Oolite Bulletins

I have an idea for an OXP that I think might be really fun. I have no idea where to even start writing scripts, but I thought someone else might like the idea and who knows, it might be easy to implement.

The idea would be a low chance of making a misjump - similar to when you meet the Thargoids in deep space, but instead of other ships, you are stuck in the middle of a very thick Asteroid field and are mass-locked against hyperspacing out. The Asteroids are so close and moving so fast, it's difficult to maneuver through the field.

When you shoot an Asteroid, it splits into two that are moving about the field faster, each of those split into two more smaller, faster moving asteroids. When you shoot the smallest ones, they disappear.

You have to cross the field to get away from the mass-lock so you can head on to your original destination.

Kind of an homage to the old Asteroids game.

I have a model of a chopped Mamba I've been working on that would be a great extra for the OXP, since the ship in the old Asteroids game was just a triangle also.

Other than that it could be done with existing models.

I'm still struggling with making models and textures so I think writing all the AI and scripts and all that is WAY over my head.

I like the idea - a "fun" alternative.

Perhaps it could be an official competition - transmitted out of Tionsla - large bets placed on how long the ship lasts before its smashed to pieces, you could bet on yourself and reap the rewards.

Perhaps you have to pass through one of Frame's jump-rings and be whisked off to a special location where the asteroids have been carefully herded into place. There must be at least one system in every galaxy map that that is "plagued by deadly asteroids" or some such - you just head for there - go through the jump gate and voila - 3D Asteroids...

How about putting a cargo pod somewhere that rumoured to have something expensive (random contents) inside plus a temporary anti-mass lock device that would allow you hyperspace out. This means that you would need to stay around to find the canister.

It'd be pretty beastmode.

Maybe if you are doing like a sport, you could make it so that you go through a ring somewhere and end near a station that is surrounded by the asteroid field. The goal is to get through the Asteroid field to get to the station to claim your prize.

That might solve the no scriptable mis-jump and the asteroids don't mass-lock probelm.

Is is possible to program asteroids to move in a circle, as thought they were orbiting the station (or perhaps stuck in some sort of tractor beam field around the station), or would they have to be stationary?

Maybe in addition to the prize for making it to the station, you could also choose to use mining lasers to make some money by picking up the debris. With an ore processor, Asteroid Mining Competitions could bring some sexiness to the career of mining in the Oolite Ooniverse.

Baza wrote:

How about putting a cargo pod somewhere that rumoured to have something expensive (random contents) inside plus a temporary anti-mass lock device that would allow you hyperspace out. This means that you would need to stay around to find the canister.

That reminds me of the "Treasure hunt" mission in WC Prophecy, where you had to find an alien satellite hidden in an asteroid field.

I've been looking into some kind of asteroid encounter as part of the feudal tournament idea. Amongst other things I'm planning a 'run the gauntlet' type event where the player has to pick up a collection of tokens hidden in an asteroid field - the catch being that not all the asteroids are as innocuous as they seem, as some have been rigged with proximity cascade mines:



It should be possible to get the asteroids to idle around a certain point, but quickly enough to make things tricky for the player. To prevent cheating I plan to use some kind of start/finish gate that the player has to go through in order to get the points.

Sounds fun, and I trust Ramirez to make it so!

Ramirez wrote:

I've been looking into some kind of asteroid encounter as part of the feudal tournament idea. Amongst other things I'm planning a 'run the gauntlet' type event where the player has to pick up a collection of tokens hidden in an asteroid field - the catch being that not all the asteroids are as innocuous as they seem, as some have been rigged with proximity cascade mines:



It should be possible to get the asteroids to idle around a certain point, but quickly enough to make things tricky for the player. To prevent cheating I plan to use some kind of start/finish gate that the player has to go through in order to get the points.

Hmm. I'm not sure the cascade mines are such a good idea, as in a real showstopper. In a dense asteroid field, the one useful countermeasure for cascade mines - lighting the injectors and getting the heck out of dodge - isn't a doable. Get eaten by the blue death, or perform a high velocity smash into a rock trying to get away - either way, 'press space commander'.

Cmdr Wyvern wrote:

Hmm. I'm not sure the cascade mines are such a good idea, as in a real showstopper. In a dense asteroid field, the one useful countermeasure for cascade mines - lighting the injectors and getting the heck out of dodge - isn't a doable. Get eaten by the blue death, or perform a high velocity smash into a rock trying to get away - either way, 'press space commander'.

And you didn't even mention the real showstopper: Even if you somehow survive the blast, the asteroid field—and everything you would have had to search in it—would be gone.

Oy! Very true.

Yes, I figured that - it'll just have to be a big but standard explosion. However once the mines are armed the player will be given a few seconds to try to get clear before they detonate.

And there are "checkpoints" - the next checkpoint is out of range of the blast, and something prevents you from leaving the path, and when you go through a checkpoint, it starts a timer, and it is the bomb?
Sorry for incomprehensible speech - rapid brain dump...