The Oolite Thread
- Thread starter drew
- Start date
I couldn't of put it much better myself, started playing oolite today - I'm on the Diso/Leesti run. i already have 10 tons on computers in my hold
and thanks to the beacon I've only failed to dock once so far.me thinks this could be the perfect way of getting those reflexes back in tune in time for the new game, I can see a few people on here kicking iron ass then
Word. Exactly what I was thinking. Seeing as before yesterday I hadn't docked at a Coriolis since 1991, I figured I needed some practice. Also, back in 1991, trying to dock with a kempston style joystick without variable roll control was a proper . As Jonty said, analog joysticks make life so much easier.
It's great to see people taking up Oolite.
Jonty gave some good tactical advice - don't forget to shift-C for autodock though.
A good rear laser is very helpful in Oolite. Thargoids love to follow you if they think you're fleeing and a full military laser is enough to take out a standard invader mothership.
Jonty gave some good tactical advice - don't forget to shift-C for autodock though.
A good rear laser is very helpful in Oolite. Thargoids love to follow you if they think you're fleeing and a full military laser is enough to take out a standard invader mothership.
I played it a bit more, the only slightly annoying things I've found are 'balancing'.
Should you have to avoid ALL combat when you have a pulse laser? I'm not one for in-your-face leveling of opponents; sometimes you should have to run, and sometimes you should get an easy fight. But at the start - you MUST run, groups are WAY more common than lone enemies. Also, running is impossible as most pirate ships at least equal a cobra for speed.
Beam laser isn't terribly better. It has the power, but it overheats waaaaaay too quickly. Often before you can take down one ship with it.
Finally, in a group, enemies hit far too often and use dirty tactics. They play WELL, but the argument is should they play that well on a single player game, instead of offering a challenge - they offer guaranteed death?
A group of ships can take down your shields and half your energy banks on the approach (without injectors) and no amount of ducking and weaving stops them from hitting you. Sometimes they'll kill you completely.
The dirtiest tactic they have is launching 3 or 4 missiles at point blank range where ECM is not actually possible, and you are insta-killed. Again, its 'good' play, but there's no counter to it - so its bad design.
Classic Elite was not so harsh.
Still, good for the occasional blast though and I will soon have my military laser, then the tables will turn..... Oh yes, then they will turn.
Should you have to avoid ALL combat when you have a pulse laser? I'm not one for in-your-face leveling of opponents; sometimes you should have to run, and sometimes you should get an easy fight. But at the start - you MUST run, groups are WAY more common than lone enemies. Also, running is impossible as most pirate ships at least equal a cobra for speed.
Beam laser isn't terribly better. It has the power, but it overheats waaaaaay too quickly. Often before you can take down one ship with it.
Finally, in a group, enemies hit far too often and use dirty tactics. They play WELL, but the argument is should they play that well on a single player game, instead of offering a challenge - they offer guaranteed death?
A group of ships can take down your shields and half your energy banks on the approach (without injectors) and no amount of ducking and weaving stops them from hitting you. Sometimes they'll kill you completely.
The dirtiest tactic they have is launching 3 or 4 missiles at point blank range where ECM is not actually possible, and you are insta-killed. Again, its 'good' play, but there's no counter to it - so its bad design.
Classic Elite was not so harsh.
Still, good for the occasional blast though and I will soon have my military laser, then the tables will turn..... Oh yes, then they will turn.
Hi everybody!
I discovered Oolite last spring while searching the net for any news on Elite 4
I liked the game a lot and started playing. I bought a Logitech Attack 3 which worked well for about two weeks of mild use. After two weeks, the pots on the joystick started misbehaving, which, as it turns out, is a problem with almost all potentiometer based joysticks nowadays. It's just a matter of time. So I threw it out and bought an old Microsoft Sidewinder Pro Plus joystick on ebay. I was lucky cause I got a virtually unused one very cheaply. I had to build a gameport-USB converter circuit but that was fun, and the thing worked beautifully ever since!
