Difference between revisions of "Realistic Shipyards"

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Special thanks go to:  
 
Special thanks go to:  
 +
* Svengali (For his patient bug-hunting, solution-advicing and loads of practical help)
 
* Sung (For the complete hi-res retexturing of all strict mode ships)
 
* Sung (For the complete hi-res retexturing of all strict mode ships)
 
* Giles Williams (Oolite itself + Model & textures for the Navy Juggernaut)
 
* Giles Williams (Oolite itself + Model & textures for the Navy Juggernaut)

Revision as of 08:20, 26 June 2008

This is a complete overhaul of Oolite's shipyards, ships and ship roles system.


More diversity added to the core game:

  • Consistent ship prices & tech levels for ALL ships available in Oolite (strict and oxps)
  • Game balance & strategic elements concerning ships enhanced
  • Includes 85 merged ship oxps and the Fuel Tank oxp (made by other authors than me)
  • Eight player ships for veteran players and a new high-tech equipment & shipyards facility not available in any other oxp
  • In total, 190 playable ships & about 500 NPC ships
  • Ship roles have been altered for more diversity - and provide a much harder Ooniverse, with de facto whole new classes of ships!
  • Contains a complete ship stats databank for ALL buyable ships of strict mode and ALL oxp ships available in the game!


More diversity in the possible game careers:

  • Various alternate career beginnings for mostly harmless Jamesons: Sell your Cobra MkIII for a cheaper ship at Lave or Zaonce - and have the cash to buy some equipment & get going faster ...
  • Enhanced gameplay for medium range (Poor to Dangerous) players: An Iron Ass (fully kitted Cobra MkIII) is no longer enough - now there is always a bigger fish, and you will really need those scanners to know what`s coming for you before it`s too late ...
  • Creative solution to the uber-ship problem for the deadly veteran players: Now you can earn one, and with the challenges waiting for you, you will need it. Because so can the others ...
  • It`s not over when you reach ELITE: Only now can you play with the really big boys, and spectacular spacebattles await!


I think this is the final version of the Realistic Shipyards, bugfixes and updates to contributions of third parties nonwithstanding. As everything was created under the Creative Commons License, I would feel honoured if someone wants to base their own oxps on this one or use stuff from it - be my guest, the game can only get better!


Download Realistic Shipyards V3.02 here (85.6 MB)


Important Note: If you are using the Realistic Shipyards V3.02, you should not install the OXPs below in addition to it, because the complete contents of those OXPs have been completely merged into this OXP here:

Aegidian-Special, All-Stars, AphidV2, att1, A-Wing, bandersnatch, Boyracers, B-Wing, Cobra3Njx, Cobra35, CobraClipperPC, Condor, Dragon, Dreams01Beta, Dredger, DWCobra3, Eagle2, Executive Spaceways V2.2, Far Star, Ferdelance_NG, Ferdepai, Firewasp, Fuel Tank, fsr, Grass_Snake, Greekshipset1, Griffin2, Herald, Icarus, Illicit_Unlock_FIX1.56, Impcourier (Navy), Impcourier2 (Civilian), Interceptor, Isisinterstellar, Ixianfreighter, Ixianships, Jabberwocky, Kestrel&Falcon, Lambda, Lane_Legal, liberator, Llama, Longshot, Manta, Marett_Vol1, Merlin, Missionaries, Morrigan, MPakRedux, Murgh_XShips, NavyStarships, Newships, nuvipers, Oldships, Outrider, Pallas, Pelamis, Phoenix, PTI, PythonClassCruiserV2.6, Racers, Renegade_Viper, RoC, SalezaV2, Shield-Tail, Shreddies, snark, Spearhead_1, Stingray, Stingray_Mk_II, s-ships, Supercobra, Swift, Terrapin, Tesoura, TIE, Tiger, Tribant, Urutu_IV, UrutuMkIII, Velocity, WolfMk2, Wolfwoods_Variants, X-Ships, X-Wing & Y-Wing.

You should by all means install the following OXPs alongside to this one because Realistic Shipyards V3.02 is dependent on them: Assassins, Commies, Hotrods, Ionics-1.2.1, Pirate Clan One, Vector & Zz-Oo-Haul.


