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Hi fellow olliteers. I'm having a rather annoying problem with the bright yellow on screen messages that come up during game play. I've just logged out after a long chase after some craits in my python (just started a new game on XP after my Ubuntu partition imploded). During this chase I had several messages such as missile locked, incomming missile, fuel exhausted etc. They remained on the screen and completely screwing up the visuals for the next 20 minutes and even up until I had docked, refueled and eventually exited the game. It wouldn't be so bad if the messages weren't right smack bang on the targeting point. These old sausage fingers struggle at the best of times but not being able to see the target is a handicap I can't overcome.

After all that (forgive me but I had to get it off my chest) all I want to know is whether there is an oxp or config I can set to move the messages to another part of the screen?

thanks in advance for any help and/or advice and my apologies again for the initial rant. O7

Martynf_uk wrote:

all I want to know is whether there is an oxp or config I can set to move the messages to another part of the screen?

Read from here in this other thread... that'll let you move the messages.
Don't know why they stay on your screen for so long, though.

Oh, and welcome.

Are you running Oolite v1.65? Then it's time to update it...

And welcome onboard .-)

The sticky messages bug was squashed some time after v1.65. I know that you have had some issues installing the newer versions (sorry I can't help you on that, I don't use Linux), but you may want to try again with the autopackage download from Berlios, which is designed specifically to work with any Linux distribution and carries its own support libraries, which are known to work regardless of what buggy GNUstep version Ubuntu has decided to go with.

Also, I am not sure that the instructions El Viejo mentioned earlier would apply on v1.65. Apart from the fact that I don't see anything in the v1.65 source code that would hint some kind of support for changing message settings, the 1.65 hud.plist is in XML format, while the example in EV's link is written in OpenStep format. You cannot mix the two formats in the same plist.

As it seems, the only advice I can offer is what has been already said: You will need to update your Oolite version. For more help on how exactly this can be done and work on your distro, I think I will have to let our resident Linux wizards add their comments.

Edit: Just realized you had switched to XP. OK, that's easy then. Just be sure you are running v1.74.2. If you are already on v1.74.2, please post the Latest.log file contents here. You can navigate to the Oolite Logs Start menu item in your Oolite Start menu folder for quick access.

Hi again and thanks for the replies.
Yes, the problem I was getting was in the XP version of 1.74.2, which was installed out of desperation more than anything. I did not intend using XP for longer than necessary and am now back on Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick. In an attempt to circumvent the problem I tried to install 9.04 Jaunty as it is the last supported Ubuntu version for the ATI proprietary driver I intended installing for my X1800XT (I was getting graphics errors while installing Oolite 1.74.2 on Jaunty). Well, long story short and a 05:30 finish, it failed!

I am now stuck with running 1.65-7 from the trusted repositories and having to sift through all the oxp's to find the compatible ones. Well, it 'should' keep me out of mischief for a while. 8P

P.S. Trying to run 1.74.2 for windows through wine also did not work. I will have a go with dosbox when I get a chance.

It would be good if you could post a log from the XP 1.74.2 run. This bug has been long resolved and I would like to know what OpenGL graphics are reported by Oolite when it runs, as I am once again suspecting the gfx drivers.

And I wouldn't bother too much running the game on Windows through Dosbox. Oolite is a pure 32-bit Windows application and there are no guarantees what will happen if you run it through a DOS emulator.

another_commander wrote:

And I wouldn't bother too much running the game on Windows through Dosbox. Oolite is a pure 32-bit Windows application and there are no guarantees what will happen if you run it through a DOS emulator.

I'm guessing the above is a typo? As I'm not actually using Windows; I keep it on dual boot for emergencies and only went to that dark part of my hard drive for a quick Oolite fix (shot to the arm) after I killed my Ubuntu partition.

I'm using Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick x64. My intention was to try running the windows 1.74.2 .exe through a dos emulator to see if I can benefit from the upgrade from 1.65-7 but if you're suggesting that won't work then I'll not risk screwing up my (new) Ubuntu set-up.

I'll post the logs when I get a chance. I'm fighting with my install of Eclipse and the python plugin atm as I'm trying to study Python.

Thanks again for all the replies and help. This is indeed a great forum.

DOS and Windows are entirely different operating systems. There is no version of Oolite for DOS that I know of.

The only other alternative that I can think of would be to use a Virtual Machine like VirtualBox in Ubuntu and install XP that way. Don't know how well it would run though, depends on our system specs.