XLR Development Diary

[Xarian_Prime]

Oki.. I could rant and rave about how much this shits me...
but i think i'll just go back to work instead.. 

Really sorry about the delay.. I only have 200mb left.. and the files 313mb
all up i've wasted about 1.2g over the past 2 days.. and 48 hours of downtime..

But enough of that.. I'll make the extra wait worth it 

[Xarian_Prime]

I know i said i was gonna take a siesta till she's released but...
I just coded in the last of the factions for this year... they are as follows

co_cci_grp = Civcorp Industries
fc_ocr_grp = Outlance Consolidated
br_uni_grp = U.N.I.T.
ku_scn_grp = Section 9
rh_rsf_grp = Rhienland Security Force
st_dom_grp = Dominion
st_isc_grp = I.S.C
st_vlk_grp = Vulkan
st_tal_grp = Tal'shi'har
bf_rad_grp = Raiders
bs_cvc_grp = Clonial Shipping
bs_csp_grp = Clonial Seperatists
sg_sgc_grp = S.G.C
sg_gld_grp = Goa'uld
sg_wth_grp = Wraith
sg_ori_grp = Ori
xm_xrs_grp = Xaranian Exports
xm_shm_grp = Shaman Men
xm_brn_grp = Bundari
xm_ltf_grp = Lotus Flower
xm_mcp_grp = M.C.P.
xm_dlk_grp = Darleks

Cant really see why we'd need any more.. maybe "V" if i can get the assets together 

[Xarian_Prime]

Things i just got working.. although far from "intergrated"..

dock_key.dll -> SP dock locking - planets/bases/Jumphole & gates.. + keys to unlock "mountable"
territory.dll -> defines the "territory" in nav & space via a .ini file (& .dll)
ammolimit.dll -> now each torp/missile/mine ect.. anything using ammo.. can be set at different max ammo

all 3 of the above .dll's are thanks to Adoxa.. Frack i love his work! 

All missile trails have been fixed.. Im stomping that ugly boxy problem where i see it...

Gateway.. just got a overhaull... Liberty & Rhienland gates removed, trading just got a touch harder..
The system now serves as a link between Bretonia & Australis... Im planning to remove and move some Jumpholes around in the next few hours.. the random wormholes may vanish as well..
Adminis & its J-holes will remain untouched.

Over the next few days.. Im reloading a few factions.. but "that's" a surprise 
The New engines are working well... one can feel the difference.. im happy.. but it still needs work

Its nice to finaly have some time to play it propper again.. tweaking and fixing when i see it instead
of being in the middle of something and purely testing for a CTD  .. there are still a few probs.. one of
wich is why the gates/holes are being altered so heavly.. im hoping that'll fix most of our mainhouse problems.. "most" 

as always.. any Q's just send me a message.. or start a thread.. its all good 

[Xarian_Prime]

I just switched a ton of gates into holes.. no "legal" path is longer than 10 jumps now..
Gateway no longer goes to any House system except Australis.. but is now the only way
to get to B5 & Starwars systems.. I will be shifting the Trek/Bajor hole and the babylon hole
as well.. FP7 will still lead to SOL.. but now there will a shorter journey through Outer sol instead
of through Bajor. & the journey will be worth it quite soon..

Outer/Borderworld Sytems are now a travel.. Xarania is now quite far.. all good things..

There is a bug.. When Transports go through the Jumpgates.. it's not always happening..
and with different factions too, Im seriously thinking of dumbing down the trade zones/paths ect..
I've also noticed a "trafic jam" of sorts at more than 1 base/ lane & Jumphole.. think its time to
overhaul traders to a simpler way.. but much better ships, with nice Cmods to ..erm.. loot

Apart from the above bug.. shes rockin' still needs alota work.. but nice when it does work.. hehe

Oh.. and b4 i go.. I asked Gibbon a few weeks ago if i could look at his Galactica2.0 mod for ref..and the odd
"goodie".. and he gave me permission to go for it  I've grabbed a good whack of the music (its awesome!!) but
obviously not all.. just the fitting stuff.. as for its ships.. we have alot (if not all) of it converted.. but not hitboxxed..
I wont be using Every ship in there just the ones that have been "wrapped" mainly as .. wow!! what a .sur! those guys
can hitbox.. there are a few i failed to convert.. and.. a "propper" scar!.. SO basicly.. THANKS GIBBON!! when i finish
the "extras" (converted ones i did) and there all in... that's gonna look real nice.. and probally where I'll spend most of my time
also grabbed the BSG turrets.. I'll make good use of them.. We have a good selection of new models for that kinda stuff..
I just have to code them into actual guns  & Killer.. Its oki m8, I'll use these cylon ones.. when you see the hitbox on the
Basestar.. you'll understand (almost.. skin tight) & there's a cruiser & resship.. i could go on 

