"Hoshikaze 2250 - Stars of Call" Adventure Project

[Mutos]

Hi all,


These last days I've been refining the first version of the Wiki before taking it online. It is still full of empty places, but now there's enough material for a start. So I've taken it online yesterday...

It's available at http://wiki.hoshikaze.net and now it's up to you and everyone interested to jump aboard ^-^

[Mutos]

Hi all,


Just some news... I drafted some systems and a freighter, and also made dockable planets with a menu allowing you to generate freighters. I also have made provisions for changing the startup system at will by editing the Adventure XML.

Soon #2 ZIP will be available...

[Mutos]

Hi all,


Updated the HK2250 "Stars of Call" Adventure Mod.
- More systems are filled with planets, asteroids and so on..
- An original freighter called the Shire-IS,
- Dockable planets with a menu line for creating freighters.



Next step will be more sytems of course, plus having a constant traffic of freighters in every system.

[darksider]

Ah, just a few things about graphics - you should not use 24bit bmp for mask images; you'd better use bilevel monochrome (1bit) bitmap, or maybe 8bit grayscale if you want something semitransparent (i.e.the jumppoint image).
And, perhaps you could have a cleaner image if the mask is made directly from the model and not from the rendered jpeg, if that's possible. Not really a problem for a concept mod, but anyway.

[Mutos]

Hi darksider,


Thanks for testing the whole thing and for the useful hints ^-^ I'll try them next time !

That was the very first time I added a graphics for a ship, so I fumbled a little. I only uses Paint, the Office image thing, don't remember the name, and some small free utilities. At the end I installed GIMP but as I'm not a graphist, it's quite difficult for me to get used to it ^-^

I'll try to enhance that in further releases ! But I think it'll stay concept for a while ! For now I'm trying to make my freighters behave like freighters, that is, go from one planet to the other, and so on...

[schilcote]

(whimpers because his new computer dosn't have transcendence on it)

[Mutos]

Hi schilcote,


Glad to see you here, you'll find in the Mod some of the pics you sent me ^-^ Not all for now, but I'm still exploring, utter refinment of the Sol system will come later...

[Mutos]

Hi darksider,


Just tried your advice on the Shire-IS : it works perfectly and I'm now refining the method. I'll make other ships to make the systems more alive !

Meanwhile, I also worked on the AI scripts. I now have systems which spawn ships on creation and trader ships that endlessly navigate by themselves between the system's planets, just as should trader ships !

[Mutos]

Hi all,


The 3rd testbed version of the Soc Adventure Mod is ready for you to test ! I just uploaded it to the Xelerus Mod Reporitory ! It's available here.

Here is the screenshot I posted at Xelerus, showing all 4 freighters around a planet in the Heaven system :



It features the following :

Code: Select all

Topology with systems and freighters for the Adventure Mod "Stars of Call" set in the Hoshikaze 2250 universe.

WARNING : copy your saved game before entering the Adventure, because it will be overwritten !!!

In this 3rd version of the Stars of Call Adventure Mod, you can begin to do some limited stuff :
	- Of course fly around the Core League systems,
	- Observe insystem freighters come and go among the settlements,
	- Create new freighters around your position,
	- Attack freighters to see how they react.

Author :
	Benoît 'Mutos' ROBIN
	http://hoshikaze.net

Includes :
	Adventure Cover Screen based on the Rosetta Nebula given by schilcote
	28 systems belonging to the Core league, one of the main Human states :
		Based on actual stars, hyperlinked to fit the Hoshikaze 2250 universe,
		For now, 10 systems, including Sol, are fully modded,
		Other systems are just stars with Gate and Startup Markers orbiting around,
	Startup markers in each system :
		Startup system can be changed at will,
		One has only to edit the startupSystem field in PlayerShip tags,
		Useful when exploring and testing systems.
	Planetary "standard orbit" markers allowing docking with planets :
		Testbed for docking screens, menus and actions,
		When docked you can create freighters near your current position.
	Redefined StarGates graphics to make them appear as Hoshikaze 2250's JumpPoints,
	Redefined player ships for maximum speed of .99*C,
	New Freighters specific to the Hoshikaze 2250 universe :
		Based on the Antares I stats, modified for Hoshikaze 2250 integration,
		Uses renders from an existing DoGA-CGA 3D model,
		2 ships "Shire-IS" and "Caravelle" with 2 graphics flavors for each ship,
		Simple behavior functions so that freighters actually move insystem between the parking orbits.

