Orb

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Orb
Size (metres, W×H×L)	Unknown
Cargo capacity	Unknown
Cargo bay extension	Unknown
Maximum speed	Unknown
Manoeuvrability	Unknown
Energy banks	Unknown
Energy recharge rate	Unknown)
Gun mounts	Unknown
Missile slots	Unknown
Shield boosters available	Unknown
Military shields available	Unknown
Hyperspace capable	Unknown
OXP or standard	OXP
Available to player	Unknown
Base price	Unknown

Overview

Galactic Co-operative of Worlds

Police Update on Orb Sightings.

It has come to our attention over the last few
weeks that ships of an unusual design have
been reported throughout the eight galaxies.

GalCop would like to assure all Captains that
there is as yet no cause for alarm regardless
of rumors circulated by the discredited Dr H.Z.
( formerly a senior rocket scientist for Lance &
 Ferman )

The 'Orb' ships as they have become known
have been monitored by 'GalCop' for some time
and you can rest assured we are exercising
all means at our disposal in our on-going in
depth study of this new phenomenon.

In the interests of open cooperation with the
public here follows infomation pertinent to
busy Captains that has so far been deduced by
exhaustive investigation.

1) They are quite small.
2) Their ships are quite speedy.
3) They do not carry ID transponders.
4) Their communications so far do not seem to be
amenable to our universal translators.
5) We are therefore finding it difficult to charge
them under the 'Failure to carry an ID transponder'
act.
6) They have been quite antisocial towards officers
who have gone about their lawful duty with regard
to point 5).

We therefore recommend to Captains that until such
time as we can initiate a useful verbal intercourse
with these beings, a healthy respectful distance be
maintained.

The Galactic Co-operative of Worlds Police would
be grateful for any useful information regarding
'Orb' sightings and purposes.

Please contact one of our officers via this comms
link:

You can find rather more information here

From Dr HZ's dire warnings

Orb-Thargoid War

• Dr HZ's fervent warnings are found here
• And there is another short story (the Orb-Thargoid War, illustrated) here

Download

WARNING: The packages from both locations have got syntax errors and will not load with Oolite. A fix was in progress...

The Orbs are found in the Orb OXP.
Or try downloading Charlie's entire collection at Charlie's "Box" which also includes a slightly newer version in the "For Ahruman" folder.

It may well work with Oolite v.1.65 - see here: Oolite: Downloading Earlier versions

Plans

• Charlie had plans for adding an orb city (2007 - one month after the published Feb 2007 version) and also see here - and there is something in his "For Ahruman" version.
• Charlie also had plans for quirium sky/starmines (2008)

Editorial Musings

This OXP seems to have been a lot of fun. But it came out just as Aegidian stepped down and Ahruman took over as Lead Developer. New versions of Oolite were now coming out with more and more Javascript added in, which broke what Charlie was doing with his older .plist/Javascript programming.

Links

• Original BB thread (2006+)
• Charlie (author) (see note on licensing)

Fixing Orb OXP

Unsurprisingly, this broken OXP has attracted a lot of attention over the years. See 2009 & 2008... which have some ideas about fixing it (but from within the context of the evolving Oolite of the day).

Possibly helpful comment from Kaks: As far as I can tell, orb.oxp depends on Charlie's navyships.oxp which in turn depends - partially - on his kestrel.oxp & his merlin.oxp (2008)

Commander McLane on a role for the Orb in a putative 9th galaxy (2010)

Charlie did give carte blanche for editing all his OXPs except this one, where he wished people to consult with Kaks first, who was supposed to be fixing this OXP but never published anything! Again, Oolite was continually evolving while Kaks was working on it, which must have made it much more difficult for him. See the note under Licensing.