The Galactic Almanac OXZ
Contents
Overview
Incoming Message
In accordance with GalCop Directive Number 48753/A, all orbital platform operators were required to transmit the names of any and all platforms under their control from 09.00 today, Lave Local Time. Failure to comply with this Directive is a serious offence. All Commanders are encouraged to report any violations through their local Bulletin Board. Your onboard targeting software has been updated to display the names of all stars, worlds and registered orbitals. The Galactic Almanac of GAL-ID Registered Stars, Worlds and Orbitals has been added to your Dockside Services Interface. Access is available by selecting F4 whilst docked with any orbital or whilst landed on any planet or moon. Please take a moment to familiarise yourself with these new features of your Identification and Navigation systems.
Chief Cartographer Hober Marlowe.
Her Imperial Majesty's Bureau of Records. Autocrat House, 7 Triumph Road, Riverside Sector, Ashoria, Lave I, ZF1-007.
This expansion allocates unique and persistent names to all space stations, satellites, stars, gas giants, planets, moons and asteroids in the game. All names are persistent both for individual players and all players of the game. If, for example, you have the Lave OXZ installed then for you and all players of the game with Lave OXZ installed, there will be a SIRIF Station named Status Quo and a Nomadic Moon named Basta present in the Lave System. The Galactic Almanac OXZ does not itself add any stations or planets to the game. The expansion works by reading the changes made by the OXZs (if any) you have installed and naming only those objects which exist in your personal game.
The expansion does not name unique stations, such as the Tionisla Orbital Graveyard or stations which have already been assigned names by their creator, such as the Space Bars from Random Hits. The expansion automatically detects names added by other OXZs and will display any name assigned by another OXZ to any object in the game. The expansion does not name Rock Hermits or Carriers such as Behemoths, as these are already named by the Random Ship Names OXZ. If you play with both naming OXZs installed, then every object in your game will be named. The two expansions are not dependent on each other and you can play with both, neither or just one installed as you wish.
The expansion does not change the behaviour of any other OXZ. Not all stations have complied with GalCop’s directive as some stations are operated by criminals. Some stations are not shown on Galactic Maps as they are classified installations. These stations are named by the expansion, but they will not be shown on your Advanced Space Compass until you find a way of locating them, as intended by their creators.
Classified and Secret Stations will not be shown on the Galactic Almanac screen even once you have discovered them as GalCop does not disclose the locations of its Military Installations and Black Operations sites to the Spacefaring community in general. Similarly as GalCop does not know the locations of certain rebel organisations, resistance groups and criminal gangs, stations operated by these outlaws are not recorded in the Galactic Almanac.
In the unexpanded game Rock Hermits do not have beacons and so will not be listed in the Galactic Almanac. They will however be named if you have the Random Ship Names OXZ installed. If you also have the Rock Hermit Locator OXZ installed, then in your game Rock Hermits will have beacons. The Galactic Almanac OXZ will read this change made by Rock Hermit Locator and the names, distances and orbital positions of Rock Hermits in the local system will be listed in the Galactic Almanac.
Download Link and Quick Facts
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Beta 1.5 by Commander LittleBear.
Release Date : 30/12/2021.
The Beta is fully functional, although for testing it will store its counting variables in your Save File (which V1 will not). For the Beta although you can purchase an MFD Unit if you wish, it won't actually do anything until Beta V1.5 is released.
Galactic Almanac Beta 1.4 Box Download Link.
This OXZ requires Version 1.90 or higher of Oolite. It is compatible with all other OXZs and has no dependencies. However, the OXP is not compatible with its own August 2020 Alpha. If you still have this installed then you would need to delete the Alpha.
The expansion is an ambience expansion and therefore makes no changes to either the gameplay or difficulty of the game. Other than upgrading the Advanced Space Compass to add OXZ gas giants, planets and moons, the expansion makes no gameplay changes. As any OXZ celestial bodies which exist in your game will be visible to your Mark I Eyeball, adding them to the Advanced Space Compass does not change the difficulty of the game. The OXZ is all text and its code only runs when a system is being populated. It does not put any additional load on Oolite and will run on any computer. To play the OXZ, download and install the OXZ from the in game Expansion Pack Manager or by clicking the link above. Once it is installed all of its features are automatically implemented.
