The Oolite Thread

OneoftheLost

OneoftheLost
The pulse laser is rubbish, unlike the laser from the original game. Which is odd now that I think about it. Anyhow, you should really avoid combat until you get a beam laser.

The 'angle 45 degrees and get off the space lanes' trick is pretty useful here, so you can avoid things until you get better kit.
 

Geraldine

Geraldine
With regards to Oolite, its always being tweaked. It also has a great community behind it who are always helpful to new players. :)
 

Rorschach

Rorschach
Once you have your iron ass and a bit of combat experience, sign up to be a Naval Reserve (via the Navy OXP) - you'll get miisions to thwart Thargoid invasion forces of varying sizes (small insurgents to entire battlefleets) alongside NPC Navy colleagues - and similar missions to thwart pirates.

Adds a good deal of variation to the core game.

(Also, if you've done the Constrictor mission and have a Cloaking Device installed, you can get right in amongst the heat of battle without being blown to smithereens in seconds!)

Keep with it, Oolite is a veritable gift from the gaming gods.
 

Stoo

Stoo
I had an oolite revival last night and spent a couple of hours being hounded by anything I came across... The A key for shooting kept getting me in trouble :)

I then loaded up X3 for some eye candy :eek:
 

Geraldine

Geraldine
The Povray Planets are lovely, although a bit of patience will be required to download 8 galaxies worth of them. I just left my PC eating away at them for a day, well worth it :cool:
 

JazHaz

J
Rorschach said:
(Also, if you've done the Constrictor mission and have a Cloaking Device installed, you can get right in amongst the heat of battle without being blown to smithereens in seconds!)
Click to expand...
You don't get a cloaking device from the Constrictor mission. That comes from another mission later in the game (mission 4 or 5 of the standard missions I believe).
 

Selezen

Selezen
Surprised to hear an Elite fan struggling with the nuances of Oolite. One of the consistent things about a new version of official Elite was learning the differences and finding a way to deal with it. I always found it one of the more enjoyable things about the games.

For example, Amiga Elite was different in that the docking system was harder - the Spectrum version allowed you to dock with the docking bay at any angle as long as you were dead centre and moving slowly whilst the Amiga version would only let you dock with the bay level but at any speed.

Oolite has its own quirks and learning them was fun. I would advise care with OXPs though, because they can make everything SO much harder. :)
 

Dr Wookie

Dr Wookie
I just started messing with Oolite this week, after many years away from Elite/Frontier. My very first jump (to Zaonce), I got pounded by Thargoids! I learned to stay out of the space lanes, and am starting to get a decent ship together... I have 1 kill recorded already :p! I have technically killed 4 people, but I got zapped after 3 of them.

What OXPs do people recommend?
 

MadDogMurdock

MadDogMurdock
Kipper said:
Had another go yesterday; I fought my way through about 15 ships in 3 groups of 5 in one system, before it finally trolled me with the old "fly straight at you and launch 3 missiles at point blank range" tactic that is becoming familiar.

How do you avoid fire from a group as they close? No amount of ducking and weaving seems to help. (I don't have the injectors yet but they're the next thing I'm gonna get).

How do you stop missile trolling? There's no time to use the ECM even if you try to anticipate it as they fire from literally on top of you.

It's really unforgiving about how quickly it starts destroying cargo as soon as your shields drop (about 4 or 5 hits) but that's not so bad now that I have fuel scoops - I can replace my losses with recovered cargo.
Click to expand...

Judicious use of the aft laser mount is essential in Oolite, especially when vastly outnumbered. Turn tail and keep them at a distance while you pick them off and then turn and close in for the final couple of kills.
 

Dr Wookie

Dr Wookie
Just started Oolite, and got seriously sucked in!

OK, so I thought I'd give Oolite a whirl, and am now completely hooked :)! This is probably a good thing, since I hadn't played Elite for a long time, and it would be a terrible shame to be bored with it after pledging for a planet :p!

I was attacked by Thargoids on my very first jump, which was a bit harsh! Combat in general seems quite a bit harder than I remember, with larger groups of ships; I like that you can just skip the trade lanes though! Docking is easier, especially with the navigation buoy thingy.

I like a lot of the new gadgets, particularly the fuel injectors, and am gradually getting the hang of combat; I have about 30 saved kills now :)

I also like all the shiny things dangled in front of you, when you know you won't be able to them for ages... new ships, passenger and courier missions for hundreds of tonnes, cool gear.... Gives you something to strive for.

I spent an hour or so adding OXPs (mostly flavour), and now it's pretty too. I'm impressed!
 

Merlin_AmiBay

Merlin_AmiBay
Have you added the loan shark Shiny Black Monks OXP?

Since I added that to Oolite, I haven't stopped laughing as they chase down some poor schmoe in their Gunship, who is pleading with them for more time ".. I'll pay you next time, OK?"
 