Made by:


An addon for Oolite by Giles Williams & Jens Ayton

Based on "Elite" by Ian Bell and David Braben

Merged & Compiled by Lestradae


Special thanks go to:

  • Svengali (For his patient bug-hunting, solution-advicing and loads of practical help)
  • Sung (For the complete hi-res retexturing of all strict mode ships)
  • Giles Williams (Oolite itself + Model & textures for the Navy Juggernaut)
  • LittleBear & Griff (Models & textures for the now playable Black Monk Gunship)
  • Charlie (Who`s reworked Condor OXP provided the basis for the playable Condor Flagship)
  • Sabre (Models & textures for the now playable Deep Space Dredger)
  • Harald.ist.org (Who helped me create the stolen Thargoid Warship)
  • Murgh (Model & textures for the Interstellar Explorer under the Creative Commons License)
  • Milinks (Models & textures for the SIRFYards)
  • Ahruman (For the really patient anti-bug support nescessary due to my hack-and-slay scripting style)
  • Selezen (For telling me when to stop)


Many very special thanks go to the authors of the (86) OXPs that were merged into the Realistic Shipyards V3.02 under the Creative Commons License:

Giles Williams (Aegidian-Special, Cobra35, Newships & Pelamis); Craig Crump (All-Stars); ??? (AphidV2); Azzameen (A-Wing, B-Wing, Lambda, TIE, Interceptor, X-Wing & Y-Wing); daniel@kettonlane.me.uk (Bandersnatch); Murgh (Boyracers, CobraClipperPC, fsr, MPakRedux, Murgh_XShips, nuvipers & Oldships); Selezen (Cobra3Njx, Dreams01Beta, Eagle2, Icarus, Impcourier (Old & New) & s-ships); Charlie (Condor, DWCobra3, Merlin, NavyStarships, Pallas & Swift); Charlie & Kaks (Kestrel&Falcon); Cmdr Wyvern (Dragon, PTI, Phoenix & Terrapin); Sabre (Dredger, Liberator & Velocity); Ramirez (Executive Spaceways V2.2, Fuel Tank & SalezaV2); ??? (Far Star); ??? (Ferdelance_NG); ??? (Ferdepai); ??? (Firewasp); ??? (Grass_Snake); 8-Bit Apocalypse (Greekshipset1, Ixianfreighter, Ixianships & Supercobra); ??? (Griffin2); Captain Hesperus (Illicit_Unlock_FIX1.56); Killer Wolf (Isisinterstellar); Flying_Circus (Herald, Jabberwocky, Llama & Morrigan); Dr.Nil, Arexack_Heretic & Murgh (att1); Arexack_Heretic, jonnycuba, Murgh & co. (Lane_Legal); ??? (Longshot); ??? (Manta); ramon (Marett_Vol1); Dr Nil (Missionaries); Roberto (Outrider); ??? (PythonClassCruiserV2.6); ??? (Racers); ??? (Renegade_Viper); ??? (RoC); Dr. Nil (Shield-Tail); ??? (Shreddies); ??? (Snark); ??? (Spearhead_1); CaptKev (Stingray & Stingray_Mk_II); randallTesoura (Tesoura); cybertiger (Tiger); ??? (Tribant); ??? (Urutu_IV & UrutuMkIII); Wolfwood (WolfMk2 & Wolfwoods_Variants) & ??? (X-Ships)

PS: Many OXP creators have not designated any kind of author`s name in their OXPs, on a forum or on the OXP wiki page. If I am informed of the authorship to some or all of those OXPs I will add their names ASAP in on the "special thanks" section here - otherwise, those authors have to be collectively designated as "???" ...


V3.02 - compatible with Oolite 1.71 and above - 26th June 2008.


Improvements on game mechanics & overall atmosphere:

Consistent ship prices & tech levels for ALL ships available in Oolite (strict and oxps) The prices that ships have and the tech levels as of which they are available are now completely consistent within the game. The more a ship can do the more expensive it is and the higher the tech level nescessary to have a chance of it appearing in the shipyard. What tech level a world has can now directly be experienced in its shipyard as well, not only in the equipment dock. The kind of ships that appear at a given tech level have a certain feel to them of being in the same league - the reason being, that they actually are.

