BGS - The BackgroundSet

[Cholmondely]

I see on the wikipage http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/BGS that BGS enables Joystick throttle jitter handling.

What on earth is that?
Joystick throttle?
Jitter handling?

Is this just a Windows twiddle? Does it work for Linux? I'm quite sure it doesn't for Apple.

And does it happen automatically?
Or does it have to be configured through Library/Cabal Common Library/oxpconfig.oxp etc?
Or does poor old Redspear have to dance around chanting imprecations in ancient Chaldean?

[Cody]

Jitter handling?

A goodly tale, is Jitterbug Perfume.

[Cholmondely]

Jitter handling?

A goodly tale, is Jitterbug Perfume.

Jitterbug was the forerunner of the Jive, I thought. Quite some time after the gracious gavotte!

[Cholmondely]

I see on the wikipage http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/BGS that BGS enables Joystick throttle jitter handling.

What on earth is that?
Joystick throttle?
Jitter handling?

And does it happen automatically?
Or does it have to be configured through Library/Cabal Common Library/oxpconfig.oxp etc?
Or does poor old Redspear have to dance around chanting imprecations in ancient Chaldean?

Finally worked this one out. No good for my Mac as the handful of compliant joysticks don't jitter. But:

BGS enables Joystick throttle jitter handling:
If you are docked, have the Library.oxp loaded, and are running BGS 2.5.1, you can access this through the F4 ship-station interface page's Config for AddOns heading.
Select list settings, and then select BGS. Then select values - and it is your first option.

I don't quite know what the values actually do. Some sort of comment/guide would be good, and I can then paste your response into the wiki for others to see.

0.002
D:0.002
R:0.0001-0.1

[Cody]

I don't use the throttle on my joystick, I prefer the keyboard for that, so no input from me on jitter.



Do you not use a joystick, Cholly?

[Cholmondely]

Do you not use a joystick, Cholly?

Most of the time, no. It's the throttle which really makes the experience for me - and the AppleMac, being a Jobsian joke, has issues when I link the two together (either failing to recognise the throttle or mixing the buttons up with those on the joystick). I do have a windows gadget (awkward thing), but the graphics are horrendous. So I use the Mac, which I'm much more used to, anyway.

(Edited to add:) Juggling .oxp's & .oxz's on the Windows is an utter nightmare. At least with the Mac I know what I'm doing (I think...).

[Cholmondely]

Suggestion for the future.

Would there be any chance of someone, at some stage, combining the graphic elements (spiderweb jump sequence & GUI alterations) from BGS 1.10.9 with those in the newer BGS, and allowing a choice between the two using Library.oxp?

I am concerned that having both CCL (needed for BGS 1.10.9) & Library loaded simultaneously might be causing clashes, and all the duplication seems silly.

Was there a reason that this was not done originally?

Edited (3rd March 2022)

Done! By Tsoj!

See here for details/download

[Cholmondely]

I would like to know a little more about BGS-XMapping support on LongRangeChart and how it is used?

BGS-XMapping is a additional module for BGS (not available yet, but the support for it is already in BGS-A and BGS-M). It displays the named regions and spacelanes from ClymAngus maps via overlay on the Long Range Chart. The script checks the position of the cursor (red cross) against sets of inserted polys or lines. Supported are 4 different types of shapes (Rectangle, Circle, NPoly and Line). To speed up the processing inserted shapes are getting a bounding box internally.

BGS-XMapping.oxp will start the player with only 1 region (The old worlds) and 1 lane in G1. From time to time players will receive a update via Snoopers for the current galaxy and over time they have all regions and lanes together. OXPs can expand on that and insert own maps. Additionally there is functionality for 'special maps' (e.g. all Navy HQs) and OXPs can insert own overlays. The special maps are handled differently as there is no position check for them, but they can be activated by steering the cursor over the areas on the right side. The functionality can be controlled in the same way. The right side has areas for switching the mapping on/off, toggles for regions and lanes and three slots for special maps and cycling through the available special maps. If no maps are available in the current galaxy (right now) BGS disables the feature.

The insertion is not documented, simply because BGS-X is not finished yet and we won't get it out before christmas, which is my fault - updates for the other OXPs and some RL productions have eaten my time .-) G6 is nearly completed, but progress is really slow atm. I'll upload the current status and send you the link with some instructions how to use the insertion.

Cody - is this the reference to "blanked-out maps" which Svengali was apparently working on?

Edited to add emphasis.

For reference:

BGS originally came in chunks (back in 2010):

The packs:

BGS-A was the all-inclusive version to get a consistent pack. It included BGS-C, BGS-I and BGS-M.

The following single packs had been released:

BGS-C was a modified version of Aegidians customsounds.oxp, based on Oolite's customsounds.plist.
BGS-I was a set of background images, based on Oolite's screenbackgrounds.plist.
BGS-M was a script controlling ambient music and ambient sounds plus a few special sound effects.

2013 upload by Svengali: "BGS_XMapping.jpg"
Notice the rather dim buttons the right: toggle map/toggle areas/toggle lanes/cycle specials etc.

[Cody]

Cody - is this the reference to "blanked-out maps" which Svengali was apparently working on?

BGS-XMapping - yes, that's the one, though I might've mis-remembered it! Shows how bad my memory has become.

[Cholmondely]

Cody - is this the reference to "blanked-out maps" which Svengali was apparently working on?

BGS-XMapping - yes, that's the one, though I might've mis-remembered it! Shows how bad my memory has become.

Did the .oxp ever see the light of day?

[Cody]

I was experimenting with it, and in this post so was JazHaz - so yes, it must've done.
Or perhaps it was just a temporary feature in an earlier release of BGS.

[Cholmondely]

I was experimenting with it, and in this post so was JazHaz - so yes, it must've done.
Or perhaps it was just a temporary feature in an earlier release of BGS.

Umm... seems more like the functionality built in to BGS (hence JazHaz's references to GalNavy SecCom Bases) than the identically-named .oxp which blanked the map.

I understood what Svengali typed above as referring to these two quite different things.

I presume that the functionality is already built into BGS - see 1.2.3 in https://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/BGS_Doc - and see how it's missing in the later https://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/BGS2_Doc (from 2016)

Edited to add:
I've been poking through Svengali's Box account: https://app.box.com/s/h78y01lg9b

Nothing there with the right name. One or two possible-looking items, but I don't know enough...

Murgh: There are some re-jigs of your early work in there too!

[Cody]

Then you now know more than I remember.

Murgh: There are some re-jigs of your early work in there too!

Trawling through my Box for something, I find I have a MurghsStations2.1 oxp (updated 2014). Any use to you, Murgh?

[Old Murgh]

Then you now know more than I remember.

Murgh: There are some re-jigs of your early work in there too!

Trawling through my Box for something, I find I have a MurghsStations2.1 oxp (updated 2014). Any use to you, Murgh?

I have my old work, and one of the curated updates, Murghs_Stations2.0. A meaningful upgrade?

[Cody]

A meaningful upgrade?

No idea - it's here if you want to take a look.