I must admit I cheated early on, I edited the savegame and gave myself 100.000Cr which bought me some nice equipment.
Currently, I just completed mission 2 (that Navy Energy Unit is really nice) and I'm about 150 kills away from Deadly. I guess I'll get to Elite by the time ED is released.
Apart from a little Boulder Dash on a Spectrum emulator, Oolite is the only game I play. Nostalgia, I guess...
I discovered Oolite last spring while searching the net for any news on Elite 4
I liked the game a lot and started playing. I bought a Logitech Attack 3 which worked well for about two weeks of mild use. After two weeks, the pots on the joystick started misbehaving, which, as it turns out, is a problem with almost all potentiometer based joysticks nowadays. It's just a matter of time. So I threw it out and bought an old Microsoft Sidewinder Pro Plus joystick on ebay. I was lucky cause I got a virtually unused one very cheaply. I had to build a gameport-USB converter circuit but that was fun, and the thing worked beautifully ever since!
I must admit I cheated early on, I edited the savegame and gave myself 100.000Cr which bought me some nice equipment.
Currently, I just completed mission 2 (that Navy Energy Unit is really nice) and I'm about 150 kills away from Deadly. I guess I'll get to Elite by the time ED is released.
Apart from a little Boulder Dash on a Spectrum emulator, Oolite is the only game I play. Nostalgia, I guess...
To quote Rafe Zetter, a good pilot, even an elite one, knows when to run
! OK, I just read the Dark Wheel again in anticipation of ED
Picked up OOlite too...couldn't bear waiting another year until the beta is scheduled.
Very much like I remember ol' Elite - although the lasers overheat faster than I remember them.
@Stardust - the Scanner Targeting Enhancement really helped me out in combat.
Jonty - Upper Case "C" does the old instant docking.
Regarding docking, there's a FAQ on the Oolite Wiki - one of Oolite's innovations is that at each station there's a navigation beacon between the station and the planet. Park your ship at the beacon, and when you point at the station, you'll be looking right down the docking port - then you only have to synchronise the spins.
Very much like I remember ol' Elite - although the lasers overheat faster than I remember them.
@Stardust - the Scanner Targeting Enhancement really helped me out in combat.
Jonty - Upper Case "C" does the old instant docking.
Plus the analogue throttle on my trusty and ancient (and importantly left-handed) Cyborg 3D worked with just the standard Windows Control Panel setup and config in Oolite.
Regarding docking, there's a FAQ on the Oolite Wiki - one of Oolite's innovations is that at each station there's a navigation beacon between the station and the planet. Park your ship at the beacon, and when you point at the station, you'll be looking right down the docking port - then you only have to synchronise the spins.
Yep - fantastic idea - it actually makes manual docking possible, almost easy with some practice!
Well I have a Cyborg Evo, so it should probably work with mine as well! Weird. I'll go back and have another look.
I have been playing Oolite aswell. Funny thing with the docking, I went back to my old Elite way of doing things...
Station always faces the planet, so aim for a point between station and planet.
Approach that point while the station slides down your port side (that's left for landlubbers!). Switch to port view until you are generally lined up.
Stop, rotate ship towards station and fine tune any approach. Then get a bit of spin on and approach.
Not 'splats' so far...
Station always faces the planet, so aim for a point between station and planet.
Approach that point while the station slides down your port side (that's left for landlubbers!). Switch to port view until you are generally lined up.
Stop, rotate ship towards station and fine tune any approach. Then get a bit of spin on and approach.
Not 'splats' so far...
If you want a game that is closer to the original Elite, I HIGHLY suggest Strict mode under F2 options. No oxps. Just Elite goodness. None of that fancy fuel injector/hard head missiles/ etc. etc. either.
Trigger your ECM just before point blank range in anticipation of being shot at. Nails that problem completely.
Cheers,
Drew.
Also no yaw controls, from what I understand, only pitch and roll, just like the original Elite. I've been spoiled by yaw controls myself, makes lining up with stations a ton easier.
