Oolite Bulletins

Firstly hello and thankyou for bringing my favorite game back after decades!

I'm having a really rough time getting back into the trading game, only trading between Leesti and Diso and I'm running into pirates, even Thargoids, how do I get started with such stiff resistance around in what I thought were fairly safe systems ?!?

Help !!!?

Welcome to the forums.

Did you install any OXP's? Some OXP's significantly increase the presence of Naval Vessels, Pirates and Thargons.

Playing Oolite without OXP's installed may be the way to minimize your encounters with unfriendly ships while you concentrate on earning money and equipping your ship.

One: don't ever touch the controls during the last seconds of a countdown, it avoids trouble!

Two: avoid the space lane - the straight line between the witchpoint and the planet can be deadly... As soon as you jump to a new system, set off at an angle, travel for a while, then aim for the planet again. It's a surprisingly quiet way to travel!

Three: welcome to the friendilest board this side of Riedquat!

If you keep your nose clean, it won't be long before you can upgrade your ship, which will cause a lot less personal dying!

Btw, have you got the the 'advice to new pilots' readme, it should be inside the 1.73.x download files !

Hi there Skii and welcome to the forums.

I know what you mean since I was there only a few weeks ago.

Kaks hit the nail on the head, the best thing to do is stay out of the space lane. For a quieter and peaceful journey to the station (and quicker). I set the planet marker to the very bottom of the compass (still green) and travel out for a bit before putting it back in the middle and heading back for the planet. This avoids the traffic and pirates wanting to sratch your lovely new ship.

I found two systems just slightly right of where you are. Look for Isinor and Ensoreus (I think that are the names). They are a Rich Industrial and a Poor Agricultural and I found them pretty safe and made enough money to upgrade my ship.

Stay safe out there.

Some great tips there - thanks peeps

This is a vanilla install - no mods so far.

Staying out of the space 'lane' - that makes so much sense , and yes after witchspace I travelled at 90 degrees to the planet for a while - the journey was so much quieter , great advice and thankyou!

Btw - I play this on a laptop with no joystick , am I hugely disadvantaged here as its suprisingly playable on the keypad ?

cheers

S

I have never actually played it with a joystick to be fair. I have always been a keyboard guy having played Elite on the BBC/Acorn many years ago. So S,X and , . are more than natural to me.

Will try a joystick one day and see what happens.

I use a joystick on my main PC, and keyboard on my laptop.. both are quite playable.. (though I confess I like being able to change views with the hatswitch and being able to target/un-target/cycle weapons with a flick of my thumb!)

Keyboard player here and have been with every version of Elite I've played since, well, as long as there has been an Elite to play.

Aside from the advice already given (although I have OXP's installed that make going off the main space lane a less safe option), remember to keep an eye on which systems you're going into. Aside from the obvious threats of Anarchy and Feudal systems, Confederacy systems can be pretty hairy as well.

If you want to enjoy as vanilla experience as possible, my OXP recommendation for you is the Welcome Mat OXP by Thargoid (although I would happily recommend all his OXPs and many more by others), as this simply adds a message when you jump into each system telling you about pirate, police and alien activity. It is a little bit of extra flavour, without fundamentally changing much.

Otherwise, buy a fuel injector as soon as you can. Aside from staying off the main space lane, the fuel injector is the best piece of equipment for avoiding fight's you think you can't win.

I use keyboard for every game I played, although I did buy a joystick when I got this PC. It was collecting dust until I got my hands on Oolite..

Suffice to say that my C64 days went by with Elite and my joystick. (Old habit, I guess)

Anyway, you just can't beat graduate roll/pitch that analog joystick can do. Try shooting down pirates while they are looping and swirling around you with keyboard...

That's it just rub it in your PC users you!

Now if I could get my Mac to install my joystick I might give it a go!

Talking about keys, does Yaw get disabled when you use the BBC keyboard layout? I never liked the arrow key things and the first thing I did was go back to a proper keyboard layout. But I notice a lot of talk about yaw instead of roll.

