Oolite Bulletins

See in the wiki: [wiki]Telescope[/wiki] and download it.

The first goal was to show all visible ships right from one pixel size to pick out from the stars.
There are similar requests in this topic, so here is my answer.

Features:
* Lightballs shows realtime positions of far ships.
* Virtual target model oriented in real-time (at top in the large ring, the real ship are in the target box),
* Sniper ring (smaller ring at center),
* Can put target box to far targets which are out of the normal scanner,
* Can lock the most centered and nearest target not only in the crosshairs (useful targeting tool),
* Can steer to the target with double ident press (comfortable during fly, save time in dogfight).
* Show the list of the nearest 10 targets in a MFD.

New:
* You must install Telescope Extender+Gravity Scanner OXZ also for far scanning.
* Dot markers for [wiki]FarPlanets[/wiki].
* Masslock borders: coloured circles around ships and planets.
* Planets are included into the target list.
* In Oolite 1.79 show visual target models of new ship graphics.
* Thinner ring around visual target, smaller sniper ring.



Targeting MFD (on the right side):



By turning off your weapons you can activate:
* Auto-relock to the most centered target (the box will jump if you turn to another lightball),
* Zoomed target model,
* with Gravity Scanner you can see more far targets (brown and orange).



Download link and more features not shown in these pictures can be found in the wiki: [wiki]Telescope[/wiki]

Sounds interesting. Well done!

This is a very nice OXP, however (and please don't panic) I felt like it has some issues. For example, the appearance is somewhat annoying. I don't want a spinning question mark or station above me at all times. Furthermore, upon using the equipment, it kept locking onto everything. I enjoy this OXP, but I found these annoyances too much to deal with. Would it be possible to turn the equipment off, so the question mark disappears and it stops locking onto everything? I love this idea, but I felt like the interface could be better.

Yes, there are more variable in the begin of the Scripts/telescope.js to customize this OXP.
To remove the visual model set the $TelescopeShowVisualTarget to false.

There was no AutoLock variable, but I made it in the v0.81, now you can set it to false.
Just say if you have more ideas.

I haven't had a chance to play Oolite with your OXP yet but i must say this looks like a very cool and clever bit of coding
The zoomed in target view would be fantastic for something like assassination missions to help tracking down the target ship!

Hello Norby,

I have only just downloaded the equipment oxp and still have to get properly used to it.

Having said that, this looks on first impressions to be a very useful bit of equipment to have , so thank you for developing it .I love the way it identifies objects further a feild than the usual 25 k

This is a great piece of equipment. It was a lot of information to process at first, but now that I have become accustomed to it, it is a must have kit. However, it had strange behavior in interstellar space as follows:

Equipment ceased functioning in interstellar space and would not resume functioning after returning to stellar space. The unidentified script errors numbered into the dozens in the log. I listed only these few as an example of what they look like. The client had to be restarted entirely for the gravity scanner to resume its functionality.


13:55:28.429 [script.javaScript.exception.ooliteDefined]: ***** JavaScript exception (gravscannereq 1.0): Error: Vector3D.distanceTo: Could not construct vector from parameters (null) -- expected Vector, Entity or array of three numbers.
13:55:28.434 [script.javaScript.exception.unexpectedType]: ***** JavaScript exception (<unidentified script>): TypeError: position is null
13:55:28.441 [script.javaScript.exception.unexpectedType]: ***** JavaScript exception (<unidentified script>): TypeError: position is null
13:55:28.447 [script.javaScript.exception.unexpectedType]: ***** JavaScript exception (<unidentified script>): TypeError: position is null

Thank you guys for the good words, this is a nice community.

As Griff said can help in more mission if you see farther, moreover I think maybe can give too much help sometimes. If anybody found an OXP which is too easy with Telescope due to releval secret things then please tell me. I can not play with all of them to locate this kind of problems but maybe can fix it.

I thinked on similar way when made the "Quick start as Hunter" guide into the  wiki. The source of this was to help play with my second ship named Rocket Fighter which is very small and not equipped with hyperdrive. But with Telescope it is much less drawback due to can earn many success as Hunter without travel to another systems. Can gather enough money to buy a larger combat ship without trading and jumping just from the bounties of the red targets.

Solonar wrote:

The client had to be restarted entirely for the gravity scanner to resume its functionality.

The weapon toggle button can be used to force a scan which fix some problems in the previous version. All known bug are fixed now and made faster to prevent timeLimit on slow computers but this tip can be help hereafter also.

To help improving I ask anybody who use it and found something to send me the Latest.log and a relevant savegame to my email dedicated to this game (norbylite at gmail com). I suggest to install LogEvents OXP when use this (or any) OXP to see more info in the log.

 Telescope v0.82 is improved with more customizations:

1. Added $TelescopeGravLock and $TelescopeIdentLock to set the locking sensitivity in degree.
Can give much less aggressive settings to the locking modes: AutoLock, GravLock and IdentLock.

AutoLock is set to 1 degree (size of a lightball) and lock only if no current target to make it similar with the original ident function plus can lock far targets also. Disabled if set to 0 but in this case you can lock targets in 25.6km only.

GravLock is set to 20 degree (about the screen) and named to Panorama targeting (from now ) which offer auto-relock to the most centered target during manual steering. Can be switched on or off in-game frist with the weapons and second with the ident button when you see gravity targets. Disabled if set it to 0 but it is not recommended due to in this case you can not lock far targets, so set it to 1 degree at least, or simply use the ident button in-game to reduce it to the level of the AutoLock and leave the possibility to turn it on again.

