Oolite Bulletins

It's back!

UPS Courier has been a favourite of many players for a long time, but sadly, the version currently available via the download manager is broken when used in the current version of Oolite. spara attempted an update of the OXP (v1.9), but RL got in the way and that version, too, is broken in a number of ways.

So, here's another update attempt! Version 2.0 fixes, I think, all of the major issues with the original, and leverages the updates spara completed in version 1.9. I'm not saying I've fixed everything, but I've certainly addressed all the common/obvious incompatibilities.

What this needs now is testers. As the nature of the OXP is that the missions are offered randomly, without hacking the start criteria, it can take some time to test all the missions.

I've got two versions available:
UPS_Courier.oxz: Use this version if the thought of Javascript and plist files breaks you out in a cold sweat. Just plonk it straight into your "AddOns" folder.
UPS_Courier.zip: Use this version if you want to look under the hood easily, and tinker/tweak/hack/mangle to your hearts content. Unzip the contents (a folder called "UPS Courier") to your "AddOns" folder.

If you have either spara's 1.9 version installed, or the download manager's v1.8.4, you will need to manually remove them to run this version (although I think the 1.8.4 version might be superseded by the new one).

Comments/feedback/bug reports welcome.

As an aside (in rot13 to avoid spoilers): V pna frr va gur pbqr na vafgnapr jurer, vs gur cynlre qbpxf ng n "Tebhaq Enqne" fgngvba, gurl ner gbyq gurl ner "fbba gb or" n fynir. Lrg V qba'g guvax nalguvat npghnyyl unccraf gb gur cynlre - gur zvffvba vf snvyrq, ohg gur cynlre pbagvahrf ba. Qbrf nalbar xabj jung gur vagragvba jnf urer?

Ah thank you for updating that OXP. It is a favorite. But I have one question. Will it still pop up on landing? Or will UPS courier now be present through interfaces?

pagroove wrote:

Will it still pop up on landing? Or will UPS courier now be present through interfaces?

UPS Courier adds some missions through the standard parcel contract interface screen. But for most of the missions they will continue to be offered on docking. This is because I have largely focused on compatibility issues, and not the underlying mission structure, or how those missions are offered. Given the infrequency of the missions, hiding them away in some F4 interface screen would mean the missions would become invisible, and would require rewriting a lot of the mission offer text. I like the fact that sometimes a UPS rep will accost me after I dock and see if I'm interested in some mission. It has a "real world" feel to it.

Version 2.0.1 is available via links in the first post. Bug fix and cleanup release.

Something I did for my installation way back when -- a texture for the Solar Researcher, so it doesn't have the same paint scheme as the Constrictor. It's just the Constrictor without the logos, basically. But you can also put in overrides so the lights won't be red like the Constrictor's, either.

Here's the simple texture:
http://www.keeper1st.com/Oolite/upsSolarRes_diffuse.png

Obviously you need to put some code into the shipdata.plist to use it. (I think in my old installation I just used the texture as its own specular map, and didn't use a normal map, or I called the files from the Griff Constrictor since I have it installed.)

Thanks for the texture file, Keeper!

Version 2.0.2 is now available, with includes Keeper's texture file, and a couple of other tweaks. Links in the first post.

[Edit] Version 2.0.3 is now available, which really fixes some bugs I tried to squash but didn't.

Version 2.0.4 now available. In this version:

• Added code to prevent missions to unreachable destinations.
• Displaying a mission destination on a system map will no longer reset the current hyperspace destination.
• Small adjustments to missiontext items.

phkb wrote: ↑Wed Jan 25, 2017 4:29 am

[*]Displaying a mission destination on a system map will no longer reset the current hyperspace destination.

Thank you

UPS Courier 2.0.5 is now available in the download manager.

phkb wrote: ↑Fri Jun 23, 2017 2:48 am

UPS Courier 2.0.5 is now available in the download manager.

And installed and in use, but a bug that has been present for some time has just killed me again.
Doing one of the "package for [Planet] Chronicle's next print run" missions, I've arrived at the planet in good time. Ooops, it's got a regular station and a SuperHub ; dock at the SuperHub and nothing happens (I don't know if this is relevant) ; shuffle over to the cuboctahedron (truncated cube ; Coriolis) station, dock there and I'm greeted by a happy editor and 3000€. Which is great, Press space bar to continue.
... and I'm greeted by a happy editor with a different name and 3000€. Which is great, Press space bar to continue.
... and I'm greeted by a happy editor with a different name and 3000€. Which is great, Press space bar to continue.
... and I'm greeted by a happy editor with a different name and 3000€. Which is great, Press space bar to continue.
... and I'm greeted by a happy editor with a different name and 3000€. Which is great, Press space bar to continue.
... and I'm greeted by a happy editor with a different name and 3000€. Which is great, Press space bar to continue.

