FluffyWithTeeth, on Sep 10 2004, 05:52 PM, said:

Well, every now and then, when someone asks for multi-EV, Matt refers to an application he made tat directly connected the ip of two computers and let them duke it out in a single system. I'm sure it would be really boring, and it was for the origonal EV, but it would still be cool just to use it a couple of times. I'd guess this requires source code though, so none of us can do it...
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Well, making a quick clone isn't hard... it's just getting all of the features. That's why I'm surprised Helian Wars didn't make it out... they only had the one ship to emulate.

mrxak, on Sep 10 2004, 05:36 PM, said:

Nova supposedly recognizes any quicktime-playable movie. But yeah, it's good that the original files are not removed. Choosing where the new files go might be a nice feature though ;).

Just how often do you want to give out the code? Would you rather I wait until it's more finalized, or do you want to give it to me now, and then again after any updates?
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Fair enough... That shouldn't be too hard.

If you want the code right now, I'll give it to you... It's pretty much finalized, but REALLY ugly in some places, and as I said, there is only minimal documentation.

~ SP

SpacePirate, on Sep 10 2004, 11:17 PM, said:

Fair enough... That shouldn't be too hard.

If you want the code right now, I'll give it to you... It's pretty much finalized, but REALLY ugly in some places, and as I said, there is only minimal documentation.View Post

Sure, send it my way. Maybe I can help you make sense of some of it :p.

One little thing that need to be told (for people downloading the standalone SpacePort, for instance): the engine differences and the necessary hand-work make this program non user-servicable stuff: one has to be a plug dever to reliably use it. This means we can't tell people they can download an EVC/O plug, run it through the converter, and play it.

Don't think I don't like it, this utility is great to have available alone! It will immensely speed up the converting process (I'll do some in the next few months, such as Dark Station, just I'll have to replace the flares...)

Apart from that, you could offer a bounty for a complete set of beginner's guides, that'll end up getting...

This post has been edited by Zacha Pedro : 11 September 2004 - 05:20 AM

Zacha Pedro, on Sep 11 2004, 06:17 AM, said:

One little thing that need to be told (for people downloading the standalone SpacePort, for instance): the engine differences and the necessary hand-work make this program non user-servicable stuff: one has to be a plug dever to reliably use it. This means we can't tell people they can download an EVC/O plug, run it through the converter, and play it.

Don't think I don't like it, this utility is great to have available alone! It will immensely speed up the converting process (I'll do some in the next few months, such as Dark Station, just I'll have to replace the flares...)
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I think the idea was for EV/O developers to convert their plug-ins for Nova use easily, and then add any extra features or whatever (updated graphics?) that they might want.

SP, the format can be confusing in places, but the MacBVinary format can be found here. I once manually made a .bin file, and only a couple times did I rely on an automated one. I'm still trying to figure out how to do the CRC, but I'm close - I found the algorithm, I just need to figure out how to decipher it.

<double post>

This post has been edited by SpacePirate : 12 September 2004 - 05:45 PM

orcaloverbri9, on Sep 12 2004, 04:47 PM, said:

SP, the format can be confusing in places, but the MacBVinary format can be found here. I once manually made a .bin file, and only a couple times did I rely on an automated one. I'm still trying to figure out how to do the CRC, but I'm close - I found the algorithm, I just need to figure out how to decipher it.
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Yeah, I saw that a few years back. It's just too drawn out for me to do with any success, though.

mrxak, ever get the source? I sent it to mrxak at both mrxak.com and evula.org.

If you need anything explained, I can do that, too.

~ SP

This post has been edited by SpacePirate : 12 September 2004 - 05:45 PM

SpacePirate, on Sep 12 2004, 06:43 PM, said:

mrxak, ever get the source? I sent it to mrxak at both mrxak.com and evula.org.
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No, I'm afraid I haven't. How large is the file, and in what format are you sending it (some filetypes may be getting blocked)?

mrxak, on Sep 12 2004, 07:19 PM, said:

No, I'm afraid I haven't. How large is the file, and in what format are you sending it (some filetypes may be getting blocked)?
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Zip, 302KB. If you have AIM, I could send it directly.

~ SP

As a question SpacePirate, does it correctly convert syst and spob resorces? This is the biggest reason I wanted PortAuthority.

As a side note, would it be possible to make an app that would be able to splice two maps(ish)

For example, if you had the whole EV:N map and wanted to add, say, seven systems from EV:C, this program would put the systems being added at the end of the ResID list, and correct the syst links so they would still connect to one another as opposed to the system with the ID of the original. And further, it would bring in the spobs at the end of the ResID list, and the syst would be corrected accordingly.

I have minimal programming skill, but it doesn't seem too incredibly difficult a task. I bring this up to you, because it seems as if you have a bit of experience in manipulating Nova stuff via programs.

