Oolite Bulletins

Hi guys,

I'm hoping to get back into Oolite in the coming weeks - I've been away from the game for some time and I see we have a new release!

I was thinking about the game and the possibility of seeing deep-space objects or probes when travelling. Seeing the likes of the Voyager probe could be interesting as they could also be tied in with possible scenarios or captured for a nice profit thanks to their 'antique value'.

Example here: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hKS-mqt1bns/T ... yager2.jpg

Perhaps others could be in orbit around planets/moons for communication purposes or even weapon platforms(?).

Has something like this already been made? I didn't see any direct links in the search results so what do you think? Any suggestions on how they could be used in the game?

Cheers!
Px4

I get nervous whenever I see the word "probe" in a subject, but this sounds like a great idea. I think adding random, potentially unusual encounters like this helps to add to the depth of the game.

The Wiki would probably be the best place to search for existing OXPs like this. I don't think there are any but I'm far from an expert on the subject.

1 ton "Alien Items" indeed!

Darkbee wrote:

I think adding random, potentially unusual encounters like this helps to add to the depth of the game.

That's the idea. Imagine coming across the Voyager, Mariner or Messenger probes when you least expect it. Given their age they could be worth a small fortune to 'collectors' for example. Other fictional probes could be created for other civilisations, so these could look quite bizarre compared to what we are used to here on earth.

Orbiting satellites would add a bit more depth when travelling past planets, and others could be used as sentry systems.

Right, I'm off to do some searching.

Cheers,
Px4

Thargoid wrote:

Aside from the question of scale, coding something to "properly" orbit (as opposed to sitting at the same place above a planet that's spinning underneath it like a station does) it do-able but tricky.

Perhaps leaving the planetary satellites in geostationary orbit would suffice. After all, we wouldn't be chasing them that close to the planet and many telco satellites are in a geostationary orbit anyway, like ComSat I believe.

Those found in deep space, or when traversing to planets could be randomly placed moving at high speed in one general direction.

Phoenix4 wrote:

Thargoid wrote:

Aside from the question of scale, coding something to "properly" orbit (as opposed to sitting at the same place above a planet that's spinning underneath it like a station does) it do-able but tricky.

Perhaps leaving the planetary satellites in geostationary orbit would suffice.

But that's the tricky part. "Geostationary" means always above the same point on the surface. Planets rotate in Oolite, their surfaces are constantly moving. So in order to fix something above a certain point of the surface, you have to move it all the time.

Commander McLane wrote:

Phoenix4 wrote:

Thargoid wrote:

Aside from the question of scale, coding something to "properly" orbit (as opposed to sitting at the same place above a planet that's spinning underneath it like a station does) it do-able but tricky.

Perhaps leaving the planetary satellites in geostationary orbit would suffice.

But that's the tricky part. "Geostationary" means always above the same point on the surface. Planets rotate in Oolite, their surfaces are constantly moving. So in order to fix something above a certain point of the surface, you have to move it all the time.

So in theory, by leaving them in one position - like the stations - they would appear to orbit if you were able to stand on the planet's surface...

You could say that the stations themselves are orbiting the planets if that's the case, although I doubt that's what the original programmers had in mind...

Phoenix4 wrote:

You could say that the stations themselves are orbiting the planets if that's the case, although I doubt that's what the original programmers had in mind...

Wh not? The planets were always rotating. I think even in 8-bit Elite you could toggle a very basic surface structure. Nothing like a texture, but I remember some geometrical forms.

I don't know which 8-bit version you remember but the Speccy was just a unfilled circle IIRC. That's not to say it wasn't rotating, it was just kinda hard to tell.

On the C64 you could toggle planet features on & off:

There were two styles - one put a circle on the planet, making it look a bit like a death-star, the other was 2 lines of latitude at right-angles to each other (even though their crossing point was not on the planets' pole). Both of these gave the impression of the planet rotating at the cost of some FPS.

Leaving the orbiting satellites issue aside for a second, what about the idea of random encounters with space probes elsewhere in the system?

Is it possible for a probe like Voyager for example, to be added to the game moving at quite a high speed in a random direction so that you may or may not come across it?

The game consists of objects moving, and the player coming or not coming across them. So of course it's possible.

You just have to make the model.

Oh, and note that the chance of encounter should be very low. I don't think a space pilot would see it more than once or maybe twice in their whole career.

You know, the whole point of creating a probe that you *might* only see once or twice seems a little pointless to me ~ you'd be putting in a whole lot of modelling/texturing effort etc, for potentially no return whatsoever.

saying that tho, there's potential for a spin off idea here : what about these items having a "bounty" : because these things are very rare i reckon if you chance across one you could take a pic of it and be paid for it by news companies when you dock. this could be done perhaps by simply positively identifying one (by getting its reading up after using the 'R' key) or by adding a new key that simply spoofs a gun camera (could the screenshot key be adapted to work as normal but also check the ships/objects directly in front of you? that way you'd actually HAVE the pics to post here too!). When you dock you get a message screen praising you and saying the newscorp/whoever has paid you <the bounty value> for the pics.
this would add the ability for people to add random objects/creatures (like the butterflies, maybe my wasps), and it may also allow for missions ~ fly in and get the Navy a pic of the new Thargoid base, etc.

Good idea...I like that