Oolite FAQ

Question:	Every so often some of the messages (either from other ships or from my ship) on the bottom of the screen remain and end up 'scrolling' up the screen to cover my gunsights. What's up with that?
Answer:	The 'sticky messages' bug is, unfortunately, a long standing issue in Oolite, but the tireless developers are trying to rectify this. In the meantime, flicking between views (either internal or external) is probably the quickest way to clear the messages.

Question:	Every so often I meet a ship or a cargopod that I can't lock on. My laser fire goes right through it. Sometimes it happens with a ship I have just killed. Sometimes after a while it even starts again firing at me, but I can't harm it anymore.
Answer:	The 'ghost ship' bug is another very old acquaintance in Oolite, and again the tireless developers are trying to rectify this. In the meantime, ignoring the ghost ships (or cargo pods) is the best thing you can do.

Question:

It takes so long to get to the station after each jump. Can I do anything to speed the trip up?

Answer:

Well, space is huge. I mean, have you ever imagined a football-field with an orange in one of the goals and a walnut in the other goal? If you haven't, then don't. It takes you nowhere. As will your ship's engine at normal speed. But then that's what your jumpdrive is for. Hit J, and your journey speeds up. Unfortunately your jumpdrive doesn't work when other masses, like ships or planets, are nearby. They will 'lock' it. And in the 'corridor' between the witchpoint and the planet you are very likely to meet other ships. On the other hand there is no rule that you have to stick to the corridor. Just leave it sideways in any direction with your jumpdrive engaged for a couple of seconds, and head for the planet then. Makes your voyage much smoother. If you're a bounty-hunter and eager to meet lots of pirates, however, this is not your method of choice.

Question:	Will there ever be an Oolite Massive Multi-player Online Role-Play Game (MMORPG)?
Answer:	At present Ahruman and Co. have no plans to develop either Oolite or a separate branch to accomodate either an MMORPG or an MOG (Multi-player Online Game). This, however, doesn't mean one of you clever bods out there can't try ;)

Question:	Can the range of hyperspace jumps/my fuelcapacity be increased?
Answer:	No. Jumprange in Oolite is hardcoded for a reason. The game would become less challenging and thus less fun. (Although I can imagine hacks that give unlimited fuel. Also JS-scripting may be more flexible in this department)

Question:	I want Laser Cooling Boosters!
Answer:	There are none at the moment and the reason is simple. It may unbalance the game too much, remember anything that is available to the player, is available to NPCs. Even if said Jameson is just a harmless dirtbug.

Question:	I have Oolite V.1.68 and I want to see the cool new planet textures everyone is going on about. How do I do it?
Answer:	The next time you leave a station pause the game (press P), then press T. A message saying 'Procedural Textures On' will pop up. Unpause the game and the next time you jump and after all subsequent jumps and on exiting stations, you will experience the new textured planets.

Question:	When I close Oolite (V1.68) and restart it later, I don't have the textured planets, even on saved games. How come?
Answer:	Just follow the steps in the above answer to turn them on again. You will have to do so every time you open Oolite. The textured planets are at present experimental and not a default. However they may well be integrated as a default option in a later version.