HOopy Casino

One of the more recent Iron Ass hOopy Casinos.

hOopy Casino
Size (metres, W×H×L)	800 x 400 x 1050
Manoeuvrability	Roll: 0.5 Pitch: 0.15 Speed: 0.175 LM
Rotating	No
Energy recharge rate	Good (4.0)
Armaments	None
Defenders	8x Casino Security
OXP or standard	OXP
Beacon	C

Sidewinder Casino Security
Size (W×H×L)	65m×15m×35m
Cargo capacity	0 TC
Cargo bay extension	N/A
Maximum speed	0.37 LM
Manoeuvrability	Roll: 2.8 Pitch: 1.8
Energy banks	3
Energy recharge rate	Medium (2.5)
Gun mounts	Fore
Missile slots	0
Shield boosters available	No
Military shields available	No
Hyperspace capable	No
OXP or standard	OXP
Available to player	No
Base price	N/A

Overview

hOopy Casino is a term that may refer to both a type of interstellar gambling establishment, and a manner of space ship. It is frequently a hovering presence in the vicinity of the space stations of affluent worlds. All lawful creatures of means may enter the ship, either to wager credits in a game of chance, or to trade goods in its unorthodox market index.

Background

Multi-billionaire and FurCorp heiress Magda DeMug first dabbled in commercial enterprises founding CoachWhip Inc. Her fleet of CoachWhip luxury liners provide a first class transport service to well-heeled business executives, VIPs and anyone else who can afford the 5,000₢ ticket price. Having established a profitable enterprise fleecing the idle rich, the heiress turned her acute feline business mind to the question of sucking credits from the pockets of the proletariat.

The basic hull of the CoachWhip liner was completely stripped, removing the cargo bay, hyperspace drive and inter-system drive. A docking port was added and the internal structure re-fitted as a luxurious casino. The platforms were then deployed in geo-stationary orbit near the main GalCop Station in technologically advanced systems throughout the eight galaxies.

Herald Ad-Droids within the aegis attempt to attract customers.

Promotion of the one and only eerie musical act to be experienced at any hOopy Casino.

Thus was the chain of hOopy Casinos born. These dens of inequity are found in systems with a Tech Level of 11 or more. In such a system, setting an Advanced Space Compass to C will locate the nearest hOopy Casino.

The hOopy Casino Chain

Commanders who chose to dock with a hOopy Casino are quickly ushered into the vast gaming halls, here to be offered the opportunity to win or lose credits in games of chance.

Having entered the casino area of the station, some Commanders will never leave, succumbing to the illusion that they have developed a system to "beat the hoops". These doomed lost souls are frequently seen wagering their final Credits, their ship, still functional organs, or their spouse, on just one more chance at a throw of the hoops.

Commanders of a more level-headed nature visit hOopy Casinos for the purpose of trading. Those who can resist the charms of the complementary drinks and scantily clad croupiers available in the main casino area of the orbital platform may engage in trading on the station’s commodity market. The casinos often have a surplus or deficient of certain goods that an observant trader may sometimes make more profit by off-loading or purchasing his cargo at the casino rather than the system’s GalCop station.

A hOopy Casino ship is protected by a reasonably strong shield, although it carries no weapons. The casino management rely on the fact that the casino closely orbits the GalCop Station, which will launch Vipers to defend the orbital platform from attack. Additionally a small fleet of Security Sidewinders in hOopy livery are stationed aboard to defend the casino if needed.

The preternatural music that makes one's stay at a HOopy Casino seem like one long, absurd and improbable dream, is a number perpetually performed by the holograms of Jonny Cuba & The Fierce Frogs. Rumour claims it is a transmission of a live performance.

The new revamped Casino (2026).

Approaching one of the antique pink hOopy Casino ships.

Download

• The new revamped 2026 hOopy Casino is available in OXZ format HOopyCasino_2.1.oxz. Requires Oolite 1.80 or newer.
• The 2022 IronAss hOopy Casino is included in the IronAss Suite Vol. 5 = this is part of Murgh's retexture set
• The hOopy Casino is found in the hOopy Casino 1.2.1 OXP. This version needs at least Oolite 1.74 (Updated 1 April 2012)
  
• Older versions: Murgh's original hOopy Casino is found in the hOopy Casino 1.0.1 OXP. This 2009 version runs on all old Oolite versions.

PlanetFall

Add-on OXPs allow you to visit a casino on the planet surface - there are download links on the various PlanetFall wiki pages!

• Planetfall2 OXP (for PlanetFall v2.x) - you will need the PlanetFall2 oxp and the PlanetFall2 Hoopy Casino OXP
• The Planetfall OXP (for PlanetFall v1.x) - as above, but the PlanetFall v.1 versions!

Links

• OXP Authors: Old Murgh (original OXP & Iron Ass version);

Eric Walch (early updates);

Phkb (2.x versions)

• Music: Jonny Cuba
• "PlanetFall HOopy Casino" add-on authors: Phkb (PlanetFall v.2) & Thargoid (PlanetFall v.1)

Legacy

• Note that the term "hoopy casinos" were inherited from the goatsoup recipe in Classic Elite. See for example the vanilla game F7 screen description of Aronar: "Aronar is most famous for the Aronarian deadly goat and its hoopy casinos."

Version info

• Version 1.1.x Iron Ass hOopy Casino by Old Murgh, July 2022. Dark metal RELOP makeover, reverts available gambling to strict hOopy shell game

• Version 2.0 by phkb, March 2026
  • Fixed incorrect normal and emission map for Sidewinder.
  • Reverted to using default shaders for the Casino Ship.
  • Updated textures on Casino Ship, added new normal specular and gloss maps, plus RGB lighting effects.
  • Added flashers to docking bay of Casino ship.
  • Fixed issue with NaN values in dice game.
  • Moved all text into missiontext.plist for easier localisation.
  • New background image.
  • Made compatible with Xenon UI.
  • Spelling corrections.
  • Removed deprecated files.
• Version 1.3.4 No shader neonsign added.
• Version 1.3.2 New gambling game: hOopy Hold'em.
• Version 1.3.1 New gambling game: Blackjack.
• Version 1.3.0 New and retouched textures and flashy shader effects. Two new gambling games: Smuggler's Run dice game and Video Poker.
• Version 1.2.1 Always add casino ships in systems with "hoopy casinos' in the planet description.
• Version 1.2 Translated the missionscreen handling to the new Oolite 1.74 method. Raised minimum Oolite to 1.74. No new features.
  
• Version 1.1 Translated to Java Script.
  
• Version 1.0.1 Fixed a bug when the player launches from the casino with F1 in the middle of some actions. With the original version it could happen no gambling was offered anymore. This version should correct that.
• Version 1.0 hOopy Casino by Murgh, May 2005. The initial hOopy shell game. Runs correct with Oolite v1.50. Script doctor: Aegian, musical score: Jonnycuba.

Tweaks

• To restrict the casinos just to Corporate states (Layne, 2015)

You might need to consult How to tweak OXZ's

BGS

BGS enhances this OXP