[UPDATED RELEASE] - Escort Contracts OXP - 1.5.6 (07/05/12)

[Norby]

Chimrod simply contributed a bugfix (1.6.2), and instead of passing it along to the maintainers, took it upon themselves to post a new version to the wiki and repository. They don't seem to have taken over as maintainer. So I'd be inclined to regard it as presently still in the hands of Keeper, ZygoUgo and Norby, at the moment.

My work was very small only so I think there is no active maintainer just a manifest owner in the oxz admin page at the moment who is probably Chimrod. I think phkb can pm to Chimrod and in the case of no answer can ask cim for the manifest ownership and update it.

[Fritz]

I installed this OXP, hoping that it will (some day) be compatible with my company freighters OXP, but I found several issues occuring without my OXP being involved.

1.) I don't know if it is by design, but it can happen (with or without this OXP) that I arrive in the next system several seconds ahead (!) of the ship I have been following through a wormhole. Normally this is only strange and not a real problem, but in combination with Escort Contracts I get the message that I have failed to follow the trader. When the trader finally shows up, the mission part seems to work though, including the messages I get, the advanced space compass and the torus synchronization.

2.) When we arrived at the station aegis, the trader stopped completely for 10 or 20 seconds. I thought his AI was stuck, but finally he moved on.

3.) The worst thing happened at the destination station: The trader failed to dock and ended up blocking the docking port, forcing a transporter to crash and forcing me to squeeze my Python around him (he didn't seem to have a docking clearance, otherwise the transporter and me wouldn't have gotten one).

4.) The next problem was that I didn't get any reward for my job and my hazardous docking maneuver. And it had been a really hard run!

On the next run, the wormhole issue (1) didn't show up, and on arriving at the station aegis, the trader thanked me for helping. Did the wormhole issue break the rest of the mission? Probably, but ...

5.) ... docking still was a problem. This time he made it, but it took much longer than usual and looked like a Jameson trying to dock for the first time. Why does this OXP need to have a different docking AI?

After docking, I was paid, so the wormhole issue (1, probably leading to 2, 3, and 4), seems to be the only serious bug.

But...

6.) ... after launching for the second run, the trader had two NPC escorts, and they followed him through the wormhole. But I lost track of them when we started to hurry through the destination system. These escorts should be either omitted completely or they should be able to follow the trader.

7.) I found the following in the log (immediately after docking):

00:44:08.923 [files.notFound]: ----- WARNING: Could not find texture file "escort_contracts_bkg2c.png".
00:44:08.959 [script.javaScript.warning.ooliteDefined]: ----- JavaScript warning (Escort_Contracts 1.6.2): mission.runScreen(): texture "escort_contracts_bkg2c.png" could not be found.

I assume that the success screen should have a background like the contract selection screens (although personally I prefer these screens without background).

8.) Another minor issue is that the escort contracts don't show up every time on the contract screen. But they can appear with "0 contracts available", so what's the difference?

Finally, there are two OXP compatibility issues, the first one is quite serious:

1.) The trader is talking far too much. In combination with comms pack A this is more than annoying, especially during a fight! It just keeps saying "incoming message... incoming message... incoming message... incoming message... incoming message..." Of course he has to communicate somehow, but he doesn't need to say "Pirate detected, prepare for combat!" about every second while I'm already busy fighting them:

00:21:56.419 [LogEvents]: Player got message from Boa 15566 : Brigand detected. Prepare for combat!
00:21:57.782 [LogEvents]: Player got message from Boa 15566 : Marauder detected. Prepare for combat!
00:21:59.146 [LogEvents]: Player got message from Boa 15566 : Criminal detected. Prepare for combat!
00:22:00.426 [LogEvents]: Player got message from Boa 15566 : Criminal detected. Prepare for combat!
00:22:01.783 [LogEvents]: Player got message from Boa 15566 : Marauder detected. Prepare for combat!

He should say this only if my condition isn't red already, and IMHO this message could be omitted completely. A player escorting a trader should be aware of his surroundings and look out for pirates himself!

