another_commander wrote: ↑Wed Apr 04, 2018 1:09 am
Hi, I am the Windows port maintainer of Oolite and noticed this thread and fox's questions about the game. Glad you start to like it fox; Oolite is like that, you need to dedicate some time to it before you start discovering its secrets and it gets better the more you discover.
To answer your questions, once you have equipped your ship with all offensive and defensive equipment, there is not really much you can do to make it better, although you can aim for a more powerful ship (there is one ship which is more powerful than the Cobra in the core game). What you can do is become better at combat, though.
This link will give you some hints. Unless you install OXP ships, you will not get a ship that beats them all every time in Oolite. If you encounter four or more ships, you may have to consider running. If you do decide to remain and do combat, remember one advice: Keep moving, continuously. Flying in a straight line for a long time in order to land that last shot on an opponent will very likely give someone else a chance to hit you. Combat in Oolite is a different state of mind compared to other space games. When hit, you need to react immediately. You can even try to use your environment to your advantage. For example, did you know that your opponents get blinded by the sun just like you do? IF you fly with the sun straight ahead of you, enemies coming behind you will have a harder time hitting you, because their accuracy is affected by sun glare. And yes, even with an uber OXP ship, there still will be occasions where a battle can be lost and you may have to consider running no matter what. In Oolite, no one is bullet proof.
Cody has already covered well the rest of your questions I think, I would just say that installing BGS improves the sound effects considerably and I fully agree with the Orchestral Demo proposal, which offers in-game music that adjusts to the situation you find yourself in.
Regarding the ship that run away shouting about attention, I think this must have been OXP. I have not been able to locate any similar message in the game files.
Finally, I have seen you were asking about screenshots showing the game at its prettiest. In addition to Cody's suggestions, I would recommend having a look at the
Screenshots thread in the forum. Have a look at the last ten pages or so for the most recent stuff (note, some were shot using the Reshade post processing fx injector application) .
Hope this helps.
Hello and thank you for the tips and links,
yes, I have installed a number of OXP. Those radio messages surely are from one of them.
No OXP ships, though. I imagined that some would be OP and -lacking the experience to understand the details- I choose to stick to vanilla.
Good to know that something vanilla & better than a Cobra Mk III exists, though. I will find it!
I need to practice with combat. To tell the truth, I did suspect that sun glare could affect the aim of NPCs. Was not sure, though. I tend to stay away from combat (because keyboard). Perhaps with a Controller I will be more effective (if I get time to tinker with the config).
I continue to learn new things. For example I discovered that I can hitch a ride to my target system if I fly into a wormhole left open by a ship that recently jumped to it.
Now, before undocking, I check the list of docked ships (courtesy of another OXP, I believe). If any is heading to my target system, I request to schedule my departure after said ship. Jumping this way also leaves my Fuel reserves intact, and later I can boost aggressively out of trouble and mass-lock.
Ah, but a couple times I used he wrong hole because multiple ships jumped and I could not tell which hole pointed where. Embarassing
-- So I bought a wormhole scanner.
I am also searching for a way to travel from the W-buoy to the N-buoy in a single hyperdrive session.
Perhaps I found one with which the chances of meeting ships are low.
The trick is to not fly on a straight line. So I draw a curve. Actually a big spiral. It starts from wherever you are -> it ends at the N-buoy. Nice.
(sadly my english has limits. I do not know the best words to describe this with precision)
Last, but not least, guess what is:
- spinning all over the screen
- purple
- furry
- and with asymetric eyes (
??)
Well, it is... c-cute... kinda. (and more than a little disturbing).
Oolite is slowly revealing to be more complex than it transpires from its look
-- good point in my book.
(my quest for better sounds continues...)
-fox