Oolite Bulletins

deh, first of all I must say that I liked this game from the first frame; it's just what a space simulator should be (tried vega strike but for now I've no synapsis enough to match a thousend keys and functions!)

well... the bad point (for me) is that I just can't understand how to save game...
docking the base... done
F2, save game, ok, open the list of folders...
...and now? I just go up and down but I can't see a "save" button or something like that...

what am I missing?
downloaded it from playdeb, maybe that package was broken, incomplete.. or (at this point...) it's just me??

=)

I think you just type a name and hit 'return'...

Welcome to the friendliest board this side of Riedquat...

Beware the four pawed one!

Cheers,

Drew.

Like Drew said, hit F2, type in a file name then next time you need to load it's in your doc folder- well it is for me..

What system are you running? pc windoze or a Mac?

& welcome to the friendliest board this side of Reidquat...

well... so there are not secret combinatons like ctrl+$ or alt/ctrl/limbo that make the save file... that's bad...

running in a xubuntu (xfce ubuntu release, so linux) and downloaded and installed trough repository (an automatic system that assure you to not destroy the OS with the process)

saying the truth in the dock pages (Fx) the main title (straight up the page) is always blinking, appear and disappear... so maybe there's a problem with those pages...

tried again, in the start station, so the "save commander" option is active
open the /paolo folder, and that's ok...
write "paolo" as commander name below, in the blue line...
press "enter"... "F2 "shift+enter" "ctrl+enter" "numpad enter" "ins" "fine" "." ";" etc etc...

but nothing happens... sigh...

LINUX USERS maybe you can help me; is there a specific folder where you must go to save the game? the filesystem is vast and strange, and I've not purchased yet the autopilot..! =P

if no one can solve this... must try in windows... but that will steal a lot of the fascination of this game...

=)

MrMonday wrote:

if no one can solve this... must try in windows... but that will steal a lot of the fascination of this game...
=)

I don't know why you cannot get save to work on Linux, we never had a similar report before, but I wanted to ask: Why would running the game in Windows steal the fascination? The two versions are identical (unless you are referring to speech synthesis support, which is only for Linux (and Mac) for now).

he he he little things that make the difference...
the linux pc (where I'm writing) is placed in a spot of the house with the tender chair that I personally would mount on a spaceship; the monitor is better and closer and the desk is just perfect for taking food and drinks..! (without saying that the tv is just at 30° from the monitor)
well, playing oolite (with his fantastics long long long space travels) in a place like this...
instead of the cold, hard, far windows desk..!

=P

The fascination is that it's a decent game which is available for Linux (There aren't that many..)

You say you have flashing title bars etc? That doesn't sound normal.
Could we get a dump of your latest log file (should be "~/.Oolite/Logs/Latest.log")?

A test procedure to save games is:
* Start Oolite
> Wait for spinning Cobra MkIII and "Load Previous Commander Y/N"
* Press 'N'
> A spinning Coriolis station should appear, along with "Press Space Commander"
* Press <space>
> Your commander information screen should be displayed
* Press '2'
> Options screen should be displayed, "Save Commander" should be highlighted
* Presse <return>
> Just above the instrument panel in blue should be "Commander name: Jameson"
* Presse <return>
> You are returnes to the commander information screen. A "Commander Saved" message appears briefly near the bottom of the screen.
> This should create the following save-file: "~/oolite-saves/Jameson.oolite-save" - assuming you haven't successfully saved somewhere else already, which saves that location as your default save-location.

micha all of what you say happens but no saving...
no "commander saved" and no save file...

is there a oolite-saves folder but no others oolite-xx in that place... tried to find them in the filesystem but...
tried to run from the console something like oolite -help ot oolite -config but nothing happens... (tried also ~/.Oolite/Logs/Latest.log... command not found)

now I'll leave this confortable place, then when restarting the pc I'll reinstall the package from the repository (v.1.73) taking a look while installing on where the my precious files are placed...

'=)

Can you please post the Latest.log, after a save-failed attempt? There should be a log entry in cases like this and an exception thrown. Ensure that the saves folder indicated by Micha is actually write-enabled and you have write permissions for it.

MrMonday wrote:

(tried also ~/.Oolite/Logs/Latest.log... command not found)

err... that's a log file, not a command. Assuming you have ubuntu one thing you can do is
that will magically copy the latest log to your desktop, then you can open it with your favourite text editor to see what it says.

Have you tried to change the default save directory? It sounds like that by mistake you went onto parts of the disk you - and by extension Oolite - haven't got any write privileges to.

Finally, have you been using linux long? If not, it's likely that most of the advice already given might not mean much to you. In that case, I'd ask a friend with more extensive knowledge of linux, who might be able to spot exactly what the problem is...

here we are...


thargoid, loading appear the same list of folders ("oolite-savings" if i closed the save page in it) but no files; I think that a save file should be easily distingued by the presence of a rank on the right... welll... nothing
and the game was installed from the repository, trough playdeb (that is a site for linux-newbie auto installations like getdeb) so you must have admin privilege (it ask automatically the password)


kaks you got the point, I'm a ignorant user of linux; we can say that I would like to understand how it works but mostly i don't; but... socratically (i can say that?)
That's why i used the repository; you know, before oolite i installed from there dozens of games (also not just simple, like vega strike and neverball) and the most of them work properly...
anyway that's what appear in the console:

paolo@paolo-desktop:~/Scrivania$ cp ~/.Oolite/Logs/Latest.log ~/Desktop/
cp: impossibile creare il file regolare "/home/paolo/Desktop/": È una directory
paolo@paolo-desktop:~/Scrivania$ sudo ~/.Oolite/Logs/Latest.log
[sudo] password for paolo:
sudo: /home/paolo/.Oolite/Logs/Latest.log: command not found

second line means "impossible to create regular file "/etc": it's a directory"


well... now i'll try to reinstall it... and then to search this holy log file...

