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There are currently 61 users playing Freelancer on 34 servers.
 August. 25, 2019
The Starport Forum Index > All Posts (adoxa)

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adoxa
Re: Request: an easier way to implement paths (no idea whether this is even possible)
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1. It's a console program, so ideally you'd run it from Command Prompt. Running it from Explorer should display the help and wait for a key (it does for me on 7). Drop a file on it (say tracks.ini), it'll open & close, and you should end up with the output file (tracks-fl.ini). ... Ah, in testing on 10 I realized I forgot to mention that it expects Freelancer to be installed (I use its ini-reading code). If that's not the case copy common.dll dacom.dll dalib.dll zlib.dll to subdirectory EXE (or point HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Freelancer\1.0\AppPath to where you installed FL).

2. Not at all - Freelancer does not read them (same with difficulty_level and pilot in [Object]s).

3. I know it's apparently treated as a percentage (the value is divided by 100), so presumably higher means more likely.


With regards my point 4: I need to do that anyway, as it should work with multiple files. And with point 3: I'll test if output is redirected and send it there if so; piping to clip will then put it on the clipboard.

Posted on: 12/15 6:44
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adoxa
Re: Request: an easier way to implement paths (no idea whether this is even possible)
#32
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Here's the first version of Tracks, a program to generate complete FL definitions of trade lanes and patrol (or trade) paths given abridged definitions. For example, this will generate the first trade lane found in Li01.ini:

Code:
[Settings]
system = Li01
reputation = li_p_grp
loadout = trade_lane_ring_li_01

[TradeLane]
number = 16  ; nickname number, not number of rings
first = 3628, 0, -52369, 196776
last = -11163, 0, -78469, 261658
zone = 839, 3  ; size (both width & height) and nickname number
sort = 14
toughness = 1
density = 6
...


and this will generate a patrol path found in Br01.ini:

Code:
[Settings]
system = Br01

[Path]
name = molleys, 7
pos = -71115, 0, 27545
pos = -52152, 0, 9177, return
pos = -40132, 0, 12130, return
pos = 7661, 0, 26736
pos = -9684, 0, 46240
tradelane_attack = 10
pos = -40162, 0, 12415
tradelane_attack = 10
sort = 99
toughness = 7
density = 3
...


There's a readme.txt that describes the format; hopefully that's sufficient documentation, along with the program's own help.

Current limitations:

  1. it's 2D - Y is ignored (could do with examples if this is desired);

  2. there's no provision for individual trade lane rings having a different loadout;

  3. only writes to file (options for stdout or clipboard shouldn't be a problem);

  4. it's intended that a single file has a single system, but could add extra housekeeping if you'd like multiple systems in a single file.

Attach file:

zip tracks.zip Size: 32.55 KB; Hits: 43

Posted on: 12/14 3:28
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adoxa
Re: ISSUE: I often cannot submit posts for a while
#33
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It used to be that I'd reply, submit, exceed session time, resubmit, done. Recently (just started a couple of weeks ago, I think, although I haven't been too active, so perhaps with the switch to https?) that hasn't worked. I successfully submitted a post last night, immediately edited it, and that failed; logged out & in twice before it was accepted.

Posted on: 12/9 1:38
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adoxa
Re: Request: an easier way to implement paths (no idea whether this is even possible)
#34
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I'm not entirely sure of exactly how I'll format it, but given something like:

Code:
[PathPatrol]
nickname = Zone_Li01_path_navy6 ; underscore & number appended automatically
sort = 99
toughness = 2
; etc
; path_label, if absent, could be based on nickname, taking everything after "path_"
pos = <begin point>
pos = <next point>
attack_ids = 24 ; specific to this leg
pos = ...

[PathPatrol]
...

[TradeLane]
; normal common stuff
start = <number of first ring>
begin = <point of first ring>
end = <point of last ring>
; still haven't decided how to handle ring-specific values

[TradeLane]
...


you would end up with a file (or maybe stdout or clipboard) containing the proper Freelancer zones/objects.

Posted on: 12/9 0:23
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adoxa
Re: Request: an easier way to implement paths (no idea whether this is even possible)
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I should be able use two pos values, if you like (although then you'd have to supply both, as there's now way to tell if begin is missing). There's also the option that having the plugin deliberately prevents the patrol paths from being read. Well, not really a big deal with paths, but if there was a similar trade lane plugin, it would hide those from things like Companion.

I've had the thought of using a separate file, allowing all your custom patrol paths and trade lanes to be stored in a single file (per system), The tool would then take that file and generate the equivalent FL version, which you would then (manually, possibly automatically) insert into the system file.

Posted on: 12/8 14:58
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adoxa
Re: ISSUE: I often cannot submit posts for a while
#36
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Yep, same. Logging out and back in usually works, but I even had to do that twice (I clicked the links the first time, just let them load themselves the second).

Posted on: 12/8 14:45
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adoxa
Re: Request: an easier way to implement paths (no idea whether this is even possible)
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Quote:
I've always assumed that path-legs are bi-directional, mostly because it would be awfully inconvenient if they weren't [...]

Yeah, makes sense.


