@Mace: I really thought Sinclair's Landing was a Jet Set Willy level... (used to play that aeons ago) but a google search didn't confirm this... Btw, the Wagner commod dealer is out of stock!

Well, having a look in ships/loadouts.ini, the problem is there is no "MP_newfs_ge_fighter". If you replace it with "msn_playerloadout" instead you should be ok.
Hope you get it all sorted.

Edited by - Mace_166 on 6/13/2006 7:49:59 AM

Mace have you tryed this on a server when you were bug hunting as my LAN console has a large pile of RED warnings and an even bigger pile of YELLOW and that's before I even start Freelancer.

**shuffles of with a new headache**

Hey! That worked! I changed that line in the .ini file and it launched perfectly. Thank you!

Any thoughts as to why mine would have been messed up like that? I'm just curious if it was something I did...

@Bejaymac, well, i have playtested on multiplayer and it seemed ok. What program are you using to test it? What kind of errors are you getting?

@Mister Vertigo, Oh, it wasn't you, it was the script. The "MP_newfs_ge_fighter" is a ship loadout that dosen't exist. I'm hoping that its the only one, but there are lots of them, its possible there might be more.
To be honest, starting at New Berlin with a starflier and 2500 is going to be pretty tough. Even New York in a starflier would be a nightmare. But, its up to you.

Mace I haven't tested it with anything yet, all I've done is start IFSO & FlServer with your mod activated. The console window shows nothing but RED & YELLOW errors, when I launch from Manhatten all I get is yellow & red LAG warnings.

I'll mail you my Spew and server log so you can see what I mean.

**shuffles of with a new headache**

Err ok, well i've just run flspit and looked through some that RippeR had sent me and there is quite a few there. They didn't show up with Flscan, but they are probably just a different kind of error than its used to.
Quite a few of them i don't understand:
Get base = (whatever), its either in universe and the system or not in either.
WARNING: [Ship} nickname = 0xada42c42
ERROR: Invalid ini block in file ..\data\Universe\Systems\FR01\Bases\FR01_01_Base.ini = Well, there might be a shiproom that is actually a deck2 instead. Either way shouldn't cause a crash by having an ini that can't be reached by the buttons.
I will most likely sort through them. But, i'm going to concentrate on any problems that actually cause direct crashes in the game.

The Invalid ini block is an open and closed square bracket with nothing in between them, an old favourite with older versions of FLE, God I hate that program, the amount of garbage it sticks in to the ini files is crazy.

Of the files I sent you the server log is the important one, those are the RED entries from the server console. They are the ones that are more likely to CTD the client, server or both if they are interacted with in game.
The ones in Spew are the YELLOW's from the console, while they won't cause an instant CTD they do cause the PC to work harder trying to bypass them which results in slow down and even server LAG. However on mass they will cause random CTD's for some people.

The logs were created at server start up and the journey from Manhatten to the Texas system.

**shuffles of with a new headache**

@ Mace: How did you get the engine to show up (when at the equip dealer) without it being attached to a hardpoint?

Hey Moonhead, that ones an easy one. If you just add the equipment to a goods file then they show up. Its the same for powerplants and armour too.
I believe the engines were hardcoded to be mounted to a magic internal hardpoint. With the HpEngine01 being used for the exhaust.
Hows it going?

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that ones an easy one. If you just add the equipment to a goods file then they show up

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Hmm.. And the "You can't sell your engine" is just hardcoded? I kind of read the discussion about maing engines buyable on that while it was going on, but I never really delved into it back then... (I left some basic modding issues uninvestigated - just like I am only now investigating the relation between the [ShieldGenerator} and the [Shield} entries... As far as I can see, the {Shield entries are just appearance. But I digress )

---

Hows it going?

---

I started with a Zoners' Eagle & Zoners' Rep. So I got a good ship and a fairly neutral rep. So I stick to trading mostly (though I did some missions against L.Rogues and Hackers), and witness a lot of fighting going on while I pass unhindered... If I would jump into the action, I would explore the Star Systems more in-depth, but I want to keep my neutral rep to relatively easily find the worlds that I expect are more to the right of the universe map... and get involved with the Empire (either in service of, or against them). If I remember correctly, I just ended up in Procyon.

The Star Systems are cool. Did you handcode them, or used one of the System creators? Out of a cosmetic point of view, it might be nice to throw some satellite archs around over some of the stations in a later release, as you sometimes got a bunch of similar stations in the same area. But in a way, that adds to realism, making the preference for a certain station architecture a cultural/regional one.

