Oolite Bulletins

I bought Frontier Elite II in '93, but my PC had Digital Research DOS, which wouldn't run it. So, for 15 years I've been playing Wing Commander Privateer I've played most of the space sims: Tachyon, Independence War, Freelancer, X3, etc., but haven't found a worthy replacement until now. I've been following the releases of Oolite for a while, and spent the last week trying out dozens of OXPs and reading the forum. Here's a list of OXPs for 1.74 I think a new player might like:
Griff's Ships
Dodo Stations
FamousPlanets
System Redux
Asteroid Storm
Fuel Station
Fuel Tank
Hyperradio
Snoopers
UPS Courier
Random Hits
Target Autolock
HUD of your choice
TAF Reset
For the Miners:
Ore Processor
Rock Hermit Locator


Tips for a new player:
There's an excellent Galaxy 1 Map Here
The Oolite install directory contains a great Reference Sheet
The Docking Computer seems pointless until you try shift-d, insta-dock!
The TAF (Time Acceleration Factor) is indispensable, activated while in pause mode with left and right arrow keys, 4 taps right for max, 4 left to return to normal.

A huge thanks to all the OXP authors. Veterans, let me know if I missed any favorite starting OXPs. I'm still looking the the best sound set...

If you have Rock Hermit Locator...add Pirate Coves for hilarity.
Sometimes that "R" Rock Hermit on compass is a nest of pirates!

Hate seeing all that dead space outside the spacelanes?
Get Deep Space Pirates! (hint: Don't try that in an anarchy system till you're decent at the game and got a well-equipped ship!)

I would add:

• Welcome Mat
• Traffic Control
• Lave Academy

to the list. All three are specifically designed to help newer Commanders, although WM is handy for everyone.

But for a new Jameson I would completely disagree with both ones mentioned above by Switeck. Both are not for new Commanders, and will just get them killed much too quickly.[/color]

That's a BIG list
To be honest, for a begginer I'd keep it simple. Thargoids suggestions make sense, and maybe just a bit of eye-candy, so System Redux, one of the replacement Ship Sets and YAH.
Get used to the vanilla game first, then think about what missions etc you might want.

Thargoid wrote:

But for a new Jameson I would completely disagree with both ones mentioned above by Switeck. Both are not for new Commanders, and will just get them killed much too quickly.

For someone who has trouble with the controls and doesn't have a decent ship, yes don't add them. For someone wanting to see something a little different...they're still good adds.

How would you have a decent ship when you are a freshman ?

Porksmuggler wrote:

Fuel Station
Fuel Tank

These two alter the game, combine them and they alter the game even more.
So I would not recommend them to a fresh Jameson.

^ agreed on the above. I stuck to the main "eye-candy" OXPs, but felt a few should be included like Fuel Station and Fuel Tank, due to their impact on the games pace. I know they change the gameplay, but like that they are optional to use.

Other than those two, most of the rest are cosmetic or just add variety to the missions, without fouling up the economy in the game.

TAF Reset seems like one of those that should be coded into the next release, since it's pretty much a bug fix.

snork wrote:

How would you have a decent ship when you are a freshman ?

You have a point.
In the original poster's case, I thought he had considerable skill and was growing bored of current scenery...which implies already getting the starting Cobra 3 well-equipped.

haha!
I had a similar experience.

My C64 copy of Elite expired, so did my c64. Then I wheedled my parents for a PC and got EF, which I played even more than E. Only when I got EF2 it refused to run on my dos. I played it a few hours at a friends house, but was not very impressed with the 'improved' radar and ships.

Finding oolite was great but my then PC would not run it. So I trolled this forum and tried to make oxps, Ryxk and Murgh were there to help me with in-game implementation. At some point I broke Murgh by harrassing him with bad code while he was recovering in an Indian hospital.

Arexack_Heretic wrote:

So I trolled this forum and tried to make oxps, Ryxk and Murgh were there to help me with in-game implementation.

And you've done pretty things .-) Muchas gracis.

shucks

Deep Space Pirates OXP is fun, because the pirates actually send you radio messages. They are also less tough than the regular taciturn pirates on the spacelanes, so they are a bonus both ways.