Oolite Bulletins

I am pleased to announce the release of Smivs' ShipSet Version 2.0. The ship set still includes every Oolite ship, and still uses the original Oolite models for authenticity.

This release represents a major overhaul of the original, and there are substantial improvements in several key areas over v1.2.
Around half of the ships have been completely re-textured, and the remainder have been tidied up and improved. I have also tried to make the set a little more colourful, but without it becoming too garish.
I have added two more ship variants as well. The Sidewinder now has seperate textures for the Escort and the Pirate/Hunter versions, and I have also added a Boa Trader which has a different livery to the 'standard' Boa, although it behaves the same and will appear with a similar frequency. It just adds a bit more variety.
Also, exploiting some of the new features possible with Oolite v.1.74 and upwards, I have been able to add some lighting effects which should work well even on computers that do not support shaders.
Every ship* now has illuminated cockpit and porthole windows, and boat-style navigation lights, and the big haulers also have hull spotlighting. The ships also have a bit of shininess and reflectiveness added which adds to the realism.
*The Thargoids, being somewhat alien, don't have all these features, but are quite bright and shiny nonetheless!

There are three Editions available. The High-Def edition again uses 2048x2048px textures and is suitable for use on computers with good graphics cards. The Standard-Def edition now has 1024x1024px textures which give a marked improvement over version 1.2's 512x512px textures. My own computer, which only has an Intel graphics accelerator (no dedicated graphics card) seems to be able to handle these well, so my hope is that this texture size is a good compromise and will work nicely on all regular computers.
I have also prepared a Basic edition using 512x512px textures for anyone who needs it, but I'd suggest trying the Standard-Def one first if you're not sure,and resort to the Basic if you need to.

For more information and screenshots of ALL the ships and ALL their variants, go to my Oolite homepage. The Smivs' ShipSet Wiki page has also been updated.

Downloads

http://www.smivsonline.co.uk/oxps_ss-SD.htm Smivs'Shipset Standard Definition Download

http://www.smivsonline.co.uk/oxps_ss-HD.htm Smivs'Shipset High Definition Download

http://www.smivsonline.co.uk/oxps_ss-Basic.htm Smivs'Shipset Basic Edition Download

A couple of screenshots to give you an idea what they look like...

Boa with Mamba and Sidewinder escorts


Battle scene including pirate Python and Mk III Cobra

Smivs wrote:

…and still uses the original Oolite models for authenticity.

1.74 models, or earlier models? About half of them were tweaked in 1.74 to fix minor lighting problems. (The geometry and U/V mapping are unchanged.)

Ahruman wrote:

Smivs wrote:

…and still uses the original Oolite models for authenticity.

1.74 models, or earlier models? About half of them were tweaked in 1.74 to fix minor lighting problems. (The geometry and U/V mapping are unchanged.)

Interesting question. I obviously have 1.74.1 installed, but for this new version I largely adapted the 'templates' for my original ships set textures which were made in May I think. It was when I would have had v1.73 installed. The templates are effectively silhouettes taken from the original oolite textures which I then develop.
When I refer to 'models' I mean the standard .dat file for each ship, the basic 'shape' over which the textures are laid. As you say the geometry hasn't changed, so presumably my 1.73 derived textures still fit comfortably over 1.74 models.
A typical shipdata.plist entry would look like this...
Does that make any sense?

Smivs wrote:

Does that make any sense?

Yes. It’s also a very bad idea, since Oolite’s built-in models have changed in the past and may change in the future. Copy (and rename) the files.

Ahruman wrote:

... Oolite’s built-in models have changed in the past and may change in the future. Copy (and rename) the files.

I had no idea, I assumed they were 'set in stone'. I'll take your advice, thanks.

This looks fantastic. Is the version with Ahruman's suggestions available?

How does this shipset work with others like Griff's and Neolite's? Any special set up required?

This game just gets better and better.

mcarans wrote:

This looks fantastic. Is the version with Ahruman's suggestions available?

How does this shipset work with others like Griff's and Neolite's? Any special set up required?

This game just gets better and better.

Thanks...I'm glad you like it.
My ShipSet applies new textures to the built-in Oolite models. Ahruman's (very sensible) suggestion was to copy and re-name the in-built Oolite models (the .dat files) and incorporate them into the OXP in case they change in the future, which I will do but they are not an integral part of the OXP right now, as it is currently not needed. What I will do is add the model files on the next update, or if a new version of Oolite is released which requires this.
If you want to, you can copy the 'Models' folder from your current install and paste it into the Smivs' ShipSet .oxp folder. Just add it to the Config and Textures folders already there. You won't notice any immediate difference, but it will 'future-proof' the OXP, but I will sort this out in good time anyway.
As far as other ship sets go, mine should be fully compatible, so you'll get a mix of my ships, Griffs and Neolites appearing. No special set-up required.

