Oolite Bulletins

cim wrote:

For those paying very close attention to detail: yes, this file merges in slightly differently to a standard plist dictionary, so the OXP code there does something useful rather than overwriting the standard definition.

Could be confusing for some as this works different than other plists that replace entries. Maybe an other name like: role-categories-additions.plist when used in oxps?

Eric Walch wrote:

Could be confusing for some as this works different than other plists that replace entries. Maybe an other name like: role-categories-additions.plist when used in oxps?

Perhaps. planetinfo.plist is similar in operation, though: if you add an entry for "0 7" it doesn't override everyone else's entries for "0 7", except where exact keys conflict. In the other direction, equipment.plist doesn't merge in the usual way for an array-based plist (though admittedly you'd have to be doing something a little unusual to notice that)

The new AI/ecosystem branch is basically complete in terms of features though there's still going to be a lot of work to do on testing and balancing. Many thanks to everyone who has made suggestions.

For something a bit different, here's some work on the explosion graphics.

The texture is still a little rough in places (less noticeable if it's not a static screenshot) but the basic effect seems to be working fairly well.

Oooh... I like explosions, especially big explosions!

I haven't caught up yet with all this thread Cim, but what I have read so far is fantastic. Good job, You Da Man!

Cim the explosions look fantastic. I can' t wait to see them in game

cim wrote:

The new AI/ecosystem branch is basically complete in terms of features though there's still going to be a lot of work to do on testing and balancing. Many thanks to everyone who has made suggestions.

For something a bit different, here's some work on the explosion graphics.
...
The texture is still a little rough in places (less noticeable if it's not a static screenshot) but the basic effect seems to be working fairly well.

Gods dammit! Now I have to go and try to build the latest source from GitHub!

cim wrote:

For something a bit different, here's some work on the explosion graphics [...]

Ooh! Aah! I foresee problems for pilots getting distracted by all the explodey goodness during a big furball ...

I'm getting a little confused about all these new features for 1.79. Does that mean that 1.78 is bugfix only?

The intention is that 1.78 will just have bug fixes compared with 1.77, so that it can be the "stable" release ending that cycle of Oolite development. The importance over 1.77.1, 1.77.2, etc. is that it will be a checkpoint for features available to OXPs, just as the 1.76 releases were. As it happens, the features first released in 1.77 don't appear to have had any massive bugs which mean they need rethinking, so 1.78 will be very similar to 1.77 in capability - but that wasn't guaranteed when 1.77 was released: we could have had some big API changes in 1.77.1 if they just hadn't worked for "real" OXPing, or if there'd been some unexpected breaks in compatibility with 1.76.

1.79 will (eventually) be the first release of the next cycle of Oolite development, which after some testing and probably a few point releases 1.79.1, etc. will finish with a stable release 1.80.

The move to Github from SVN for version control makes it much easier for us to develop multiple versions in parallel, so we can be adding new features into what will become 1.79 at the same time as we fix bugs in 1.77.x to work towards 1.78. The new features are more interesting, so I talk about them more.

It's taken a few months, and twenty pages of discussion but the new NPC AI, population and behaviour is now part of master.

Here's a short video with some of the new stuff, as a pack of hunters launch from Leesti station.

That's looking seriously good cim. Excellent

<applauds> Very nice, cim - the new explosions are looking good too!

cim wrote:

It's taken a few months, and twenty pages of discussion but the new NPC AI, population and behaviour is now part of master.

Here's a short video with some of the new stuff, as a pack of hunters launch from Leesti station.

That really is looking quite brilliant.

I haven't played in ages - what's with all the (sometimes very) long ship names?

I agree that the new explosions look amazing too.