Oolite Bulletins

Posted: **Wed Mar 13, 2019 3:25 pm**

My first OXP release.

This expansion introduces an MFD that displays a list of primeable equipment in the order that it's primed and an indicator for the current selection. It's intended as a standard feature of the player ship's HUD, so it doesn't appear in the equipment list and doesn't cost anything. All you need is a HUD that displays MFDs. Launch your ship, cycle through the MFDs and it will be there.

Ship manufacturers are still learning how to configure a predictable priming sequence. In the meantime, the MFD needs to be calibrated after primeable equipment items are added to the ship. The MFD will display the instructions when calibration is needed. The instructions are as simple as pressing the prime equipment button until the MFD shows you what you want to see. Calibration is also needed after loading from a saved game.

The MFD is compatible with Auto-Prime Equipment and any other scripts that change the current selection without using the prime equipment keys, although it will be slightly less responsive in these cases as the changes are detected by a timer.

The MFD can only display nine equipment items at a time. It needs to display the list in a way that is useful to the player regardless of how many items are on the ship. A scroll wheel metaphor was chosen for this purpose.

The current selection is always on the same row, indicated by arrow heads. The next item to be primed is directly below it, the next one after that is on the following line and so on. However, the last item to be primed is directly above the current selection, so the list is looping back on to itself.

Pressing the prime button will scroll the list. Two numbers on the top right corner of the MFD show the index position of the current selection and the total number of selections, starting from zero for the None setting. A total number greater than eight means that some equipment items are not visible and the player needs to scroll the list to see them.

Available in the Expansion Manager.

Posted: **Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:50 pm**

Nice! Welcome to the dark side...

Posted: **Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:59 pm**

There is no dark side of the game really! Matter of fact, it's all dark!

With apologies to Pink Floyd.

Posted: **Wed Mar 13, 2019 5:14 pm**

There is a dark side to OXP development, though. It's when the authors rely on their obsession for their strength. They think inwards only about their scripts. Before they know it, they spend more time testing the game than playing it. Or so I've heard... ... I need to get some sleep.

Posted: **Thu Mar 14, 2019 4:57 pm**

Now available in the Expansion Manager.

Posted: **Thu Mar 14, 2019 5:36 pm**

Nicksta wrote:
Before they know it, they spend more time testing the game than playing it.

Or start poking around in the source code.. . Watch yourself

Congrats on first oxp

Posted: **Fri Mar 15, 2019 12:11 pm**

Or start poking around in the source code.. . Watch yourself

Oh no! I already did that!

I envy the core devs with their keypress event handlers. I wonder if my eyes are turning neon green.

Congrats on first oxp

Thank you.

Posted: **Fri Mar 15, 2019 3:14 pm**

Nice idea - I really like this

It will hopefully stop me from (repeatedly) frantically cycling past my desired piece of equip - if only I can get out of the habit of focussing on the bottom left of my screen and instead look at the MFD

Posted: **Mon Jul 19, 2021 8:00 am**

Hi everybody,
I have a problem with that equipment.
I installed this OXP and opened an MFD for it. On the interface-screen - HUD and MFD selector - MFD setup I selected the Primeable Equipment MFD for exactly that MFD. But it doesn't work. With the MFD-Selector I can select any MFD for that place, but not the Primeable Equipment MFD.
The article says also that there is a calibration needed, but how?

Posted: **Mon Jul 19, 2021 9:27 am**

Josef wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 8:00 am
Hi everybody,
I have a problem with that equipment.
I installed this OXP and opened an MFD for it. On the interface-screen - HUD and MFD selector - MFD setup I selected the Primeable Equipment MFD for exactly that MFD. But it doesn't work. With the MFD-Selector I can select any MFD for that place, but not the Primeable Equipment MFD.
The article says also that there is a calibration needed, but how?

I wish I knew. One way to do it is to include the "worldscript name" of the MFD in the HUDSelector.oxz list here:

Code: Select all

//default MFD 1-10 worldScript names
this.$HUDSelectorMFDs = [["combat_MFD"],
			["telescope"],
			["escortdeck"],
			["CommsLogMFD"],
			["BroadcastCommsMFD"],
			["trophy_col", "trophy_mfd"], //mfd name is different
			["navi_mfd"],
			["market_inquirer", "inquirer_mfd"], //mfd name is not equal with worldScript name
			["manifest_mfd"],
			["useful_MFDs", "useful_MFD_general_info"] //mfd name is different
			];

I've no idea what the "worldscript name" is supposed to be (yet!) or whether one also needs to tweak the top line to

Code: Select all

//default MFD 1-11 worldScript names

as well...

Personally speaking, I've not bothered. I've many MFDs loaded which I need to re-load each time I launch, and just view this as part of the "Start-Up" sequence which I would expect to perform just before launching (a trainee pilot spends a half-hour on such rigmaroles before take-off, a helicopter pilot spends an entire hour). The only immersion breaker for me is to do it after launch. And it is downright dangerous when I launch from a neutral/pirate rock hermit... but ho-hum!

I wish you luck. I find this MFD invaluable.

Oolite Bulletins

Primeable Equipment MFD

Primeable Equipment MFD

Re: Primeable Equipment MFD

Re: Primeable Equipment MFD

Re: Primeable Equipment MFD

Re: Primeable Equipment MFD

Re: Primeable Equipment MFD

Re: Primeable Equipment MFD

Re: Primeable Equipment MFD

Re: Primeable Equipment MFD

Re: Primeable Equipment MFD