Elite Wiki - User contributions [en]

Ray Mk.I

2008-10-19T22:12:39Z

Monachus: /* The Perfect Solution */

{{Infobox ShipStats Oolite| title=Ray Mark I
|image = [[Image:Commie-People's_Police.png|250px]]
|dimensions = 41 x 11 x 47
|capacity = 4 TC
|gunmounts = Fore
|maxspeed = 0.40 LM
|maneuverability = Roll: 2.80<br />Pitch: 2.10
|energybanks = 4
|milshields = Available
|shieldboost = Available
|hyperspace = Yes
|isoxp = OXP
|isplayer = No
}}
==Background==

The Communist States are infamous in their isolationist stance towards what they see as the 'Corruption of the masses by the powers of Capitalism' to the point that they all but deny GalCop the right to have a presence in their system space. However, the Communist Party leaders acknowledge the necessary evil of allowing a space station in orbit so that traders from other worlds and governments can arrive and trade without disturbing the happiness of the good Communist citizens and polluting their minds with the seeds of doubt and dissention. With only the ability to maintain a space station, galCop is unable to carry out their mandate to ensure the safety of the spacelanes for travellers and traders.

==The Perfect Solution==
Seeing that their spacelanes were rapidly becoming havens for pirates and other malcontents, the Communist leaders quickly decided they needed a presence in the skies above their planets. To this end, the greatest scientific minds were immediately gathered and they began designing a multi-role military vessel that had to fulfil several criteria, it had to be quick, small, powerful and usable by even the most mediocre pilot while also satisfying a meagre budget. The result was the Ray Mark I. It fulfilled all it's design briefs, since the developers knew that failure in even one of those criteria would result in a lifetime in the Astromines. The final model was a simple modular hull which could be turned out in it's thousands in even the lowest tech systems and then adapted for whatever purpose it was required for. It's design even included a basic Fuel Scoop and tiny cargo bay to allow the pilot to scoop and arrest the escape pods of offenders.

==The Battle for the Spacelanes==
The first ships were turned over to young pilots who had received basic flight training and were tasked with patrolling the spacelanes between the planets and the Witchpoint Beacons and the systems' stars. The battles between the fledgeling pilots and the pirates that had established themselves were brutal and at first one-sided, the pirates' superior skill reaping a grim toll on the Communist fighters. But the powerful machine which was Communist industry and manpower was not to be underestimated and the pirates soon saw a vast increase in the number of Rays attacking them. When the Rays first attacked, the ratios were 2:1 in favour of the Communist ships, odds that even the least experienced pirate could handle, but the odd rapidly shifted to 5:1, then 10:1 and on one occasion, a pirate surrendering himself to GalCop Vipers after escaping a Communist system reported odds of 30:1 when a massed Ray fleet descended upon his Rock Hermit base.

==The People's Police==
With numerical superiority came an increase in skill and soon the surviving Ray pilots were banded into a People's Police, tasked with protecting the spacelanes from those who would seek to destabilise their ordered society. GalCop, seeing a greater erosion of their power, lodged bitter complaints against the Communist Governments, but hastily withdrew them when the Communists threatened to withdraw from GalCop and form their own Communist superstate. With their spacelanes secure, the Communists began to exploit their systems' resources, building [[CZGF|Collective Zero-Gravity Factories]] and the advanced [[SLAPU|Solar Laboratory And Production Units]] to take advantage of solar power and [[Astro_Mines|Asteroid Mines]] to utilise the great numbers of convicted prisoners wasting resources and space in prisons.

==The Thought Police==
[[Image:Commie-NeuroPol.png|right|thumb|250px|The sinister NeuroPol at work]]
The Thought Police (NeuroPol) were a shadowy network of hardcore Communist activists who worked within the system rooting out those who professed anything but 'True Red' sentiments in Commie systems and made sure they 'vanished' or suffered unfortunate 'accidents' involving Polonium-210. Many a pro-Socialist activist has heard the knock on the door and been taken away by two men in long black coats and peak caps, never to be seen or heard of again.

