5 ms·

Oolite: An open source open-world space opera

132 points by dannyobrien 2y ago

all2 2y ago
Is this an offshoot of Ogame [0]? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OGame https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OGame
- prerok 2y ago
  No. From the webpage: > Oolite is inspired by the 8-bit classic Elite, and many aspects of gameplay will be familiar to players of that game. Ogame is a very different kind of game.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
John_da 2y ago
[dead]
dim13 2y ago
Webpage design and visuals remind me immediately of Parsec game from late 90's → https://web.archive.org/web/20210629164711/http://www.openparsec.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20210629164711/http://www.openpa...
- em-bee 2y ago
  btw: it turns out openparsec is back under active development: https://github.com/OpenParsec/openparsec https://github.com/OpenParsec/openparsec
hn_acker 2y ago
The main oolite repository is [1] and the repository for the launcher is [2]. Everything, including art assets and configuration files, is under the GNU GPL 2-or-later [3]. You can alternatively use the art assets and config files under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License version 3.0, a proprietary license. [1] https://github.com/OoliteProject/oolite https://github.com/OoliteProject/oolite [2] https://github.com/HiranChaudhuri/OoliteStarter https://github.com/HiranChaudhuri/OoliteStarter [3] https://github.com/OoliteProject/oolite/blob/master/Doc/LICENSE.TXT https://github.com/OoliteProject/oolite/blob/master/Doc/LICE...
- smcameron 2y ago
  Is there a name for the data format (".dat") oolite uses for its models? Is it specific to oolite, or is it a format used elsewhere as well? Apparently they convert them to/from wavefront OBJ files with some python scripts[1] to modify them, but looking at some of them, you kind of wonder why, since the formats seem pretty similar to one another. Oddly enough, I wrote a parser in C for oolite's .dat files for my own open source space game, though I never ended up using any of the oolite models. I think it's fairly common practice to upgrade all the models from the basic stuff that's in the github repo among the oolite community, or so I gather from perusing the lengthy screenshots thread[2]. Edit: it looks like maybe the forums moved sometime over the years and many screenshots were lost, but recent-ish (last ~10 years) entries have screenshots. [1] https://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Modifying_a_Model https://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Modifying_a_Model [2] https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?t=4494 https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?t=4494
  - hn_acker 2y ago
    > Is there a name for the data format (".dat") oolite uses for its models? I'd guess not. > Is it specific to oolite, or is it a format used elsewhere as well? The .dat format used by Oolite is specific to Oolite [1]. Oolite uses .dat as its own consistent format. (In contrast, the Quake engine used the .dat extension for multiple different kinds of files [2].) [1] https://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/OXP_howto_model https://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/OXP_howto_model [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_formats#Quake_engine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_formats#Quake_eng...
maxbond 2y ago
Reposting an old comment[1] which may be of interest to Oolite players: > Elite: "The game that couldn't be written" > An hour long video essay about the classic game Elite, the BBC Micro, and how Elite was able to deliver an open-world 3D experience in the 1980s. The creator is "Alexander the ok." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC4YLMLar5I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC4YLMLar5I [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38479182 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38479182
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
willmacdonald 2y ago
It doesn't mention anything on the main github page, but this can be installed with: brew install oolite
YeGoblynQueenne 2y ago
Interesting, but I could only find the information I was looking for on the wikipedia page for the game: it's a single-person game, not a multi-player game (like Elite Dangerous). Btw, an Oolite is a kind of sediment composed of egg-like stones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oolite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oolite Like a coprolite, but with eggs instead of ... ugh... you know.

132 points by dannyobrien 2y ago

all2 2y ago

Is this an offshoot of Ogame [0]? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OGame https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OGame

prerok 2y ago
No. From the webpage: > Oolite is inspired by the 8-bit classic Elite, and many aspects of gameplay will be familiar to players of that game. Ogame is a very different kind of game.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

John_da 2y ago

[dead]

dim13 2y ago

Webpage design and visuals remind me immediately of Parsec game from late 90's → https://web.archive.org/web/20210629164711/http://www.openparsec.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20210629164711/http://www.openpa...

em-bee 2y ago
btw: it turns out openparsec is back under active development: https://github.com/OpenParsec/openparsec https://github.com/OpenParsec/openparsec

hn_acker 2y ago

The main oolite repository is [1] and the repository for the launcher is [2]. Everything, including art assets and configuration files, is under the GNU GPL 2-or-later [3]. You can alternatively use the art assets and config files under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License version 3.0, a proprietary license. [1] https://github.com/OoliteProject/oolite https://github.com/OoliteProject/oolite [2] https://github.com/HiranChaudhuri/OoliteStarter https://github.com/HiranChaudhuri/OoliteStarter [3] https://github.com/OoliteProject/oolite/blob/master/Doc/LICENSE.TXT https://github.com/OoliteProject/oolite/blob/master/Doc/LICE...

smcameron 2y ago
Is there a name for the data format (".dat") oolite uses for its models? Is it specific to oolite, or is it a format used elsewhere as well? Apparently they convert them to/from wavefront OBJ files with some python scripts[1] to modify them, but looking at some of them, you kind of wonder why, since the formats seem pretty similar to one another. Oddly enough, I wrote a parser in C for oolite's .dat files for my own open source space game, though I never ended up using any of the oolite models. I think it's fairly common practice to upgrade all the models from the basic stuff that's in the github repo among the oolite community, or so I gather from perusing the lengthy screenshots thread[2]. Edit: it looks like maybe the forums moved sometime over the years and many screenshots were lost, but recent-ish (last ~10 years) entries have screenshots. [1] https://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Modifying_a_Model https://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Modifying_a_Model [2] https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?t=4494 https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?t=4494
- hn_acker 2y ago
  > Is there a name for the data format (".dat") oolite uses for its models? I'd guess not. > Is it specific to oolite, or is it a format used elsewhere as well? The .dat format used by Oolite is specific to Oolite [1]. Oolite uses .dat as its own consistent format. (In contrast, the Quake engine used the .dat extension for multiple different kinds of files [2].) [1] https://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/OXP_howto_model https://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/OXP_howto_model [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_formats#Quake_engine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_formats#Quake_eng...

maxbond 2y ago

Reposting an old comment[1] which may be of interest to Oolite players: > Elite: "The game that couldn't be written" > An hour long video essay about the classic game Elite, the BBC Micro, and how Elite was able to deliver an open-world 3D experience in the 1980s. The creator is "Alexander the ok." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC4YLMLar5I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC4YLMLar5I [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38479182 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38479182

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

willmacdonald 2y ago

It doesn't mention anything on the main github page, but this can be installed with: brew install oolite

YeGoblynQueenne 2y ago

Interesting, but I could only find the information I was looking for on the wikipedia page for the game: it's a single-person game, not a multi-player game (like Elite Dangerous). Btw, an Oolite is a kind of sediment composed of egg-like stones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oolite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oolite Like a coprolite, but with eggs instead of ... ugh... you know.