How to tweak OXZ's

Tweaking OXZs

OXZ's usually live in your ManagedAddOns folder (but still work if lurking in your AddOns folder!).

• To tweak an OXZ, you expand it, rewrite part of the code (following the instructions), and then repackage it as an OXP.

• You then put the tweaked OXP in your AddOns folder.

• You then restart the game holding down the shift button.

When you next dive into the entrails of the in-game Expansions Manager you will notice that that Expansion is now listed in red!

• Note that you can directly download the OXZ in expanded state into your AddOns folder by pressing x when the Expansion is highlighted. The expanded expansion will have an .off extension superadded to the folder.

• Note that the old OXZ if you have already downloaded one remains in your Managed Expansions folder.
• Note also that the OXPs in your AddOns folder trump the OXZs in your Managed Expansions folder.

• Note also that an OXZ is just a zipped OXP - there is essentially no difference between the two... Reval recommends adding a simple step to the tweaking process: create a folder in AddOns with an .oxp extension, and unzip the contents of the oxz to it (after renaming it .zip). Presto! - an OXP.
• An OXZ, to be accepted, must also contain a manifest.plist, (it is basically a zipped version of the entire OXP with an added manifest.plist) whereas a pure OXP needs only a requires.plist. Reval's belt'n'braces approach is to include both.

Tweaking OXPs

OXP's live in your AddOns folder.

• These are much easier - they do not need unzipping/rezipping.
• On some systems the OXP just opens up as a regular folder.

On an AppleMac either select the OXP with the control key held down - and then choose the "Show Package Contents" option or edit the file name to replace the .oxp ending with .txt - it will transmogrify into a folder. Do your deeds of derring do (see the rest of this page). To return your folder to being an .oxp, just edit the folder name and put .oxp at the end! Pop it into your AddOns folder, and restart the game with the shift button held down.

Warning!

Some text editors (eg Windows) add extra lines of invisible text, turning your finely hand-crafted .oxp into gibberish! See Links below for other text editors.

And if you are copying code from the BB, you might find you've included somebody else's invisible text!

When copying code from the BB it's always better to hit the "quote" button and copy from the typing window. (Just don't press the "Submit" button after you're finished!) See the discussion here.

Links

• OXP for details on finding the ManagedAddOns & AddOns Folders for AppleMac, Windows & Linux.
• BB Thread with more detail and a lo-o-ong list of tweaks.

• Suggestions for change to the system of doing this.
• Aegidian's views on tweaking (and on OXZ's generally!): here. Tweaking an OXP is easier than doing the same to an OXZ.

Assorted tweaks

Tweaking OXPs

• MasterClass: How to OXP (updating the Sothis.oxp override (ie updating SothisTC.oxp)) (2021) - station spawning, location, markets

• Deep Space Dredger - see the "tweaks" section for making DSD's dockable for your Docking Computers in "non-waltzing"/fast docking mode

• Fixing the commodity markets for pre-2015 dockables (2017)

• Adding a market to Market Inquirer for viewing in MFDs/other stations (2021)

• Making Ship's Library free (2021)

• Digebitian variant for BroadcastComms MFD, for those seeking refinement in expression

• Tweaking background stars, space dust, sun distance, etc. for Oolite v.1.81+

Tweaking game code

• Adding extra rows for new commodities to the F8 Market Screen

• Tweaking galaxy seeds: Interactive Maps - and see the linked discussion

Reference Pages

• Category:Oolite scripting
• Oolite Javascript basics This is a very helpful layman's introduction to what Javascript is - and how it interfaces with Oolite

Other advice pages

• How do I ... dock / succeed in trading / win a fight / configure my controller/joystick etc