BGS - The BackgroundSet

[Svengali]

Nice, Dizzy.
I guess the link should be placed on the BGS and/or Halsis Wiki page...

[MrDorakeen]

Finally feel I have something to share. (first time posting) So a BIG Thank You to everyone who puts time and effort into the whole project! I have been nostalgic and happy for many years.

My own tastes like the radio chatter, but don't like that it's constant. I figure that real radio chatter is going to go in bursts, and I wanted a way to simulate that. Not finding a solution in a quick romp through readme files and forums posts, I took a look at the files. Didn't want to take time away from my other coding projects, so here's my quick and dirty solution:

First, I created some .ogg files that were silence for varying amounts of time, from 5 seconds to 45 seconds.

I copied these files into the Sounds directory of the oxp.

Added the following lines to the end of the customsounds.plist:

Code: Select all

"[red_silence05]" = "silence05.ogg";
"[red_silence10]" = "silence10.ogg";
"[red_silence15]" = "silence15.ogg";
"[red_silence20]" = "silence20.ogg";
"[red_silence25]" = "silence25.ogg";
"[red_silence30]" = "silence30.ogg";
"[red_silence35]" = "silence35.ogg";
"[red_silence40]" = "silence40.ogg";
"[red_silence45]" = "silence45.ogg";

And modified the following line in BGS-M.js

Code: Select all

this.chatterPool = ["[bgs_fxChatter0]","[red_silence45]","[bgs_fxChatter1]","[red_silence40]",
		"[bgs_fxChatter2]","[red_silence35]","[bgs_fxChatter3]","[red_silence30]","[bgs_fxChatter4]",
		"[red_silence25]","[bgs_fxChatter5]","[red_silence20]","[bgs_fxChatter6]","[red_silence15]",
		"[bgs_fxChatter7]","[red_silence15]","[bgs_fxChatter8]","[red_silence15]","[bgs_fxChatter9]",
		"[red_silence10]","[bgs_fxChatterA]","[red_silence10]","[bgs_fxChatterB]","[red_silence10]",
		"[bgs_fxChatterC]","[red_silence10]","[bgs_fxChatterD]","[red_silence05]","[bgs_fxChatterE]",
		"[red_silence05]","[bgs_fxChatterF]"];

WooHoo! It's working. Perhaps a bit too sporadic now, but deleting some of the silence entries in the this.chatterPool array should fix that.

If I were to code it, I would take this approach:
Set up two delay ranges, a response time (very short) and a pause time (long).
The response pauses would be between 1 and 10 seconds.
The longer pauses from 10 to 60 seconds.
Optimally, these would be user-settable.
Each burst of chatter would be from 1 to 5 bits of chatter, with a response pause between them, then a long pause.

I sincerely apologize if I have stepped on anyone's toes here. Just wanted to give a little back.

[Diziet Sma]

I've added a similar patch for BGS-M to the zip, and placed a link on both Wiki pages.

[Svengali]

Heyho MrDorakeen,

nice one and welcome onboard .-)

There's a simpler way though. Simply change (BGS-M.js: 579 in this.changePlay):

Code: Select all

this.bgsCounter.chatterScatter = Math.ceil(((Math.random()*24)+1)/(l.length+1));

The array l contains the ships around the station. Just replace the 24 with a higher value, e.g. 150. As you can see the more ships are there the shorter the interval. It is not exactly a 'burst' as it is just a interval between the files, but a lot easier .-)

@Dizzy: Cool. Muchas gracias.

[Diziet Sma]

You know what I just realised is missing from BGS? A soundtrack for the F4 screen. Something soft and not too distracting, if you know what I mean, so there isn't just silence. If it also played on any sub-screens as well, that would be great.

[Cody]

A soundtrack for the F4 screen. Something soft and not too distracting...

Every time I visit a rock hermit, I hit F4 just to hear the subtle sound effect (even though I know there are no contracts available - one day, I'll design an OXP for that)!

[MrDorakeen]

Ah - much simpler!

