New Boarder seeks Guidance (general and OXPs)

[Obsidian]

Hello again. I've been playing oolite (ver. 1.72.2) on and off for a while and have what could be aggravating questions (due to frequency), though I hope not.

Just to preface, my plan was to "do the eight" as close to strict as I could manage and add mission OXPs on the second go-round. Currently loaded OXPs are some equipment enhancements like "bounty scanner", "rock hermit locator" and "combat drones"; flavor enhancements "dictatorships" and "commies" (avoided "anarchies" because of the change in criminal status --- wanted to get a feel for vanilla-ish first... and some easier money); and ships: "old ships", "new ships", "specials", and "behemoth". (Avoided "x-ships" and some others because I don't want to fly in any super-ships or have them offered to me for sale, since if I can afford it, there's no game-reason I should not buy it. Also, I doubt my old, but reliable rig, a 2.7 ghz Celeron with 768MB RAM and 64 MB integrated graphics, can handle the visual awsomeness of some OXPs I would load, namely the fancy remodelling of 'acceptable' ships.) Oh, I forgot "interstellar help", which is the subject of a slightly amusing (or embarassing) story --- very slight I imagine, but it makes me smile.

Anyway, concerning any OXP suggestions I might recieve, I don't like superships on principle (a personal preference; supership lovers forgive me, but Gal-Cop and the Thargoids should be the only factions rolling about in dedicated death-machines in MY ooniverse) and I will destroy clean traders if they interfere with the operation of my jump drive, which is the reason I have avoided "YAH" and the multiple 'things' I anticipate the OXP might add to impede my speedier travel; also explains why I removed the pretty "torus stations" which kept me from speedily witch-driving on to other pastures. Maybe it's some weird form of OCD, but I have become Ebeneezer Scrooge in a Boa 2 and the cargo contracts are dominating my oolite life. I should name my ship the Rocking Horse Winner, because "there must be more money." I'd consider umm... "dedicated opportunity trading" as a more enjoyable line of work, but figured I get some advice first before making my first career change.

Specific questions.
1.) Can anyone suggest OXPs that conform to the preferences I've indicated? I know, I know, I should just try them out, but I figured the collective wisdom here might nudge me in the 'right' direction for me. (You know, the obsessive trader-scrooging and all being a problem --- i'd consider it an intervention!)

2.) I'm trading in Galaxy 3 after completing the Constrictor Hunt with around 860,000 creds in the... umm bank? Anyway should I be doing anything with my ironass Boa Class Cruiser other than more trading (with nothing much to buy) to keep the lucrative cargo contracts coming? Or can I simply get on back around to Galaxy 1 without missing anything special?

3.) Speaking of that Constrictor Hunt, did it boost me up to 'Dangerous'?I'm pretty sure my kills were in the 300-350 range when I blasted that wretched, skittish thing and found I then had 500-something creds. Maybe capturing the pilot gave me a kill bonus?

4.) Skittish myself in early play, probably because I'd been frequently ambushed by better equipped gangs of space pirates who often died while destroying my equipment and cargo (too tight to buy a ramscoop back then and lessen the losses with a little salvage), I turned down the offered trumbles in a spate of paranoia. Have I missed out in perpetuity? I find myself getting hungry on those long cargo hauls when the ship gets to eat and I don't. What do you mean, "they're supposed to be pets"; oh I guess I can't eat the 'bony blue felines' or the 'fat black insects' either? What is wrong with you people.

5.) Has no one come up with an equipment OXP that brackets ALL ships in range? You know, green box 'em so I can have some idea of where the blip on my scanner actually is in space? Those loose cargo pods seem to sneak right on by me with alarming frequency.

Whew! I probably inspired somebody to write an OXP that equips my mouth with a muzzle... er, fingers with... I don't know, rubber bands? Boxing gloves? Anyway, thank you for your patience and I look forward to whatever wisdom commanders might deign to share.

Obsidian.

[another_commander]

Hi and welcome. I'll leave the OXP selection answers to others and just give a couple of tips for the rest.

2.) I'm trading in Galaxy 3 after completing the Constrictor Hunt with around 860,000 creds in the... umm bank? Anyway should I be doing anything with my ironass Boa Class Cruiser other than more trading (with nothing much to buy) to keep the lucrative cargo contracts coming? Or can I simply get on back around to Galaxy 1 without missing anything special?

Let's put it this way: Take your trime trading (or whatever carreer you choose) till you have fifteen hundred kills or so, then start retruning to G1 and you'll find out...

