Oolite Bulletins

Thanks VSFC

It's not up there yet but soon I hope.
The more testers the merrier as far as I'm concerned, so I appreciate any and every interest

Stay tuned

Redspear wrote:

Not a clue how to use github yet, but how hard can it be?... right?

The simplest plain-english introduction to git that I've seen yet:
http://cworth.org/hgbook-git/tour/

And an excellent resource for any git-questions you might have:
http://gitready.com/

Thanks Dizzy.

Meanwhile, about half of the code for 1.81 has been posted on the previous page.
More to come after some testing and documentation for the oxp part.

Speaking of oxp, intead of overrides, I could overwrite the original config files in the source.
No oxp would be required then, if that makes things any tidier?

Redspear wrote:

Speaking of oxp, intead of overrides, I could overwrite the original config files in the source.
No oxp would be required then, if that makes things any tidier?

Hmm.. I could go either way on that one..

I understand that some may like to make use of all the other features without the ship rescaling.. but on the other hand, rescaling things is what the project is all about..

So, overall, I say, go for it.. make it part of the core.

Diziet Sma wrote:

I understand that some may like to make use of all the other features without the ship rescaling.. but on the other hand, rescaling things is what the project is all about..

So, overall, I say, go for it.. make it part of the core.

Well, some of the ship rescaling stuff has to go in the core anyway (i.e. scanner adjustments) so unless/until multiple versions are available then I suppose that makes sense.

Meanwhile, more code added to the 1.81 summary on the previous page.
Just got to crack the new torus drive (well on the way there I think) and suss out the thargoid scanner.

So, back to the tweaking...

Think I've worked out why I couldn't find the thargoid scanner in the source code... it's set in the shipdata.plist

Quite a few range based thingies are set in ShipEntity.m which may affect ship rescaling.
For example there's a line that makes miners wait until they are close enough to effectively catch up with splinters. I've already slowed the splinters but as the ships have been slowed too then it may be best to adjust that line as well. This is the kind of thing that I'm hoping will be revealed with multiple testers instead of just me.

Another thing I haven't mentioned yet is the laser graphic. With some ships shrunk to a third of their original size, the laser beam they fire may appear too thick for the laser aperture. With the new laser as it is (no longer just a line) and the nature of the circumstances and /or distance at which laser fire is initiated this is far from obvious. Even in external view from an adder, you can see it if you look for it but otherwise might not notice. I don't consider it worth tinkering with at present, especially with there now being 3 different scale categories for ships.

Getting there

Redspear wrote:

Meanwhile, more code added to the 1.81 summary on the previous page.

So how usable is that code, without having the plist tweaks?

Diziet Sma wrote:

So how usable is that code, without having the plist tweaks?

Still needs torus drive adjustments (testing now) or travelling will be quite slow, even with the new 'trunk torus'.

Also needs adjustments to ship behaviour around turret ranges and sniping (I've got at least some of them and expect releasing this thing will help to highlight the others).

Updates expected in a matter of hours.

The code on the previous page is now ready for 1.81 (at least for testing).

Left to do:

• Release oxp(/s)
• Create a fork(?) on Github

Thinking about it again, putting the shipdata stuff in oxp might make it easier for me to edit (should that be necessary) and then later I can add it to the source if all is well.

With the code changes having been released, it's now possible for someone to build from source and make the necessary changes manually. With that in mind, releasing the oxp part becomes more pressing than the github stuff.

OK, so a bit of documentation to write and the odd tweak here and there... back to work

Redspear wrote:

oolite-populator.js - lines 1474 & 1480 wrote:

t[0].heatInsulation = 20; // original value 6
gs.heatInsulation = 20; // original value 6

oolite-priorityai.js - line 2029 wrote:

(this.ship.heatInsulation > 1000/this.ship.maxSpeed || this.ship.heatInsulation >= 40)); // original value 12

A quick note as I don't have time to look over this in more detail right now ... because of the way that heat insulation works, a ship with heat insulation 12 will never heat up even if it's just above the star's surface (unless it's a nova system, where you need 100 times the heat insulation). The first change may be unnecessary; the second change it's the first number - the 1000 - that needs updating, not the 12.

cim wrote:

A quick note as I don't have time to look over this in more detail right now ...

Thanks cim, non-player sun-skimming and thargoid scanner ranges are the two elements that I can't say I've really playtested (oh, haven't tried a q-mine come to think of it...) Actually, I don't think I've ever seen a non-player in the act of sunskimming before... too much testing and not enough playing perhaps

Meanwhile, I've made the necessary oxp.
It also includes range adapted versions of the lasers from my new_lasers.oxp (plus a bonus one), but all commented out at present (you'll need to enable them should you wish).

Redspear wrote:

The code on the previous page is now ready for 1.81 (at least for testing).

Redspear wrote:

Meanwhile, I've made the necessary oxp.

Does Happy-Dance..


Thanks for your dedication and perseverance to this project, Redspear!

<rushes off to make a test-build>

A couple of (very minor) notes.

Looks like Redspear may not have been using the very latest 1.81 code. I found a couple of line-number discrepancies for PlayerEntity.m

PlayerEntity.m - [color=#FF0000]line 2658[/color] wrote:

float deceleration = (speed_delta * delta_t * HYPERSPEED_FACTOR * 2); // original has no * 2

Should be line 2670, not 2658.

PlayerEntity.m - [color=#FF0000]line 2891[/color] wrote:

double factor = ([stellar isSun]) ? 1.4 : 1.0; // original values 2.0 : 4.0

Should be line 2903, not 2891.

Ok.. I've now made all the listed changes, so it's compile-time!

Redspear wrote:

(BTW, did you ever fix that 'square blobs' problem?)

I finally got around to implementing the fix, and yes, it works.. many thanks!

Preliminary report from 2 test-flights. Oolite 1.81 build 8779252, on Win64.

(tests made with a fresh Jameson, Cobra MkIII)

Nav Beacon at Station: I'm wondering if this ought to be scaled down too?

When using Torus drive, I'm finding that often, when getting mass-locked, I'm well past the ships that mass-locked me before getting back down to normal speeds. I'm guessing this is due, at least in part, to the reduced scanner radius.

I was on Torus heading for Zaonce, watching for the compass to change to locate the Station, and perhaps I wasn't watching too closely, but I mass-locked so close to the planet that by the time I'd slowed down, I got the low-altitude alarm, and before I could fully pull up, had smacked into the planet.

Docking: I approached Zaonce Station dead slow, watching on the external view to see how much difference the rescaling had made, only to find that just before my Cobby entered the slot, I got the break-pattern, and was docked! Having seen the pic of Redspear's Adder in the slot, this was rather unexpected, to say the least...