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The Elite series: And now, Oolite


Oolite

This article will be taking a look at Oolite, an Elite for the modern day. This article will be less instructional and more of a primer, covering my own experiences with Oolite.


This article covers my second experience with Oolite, the first being back in 2014 and despite showing promise, it just didn't 'click' initially. It looked and felt too much like earlier versions of Elite and it left me with a feeling of 'been there and done it'.


Fast forward to 2022 and the continued development of the base game and expansions resulted in completely different experience. With a Dangerous styled HUD and various graphics enhancements, I started playing a fairly 'vanilla' gaming experience. As time went on I experimented with a number of expansions, some came and went, but many more stayed adding to the Oolite universe. Today I've logged 500 hours in Oolite and the following explains why...


Oolite: A primer


In this first section, we'll take a look at some brief background, what is it is today and some of the major features that set it apart from other space sims.


What is it?


Oolite title screen
It wouldn't be Elite without a Cobra MkIII spinning on the title page!

I'd describe it as Elite for the modern day and modern PC, or Elite for the 21st century. The Oolite website describes it as 'an open-world space opera'. While Wikipedia says the following, a free and open source 3D space trading and combat simulator "in the spirit of" Elite, a similar game published in the 1980s.


All these are true, but barely scratch the surface of what Oolite provides. It's definitely the spiritual successor of the original 8-bit classic and the PC version, Elite Plus. Set in a universe that draws heavily from the originals and enhanced with the lore of the manuals and 'The Dark Wheel' novella.


If you're a game developer trying to write the next critically acclaimed space trading and combat sim, Oolite is what makes you feel nervous or downright worried!


Controller support


Configure joystick page
Comprehensive native controller support

With any sim, immersion is important and the controllers used form an important part of that immersion. The controller support provided by Oolite is, in a word, excellent.


There is native controller support, so if Windows can see your controllers, so can Oolite. Not only can you assign axes and each button individually but Oolite supports editing axes profiles! My TM Target profiling software doesn't get used in this game.


Expansions


Expansion pack manager
A mere 776 expansion packs are available immediately in-game!

The Oolite website states: one of the most important aspects of Oolite is customisation. In my opinion that's a huge understatement! At time of writing there are 776 expansion packs using the newer expansion OXZ format available through the in-game expansion manager. If the older OXP format is included (still valid for the latest release version, but installed manually) that figure rises to 1000+.


Game changing, literally


The sheer amount of customisation is incredible. In fact there are so many expansions they have to be grouped into various categories including:


  • Activities

  • Ambience

  • Cheats

  • Dockables (locations you dock at)

  • Equipment

  • HUDs

  • Mechanics

  • Miscellaneous

  • Missions

  • Retextures

  • Ships (addition ships)

  • Systems (changes to planetary systems)

  • Weapons


Want some serious eye-candy graphics, there are lots of expansions for that. Things a little too quiet on those long trade routes, install a space radio, with a large number of radio stations playing different music styles. Steampunk HUD, yes that's possible. A greater variety of ships and stations, yes. Military missions, it has you covered. Trading and courier navigation planning and assistance, again yes. Want to take a break and kick back with a good book, take a look at the ship's library. I could go on but you get the idea and I've barely scratched the surface!


But what really sets things apart is the ability to make changes in game anytime you are docked in station. Worried about losing progress, you don't have to be. The expansions are compatible with your existing saves, all that hard won progress will remain unaffected.


Commander summary page
Commander DarkenedRoom has been around a bit!

This means you can experiment with expansions, you can try them out, save progress and then remove them later if you prefer. With 500 hours, I've added and removed my fair share of expansions, often at the same time, tempting fate, and the saves were never damaged!


In fact after a couple of weeks you will probably have expanded the game to the point where it is unique for you, customised to your preferences. In fact I don't think it's too much of a stretch to suggest the entire player base may be playing a game that's unique for each player. I can't think of another game which can even come close to suggesting that!


An evolving game


Which brings me to my next point, the gaming experience can evolve with the player. Really not sure about how to begin, install a couple of expansions to assist the beginner player, once you're a bit more experienced you can remove them.