After the well-publicised success of the People's Police, NeuroPol approached the Communist Party and through impassioned pleas regarding the dangers of contact between the People's Police and the subversive influences of traders from other systems, secured themselves a fleet of Rays so that they could monitor the spacelanes and firmly rebuke the decadent followers of Capitalism with good honest Communist doctrine.

==The Communist Military==
{{Infobox ShipStats Oolite| title=Military Ray
|image = [[Image:Commie-Ray.png|250px]]
|dimensions = 41 x 11 x 47
|capacity = 0 TC
|gunmounts = Fore
|maxspeed = 0.43 LM
|maneuverability = Roll: 2.80<br />Pitch: 2.10
|energybanks = 6
|milshields = Available
|shieldboost = Available
|hyperspace = Yes
|isoxp = OXP
|isplayer = No
}}
The Communist Military also use the ubiquitous Ray, patrolling extra-systemic space to counter the threat of Thargoid attack. Their Rays tend to be upgraded with advanced weapons and systems and crewed by highly-trained Spetsnaz pilots, they are more than a match for most experienced pilots and, when deployed in numbers, are a dangerous proposition for even Elite-rated spacers. It is perhaps with some satisfaction that the Premiers of the Communist States can rest easier in their beds knowing that the regions of space beyond their Witchpoint Beacons are well watched and that that the watchers are trained to fight to the death before dishonouring their planet and training. It is this 'Death or Victory' attitude that encouraged the Party Commissars to assign Military Rays to their [[Sturgeon_Mk.I|Commissariat Limousine]] escort details, knowing full well that the pilots would fight and die against even overwhelming odds rather than fail in their assignments.

==Download==
This ship is part of the Commies.oxp Expansion pack for Oolite. To get this expansion, [http://sancho.dk/oolite/commies.zip ''click here''].

The Assassins Guild OXP

2008-10-19T15:30:02Z

Monachus: /* Overview & Download Link */

===Overview & Download Link===
[[Image:BattleBot.png|right|thumb|300px|A BattleBot Drone.]]

In seedy space bars from Riedquat to Atoresra, hardened killers gather to drink fermented vegetable products and tell tales of blood-curdling terror.

At such gatherings, stories are swapped of a sinister organization known as "The Assassins Guild". This semi-mythical association is said to operate in Galaxy 7. A killer who can secure membership of "The Brotherhood" can expect huge rewards, and the most unpleasant consequences for failure.

No self-respecting "laser for hire" should miss an opportunity to impress "The Guildmaster". Be warned, dealing with the powers that exist in this troubled Galaxy may have dangerous consequences! Background information regarding a few of the ships added by the OXP and some intelligence on the powers that inhabit Galaxy 7 can be found on the [[Powers and Organisations#Notable Organisations of Galaxy Seven| Powers and Organisations]] page.

The OXP was scripted by LittleBear, featuring new & guest Ships by Commanders Ramon, Griff, Selezen, Murgh, Wombat, Wyvern & [[Giles Williams|Giles]]. The Text Adventure location descriptions were written by LittleBear & Captain Hesperus. The Player ship external views were coded by Commander McLane (cribbed from his External Views OXP). This pack adds Missions, Ships, Stations, Planets, Weapons and Equipment.

[[Image:Zerogteam.png|left|thumb|300px|An Armoured Liner.]]

Version 1.3 of Assassins will run correctly on Oolite 1.69.1 onwards. It will still run on Oolite 1.65. This update fixes the "mission briefing screen clash bug" (using the cunning method devised by Commander Eric Walch) and so is compatible with all other mission OXPs. If you have [[Thargoid_Wars|Thargoid Wars]] or [[Military_Fiasco|Military]] OXP installed, make sure you are using the latest version (downloadable from this Wiki) as the old versions of these OXPs can clash with Assassins (and vice versa). Clicking the links for [[Thargoid_Wars|Thargoid Wars]] or [[Military_Fiasco|Military]] will take you to a wiki page where you can download the latest versions of these OXPs.

[http://www.box.net/shared/410fdp6pzf Download (Assassins V1.3)] Updated to V1.3 on 1st September 2007.

