(NEW RELEASE) ChupacabraHUD.oxp

[sdrubble]

Try this out sdrubble and let us know how it goes.

Indeed I "tried"... that's quite an understatement, actually meaning that I spent most of the wee morning hours (well, actually ALL of them ) on an endless tweak-restart-check-tweak cycle. That was for the hud appearance only, as I like to move all the text boxes around... and in this case, also ressurrecting and moving the hidden sensitivity indicator.

Well, I can report that the goat-sucker (I'm sure that all of you of course KNOW what the word Chupacabra means, of course !!!) passed the multiple launch tests with flying colors. I didn't do any longer runs yet (just shooting stuff around stations), but there wasn't a single complaint in the log.

I could also swear, after Eric Walch's hyper-optimization, that my N-year-old EEEPC 901 is running 2 or 3 degrees cooler now. Probably subjective though...

As soon as I have some nice 'real-life' screenshots, and probably have refined my initial appearance tweaks to each of the 4 plists that compose the hud, I'll *possibly* come back and post the tweaks themselves and the corresponding illustrating shots. But don't hold your breath for now.

Cheers and thx a lot, y'all

[Staer9]

(I'm sure that all of you of course KNOW what the word Chupacabra means, of course !!!)

well of course! what better name for a big bird-like ship

[sdrubble]

All,

I can't judge by myself how relevant (if at all...) this would be : while doing some flying tests I've got some timeout entries from chupacabrahud.js in the log.

I can't correlate these with any observed symptoms whatsoever . For now I'll just post the errors... if CSOTB or anyone else wishes to investigate this I'll be glad to provide the full log (it's preserved for posterity), as well as the current state of chupacabrahud.js (it's quite large). I had added some commands to the original version (all of them had subsequently been commented out, but of course most line numbers have increased from the original).

As I intend to experiment a little more with chupacabrahud.js , I'm 'freezing' a copy of its current content. If anyone wants to investigate this any further we'll still have this version to revert to and play with.

As it has been discussed in a previous post, I'm running Oolite in a slow machine, which could ( ) be the sole reason for the errors... it's fine with me if we don't pay any further attention to this.

There you go:

Code: Select all

21:32:53.765 [script.javaScript.timeLimit]: ***** ERROR: Script "(nil)" ran for 0.110295 seconds and has been terminated.
21:32:53.765 [script.javaScript.stackTrace]:  0 (chupacabrahud.js:967) <anonymous function>
21:32:53.765 [script.javaScript.stackTrace]:     this: [Script "chupacabrahud" version 1.0]
21:32:53.765 [script.javaScript.stackTrace]:     c1: "GREEN"
21:32:53.765 [script.javaScript.stackTrace]:     g2: "SPEED"
21:32:53.765 [script.javaScript.stackTrace]:     g1: 2.591506294582201e-7
[ . . . ]
22:44:11.687 [script.javaScript.timeLimit]: ***** ERROR: Script "(nil)" ran for 0.109279 seconds and has been terminated.
22:44:11.687 [script.javaScript.stackTrace]:  0 (chupacabrahud.js:975) <anonymous function>
22:44:11.687 [script.javaScript.stackTrace]:     this: [Script "chupacabrahud" version 1.0]
22:44:11.687 [script.javaScript.stackTrace]:     c1: "GREEN"
22:44:11.687 [script.javaScript.stackTrace]:     g2: "SPEED"
22:44:11.687 [script.javaScript.stackTrace]:     g1: 0.0000023375386777131455

Cheers

[CommonSenseOTB]

I must say I'm quite impressed with the amount of interest and playtesting and the sheer number of downloads in so short a time. ChupacabraHUD is far exceeding my expectations.

I see from your log, sdrubble that you have had 2 script timeouts over a span of 72 minutes. At 30 fps that would be over 2000 frames and 3 calls to the animation portion of the script per frame. Say 6000 calls to that portion of the script between script timeouts. Not bad considering your previous problem indicating a slow computer, or at least a situation where it occasionally runs slow or bogs down a bit. The hud script itself is running within design specs. It is at a point for me on my slow setup that I can play for hours of dogfighting and not see an error in the log. Regardless, one tries to optimize the speed of the frame callbacks in the script. Alas, this is a prototype and the next will probably be faster. The end result is nearly flawless as the result of a script timeout will simply result in one gauge not being updated for one frame. No big deal. That is why you did not notice anything, unless you were a hummingbird.

