Bridge Commander Central

BC Forums => BC Technical Support => Topic started by: djnattyd on January 02, 2009, 01:06:32 AM

Title: Couple of issues
Post by: djnattyd on January 02, 2009, 01:06:32 AM
Hey all, just picked up a copy of BC (Late i know, but my old pc was rubbish) and i'm having a few problems with a couple of mods

I downloaded the Sol Multisystem w/AI Ships and after i installed it using the .exe nothing happened, i didn't even get a mutator for it.
i then tried the requirments version and the same thing happened, so i then tried a copy and paste install and got the mutators but all the systems vanished and out of all the sol planets that it mentioned in the mod i only got uranus and no AI ships.

I've also downloaded GC and when i turn it on either all the systems are bunched up in one corner of the Chart window or their not there at all. I've managed to get the Charts set up correctly once but then the warp button on it didn't work and my ship had a top speed of 60KPH

I'm running BC 1.1 and KM 1.0, i don't know if sol multisystem is compatible with KM as it didn't say in the readme but i know GC is and yet it won't run properly, even on a totally clean KM install with no additional ships.

On a side note, how do you get the AI editor to run? I'm wanting to try and learn how to script a new AI so that ships added using the AddShip function can fly about without me having to give them a command, I've asked on BCS but haven't had much in the way of help.

And finally, if i add new things to a system (again, using AddShip) such as a starbase or a drydock that i've scripted to construct ship, is there a way to save it whilst in game or does it all have to be scripted? I'm just wondering as the default sol and dry dock systems that come with KM are missing the Starbase and docks even though there are waypoints for them.

Any help that you can provide on these topics will be very appreciated.

P.S. Just found edit() in the console, what's this for exactly?
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: MLeo on January 02, 2009, 07:34:49 AM
Ok, let's cut this up.

Quote
I downloaded the Sol Multisystem w/AI Ships and after i installed it using the .exe nothing happened, i didn't even get a mutator for it.
i then tried the requirments version and the same thing happened, so i then tried a copy and paste install and got the mutators but all the systems vanished and out of all the sol planets that it mentioned in the mod i only got uranus and no AI ships.

I've also downloaded GC and when i turn it on either all the systems are bunched up in one corner of the Chart window or their not there at all. I've managed to get the Charts set up correctly once but then the warp button on it didn't work and my ship had a top speed of 60KPH

I'm running BC 1.1 and KM 1.0, i don't know if sol multisystem is compatible with KM as it didn't say in the readme but i know GC is and yet it won't run properly, even on a totally clean KM install with no additional ships.
From this I would say your problem is that you only got 1 system now, Uranus.
Have you checked to see if all your mutators are on?
And get us a console report (see the stickies).

About KM compatibility, Sol Multisystem predates KM by far.



Quote
On a side note, how do you get the AI editor to run? I'm wanting to try and learn how to script a new AI so that ships added using the AddShip function can fly about without me having to give them a command, I've asked on BCS but haven't had much in the way of help.
There was a tutorial on BCU about this, you will need Python 1.5.2, and a particular version of a couple of external libraries.
PM SimRex with this question, he wrote the tutorials.



Quote
P.S. Just found edit() in the console, what's this for exactly?
It's a built in Map editor. But it doesn't allow you to truely change a map, you can just create placements for a map (and not overwrite an old one either).

May I ask how you found it in the console?
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: USS Frontier on January 02, 2009, 05:10:46 PM
I've also downloaded GC and when i turn it on either all the systems are bunched up in one corner of the Chart window or their not there at all. I've managed to get the Charts set up correctly once but then the warp button on it didn't work and my ship had a top speed of 60KPH
And GC has a tech support forum of its own and some nice instructions on how to get some info on the problem that happened, which would come really handy to help you, because what you said just doesn't help at all...
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: djnattyd on January 03, 2009, 10:57:44 AM
Ok, let's cut this up.
Yeah sorry about that, i got a bit carried away

May I ask how you found it in the console?