Quote:
So, is the zone primarily a property of a certain area in the system that gets 'alive' by the player's ship approaching, or a condition of the player's ship being in a certain area? (Of course, these are hard to distinguish between, and I'm not even 100% sure whether I fully comprehend what I'm asking )

Sounds like you're asking is there traffic because of where you are or what you can see. A quick experiment suggests the former (from Manhattan I went 21K straight up, outside New York's NW ambient zone, and the traffic stopped). That makes sense, too, because where you are is a lot easier to test than what you can see.

Posted on: 12/7 1:19
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adoxa
Re: What would be the most convenient, common, universal format for sharing the contents of a DVD
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Assuming it's an actual video DVD, I believe MKV is popular, so perhaps MakeMKV (never used it, so you may want to wait for other suggestions). Alternatively, a straight ISO image should work, too. Many programs do that, I even have a command line one (OMIBAR 32; wow! that's back when I was using GeoCities).

If it's just files, use 7-zip.

Posted on: 12/7 0:33
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adoxa
Re: Request: an easier way to implement paths (no idea whether this is even possible)
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Quote:
The new version works fine, both without and with , flip added (I tested that to see whether that parameter could still be used. It didn't cause a crash but it also didn't do anything so I wonder if it would work when somehow the path would actually need to be flipped?)

Only the point is read, everything else is again ignored. It would, of course, be better to fix the generator rather than require manual flipping (it was uncertainty on my part that I did that).

Oh, you might also want to check the direction is right (i.e. ships go from start to end, not end to start). Is there a better way of testing that than just waiting for a patrol to show up and join it? Or is direction implied by the sequence of paths?

Posted on: 12/6 1:29
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adoxa
Re: Request: an easier way to implement paths (no idea whether this is even possible)
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Quote:
Oh btw, would these new-style coordinates be parsed by RimShot's System Calculator?

That's a good point - none of the system readers (e.g. FLE, Studio) or ini error checkers would recognize them, so the standalone utility is probably the way to go. Bugger, I didn't really want to write one.


Quote:
[...] then again your plugins do not seem to trigger any conflict anyway, so this presumption might be baseless.

Actually, I'm still amazed that there's only been one (known) conflict (EngClass & MultiCruise).

Posted on: 12/6 1:15
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adoxa
Re: Request: an easier way to implement paths (no idea whether this is even possible)
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There's a few more settings I could automatically duplicate: nickname (add 1), sort, toughness, density, repop_time, max_battle_size, pop_type, relief_time, path_label (add 1), usage, mission_eligible, density_restriction (multiple), encounter, faction (multiple). Alternatively, take the TLC approach and instead have a standalone utility that takes a few parameters and generates all the zones.

Posted on: 12/5 6:16
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adoxa
Re: Request: an easier way to implement paths (no idea whether this is even possible)
#42
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Quote:
[...] A visit = entry isn't necessary, and hence redundant, for Trade Lane Rings. Could you think of a h[a]ck that totally eliminates the entire line from the generated code?

I could, but the VB6 decompilers I had didn't work, which is why I just changed the number. I've now got a new decompiler, so here's how to remove the visit line altogether:

2E74 12->00
77B9 0C->11
7C2A 0C->11

That replaces something like str += "visit = 1" + vbCRLF with str += "" + "".


Quote:
Significant (to me at least) is that leg 1, 3 and 4 all go from upper-left to lower-right, while leg 2 (which was the one that was skrewed up in the first tests) goes from upper-right to lower-left.

Attached is a new version which should flip automatically. To summarize usage: the first leg should define shape, size (first value), pos_begin and pos_end, whilst subsequent legs should only need pos_end. It may still need tweaking if there are any paths across the Y plane.

Attach file:

zip ZonePos.zip Size: 5.18 KB; Hits: 32

Posted on: 12/5 2:12
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adoxa
Re: The background pattern of infocards etc.
#43
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DATA\INTERFACE\NEURONET\INVENTORY\inv_biginforcard.cmp and/or inv_biginforcard_center.cmp and/or a whole bunch of other files within INTERFACE that contain backgroundpattern.

Posted on: 12/5 0:16
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adoxa
Re: Request: an easier way to implement paths (no idea whether this is even possible)
#44
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Quote:
Btw some vanilla paths have 90, but other -90 as the first rotation value. I don't know how significant that is here, but iirc if you reverse these values (turning 90 into -90 or vice versa), those paths show the same behavior as the faulty paths generated by ZonePos.

That's effectively what swapping begin/end did; flip does it by subtracting 180.

Quote:
No success with looking into the Trade Lane Calculator? That tool does the angles right.

That wasn't my experience with these paths. Both this and FLDev generated <0, n, 0>, which apparently is a vertical cylinder. I add 90 to the X-rotation and swap the X values for Y & Z.

Quote:
[...] although I do find a bit annoying that it writes a visit = 1 line to every single Trade Lane Ring [...]

Change 2E88 from 31 (1) to 30 (0) to write visit = 0 instead.

Quote:
[...] iirc the TLC was a very early tool.

V2 is from May 2004, so about a year after FL was released.

Posted on: 12/4 11:52
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adoxa
Re: Request: an easier way to implement paths (no idea whether this is even possible)
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Since I don't really know what I'm doing, I took the simple approach and added an extra parameter to pos_end that flips the rotation. Now you should be able to have a single pos_begin, with a chain of pos_ends, manually adding flip to the legs that aren't right. I hope.

Attach file:

zip ZonePos.zip Size: 5.29 KB; Hits: 23

Posted on: 12/4 0:10
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