Dear Pirates, Thargoids, Fugitives, etc...

[ffutures]

...Here I am, flying one of the largest and most powerful starships in the Ooliteverse, a Boa Cruiser. This baby costs 500K credits in its most basic form. It's big enough that it can often bring in 3K credits profit in a single flight. Meanwhile the most powerful reusable weapon in this universe, a military laser, costs 6K credits.

Is it really likely that I haven't kitted the thing out with military lasers front and back, and probably sideways too, and pimped it with every possible offensive and defensive system? Seriously? If this is as bleeding obvious as it seems, then why in the name of [insert deity of your choice] are your tactics so crap, especially when you chase my "fleeing" ship and come straight along its line of travel behind me?

Less than impressed.

Oh well, soon be Elite at this rate...

Comments

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

And another 12 year old space pirate bites the dust.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Feels that way. Don't get me wrong, I'm still enjoying the game and get killed often enough to keep things entertaining, but there are some aspects of enemy tactics that could have been implemented better in the original Elite, and since Oolite goes out of its way to play identically they're still there.

The Boa Cruiser with military power supply, shields, and lasers is a sweet piece of kit, especially after you find the cloaking device and get rid of the trumbles, and the way the game progresses you can probably afford a Python after a few hundred kills, and a Boa Cruiser of some sort after 1500 or so, after which the money really rolls in. But a fully equipped BC is total overkill for most of the opposition in the game, especially if you can find one with the military power plant when you have enough money, and there's nothing "better" to buy after it, unless you want to go for an Anaconda and spend all your game time hauling vast cargoes at microscopic speed.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Are all the other ships you encounter in it controlled by humans, or does it have AI running about too?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I'm just playing the human versus computer game - haven't looked at PVP yet.

[pengshui-master.livejournal.com]

Wow, oolite multiplayer with alt. ship purchases now.

Last time I look it was just Elite (1) with better graphics. (Not that that's not great in it's own right) .

In other new I found my original BBC Disk version of Elite last week when I picking some stuff up from my parents.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I haven't tried any of the Oolite variants yet, I want to get to Elite first.

Do you still have a computer that can use the disk?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Forgot to say that the original Elite let you buy different ships - Oolite works exactly the same way.

[pengshui-master.livejournal.com]

No it didn't on the Beeb - Which was the original Elite. Unless I'm very much mistaken.

A BBC compatible computer to play the disk on is easy - ( http://mikestirling.co.uk/2011/08/bbc-micro-on-an-fpga/ ) the hard thing is disk drive which will read the disk. I might just have one at the back of the office, but I know my colleagues are clearing most of that 'junk' out this week.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Oh - sorry, it was part of the PC and I think Atari versions, you could buy ships at most ports.

I tried an Anaconda last night - it was AWFUL, huge, slow as shit, and very slow turning etc. And a big chunk of your view forward is obstructed by the nose of the ship. But a fully pimped Boa Cruiser is excellent.

[murphys-lawyer.livejournal.com]

Must reinstall that on my PC and give it another go. If nothing else, I need to get into practice for when Mr. Braben re-releases the real thing next year.

Do you use any sort of joystick, or are you a hardcore old school keyboard user?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I've got a very basic USB joystick / game controller pad thing (with a few buttons and a thumb operated joystick knob), cost about a fiver on ebay.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

one of these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320597553860