Brute-forcing worked ok, but that's what I get for not taking the time to read more.

Thanks!

[Svengali]

You know what I just realised is missing from BGS? A soundtrack for the F4 screen. Something soft and not too distracting, if you know what I mean, so there isn't just silence. If it also played on any sub-screens as well, that would be great.

??? Silence ??? The music continues like on other screens...

The exception is OXP inserted contracts. As Oolites handling has switched to plain standard missionscreens for the interface subscreens BGS uses the screenID. But it can only do it for screens with specific IDs. So if you refer to a OXP callback inserted screen it won't work as long as it doesn't use a screenID starting with "oolite-".

[Diziet Sma]

Hmm.. ok.. guess my memory is slipping.. again..

[Svengali]

Hmm.. ok.. guess my memory is slipping.. again..

Nah .-) The more I think about it - probably you were referring to the fx part. Most other screens have a fx sound (e.g. the 'ping' on F7). The interface subscreens don't have it - only the music continues. This has to do with the way BGS checks things. For the docked fx stuff 'player' and 'player.ship' properties are checked, but the screenID is a property of the 'mission' object. I'll add some checks for the next version.

[JeX]

Greetings!

I have just registered for this astonishingly friendly forum after having played Oolite and its numerous OXPs for around a month or so.
I have been hooked ever since I took on a transportation mission and finishing it with 1 minute to spare on the deadline. I have never experienced that much adrenaline while playing ever, landing in the system, dodging pirates with guns blazing and throwing my ship into the docking entrance of the station in order to reach it in time. So awesome.
Or should I mention the time when some shady person offered me a little trumble that I unknowingly bought without knowing the consequences? O_o Luckily I figured out on my own how to get rid of it (them!) without burning down my ship, so to speak!

The game truly reminds me (and far exceeds) of the days as a 10 year old spending all night playing Elite just for that one more trading mission!

I have recently tested out 1.77 and oh boy is it fast, furious and quite an amazing update for the 1.76! I have found no bugs (I played from scratch) so far but I did realise that I cannot live without the ambience OXPs, at all, especially not the BGS.
To my horror I found that when trying to download the BGS 1.77 from box.net I am unable to because of bandwidth issues for that particular user. Is that something you can look into sooner rather than later? I need my ambience!

Currently flying Galaxy 1 thin with my trusty Cmk1 (bought on game start) with upgraded beam lasers, witchdrive injectors and a fuel scoop. I found that a very easy start for making a lot of money fast. Well, as fast as you want it to anyway without getting totally distracted ^_^

[Cody]

Hi JeX and welcome...

To my horror I found that when trying to download the BGS 1.77 from box.net I am unable to because of bandwidth issues for that particular user.

I think Svengali is in the process of moving some OXPs. Links removed!

[JazHaz]

To my horror I found that when trying to download the BGS 1.77 from box.net

BGS current version is at 1.6, not 1.77.

[JeX]

Hi JeX and welcome...

To my horror I found that when trying to download the BGS 1.77 from box.net I am unable to because of bandwidth issues for that particular user.

I think Svengali is in the process of moving some OXPs. Here's a temporary link to BGS-A1.6 - CCL 1.7 is here too.

Thanks a lot. The links on the BGS wiki immediately sent me to the "bandwidth exceeded" error on box.net.

To my horror I found that when trying to download the BGS 1.77 from box.net

BGS current version is at 1.6, not 1.77.

Ok, obviously I meant the version compatible with Oolite 1.77 but thanks for the correction!

[Diziet Sma]

G'day JeX, and welcome aboard!

I have been hooked ever since I took on a transportation mission and finishing it with 1 minute to spare on the deadline. I have never experienced that much adrenaline while playing ever, landing in the system, dodging pirates with guns blazing and throwing my ship into the docking entrance of the station in order to reach it in time. So awesome.

I got quite a chuckle out of your little tale.. it reminded me of the time I wound up cutting a passenger-run really close.. it's written up here. If you feel inclined, we'd love to read a more detailed description of your adventure in the Tales from the Spacelanes thread.