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===Difficulty Rating===
[[Image:Controldrone.png|right|thumb|400px|A Heavy Cruiser.]]
"Easy to Iron Ass". The missions offered by the OXP rise in difficulty depending on both your Elite rating and your standing with the Guild.

The first few missions you will be offered are fairly easy, but as you move up the Guild’s rankings the missions get tougher. The final series of missions are very tough.

It is assumed that you are using your blood money to equip your ship as suits a professional killer. You'll need more than an Adder with a pulse laser to take out most of your victims! As the money offered for a hit increases, so does the danger posed to the would be 'Cleaner'. Some of the mission ships featuring in this OXP are very well armed, but you won't encounter these until you have more than 900 kills and hold a Guild Ranking of at least a "Cut-throat". The difficulty curve for the missions is faily steady and you can complete all missions in a well equiped Cobra Mk III.

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===Main Features===
[[Image:frigate2.png|left|thumb|300px|A Medium Frigate.]]
The OXP adds: 21 Missions (including 2 secret missions), over 30 new NPC ships, 3 new player ships, 6 new weapons (1 can be used by the player), a new item of Player equipment, extra stations (some stations can be destroyed, one can be explored on foot whilst docked), new hails, new AIs, an Assassins Guild Ranking, changing Systems data (player and NPC actions change the Universe!) and over 50 Mission Briefing Screens.

Galaxy 7 is rewritten to add numerous features including individual characters, interacting NPC powers, 15 systems are controlled by NPC powers, detailed system descriptions, new stations, new scripted ships appearing at the modified systems, 10 systems gain moons, extra planets and gas giants & a Galaxy 7 News Service helps keep the player up to date with Galactic events. All the missions and features added by the OXP only affect Galaxy 7. The player ships added by the OXP may however appear for sale in any Galaxy.

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===Update Notes===
[[Image:hitscop.png|right|thumb|300px|A Special Branch Asp Mk III.]]
Due to the size of the project (and the number of Ooliters working on different bits of it), Assassins was in Beta for some time. This version should be bug-free. A full readme is included, which you should read before playing. Saved games work on all versions of Assassins. Version 1.0 completely rewrote the “Civil War” missions (and added 5 new missions in the process). Versions 1.1 and 1.2 had a few bug fixes (set out in the readme). Version 1.3 has a code patch added to stop mission conflicts and also has some changes to ensure the OXP works properly on Oolite 1.69.1. Simply install this version of Assassins in your AddOns folder (overwriting the old version). If you are playing on Oolite 1.69.1 onwards, the first time you load up Oolite after installing you must hold down the SHIFT key (keep it held down until you see the rotating Cobra Mk III on the start screen). This ensures that the cache is updated.

If you started playing a Beta version of Assassins (below V 1.0), have you seen a news broadcast mentioning “Heretic Shipyards”? If you have not, then there is no need to do anything other than install this version. If you have, then you will need to edit your save file to reset the OXP to this point. The readme gives instructions on how to do this. You only have to change two numbers!

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===Installing and Playing===
[[Image:mark1.png|left|thumb|300px|A law-abiding rodent scientist is targeted for termination.]]
To play the OXP, unzip the download file. This will create a folder "AssassinsV1_3". Open this folder and you will see a folder named "Assassins.oxp" and a readme. Move the Assassins.oxp folder to Oolite's AddOns folder. Do read the player's section of the readme before you play!

The first event will happen when you are docked at any main station in Galaxy 7 and have more than 200 kills. No Assassins mission or event can trigger without the player having a particular kill count. This is done to make the OXP playable by any Commander. If you are a noob with a weedy ship, you won't be asked (yet) to take on an army of nasties. You'll just be asked to take some of the easy hits until you have an Iron Ass. If you are an old-hand then the more difficult missions will come up quickly, although you still need to do the easy hits first in order to build up your status with the Guild.

[[Image:wasp.png|right|thumb|300px|A Triad Wasp Mk I.]]
The kill count requirement for Assassins missions is spaced roughly every 200 - 300 kills from 200 onwards. If you installed with 3,000+ kills, you would meet the kill count for all events. Once kill count is met, a new event will happen once a certain ammount of time has passed (measured in the number of hyperspace jumps made since the last event), provided you completed the previous mission. Missions are only offered whilst you remain in Galaxy 7.