Version History and Updates
Beta Version 1.0 - 04.09.2021 (First Release).
Beta Version 1.3 - 16.09.2021 (Fixed the bug with the Descriptions file not being read on the Mac - Double Comma at Line 3479 spotted by PHKB. Also adds some more customised names to significant systems).
Beta Version 1.4 - 27.09.2021 (Add names to the Orbitals added by the Stranger's World Expansion and also adds more customised names to significant systems - 509 total).
Beta Version 1.5 - 30.12.2021 This version is now feature stable. The final Version will add script commands for other OXZ authors to use if they wish and a non-combat exploration based optional mission. Beta 1.5 is however the (almost) complete version of the OXZ and adds the following new features:
- Adds the Galactic Almanac MFD Unit with a database of 738 known ships and stations.
- Supports the Star Classifications used by Distant Stars and Strangers World as well as Distant Suns.
- Fully Compatible with the Stranger's World Expansion.
- Compatible with Telescope V2.0.
- Naming code under this.Ship Spawned better optimised.
- Optimises the MFD Identification code.
- Adds more custom named Systems (610).
- Adds three more News Broadcasts.
Main Features
Upon installing the OXZ you will receive the incoming message above from Her Imperial Majesty's Bureau of Records and the Galactic Almanac will be added to your Dockside Services Interface. If you press F4 whilst docked with any orbital or carrier or whilst landed on any planet or moon, you will be able to view the list of natural and artificial satellites in the local system together with their orbital positions and the distance each is from your current location.
The expansion will by default name all Stars, Gas Giants, Planets, Moons, Asteroids, Main Stations, Witchpoint Beacons and OXZ Stations. Each of these features can be individually turned on or off in the in game Settings Menu. You can also select the Units of Distance in which you would like the Almanac to display distances and select your preferred background graphics for the Galactic Almanac Screens.
The Galactic Almanac OXZ provides support for other OXZs in two ways. If you are writing a new Station OXZ or adding a planet or moon, you can chose whether your creation is named by the Galactic Almanac OXZ or not. New Stations will not be named by the expansion unless the author of the Station tells the Galactic Almanac to name it. This is done by setting a script info command in your Station’s shipdata.plist entry. If you chose one of the default styles then all stations your OXZ adds will be assigned unique and persistent names in the style you have selected.
If you are adding a new gas giant, planet or moon to the game the expansion will check to see if you have added a Display Name for your creation in your planetinfo.plist. If you have given the object a name then the Galactic Almanac will add your object to the Almanac and the Advanced Space Compass using the name you have specified. The object’s orbital position will also be added and classified as a Moon, Planet or Gas Giant depending on whether you added the object with the addMoon, addPlanet or isGasGiant command. If you do not specify a name, then the expansion will assign a unique and persistent name to the object and will classify it based on the class you gave it.
The Galactic Almanac OXZ also contains an inbuilt Procedural Name Generator which can be used by other authors to generate custom names for their creations. The Generator can be turned on in the Settings Menu. When enabled the generator will write 256 procedurally generated names to your Latest Log file in a format ready to copy and paste into a script file each time you make a hyperspace jump in game. You can set the word lists you wish the generator to combine in order to create customised names. Instructions on how to use the generator to create custom name lists for new OXZ stations are set out on The Galactic Almanac User Manual page.
If you have an Advanced Space Compass, you will receive a free software update from Her Imperial Majesty's Bureau of Records adding the names of all space stations and celestial objects to the ASC display. In the unexpanded game, only stations with beacons, the main planet and the local star are shown on the ASC. The expansion updates the ASC to add the locations and display the names and classifications of all OXZ gas giants, planets and moons in the system. The names and Classifications of stars are also added. The expansion reads changes made by other OXZs such as Distant Suns. Stars are classified by their Stella Class and also by their size and colour. The smallest and largest stars in the game are classified as Dwarfs and Giants respectively. If you have Distant Suns (or any other OXZ which changes star colours) installed stars will be classified as Red Dwarfs, Blue Giants and so on as appropriate. The expansion supports OXZs such as Lave OXP and the Tianve Pulsar which add unique celestial objects to the game. Special Objects are named correctly and classified with their non-standard classifications.
The expansion also adds one item of purchasable equipment. A Galactic Almanac MFD Unit can be purchased from any world of Tech Level 8 or higher for 350 Credits. This MFD is an upgrade to the Advanced Space Compass and therefore you must purchase an Advanced Space Compass before the MFD will be offered for sale in the Shipyard. In combination with an Advanced Space Compass, the MFD allows you to view the Galactic Almanac entry for the local system whilst in flight. When active, the MFD will show the name, classification and current distance from you of the selected star, gas giant, planet, moon ship or space station in a transparent MFD display on your HUD. Information on the target is also provided, the design company or manufacture in the case of ships and stations and data on the composition of stars, gas giants planets, moons and asteroids in relation to natural objects.
If you have the Planet Fall OXZ installed, then in addition to naming Space Stations, Gas Giants, Planets, Moons and Asteroids the Galactic Almanac OXZ will also name all Landing Sites in the game. Rather than showing your status as Docked, the OXZ will show your status as Landed. The Galactic Almanac Screen will also show which planet or moon you have landed on, together with the name of the Space Port you have landed at. If you make a rough landing on a moon or in an open area of a planet, the expansion will also give you a short texted based description of your location. Please note that whilst the Almanac will correctly describe your landing site, Her Imperial Majesty's Bureau of Records accepts no responsibility for unpleasant consequences which may befall Commanders who land without permission on private property.
If you have the GNN News OXZ installed, the expansion also adds 15 News Broadcasts to your News Feed. Over time a series of incidents and difficulties with the new software will emerge and be reported upon by the galactic news agencies. You will also receive software updates from Her Imperial Majesty's Bureau of Records, fixing these difficulties with the new system. These updates are naturally purely for flavour. As with all OXZs any actual bugs in the expansion will only be fixed when I release the next version.
The Galactic Almanac OXZ is compatible with all other OXZs. It will automatically read changes made by other OXZs and implement them. It is specifically designed to be compatible with the Distant Suns and Planetary Compass OXZs. The moon names from Thargoid’s Moon Packs will be assigned first to moons. When these have all been assigned, moons will be named using the names lists from the Galactic Almanac OXZ. Compatibility with Distant Suns is achieved by the option to turn the Galactic Almanac naming features on and off. If you have Distant Suns (or any other OXZ which names stars) installed, then the stars will be named using the names from the Galactic Almanac OXZ if you turn Star Naming on in the Settings Menu. If you turn Star Naming off, then all stars will be named by Distant Suns if you have it installed or unnamed if you do not.
Bug Reporting and Feedback
Since the expansion is a pure ambience OXZ which only changes the display names of game objects, it is not really capable of introducing any game breaking bugs. The worst it can do if it goes wrong is either fail to name an object it should have done or add a name which is a duplication of name used by another object in another system.
Before release I visited 516 systems across the eight galaxies to check for howlers in the naming system. However, the OXP uses both long lists of real names and procedurally generated names. It is possible therefore that I have created my own Fabled Planet Arse in Latin, Hindi, Russian, Arabic, Ancient Sumerian or one of the other languages the generator uses as a base. The OXZ also features long lists of proper names from all Real Life Earth cultures. It is possible therefore that a name which sounds cool and exotic to my English ear is the equivalent of coming across a planet named Dave to a native speaker. The third type of bug which could occur is a name is used by two stations or planets in different systems.
As you play the game you will receive a news broadcast from GNN reporting that GalCop is offering a 1,000 Credit reward to any Commander reporting errors in the Galactic Almanac. This is a genuine offer, although you will have to wait for me to release the next version of the OXZ to receive your in game reward. Please post any bug reports on the Galactic Almanac Beta 1.0 Thread.
If you have poked around the OXZ’s code, then you’ll be aware that the OXZ is essentially two text files containing several million words. Due to the magic of search and replace, this makes any mistakes easy to correct. If you are reported a bug therefore, please post the name exactly as it appears in game. If you are reporting a misspelt name please post the correct spelling if you know it. If you are reporting a weird or duplicated name and would like to rename the station or planet, then please feel free to post a new name for the object. If you would like to receive your reward in the next version, then please post your Commander’s Name (exactly as it appears in your save file). If you would like to add a news broadcast reporting on the assistance your Commander rendered to Her Imperial Majesty's Bureau of Records, then please post the text of your broadcast. All players of the game will see the broadcast in the next version of the OXZ. Only you will receive a message from the Chief Cartographer and your 1,000 Credit reward.
Credits
This Section is under construction - Please Stand By
Summary Table of Naming Styles
In order to ensure backwards compatibility, all existing stations are assigned custom naming styles as set out in the table below. The expansion also reads the player’s planetinfo file and uses different naming styles depending on the type of government, inhabitants and tech level. Changes made by other OXZs to systems are therefore automatically read and implemented. All 256 Systems of Galaxy One have custom names assigned to all stations and planets appearing in them, reflecting the lore relating to the system. All systems in all galaxies listed on the Powers and Organisations Page and all systems featuring in native and OXZ missions are also custom named. The standard naming keys added by the OXZ also read the description of each system and adjust the naming style accordingly. Any future OXZs which use the Galactic Almanac naming styles will therefore have names assigned which reflect the type of system the station appears at.
The Galactic Almanac OXZ will name an infinite number of stations and celestial objects. It will also detect changes made by other OXZs. For example, the Bank of the Black Monks OXZ normally adds a single station to about 20 systems in each Galaxy. If however another OXZ were to add 256 Black Monk Stations to a system, the expansion would assign all the additional stations unique and persistent names. The 257th station to appear would however have the same name as the first, since the expansion would have deployed all of the names it has for this station type. In the table below the number in the Pool Size column refers to the maximum number of each object type that can be added before the expansion will loop the code. This is set vastly higher than the number of objects which appear in game in order to future proof the OXZ.
| Object Type | Pool Size | Example Names |
|---|---|---|
| Stars | 2,048 | Epsilon Hevelius (Class M Star), Kappa Hydrae (Yellow Dwarf), Silva Capra (Class F Star), Adipem Tristitia (Class K Star), Lambada Tucanae (White Giant). |
| Planets | 10,240 | Lophaetus, Bellicosus, Polemaetus, Hieraaetus, Morphnoides, Pennatus, Fasciatus, Audax, Heliaca, Adalberti, Rapax, Hastata, Pomarina, Ictinaetus, Morphnus. |
| Moons | 10,240 | Ceres, Janus, Orcus, Liber, Tellus, Salus, Ixion, Vediovis, Larunda, Terminus, Vortumnus, Lares, Lucina, Acis, Aequitas, Aion, Aura, Belladonna, Zaphaerus. |
| Asteroids | 5,888 | Zahn 005, Baldwin 107, Tarrant 243, Foster 026, Aherne 372, Tyler 109, Jimenez 042, Callaghan 099, Zheaton 132, Clancey 304, Tuscarora 211, Fenton 345. |
| Main Stations | 2,048 | Clear Air Turbulence, Rule of Law, Slanted Moonbeam, Bearded Devil, Accompaniment of Shadows, Corporate Agenda, Prince of Ravens, Poetic Licence. |
| Witchpoint Beacons | 2,048 | An Alphanumeric Code is shown on all beacons indicating the system’s spatial co-ordinates: ZF1-007, LW2-046, QI3-009. |
| Astromine Penal Colonies | 10,240 | Brighton Rock, The Caves of Terror, Cherkesov Prison, Sickle of Vengeance, Samara Stockade, Red Flame, The Chairman Khrushchev, Zhukov Bridewell. |
| Black Monk Monasteries | 256 | Rosary of Debt, Flail of Repayment, Papal Currency, Deacon of Doom, Tome of Default, Chant of Foreclosure, Credit Control, Graven Image. |
| Collective SLAPU Stations | 256 | Honour of the Presidium, Concord of the Proletariat, Conscience of Doublethink, Unity of the Party, Hope of Karl Marx, Paradigm of the Workers. |
| Collective ZGF Stations | 256 | Nemesis of Perestroika, Bane of Thought Crime, Curse of the Aristocracy, Purge of the Kulakbernc, Despair of Goldstein, Grave of the Intelligentsia. |
| Con Store Stations | 256 | Happy Shopper, Bargain Basement, Sale of the Century, Thrift Store, Monroeville Mall, Frontier Pharmacist, Consume and Obey, Raw Deal. |
| Darkside Distilleries | 256 | The Lethal Graduate, The Rotating Poet, The Horned Bear, The Aradvark and Sparrow, The Scorpion and Sloth, The Badger and Rat, The Meerkat and Cub. |
| Darkside Saloons | 256 | The Mamba and Bat, The Infamous Weasel, The Asp and Lemming, The Drunken Bantam, The Gargole and Turtle, The Happy Piscine, The Sneaky Lama. |
| Extra Stations for Extra Planets | 8,192 | Dark Skies, Port Cavendish, War of Words, Callistro Citadel, Party Animal, The George Romero, Eternal Sunshine, Whistling Pines, Sinclair Citadel. |
| Free Trade Zones | 256 | Black Scorpion, Carnival of Sinners, Den of Thieves, Nature of the Beast, Double Trouble, Bad Samaritan, Credit Funnel, The Widow Maker. |
| Fuel Satellites | 10,240 | Warka 126, Hariri 312, Oraibi 496, Cartago 229, Kumasi 215, Carthage 745, Ajuran 761, Regius 534. |
| Fuel Stations | 10,240 | Kappa 094, Lambada 053, Arcadia 091, Corinth 025, Turicum 032, Lagash 047, Sippar 077, Tibira 026. |
| Giant Space Pizzas | 32 | A flavour is added in brackets after the name: Goat & Garlic, Poet & Parmesan, Toasted Trumble, Moth & Mozzarella, Wolf Surprise. |
| Gift Shops | 32 | The Stuffed Crust, The Mellow Mushroom, The Waldorf Salad, The Rocky Rococo, The Papa John, The Little Caesar, Old Chicago, The Domino Hut. |
| GRS Buoy Factorys | 256 | Empress Natalya II, Thane Tavish VI, Kaiser Valter II, Duchess Siobhan IV, Rajah Wasim XI, Dame Geraldine, Sultan Faisal II, Archduchess Juliette. |
| Hacker Outposts | 256 | School of Deception, The Neoromantic Buccaneer, Ghostwheel Bluff, Hidden Scrounger, Spell of Spoofing, Master of Tunnelling, Torchwood Galleria, Ocelot Refuge. |
| HoOpy Casinos | 256 | The Dice Man, Ace of Batons, Pair of Ducks, Three Cowboys, The Ring Master, Straight Flush, Eight of Wands, Sweet Sixteen. |
| Imperial AstroFactories | 256 | Honeypot Rock, Bonaparte Cove, Overlord of Lothian, Warlord Malkoth II, The Toxin Refinery, Hand of the Prophet, Thunder Dome, Comstock House. |
| Jump Gates | 160 | Snowdrop, Redleaf, Kleitus, Ventura, Kovarian, Romana, Malohkeh, Vastra, Bracewell, Valeyard, Slitheen, Mirabelle, Jenassa, Leonara, Matlara, Valentia. |
| Kiota BioSpheres & Factories | 2,048 | Truffle Hunter, Message in a Bottle, Savile Row, Costanza Poet Farm, Soylent Green Ltd, Written on the Wind, Forbidden Kingdom. |
| Kiota Habitats & Mega Habitats | 2,048 | Under Burning Skies, Earth Goddess, HMP Parkhurst, Pelennor Fields, Blandings Castle, Paradise Towers, Diamond City, Rat Run. |
| Kiota Relay Stations | 2,048 | Bad Moon Rising, Northern Star, The Doppler Effect, Early Warning Post 25, The Daily Worker, Voice of Commerce, Moon Rider, The McCool Dish. |
| Kiota Research Stations | 2,048 | Firebird Departing, The Diogenes Club, Trail of the Wolf, Shooting Star, The Unseen University, City of Rapture, Charm Offensive, Emperor of Dust. |
| Kiota Solar Stations | 2,048 | Black Rainbow, Relativity Theory, The Polybius Effect, Storm Giant, Arizona Days, Anything Legal Considered, Ray of Sunshine, The Red Queen. |
| Lave Academies | 256 | Galactic Empress, Hazard Pay, Reach for the Sky, The Iron Ass, Darwinism in Acton, Summer School, The Douglas Bader, Milk Run, Missing in Action. |
| Mandotech Stations | 256 | Out of the Darkness, The Butterfly Effect, Things to Come, Pacific Rim, Edge of Tomorrow, Dark Continent, Figures of the Night, Last Days on Mars. |
| Planetary Orbital Satellites | 5,888 | Viktorenko 905, Firmout 735, Bella 603, Pontes 107, Mansouri 015, Aimbetov 159, Mogensen 455, Shkor 821, Ansari 007, McEnery 227. |
| Planet Fall Landing Sites | 1.5 Million | Tropical World (Safari Park), Palacios Mechanoids Plc (Volcanic Valley), Takshaka Anchorage (Distribution Centre), The Leather Bottle Pub (Scobee Cosmodrome). |
| Royal Hunting Lodges | 256 | Definitions of Honor, Test of the Shrubbery, Peril of the Satanic Shrew, Staff of Merlin, The Round Table, None Shall Pass, Lady of Shalott. |
| Renegade Stations | 256 | The Anne Bonny, Blood Debt, The Queen Ann's Revenge, Pitcairn Island, Dark Storm, The Blind Pew, Silver Wrath, Calico Jack. |
| RRS Headquarters | 256 | The Lady Penelope, Tracy Island, Red Arrow, Fire Flash, Thunderbird Rising, Intrepid Pioneer, The Inimitable Parker, Tiger Moth. |
| RRS Mining Outposts | 768 | Hudson Bay, Puffin Caverns, Manta Cove, Komodo Claim, Mussurana Point, Caiman Promontory, Ophidian Jetty, Terrapin Outcrop. |
| RRS Waystations | 256 | All for One, To Catch a Thief, Secret Army, The Impressive Six, Out of the Sun, Flash Harry, Coffee and Donuts, Hope of Deliverance. |
| Sabres' BioSpheres | 256 | Talisman of Accord, Botanical Orb, Fantastical Globe, Crystal Bastion, Haven of Concord, Icon of Consensus, Trove of Abundance, Botanical Caduceus. |
| Salvage Gang Stations | 256 | Twisted Metal, Hard Reset, From the Ashes, Rumble at Riedquat, Gotham Safehouse, Desperate Measures, Nimble Acrobat, Carnivores Wharf. |
| Sentinel Stations | 256 | Guardian of the Innocent, Fort Aerater, Bastian of Esdicete, Battle of Inbibe, Warden of Riches, Defender of Prosperity, The Admiral Hansson, Sword of the Galaxy. |
| SIRF Stations | 2,048 | Disturber of Picnics, Woolwich Dockyard, Under a Lavian Moon, Steelyard Blues, The Frank Whittle, Armistice Base, Workshop of the Gods, Smith of Vulcan. |
| Sothis Stations | 10,240 | Due to difficulties in translating Insectoid names, literal translations to Ancient Earthian are displayed: Venustus Studium, Argenti Insecta, Spectatus Colonus. |
| Star Jellies | 768 | These gentle creatures receive gender appropriate names: Cassandra, Oscar, Lillian, Magnus, Gertrude, Gavin, Monica, Anthony. |
| Stella Serpents | 256 | These not so gentle creatures also receive gender appropriate names: Violet, Kayla, Nathan, John, Elliana, Bella, Anthony, Sadie. |
| Stranger's World Orbitals | 8,192 | Ruby Star, Neso in Eclipse, End Times, Glass Rainbow, Party Animal, The Johnny Mnemonic, Critical Mass, Miracle of Creation, Watchman of Gemini. |
| Super Hub Stations | 256 | Smooth Jazz, Rosewood Resort, The Waldorf Hotel, Rodent Rocketeer, Palace of Titano, Welcome Respite, Widowed Star, Masked Minstrel. |
| Taxi Galactica Stations | 256 | Short Hop, Cab Rank Rule, Gruelling Run, The Bilking Fare, Homeward Bound, Time and Tide, Uber Wars, Cosmic Wanderer. |
| Tionisla Chronicle Arrays | 256 | News Hound, Hot Gossip, Chroma Key, Perpetual Indignation, Anchor Man, Breaking News, Racing Certainty, Media Circus. |
| Zieman Habitats | 256 | Leafy Grotto, Phantasmal Sphere, Beatific Galleria, Pastural Odyssey, Sanctuary of Happiness, Spire of Order, Vison of Conscience, Amulet of Peace. |
