Oolite

Oolite ist ein 3D Weltraum-Flugsimulator im Geiste von Elite. Wie der Name suggeriert, ist es objekt-orientiert [E]lite, geschrieben in Objective-C. Neben dem Computerspiel Elite wird die Hintergrundgeschichte auch durch die damals mitgelieferte Novella The Dark Wheel beeinflusst.

Der Quelltext von Oolite ist seit dem 27. Februar 2007 unter der GNU GPL version 2 ^[3] erhältlich, während die anderen Teile (Bilder, Musik, Texturen, Modelle) unter der CC-BY-NC-SA-3.0 license erhätlich sind. Dies macht Oolite zu freier Software.

Es wurde von Giles Williams für Mac OS X entwickelt und wurde im Juli 2004 unter der BSD Lizenz veröffentlicht. Im September 2005 erreichte die Mac-Version die Versionsnummer 1.52 und eine Linuxportierung wurde zeitgleich veröffentlicht. Die Windows wurde im März 2006 veröffentlicht. Portierungen für SGI, IRIX und FreeBSD sind ebenfalls erhältlich.

Im Oktober 2006, nach der letzten stabilen Version 1.65, gab Williams bekannt, dass er die Entwicklung einstelle ^[4] , nachdem er den Shader-Code fertiggestellt hat. Das Projekt wurde am 27. Februar 2007 unter die GNU GPL Version 2 ^[3] gestellt, nach einiger Zeit stille aktiv weiterentwickelt. Obwohl noch keine neue stabile Version veröffentlicht wurde, gibt es diverse Testversionen, wobei die letzte (1.7.2.2) am 11. Januar 2009 herauskam ^[5] .

Like Elite, Oolite is a first-person, open-ended, single-player space trading and combat simulator. The player is the pilot of a spacecraft, capable of interstellar travel to other nearby planetary systems using wormholes generated by the ship's engines. Each system contains only one inhabited planet, with an orbiting space station; players choose the destination system by the name of its planet. Although players can create outgoing wormholes almost anywhere within a system, assuming their engines have sufficient fuel to do so, ships always enter a new system at a considerable distance from the target planet. The player must then pilot their ship from the entry point, through "normal" space, to the station. During this stage of the journey the player can encounter other ships, and combat can occur. Oolite spaceships' principal armaments are lasers and missiles. Most combats are dogfights and the ships exhibit non-Newtonian flight characteristics, being immune from the effects of inertia and gravity.

There is no set goal or objective in the game. Money and Elite rating are the only built-in forms of "score" in Oolite.

Players can earn money by buying goods in one star system and transporting them to another to sell at a profit. Money can also be earned by destroying pirate ships and collecting bounty. Players can become pirates themselves, attacking merchantmen and other ships. Although no bounty is awarded for destroying non-pirate ships, when a ship is destroyed, some of its cargo can survive the explosion. If the player's ship is equipped with a scoop, this cargo can be salvaged for later resale. It is also possible, with the right equipment, to mine asteroids for ores and other materials. Players can also elect to carry paying passengers or special cargos to specified destinations. Money earned or otherwise acquired can be spent on fuel for the wormhole engines (known as "Witchdrives"), ship maintenance and new equipment. The player can also seek to trade in his or her ship for other models with different characteristics and capabilities.

Each ship the player destroys, of any type or class, adds to the player's Elite rating, a ranking based on the number of kills made. The ranks are:

• Harmless – 0 to 7 kills
• Mostly Harmless – 8 to 15 kills
• Poor – 16 to 31 kills
• Average – 32 to 63 kills
• Above Average – 64 to 127 kills
• Competent – 128 to 511 kills
• Dangerous – 512 to 2559 kills
• Deadly – 2560 to 6399 kills
• Elite – 6400 kills and up

There are a small number of built-in missions in the game, inherited from Elite, where the player is given specific tasks to perform. It is not necessary to complete or even begin any of these missions to play the game, however.

Numerous modifications for Oolite have expanded the gameplay by adding in new missions, new equipment, new ships, new trading locations and new open-ended career opportunities such as courier or hitman.

Since the game structure is intended to be ‘open–hooded’, objects and events that take place in Oolite are easily modified without need of programming skills. Only a few simple tools are needed to create an OXP (Oolite eXpansion Pack). These game additions, either self-made or downloaded, are freely placed in the game's AddOns folder, allowing the player to shape the plot and population of the game universe.^[6]

Over Oolite's first two years, many from the Oolite community were inspired by the game's coherent modding opportunities, resulting in a fairly large pool of OXPs^[7] . Often The Dark Wheel and 80's Elite fandom are of obvious influences, although elements from alternate space operas have also been shared. A pack may simply offer more ships or stations, or contain scripted interactive missions. As adding planetary bodies, minigames, HUDs, weapons and sounds are among several possibilities, testing the potential limitations of the OXP is still at an early stage.

• Macworld Editors' Choice Award.^[8]

Um die Entwicklung von Oolite hat sich eine feste Gemeinde gebildet, die eigene [Science Fiction]]-Romane hervorgebracht haben, die in der Oolite-Welt spielen.

• The Virtuous Misfortune von Dylan Smith
• Status Quo, Schism und Mutabilis von Drew Wagar.

1. ↑ http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Oolite_FAQ#System_Requirements
2. ↑ http://www.happypenguin.org/show?Oolite
3. ↑ ^{a b} http://aegidian.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=3072
4. ↑ http://oolite.livejournal.com/
5. ↑ http://aegidian.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=5565
6. ↑ Linux Format: 3D Space Game Oolite. Linux Format, Januar 2006 (linuxformat.co.uk).  Fehler beim Aufruf der Vorlage:Cite journal: Der Pflichtparameter für Printmedium wurde nicht angegeben.faximile
7. ↑ Wolfwood: Oolite Review. Hooked Gamers, 12. April 2006, abgerufen am 6. August 2008. 
8. ↑ Editor's Choice. In: Macworld. 8. Januar 2007, abgerufen am 6. August 2008. 

• Oolite main site.
• Oolite-Forum.
• OoSat OXP AddOns and utilities made by various people.
• Oosat2 Oosat's modern successor.
• Dry Dock Mac tool for viewing Oolite models.
• Ian Bell's Elite pages
• The EliteWiki project, with an Oolite section

• USK ohne Einstufung
• Freies Computerspiel
• Linux-Spiel
• Mac-OS-Spiel
• Windows-Spiel
• Weltraumsimulator
• Ego-Shooter

• Wikipedia:Vorlagenfehler/Vorlage:Cite journal
• Wikipedia:Vorlagenfehler/Vorlage:Cite journal/temporär
• Wikipedia:Vorlagenfehler/Vorlage:Cite web/temporär