Systems List (see http://wiki.hoshikaze.net/index.php5?title=Core_League for full details)
    * Cradle/Capitol Systems
          o Sol				Modded with distances reduced to keep graphics performances bearable
    * Planetary Colonies
          o Hope			Not Yet Modded
          o Heaven			8 Planets including a Human colony, 3 Asteroids Belts
          o New Earth			Not Yet Modded
    * Multiple Hub Systems (more than 3 jump points)
          o Barnard's Star		2 Asteroids Belts, no Planet
          o Gl 229			Not Yet Modded
          o Gl 399      	        Not Yet Modded
          o NN 3622			Not Yet Modded
    * Other Hub Systems (3 jump points)
          o Gl 252			2 Planets & 1 Asteroids Belt
          o NN 3660			Not Yet Modded
          o Gl 651			Not Yet Modded
          o NN 3753			Not Yet Modded
          o Gl 902			5 Planets, including a gas giant w/ trojans
          o NN 3006			1 giant Asteroids Belt
          o Wo 9209			Binary, Not Yet Modded
    * Simple Link Systems (2 jump points)
          o Gl 534.1			Binary Star w/ 2 Asteroids Belt & 2 Planets
          o Gl 121			Not Yet Modded
          o NN 3076			Not Yet Modded
          o Gl 387			Binary, Not Yet Modded
    * Dead-End Systems (only 1 jump point)
          o Alpha Corvis		3 Planets, 2 Asteroids Belts
          o Gl 380			5 Planets, including a full gas giant system
          o GJ 1001			Not Yet Modded
          o NN 3001			7 Planets
          o Wo 9615			Binary, Not Yet Modded
          o Wo 9220			Not Yet Modded
          o NN 3079			Not Yet Modded
          o Gl 302			Not Yet Modded
          o Wo 9185			Not Yet Modded

Needs :
	Entirely based on Periculi's "Adventure Topology Accelerator", aka "ATA",
	Includes ATA's 2 files : ATA-GateGlobalsD8.XML and ATA-StarSystemsD6.XML.

4 files included :
	The Adventure itself (HK-002-SoC-027-ZIP-003.XML),
	Common elements (HK-003-Commons-010-ZIP-003.XML),
	Core League stellar systems (HK-004-CoreLeagueSystems-023-ZIP-003.XML),
	Specific freighters (HK-005-Freighters-011-ZIP-003.XML).

Minor interference with Periculi's Navigation Computer :
	Both Adventure and NavComp work,
	StarGates graphics redefinition as JumpPoints is overriden by NavComp's own StarGates redefinition :
		Would need an override in the Adventure file,
		For now I just don't use NavComp.

Known Bugs :
	Beware of high numbers of asteroids in systems :
		NN 3006 originately used a 5000+1500 asteroids field
		It made the game crash when jumping outsystem then back in
		I fixed this by using only 1500+150 asteroids
		I didn't check all systems, there may be more with similar problems
	Observed once a stargates placement bug :
		I fixed the places where stargates should be placed,
		On rare occasions, all stargates ended up placed around a single orbit,
		Couldnot reproduce this problem.

Installation :
	Unzip to Extensions folder,
	Create a New Game,
	Choose the "Hoshikaze 2250 - Stars of Call" Adventure.

EDIT #1 : Bimbel, tell me if you don't like that I link the image from Xelerus, I can upload it to my site instead. I had to do fast this morning...

EDIT #2 : To Do List !

There are many more thinks to do, but for now these ones can keep me busy for a while ^-^

• Complete all Core League stellar systems,
  Replace Player ships by HK2250-specific ones,
  Add some P&P (Pirate and Police) ships to make systems more lively !
  Add interstellar freighters,
  Rig a simple trading system.

[george moromisato]

This is a really cool project! Nice work. It's also cool that you're Periculi's topology accelerator--it's nice to see that kind of cross-pollination.

[Periculi]

cross-pollination... an interesting term there, George. Never really thought of mods as flowers, but now I will try to consider all the little flowers and their flowery ways.

Did you work out your tables for freight, Mutos? I was thinking about it and decided that maybe the best approach would be to create a station (such as stTradeLaneController, in use much like stDomina) to store the various freight data in, then use typGetGlobalData or typGetStaticData to recall needed information. Global functions are always in memory, I believe, so it might be better on performance to store the tables in a station that never gets added to a system but can be looked up when needed.

