Adventure : how change startup system ?

[Mutos]

Hi all,


Just drop by to know how I could change the startup system in an Adventure Mod .

It's for my Stars of Call Adventure Mod. Following the instructions from Periculi, I succeeded at having Sol as my startup system. But when I tried to fix another system as startup, it breaks when loading the adventure.

What I do is the following :

1/ Place a station with a startup marker like this :

Code: Select all

					<!-- Startup point on high Earth orbit, just below Moon orbit -->
					<Orbitals count="1" distance="4" scale="light-second" angle="random">
						<Marker objName="Start"/>
					</Orbitals>

2/ Setting the startup system as Root Node, like that :

Code: Select all

		<Node ID="Sol">
        	<System name="Sol" level="1" rootNode="true">
            	<System UNID="&ssSolSystem;"/>
         	</System>

            <StarGates>
                <StarGate Name="Inbound" DestID="Gl380" DestGate="Inbound" />
            	<StarGate Name="Outbound" DestID="Gl252" DestGate="Inbound" />
            	<StarGate Name="Gate3" DestID="Barnard" DestGate="Inbound" />
            	<StarGate Name="Gate4" DestID="AlphaCorvis" DestGate="Inbound" />
            	<StarGate Name="Gate5" DestID="Gl902" DestGate="Inbound" />
            </StarGates>
      	</Node>

But when I try to remove both elements and place them in another system, it refuses to load...

Does anyone have ideas about what could happen ? I tried, but to no avail... Thanks a lot for any hint !

[F50]

I'm just guessing here, but I don't think rootnodes should have inbound stargates.

[Periculi]

rootNodes don't care what the gate names are. rootNode indicates a condition for the node that is used primarily when the topology is generated. If a system is a rootNode, it and any systems that are connected to it are considered valid nodes. Any nodes that are not connected to a rootNode are discarded when the game starts and the topology is created.

Do your playerships have the right values in the starting attributes?

[darksider]

From what I've read, the starting system is not necessarily a "rootnode".
(For example, you can set a starting point on St. Katharine's Star, which is not defined as a rootnode, according to this topic http://www.neurohack.com/transcendence/ ... hp?p=14210 )

I think that all you have to set is a proper Node ID, and proper startingSystem and startingPos on your playership settings, just them, though actually I don't understand those things at all.

But, it is also possible that the crash(?) is caused by a totally unrelated error, so probably you'll have to give more precise information.

[Mutos]

Hi all,


Thanks for your answer ! I didn't even look at the PlayerShip, I thought all was linked to the rootNode and the "Start" objName.

So now I may understand... I don't change the starting system and I delete the start marker in it. So it crashes. Normal...

I'll check this asap and tell you.

[Mutos]

Hi all,


That's it ! It works !

As for the topic you linked to, darksider, It reminded me that once I knew about the PlayerShip having startup settings because I even wrote about them...

To be completely clear, here is the code I used on my Mod :

1/ On the Adventure itself, in each of the ShipClass tags that override standard ships :

Replaced

Code: Select all

<PlayerSettings
	[.....]
	startingSystem=		"SE"
	startingPos=		"Start"
>

by

Code: Select all

<PlayerSettings
	[.....]
	startingSystem=		"Heaven"
	startingPos=		"Start_Heaven"
>

2/ In my custom-built Heaven system, to add the corresponding startup point :

Code: Select all

<!-- Startup point on high Heaven orbit -->
<Orbitals count="1" distance="4" scale="light-second" angle="random">
	<Marker objName="Start_Heaven"/>
</Orbitals>

And it works perfectly, my ships begin in the Heaven system, near the Human colony of Heaven IV ^-^

EDIT #1 : which makes me think that, in ship definitions, one should be able to create tables for selecting randomly between multiple startup systems...

EDIT #2 : just another question to be complete : is it possible to create one marker named "Start" in each system, or do aech marker need its own name ? For now I'm using the second solution by adding _<system> suffixes.

EDIT #3 : answer to the EDIT #2 question : yes ! You can have a "Start" marker in each system and just change the startingSystem= line in the PlayerShip tags.