IdentLock is set to 180 degree (the whole sphere) to can lock the most centered target with one key even if behind you, but the second press will unlock it, so you can clear the visual model when not needed. If set it to 1 then the locking radius reduced to the size of a lightball so can do unlock only. Note the AutoLock will relock in 0.25 second if the target centered exactly, in this case turn a bit before unlock.

Red alert is an exception where the IdentLock target hostiles only (who target you) to help find attackers. Can be override with AutoLock and GravLock, so if you unlock the current target and point exactly to another then the AutoLock will target it regardless from the hostile status, or if you point it and turn weapons quickly off and on again then lock it regardless from you has lock on another target (but not too quickly, the timed function need max. 0.25 second to lock).

Tip: prime Telescope with Shift+N before fly into the dangerous area, press "r" then "b" when red alert coming. The auto steering will bring the attacker before you, then aim and fire. Surely need some time to memorize the locking methods but worth it.

2. Added $TelescopeShowVisualQuestionMark and $TelescopeShowVisualStation to can disable these.

FSOneblin wrote:

I don't want a spinning question mark or station above me at all times. Would it be possible to turn the equipment off, so the question mark disappears and it stops locking onto everything?

I think this version can do what you requested with the new default settings or with 1-1-1 degrees (maded directly for you ). You can see ship models without question marks and stations and if it is not enough then shrink the model with $TelescopeVSize. Please test it and tell me what do you think.

Seems excellent. Gonna try it out!

Using Telescope version 0.82 on a Windows 7 system and running trunk 5687, I am experiencing many crash to desktop with this equipment version. It is also reducing my frame rate in areas with many objects nearby. There are no strange errors appearing in the logs but using your log event oxp, the crash to desktop errors have always occurred at the same time a target lost event is being reported in the log. I rolled back to Telescope version 0.81 which is much more stable on my system, other than the interstellar space issue, and does not crash to desktop.

I have experienced random crashes in Windows 8 64 bit on i5 Eight GB of RAM, and thought it to be a conflict with perhaps my installed target tracker oxp, I note however that my crashes only occur in thargoid or other multiple target engagements.. It's as if the AI in telescope is bamboozled by multiple targets and decides. I'm not playing this silly game.

Still, it shouldn't generally be possible for an OXP to crash the game itself. (One possibility that does work and can't easily be avoided is some sort of infinite - or at least deep - recursion, which might be what's happening here)

Solonar wrote:

Using Telescope version 0.82 on a Windows 7 system and running trunk 5687, I am experiencing many crash to desktop with this equipment version.

Thank you for your the report. I can not reproduce the crash on 1.77.0.5612 under Linux and win7, but I think the source of the problem is in the core game. Maybe in system.filteredEntities() if found too much target when Telescope try to determine which is the most centered.

I made changes to try avoid it and speed improvements in v0.83, please test it, I will made more if I get more info. You can downoad the new telescope.js, put it into the Scripts directory of the Telescope OXP, other files are the same.

This write many extra lines into the Latest.log which will be removed from the release but can help me if the problem persists, please send it back in email to norbylite at gmail. Thank you for your help!

I think so, in respect of too many filtered identities.

17:53:00.678 [Telescope]: VFCB who:undefined
17:53:00.688 [Telescope]: VFCB who:undefined
17:53:00.698 [Telescope]: VFCB who:undefined
17:53:00.708 [Telescope]: VFCB who:undefined
17:53:00.718 [Telescope]: VFCB who:undefined

17:54:29.517 [Telescope]: TimedS calling filteredEntities
17:54:29.517 [Telescope]: TimedS filteredEntities returned 24
17:54:29.767 [Telescope]: TimedS calling filteredEntities
17:54:29.767 [Telescope]: TimedS filteredEntities returned 24
17:54:30.015 [Telescope]: TimedS calling filteredEntities
17:54:30.015 [Telescope]: TimedS filteredEntities returned 24
17:54:30.265 [Telescope]: TimedS calling filteredEntities
17:54:30.265 [Telescope]: TimedS filteredEntities returned 24
17:54:30.514 [Telescope]: TimedS calling filteredEntities
17:54:30.514 [Telescope]: TimedS filteredEntities returned 24
17:54:30.763 [Telescope]: TimedS calling filteredEntities
17:54:30.763 [Telescope]: TimedS filteredEntities returned 24
17:54:31.013 [Telescope]: TimedS calling filteredEntities
17:54:31.013 [Telescope]: TimedS filteredEntities returned 24
17:54:31.265 [Telescope]: TimedS calling filteredEntities
17:54:31.265 [Telescope]: TimedS filteredEntities returned 24
17:54:31.493 [Telescope]: Mode:ident a:-1 maxangle:3.141592653589793 l.length:30
17:54:31.494 [Telescope]: Mode:ident a:0 maxangle:3.141592653589793 l.length:30
17:54:31.494 [Telescope]: Removed VMark:undefined[VisualEffect position: (-36874.2, 4961.79, -11051.7) scanClass: CLASS_VISUAL_EFFECT status: STATUS_EFFECT]

The game crashed immediately after the last entry, though too be entirely fair I was pressure testing this oxp with the revised 0.83 js telescope script in thargoid infested space at the time.

I hope this report helps.