Haven't yet tried with other OXPs, but will look into those when I get back from work (and have the time to do so). Nothing wrong with the basic game -- that's what I've been looking for -- but I have to say I'd like to bolt on some bells and whistles...

For a basic set of audio visual sweeties I'd suggest

Custom sounds
Sungs textures
Fighter hud
Pagrooves stations
system redux
cargo wrecks

enjoy

rvlvr wrote:

Regarding the different OXPs:

I found that running the Realistic Shipyards is not an option with my MacBook Pro. I guess it just isn't powerful enough for that package.

Haven't yet tried with other OXPs, but will look into those when I get back from work (and have the time to do so). Nothing wrong with the basic game -- that's what I've been looking for -- but I have to say I'd like to bolt on some bells and whistles...

Strange, I use an ibook and I have no trouble. is it just with the dockable shipyards?

Don't Panoc: FSOneblin

FSOneblin wrote:

Strange, I use an ibook and I have no trouble. is it just with the dockable shipyards?

I don't know how fast that I book is, but I have an i-mac 700 Mhz. With Oolite 1.71 and no oxp installed I barely get 16 FPS when I am near the planet. With all my oxp's installed, I get around the 10 FPS. I never downloaded the big RS but I assume it will hurt my speed further.

My MacBook Pro (first generation) has, if I remember correctly, 2.0 GHz and 1 GB RAM.

I don't know how the game (I have v1.65) usually reacts to OXPs, but mine got stuck at "initializing galaxy" or some such. I removed the Realistic Shipyards, but still had the same thing happening with a bunch of other OXPs (Assassins, Commies & and a few others).

Might the trouble be the version of Oolite I'm running? Should I move up to v1.7X?

rvlvr wrote:

Might the trouble be the version of Oolite I'm running? Should I move up to v1.7X?

Absolutely yes.

TGHC wrote:

Absolutely yes.

Okay. Will do.