I read how to turn on the console to use cheats and i was just typing anything that sounded like it might activate a map editing mode. Guess i got lucky, i'd tried map.edit, editor, and a few others before i got Edit(). Is there a proper map editor?

On the console report thing, i've tried but for some reason, everytime i try to run BC in windowed mode it crashes. Dunno if it's because i'm running it on Vista or not. I'll download the console trcker and see if i can get one that way
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: djnattyd on January 03, 2009, 11:15:36 AM
I've also downloaded GC and when i turn it on either all the systems are bunched up in one corner of the Chart window or their not there at all. I've managed to get the Charts set up correctly once but then the warp button on it didn't work and my ship had a top speed of 60KPH
And GC has a tech support forum of its own and some nice instructions on how to get some info on the problem that happened, which would come really handy to help you, because what you said just doesn't help at all...

Just re-read what i put and your right, it doesn't clarify what i was trying to say.

When i activate the GC plugin and click stellar cartography, the map opens and all the systems are overlapping each other in one part of the map. When i select one and hit the warp button in said map my ship either sits there doing nothing or just moves off randomly at 60kph. If i try to increase speed, nothing happens and it won't stop either. I've looked on the tech forum for GC and someone else had the same problem but i never saw a solution for it.

Also, on another point... I read somewhere that changing the display settings from T&L to the other option where it's just the GFX card name can give you better performance (AA and the like). Only problem is, when i do this i lose all the writing on the buttons. Any ideas why?

This is my system;
HP Pavillion
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Duo 4400+ 2.3Ghz
3GB Ram
ATI Radeon 3450 with up-to-date drivers
Vista 32

It's factory standard so i know one thing on it is compatible with the next
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: USS Frontier on January 03, 2009, 06:12:50 PM
When i activate the GC plugin and click stellar cartography, the map opens and all the systems are overlapping each other in one part of the map. When i select one and hit the warp button in said map my ship either sits there doing nothing or just moves off randomly at 60kph. If i try to increase speed, nothing happens and it won't stop either. I've looked on the tech forum for GC and someone else had the same problem but i never saw a solution for it.
About the map "issue": Have you tried zooming in and moving the map? Like it has been said several times already in various topics: when GC is set to use the real coordinates of the systems to place them on the galaxy, a LOT of the systems from KM1 will be close to each other and thus seem cluttered when you open the map and the zoom is on its default setting, to see the whole galaxy. Just zoom in and you'll see that they are not overlapping each other. Pressing one of the Preset View buttons, specially "Known Space" and "Maelstrom", is actually even easier than zooming in, since those buttons will automatically zoom and move the map to show a specific area.

About the "hit warp button and the ship just sits there" problem: also already said this a million times: If you press engage warp and your ship doesn't warp, the reason why it didn't work WILL BE LOGGED in GC's logs if they are turned on. Again, this is mentioned in the full readme and in several other topics around here and specially around GC's tech support forum... Without those logs, I can't help you any further...
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: djnattyd on January 03, 2009, 06:36:55 PM
About the map "issue": Have you tried zooming in and moving the map?

You know, i feel like such an idiot right now... Didn't even realise there was a zoom option DUH!

If i still get the same problem i'll sort out the logs for you
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: djnattyd on January 03, 2009, 07:19:44 PM
Tried it but it's still not right. I've attached the screenshots

As you can see, all the systems are over to one side except a few that are almost off the map.

I turned on the logs but there was only the "Delete Me" file in the folder so i've no idea whats going on.

On a lighter but sort of related topic, when is v2.0 coming? It sound great (i've said the same over on BCS)

Oh, and it turns out my gfx drivers weren't up to date. Stupid windows "update drivers" button was only giving me the old ones, but i've dl'd the latest from ATI so the earlier graphics question can be disregarded.

