Oolite Bulletins

Hello Everyone .......

I've just found OOLITE - and to my utter and cosmic amazement it's ELITE....

It's THE Space / War / trading game of the late 80's (??) I think it was the last time I seriously played a computer game in my 20's at UNI on an AMiga 600

anyhow - enough nostalgia - Elite/Oolite now has the graphics that I longed for on the Amiga - or at least some versions have .. where / how do I get the files for the cool stations etc - are they called shaders ?

Oh yeah - and why is it that manual docking is so difficult ?

6 attempts - 6 crashes - yet on elite u could throw it at a coriolis and hit the rings ......any advice for an old NOOB ?

REAL SOCIALDAD

Welcome back to the addiction!

Add Ons including stations can be downloaded from the Wiki here:-

http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/OXP

If your after stations in particular, check the Stations Page. Check the Main Page here and follow the Stations link. You might want to have a poke around the Wikki generaly for tips, instructions and general info:-

http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Oolite_Main_Page

Docking should be a tad easier than in classic elite if you use the Nav Beacon. Fly to the station and keep your eye on the scanner for a flashing 'golf club'. Thats the Nav Beacon. Its lined up in a direct line with the docking port. Fly right up to it and stop. Now roll so that the station is right behind you lined up on the scanner with the Nav Beacon. Dive until you see the station. You should now be perfectly alined with the docking port. In you go! Its a bit counter-intuitive as its safer to dock at speed. A tap or two to keep your roll roughly right should be enough. Its fairly forgiving as long as your alinement is right.

thanx 4 the advice - I'll reply when I manage to get to Zaonce ......

I know - I know ....... I am 43 ........ but i was a bit of a Scurge way back when ....?

Cant explain to the missus how much fun this is ........

Real Socialdad wrote:

Hello Everyone .......

I've just found OOLITE - and to my utter and cosmic amazement it's ELITE....

It's THE Space / War / trading game of the late 80's (??) I think it was the last time I seriously played a computer game in my 20's at UNI on an AMiga 600

anyhow - enough nostalgia - Elite/Oolite now has the graphics that I longed for on the Amiga - or at least some versions have .. where / how do I get the files for the cool stations etc - are they called shaders ?

Oh yeah - and why is it that manual docking is so difficult ?

6 attempts - 6 crashes - yet on elite u could throw it at a coriolis and hit the rings ......any advice for an old NOOB ?

REAL SOCIALDAD

Hello and welcome.

Manual docking is slightly more difficult because the feature that allowed you to "set" the rotation of your ship to match the space station has been left behind.
I suggest getting a decent joystick instead. You'll be able to more precisely control the rotation of your ship to match the rotation of the station.

Re-read the manuals for docking. The better your approach to a station, the easier it will be to line yourself up for a docking manuver.

Other suggestions...
1) Fuel scoops are good for grabbing cargo in space, but you'll need to equip a ship with heat-shields before attempting to scoop fuel from a sun. Suns vary in size, and a ship may cook before it reaches the low altitudes where fuel-skimming is possible.

2) Witch-fuel injectors give you the option of running from a fight and living to fight another day.

3) Docking computers are still worth every credit of their cost.

4) Save your game often.

5) Until your ship is fully equipped, avoid risky (and costly!) combat situations. Steady profits are made via trade-routes.

6) The best trading combinations are Rich Industrial Worlds in close proximity to Poor Agricultural Worlds.
-Rich Industrial worlds pay well for Food, Radioactives, Liquor/Wines and Furs. They usually pay decently for textiles, minerals, gold, platinum and gems.
-Poor Agricultural worlds pay well for Computers, Luxuries and Machinery.
-Rock Hermits charge a lot for fuel. They pay well for Liquor/Wines. They're a good place to purchase gold, platinum, gems and minerals. Rock Hermits aren't always available, so don't count on them being in a system when you exit Witchspace.

7) Hostile ships are better equipped in Oolite than they were in Elite.

So far best trade route I found is Laenin-Xexedi in G1...poor agricultural, communist world 0.8 LY away from TL13 rich industrial...it's also prolly one of safest because after jump, you have enough fuel to run from anything that threatens you.

Manual docking is difficult at first, but once you get a little experience, it get very easy...you'll eventually be able to dock without nav buoy...and you might need it cause some AI ships are kinda dumb and crash into it, eventually destroying it. Anyway...don'ŧ rush, take your time, and best thing to do if you are having problems is, if there's another ship docking, slip behind it and copy its movement...

Added a step by step How to Dock Guide to the Wikki. Its linked in the Instruction Maunal and the FAQ.

http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/How_to_Dock

thanks for the step by step - I'll try it.

Very nice pics as well ........

Thats it - I've had it........ all along I thought I had the latest release of OOLITE - but no.

What a Muppet .......

The Screenies on the page show Oolite running with the OXPs System_Reddux (for the planet and moons) and Gritty Corolis installed (for the station). You can grab these and other eye-candy on the Wikki OXP page. The technique works with any station though. Better add a note to the page to make this clear!

Hi Socialdad, And very welcome back to the newer best game ever.
Yup like you I was an elite fan back with the bbc micro, bit earlier than the amiga. Kid brother told me about this a few months ago. Haven't been able to put it down since. Even gonna get a better graphics card just for it.

- I've had it........ all along I thought I had the latest release of OOLITE - but no.

Wouldn't over worry about which version you have started with, just download the newer version and copy paste your saves into the save folder;
Oolite -> Apps -> saves. That easy. I have an extra folder just to keep oxp's in (the add ons you can have) Some of them are a bit hard for me at this time and some are too much for my computer. But by having them handy means I can drop them in or out at any time. All this is done in My Computer -> Explore. I prefer the folder view, much easier to see between levels at a glance.
You might want to keep an eye on available contracts F8 F8. Maybe wait till you have a bigger ship for them though.[/quote]

My manual docking method approaches station using (advanced space-) compass to position station at LEFT or RIGHT

or arrange station "golf-club" (at left or right in bottom display) so that it has no handle

then use PORT or STARBOARD viewer to watch station glide past..

STOP STOP STOP when station is aligned (so that you can't see its sides, just the front)

FRONT VIEW ..and roll/dive 'til you see the station in front of you

disregard the gross station, look at the 4 lights and zoom in fast, akin to BBC micro version or whatever you're familiar with DON'T BE SHY

twiddle as required to keep 4 lights centred

or just sell ship and get cheap unit + docking computer at earliest opp. viz. @ Zaonce

Time for Merlin flowed backwards, I hear. Flowing back to BBC micro universe yields dividends. We view the superstructure built upon that cornerstone and see CAKE, when all around, there is only ICING.

As mentioned elsewhere: The station buoy has been introduced in Oolite (it wasn't there in other versions of Elite) for the specific purpose of making manual docking easier. So please feel free to use it. It is really simple:

When you approach the station for docking, don't approach the station itself, but the buoy. Get as close to it as possible. It is placed exactly 10000 meters in front of the middle of the docking bay. Which means that, if you're next to it, also you are placed in front of the middle of the docking bay. So the only thing you have to do is to face the station, aim for the docking bay, and engage your thrusters. Roll a little bit, and don't be shy with your speed.

That's really all you need to do.

Enhance your reaction speeds with these handy dandy over keys!

https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?t=4982&start=15

(will work on most keyboards with resizing)

"4) Save your game often. "

and take a backup copy of that often!