Oolite Bulletins

Hello everyone. I'm not sure where to start here.

Firstly, I have to say a tremendous THANKYOU to this Mr Giles Williams chap and to everyone else who has contributed towards the existence of this magnificent game. I bow down to programmers like yourselves. People who actually design and create something. (As opposed to just demanding stuff and moaning about things!)

I used to play Elite a great deal in the 1980's on the BBC computer. Last week (21st Feb), I felt the urge to do some nostalgic reading up of 'Elite' online. That is when I discovered the existence of 'Oolite'. Imagine my delight when I discovered that people have been hard at work recreating the Braben/Bell classic!

It's been absolutely fantastic playing this past week. Brought back a lot memories. The way the game plays is very faithful to the original and yet it has so many clever tweaks and improvements. For example, I much prefer the way Oolite 'jumps' when inside a system; smoothly accelerating, rather than sudden jumps.

I've also noticed though, how my memory of the original game on the BBC, is actually skewed...I looked at some clips on YouTube yesterday and it's amazing how many of the details that I had 'in my head', were actually wrong! For example, I could have sworn the 'planets' were filled with colour...but it seems they weren't! The planets in Oolite look fantastic!

After playing for the past week, my only two small gripes (because my memory of the BBC version, is telling me they are missing) - is that a) The laser hit sound is very subtle and it's sometimes hard to hear if you are shooting 'on target'. And b) When you 'jump', there is no accompanying sound. (I was expecting a kind of subtle, eerie 'woooosh' sound. Again, this could be a false memory of the BBC)!

But then there is the whole world of 'Oxp's' ! My goodness! It's like a treasure trove waiting to be discovered! Again, hats off to all oxp writers. You deserve great kudos.
So I have now added an oxp which gives a clearer 'laser hit' sound (I discovered that I could remove any other sounds from the folder, that I don't want. - How simple and clever is that?!!)

Last night, I was reading about this 'Realistic Shipyards' add-on. It seems that it is a big one and very worth having. So I will probably try that one out. I believe it has a few other 'dependancies' though right? So I think I need a few other oxp's to make it work. Still, looking forward to trying that too.

I have told all my (relevant) friends about Oolite. Most are delving in right now! We are all hooked!

Anyway, thanks once again. I'm sure I will have a few questions going forward, and I will post them up.

Cheers,

-Mark.

Hi Giskard and welcome… it’s good to get back into the cockpit, eh! I played Elite on the BBC too.

To improve sound effects, like laser hits, and get great station screens, try [wiki]BGS[/wiki]… very cool.
Realistic Shipyards has been withdrawn, I’m afraid, so you won’t be able to use that OXP.

Any questions… just ask.

Welcome to the friendliest board this side of Riedquat (tm) !

Hope you enjoy yourself. Most of us our ex-Eliters of advancing years. Plenty to get into, the core game, huge OXP choice (ships, missions, eye-candy - the Elite Wiki is your friend) and plenty of fan-fiction to set the scene!

Right on, Commander!

Cheers,

Drew.

Welcome Giskard ! Elite was my first game-shock as well, first on Spectrum, then Amstrad CPC then Atari ST. Oolite is the egg dropped by Elite (thus the name Oos, egg in greek ???)

Seriously, kudos for the programmers, the modders all of you. You succeded to revive a game and make it as great if not greater than the original (oups, I am afraid some fans could lynch me for 1/2 less than that).

I wish there will be the same for Lords Of Midnight and Dungeon Master. Unfortunatly, none of the re-engineered version is up to the promise.

Welcome aboard Giskard, I too started out on the BBC micro, and only joined this Ooniverce a few weeks ago. A few pointers from the already addicted - Don't forget to eat and sleep

It's a pity about the shipyard OXP. Wonder if anything like it is going to appear for 1.75 ?

@Makandal - yeah 'Dungeon Master' also takes me back. would be nice to see somthing like that done this way too.

Giskard wrote:

The way the game plays is very faithful to the original and yet it has so many clever tweaks and improvements.

Hi and Welcome Giskard

For me it's really pleasing to here you to say that, and like you there are many of us in this community who are in awe and eternally grateful to the developers of this brilliant game, all triggered off by the genius of Giles.