=)

ok, found latest.log file without reinstalling...

was in the right place but hidden...

this is the content...

[log.header]: Opening log for Oolite version <unknown version> (x86-32 test release) under Linux at 2009-10-21 11:51:52 +0200.
1 processor detected.
Oolite Options: [Procedural Planets] [Docking Clearance] [Wormhole Scanner] [Target Incoming Missiles]

Note that the contents of the log file can be adjusted by editing logcontrol.plist.

[joystickHandler.init]: Number of joysticks detected: 1
[display.mode.list.native]: X11 native resolution detected: 1024 x 768
[rendering.opengl.version]: OpenGL renderer version: 1.3.0 ("1.3 Mesa 7.4")
Vendor: Tungsten Graphics, Inc.
Renderer: Mesa DRI Radeon 20061018 AGP 4x x86/MMX/SSE2 NO-TCL
[rendering.opengl.extensions]: OpenGL extensions (65):
GL_ARB_imaging GL_ARB_multisample GL_ARB_multitexture GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp GL_ARB_texture_compression GL_ARB_texture_cube_map GL_ARB_texture_env_add GL_ARB_texture_env_combine GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3 GL_ARB_texture_mirrored_repeat GL_ARB_texture_rectangle GL_ARB_transpose_matrix GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object GL_ARB_window_pos GL_EXT_abgr GL_EXT_bgra GL_EXT_blend_color GL_EXT_blend_logic_op GL_EXT_blend_minmax GL_EXT_blend_subtract GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array GL_EXT_convolution GL_EXT_copy_texture GL_EXT_draw_range_elements GL_EXT_fog_coord GL_EXT_histogram GL_EXT_packed_pixels GL_EXT_polygon_offset GL_EXT_rescale_normal GL_EXT_secondary_color GL_EXT_separate_specular_color GL_EXT_stencil_wrap GL_EXT_subtexture GL_EXT_texture GL_EXT_texture3D GL_EXT_texture_edge_clamp GL_EXT_texture_env_add GL_EXT_texture_env_combine GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3 GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias GL_EXT_texture_mirror_clamp GL_EXT_texture_object GL_EXT_texture_rectangle GL_EXT_vertex_array GL_APPLE_packed_pixels GL_ATI_texture_env_combine3 GL_ATI_texture_mirror_once GL_IBM_rasterpos_clip GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat GL_MESA_ycbcr_texture GL_MESA_window_pos GL_NV_blend_square GL_NV_light_max_exponent GL_NV_texture_rectangle GL_NV_texgen_reflection GL_OES_read_format GL_SGI_color_matrix GL_SGI_color_table GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap GL_SGIS_texture_border_clamp GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp GL_SGIS_texture_lod
[rendering.opengl.shader.support]: Shaders will not be used (OpenGL extension GL_ARB_shading_language_100 is not available).
[dataCache.notFound]: No data cache found, starting from scratch.
[searchPaths.dumpAll]: ---> OXP search paths:
("/usr/lib/GNUstep/Applications/oolite.app/Resources", AddOns, "/home/paolo/.Oolite/AddOns")
[shipData.load.begin]: Loading ship data...
[script.load.world.listAll]: Loaded 5 world scripts: "oolite-cloaking-device" 1.73.4, "oolite-constrictor-hunt" 1.73.4, "oolite-nova" 1.73.4, "oolite-thargoid-plans" 1.73.4, "oolite-trumbles" 1.73.4
[dataCache.willWrite]: About to write data cache.
[dataCache.cantWrite]: Failed to write data cache -- prerequisites not fulfilled. (This is an internal error, please report it.)
[exception]: ***** Exception checking controls: NSInvalidArgumentException : Tried to add nil value for key 'written_by_version' to dictionary
[exception]: ***** Exception checking controls: NSInvalidArgumentException : Tried to add nil value for key 'written_by_version' to dictionary
[exception]: ***** Exception checking controls: NSInvalidArgumentException : Tried to add nil value for key 'written_by_version' to dictionary
[exception]: ***** Exception checking controls: NSInvalidArgumentException : Tried to add nil value for key 'written_by_version' to dictionary
[exception]: ***** Exception checking controls: NSInvalidArgumentException : Tried to add nil value for key 'written_by_version' to dictionary
[exception]: ***** Exception checking controls: NSInvalidArgumentException : Tried to add nil value for key 'written_by_version' to dictionary
[exception]: ***** Exception checking controls: NSInvalidArgumentException : Tried to add nil value for key 'written_by_version' to dictionary
[exception]: ***** Exception checking controls: NSInvalidArgumentException : Tried to add nil value for key 'written_by_version' to dictionary
[exception]: ***** Exception checking controls: NSInvalidArgumentException : Tried to add nil value for key 'written_by_version' to dictionary
[gameController.exitApp]: .GNUstepDefaults synchronized.

Closing log at 2009-10-21 11:52:34 +0200.

a step is done...

=)

Hmm, those errors at the bottom indicate that Oolite is unable to write to the cache area, which is inside the users' GNUstep directory. Possibly GNUstep is not installed or configured correctly or the repackage of Oolite on playdeb is broken. Or possibly the permissions in your home directory are broken.

To test, can you try to run Oolite as root (from a Terminal window): and try to save. If that works, find the place where the save-file was saved and let us know where that is.