Oolite Bulletins

Yes, it'll let you download ones with dependency conflicts. Two reasons:
1) You might have already downloaded the required OXP in the same run. It can't tell if the dependencies are actually satisfied without doing a complete OXP reload, which can take a long time if you have a lot installed, so it only does that reload if anything's changed when you exit the manager.
2) The dependency might not be available through the manager at all, so you might want to set the download going while you go on the internet to look for it.

Incidentally: you can put manifest.plist files in OXPs. They won't do anything in 1.77.1, but if you have an OXP which other OXPs might either depend on or conflict with, add a manifest.plist the next time you update it, and when we get this into a release Oolite will pick it up as "manually installed". This will help stop people ending up with two copies - perhaps different versions - of the same OXP installed, though I imagine we'll still get a bit of that to start with.

Diziet Sma wrote:

You guys really do keep the exciting stuff under your hats until almost ready to go

There's been a public branch on Github for weeks, so it's more "secrecy through obscurity". It's just that now we can create branches easily, we don't have to have half-finished things cluttering up the nightly builds, so you tend to get the big stuff arriving in at least a mostly working state.

kanthoney's fancy joystick configurator code has been merged into the trunk with commit 1aa6022 and will be available for test by the community in tomorrow's nightly builds. For those who are not aware of what this exactly is, have a look at the screens below, they should be quite self-explanatory.

Since, as you may be aware, most dev team members do not use joysticks, we will have to rely on your feedback for this one. Please let us know how it works for you, if there are things that could/should be done better or differently and don't forget to include in your reports the type of joystick you use.

Despite being a 'stick user, I've never configured one properly - this will have me scratching my head. Cool!

Cody wrote:

Despite being a 'stick user, I've never configured one properly

Likewise.. but I understand the principles involved.. I think you'll like it, Cody.

cim wrote:

Secondly, there's a new way to install expansion packs
...
If you'd like yours to be in the list, then there are two major changes needed for most people's OXPs:

1) You must package them in OXZ format with a [wiki]manifest.plist[/wiki]. Oolite needs the single-file packaging format and provided data to know what it's installing and how.

Is there any plans to also include a similar way to remove or at least disable already-installed OXPs/OXZs?

Switeck wrote:

Is there any plans to also include a similar way to remove or at least disable already-installed OXPs/OXZs?

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking, so:
- OXZs installed using the installer can also be removed using it
- the installer does not touch the manual installation "AddOns" directory at all - it uses a separate folder.
- if manually installed OXPs or OXZs have a manifest.plist, the installer will use that information.
- selective disabling of installed OXPs (without having to remove and re-download) is probably a useful feature but not available yet. Probably not from me for 1.80.

Ok, I'll try to convert my "better" OXPs over to the OXZ format.
Auto-ECM
Misjump Inducer
Cargo Contract Mod (Still working on this ATM too)

I'd do Switeck's Shipping as well, but it's a complex mod and I'm not sure what changes you've already made in v1.79 (I need to play-test it some more).
It has improved AI behaviors relative to "basic" Oolite v1.76 but has too much hard-coded in terms of what equipment ships have...and whether they can be pirates.

Incidentally in Oolite v1.79 ...I'm noticing that Rock Hermits tend to be all alone without the usual Asteroid field they used to have around them in the past. This means I basically never see a miner anymore.

Switeck wrote:

Incidentally in Oolite v1.79 ...I'm noticing that Rock Hermits tend to be all alone without the usual Asteroid field they used to have around them in the past. This means I basically never see a miner anymore.

The on-lane hermits should still have asteroids around them, at least for the first couple of hours after arriving in the system.

No shortage of rocks, or miners, here.

cim wrote:

Switeck wrote:

Incidentally in Oolite v1.79 ...I'm noticing that Rock Hermits tend to be all alone without the usual Asteroid field they used to have around them in the past. This means I basically never see a miner anymore.

The on-lane hermits should still have asteroids around them, at least for the first couple of hours after arriving in the system.

An unexpected side-effect of some OXP, perhaps? I've had a couple of cases of weird behaviour in 1.79 due to OXPs already.. and from OXPs that one would not normally suspect, at that.

Yes, it'll let you download ones with dependency conflicts

I think that kind of issue must be addressed elsewhere anyway. There is a large number of OXPs. Some are dependant of others, some do similar things, some are incompatible with each others. Putting together consistent OXP lists (and also maybe by difficulty or role - pirate, trader, Galcop/Navy member, miner) could be a job for the community. It already started to do so with 4 recommended OXPs lists.

I imagine this cuts box.com (and most other file-hosting services, for that matter) out as an option then.. their links always result in a "click here to download" button.

That would a minor limitation; box.com is a nice, no BS service. I don't mind the manual download (why would I? It's what I've always been doing) if it can install from a local folder, which seems to be the case.

Astrobe wrote:

I imagine this cuts box.com (and most other file-hosting services, for that matter) out as an option then.. their links always result in a "click here to download" button.

That would a minor limitation; box.com is a nice, no BS service. I don't mind the manual download (why would I? It's what I've always been doing) if it can install from a local folder, which seems to be the case.

Oh, I don't mind the manual downloads.. it just means that such services can't be used for hosting OXZs, which is a pity, since, as you said, box.com provides an excellent service.

cim wrote:

Switeck wrote:

Incidentally in Oolite v1.79 ...I'm noticing that Rock Hermits tend to be all alone without the usual Asteroid field they used to have around them in the past. This means I basically never see a miner anymore.

The on-lane hermits should still have asteroids around them, at least for the first couple of hours after arriving in the system.

The rock hermits I'm going to tend to be rather off-lane. I guess these are presumed to have "mined out" the area they're in.

Do ship oxps have to be updated into oxzs? I thought I heard they might not, but if they weren't they would not take advantage of the new ai features and such. I read over the topic, but didn't find an answer.

The two are independent.

OXZ vs OXP is about how the expansion pack is packaged and given to users. The new OXZ format is intended for easier (and sometimes automatic) installation. Both formats support all features.

There are a number of new features relevant to ships - new standard roles, and new AIs - which will generally not be applied by default to ship expansion packs written for 1.77 or earlier. The packs should still work at a 1.77-like level, but to use the new features will need an update.

In ideal circumstances I think that the ship OXPs would be updated to use the new features and also repackaged to OXZ format, but people can do both, one or neither as they wish and it will still work.