2.) The trader name used for communication and targeting is shown as "Trader <name>'s Boa". Randomshipnames leaves this as it is, so the ship doesn't get a name. I would like to escort a ship like "Lave Express" or "Moons of Tionisla", especially if my company freighter OXP is running, and not some bug-named pilot, but perhaps that's only me. In any case, this will probably need fixes in the naming OXPs too.

[phkb]

I don't know about all the issues but one is straightforward to fix:

7.) I found the following in the log (immediately after docking):

00:44:08.923 [files.notFound]: ----- WARNING: Could not find texture file "escort_contracts_bkg2c.png".
00:44:08.959 [script.javaScript.warning.ooliteDefined]: ----- JavaScript warning (Escort_Contracts 1.6.2): mission.runScreen(): texture "escort_contracts_bkg2c.png" could not be found.

This is the issue with capital letters in filenames. The file in question is named "escort_contracts_bkg2C.png". Renaming the file to use a lowercase "c" will correct that issue.

[Fritz]

Ah, ok, thank you! I'm planning to have a look at the OXP internals myself next weekend or perhaps earlier. I'll fix the filename tomorrow... it has become quite late again...

[Keeper]

And you might look into 1.5.9. Not sure how well even that runs in current Oolite, but it's bound to be better than 1.5.6.

[Fritz]

I've used the integrated OXZ installer, so I assume that I have the newest version. But I'll check this evening.

Edit: It's version 1.6.2 from 2015-06-07.

[Fritz]

A little update. I located most of the bugs and fixed some of them:

1.) (wormhole arrival order) located, but it will probably not be easy to fix (at least with my current OXP knowledge).
2.), 3.), and 4.) are follow-up bugs of 1.), so no need to find them if bug 1 can be fixed
5.) is not a bug. There actually is a different docking AI, and it works, albeit more slowly and awkward than the usual one.
6.) is fixed. The number of escorts was set to 0 in shipdata.plist, but escort_roles had been left unchanged.
7.) has been found by phkb and is fixed (upper or lower case in file names should be irrelevant under Windows, so it seems a little strange to me)
8.) ("0 contracts available") is located but not fixed yet. It occurs when contract creation is started but none of the possible destination planets is selected (there is a second level of randomness). This should be easy to fix.

But meanwhile I had a new bug: One of the ships I was escorting went into a fleeing mode during a battle (at normal top speed, not injector speed) and I was unable to get it back to normal.

I made the OXP compatible with Randomshipnames and my freighter texture OXP, and both combinations (and the combination of the three) are working fine already. It's very helpful if the freighter you are escorting is visually different from a pirate Python!

The issues with the talkative mother have yet to be fixed. Some messages can be shortened, and some intervals between repeating the same massage can be increased. I wrongly connected this problem to Comms Pack A, but I forgot that eSpeak is part of the core game itself.

[Fritz]

Update: Now almost everything is fixed (at least I hope so). Only some strange AI behaviour keeps occurring from time to time, but it is rare and impossible to reproduce.

Trying to find bugs is the best way to understand something, and meanwhile I have not only fixed the bugs but also changed the whole OXP in a more than minor way. Most work was to change the communication messages, and now they can come in random variants, giving them a "Comms Pack A" feeling. Some messages that could be repeated over and over in a very annoying way were fixed by adding suppression code, like it was done already with other messages.

I also changed the contract assignment procedure which had a logical flaw because it only chose destination systems with lower government types than the current system. This resulted in a relatively high probability that no contracts were available at all, and even with a perfect reputation you would never be offered a contract in an anarchy. This was also the main reason of the "0 contracts available" bug.

Now that my version is almost finished, I wonder if I should release it to the public and what the recommended procedure would be. I don't want start a fork, and most of the OXP is still the work of Capt. Murphy and others, but there seems some confusion about who is "responsible" at the moment. I could upload it on my web server, but that would be confusing in the long run.

