Adventure Topology Accelerator

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Periculi
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This Adventure Topology Accelerator mod will accelerate your adventure extensions construction.

*This mod overrides all the game star systems and removes all the standard stargate placement methods. (Will not override Huaramarca gate)

*recommended for adventure extensions only.

This changes nothing about how the regular game plays or where it builds stargates. You can drop the extension in your Extension folder and play the Vanilla game without noticing any difference at all- even though the gates are now being generated dynamically!

What this is doing is using all script in a small function to place the gates based on data in the topology. So if the system is linked with one gate, it gets one gate. If it is linked with 27 gates it gets 27 gates. Gates are generated dynamically as needed.

Now- what this means for you is that you can use the regular system unid to create as intricate networks as you like in an adventure extension without having to also dive into creating special systems.

This mod allows you to just focus on creating topology networks without worrying if the star systems you are using have the right number of gates. Completely removes the broken gate bugs that often crop up when trying to remember which unid to use for which number of gates. It's a simple and straightforward solution to gate placement that makes building adventure extension networks faster and much easier!

If you do add new systems, this mod adapts! Just don't add any <RandomLocation gate placement or other gates- you don't need them as long as you have the GateGlobalsD8,xml and a system using <OnGlobalSystemCreated> to call sysPlaceStargates. In the StarSystems override I placed the <OnGlobalSystemCreated> event in a special system at the top of the file, you can Find it there to use for your own custom systems if you aren't going to be using the standard systems override included.

This mod is fully compatible with the Navigation Computer basic, but won't help you with making any star charts (visual).

This is the smallest and most incredibly functional gate switch I have ever made, and it also has some built in error catching and additional dbgLog code to help figure out problems- if you are testing an adventure extension, simple turn every line (like 7 or 8 of them) like this

Code: Select all

;(dbgLog
into this

Code: Select all

(dbgLog
and the function will present to you some data on what is happening during the gate finding and building process.

Included in the mod package is an example Adventure Extension with multiple gates linking the test system- you can check out the topology and then see the gate placement in action in the ATA extension.

These is one limitation I found- the use of a [Prev] link in a LOOPING topology section causes errors. The function can't find the gateName for some reason. This is probably due to the way the loops can throw the [Prev] off in the first place. You can use [Prev] on a non-looping section just fine.
I found that using Prev can become difficult on branching topologies months ago and stopped using that feature of the topology linking, I recommend you do the same if you want loops that don't break.

This is packed as a regular extension so that you can re-use it in any topology you want to play.

I also upgraded the systems with Jump Beacon markers, I expect to be releasing a new version of the Jump To Beacon mod shortly. :)

Enjoy this simple tool brought to you by
Last edited by Periculi on Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:22 am, edited 5 times in total.
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Betelgeuse
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very cool does this mean you can generate any topology we want and this would work fine?

How about topologies that are not connected by gates (ie two networks that the players jumps from one to the other kind of like an evil universe)
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WOW, a mod for wannabe topology designers !
I think I will give a try. :D

What about a 1 way stargates ? is that possible ?




The return of the Jump To Beacon mod ! :shock:
I really appreciate that ! :D [/quote]
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Periculi
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very cool does this mean you can generate any topology we want and this would work fine?
Yes.
How about topologies that are not connected by gates (ie two networks that the players jumps from one to the other kind of like an evil universe)
That shouldn't be a problem.

What about a 1 way stargates ? is that possible ?
I tested this accidentally already, it can be a little troublesome. You can't get the gate to return the name of the destination gate properly.
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Hi Periculi, hi all,


Just tested it little, very nice ! However I don't understand a few things :
- What about the gates types ? Why are they fixed ? Game objects or script ?
- It must be in any system that max 30 gates names are defined ? If I've understood well, yes...
- Why 6 markers entities instead of 1 unique class ? Must be related to the way the game manages objects...

Got many other questions, but I'll not dump them all at once ! I'll first try to setup a few topologies...
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Hoshikaze 2250 Project
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Periculi
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The marker objects were simple that way and it reduces the amount of events being done when the system is created. It could be one unique class but then in addition to creating the objects, 6 <OnCreate> events would need to alter the object to an individual version anyways.