With regards to your adding commands inside the chupacabrahud script, I would advise against it. If you do, please be sure to NOT add inside the frame callbacks as this will cause the time sensitive functions to run longer and may cause more frequent script timeouts. This may be what your issue is. Or it could just be your slow computer or another oxp causing a temporary slowdown...eyecandy maybe?

As I've already had 5 people PMing me about either modifying the chupacabraHUD for thier own use or using the chupacabraHUD as the foundation for a custom hud to be released in the future and you are #6 sdrubble, I'll just spell it out to be clear for anyone interested:

As the license says you can modify it under the terms in the readme, however, I will not debug your modifications of this hud. It appears at this point that it would become a full time job and that is not going to happen. Modify at your own risk and responsibility.

The chupacabraHUD was a challenging design exercise to get it to meet the design goals while being able to perform well. It is, in effect, a compromise with real limits. Better performance and superior design will be possible eventually post MNSR when I can use images to make the gauges. Before then it may not be possible to improve performance. I could be wrong, however.

I would like to thank everyone for thier help and playtesting and encouragement. It would seem that this project was definately worth the effort and will result in a lot of future development as well.

Cheers!

[sdrubble]

Thx CommonSenseOTB for your detailed reply. While I know it wasn't directed exclusively at me, it does contain a good number of explanations I wasn't really expecting in such level of detail. May I say you indeed rock, man ...

I was indeed suspecting that the timeouts I've got were irrelevant, and your explanation is a concise account of what REALLY happened and adds meaning to my simple 'suspicion'. I'm a wiser man now.

As to my 'adding commands', this was not a cause for my timeouts (for the moment, at least). They were already commented out when those happened, so no effect here other than increasing line numbers.

But your emphasized disclaimer about modifications and support tell me I should be a bit more cautious over something I'm currently preparing, as I explain below.

I'm currently in the process of tweaking the 'message_gui' and 'comms_log' elements of the hud, and taking some screenshots to illustrate the results (as they appear on my particular monitor). I would, next, post in this thread both the snippets and the shots - I've noticed that some forum members are interested in tweaking these elements on other HUDs, and that they feel somewhat intimidated in attempting that, so I would expect to be a bit helpful in that area.

Now I'm left wondering if perhaps it wouldn't be actually better for both of us if I create a separate thread for that - starting with an emphasized quote of your disclaimer from the post above and also adding, certainly, my own disclaimer . I would then just post briefly in this thread here, with a link to that new thread.

While the 'separate thread' idea is somewhat against the concept of concentrating related stuff into a single thread, OTOH it definitely helps to spell out for everyone who is responsible (or rather not responsible at all) for what. So I'd like to follow whatever path feels most comfortable to both of us, as well as remaining still interesting to all the forum readers. So your comments on this idea of mine would be welcome.

Regarding your statement about the need to improve performance on your HUD, I have noticed that the frame transitions within the HUD seem all to be smooth and not a performance hit at all on my slow machine... while its Commander trods more like a sloth than a hummingbird so would not be much prone to noticing. Anyways, while I did a sheer number of launches and restarts with the Chupacabra HUD I haven't actually taken it to a REAL battleground yet. But I suspect that the pre-tweak version of the Caddy's DCN (aka RepairBots) was a much heavier performance hit than your HUD... and I had been playing happily with that for months.

Cheers and thx again

[CommonSenseOTB]

Rock on, sdrubble.

May I suggest "sdrubble's HUD modifications" as a title for your new viewtopic in expansion packs. That way a simple search for hud will always bring it up in the future. And the title will then also be applicable to any other hud modifications. In fact, just put all modifications you have to show there for any hud you do modify. Screenshots, script details, author disclaimers, etc, all in one location.

Posting a copy of the authors disclaimer if he has one would be a good idea when starting a series of posts on modifying it.

With regards to making available copies of huds with your mods in them, I will have to sort of go with one of Thargoid's recent posts regarding captured thargoids, I think, and say it's ok to give a few select people copies by PM but otherwise, no. The requirements posted in my hud readmes require renaming everything uniquely to avoid conflicts. That still stands. A lot of work but necessary for general dstribution of your own hud. I would also like to avoid having third parties distribute what is in effect the exact same hud with only a few minor tweeks. New distributions should be significantly different, in effect, using chupacabrahud as a framework for a new hud, or perhaps attached directly to a ship itself just like it's done in the oxp for the chupacabra ship itself.

In any event it is probably best just to post a script mod in the viewtopic that people can use to modify thier own copy of a hud. It leaves it on people to make thier own changes and be responsible for them. This would be the lowest maintenance approach for everyone and leave responsibility to the one modifying. And, who knows. If a modification is posted that works well and is popular and adds something meaningful, then it stands a chance of the original author eventually posting an updated version with those mods included.