A Coriolis station
One pretty looking Coriolis station

Commander DarkenedRoom an old, grizzled commander, started out with fairly vanilla trader life. I concentrated on trading and getting my iron-ass. Started taking on courier and passenger transport jobs. Made a move away from the venerable Cobra MkIII to a Wolf MkII, the 'Elegant Reprisal'. Started taking on military work, joining up with naval task forces to repel Thargoid incursions. Saw the effects of a well placed Q-bomb first hand. Traversed the ranks and made it to an Elite combateer. And now I travel the galaxy exploring and taking courier jobs using the navigation upgrades to plan the best routes, to pay for it, with a side-line in bounty hunting.


The future as ever is uncertain, pilots are getting better all the time and those pirates can provide a challenge now (there's an expansion for that). My last bounty hunting job involved chasing a mark across 3 systems before I managed to destroy his ship and scoop his escape pod (he was coming back alive)!


When I started out I had maybe 20 or so graphical and HUD enhancements and now I have 153 currently installed, the game and play style have evolved together in step with each other resulting in an experience which is unique for me! That's why I think Oolite is as revolutionary today as the original Elite was 40 years ago.


How I play


This is an export from Oolite Starter of the expansions I'm currently using, I wouldn't suggest this set for new players, but as an xml document it can be opened in a text editor and you can see some of the expansions I'm using or import it into Oolite Starter. It's available below as a zip archive.



Game information


The following section contains information on obtaining, installing and upgrading Oolite. It will also cover the Oolite Starter tool to help you manage Oolite.


Where to get it


Oolite is available digitally from the Oolite website. Installation packages are available for Windows, Mac and Linux platforms on the 'Download' page. The recommended version, for those new to Oolite, is the latest stable release version v1.90.


Installation


Installation is straightforward, installing like any other Windows game, by running the installer package. Installation should be equally easy on other platforms.


Upgrades


An Anaconda convoy
Flying past an Anaconda convoy near a GalCorp station

Although v1.90 is the stable release recommended for most players, (of the 500 hours I've played approximately 60% was with v1.90) there are v1.91 pre-release versions frequently built.


If you consider yourself experienced with Oolite and wish to try a pre-release build, please be aware that there may be serious bugs in some pre-release builds. My recommendation is to keep your v1.90 installation folder and add a new v1.91 installation folder.


Previously, I would then copy expansions and saved games into the new v1.91 release folder, being careful to copy into the required sub-folders. This still remains a valid method of upgrading. All you have to do is just start using the Oolite v1.91.


However with the development of the Oolite Starter tool, managing expansions and save games across multiple installations may have become easier.


Pre-release v1.91 builds are available from the Oolite GitHub, linked from the Oolite website download page.


Oolite Starter


Described by the Oolite website as:

Oolite Starter is a versatile, open-source tool that is designed to simplify the process of setting up and managing Oolite.
Oolite Starter
Oolite Starter, manage those expansions in style

It allows starting a game from saved game, managing expansions, has support for flavours (a collection of related expansions), and has support for multiple Oolite installations allowing easy switching between installations.


Expansions can be exported and imported, so your expansions for v1.90 could be exported, a new v1.91 installation created, added to Oolite Starter and the expansion you were using imported for use with v1.91.


The recommended version is the latest version, which is (at time of writing), OoliteStarter v0.1.33-innocuous.3. It is available from the Oolite Starter GitHub, linked from the Oolite website download page.


Both quickstart and detailed documentation is available on the Oolite Starter GitHub.


Further information


The first port of call for Oolite information should be the Oolite website, an excellent resource covering all aspects of the base game and also hosts a list of expansions.


For new players there's the getting started guide, which ends with a list of more resources for the new player from the Oolite wiki.


Then there is the Oolite wiki which forms part of the Elite wiki, quite the comprehensive Oolite reference.


There are even guides to becoming an expansion developer!


Forums


Queuing to dock!
Clearly a British run station with that level of queuing!

No discussion of Oolite would be complete without mentioning the community. The people willing to help new players learn the intricacies of the game. The developers who have spent countless hours of work enhancing and the game and fixing bugs. And what seems like a huge army of expansion developers adding even more to the game on what seems like a daily basis! All can be found willing to give out helpful advice within the official Oolite forums.


Finally...


And finally a huge thank you to the developers of the base game and all those expansion developers and community members who have devoted time, energy and skill in making Oolite and the community what it is today!


Truely an elite group!

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