30 gates max is not true- you can use any number of gates. I just built the table up to 30 as a model. Eventually that table will be used to place different types of gates beyond the common type- any gate over the table limit will be a default common gate.

The gate type is fixed in the game now, but by setting certain gate names to certain gate types I can control which gate version to place.
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Mutos
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Hi Periculi,


OK, thanks for the answers. Now I'm getting to eat and go to work, I'll rework on topology in the train...
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Periculi
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ATAv2 is almost ready- this version allows placement of one way gates, and actually might cause a little frustration because it fixes topology errors to a certain extent. If you accidentally point a gate to the wrong node and gateID, the ATA placement script ignores the error and picks a random gate to make the link. This works for creating one-way gates. It won't be able to fix bad nodeIDs (yet).

I have worked out some better placement methods to place gates in the systems to prevent any strange grouping or gates being placed on top of each other, and have added a filter for specific nodes as a forbid list you can adjust to have the ATA not place gates in some systems (such as Elysium, Huaramarca and Heretic)

I am still working on the alternate gates- in this version the ATA is able to set UnchartedMagellan, Magellen, and Inactive gates according to a gateID name set. Any gate name can be used to produce the gates, but to get specific gates there will be a naming schedule to produce the special type of stargate instead.

(as a side note- once I get the full gate set working, Huaramarca's gate placement to a random node will be unnecessary. and I will override the code to make it work from ATA since they both want to do the same thing)

I am also adding back in the beacons so that the gates continue to appear as they do in the regular game version.


I am still experimenting with ways to get [Prev] to be nice, but the random gate picker for unfound gateName/destID results does force a gate to be made to the desired node, but not always to the desired gate. And loops still break with [Prev], which happens if you use ATA or the regular game gate placement methods.

This upgrade will only involve replacing the GateGlobals.xml file.
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Periculi
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65 downloads and 3 thank-yous (or close enough)?

:roll:

You know, it's really rather discouraging. A lot of the mods I make extend the game with tools- mapping & notes & flagging, global calendar, easy gate placement for topologies- these don't just add a set of new overpowered weapons to the game- they enable modders to do more. And it seems that a lot of people have made use of these things, yet I rarely get any feedback. Oh, yes, I get the occasional "Hey this is broken on my machine", but as far as feedback about the good bits, this forum comes up rather dry.
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Mutos
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Hi Periculi,


Don't be discouraged, my entire attempt at modding is based upon your own work (ATA) ^-^ and it works good and fine ! You perfectly reached your goal on that one...

Actually, I daily observe that behavior at my office. I'm on IT sys admin and 99% of users behave just like that, so don't be sad, it's not that your mods are not good, it's just built-in in human beings...
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I agree with Mutos. Event manager 3 will definitely be in my next mod.
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Periculi wrote:65 downloads and 3 thank-yous (or close enough)?

:roll:

You know, it's really rather discouraging. A lot of the mods I make extend the game with tools- mapping & notes & flagging, global calendar, easy gate placement for topologies- these don't just add a set of new overpowered weapons to the game- they enable modders to do more. And it seems that a lot of people have made use of these things, yet I rarely get any feedback. Oh, yes, I get the occasional "Hey this is broken on my machine", but as far as feedback about the good bits, this forum comes up rather dry.
That is the internet for you.

Silence is appreciation, I think your tools are very cool, if I had more time with them I may even have an informed opinion.

but from me to you:

Thanks Man!
a modder is as a modder does.
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Periculi
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:) Thanks for the non-silent appreciation.
Last edited by Periculi on Thu Sep 04, 2008 6:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Mutos
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Hi Periculi, hi all,


For my part, what I appreciate with the ATA is that it's invisible except when needed. I saw it when I downloaded and installed it, then, it was just sitting there and allowed me to mod my way without doing unwanted things... That's the sign of good tools...
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Benoît 'Mutos' ROBIN
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Periculi
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I think that there is a bug when the ATA encounters the Huaramarca gate- it might be crashing the game sometimes. I am working on a more intelligent version of ATA that will allow the use of a forbid list for nodeID and gateID to solve many of these small issues, in the meantime I apologize for any crashed games.

I will get a bug-free version up on Xelerus shortly.
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