using plugins

I want to turn the Fed Destroyer into the Fed cruiser
I tried loading the ship resource into a new plugin and then modiying it but it would not appear in the shipyard.
maybe its cause i only changed the ship resurce please help
cheers

This post has been edited by paddy : 20 March 2005 - 12:14 PM

To make a ship become available in the shipyard, you have to make sure the "Availability" field is empty (or set to some NCB expression your pilot will satisfy). Also, make sure it contributes $00000000,$00000001 (or check the A5 box in Mission Computer) to be able to buy outfits with that same ship

i checked the A5 box
But as im a newb at plugins i couldnt do the others
in NCBs the
Availability is blank
the
AppearOn is blank and
the
On purchase is b8888
am i doing something wrong <_<

Put the "require" flag to the exact same thing the Fed Destroyer has.

Shouldn'tthe filed for On purchase be blank too.

Nah, that totally doesn matter.

What happens if you do put it blank?

PEOPLE PLEASE try to help me im kinda gettin put off these "easy to make" plugins
the availability is the same as im only modifying the destroyers stats not starting from scratch
HELP

Okay, it will probably be much easier for us to understand what's happening if you zip the plug-in using Stuffit (from Allume) and if you post it here. Then we'll be able to thoroughly check it (since you say none of those things we told you to check are badly set).

All right, here's my standard battery of questions:

1. Is the ship's ID lower than that of the Escape Pod (895)? Any ship ID higher than that is ignored by the game.
2. Are you certain that the purchase probability is not zero? (100 would be good for testing purposes, as you will only have to land once to see if it shows up.)
3. All of the Require checkboxes are the same as for the normal Destroyer, right?
4. When you do get the ship to show up, you will also need to copy the shän for the Fed destroyer, and give it the same RID as your ship. If you don't do this, the game may crash when you try to buy your new ship.

Stupid questions:
5) Can your pilot buy the Fed Destroyer?
6) Are you checking in shipyards that sell the normal Fed Destroyer?

PS. Pace, never just tell a new plug-in developer to zip a plug-in, unless you are certain that they are on Windows. paddy has almost explicitely stated that he is on a Mac, so he needs to .bin it first (I know you specified Stuffit, which can do that automatically, but the "preserve Mac Content" option does not appear to be active by default in DropStuff).

(Note to paddy: These boards don't accept any compressed format other than .zip, but .zip corrupts plug-ins. The way around this is to turn it into a MacBinary file, which protects the plug-in's resources, before zipping it. This can be done automatically by going into DropStuff's preferences for ".zip" and checking the "Preserve Mac Content" checkbox.
Alternatively, you can do this by hand, using a set of free utilities that can be found here.)

This post has been edited by Edwards : 21 March 2005 - 01:37 PM

Here is my plug
Soz if i overlooked something trivial
To Edwards
1.Yes
2.its 100
3.i dont know
4.i dont know
5.Yes i just completed the fed string
6.yes i am checking in Sol which always sells it

Attached File(s)

• Federation_Cruiser.zip (342bytes)
  Number of downloads: 9

Sorry paddy. As Edwards said, I overlooked something... Your .zip archive is a failed one, where the resource forks (which contain the plug info) has been lost.
Better get you used to .zip files if you're into plug-in making
Open up "DropZip", and go to "Preferences", then "MacBinary". Set the option to "Smart". Once that is done, zip your plug with "DropZip".
Test it just to be sure, and post it here.

sorry duys this may take a while as my dropstuff isnt working it says it needs the stuffit engine
maybe its cause i havent rebuilt my desktop but as im running OSX that doesnt seem to be working
Ill get a new copy and hope

ok here it is i tested and it works
by the way i have a registered copy of dropstuff for OS9 but im running OSX do i have to buy it again to get the new version

hope this helps
cheers

Attached File(s)

• Federation_Cruiser.zip (1.31K)
  Number of downloads: 13

You can use your registered copy of StuffIt Standard or Deluxe as long as the Classic environment is installed on your computer. If not, you will need to obtain a new version of StuffIt Standard or Deluxe. </over-officiousness>

If you're using DropStuff 9.0, by the way, you go to Preferences > Zip and check "Preserve Mactintosh Content".

Odd. It works fine for me (using a pilot that has finished the Federation storyline).

One last pair of questions:

1. Did you actually have it in your plug-ins folder? (Yes, I know it's a stupid question, but I can't think of anything else).
2. Are you certain that it never showed up? Because you gave it the same ID as the original destroyer, it has the same picture and the same description. The only difference is the name (having the same ID also means that it replaces one of the varients of the Fed Destroyer that flys around. You may want to go around in Federation space, targeting destroyers to see if your ship shows up).

i tried it without my other plugins and it worked so thats waht was screwing with it
thanks alot and any other tips on plugs would be welcome
Im still a newb