If that's actually the case- George does the entire body of the xml get loaded and stay in memory or do parts of it get stored to disk if not actually being used?

[Mutos]

Hi George, hi Periculi,


Thanks for the appreciation !

Indeed cross-pollination is the right term and it describes well what's going on with Transcendence modders on an overall level, from all I read in the forums ^-^

I like that kind of way to work, projects with communities that intersect and exchange knowledge in their common areas.

The Hoshikaze project is right now a dizain of persons, each of them having his/her own projects, each with other people involved, each with own projects, and so one the recursive way!

All that projects interact and indeed cross-pollination is a nice term to use to describe that in a poetic and scientific way at the same time !

As for tables, I didn't, as I said, I let the thought gently sleep until they cristalize. But I'll look at stDomina to see what can be done.

For now I'm far from trying to optimize my code, the main requirement is that it works, doesn't crash the game and produce the desired effect ! But you're right, one day or another I'll have to optimize, and the sooner the better.

[Mutos]

Hi all,


Things are evolving fast regarding to freighters...

They are now nicely moving along from planet to planet. When attacked, they react by striking back the attacker. If the attacker does not hit them again, chances grow that they will eventually give up rataliation and resume wandering, choosing a new destination. Also, they are able to report their status when asked by the pla.yer.

I think I'll release that as a 4th ZIP set. Then I'll prepare to add more freighters, some pirate ships and police forces.

[Mutos]

Hi all,


The 4th testbed release of the Soc Adventure Mod is ready for you to test ! I just updated the ZIP on the Xelerus Mod Reporitory.

Here is the screenshot I posted at Xelerus, showing 4 out of 5 freighters around Earth, plus a pirate ship answering status request :



It features the following :

Code: Select all

Topology with systems, freighters and pirates for the Adventure Mod "Stars of Call" set in the Hoshikaze 2250 universe.

WARNING : copy your saved game before entering the Adventure, because it will be overwritten !!!

In this 4th version of the Stars of Call Adventure Mod, you can begin to do some stuff :
	- Fly around the Core League systems,
	- Observe insystem freighters come and go among the settlements,
	- Create new freighters and attack them to see how they react,
	- Create pirate ships that attack freighters, loot the wrecks and escape through a jump point,
	- Ask status of Freighters and Pirates.

Author :
	Benoît 'Mutos' ROBIN
	http://hoshikaze.net

Includes :
	Adventure Cover Screen based on the Rosetta Nebula given by schilcote
	28 systems belonging to the Core league, one of the main Human states :
		Based on actual stars, hyperlinked to fit the Hoshikaze 2250 universe,
		For now, 10 systems, including Sol, are fully modded,
		Other systems are just stars with Gate and Startup Markers orbiting around,
	Startup markers in each system :
		Startup system can be changed at will,
		One has only to edit the startupSystem field in PlayerShip tags,
		Useful when exploring and testing systems.
	Planetary "standard orbit" markers allowing docking with planets :
		Testbed for docking screens, menus and actions,
		When docked you can create freighters near your current position.
	Redefined StarGates graphics to make them appear as Hoshikaze 2250's JumpPoints,
	Redefined player ships for maximum speed of .99*C,
	Freighters specific to the Hoshikaze 2250 universe :
		Based on the Antares I stats, modified for Hoshikaze 2250 integration,
		Uses renders from an existing DoGA-CGA 3D model,
		3 ships :
			"Shire-IS" with a blank texture and a stained texture,
			"Caravelle" with a blank texture and a rusty texture,
			"Percheron Escort" with a specific texture.
		Simple behavior functions :
			They actually move insystem between the parking orbits,
			When attacked, they strike back at the attacker,
			When attack cease, the freighter has a growing chance to give up.
		Redefined dock screens to create new freighters near the player ship.
	Pirate ships specific to the Hoshikaze 2250 universe :
		Basically souped-up freighters,
		Specific behavior :
			Upon entering the system, they seek a random target ship,
			They attack that ship until it is destroyed,
			When target is destroyed, they loot the wreck,
			When looting is over, they flee by a random jump point.
		3 classes based on "Shire-IS", "Caravelle" and "Percheron" freighters,
		Redefined dock screens to create new pirates jumping in from the jump point nearest to the player ship.