Anyway, rock on sdrubble and feel free to pursue this in it's own thread. From what I see as to the number of downloads and interest in personalizing this hud, you may find there is indeed an audience for this. Cheers!

[sdrubble]

Great CSOTB !!!

Re your post above, I happen to agree on most everything you said, so no need to repeat, comment, or quote.

It's great to learn that a lot of people are enjoying this youngest 'child' of yours (just as I do myself), and that you're also happy about that. OTOH, due to its complexity and tweakability, I'm also eager to share and explain the tweaks I've been doing, what I intend to be doing soon in another thread, so that other Commanders might also become interested in actually getting their hands dirty and experimenting with their own tweaks.

Cheers - take care !!!

[CommonSenseOTB]

I look forward to reading your thread sdrubble. Carry on!

[ace\56]

That is one sweet hud

[CommonSenseOTB]

That is one sweet hud

Thanx. That is one sweet avatar. Does humpty ever fall off the wall?

[sdrubble]

It's great to learn that a lot of people are enjoying this youngest 'child' of yours (just as I do myself), and that you're also happy about that. OTOH, due to its complexity and tweakability, I'm also eager to share and explain the tweaks I've been doing, what I intend to be doing soon in another thread, so that other Commanders might also become interested in actually getting their hands dirty and experimenting with their own tweaks.

Well, while my former plans about this have become somewhat different (i.e., first things first ), something along these lines is starting to take shape HERE , with more stuff still heating up in the oven.

All visits and comments are warmly welcome !

Cheers

[sdrubble]

If you read my previous posts in this thread you can have an idea of the time and effort I've put into tweaking the ChupacabraHUD for my own enjoyment (and also, of course, for subsequent sharing).

Then I'm sure you'll understand that I'm indeed sad when sharing here a quote of myself (from THIS POST):

[rant]

BTW, I should add that I've (finally !!!) given up on ChupacabraHUD due to its combat-unfriendliness. Even after tweaking ALL of its elements for increased transparency, and tweaking both GUIs for maximum info display (also with high transparency), and tolerating its frequent script hiccups on my low-spec netbook, the last two nails in its coffin were put in place last night. First one when I got TWO compasses superimposed (one within the other), and second one after fiddling with the totally counter-intuitive pylon cycling sequence (when frenetically trying to cycle to the desired pylon in an emergency and overshooting the intended PYLON for THREE consecutive passes). Doing that with 16 loaded pylons, and also wearing the wrong pair of glasses, just made me scream ENOUGH !!!

[/rant]

I must add that I DID enjoy playing with the ChupacabraHUD for a while - it's visual effects are indeed interesting to watch. But after realizing it was really interfering with my combat prowess - which, I must admit, has never really been THAT good from the start - the time has come to choose another HUD, or maybe return to the one I was previously using.

Thx a lot and cheers

[CommonSenseOTB]

Oh you're very welcome sdrubble and nice rant by the way!

I had a good belly laugh there thanx.

Apparently on checking my download numbers there are really quite a lot of people who may disagree with you, it is that popular for something which should be a niche item and I never expected even a quarter of the interest it has received.

Oh well, whenever I get around to it there will be an interesting new version of this hud. Maybe before the apocalypse?

[sdrubble]

Oh you're very welcome sdrubble and nice rant by the way!

I had a good belly laugh there thanx.

Haha... it wasn't actually meant to be funny, but it seems that my ever-present sense of humour expresses itself involuntarily sometimes...

Apparently on checking my download numbers there are really quite a lot of people who may disagree with you, it is that popular for something which should be a niche item and I never expected even a quarter of the interest it has received.

Good to learn that, and regardless of what I said I must agree it's a really interesting add-on.

... there will be an interesting new version of this hud. Maybe before the apocalypse?

Since you've mentioned it, man, you'd better hurry then - if I'm interpreting correctly my sources Sources's hints, you should have a few weeks left.

Cheers - we'll all very soon burn together.

[CommonSenseOTB]

... there will be an interesting new version of this hud. Maybe before the apocalypse?

Since you've mentioned it, man, you'd better hurry then - if I'm interpreting correctly my sources Sources's hints, you should have a few weeks left.

Cheers - we'll all very soon burn together.

Ah, well then, just enough time to pick up a few cases of Stolichnaya, the sweet neighboorhood girl that jogs by my place every week and a saddle. Yeehaw!!!