I realized today that there is a version 1.6.3 not mentioned in the wiki and not included in the OXZ installer. So my version is based on 1.6.2, and I now have to find out what was fixed with 1.6.3. Luckily I didn't try to fix the map layout issue yet!

Something like this shouldn't happen again, I think, so I better ask here before I upload anything.

[Layne]

I realized today that there is a version 1.6.3 not mentioned in the wiki and not included in the OXZ installer. So my version is based on 1.6.2, and I now have to find out what was fixed with 1.6.3. Luckily I didn't try to fix the map layout issue yet!

Correct; 1.6.3 is a quick fix version phkb put up to fix chart display errors in 1.82.

[Norby]

I wonder if I should release it to the public and what the recommended procedure would be.

I think the best if you will be the maintainer (manifest owner) of this package. The last update was made by Chimrod but he is not logged in since aug so you can send a pm and either he will not answer shortly or he allow it, you can upload the oxz into the wiki and create your own manifest entry in the admin page (ask cim for a login). Not a big problem if you can not reach Chimrod and the old version stay in the list also for a while, cim probably will remove the old entry.

[Fritz]

I already wanted to ask about the wiki. I'm active in Wikipedia and I maintain a private wiki for my calculator collection, and so I know how to use it. But in the Elite Wiki I can't even find the account creation page...

I would be honoured to be the "maintainer" of this OXP until its creator is back (I hope he will return one day). But I don't understand what being a "manifest owner" would mean in a technical sense. Would this enable me to upload versions for the OXZ installer?

For now, I'll try to include the changes made by Chimrod, and then I'll call back!

[Layne]

But in the Elite Wiki I can't even find the account creation page...

From the OXP packaging and distribution thread:

[*]Send a PM to maik, requesting a username and password for the Oolite Wiki. You will need this for uploading your finished OXZ to the wiki, and (if you wish) creating a wiki-page with information about your Expansion Pack.

[phkb]

As for the "manifest owner", this refers to who has control over the entry on the download manager. pm cim for an account.

As for the changes I made, they were pretty minor actually. The first change was just to add a screen ID to all the mission screens so that Xenon UI didn't remove all the backgrounds. The screen ID I put in was "escort-contracts".

The other change was to alter the "contract_chart" item in "missiontext.plist" to be this:

Code: Select all

	"contract_chart" = "\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[mission_ec_currentsystemname] ([mission_ec_currentsystemeco][mission_ec_currentsystemgov][mission_ec_currentsystemtech]) to [mission_ec_targetsystemname] ([mission_ec_targetecosymbol][mission_ec_targetgovsymbol][mission_ec_targettech])  Pay [mission_ec_dbcontractactualprice] € +[mission_ec_dbkillsbonus]/kill  Risk: [mission_ec_contractdifficultystars]";

That put all the details on one line and put it below the chart, rather than down the side.

I hope that helps a bit!

[Fritz]

Thank you for helping! I think, the first version should be an OXP, not an OXZ, because there will probably be issues, especially in combination with OXPs I don't have installed. If I have a "stable" version, I could make an OXZ.

phkb, are your changes part of version 1.6.3? I can't find them in the code of version 1.6.2. Or does version 1.6.2 NOT include some earlier changes? Perhaps I should compare 1.6.1, 1.6.2 and 1.6.3 to make sure.

PS: Sorry, forget it, I mixed up you and Chimrod!

[Wildeblood]

I also changed the contract assignment procedure which had a logical flaw because it only chose destination systems with lower government types than the current system. This resulted in a relatively high probability that no contracts were available at all, and even with a perfect reputation you would never be offered a contract in an anarchy.

You might not understand it, but that is not a "logical flaw", it was a design decision. The ITHA does not have offices in anarchy systems, and a trader travelling to a system as safe or safer than the one he was already in would not feel the need to hire an escort.

This was also the main reason of the "0 contracts available" bug.

Obviously that bit wasn't intentional. But no-one reported that bug to Murphy that I remember. It seems to have appeared as other people have started altering the OXP.