Hi, Skii, and welcome to the boards!

As for keyboard vs joystick: I've been playing Elite in its various incarnations since 1985 or so, and I have never ever used anything else than the keyboard. I wouldn't even know what to do with a joystick.

As for many more tipps and tricks, feel free to follow some of the following links:

All general information on how to play the game, the available functions, key-commands, and a first overview, can be best found in the game's ReadMe-file, which is conveniently placed right next to the game itself in the main Oolite-folder you downloaded. It is always a good idea to consult the ReadMe first.

It is also a good idea to consult the Oolite-section of the Elite-Wiki, which provides you with tons and tons of in-depth information. Good starting points for finding the answers to general questions are the Frequently Asked Questions-page and the Oolite Instruction Manual. From there you will find your way through the links.

There is also comprehensive information about the available Ships, the Equipment that can be bought and fitted to these ships, and the different types of Stations you may see in the game.

Or, if you are interested in the backstory of Oolite and the events and powers that shape the Ooniverse you could start on the Powers & Organisations-page.

Everything about the possibility to expand Oolite with Oolite eXpansion Packs (OXPs), including a quite comprehensive list of all available OXPs and their download locations, can be found on the OXP-page. There is also a page that deals especially with the available Missions in Oolite.

Last but not least, the Oolite Index page provides you with quick links to all articles in the Wiki.

And if you still have questions that are not answered in any of these places, feel free to ask them here, on the friendliest board this side of Riedquat. Chances are that somebody is around who knows--and is happily willing to provide--the answer.

I started my gaming life with a Atari 2600 the stick from which transferred to my c64 when I got that. and I think perhaps even my Amiga when I got that. So I didn't play Elite with a keyboard until I got it on the PC (specifically E:TNK on my HP Omnibook 800CT).

I'm now playing Oolite using a two analogue stick gamepad - it's really nice to gently move the left thumb to match rotation using the right thumb to tweak some yaw when req'd, while squeezing the upper right shoulder button to accelerate into the waiting maw of the station.

I'm a stick man for sure!

Hi Skii.

It’s been a joystick for me right from the start (Elite/BBC).
However, on my first PC, I found Elite Plus had a glitch with joysticks – limited and slow control only.
So I learnt to play with just keyboard controls. I managed to take it to Elite/Archangel level.

It’s good to be adept at both (in case you get your joystick shot off).

Now though, I like the multi-button joystick – for the same reasons as Diziet.

Very helpful guys, and thanks again. I can see there is enough here to keep me engrossed for a good while, I'm quite overwhelmed by the amount of iformation and the helpful nature of everyone here.

Thanks all, much appreciated

You'll need to collect some basic upgrades before you're ready to take on the intergalactic scum on an even footing. A beam laser, ECM, energy unit, injectors, and a shield booster.

And load your launcher with better missiles. The HM-3s that came with your Cobby are cheap and pack a decent punch, but are too easily defeated by countermeasures. Load hardened missiles, or better, some of these oxp warheads:
Military missile - a breed of hardened missile that may go 'crazy ivan' when ECM'd and turn on the nearest pirate or Thargoid. Sometimes on the pirate that launched it for a nasty surprise.
Nuclear torpedo - a hardened missile that had it's warhead replaced with a nuke. It's a slow missile, the thruster wasn't meant to handle the load, but it's a devastating weapon to use on pirate Pythons.
Missiles & Bombs Pack - A vast assortment of insane fireworks for your blow-em-up pleasure.

Joysticks: I used aftermarket Atari sticks when I played Elite on a C64, and now play Oolite with a multi-axis, multibutton flight controller. I love having every control available to me in an instant, right there on the stick, and to pull pitch/yaw/roll break combos never fails to put an aggressive pirate at a disadvantage. You'll pry my X52 from my cold dead hands, and will have to struggle to do so!