The revised tech level spans for ship availabilities are as follows:

29.999 Cr or less: TL 1-4
30.000 to 49.999 Cr: TL 2-5
50.000 to 74.999 Cr: TL 3-6
75.000 to 99.999 Cr: TL 4-7
100.000 to 149.999 Cr: TL 5-8
150.000 to 199.999 Cr: TL 6-9
200.000 to 299.999 Cr: TL 7-10
300.000 to 399.999 Cr: TL 8-11
400.000 to 499.999 Cr: TL 9-12
500.000 to 599.999 Cr: TL 10-13
600.000 to 699.999 Cr: TL 11-14
700.000 to 799.999 Cr: TL 12+
800.000 to 999.999 Cr: TL 13+
1 to 3 Million Cr: TL 14+
3 Million Cr or more: TL 15


Game balance & strategic elements concerning ships enhanced:

I have spent a lot of time thinking about game mechanics, balance and suggestions from members on the Oolite Boards before creating the prices & TL formulae. Ships now become a real, plannable strategic element of the game, instead of insanely over- or underpriced flavour stuff alone. As the Realistic Shipyards` prices and availabilities have directly to do with the ship's quality - and also their individual combinations of strengths & weaknesses - with the help of the included ship stats FOR ALL THE SHIPS currently available IN ANY OXP (!) you can strategically plan your ascent to Elite.

Think about it - what kind of person do you want to play in Oolite? A pirate? A trader? A law enforcement officer? Space Navy? A courier? A bit of everything or any given combination of the above? Now those are real choices that affect the game. What kind of money can you spend? What might, depending on the aforementioned choices, become your next ship? And the ship after that? And where will you have to go to acquire that kind of ship? All this will now not only happen in your head, but in the game.


In total, 190 playable ships & about 500 NPC ships, eight player ships for veteran players and a new high-tech equipment & shipyards facility not available in any other oxp:

For example the Deep Space Dredger, legendary biggest mining ship and freighter of the Ooniverse, is now buyable for Commanders with REALLY deep pockets (say, 8 million credits). Flies like a mountain on wheels and adds a whole new dimension to the docking experience. But the trading opportunities ...

Then the Interstellar Explorer: does just that. Scratch the light barrier without stepping on the gas pedal with the fastest ship in the Ooniverse. Sadly, everything but the drive had to be removed to construct this ship that lets even Benulobiweeds finest have a good view into its jet exhaust ...

Or the Navy Juggernaut, an allmighty Behemoth Mothership, becomes available for Commanders with a Rating of Deadly. And the saying with the bigger fish still applies! Because sometimes one of those falls into the hands of pirates ... Ship roles have been altered for more diversity - and provide a much harder Ooniverse, with de facto whole new classes of ships!

The space lanes have never been so dangerous. You live in the shadows of other, much bigger and deadlier creatures than you, looking up to them and yearning for the day when you are going to be one of them. Now you really need those scanners to see what`s coming at you. To know that when it`s still maximum scanner range away becomes a question of survival, and those Fuel Injectors and Fuel Tanks are no longer just luxurious medicine against boring spacelane queueing, but become nescessary equipment.

Whether you are a pirate or anarchist on the run from the police, or a trader, courier or reconaissance specialist for the Galactic Navy - an Iron Ass ship is no longer enough. Take care!


Various alternate career beginnings for mostly harmless Jamesons:

Newbies to Oolite were often complaining about the too-difficult starting conditions. The question was, how-to make the game more easy to access at the beginning without implementing "get-rich-fast" schemes. This oxp solves that problem. With many ships cheaper than the Cobra MkIII available from the Lave shipyard onwards, which are characterised by specific strengths but also major weaknesses compared to the Jameson`s Cobra, the beginner`s path becomes more diverse. New, interesting options become available from the very start of the game without tipping the game balance or the implementation of get-rich schemes!

The game`s beginning is much more complex. Any Jameson can now sell the Cobra MkIII for a transporter which has 100 tons of Cargo Space but no Lasers and no missiles and start trading in earnest; or buy a ship with 0.4 LS and do UPS-Courier runs; or buy a Fighter Ship with good shields and the like and do some beginner`s random hits mission. But this comes at the price of exclusion of any other career path - until the very first trading/courier/fighter scheme enables the beginner to re-buy a ship with more options - or just more of the same.


Enhanced gameplay for medium range (Poor to Dangerous) players - A fully equipped Cobra MkIII is no longer enough:

Have a little look at the ships that you might meet on the space lanes. You have to take the ships that were modelled after millenium-old antique art media serious: Back then they were only fiction ... but now they were given those ancient names for a reason: They are the real thing!