Sorry to be such a pain about this but it's boggled my mind why it's not working, even though i've got a clean, patched install and km1.
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: JimmyB76 on January 03, 2009, 09:00:19 PM
On a lighter but sort of related topic, when is v2.0 coming?
:whenitsdone
(just an FYI - never ever ask that of any mod ;) )
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: ACES_HIGH on January 04, 2009, 02:47:38 AM
Tried it but it's still not right. I've attached the screenshots

As you can see, all the systems are over to one side except a few that are almost off the map.

that's exactly how it is supposed to look,? most of the systems that are bunched up like that are the stock systems, since they are all supposed to be in the same region of space and no more than tens of lightyears apart, the icons overlap at that scale, space is a very big place, the Milky way is over 100 thousand lightyears across, and they had to fit it on a computer screen.? Notice the distance between your current subset Deep Space and your destination Void which is nearly sixty-two thousand light years.
and the reason that half the map is largely empty is because there aren't very many playable systems in the Gamma and Delta Quadrants
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: USS Frontier on January 04, 2009, 03:13:36 PM
JimmyB and ACES_HIGH said it all lol

About the logs: If the logs aren't working it's because
A) you didn't turned them on
B) you didn't installed the mod correctly
C) corrupted files

In the case of B or C a error message of some kind should be printed to the console...


However since you running with Vista, that might give a different problem... I don't know for sure because I don't use Vista yet, but I think you may need to run the game with "administrator rights" (or whatever that's called) to let the scripts create files on their own... I'm not sure of this but it doesn't hurt to try.
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: djnattyd on January 07, 2009, 12:32:14 PM
Turns out the reason that i'd seen the systems spread out was because i didn't click default positions... So yeah, i'm feeling like a fool right now.

Mleo, do i have to do something special with the .py file that i get after saving a set using the Edit() function in the console? I tried to add the code to the existing Sol 3 map but ended up killing my game and having to re-install it. I'm just asking so that i can put the missing spacedock and drydocks to Sol and have them stay there.
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: MLeo on January 07, 2009, 02:59:03 PM
It creates a so called "placement" file, usually ending in _P.py, it's still a Python file, it has no special capabilities, except its semantic value.

I take it you got a black screen? In that case, get us a console report and I can fix it. Sorry if you already reinstalled.
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: djnattyd on January 09, 2009, 11:34:07 AM
It creates a so called "placement" file, usually ending in _P.py, it's still a Python file, it has no special capabilities, except its semantic value.

I take it you got a black screen? In that case, get us a console report and I can fix it. Sorry if you already reinstalled.

No, it just kept taking me to the desktop, even after i deleted the additional coding so i just re-instaled.

I do find it a bit confusing that there is a set called Earth and a set called sol3 and they're almost identical except for the AI ships and the starbase floating around the Earth set.

I asked on BCS if there was a way to substitute the Earth .py for the Sol 3 .py and USS Sovereign showed me a bit of python code but in all seriousness i'm not that confident in altering it as my previous attempts have been more miss than hit.

Is there a simpler "copy and paste" method or should i start making multiple backups and do it sovereigns' way?
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: MLeo on January 09, 2009, 11:48:24 AM
Could you attach the file you created?

About the Earth and Sol3, it's exactly as you said, one is with AI ships, and one is without. AI ships in systems are relatively "new", newer than the sol3 system (and it's siblings). And the Earth system use(s|d) sol3 as its basis.
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: djnattyd on January 09, 2009, 12:05:39 PM
Could you attach the file you created?

I deleted it before i reinstalled. It was called "mission preferances.py" or something like that , i think it was what you said before. All i changed was the starbase in sol3, i just added it and then moved it to the waypoint using "move obj to cam" in the editor. i can't tell you what it said exactlly. I'll see if i can get it up on a second install and post it up later as i'm gonna be busy for the next few hours



About the Earth and Sol3, it's exactly as you said, one is with AI ships, and one is without. AI ships in systems are relatively "new", newer than the sol3 system (and it's siblings). And the Earth system use(s|d) sol3 as its basis.

