OXP howto - Revision history

Cholmondely: Added pretty picture, fixed link, added note, minor tweaks

2025-12-28T18:57:27Z

Added pretty picture, fixed link, added note, minor tweaks

Cholmondely: /* Structure */ Added note

2025-12-28T18:12:23Z

‎Structure: Added note

Cholmondely: Tweaks, links, added notes.

2025-07-27T09:15:14Z

Tweaks, links, added notes.

Wildeblood: /* Config */ Moved items describing deprecated plists to under the "deprecated" heading. (Der.)

2025-04-19T05:29:01Z

‎Config: Moved items describing deprecated plists to under the "deprecated" heading. (Der.)

Cholmondely: /* OXP Verifier */ Added note

2025-04-10T08:57:44Z

‎OXP Verifier: Added note

Cholmondely: Death to typos! Even the Hiranic vesions!!

2024-08-09T13:33:26Z

Death to typos! Even the Hiranic vesions!!

Hiran: /* Config */

2024-08-08T18:39:36Z

‎Config

Hiran: /* Config */

2024-08-08T18:29:55Z

‎Config

Hiran: /* Config */

2024-08-08T18:29:19Z

‎Config

Hiran: /* Config */

2024-08-08T18:28:31Z

‎Config

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 :''Shortcut: EW:OXP and EW:HOWDS redirect here''</br>
-[[Image:oolite-oxp-icon.png|100px|right|OXP icon]]
+[[Image:oolite-oxp-icon.png|100px|thumb|right|OXP icon]]
 ==Overview==
-An '''Oolite Expansion Pack''' can cause many big changes or additions to Oolite's gameplay, or it may represent just a small, subtle alteration. By first appearances, there is no way to tell what is inside, as it's merely a folder with the added extension '''.oxp'''.
+An '''Oolite Expansion Pack''' can cause many big changes or additions to Oolite's gameplay, or it may represent just a small, subtle alteration. By first appearances, there is no way to tell what is inside, as it's merely a ''folder'' with the added extension '''.oxp'''.
 Oolite Version 1.79 onwards supports also compressed files in ZIP format with extension '''.oxz'''.
@@ Line 54: / Line 55: @@
   --> [[manifest.plist]] (file)
       ''the following might also be found in here:''
-  --> [[Misc plists|info.plist]] (file, seems unnecessary)
+  --> [[Misc plists|info.plist]] (file, seems to be a poor duplicate of the Manifest.plist)
   --> [[Requires.plist]] (file: deprecated - replaced by Manifest.plist)
@@ Line 72: / Line 73: @@
 ===Config===
-All plist files except for those introducing new AIs, ''[[requires.plist]]'', ''[[manifest.plist]]'' or ''[[info.plist]]'', belong in Config.
+All plist files except for those introducing new AIs, ''[[requires.plist]]'', ''[[manifest.plist]]'' or ''[[Misc plists|info.plist]]'', belong in Config.
 In its simplest form, an OXP could contain only a Config with an altering ''script.plist'' or ''planetinfo.plist''.  An OXP that adds a new ship needs a ''shipdata.plist'' entry, and unless it is based entirely on existing Oolite data, would include a model and texture.
@@ Line 95: / Line 96: @@
 * ''[[OXPMessages.plist]]'' adds warnings to testversions of an oxp.
 * ''[[planetinfo.plist]]'' that plots system specific changes from the default. May also contain ''script actions''.
-* ''[[role-categories.plist]]'' for specifying groups of roles with similar properties (v1.79)
+* ''[[role-categories.plist]]'' for specifying groups of roles (''eg''.: trader, Miner, pirate ''etc''.) with similar properties (v1.79)
 * ''[[scenarios.plist]]'' lists the starting scenarios in the Scenarios folder (v1.79).
 * ''[[screenbackgrounds.plist]]'' that contains references to background images (v1.74).
@@ Line 146: / Line 147: @@
 * [[Viewing a Texture or Model]]
-==OXP Verifier==
+==Tool: OXP Verifier==
 Oolite has what amounts to a spell checker for shipdata.plist and some other plists, called the OXP verifier.
@@ Line 180: / Line 181: @@
 Since a very small mistake is enough to stop a .plist from being accepted, it's important to be exact about every letter and sign. The Mac Terminal utility has a very practical tool for catching parser errors. After opening Terminal, simply type plutil, add one space, and drag and drop the plist in question onto the Terminal window. This will cause the 'address' of the plist to be shown. Hit return, and Terminal will reveal whether or not the plist is OK. If it's not, you might be given a clue to what is wrong, and the line number of the error - or just a general note that "Unexpected character { at line 1"!
-==Unique names==
+==Need for unique names==
 On loading the oxps, Oolite will add all files in the AIs, Models, Sound and Scripts folders in one big folder for its own use. That means that all files need unique names or one file will overwrite another with the same name. Files in Textures are not pre-loaded, but when looking for a specific texture Oolite looks in all Texture folders until it finds a texture file with a matching name. If another oxp contains a texture with identical name, Oolite could use that texture.

