User:CaptSolo

Background

John Soloman was born to human parents on the far outlying world of Teaatis in chart 1. From an early age his interests differed from most young people. Upon turning 17, he applied and was accepted to the space academy at Lave. Later, he went to work for a large trading firm out of Onrira. After two and one half years he was able to buy out of his contract to become an independent trader. It was during this time that he married and eventually moved his family to the pleasant world of Ontiat, which became his base of operations. His wife took a deep interest in the history of Ontiat and became an accomplished author of several works. The subject of her most successful book was none other than the aged Nynu A, a tale of betrayal, murder, and retribution that spanned half a century and more than half the galaxy. John received the moniker of Solo given him by his peers who either loved or despised him. There was only one black spot in his reputation which occurred early in his career. The full tale of that incident has not yet been released. We do know he was cleared of any wrong doing, and in fact became a folk hero for an entire world.

Work

I trained and worked in the health care industry as a respiratory therapist. After graduation, I worked for awhile near San Bernardino, California. Then one morning I awoke from a dream in which I heard the wind rustling through prairie grasses and smelled the fragrant smells of grass and wild flowers. This experience is probably akin to an old sailor who misses the salty air of the sea. So I returned to my origins and have remained to this day.

Computers & Elite

One day in the mid 1980's, while working in the Pulmonary Function Lab, our department head brought into the lab an Apple II computer. That was the beginning of my adventure with computers. In the lab it was supposed to be all business - a device to record patient test results. But I found myself staying long past clinic hours just to tinker with it. It had a primitive DOS via BASIC commands. I was hooked and began shopping around for my own personal computer and found it: The Commodore 64. This machine was more advanced at the time than the Apple II. In short order I taught myself BASIC and even dabbled in Assembly. I subscribed to a couple magazines geared to the C=64. Those were good times indeed, especially when I joined a local C= users group and exchanged ideas with its members. It was about this time I discovered a game called "Elite", originally programmed by David Braben and Ian Bell, two brilliant British guys. I got chills every time the game finished loading, the title SID tune began playing while the Cobra Mk III rotated in space. "Load New Commander?" Absolutely brilliant game! Space trading, combat, and adventure all rolled into one. For about a year I played no other game. So immersed at times it seemed I was alone in space in my ship and just about anything might happen.

Oolite - the game

After the C= days I purchased several computers. Even though my C64 still functions I rarely use it anymore. I discovered emulators for it and relived the old days with them. Then one day I Googled, "Elite Galaxies". In the list there was a reference to a game called "Oolite". Hello! I installed the game, launched it, and could not believe my eyes. There before me was that trusty old Cobra Mk III all beautifully textured and polygon filled. But Oolite plays differently than Elite. The main thing - the player is no longer the center of action. The player is placed into a scene where other things... other events are occurring. For example, one might come upon a space battle that you can avoid or participate in. It is a deeper experience all beautifully done for modern computers and it has one other advantage: It can be expanded by addition of user crafted OXP's. It didn't take me long to try my hand at authoring an OXP. Some people were making new ships or modifying existing ones. That piqued my interest but I had no experience working with a 3D modeling program. Oh well, no harm in trying, and after a month fumbling with a program called, "Wings3D", the pieces started falling into place or rather into my head. And so, among all my other activities and interests, I am still playing and have released several OXP's.

My Oolite OXP's

Accipiter
Cobra Mark III-XT
Console HUD
Copperhead
Cougar ST OXP
Griff's No Shaders Shipset
I_Missile
Moccasin
Mod-HUD
Naval Torpedo
Scimitar

SoloTek Industries

Favorite Things

Food: I am vegan and love TexMex flavors.
Bevies: Tea in the morning, Beer with dinner, Kentucky Bourbon with friends
Books: The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein
Authors: JRR Tolkein & Alf White (pen name: James Herriot)
Non-fiction: Science & History
Movies: The Andromeda Strain, The Spy Who Loved Me, 2010 Space Odyssey, Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back
Movie Quote: "You're gonna need a bigger boat" Jaws I, Roy Scheider to Robert Shaw
TV Comedy: Keeping up Appearances & Red Dwarf (both British)
TV Drama: NCIS
TV SciFi: Star Trek TOS, Dr. Who, & Babylon 5
Actors: Sean Connery, Roger Moore, David McCallum, Uma Thurman to name a few
Travel Destination: The British Isles
Sports: Golf, Soccer, & Baseball
Pro Golfers: Padraig Harrington & Martin Kaymer
WC Teams: Netherlands & Germany
BB Team: Minnesota
BB Player: Henry Aaron (slugger of yore)
Times: A quiet moment in my garden