I second that, although there are so many excellent OXP's that I usually keep my strict playing to an emulated version of the original BBC or Amiga version and just go crazy with Oolite.
If you want the vanilla experience with a little colour I highly recommend the random ship names OXP.
Bar emulated version this is the same for me there was Oolite and Elite-TheNewKind which was as close as you can get to emulated classic elite without emulation
I played Oolite since it was first available for Windows I think in 2006 and been playing it regularly ever since.Jonty good to hear you can still dock. You *are* an Elite veteran!
I think we need to make some OXP's to have some Jonty-ness in it.
Yeah, I've seen some pretty unfair fights so far, but have ducked and weaved my way out of them for the most part - also stuck to some pretty safe runs to build up my money. Diso-Leesti and Lave-Zaonce trading Computers and Furs is guaranteeing me about 400 credits per run.
How did I ever play Elite without Excel?
First job when I get to destination is update the spreadsheet - the commodity prices rarely change much between trips, so the calculated profit is generally accurate. Trade routes do get less effective as time goes on, generating less revenue - once profits get below 250 credits I move on. After doing the maths, it's clearly better to be a smuggler than an honest trader though...
Given my weedy laser at this point, my first purchase was the witchspace fuel injectors - perfect for getting away from the gangs of pirates that turn up - you just have to watch that your initial jump isn't so long that you don't have enough witchspace fuel left to use them.
Edit - buying the extended cargo bay has helped enormously the credit situation. Have also just found a poor agricultural/rich industrial route, so gonna profiteer like a good'un.
How did I ever play Elite without Excel?
First job when I get to destination is update the spreadsheet - the commodity prices rarely change much between trips, so the calculated profit is generally accurate. Trade routes do get less effective as time goes on, generating less revenue - once profits get below 250 credits I move on. After doing the maths, it's clearly better to be a smuggler than an honest trader though...
Given my weedy laser at this point, my first purchase was the witchspace fuel injectors - perfect for getting away from the gangs of pirates that turn up - you just have to watch that your initial jump isn't so long that you don't have enough witchspace fuel left to use them.
Edit - buying the extended cargo bay has helped enormously the credit situation. Have also just found a poor agricultural/rich industrial route, so gonna profiteer like a good'un.
Last edited:
I don't think that's a good idea, because Oolite is balanced differently to Elite; Oolite has fully-populated space lanes, while Elite was player-centric. At the moment, I use the witchspace fuel injector to run away from large groups of pirates who all start attacking me at once. I need to get me some shield boosters before I consider outnumbering them 1 to 5+
. I've got about 70 saved kills now !
I started up Oolite again when the KS started - a 100 kills short of Deadly now.
I've gone a bit OXP happy, but I avoid taking advantage of the easy money ones like Feudal States.
I unintentionally became a Fugitive recently and it is seriously challenging, Cobra MKIII, Fer-de-Lances, and Asp MKII bounty hunters frequently waiting outside stations and at witch-points, usually in pairs. Aggressive policing and the Navy will have a pop as well.
There are some good story mission packs, and the RRS missions and Random Hits are well worth it for ongoing play.
And plenty of eye-candy OXPs as well.
Before engaging in any combat, a beam laser is almost essential.
Before taking on packs of ships, I'd strongly recommend an aft laser and frequent use of it.
I've gone a bit OXP happy, but I avoid taking advantage of the easy money ones like Feudal States.
I unintentionally became a Fugitive recently and it is seriously challenging, Cobra MKIII, Fer-de-Lances, and Asp MKII bounty hunters frequently waiting outside stations and at witch-points, usually in pairs. Aggressive policing and the Navy will have a pop as well.
There are some good story mission packs, and the RRS missions and Random Hits are well worth it for ongoing play.
And plenty of eye-candy OXPs as well.
Before engaging in any combat, a beam laser is almost essential.
Before taking on packs of ships, I'd strongly recommend an aft laser and frequent use of it.