Ok.. so im gonna go try and squash this Trader Bug.. for good!.. 
I have a bit of net.. When i kill this CTD.. Im going to "split&zip" the mod in 2..
Hopefully i get 2 150mb'ish files.. then I'll upload them.. as i know i can do 150mb 

[Xarian_Prime]

We have a MAJOR Problem folks...

Bw03 / 07 / 08 & 09.. all CTD.. n' bad too..

Could someone fire up the "last" current X and see if it's happening there as well?

I have a sneaky feeling its either a path.. zone.. or those pesky mining bases but as ive never
touched those systems.. its kinda hard to track.. If i still get the problem after a few more tries
I'm gonna wipe the systems clean.. and recode em without alot of the paths.. ect..
Tradelanes & bases possibly will be all that remain in the next version.. it could even be a field
I went to every system in the game.. only those 4 above had any problems.

Nailing the last of the errors here folks... sucks this had to be one of em.. as its a real pain..

everything else seems to be working sweet.. SP docklocking.. new territory data on the navmap
we lost a few gates & holes.. but only where it was "too" easy (& was causing pathfinding errors)

Also.. if anyone's seen the "Action" on TSP recently.. or met SolCommand on WTS.. you'll know that
The freelancer community has received a large injection of models over the past few weeks.. as such
I've started to work on them for XLR .. they need grouping & texturing as Sol don't do no texturing
there's even a sweet sleeper ship.. & he's made me some "V" Ships.. that are the first to be done

Think i might have to give Trooper a shake on this one.. as its all ms3d work.. fun! but very time consuming
Pics soon of the first "V" ship.. just have to resize it a touch..

[Xarian_Prime]

Bugfixes... 

Borderworlds back to "working"..
Countless EQ fixes..
A fly without wings is a crawl... but he's far from "fixxed"
My Brain... wehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe.... he.

& no.. We can count....  I'm overdue.. yes.. but,,,,,,

Lets just put it down to a conflict of interest... & not creating one right now...

Dam these early morning, pre-caffinated Posts.....

[Xarian_Prime]

A few things to know.. 

We now have command line options for X.. courtesy of Cannon's DSAce.dll
Big thanks to Discovery, Cannon.. & whoever 1st posted this "gem" on TSP...

the writeup for the commands are as follows..

****Cannon's command line tools**** - Sourced from discovery 485(update2)
Command line options:

-dx = Widescreen support, where the screen size is set to the current desktop resolution
-dWxH = Widescreen support, where W = screen width and H = screen height.
-noflighttext = Hide the "Mouse Flight" and associated text on the hud.
-nohud = Disable hud
-logchat = Log chat to My Documents\Freelancer\dsace.log
-logtime = Include the timestamp in chat log
-localtime = Show the timestamp in local time rather than UTC.
-newplayer = Enable new player messages. By default new player messages are disabled
-dptplayer = Enable departing player messages. By default departing player messages are disabled
-lag = Show the lag indicator icon. By default the lag indicator icon is disabled.

nice eh'.. especially the lag meter one... they are entered into your shortcut the same way you'd put
a server IP.. so variations are the go.. I personally can have a "normal" shortcut.. & a vidmaking one with the -noflighttext -nohud and switch between video mode & game mode easy (without altering the mod just for videos)..

Next thing im going to do.. Is make FLhack work with X .. i might have to have a chat with adoxa about a "altered" launcher for X.. that proggy has some nice stuff.. like being able to set your hud meters (pwr/sh/hull) to custom colours.. but that's stuff for the future 

This will all be available soon.. I couldn't release her in the state it was in and feel right about it..
and the Borderworld problem thew me a mighty big spanner.. that was a real problem.. but i nailed a few others trying to fix it.. and decided on a few "re-writes" along the way.. ie: who gets Armored Trans & trains.. who don't.. who trades what where... all that stuff. I will be spending the remaining time left untill my pay (week & a bit) rebuilding most of the borderworlds.. leveling hardpoints (yes i've started!) & tweaking things the way they should be 

Lastly... (for now lol) I should inform you that there have been a few "restrictions" placed around the universe... you will soon see Command Recognition Code (CRC's.. hehe) mountables at major houses.. YOU WILL NEED THEM!!.. they open things.. locked things.. & in SP.. not just MP.. special weps/EQ will only be obtainable from high level bases with "Alpha" level security.. and one must earn an "Alpha" CRC..