When the name "Agent Wombat" means something to you, you will have seen everything the OXP does. Once the OXP is installed in AddOns, the new ships, stations, planets and powers are added to Galaxy 7. Hang out in Galaxy 7, going about your ordinary Oolite business, and things will start happening to you...

{{mission-OXP}} {{ship-OXP}} {{station-OXP}}

Black Monk Monastery

2008-10-14T19:14:50Z

Monachus: /* Download */

{{Infobox ShipStats Oolite| title=Black Monk Monastary
|image = [[Image:shadymonks.png|280px]]
|dimensions = 1200 x 1200 x <br />5500
|capacity = N/A
|gunmounts = 4 Heavy Plasma Cannons
|maxspeed = N/A
|maneuverability = Roll: 8.0<br />Pitch: 8.0
|energybanks = N/A
|milshields = N/A
|shieldboost = N/A
|hyperspace = No
|capacityext = N/A
|energyrecharge = Exceptionally High
|isoxp = OXP
|isplayer = No
|missileslots = None
|baseprice = Not for sale
}}

==Overview==
The vast and imposing structure of this station marks with authority the fact that the Order of the Black Monks of Saint Herod are firmly established in the space lanes of the most advanced systems. The massive structure is at once home and place of business for countless thousands of holy brothers and lay servants, while it is a rare person that sees anything more than the austere and spartanly furnished offices where the Monks conduct their first and foremost business, that of loaning money.

By the late 30th Century the number of companies offering to consolidate debts in one easy loan had reached such unprecedented levels that most of the population of GalCop space was in debt. In the 2976 – 77 financial year, interest rates were increased twelve times, resulting in widespread bankruptcy.

In response GalCop passed the Consumer Credit (Holy Orders) Act 2978, outlawing the loaning of money by any organisation save the religious. The theory being that those with a spiritual conscience would never exploit Commanders in dire need of Credits. Following the passage of the legislation, the number of bankers taking Holy Orders increased by 20,000%. Today the Order of the Black Monks routinely doles out billions of credits worth of loans and receives almost ten times that amount in repayments each working day.

==The Bank of the Black Monks==

The Order follows a religious tenet that being solvent is a heinous sin and only the righteous walk the Path of Debt, thus all of their members are also Blessedly Insolvent. A normally cloistered order, they have opened their doors to the space-going populace in an attempt to entice others into the Holy and Exalted State of Debt. Any Commander may dock with the Monastary and, after being ushered through long, echoing hallways into the Grand Nave of Saint Herod the Bankrupt. Here they are offered a substantial loan, regardless of their financial state, with the proviso that they repay the loan with vastly inflated interest within a set time period. Failure to repay the loan within that time may result in the Commander being pursued by one of the Order's fearsome [[Black_Monk_Gunship|Black Monk Gunships]]. This alone is more than enough incentive for most to return within their alloted time and pay their debts and return to their sinful ways of financial security.

Many a distraught Commander has tried to take out his frustration at his failing fortunes by attacking Monastaries, to their own loss. Quite beside the fact that the stations are defended by Gunships, they are also equipped with 'The Holy Cannons of Defence', overcharged Plasma Cannons that are powered directly from the station's primary power core to give a weapon yield more than triple that of the standard Plasma Cannon seen on such vessels as Behemoths and Leviathans. Attempting to attack a Monestary is usually an indication of a suicidal nature.

==Download==
This station is part of the Bank of the Black Monks OXP. Two versions of the OXP are available, the [http://www.box.net/public/z2ahfudnt3 'Non-Shader Bank of the Black Monks OXP'] and the [http://www.box.net/shared/7twwbaelcc 'Shady Bank of the Black Monks OXP']. The Non-Shader Version will run on all versions of Oolite. The Shady version uses Shaders and requires Version 1.71 or higher of Oolite. Slow Systems will struggle to run the Shady Version, so if you find installing it is slowing your system down too much, then try the Non-Shady Version.

[[Category:Oolite stations]] {{station-OXP}}