This post has been edited by Emmit Gandlodder : 13 September 2004 - 06:26 PM

Emmit Gandlodder, on Sep 13 2004, 07:25 PM, said:

As a question SpacePirate, does it correctly convert syst and spob resorces? This is the biggest reason I wanted PortAuthority.
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Well, it certainly should... If you find anything that seems out of place, email me so I can work it out.

Quote

As a side note, would it be possible to make an app that would be able to splice two maps(ish)

For example, if you had the whole EV:N map and wanted to add, say, seven systems from EV:C, this program would put the systems being added at the end of the ResID list, and correct the syst links so they would still connect to one another as opposed to the system with the ID of the original. And further, it would bring in the spobs at the end of the ResID list, and the syst would be corrected accordingly.

I have minimal programming skill, but it doesn't seem too incredibly difficult a task. I bring this up to you, because it seems as if you have a bit of experience in manipulating Nova stuff via programs.

It shouldn't be too hard. However, there are a few little problems in your application design... To do this, you would need to convert the systems and spobs to the Nova format... not too hard- I've already got it done. Next, you need to reassign the numbers, with some sort of an offset. A bit weird, but doable. Finally, you need a way to chose the systems to move. Not impossible, but you will need to be wary of the links to other systems that you didn't want to move.

I could certainly do it, but if you would like me to help you do it yourself, I could do that as well... I programmed these in RealBASIC... I've never bothered learning resource forks in Cocoa.

~ SP

How about a bounty for a program similar to the old EV Plug Checker? It was extremely useful to be able to search through plugs and data files for occurances of specific resources or mission bits. Or does such a utility already exist for Nova?

Guy, on Sep 15 2004, 09:05 PM, said:

How about a bounty for a program similar to the old EV Plug Checker? It was extremely useful to be able to search through plugs and data files for occurances of specific resources or mission bits. Or does such a utility already exist for Nova?
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'Duped' from NovaTools does more or less the same thing, doesn't it?

David Arthur, on Sep 16 2004, 06:59 PM, said:

'Duped' from NovaTools does more or less the same thing, doesn't it?
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No, I was meaning finding references to the resource, not the resource itself. Like finding where a specific ship is used in a game. You enter the ID into Plug Checker and it returns all the dudes and fleets and stuff where that ship is found.

This post has been edited by Guy : 16 September 2004 - 05:59 PM

Guy, on Sep 16 2004, 06:57 PM, said:

No, I was meaning finding references to the resource, not the resource itself. Like finding where a specific ship is used in a game. You enter the ID into Plug Checker and it returns all the dudes and fleets and stuff where that ship is found.
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Ah, sorry, I was thinking of Plug-in Auditor. I never used Plug Checker much.

One other inconsistency that I consider major -- it's between EV and EVO actually. Basically, though the bibles say otherwise, EV uses an incorrect EnergyDamage + Mass Damage / 2 (or vice versa) formula for weapon damage instead of dividing by 4 like it's supposed to. So I think it's important to make sure that happens (otherwise bad things happen, like Lightnings die instead of get disabled when you hit them with three missiles).

Just thought I'd point this out.

My efforts at using SpacePort 1.0.1 have so far been failures, due to an error message coolly reporting the following when I attempt to perform a conversion:
An exception of class NilObjectException was not handled.
The application must shut down.

As you might imagine, this rather hinders me from accomplishing anything with what I am sure would be an extremely useful and helpful tool. I would appreciate any assistance that could be given in this matter.

Edit: That quote worked earlier...it doesn't work now. Oh well. SpacePirate, I'll try to get around to sending you the specifics sometime tonight.

This post has been edited by Consul Bob : 22 September 2004 - 07:22 PM

Firebird, on Sep 18 2004, 08:31 PM, said:

One other inconsistency that I consider major -- it's between EV and EVO actually. Basically, though the bibles say otherwise, EV uses an incorrect EnergyDamage + Mass Damage / 2 (or vice versa) formula for weapon damage instead of dividing by 4 like it's supposed to. So I think it's important to make sure that happens (otherwise bad things happen, like Lightnings die instead of get disabled when you hit them with three missiles).

Just thought I'd point this out.
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I'll see what I can do. Just to clarify, EV uses (E+M)/2, while EVO uses (E+M)/4?

Consul Bob, on Sep 21 2004, 04:10 AM, said:

My efforts at using SpacePort 1.0.1 have so far been failures, due to an error message coolly reporting the following when I attempt to perform a conversion:
As you might imagine, this rather hinders me from accomplishing anything with what I am sure would be an extremely useful and helpful tool. I would appreciate any assistance that could be given in this matter.
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Hrm... Might I ask what plugin you are trying to convert? If I don't know that, I can't see where the error occurs. If it is a private plugin, email me, and I'll try to work something out.

~ SP

SpacePirate, on Sep 22 2004, 10:07 PM, said:

I'll see what I can do. Just to clarify, EV uses (E+M)/2, while EVO uses (E+M)/4?

~ SP
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Energy damage = E+(M/4), Mass damage = M+(E/4) (for Override anyway)