Great. I'll try this evening.

1. Does your OXP contain the Boa 2 Clipper or is that still a separate OXP?
2. Does it make any other OXPs redundant?
3. Is the Boa 2 Clipper only available at certain places (eg. high tech level) or can it be obtained anywhere?

mcarans wrote:

Great. I'll try this evening.

1. Does your OXP contain the Boa 2 Clipper or is that still a separate OXP?
2. Does it make any other OXPs redundant?
3. Is the Boa 2 Clipper only available at certain places (eg. high tech level) or can it be obtained anywhere?

1. No. It only includes the core olite ships. Clipper is a stand-alone OXP. By the way I'll be giving the Clipper the fancy-light-treatment in the next couple of days so it might be worth holding on...watch the BB for the announcement.

2. It replaces the (now obsolete) version 1 editions of my Shipset. Also, if anyone still has the old 'Smivs'Shipset Supplement OXP' remember this has been superseded by Accessories OXP. Between them, Smivs'Shipset v2.0 OXP and Accessories v1.1 OXP replace all the standard Oolite ships and objects.

3. You'll find Boa Clippers at Tech-level 7 and upwards. They are quite common so you shouldn't need to look too hard, and on a High-tech world you might find several with various equipment options already fitted.

Oddly the Boa Clipper never seems to appear for me - maybe another OXP is interfering.

As for the shipset, very nice textures. Excellent work.

I am playing on a 40 inch TV at 1920x1080, so the HD ships look fantastic.

mcarans wrote:

Oddly the Boa Clipper never seems to appear for me - maybe another OXP is interfering.

I can't see how that would happen. Perhaps you've just been unlucky so far. Go to the very high-tech world (12,13,14) and I'm sure you'll find some. I often see three or four for sale at the same time, with various equipment options fitted.

mcarans wrote:

As for the shipset, very nice textures. Excellent work.

Thanks

mcarans wrote:

I am playing on a 40 inch TV at 1920x1080, so the HD ships look fantastic.

Sounds wonderful. I use a 19" LCD monitor, but can route the computer to my 42" plasma. Oddly things never look quite so good here though. Something to do with the resolution I think, but I've never got round to looking at it. Too busy doing OXPs and looking after the Kids, although how I manage to do both at the same time is a mystery even to me.

Smivs wrote:

mcarans wrote:

This looks fantastic. Is the version with Ahruman's suggestions available?

How does this shipset work with others like Griff's and Neolite's? Any special set up required?

This game just gets better and better.

As far as other ship sets go, mine should be fully compatible, so you'll get a mix of my ships, Griffs and Neolites appearing. No special set-up required.

I don't think so. All 3 oxp's try to replace Oolites original ships.
Neolite and Smivs do it by overwriting the internal ships. With that method only the last loaded wins. In this case "Smivs" because the "S" comes after the "N" during loading.

Griff uses an other approach by not overwriting the originals, but just telling not to use the originals. That is a more compatible way but as the "Smivs" set is seen as an "original", those ships won't be there either.

I think the "Smivs" set is in first place an enrichment for shaderless computers. On those systems, the Griff ships look very bad. Neolite ships are acceptable on shaderless systems. So, I think you must choose between the sets.

Sorry, looks like I was wrong...it's a bit more complicated than I thought. I was under the impression that, providing no Override.plist had been used the game just chose a random selection from what ships were available.
There is a somewhat complicated thread here on a similar matter, but I don't think it will help you.
I think many people would like to run a variety of alternative ships and ship sets, so if there is a way, perhaps someone who knows a bit more about it than I do could tell.

Smivs wrote:

I think many people would like to run a variety of alternative ships and ship sets, so if there is a way, perhaps someone who knows a bit more about it than I do could tell.

As I wrote: When creating an alternative set based on overwriting the internal ships, only one will win and that is always the last one.

The only way to have multiple sets is to give them unique names so you end up with different ships. That is the approach of griff his ships. Griff also added an overwrite.plist to prevent the originals from appearing to give the illusion of an replacement. With such an approach multiple sets stay compatible.

Only drawback is that your current ship will not change to the new one by it self as it becomes a new ship. However, this sounds correct to me: it are new ships after all and in real live you must also buy the new car when your brand of car releases one with a new colour.