Missslies.. and mines /CM's are now limited to 10 "ammo" .. yes 10!! i "may" increase some.. (remember there's EMS..) its all based on the constant value and divided or multiplied by that.. this will need some major testing to get the right balance between fun.. and spam.. but its getting there nicely This can also be set on a wep by wep basis.. food for thought 

So yeah... alot going on... and at the same time im working on SolCommands models.. and learning to texture them with Ms3d (i don't care what they say... UVmapping hurts my brain..) I hope to have a few ready in V2.. depends on how they go.

So ye's can probably start the countdown now.. looking at the 15-16th of December.. as for now.. im off to Dicoveryville... to ask about a few capships I just saw... I don't think we need anymore fighters..  lolz  If anyone has a "fav" ship from there... now would be the time to tell me 

Chowza 

[Xarian_Prime]

All ready to rock 'n Roll 

there will be 2 parts to the download.. makes uploading alot easier than wasting 300 odd meg per try
I have some time (3 or 4 hours) before i can even contemplate uploading.. so i'll try and get a few more things in
like the Ghoul & Cobra from SolCommand.. I've tested the crap out of it.. and fixed a few things along the way..

she still crashes every now and then.. bug reports will be very necessary, but its mostly trains jumping through gates now
& not always the same ones... I've held back on locking docks & CRC keys (see above post) for the time being to focus
on getting it 100% working.. at moment i'd estimate its at about 95%.. still.. far better than before 

Ignore the server errors about HPxx01 & HPxx02.. Im looking into whats up there.. (she shouldn't be spewing that..)

You start in the most basic of ships.. & at cali minor.. chose your friends & enemy's wisely..
As a bonus..(and to set the levels) you also start with a large wad 'o cash.. 100mila but most eq/weps
are rep leveled now so its not a mass shopping spree anymore.

HINT: to jump levels easy..(minor "bug" still) just go out and find some NPC's going at it.. and tractor away..
^^enjoy that.. its the next thing im fixxing.. lol

Oki.. gotta run & try and talk a blacksnake outa my toilet (its an outdoor one) .. freakin thing scared the crap outa me as i was taking a leak.. im just glad its a black one.. and not a brown one.. they nasty..

Let the games... begin! 

[Xarian_Prime]

** Notes on up-coming "PART 3" **

Battlestar "Roundup" & additions
Gate & Docklocks Finalized
All Engine & Powerplants available to buy/swap
Borderworlds "fixx" (its working atm.. but barren)
Proper placement of Equipment / Ships
New Factions Finished
More old factions Refitted
New systems Finished
A Few more ships.. & maybe bases (SolCommand & Converted models)
Another truckload of fixes for systems/bases & encounters (last BIG bug!)
Info fixes .. well.. the start of them anyways 
More news items detailing the state of the universe & hints on wreck locations
More Bribes.. and better/changed locations (yes that "bug" has been fixed  )
Better mission availability, Gateway missions fixed (capture/tractor missions still a problem)
Better Music placement & new weapon sounds coded to guns, Some weps will be re-FX'd to what i originally wanted

As always.. I'll keep you all posted as to when this is done.. problems along the way.. and whats working
I estimate.. around the first week of January, most of this is .ini work.. its the models that take up so much time lol

Happy Hunting..

-Xar 

[Xarian_Prime]

Oopsie... 

I forgot to add the Ion-X server data & Shell stuff.....
Give us a few days... I can upload the Ion-X data now.. but have to make new restarts.
Let us know if you get a loadout you like.. I'll make it into a restart. np's 

Sorry for that..

[Xarian_Prime]

We just got a ream "gem" for OSP/SP (more kudos to AdoXa!!)

Command Console anyone??

From what i can gather.. with limited testing (i'll do more tonight) it has a whole bevy of option
from ship storage/transfer down to changing ye chars appearance.. lots of fun 

The downside is it really is just for SP.. I'll throw it at hook tonight and see what problems it brings.
Easy enough to just ";" comment it out in the dacom.ini for the savy.. or even no so savy.. hehe 

Work is proceeding nicely.. even with time out for some play.. Im currently fixing the BSG assets for XLR
as alot of the ships were just for NPC's in Galactica 2.0. CRC & docklocks are done.. I'll address the mBase.ini
problem after finishing the BSG stuff. HPxx errors for NPC's are now gone.. turns out they don't need the extra data.. and it was all removed from the loadouts.. We may still get the error on players mounting.. but its negligible now.. and causes minimal server disruption.

