Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE Starting this *@*#~&ing .oxp

Discussion and information relevant to creating special missions, new ships, skins etc.

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MrFlibble
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Re: Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE Starting this *@*#~&ing .oxp

Post by MrFlibble »

Cholmondely wrote: Tue May 06, 2025 9:27 am
Scenario.plist Savefiles for new game starts

I'm stuck.


I started my Galactic_start.oxp using a "neutral" save file titled "Jameson - Full game - unhacked".

(The strict game Jameson would only load up a strict game).

I created another 15 based on this with riveting names such as "G7 Qutegequ.oolite-save".

I then start up a game with "G7 Qutegequ.oolite-save" (to modify the checksum) and then save it, and quit. The name in the save dialogue box is "Jameson - Full game - unhacked". Presumably from the old checksum? I then re-open the OXP and change the old checksum in the relevant Jameson save.


It should now be ready for somebody to use as a new Jameson.


But when I start up a second game with shift held down and with the re-checksummed "G7 Qutegequ.oolite-save" - and then try to save it, the name in my dialogue box is still "Jameson - Full game - unhacked".



Why is this happening?

And what should I do about it?
I'm guessing you just made copies and renamed them with Finder. Doing that may cause some confusion with naming as the save name is also stored in the file.

An excerpt from my file Flibble-Z4-20250506-01.oolite-save

Code: Select all

    <key>player_save_name</key>
    <string>Flibble-Z4-20250506-01</string>
You can either edit that key as well as the filename, or simply save the file from Oolite with different names, which will embed the save name properly, and save a bit of editing.
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Re: Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE Starting this *@*#~&ing .oxp

Post by Cholmondely »

You, sir, are a genius!

"Digby - treble his salary - immediately!"


Edited to add: It works!
Last edited by Cholmondely on Tue May 06, 2025 6:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Comments wanted:
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Re: Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE Starting this *@*#~&ing .oxp

Post by Wildeblood »

Cholmondely wrote: Tue May 06, 2025 9:27 am
I then start up a game with "G7 Qutegequ.oolite-save" (to modify the checksum) and then save it, and quit. The name in the save dialogue box is "Jameson - Full game - unhacked". Presumably from the old checksum? I then re-open the OXP and change the old checksum in the relevant Jameson save.
:!: The first thing you do is STOP fretting about the checksum. It's not what you think it is. Just stop thinking about it, and you can't edit a file to modify it, that's not how a checksum works.
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Re: Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE Starting this *@*#~&ing .oxp

Post by Cholmondely »

Wildeblood wrote: Tue May 06, 2025 4:47 pm
:!: The first thing you do is STOP fretting about the checksum. It's not what you think it is. Just stop thinking about it, and you can't edit a file to modify it, that's not how a checksum works.
When I started modifying the Jamesons and flying them, the big problem was that the money was reset to 100₢ each time I reloaded the Save File after playing for a bit. Hence my fretting about checksums.
Comments wanted:
Missing OXPs? What do you think is missing?
Lore: The economics of ship building How many built for Aronar?
Lore: The Space Traders Flight Training Manual: Cowell & MgRath Do you agree with Redspear?
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Re: Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE Starting this *@*#~&ing .oxp

Post by hiran »

Since when is this check in the game?

I was wondering myself that there is no such check when I raised my money to buy big ships or increased the auto repair kits to benefit from in-combat repairs.

:roll:
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Re: Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE Starting this *@*#~&ing .oxp

Post by Cholmondely »

hiran wrote: Wed May 07, 2025 6:22 am
Since when is this check in the game?

I was wondering myself that there is no such check when I raised my money to buy big ships or increased the auto repair kits to benefit from in-combat repairs.

:roll:
So, I've seen two things.

1) My money getting reset to 100₢ on re-loading a new-ish "scenario.plist-ed starting Jameson" with a different account balance.
2) Sarcastic comments in my Latest.log.

And I've also seen mentions of edited-out Trumbles re-appearing.

The checksum was originally introduced by Aegidian to the vanilla game code. I'm dubious about the extent to which it has been updated/tweaked over the years. The small amount of check-summation that there is seems humorous to me. More would seem a bit pointless - why would you care if I cheat - and vice versa?
Comments wanted:
Missing OXPs? What do you think is missing?
Lore: The economics of ship building How many built for Aronar?
Lore: The Space Traders Flight Training Manual: Cowell & MgRath Do you agree with Redspear?
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Re: Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE Starting this *@*#~&ing .oxp

Post by Wildeblood »

Cholmondely wrote: Wed May 07, 2025 6:54 am
And I've also seen mentions of edited-out Trumbles re-appearing.
This is what it does, nothing else.

I'd suggest your credit balance reverting was a simple case of thought you'd saved after making changes, but actually forgot to save.
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Re: Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE Starting this *@*#~&ing .oxp

Post by Cholmondely »

Wildeblood wrote: Wed May 07, 2025 7:07 am
I'd suggest your credit balance reverting was a simple case of thought you'd saved after making changes, but actually forgot to save.
Alas, no. It happened several times (G1, G2 & G7) - and each time I'd changed the name of the Jameson save file.
Comments wanted:
Missing OXPs? What do you think is missing?
Lore: The economics of ship building How many built for Aronar?
Lore: The Space Traders Flight Training Manual: Cowell & MgRath Do you agree with Redspear?
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Re: Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE Starting this *@*#~&ing .oxp

Post by hiran »

Cholmondely wrote: Wed May 07, 2025 7:38 am
Wildeblood wrote: Wed May 07, 2025 7:07 am
I'd suggest your credit balance reverting was a simple case of thought you'd saved after making changes, but actually forgot to save.
Alas, no. It happened several times (G1, G2 & G7) - and each time I'd changed the name of the Jameson save file.
Disclose the message you see in the logs. We might check where they stem from.
Would that be the vanilla Oolite code or some OXP?
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Re: Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE Starting this *@*#~&ing .oxp

Post by Cholmondely »

hiran wrote: Wed May 07, 2025 7:31 pm
Disclose the message you see in the logs. We might check where they stem from.
Would that be the vanilla Oolite code or some OXP?
Alas, those are long gone - a month ago. From my current OXP-to-be Galactic_start (for want of a better name).
Comments wanted:
Missing OXPs? What do you think is missing?
Lore: The economics of ship building How many built for Aronar?
Lore: The Space Traders Flight Training Manual: Cowell & MgRath Do you agree with Redspear?
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Re: Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE Starting this *@*#~&ing .oxp

Post by Wildeblood »

Cholmondely wrote: Wed May 07, 2025 7:47 pm
From my current OXP-to-be Galactic_start (for want of a better name).
Galactron: New Beginnings

(Omnibus edition of the Galactron Saga, parts 1-8) Use patented Galactron Chart-o-matic technology to begin your journey of interstellar exploration where you want to start, not where you ought to start.
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