I've never found a way out of the loop, and it's happened a number of times now. It's happened when the package has arrived with minute to spare. It's happened when the package has arrived with a week in hand. I can't see a pattern to when it happens, and it doesn't happen all the time.

I've got a saved game now, which shows the bug. Now all I have to do is try to make a way around it.

RockDoctor wrote:

Doing one of the "package for [Planet] Chronicle's next print run" missions

That sounds like Tionisla Reporter, rather than UPS Courier, so I'll respond in that thread instead.

phkb wrote: ↑Sun Aug 13, 2017 9:57 pm

RockDoctor wrote:

Doing one of the "package for [Planet] Chronicle's next print run" missions

That sounds like Tionisla Reporter, rather than UPS Courier, so I'll respond in that thread instead.

Well, for a start I'm in Galaxy 2, and I thought Tionisla reporter was a G1 mission. I do have it installed ... Actually that's given me an idea.
[Removes TR ; realises I've got two versions installed ; removes other version too] Nope, the bug persists with TR removed.
[Remove UPS Courier] Bug has now gone. At least, I can land at the target station without getting stuck in the loop. It's UPS-C, not TR.

OK, can I get you to try something for me? Can you install either of the following UPS Courier updates and see if that fixes the issue? If so, I'll put this onto the download manager.
UPS_Courier.oxz (put this straight into the AddOns folder)
UPS_Courier.zip (You'll need to unzip the UPS Courier.oxp folder into your AddOns folder).
You'll need to hide or uninstall the old version before running Oolite. (Sorry if all that help text is obvious to you - always hard to know how much to add!)

phkb wrote: ↑Mon Aug 14, 2017 3:59 am

always hard to know how much to add!)

I've had to Write the Friendly Manual in the past. It's a delicate balancing act.

UPS_Courier.oxz (put this straight into the AddOns folder)
UPS_Courier.zip (You'll need to unzip the UPS Courier.oxp folder into your AddOns folder).
You'll need to hide or uninstall the old version before running Oolite. (Sorry if all that help text is obvious to you -

One or both? See, it's not obvious!
So, first step - protect my existing (more or less working) version. Is "/home/~/GNUstep/Library/ApplicationSupport/Oolite/ManagedAddOns/oolite.oxp.EricWalch.UPSCourier.oxz" the right one? Check timestamps, and yes, it's the one I removed and replaced last night. So, I rename that one by appending "-condom" to the name.
Check game. Yes, that's the guilty party, and it's now got some protection on.

Download the oxz file and move to above folder. (Name doesn't match the oolite.oxp.author.name format. I assume you know what you're doing.

Load game and check list of add ons. OK, UPS Courier is now there in the Add On Manager, but "blued" to indicate an updated version. (I also see that "Dictators" has gone blue too. Worry about that later.)
Load the bugged game. Hop from the save location to the delivery system. Dock, trouser 3k€, and move swiftly onwards. Certainly seems to work.

Ah, this doesn't look right. (struggles to remember how to do links to screenshot). Try this.. The loss of subtle shading doesn't bother me - maybe my graphics card can do better, but I just don't care. But losing half of a planet - that's odd. The starlight terminator is shaded OK, but is the planet truncated along a radius from the star? [Resumes flying] More odd effects . I installed an update to the "Rings" oxz yesterday, and this looks like a broken ring to me. Probably not your problem. Anyway, fly on and not worry about that. It's the rings, I'm sure of it - especially since I now see that I've got both version 1.2 and 2.4 of "System Features : Rings" installed. I thought the Add-on Manager would deal with things like that.

The aside into Rings, erm, aside, your UPS fix seems to have caught the bug, and no unexpected behaviour on it's behalf when I move onto my next scheduled stop. But I've got to go and do something productive now, so I'll have to leave it there.

-----------
Separate point I hadn't noticed this before - in my "saved game" folder out in /home/~, I've acquired several "save.name.root-borkedPress.oolite-save[6 random Latin characters]" files ; I'm guessing these are temporary files that result from me crashing the game instead of exiting.

UPS Courier has now been updated in the download manager.