@@ Line 40: / Line 40: @@
 The structure for OXPs:
   AddOns (folder)
-  ~.oxp (folder) - Holds manifest.plist and the other folders:
+  ~.oxp (really just another folder!) - Holds manifest.plist and the other folders:
   --> AIs (folder) - Holds AI plists

@@ Line 40: / Line 40: @@
 The structure for OXPs:
   AddOns (folder)
-  -.oxp (folder) - Holds requires.plist, manifest.plist and the other folders
+  ~.oxp (folder) - Holds manifest.plist and the other folders:
   --> AIs (folder) - Holds AI plists
-  --> Config (folder) - Holds all other plists
+  --> Config (folder) - Holds all other plists (and possibly an anonymous "Script.js")
   --> Images (folder) - Holds background images
-  --> Models (folder) - Holds the .dat files
+  --> Models (folder) - Holds the .dat files (special Oolite format)
-  --> Music (folder) - Surprise - holds music files
+  --> Music (folder) - Surprise - holds .ogg music files
   --> Scenarios (folder) - Holds new game scenarios (v1.79)
   --> Scripts (folder) - Holds scripts (worldScripts and shipScripts)
   --> Shaders (folder) - Holds Vertex and Fragment shaders (v1.69)
   --> Sounds (folder) - Holds sound files
-  --> Textures (folder) - Holds models textures
+  --> Textures (folder) - Holds models textures (can be planets, too!)
   --> [[manifest.plist]] (file)
 *If the OXP is in the uncompressed OXP folder format, the .oxp folder must contain a [[requires.plist]] file. If it is in the compressed OXZ single-file format, it must contain a [[manifest.plist]] file.
@@ Line 124: / Line 127: @@
 * [[Scripting_Oolite_with_JavaScript|Scripting Oolite with Javascript]]
 * [[Oolite_JavaScript_object_model|Scripting reference]]
 ===Textures===

@@ Line 79: / Line 79: @@
 * ''[[characters.plist]]'' that adds non-player characters to Oolite.
 * ''[[crosshairs.plist]]'' that contains the look for your weapons (v1.73).
 * ''[[customsounds.plist]]'' that contains references to ingame used sounds.
@@ Line 89: / Line 88: @@
 * ''[[gui-settings.plist]]'' settings for reformatting the GUI screens (v1.81)
 * ''[[hud.plist]]'' and ''[[hud.plist|hud-small.plist]]'' that allows for changes or a radically new ''Head-Up Display''.
 * ''[[Oolite_Keyboard_Controls|keyconfig.plist]]'' that allows for changes of the keymapping.
 * ''[[missiontext.plist]]'' contains texts for the mission screens.
 * ''[[OXPMessages.plist]]'' adds warnings to testversions of an oxp.
 * ''[[planetinfo.plist]]'' that plots system specific changes from the default. May also contain ''script actions''.
 * ''[[role-categories.plist]]'' for specifying groups of roles with similar properties (v1.79)
 * ''[[scenarios.plist]]'' lists the starting scenarios in the Scenarios folder (v1.79).
 * ''[[screenbackgrounds.plist]]'' that contains references to background images (v1.74).
-* ''[[Scripting Oolite with JavaScript|script.js]]'' is the successor of [[script.plist]] in JavaScript.It will be loaded in preference to script.plist if both exist. The JavaScript version offers improved possibilities and is easier to use.
+* ''[[Scripting Oolite with JavaScript|script.js]]'' is the successor of [[script.plist]] in JavaScript.It will be loaded in preference to script.plist if both exist.
 * ''[[shipdata.plist]]'' that introduces any new entity (ships, stations, objects etc.) to Oolite.
 * ''[[shipdata-overrides.plist]]'' that selectively can replace shipentries in other shipdata.plists
@@ Line 109: / Line 106: @@
 Deprecated:
 * ''[[demoships.plist]]'' that selects demoships to show on startup (replaced - approximately - by shiplibrary.plist in 1.79 and later)
 * ''[[script.plist]]'' to handle conditional ''script actions''. (deprecated)
 * ''[[script.oos]]'' was briefly introduced during 1.70 development but is now deprecated in favour of JS.)

@@ Line 142: / Line 142: @@
 ==OXP Verifier==
-Oolite has what amounts to a spell checker for shipdata.plist and some other plists, called the OXP verifier. It does not work with OXZ's. The verifier detects unknown keys or wrong use of keys ''etc''. It can currently only be invoked from the command line.
+Oolite has what amounts to a spell checker for shipdata.plist and some other plists, called the OXP verifier.
 On Windows or Linux: