Vortex OXP (plus the Maelstrom)

[CheeseRedux]

if cargo is vanishing

Or, as in my last test, anti-vanishing.

After re-reading my first post, I've formed a very non-expert theory on where the problem lies. It seems like there's some sort of delay in registering what's actually in the hold. In my last test, what was saved was the content that got registered sometime between buying cargo at Lave and docking at Zaonce. The change in contents after docking somehow didn't make it to the save game.
It's not an easy one to spot, since you normally don't go around remembering the contents of your hold between sessions. Even if you notice something amiss, the most common reaction would be along the lines of "I could have sworn I sold that cargo before quitting last night. Oh, well, must've forgotten." I probably would never have noticed if I weren't testing stuff at the time, constantly quitting and reloading and thus having a fresh recollection of what I had done.

Anyway, save game is still sitting pretty on my hard drive if you want it (once the jet lag wears off, that is), and the thing should be pretty easy to reproduce.

[Thargoid]

I think I may have stumbled across a bug.

[unnecessary background story]
After upgrading to 1.74, I'm experiencing seemingly random occurrences of the game dropping to 4 FPS. This is almost certainly due to one or more OXPs, but I've yet to track down the culprit(s). Strangely enough I never had any such problems on 1.73, and none of the OXPs I've added lately seem to have any effect on this.
While testing, I've been using the Vortex, simply because I then don't have to worry much about being shot to pieces at inopportune moments. And I figured that as long as I'm using the thing, I might as well earn some cash and equip the thing. It's nice to have a well equipped combat monster for those days when you just feel like taking something awesome out for a spin.
[/unnecessary background story]

Doing a little trading on the side, I've several times experienced cargo simply disappearing for no good reason. Since this hasn't been my primary concern, I haven't been paying too much attention, so I figured that I must've overlooked a message of cargo destroyed, or that the warp bubble or whatever got destroyed, taking the entire contents of one bay with it.
But it was nagging me enough that I decided to start from scratch.
Loaded up the fresh Vortex save game, bought 14 furs, 1 booze and 2 food and jumped to Zaonce. Avoided all attempts at picking a fight, and docked at the station. Sold the cargo, bought some scanner equipment, and spent the remaining cash on Computers. At least I think I did. I'm 95% sure. Quit Oolite, did other stuff, went to bed, etc etc.
Restart Oolite, load save game. Cargo hold empty. I'm beginning to think I'm hallucinating. Time to test thoroughly.
So, same procedure. Start from scratch, buy furs, booze and food, jump to Zaonce, sell cargo. Then I bought 1 ton of food, and saved the game.
Quit Oolite. Restart Oolite. Load commander. Hold now contains 14 furs, 1 booze and 2 food. Credit balance still contains the profit from selling those very items: 112.8 on top of the starting 1000.
Save game available if you want it.

I think I see the problem. If you comment out or delete lines 34 & 35 in the script (vortex_player.js in the scripts folder of the OXP) and then restart Oolite with shift held down I think it should cure the bug. It was being a little over-zealous in restoring things when it perhaps shouldn't have done so. In any case it can certainly be streamlined and sorted out more elegantly in 1.75 where we have a new event that triggers just before game saves (specifically to freshen and update mission variables before they are consigned to the save).

Try it and let me know if it works, and if it induces any other bugs. If all is OK then I'll version-up the OXP fully.

For completeness, the two lines to be deleted/comments out are below.

Code: Select all

	this.restoreMissileBay(missionVariables.multiBay_currentMissile);
	this.restoreCargo(missionVariables.multiBay_currentCargo);

[CheeseRedux]

Finally got around to test this - my speed is rather glacial compared to a certain alien who habitually conceives, writes & releases OXPs over a lunch break.

Anyhoo, the removal of #s 34&35 killed that bug, and my (limited & random) other testing didn't find any new introduced. Or any at all, for that matter.

[Thargoid]

Good to know, especially as I updated the OXP on box.net yesterday

But thanks for the update and the testing - if you find any more then let me know...

[Zireael]

Why is Vortex not listed in the OXP list? And BTW, the newest version of it is 1.11.

EDIT: And what about allowing the pilot somehow to make the cargo missions up to 150 tonnes?

[Thargoid]

It's in my OXP list on my wiki page. As mentioned elsewhere, beyond that there are far too many wiki lists in various formats to keep track of, so I gave up trying to.

As I had over 25 OXPs to update, I haven't mainly posted in their threads and updated their title lines, hence why most of them are currently out of date. I'm going to update them slowly as I need to for reporting on individual threads (like I will do now for this one) - I thought that better than spamming the whole OXP page with my threads...

And the cargo missions are in the trunk code, so nothing I can do about that from OXP-side.

[Thargoid]

OK, due to a small bug with save games and cargo going AWOL, I've just updated this OXP to v1.12.

With thanks to Capt Murphy for his suggested small script tweak which seems to have (hopefully) resolved things.

Download via the link in the first post, or via the ones below.

[Thargoid]

I've just updated this OXP to version 1.20, with an idea that's been kicking around for a little while, inspired by a discussion with Zireael.

So added into the OXP is a new sister ship, the Maelstrom. Where the Vortex is a brawling blockade running combat ship, the Maelstrom is the complementary military cargo freighter. Featuring many of the same features as its fighting sister, this ship sacrifices some speed and offensive capability for raw carrying power. It has a payload of up to 100t per bay, with a 3 bay Multibay system giving an overall capacity of 300t.

To make way for this, the ship is larger and more slow, with fewer missile pylons available and no turrets. And as the military are so loathed to part with them due to their highly useful nature, they are quite rare on the civilian market. When they do they command a high price, but they quickly earn their keep.

Download from the same URL as the first post, or via the wiki and box.net links below.

[Mauiby de Fug]

So, I noticed that this popped up in a latest.log:

Code: Select all

19:25:34.344 [script.javaScript.exception.ooliteDefinedError]: ***** JavaScript exception (vortex_NPC.js 1.0): Error: Cannot set property displayName of instance of Ship to invalid value undefined.
19:25:34.344 [script.javaScript.exception.ooliteDefinedError]:       /home/robert/.Oolite/AddOns/Vortex 1.11.oxp/Scripts/vortex_NPC.js, line 64.

No idea what it was referring to. I also see that it's an old version of the oxp, but not having downloaded the latest one, I'll still post this in case it deals with something that hasn't been changed. Clearly I need to go through and update various oxps again!

[RyanHoots]

Downloaded and installed the OXP yesterday. Took me a while to track one down, I had to go to the highest TL system in G5.
The ship is awesome, I love the Gun Cam (my fist time using one), it's worth the 2 Million credits I paid for it. Oh, the joys of being very rich.
The ship is MAC7290, Master of Midnight, an Ex-military blockade runner. I got a screenshot of the Ship Specifications screen. If only every ship had a nice screen like that.
It looks like junk from the outside, but it sure isn't. I love it. I might stick with it for a while, it has the cargo space I need.
I'm going to look into further testing, maybe a GalNavy mission or two.
Great job, Thargoid.

[Thargoid]

They're both ex-military ships. Made to break faces, not turn heads

But glad you like it

[RyanHoots]

Made to break faces, not turn heads

Just the type of ship I like. I don't care what it looks like, as long as it's as deadly as a hardened missile is to a Sidewinder with no defense systems other than standard shields.
I just took it into combat for a major battle. Sorry, Thargoid. I killed half a dozen Warships, not counting Thargons.

[Capt. Murphy]

I learned to really like the Vortex model - it's a mean looking thug of a ship.

[RyanHoots]

Looks like a Cobra Mk.3 hull salvaged and put back together to make it bigger, with purple military lasers (why does the Navy and Police use purple, again?) and fitted with the coolest navy grade technology. The Vortex sure looks like a scary beast.

[Fatleaf]

Got an error in the log:

19:26:37.944 [script.javaScript.exception.ooliteDefinedError]: ***** JavaScript exception (vortex_NPC.js 1.0): Error: Cannot set property displayName of instance of Ship to invalid value undefined.
19:26:37.944 [script.javaScript.exception.ooliteDefinedError]: ../AddOns/Vortex 1.11.oxp/Scripts/vortex_NPC.js, line 64.

I was Galaxy jumping at the time. When the tmer got to zero it crashed to desktop.