Oolite Bulletins

Bugbear wrote:

Smivs wrote:

I thought I'd try a 'G'. What do you think?

I remember a Top Gear episode where they were reviewing an American car, and commented on the short sightedness of the decision to label all the in-car controls with English text rather than with a symbol...as though everyone in the world speaks English.

I would try to lean towards symbols rather than letters. Makes it easier for those who don't speak English as a first language (hmm...perhaps a poll would be in order...)

For a Galactic Hyperdrive Pod, I'd suggest a symbol that looks like an asterix or a mini galaxy icon...

For anybody who doesn't speak English (enough to assign the letter with the thing it is identifying) then the letter is just a symbol...

I guess what it boils down to is: any symbol has to be explained in the manual (= readMe), or in the game itself.

For pylon-mounted equipment—and also for OXP-added additional stations with beacons—it should be the manual. For mission-related one-time beacons it should be the mission screen ("We have uploaded your destination to your ship's computer. Target the '*' on your advanced space compass.").

Then it's up to the player himself to keep track of what the symbols on his screen mean.

I know I suggested letters, but there won't be enough and also conflictions, so i guess the way forward is icons, the only problem there though is the size they would need to be bigger or have more detail, perhaps Oolite 2 will cater for this.

On the same subject the advanced navigator has the same issue.

Smivs wrote:

v1.2 is now available.
The main changes over the previous version is that the modified planetinfo.plist has been removed and a simple script ensures that a player cannot jump to one of the 'unreachable' systems unless they have a GalDrivePod fitted. This should ensure no-one gets 'stuck'.

I have a proposed change to the GalDrivePod_main_script.js script to reduce the odds of it conflicting with other OXPs that try to change the Gal. Hyperdrive jump behavior.

Replace this:
if(cause == "galactic jump") {
With this:
if(cause == "galactic jump" && player.ship.galacticHyperspaceBehaviour == "BEHAVIOUR_STANDARD") {

It really only needs to change galacticHyperspaceBehaviour if currently set to "BEHAVIOUR_STANDARD"...and even then only when a GalDrivePod is installed AND doing a galactic jump. This should reduce potential conflicts with other OXPs (mainly campaigns) that travel between galaxy charts using modified galactic jumps to speed things up.

Done!
This is a good idea, and hopefully the new script will avoid any problems with other OXPs that exploit Galactic Hyperdrives. No other changes have been made, and there is no need to upgrade unless any new OXPs you install require v1.3.
Version 1.3 has now been uploaded and the Wiki and Smivsonline have also been updated.

Sorry, turns out this is even harder than I expected:
https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?p=147309#p147309
Because other OXPs may also only change the player.ship.galacticHyperspaceBehaviour at the moment of the galactic jump, your change may cause unpredictable results with both it and other OXPs trying to change player.ship.galacticHyperspaceBehaviour at the same time.

Does yours really NEED to fire at the moment of "this.shipWillEnterWitchspace", or could it do its change far earlier -- such as launching from station or exiting witchspace from its previous jump? I guess if this can be scooped then it would also need to be checked then as well.

I've been away for a few days and have just caught up with things.
Firstly, I can confirm that the GalDrivePod DOES NOT permanently change the galactic jump behaviour. The behaviour is changed to "BEHAVIOUR_ALL_SYSTEMS_REACHABLE" only when a GDP is installed. When the GDP is used behaviour reverts to "BEHAVIOUR_STANDARD". This was confirmed during extensive testing when v1.2 of the OXP was released.
So, put another way, after the GDP is used it has no effect whatsoever on galactic jump behaviour, and when installed it allows normal galactic jumps except when the system being left will allow a jump to an un-reachable system, in which case the 'un-reachable' system will become the destination.
With regard to other OXPs which change galactic jump behaviour, there may be a theoretical conflict, and of course this works both ways...the other OXP could have an adverse affect on GDP. This is not a new problem. OXPs have been potentially interfering with each other since OXPs were invented, and as is often the case, there may not be a simple solution.
It might be that other OXPs which change galactic behaviour might require a mention in the readme that the OXPs are incompatible and that GDPs should not be used when the other OXP is in use. A straightforward if not ideal solution.
Discussions are continuing and if a 'better' fix is developed I will update GDP again, but as of now I am satisfied that GDP is working properly, well and as intended both with the core game and also with other OXPs that do not affect galactic jump behaviour. An OXP that needs to use FIXED_COORDINATES may simply need to check the current status (ie either "BEHAVIOUR_STANDARD" or "BEHAVIOUR_ALL_SYSTEMS_REACHABLE") and change either option to "FIXED_COORDINATES" to ensure that it works.

Someday I need to try the lost worlds tour. I've always wanted to see the worlds that are "impossible" to go to.

Update release

v1.4 is now available via the Expansions manager, or the Wiki page.

Just a minor update to avoid log errors in Oolite v1.81 - the script now uses "use strict".