O, and don't the spines around the stars bother you? I mean they look cool but it's totally unrealistic. Just removing them from the Star entries causes errors, but you could replace all spines in StarArch.ini by very little (practically invisible) spines:
<pre><font size=1 face=Courier>[spines
nickname = no_spines
radius_scale = 1
shape = stripe_narrow
min_radius = 0.005
max_radius = 0.01
spine = 0.0015, 0.0001500000, 0.001, 0.001, 0.001, 0, 0, 0.001, 0.000500000
spine = 0.0015, 0.0001500000, 0.001, 0.001, 0.001, 0, 0, 0.001, 0.000500000 </font></pre>

Furthermore, you could prevent those double factions showing up on the rep screen by opening up Common.dll in a Hex editor (e.h. Hex Workshop) and replace a couple of the 'hidden' factions' nicknames (like fc_uk_gr, fc_ouk_gr etc.) with the names of your double factions. This of course would only make sense if the player would always have (almost) the same rep with all the Eastern Coalition factions, so that the one that does show up, represents the entire EC. (if you don't wanna edit a dll, then you could replace the factions' nicknames with fc_uk_gr etc. but that's of course a lot more work).

(But these are just some unsollicitated suggestions - hope it doesn't offend you.)




Edited by - Moonhead on 6/14/2006 4:30:49 AM

Oh, no its fine i am asking for comments and feedback from the mod. So, any that you have are accepted without me getting moody or anything.
The "can't sell your engine" thing is hardcoded and was going to be in the game properly until Microsoft bought out DA and released the game sooner.
You will find that when you start attacking people people get a lot more negative than they used to. You will still get pirates demanding cargo or ammo that might force a fight, but other than that you should be pretty well left alone.
The star systems are made using FLE, then i hand edit the population zones and check the patrols. Some things like the base layout of bases, you can't easily do it unless you see it visually. So, FLE is pretty good for that.
The sun spines don't really bother me much. The game is so completely unrealistic anyway (with the size of the stations and planets) that funky looking suns are the least of its problems.
I could do that fix. The Eastern Coalition groups were one of the last things i changed before releasing. If i had another look i could probably find enough locations in namesresources.dll.
Some of the bases are basic, in particular in the East/West corner. But bear in mind, there are several hundred bases. I did try making each of them unique, but some of them are just the basic archetype.
Cheers for your feedback

Yeah indeed there were a bunch of -if I remember correctly- Jackals demanding my torpedos... but I was just docking on a tradelane so I could get away before having to waste my rep ("When danger reared its ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled " I'll safe the fighting for later, first I wanna explore and map Sirius.

Indeed the suns look funky And you're right about the realism.... Ships, stations, planets and suns are all on a different scale. Realistic size Star Systems would mean there would be vast areas of basically nothing in each System (yet the pc has to do the calculations for the entire 3d space), and a huge, huge sun in the middle - the sun's diameter is more than 100 times that of the earth. So I can understand why the developers designed the game the way it is now.

O, another cool thing about this 'hidden' factions is also that you can have an apparently single faction displaying two kinds of behaviour, like e.g. Bowex also smuggling Cardamine thru jumpholes. Too bad you can have only about 8 or so.


In-game Q: I'm really not gonna ask you for a detailed route, but I'm in the northwest part of Sirius now (in FS) -- any suggestions for a sorta short route to the East? (If you don't wanna spoil or hint it's okay too. But I'm curious for those systems)




Edited by - Moonhead on 6/14/2006 10:27:20 AM

Ok, i can give you a route. It is of a higher level, but its either that or head back to kusari space and through to omicron theta.
Starting Procyon jumphole>Candaess jumphole>Socanti jumphole>Banards star jumpgate>Lalande 21185 jumpgate>Epsilon Indi Jumpgate>Ackarack Jumpgate>Devore Jumphole>Cygnus-51 Jumphole>Cygnus-X jumphole, Lave Jumpgate, Phiagre.
Phiagre is one of those systems that is not very remarkable but is in an important position. To the west there is a jumphole to Anayeth (the Imperium), to the north (where you've come from) is the old worlds/Cygnus and to the south is a jumpgate to Besoex(the Federation). Also north west is a jump hole to Omicron Theta.
If you plan to join the Imperium watch out for the space around Planet Capitol in the Archenar system. Its defended by Imperial special forces who will attack you unless you are well established with the Imperial Navy. They kick ass too (big time) and as the Imperial Navy are allies they'll all attack you and you won't be able to dock.
If you are joining the Federation, the house capital is Beta Hydri. They are more friendly and you should have full access to their systems.
Do try to read the rumours in the bars, there are some usefull stuff there.
Whichever side you choose, there's lots of work on offer.

You might want to consider playing on OpenSP, that way you could make up several different characters and explore different regions. The Dublin>Ross-154 is one of my usual favourites as its at the just below falcon/high level hawk if you head east there to Miogre theres a nice lower level region there. That leads to the Federation and Imperium too.

Edited by - Mace_166 on 6/14/2006 11:54:12 AM