3.) Speaking of that Constrictor Hunt, did it boost me up to 'Dangerous'?I'm pretty sure my kills were in the 300-350 range when I blasted that wretched, skittish thing and found I then had 500-something creds. Maybe capturing the pilot gave me a kill bonus?

This is how the mission is scripted. Capturing the pilot or not is irrelevant.

4.) Skittish myself in early play, probably because I'd been frequently ambushed by better equipped gangs of space pirates who often died while destroying my equipment and cargo (too tight to buy a ramscoop back then and lessen the losses with a little salvage), I turned down the offered trumbles in a spate of paranoia. Have I missed out in perpetuity?

You will have more chances to not miss the offer in the future.

5.) Has no one come up with an equipment OXP that brackets ALL ships in range? You know, green box 'em so I can have some idea of where the blip on my scanner actually is in space? Those loose cargo pods seem to sneak right on by me with alarming frequency.

This would require code modifications. However, if you find that stuff sneaks by a lot, then you can always increase the scanner zoom (z and Z are the default zoom controls).

[Cody]

Hi Obsidian and welcome.

Equipment OXP: Target Reticle and Target Autolock are very useful.
An alternative HUD can make things look nicer. (All listed on the Wiki).

If you want to spice up the life of a trader, go Thargoid hunting on a regular basis. It hones your combat skills.
Just force a mis-jump when you feel like it, and the Thargoids will be waiting.

I'd seriously think about a GPU upgrade. Griff's ship set are a must, as is System Redux.

I'm still in the Cobra Mk III, which I just don't wish to swap.
When I'm satisfied with my "Grand Tour" then the first major OXP I install will be Random Hits.
(I'll throw in Spyhunter as well when I get back to G1 - I'm in G5 now).

Anyway, good trading/hunting.

[DaddyHoggy]

Hi Obsidian and Welcome (as others have already stated).

Poor YAH - but alas you will never the know the joy of taking a punt on a hold full of food bought at 2.4Cr/TC targeting a Rich Industrial but calling in at the Constore "just in case" - and what's this - a whole new batch of slaves and hungry captured pirates that need feeding at you're offering 102Cr/TC!!! Cool - and lo what's this Tobacco at just 0.2Cr a TC and as this isn't a main station I can purchase and sell on with impunity!

Even a poor old Cobby3 pacifist like myself can take joy in turning over 7K profit in just one Hyperspace jump.

[Commander McLane]

Hi again, Obsidian!

Out of my bunch I would also recommend Flying Dutchman.oxp, Generation Ships.oxp, Sell equipment.oxp, and Total patrol.oxp. Should be in-line with (or at least not against) your gameplay. All accessible via my User page, which leads to their individual Wiki pages.

Oh, and out of interest: What is the slightly embarassing story around interstellar help? If you feel like sharing, that is...

[Wolfwood]

I doubt my old, but reliable rig, a 2.7 ghz Celeron with 768MB RAM and 64 MB integrated graphics, can handle the visual awsomeness of some OXPs I would load, namely the fancy remodelling of 'acceptable' ships.)

Anyway, concerning any OXP suggestions I might recieve, I don't like superships on principle

Also my ship collection (Wolfwood's variants) should be in the same category with the ones you've already got installed.

Insofar as the power of your computer goes, I've been using SimonB's remodels on my EeePC 1008HA with no slowdowns whatsoever, so you might want to try them as well. Although, from the sound of it, my netbook may actually be more powerful than your old trustworthy companion.

[Commander McLane]

Oh, and concerning your dislike for super ships: You could put them in, and then try out some super weapons against them. Just for the fun of it.

[Cmdr Wyvern]

Well, some folks see trumbles as pets, but to many captains trumbles are little more than vermin and a pain in the ass - especially when they procreate at alarming rates, eat every bit of your organic cargo, and attempt to see how tasty the wiring harnesses of your vessel might be. Funny, the high amperage never seems to bother them. As for them being edible, well that depends on how much of a carnivore you are. Personally I find them delicious when broiled over a hot deck plate, smothered in BBQ sauce and slapped on a bun with cheese and some ale on the side.

As for shooting up innocents in fits of masslocked "road rage", that's really not recommended. You don't know who might catch you in the act - police, or a really dedicated bounty hunter may decide to dispense some hot laser frontier justice. The best way to deal with masslock is to kit fuel injectors - those will let you jet right on past, as long as you have spare fuel. Injectors also come in real handy for getting away from dogfights too hot to handle, and escaping exploding q-mines.

[Commander McLane]

As for shooting up innocents in fits of masslocked "road rage", that's really not recommended. You don't know who might catch you in the act - police, or a really dedicated bounty hunter may decide to dispense some hot laser frontier justice. The best way to deal with masslock is to kit fuel injectors - those will let you jet right on past, as long as you have spare fuel.