I thought as much... Oh well, guess i'll just stick with how it is, don't want to mess it up again and have to go through all the add-ons one by one
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: MLeo on January 09, 2009, 12:10:22 PM
Did loading the map cause the crash to desktop (it was a crash to desktop, with the "proper" windows dialog/message screens, and not a console)?
Or did BC crash on startup?
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: djnattyd on January 09, 2009, 12:35:07 PM
Did loading the map cause the crash to desktop (it was a crash to desktop, with the "proper" windows dialog/message screens, and not a console)?
Or did BC crash on startup?

It crashed when i selected quick battle from saffis' menu and yeah it went straight back to windows with the dialog box and everything. I've never got a console window on a crash, i can't even run BC in windowed mode to see one! I think it could be because i'm using Vista or it could just be that my game is haunted :D but either way it didn't like the script that i added to the sol3.py. Strange thing is, i did the same things to the Drydock set (added the missing drydocks that give the map it's name) but left the python file in the base BC folder and had no probs. (The changes didn't show up when i loaded it though) Obviously, that was before i destroyed it by messing around with stuff i have no idea about.
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: MLeo on January 09, 2009, 12:45:15 PM
In case of Vista, install BC in a directory different from Program Files, BC can't handle Vista there.
I suggest C:\Games (or another drive/directory).


Do you mean "selected quick battle setup from saffi's menu"?
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: djnattyd on January 09, 2009, 12:51:37 PM
In case of Vista, install BC in a directory different from Program Files, BC can't handle Vista there.
I suggest C:\Games (or another drive/directory).

Probably explains why every few days it goes mental and turns planets into giant starfish... Or why every so often ships mysteriously turn insideo out and then vanish, leaving me looking at a blank viewscreen

Do you mean "selected quick battle setup from saffi's menu"?

Well it' just called quick battle (i think). I've got KM 1 installed and iirc that changes the name, i'm not sure
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: MLeo on January 09, 2009, 01:01:54 PM
In case of Vista, install BC in a directory different from Program Files, BC can't handle Vista there.
I suggest C:\Games (or another drive/directory).

Probably explains why every few days it goes mental and turns planets into giant starfish... Or why every so often ships mysteriously turn insideo out and then vanish, leaving me looking at a blank viewscreen
Well, I've never heard of the first, but the second one could be explained if you have a ship warping in(to the current system) that has blinkers. I'm afraid there isn't a solution for that yet.

Quote
Do you mean "selected quick battle setup from saffi's menu"?

Well it' just called quick battle (i think). I've got KM 1 installed and iirc that changes the name, i'm not sure
I suppose that's possible.
I'm trying to think of a reason why BC could crash when you click that button, unsure at the moment.
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: djnattyd on January 09, 2009, 01:11:04 PM
Yeah, it's as if someone has dragged the inside of the planet through itself and then spread it around into a star shape. It's very odd, next time it happens i'll have to get a screenshot and post it on BCfiles pic of the day. I noticed it on a dominion battleship the other day as well, i just had giant pink "things" that i'm presuming were the ships impulse engines (or whatever the pink bits are) all over my screen!
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: MLeo on January 09, 2009, 01:32:36 PM
That wasn't what I was refering to.
Sounds like some driver glitch.

Do other games have this as well?
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: djnattyd on January 09, 2009, 01:56:16 PM
Yeah i understand what you was getting at, don't worry...

Not noticed it with anything else but i just updated my GFX drivers the other day and it seems to have cured it, for now at least. When i changed from T&L settings to the normal display settings i kept losing the text from the buttons but i noticed Vistas' upgrade drivers button was giving me the old drivers so i got a direct download from ATI and it looks like its working now.

To be honest, i'm more of a console gamer than pc (less maintainence) so when things go wrong or act wierd i'm not sure why it is or how to solve it
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: djnattyd on January 12, 2009, 02:08:43 PM
Hey Mleo, i decided against the whole saving and scripting malarkey and managed to get the sol multisystem working by adding it manually to my install and then adding the systems to loadnanofx.py, this was the good news. However, i think i've found a bug and a very strange one at that.

