User:JazHaz

About JazHaz

JazHaz is me, James Haslam.

It's a nick that started as a nickname of Jaz when I was in school in the early 1980's, and it was a logical extension to add the Haz part from my surname.

Classic Elite experience

I started playing Elite at school soon after it was released in 1984. At the time the BBC Micros were everywhere in schools, and everyone I knew played BBC games such as Chuckie Egg (a great platform game), Revs (a Formula Three racing sim) and Elite. In fact somewhere I still have a 5 1/4" floppy disc with Elite on it (doubt it would load now though).

I remember that I made it to Deadly on the BBC version. I had a Spectrum at home, and one of the games that I had to have was again Elite, but it wasn't as good as on the BBC, as the Spectrum just wasn't as powerful as the BBC and the rubber keyboard just made dogfighting more difficult. However again I made it to Deadly on the Spectrum version.

Later Elites

In 1986 I bought an Atari ST, and also bought Elite for that machine, and later still Frontier: Elite 2. In 1998 I upgraded with the 32-bit Atari Falcon030, which is broadly compatible with the ST. Frontier runs even better with this machine.

Today & Oolite

Have had several Windoze PC's since 2003. Currently use an MSI GE620DX laptop, that has an Nvidia GT 635M 2gb graphics card in it, and plays Oolite in full shader mode.

My Recommended OXPs List

Having playtested a lot of OXPs over the years playing Oolite, I have compiled a list of OXPs that I would recommend to anyone to enhance their game, without restricting the gameplay for those people with slower computers.

• BGS

BGS, or the Background Set is an OXP that enhances the menu system used in Oolite by providing background images. Depending on the version you install you can also have ambient sounds for each menu option and when outside the station, background radio chatter. If you have shaders on your computer, then the hyperspace sequence is enhanced.

• Big Ships

Essential OXP that adds support for adding big ships to your Ooniverse. It doesn't add any ships by itself, but gives any large ship some AI to not attempt to dock at stations where the docking port is too small.

• Bloomberg Markets

Bloomberg Markets creates random events that affect the commodity prices in specific systems. Prices can go up or down, and it's up to the player to decide whether to take advantage of an event to maximise their profit. Requires Snoopers OXP to be installed.

• Bounty Scanner

This is an equipment item that when used in conjunction with the Scanner Targeting Enhancement equipment, shows the bounty another ship has. Helps you to decide if a pirate is worth attacking.

• Buoy Repair

Adds a service to replace destroyed navigation buoys. In certain systems a huge orbital factory is added to make new buoys. This OXP can cause some slowdowns, but I've found that they are not too bad even when using a really slow PC such as a netbook. However its worth it as the stations are amazing, with ships coming and going, docking at a special dock.

• Cabal Common Library

Not an OXP as such, but is required by some OXPs, so I include it here.

• Griff's Normalmapped Shipset (replacement version)

This shipset replaces the standard ships with Griff's fantastic models. Best used on computers with shaders, however I have used them without shaders, and they are still good.

• Hoopy Casino

Adds Casino stations to certain systems. You can gamble your hard earned credits on a game of Ball and Cups. I never seem to win though. The stations are a good place to trade Liquor & Wines, and Gemstones.

• Liners

Adds huge cruise liners to the spaceways. Requires Big Ships to be installed.

• Missile Analyser

Adds equipment to display the type of incoming missile. Required if you later decide to go for an anti-missile system, there are a couple to choose from (I don't recommend any for beginners though): Armoury OXP has one amongst other weapon systems, and the Automatic Chaff System (or ACS).

• Ore Processor

Adds equipment to process mined asteroid splinters, and extracts any valuable resources such as gemstones, hidden inside.

• Planetfall

Gives you the ability to land on planets and moons.

• Planetfall Missions

There are several addon OXPs for Planetfall. The only one I use currently is the Taxi OXP, which gives taxi missions to & from planets.

• Povray Planets

Improves the planet textures to some excellent ray-traced ones. Doesn't yet support all galaxies though.

• Random Shipnames

Gives a random name to other ships.

• Rock Hermit Locator

Adds equipment which enables you to find the elusive Rock Hermits. Requires the Advanced Space Compass to be installed.

• Snoopers

Adds newsflashes from several news channels. Also lets other OXPs use the newsflashes, eg the Bloomberg Markets OXP.

• Staer9's Shipset

Adds more ships in a similar style to Griff's ships. I currently fly a Staer9 Python Class Cruiser.

• Talkative Space Compass

Adds a message to the comms log when you select an Advanced Space Compass mode.

• Tionisla Chronicle Array

Adds a huge space station in one system in every galaxy, eg Tionisla in Galaxy 1. The above link goes to the Oolite BBS thread for the OXP.

• UPS Courier

Adds UPS parcel delivery missions to the game.

• Welcome Mat

Adds equipment to give you system information on arrival from hyperspace.

• Your Ad Here!

Replaces most navigation buoys with advertisement screens. Lots of ads created by the Oolite community. Also adds huge Constore stations near the witchpoint beacon.

Links

My Public Profiles: My New HomePages / FlickR Profile