As you rightly said the OXP is a real treasure trove of eye candy, missions, new ships and equipment etc. get stuck in there on the Wiki it might seem to be a bit daunting at first there is so much, but be assured it will be well worth the investment. If you have any questions or suggestions you will find this the friendliest board this side of Riedquat.

Cmdr Radan wrote:

It's a pity about the shipyard OXP. Wonder if anything like it is going to appear for 1.75 ?

Feel free to combine all OXPs into one (pay attention to the individual OXPs licenses while doing so, though).

However, as has been discussed here at length, this whole OXP-mangling idea has its problems. Between "good idea, but practically impossible to maintain" and "not thought-out well in the first place" there is a broad spectrum of opinions.

The basic question is: what are the advantages over installing single OXPs? Personally I don't see any advantages big enough to justify the (continuous!) work which would have to be put into it.

It's definitely not a must-have.

Hello!

The ooniverse welcomes careful drivers, free trading map with every new ship purchased!

http://www.crimsonforge.co.uk/cloister/OOmap_G1.pdf

Right on commander!

Greetings.
A word of advice on the OXPs....best to start with the eye-candy (Retextures and Ambience), then add missions etc bit by bit as you get used to what you have. It's very easy to over-do things, and at best it can make life very confusing.
Cheers,
Smivs

Now, I get the trick. Clym, you did the same with my welcomeback !
Sounds that you REALLY want/need to promote your awesome maps.

I started with the retextures and ambience, then 4 must-have: Feudal, Dictatorship, Anarchy and Commies. Then, you can think about missions starting from Galaxy 1. No need to download all if they are starting after 2000 kills in galaxy 5.
Some ships oxp (I won't name them) are not very worth to download, so be careful. Big Ships and all related oxp are quite cool.

Hello again. Thanks for your replies people.

So I will take a look at the 'BGS' oxp next then; since you recommend it!

I have been very 'non greedy' so far and played Oolite on its 'vanilla' setting. I just added that 'laser hit' sound a few days ago. But apart from that, I'm still running the game 'naked' !

What's the thinking behind removing the 'Realistic Shipyards' oxp? Was it just a massive bundling together of other oxp's?
Is it out of date? Does it not work on the latest release?

On another note, I must just mention that I think the HUD design in Oolite is brilliant. It is so clear and clean looking. Really neat I think. I love it.

Oh and one more point for now...Regarding the laser temperature bar on the HUD...I notice that it never fills to its full length. Does anyone know why not? Is it by design? It might sound like a weird thing to spot, but I noticed it the first time I overheated my laser, because I was expecting a bit more of the bar to fill up before it cut out. It's actually quite a bit 'shorter' than the other display bars...

Cheers!

Giskard wrote:

I have been very 'non greedy' so far and played Oolite on its 'vanilla' setting.

The only OXP I had for the first ten days or so after discovering this amazing game was an alternative hud (Fighter Hud).
Then I started to install shipskins (Griffs) and planetary eye-candy, such as System Redux or DH-Systems.

Giskard wrote:

What's the thinking behind removing the 'Realistic Shipyards' oxp?

The RS saga is long and best told by someone else.

One big change that you’ll notice from Elite… you are no longer the centre of the Ooniverse.
Other stuff is going-on around you, often out of your sight… pirates attacking traders, police chasing pirates.

Enjoy…

If you want to read through about 60 pages, this thread explains in detail what OE and RS were all about, and where it all went wrong.

Blimey. I will have to tackle that thread at home when I have some more time!!
It's okay. I will just accept the fact that it isn't used for now!

Any thoughts on the 'laser temperature bar length' ?

This surely is the most important question ever asked of Oolite!

Anyway, I shall play some more tonight, all being well. I am in no rush on all of this. At the moment I'm just soaking it all up and enjoying the experience again..!

Smivs wrote:

If you want to read through about 60 pages, this thread explains in detail what OE and RS were all about, and where it all went wrong.

For a slightly easier read, try this thread: https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.ph ... +Shipyards
And not to forget the  wiki page.

Technically speaking OSE/OE was the spiritual successor to RS; where RS basically bundled almost all of the OXP ships into one package (and added a few extra twists), the aim of OSE/OE was to incorporate every single OXP.
Trying to summarize all the twists and turns of several years of OXP development is well nigh impossible.
Not that that ever stopped anyone from trying though...: It collapsed under its own weight.

If you want to check the current status of the OE project, there are two links on the last page of the thread Smivs linked to.