Everytime i play a game and it crashes to desktop for what ever reason (too many ships or just playing too long), i check the console tracker log. Now for some reason it keeps stating that Shuttle Launch Framework isn't installed along with Ablative Armor and a whole host of other things.

I know that it is as I have KM 1.0 which comes with FTech (Yes it's turned on) and Shuttle Launching. I even went as far as re-installing FTech and the Shuttle Launch mods but i still get the same message and there's only so many times you can see "Shuttle Launch Framework not loading... Bye, Bye" before it gets annoying.

Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: MLeo on January 12, 2009, 02:39:12 PM
Do note that this log is for several BC runs.
The only problems are with GalaxyCharts and Slipstream.
I would suggest posting the log on the BCS:TNG support forum.
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: djnattyd on January 12, 2009, 03:57:52 PM
Do note that this log is for several BC runs.
Oops, should've probably trimmed it down a bit

The only problems are with GalaxyCharts and Slipstream.
I would suggest posting the log on the BCS:TNG support forum.

That's the wierd thing, GC and slipstream work fine. GC has a problem if i try to jump to saturn or venus but i think that's because i'm missing some requirements 'cos it crashes when GC isn't installed.

It's these two lines that get me "FedAblativeArmor isn't installed: USS Defiant"
                                            "FedAblativeArmor isn't installed: USS_Lakota"

From what i read in the FTech .pdf and the .py files it should be. As for the shuttle launching script, i know that's there as i put it there one file at a time. This log doesn't show the error but previous ones have and the ships that could launch have now stopped.

 Also the very top where it states that my Foundation is obsolete, i thought KM came with the latest one? A search of BCFiles didn't turn up a newer one, so what's that all about?
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: MLeo on January 12, 2009, 04:45:21 PM
Oops, should've probably trimmed it down a bit.
It doesn't matter, I know the difference. ;)

Quote
That's the wierd thing, GC and slipstream work fine. GC has a problem if i try to jump to saturn or venus but i think that's because i'm missing some requirements 'cos it crashes when GC isn't installed.
Well, the exceptions, which could be caused by only a slightly related script, do point to GC and Slipstream.


Quote
It's these two lines that get me "FedAblativeArmor isn't installed: USS Defiant"
                                            "FedAblativeArmor isn't installed: USS_Lakota"

From what i read in the FTech .pdf and the .py files it should be.
FedAblativeArmor is different from AblativeArmour.
Infact, FedAblativeArmor is a tech created by Defiant for use in KM.
It's a FTech feature that it doesn't crash BC when a tech isn't installed, it just notes the fact (by printing to the console) and moves on.

Quote
As for the shuttle launching script, i know that's there as i put it there one file at a time. This log doesn't show the error but previous ones have and the ships that could launch have now stopped.
Also the very top where it states that my Foundation is obsolete, i thought KM came with the latest one? A search of BCFiles didn't turn up a newer one, so what's that all about?
Fixes and improvements to the Foundation are "layered" on top of each other for one specific purpose, to prevent "multiple-but-actually-the-same-file-but-different-version" problems. And some of them print to the console that they are now installed.
If you were to install every SubMenu version, you would get a line from each of them.
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: djnattyd on January 12, 2009, 06:12:06 PM
Ahh... Understood.

So should i message Defiant about the Fed Armor or is it hidden somewhere in my install?

Or for that matter, do i even need it?
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: MLeo on January 13, 2009, 11:18:54 AM
BC won't crash because you miss it. You simply don't have that functionality (in other words, your ship won't have that functionality).

There is no real way to hide it, there is no mutator (by default anyway) for it.
Title: Re: Couple of issues
Post by: djnattyd on January 14, 2009, 04:31:18 PM
Well in that case, I'll just ignore the message in the console report.

You can go ahead and lock this up mate, Cheers for all the help