Systems List (see http://wiki.hoshikaze.net/index.php5?title=Core_League for full details)
    * Cradle/Capitol Systems
          o Sol				Modded with distances reduced to keep graphics performances bearable
    * Planetary Colonies
          o Hope			Not Yet Modded
          o Heaven			8 Planets including a Human colony, 3 Asteroids Belts
          o New Earth		Not Yet Modded
    * Multiple Hub Systems (more than 3 jump points)
          o Barnard's Star	2 Asteroids Belts, no Planet
          o Gl 229			Not Yet Modded
          o Gl 399      	5 Planets
          o NN 3622			Not Yet Modded
    * Other Hub Systems (3 jump points)
          o Gl 252			2 Planets & 1 Asteroids Belt
          o NN 3660			Not Yet Modded
          o Gl 651			Not Yet Modded
          o NN 3753			Not Yet Modded
          o Gl 902			5 Planets, including a gas giant w/ trojans
          o NN 3006			1 giant Asteroids Belt
          o Wo 9209			Binary, Not Yet Modded
    * Simple Link Systems (2 jump points)
          o Gl 534.1		Binary Star w/ 2 Asteroids Belt & 2 Planets
          o Gl 121			Not Yet Modded
          o NN 3076			5 Planets
          o Gl 387			Binary, Not Yet Modded
    * Dead-End Systems (only 1 jump point)
          o Alpha Corvis	3 Planets, 2 Asteroids Belts
          o Gl 380			5 Planets, including a full gas giant system
          o GJ 1001			11 Planets
          o NN 3001			7 Planets
          o Wo 9615			Binary, Not Yet Modded
          o Wo 9220			Binary, Not Yet Modded
          o NN 3079			Not Yet Modded
          o Gl 302			5 Planets
          o Wo 9185			Not Yet Modded

Needs :
	Entirely based on Periculi's "Adventure Topology Accelerator", aka "ATA",
	Includes ATA's 2 files : ATA-GateGlobalsD8.XML and ATA-StarSystemsD6.XML.

4 files included :
	The Adventure itself (HK-002-SoC-030-ZIP-004.XML),
	Common elements (HK-003-Commons-012-ZIP-004.XML),
	Core League stellar systems (HK-004-CoreLeagueSystems-027-ZIP-004.XML),
	Specific freighters (HK-005-InSystemFreighters-016-ZIP-004.XML),
	Pirate ships (HK-006-Pirates-005-ZIP-004.XML),
	Shield definitions (HK-007-Shields-002-ZIP-004.XML).

Minor interference with Periculi's Navigation Computer :
	Both Adventure and NavComp work,
	StarGates graphics redefinition as JumpPoints is overriden by NavComp's own StarGates redefinition :
		Would need an override in the Adventure file,
		For now I just don't use NavComp.

Known Bugs :
	Beware of high numbers of asteroids in systems :
		NN 3006 originately used a 5000+1500 asteroids field
		It made the game crash when jumping outsystem then back in
		I fixed this by using only 1500+150 asteroids
		I didn't check all systems, there may be more with similar problems
	Observed once a stargates placement bug :
		I fixed the places where stargates should be placed,
		On rare occasions, all stargates ended up placed around a single orbit,
		Couldnot reproduce this problem.

Installation :
	Better to use a fresh game folder to avoid interference with other extensions
	Unzip to Extensions folder,
	Create a New Game,
	Choose the "Hoshikaze 2250 - Stars of Call" Adventure.

To Do List :
	Police fighters and patrol ships
	Traffic Control Station for managing the balance between Freighters, Pirates and Police
	Redefined stations for display and/or docking
	Marketplaces and shipyards on stations
	Hoshikaze 2250 specific ships, stations, items and devices

There are still many more thinks on the To Do List :

• Police fighters and patrol ships,
  Traffic Control Station for managing the balance between Freighters, Pirates and Police,
  Redefined stations for display and/or docking,
  Marketplaces and shipyards on stations,
  Hoshikaze 2250 specific ships, stations, items and devices.

[Mutos]

Hi all,


I'm rewriting the code to be more structured and clear, leaving behind the old "test" sructure, which was a but chaotic, and breaking down thinks into more smaller files.

Next version will just include this strenghtened code structure, along with interstellar freighters and insystem police ships.

Then I'll seriously get to think on the Traffic Control Station, on which I'm already beginning to get clearer ideas after some XML data retrieving test.