Firefly: 1.073.400 Cr 14
Incom T-65 X-Wing: 1.079.600 Cr 14
Tiger Mark I: 1.147.600 Cr 14
Penelope Class Freighter: 1.271.000 Cr 14
TIE-Interceptor: 1.303.000 Cr 14
A-Wing: 1.542.000 Cr 14
Super Cobra: 1.622.000 Cr 14
The Liberator: 1.742.000 Cr 14
B-Wing: 2.070.000 Cr 14
Tepiu: 2.299.000 Cr 14
Navy Escort: 2.375.850 Cr 14
Navy Interceptor: 2.375.850 Cr 14
Pallas: 2.677.000 Cr 14
Imperial Courier (Navy): 2.850.000 Cr 14
Falcon: 3.384.000 Cr 15
The Morrigan: 4.820.000 Cr 15
Interstellar Explorer: 7.050.900 Cr 15
Deep Space Dredger: 8.000.000 Cr 15
Condor Flagship: 15.417.000 Cr 15
Navy Juggernaut: 41.000.000 Cr 15
Navy Constitution: 140.280.000 Cr 15


Creative solution to the uber-ship problem for the deadly veteran players:

There are no more Uber ship problems, as there are no more Uber ships. That doesn`t mean that I`ve changed anything about their stats (I haven`t). But now, Uber ships simply become the High-End ships of the Ooniverse, fitting into the overall game mechanics without breaking the game or getting boring. They are available only in systems with the highest tech levels and have prices that can reach far into the millions-of-Credits range - but that`s only realistic.

No more guilty conscience if you fly the better-at-everything Super Cobra, the mighty (Navy) Imperial Courier or even the interstellar-capable ultrafast Morrigan Beyonder Vessel. Because if you own one of those ships with this oxp in, you`ve fought and traded and did missions long and hard to acquire that much money, and perhaps searched for those vessels a long time in shipyards of the highest supertechnology that the Ooniverse has to offer: You`ve earned it! :)


How-To switch from your game without Realistic Shipyards to one with this OXP in (without cheating):

The Prices and Availablities of ships in the Realistic Shipyards oxp are often massively different from their original ones. If you are starting a completely new game with Commander Jameson anyways, ignore the following text. But if you no longer own your original Cobra MkIII and don`t want to cheat or loose a fortune when changing from Oolite without to Oolite with the Realistic Shipyards oxp in, I suggest you act as follows:

1. Buy a standard Cobra MkIII.
2. Think about your new options and with which kind of ship you want to continue your game.
3. Buy the new ship with the Realistic Shipyards oxp in your AddOns folder.
4. Enjoy the game including all new options.

A second possibility could be:

1. Find out what your ship used to cost without the OXP and what it costs with the OXP.
2. Calculate the difference in the amount of credits so that it fits again. I.e., you fly a Tesoura, which used to cost 270.000 Cr and costs 430.000 Cr now. You own 250.000 Cr. The difference is that you would have 430.000 - 270.000 ~ 160.000 Cr to much. Deduce them from your free cash 250.000 - 160.000 ~ 90.000 Cr. That`s your new cash balance.
3. Edit your savegame credit stats accordingly. In the above example, you would edit your credits down from 250.000 to 90.000 Cr. From then onwards the Shipyards oxp will play out properly anyways.

You don`t have to follow the above routine to play Zzzz Realistic Shipyards oxp. You can just put it into your AddOns folder and start playing. But, if you don`t, you might effectively cheat or lose a fortune by doing that. It`s your decision; you have been warned :)


Known Performance Issues:

  • Do not rename this oxp! The Zzzz - Beginning is nescessary so that the revised ship pricing and tech level limits overwrite all other ship price and TL stats, so the Z`s have to stay on or the oxp will not work properly.
  • Recommended system specs: At least 2GB RAM, 2GHz dual-core processor and a decent graphics card. Due to its size, Realistic Shipyards V3.02 needs a state-of-the-art system so as not to produce a performance hit.
  • The 86 oxps merged into the Realistic Shipyards V3.02 probably shouldn`t be installed in addition to this oxp (double). Note that if the creators of those merged oxps should develop them further that development might not be carried over into the Realistic Shipyards.
  • The oxps still supported pricing- and TL-range wise for their buyable ships but not included are: Assassins, Commies, Hotrods, Ionics-1.2.1 & Zz-Oo-Haul. That means the Realistic Shipyards are semi-dependent on them and it would be better to have them included in your Add-Ons folder.
  • I will be very grateful if other OXP`ers notify me if they create new oxp`s with shipyard.plists in or change existing one`s. I will attempt to upgrade the Realistic Shipyards oxp so that it covers everything shipwise currently available. Just write to me with the stats of your new/revised ship and I will include the additional information.
  • If you find any bugs or performance issues that are not already listed here, feel free to write and I`ll see what I can do about it!