Stardust

S
Hmm... It was just recently that I gave Oolite a shot -- and I was frustrated quickly:
- First, I did not have any enemy contacts on my route (to Zaonce, I think) and then I blew the docking *whops*. Okay, that's nothing to really frustrate me, I'll just have to practice some more
- Next, I tried again and was attacked by a (single) Moray Star Boat --- and I was pulverized!! I didn't even stand a chance!
- Third, I "hacked" (modified) a save game and gave me all good weapons and stuff -- and I was still blasted into oblivion by the first opponent I met.

I also find that the graphics is generally too dark: I can't make out the ships I am attacking (read: being blasted into oblivion by ;)).

Then I stopped playing. Maybe that was a bit too early...
Any hints for a newby (realizing I should post this on the Oolite boards, but since you started this Thread :))...
 

Dr Wookie

Dr Wookie
Stardust said:
Hmm... It was just recently that I gave Oolite a shot -- and I was frustrated quickly:
- First, I did not have any enemy contacts on my route (to Zaonce, I think) and then I blew the docking *whops*. Okay, that's nothing to really frustrate me, I'll just have to practice some more
- Next, I tried again and was attacked by a (single) Moray Star Boat --- and I was pulverized!! I didn't even stand a chance!
- Third, I "hacked" (modified) a save game and gave me all good weapons and stuff -- and I was still blasted into oblivion by the first opponent I met.

I also find that the graphics is generally too dark: I can't make out the ships I am attacking (read: being blasted into oblivion by ;)).

Then I stopped playing. Maybe that was a bit too early...
Any hints for a newby (realizing I should post this on the Oolite boards, but since you started this Thread :))...
Click to expand...

The original game is nearly 30 years old, from a time before leveling up your character to make them more powerful. This means that YOU have to get better at playing it :). As you found out, just giving yourself good stuff is no help at all if you don't know how to use it!

The learning curve is pretty steep, and I think that starting with nearly nothing helps introduce you gradually to it. At first, you try to avoid combat (coz you'll die), and just get flying and docking practice; docking is very important because your docking computers can be damaged or destroyed during a fight, then you're on your own! When you do start fighting, remember to select your targets (hit "r" then get the ship in your crosshairs); this draws a big square around them, tells you where they are and how far/fast. It also lets you fire missiles at them (press "t" to lock on to the target, then "m" to launch).

You just need to be a bit patient.

However, I think that E: D will be a bit more accessible and friendly
 

ncjunk

N
I just started this as well, nice to see i am not the only one!

It's pretty much how I remembered, I jumped to the system, mass locked on the wrong side of the planet, ejected 2T of food by accident and then clipped the station whilst docking and died.

But what I do remember is it's all part of the learning process and it was all about trying to scrape enough to buy the docking computer.

If my 40 year old me hasn't lost his 16 year olds touch I should soon be docking and swearing every other hour as I crash on an important docking with a hold full of cargo.

Yes it's hard starting off but thats part of the fun....and why my ED pledge level included the cobra mrk3 100 credits option. I really hope the new ED version has an option for the same level of starting difficulty.....and that you have to load with tapes and it fails half way through.:D

If i remember correctly i used to dock by getting close.....lining it up...and wacking the throttle to 100%. I'll give it a go later.
 

The Space Pirate

The Space Pirate
jontycampbell said:
Oddly enough Oolite was the first time I returned to classic elite type since I was 16 and managed to dock FIRST TIME. The analog joystick I have helps a great deal. And was disappointed in docking computers, in the spectrum version it was instant, I can dock faster than the computer, even when docking is busy.
Click to expand...

Have you found a way to get the analogue throttle to work properly in Oolite?
 

Stardust

S
Thanks for your encouraging words... I WILL give it another go, while waiting for E: D...

I should add, though, that I know Elite from my Amiga days (also please see this thread: http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3220) and I remember that the learning curve was also pretty steep...

Best game of all time it is in any case. And to everybody their favorite version. For now, mine is the Amiga version; if Oolite can convince me -- we'll see :)
 

Dr Wookie

Dr Wookie
jontycampbell said:
Also fly at max speed towards an attacking ship, this lessens the time they have to rake you with lasers, they will fly past. Immediately do a handbrake turn and get behind them, while you are behind, they can't shoot you.

They may constantly try to circle round you, just follow adjusting speed and turning on the fly to keep in sights at a constant rate - Pythons have a big turning circle so will unintentionally present their flattish upper or lower hull as they try to circle around.

You can take your time and follow round and round as you tickle their hull with odd blasts, leaking engine plasma shows their close to destruction so get ready to scoop the cargo and escape pod, which has lucrative bounties.
Click to expand...

I'll have to try those tactics, thanks! I may have known them in the distant past, but have forgotten nearly everything, apart from the fact that slowing down makes you a bit more nimble.

By the way, while pressing "c" for docking computers is a pain, shift+"c" is instant :).
 
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