Oh and if i dont post anything b4.. Happy Festimas! & thanks hugeley to everyone this past year
I hope to make the coming year even more exiting for you all! 

[Xarian_Prime]

After watching alota "V" recently.. i decided to fix the Skyfighter.. (it was bugging me)



I made the textures from scratch(lol) .. if anything to get the back section & insignia perfect 
she's still missing some detail (doors.. wing insignias) but im not actually working on the Vfleet atm..
so i'll get back to her when i am 

For what i am working on... hmm.. I'll show ye's when its done 

[Xarian_Prime]

Not much this week... NYE festivities with McFuggin & catching up on sleep mainly.

Some RL plans have halted dev for a few days.. but im going back to work on everything
either in the next few hours (very sleepy still) or as soon as i wake.

At the moment im working on some ships for EC & will finish this work 1st then start the final
run of XLR changes/updates for the next "part".. which is looking pretty darn good  I may even get
a Sol Command base or 2 (garden's bases update) in before & defiantly some new ships as working on the EC
models has taught me volumes about grouping and texuring in ms3d.. which means i now work even faster on the less
"complicated" models..

also.. prepare for another massive ship kull before the next (v3) beta.. looking again at everything.. some just don't fit no more
and now with Sol commands ships & the new Asgard & Epsilon ships.. they fit even less.. I will elaborate more on this at a latter
date.. as for now its just in the "too be looked at" box..

That is all 4 now.. been a looong weekend, this little lancer needs to ..zzzzzzzzz... 

[Xarian_Prime]

okis.. final shipkull done.. about 30 ships gone now, most we'd never fly anyways 
a few were variants (like the 2 "other" mili falcons & low grade SW ships).. after a scan of all the ships left
im happy with whats there now.. no more shipkulls (lolz) & whats on the way "in" is pretty mega! (although taking some time..)

Spent last night watching series 3 of BSG (yeah im slow..) & addding the BSG ships.. should see this Basestar..
32 turrets.. go gibbon! the collision box on it is almost skintight too.. both the basestar/galactica & pegasus are
now probably the "best" BS/DN's in the game now.. capable of mounting just about anything & ye can fly trough the
launchbays due to a awesome collision box (.sur).. this is the main reason i asked gibbon for them.. as they rock.. hard!
still a few "bigger" ships to fixx as they were intended for NPC's only (resship.. ect..) but its only a few.
after the BSG stuff is done, + a few more systems for them to roam in.. Im moving on the the Babylon overhaul
something I've been looking forward to for about 8 months.. lol

also.. Im not releasing a "part 3"... more like a V3 (complete) as the previous host shits me.. ETA is about 2-3 weeks
im only half way though the mBases fix.. but have killed the trader spawn issue that was causing the CTD, cargo pods + creative loading..being the culprit.. now its just a matter of adding extra factions to the base files to avoid docking crashes.. that's a mighty fix but needed to avoid some problems with altered encounters.

Its mega hot down here of late.. 38-42(c) that's meant no worky during the day  & also partly why im behind a bit.. being a cold blooded alien.. I don't play well in the heat.. neither does my PC (lolz) passive cooling 'n all...

[Xarian_Prime]

Quick Update:..

Sol's new cobra's done.. went to hackers along with a Anna V...
Sender contacted.. full access granted for model use.. (pics soon!)
BSG/Cylon fleets almost finalized.. main ships in.. extras in tonight or tomorrow..
Kira texture work started.. [MERC] flagship will be up & flying soon
many more mBase.ini fixxes.. (this is taking forever... ) & misc niggles quashed..
.ini files "split" into multiple files.. reason.. b'cuz i can.. lolz 

New site/Forum started.. a W.I.P.. will make available when it's "ready"
Friends contacted.. life reclaimed.. rock crawled out from under....
Mega's models on "the shelf" to be taken back down in a few days for final work, will try to fix the
Eagle and angel.. but no promises, as it sent me batty last time..  mod 1st.. models 2nd.. otherwise
that's all id ever do.. models are a bad fetish of mine.. digital & plastic (lolz)

new XLR build in next few days.. better host (or hosts! if all goes well.. ) 1 piece dll.. all good things 
oh.. and yeah.. i made a new banner..