Hey, no bias here! Let's just agree that there are multiple ways for dealing with potential prey corridor-glogging suckers other ships, and none of them is inherently better than the others.

[Cmdr Wyvern]

Hey, no bias here! Let's just agree that there are multiple ways for dealing with potential prey corridor-glogging suckers other ships, and none of them is inherently better than the others.

If they wanna be a pirate, well alright, more power to 'em. There's always enough pirates around for us hard-assed bounty hunters to pick on. What's one more?
Just accept that some of us aren't total psychopaths and choose targets with care, Mr. Killit.

[Commander McLane]

Just accept that some of us aren't total psychopaths and choose targets with care, Mr. Killit.

And let's live in peace, everybody...

I'll tear up your @$§%, Mr. "You've messed with the wrong Lizard, punk!"!!!

[Cmdr Wyvern]

I'll tear up your @$§%, Mr. "You've messed with the wrong Lizard, punk!"!!!

With what? Conventional weapons and oh, I dunno, gunnery skills? Suuuuure. More like throw WMDs at me like a chump, I reckon. That's the act of a terrorist, a boyracer, or a complete nutter. I can't say I'm overly impressed so far.
A little vacation might do you some good. Have you considered getting professional help?

[Obsidian]

Thanks all for genuinely helpful guidance.

another_commander:
Knocked those questions right out of the box. Thanks, although for those slippery targets it's not so much the scanner zoom as the inability to see the targets out there in the void. Yes, that sounds like a personal problem --- maybe I need to have my night vision checked? or take off these shades?

El Viejo:
I have the targ auto-lock and targ reticle --- they are so useful I take them for granted and forgot to mention them. I can force a misjump? I must have missed that in the wiki. I will try tapping 'h' when I'm in the tunnel, if a quick search doesn't turn up the "how to".

DaddyHoggy:
"YAH" once I get back round to G1; by that time I'll hopefully have enough creds that I won't care about quick, unimpeded cargo hauls. Although another_commander tells me my oolife will get A LOT more interesting before I make it back to G1 if I start racking up the kills.

Cmdr. McLane:
Flying Dutchman.oxp, Generation Ships.oxp I will take a look at, likely install if they don't have any missions. I wanted my first experience to be at least a little similar to the Elite I didn't play in my past (I was a Privateer era guy Privateer was first space trader), but somebody says I may have made a mistake there, for missions will seem too easy once I make it back to G1 --- scratch commander might be a consideration, but those milk runs were a pain too recent to revisit without an OXP-enhanced experience. My tidbit story in later reply --- i've got to build up the hype like they do with crappy movies so you can feel a bigger letdown.

Wolfwood:
Will likely use "variants" given your endorsement. I'll probably give the SimonB remodels a look-see (maybe Griff's too?) since it's so easy to swap OXPs in and out. Got "system redux" on the HD I think, but didn't install --- nice graphics have never really been critical for me, so I didn't bother. Can't hurt to try it out though. Unwise to expect my prompt raving over the wonderfulness, I might put off additions for weeks, knowing me.

Cmdr Wyvern:
Love BBQ, but my RL alter-ego mostly gave up meat. (So what's the pepperoni doing on that occasional pizza?). The GALL of that guy --- actually believing some of the health studies and acting on it! Luckily, the commander of the Rocking Horse Winner(?) LOVES BBQ, slowly smoked over mesquite or hickory... ummmm... (STOP IT ) I bet the poets smoke well too... hahhahah... hahahah... ah, stereotypes.

[Cody]

Just as the hyperspace countdown ends, pull a hard up or down on the stick or keys.

[Pangloss]

Thanks all for genuinely helpful guidance.

another_commander:
Knocked those questions right out of the box. Thanks, although for those slippery targets it's not so much the scanner zoom as the inability to see the targets out there in the void. Yes, that sounds like a personal problem --- maybe I need to have my night vision checked? or take off these shades?

It's not just a personal problem, it's a matter of scale. Take the Cobra Mk.III. It doesn't look huge, but it is. 130 meters wide, 30 meters high, and 65 meters long.



...so think about how small the Cargo Containers are: well, they need to be. Here's a Python leaking goodies.



1TC Cargo Cannisters are big enough to see at close quarters, but there are smaller things still to collect. metal fragments, a few kilograms of gold or platinum, all small in the vacuum of space. If it weren't for the heat they were giving off, you'd never pick them up on scanners at all.

If you have trouble scooping, fly a little slower. Make repeated passes. And don't forget to fly OVER your freebies. Your scoop can pull things in, but you have to give it a chance!