MissionComputer relies on the system to decode sounds, as I suspect does Rezilla. I agree that the problem probably does depend on the sound format — there is a substantial amount of variation allowed in the 'snd ' format.
Really the main reason sounds are listed is so that you can copy and paste them between files easily, and I provide the ability to play them because it doesn't take much code. If it doesn't work under given circumstances there's nothing I can do about it.
If I can provide some extra information Coraxus didn't mention earlier, he and I were discussing this very problem the other day, same plug-in. However, I was able to play the sounds just fine, no problems. I have the same operating system as Coraxus, but am on a MacBook. Could it be a problem with using a Mac Mini?
I doubt it's the specific model of computer — the system version could, on the other hand, be related. But as I said, the decoding of sounds is completely outside my control, so I can only speculate about what's happening.
Was the plug originally created on Mac or Windows? I've discovered that converting .rez to Mac sometimes has issues with the sound resources, specifically if the sound resource was created on a Windows machine and later converted to a Mac plug-in file.
QUOTE (krugeruwsp @ Aug 6 2010, 08:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I've discovered that converting .rez to Mac sometimes has issues with the sound resources, specifically if the sound resource was created on a Windows machine and later converted to a Mac plug-in file.
Ick, 'snd ' is another of those standard types for which the system might decide to be 'helpful' and silently convert the endianness. Are the problems associated with an Intel-based Macintosh, and if so does it make any difference whether you use MissionComputer or the stand-alone convertor?
I'm not entirely sure. Some of the sounds that I've used in EVN:Firefly apparently don't work when I send the .rez back to Lindley and he converts them for Mac. I haven't noticed any issues with my G5 iMac back and forth, but I haven't tried anything, come to think of it. I haven't played much Nova on the Mac, just used MC on the Mac to do the editing, save as .rez, then test on my HP notebook. Nova hasn't been particularly happy with me and any editing I do on the Mac for some odd reason. Ah, which reminds me, I still have to get you that .rez file issue one of these days that we talked about back in April...
Here are a couple more feature requests:
In the RLE viewer, for multiframe playback I’d like a way to change how many 30ths of a second to hold each frame on the screen. Obviously this does not have any effect on the resource or the file, I just want to be able to preview how animations look when played at different speeds. Those speeds can be adjusted by spöb/wëap/bööm/shän resources, and I don’t want to have to start Nova every time I change a value and want to see how it looks. It would also work to have the preview shown within, or accessible from, the resource that sets the animation delay (that way it could also account for random frames/frame bias/showing the first frame after every other frame, and would work for non-RLE animations too.)
In the sÿst viewer, I’d like the images shown for spöbs to be animated when applicable.
QUOTE (Qaanol @ Aug 22 2010, 05:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
In the RLE viewer, for multiframe playback I’d like a way to change how many 30ths of a second to hold each frame on the screen.
Sure — I'll implement it the next time I have the code open.
QUOTE (Qaanol @ Aug 22 2010, 05:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
In the sÿst viewer, I’d like the images shown for spöbs to be animated when applicable.
Not practical, I'm afraid.
QUOTE (DarthKev @ Aug 22 2010, 06:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
. . . any further word on the graphical preview for exit points on ship graphics?
I don't have any immediate plans for a shän editor.
Is it feasible to allow the Contribute/Require bit selection pane to appear in multiple open windows simultaneously? That would highly improve its usefulness.
Also, what’s the ETA for the next version of MissionComputer? Some of the bug fixes are extremely important, and the other updates promise much enhanced productivity.
QUOTE (Qaanol @ Aug 24 2010, 09:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Is it feasible to allow the Contribute/Require bit selection pane to appear in multiple open windows simultaneously? That would highly improve its usefulness.
Probably — the current behaviour is mostly a result of it not having occurred to me that someone might want this. It'll take a few changes to each editor that invokes the sheet, though.
QUOTE (Qaanol @ Aug 24 2010, 09:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Also, what’s the ETA for the next version of MissionComputer? Some of the bug fixes are extremely important, and the other updates promise much enhanced productivity.
Originally I was planning for all of the recent changes to be incorporated into a new version along with some larger new features, but as those are somewhat delayed, I'm looking at packaging a new release within the next few days (as soon as I can decide what its version number is 
).
QUOTE (David Arthur @ Aug 25 2010, 08:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Probably — the current behaviour is mostly a result of it not having occurred to me that someone might want this. It'll take a few changes to each editor that invokes the sheet, though.
Yeah, it’s not a super-high priority, but it’s nice to be able to visually compare several bit masks, that aren’t necessarily identical, but have many in common.
What would really be great, would be to enlarge the sheet and add a section for “favorite” contribute/require bits, with custom labels. That way, although the 8×8 grid of checkboxes would still be present, there would also be a linear column of fewer checkboxes, each with a name. Here is a mockup:
The user could set up favorites lists in the Preferences, by choosing which bits to show and assigning each one a name. Here is a mockup of what the preferences window could look like:
Thus, if you sometimes work on Stock Nova, and sometimes work on PlugPack, and sometimes work on your own project, then you can have a favorites list for each of them, and they are persistent. The program would remember the last favorites list that was used and default to that on startup, but switching to another is as easy as opening prefs and picking from a drop-down menu.
Something very similar could be used for ScanMasks as well. And since there are only 16 of those you don’t even need the “which ones to include” panel. They all get included, and the user can rename them and save lists of namings.
QUOTE
Originally I was planning for all of the recent changes to be incorporated into a new version along with some larger new features, but as those are somewhat delayed, I'm looking at packaging a new release within the next few days (as soon as I can decide what its version number is ).
Awesome. I recommend using transcendental version numbers.
For general reference, here is a list of all Contribute bits used in stock EV Nova as of version 1.1, what sets them, and some of what checks for them:
1A: Heavy Weapons License or Fed rank 1
1B: Missile Weapons License or Fed rank 1
1C: Fighter Bay License or Fed rank 2
1D: Protective Technologies License or Fed rank 1
1E: Exotic Ships & Weapons License or Fed rank 1 (unused)
1F: Exotic Ships & Weapons License or Fed rank 1 (unused)
1G: Capital Ships License or Fed rank 1
1H: Capital Warships License or Fed rank 2
2A: Exotic Ships & Weapons License or Fed rank 2 (beams)
2B: any illegal outfit (unused)
5A: any real physical ship (physical outfits)
5E: Leviathan (Sigma missions)
5F: Pegasus (Sigma missions)
5G: Star Liner (Sigma missions)
7A: stock Valkyrie (unused)
8G: Class I or bought Valkyrie (upgrades)
8H: Class A or bought Starbridge (upgrades)
This post has been edited by Qaanol : 09 November 2010 - 02:12 PM
An interesting idea — I’ll have to give it some thought.
Also (and this is probably a lot easier to do) it would be nice to have a way to see what Cont/Req bits are set for a given resource without actually opening the pane to change them. Thus, in each resource that has a Cont or Req field (crön, gövt, mïsn, oütf, ränk, shïp) I’d like to see, next to the Edit… buttons, one of the following.
Either a 32×32 image showing a 4×4 block for each bit, white if set and black if clear (or perhaps vice versa), or the two 8-character hex strings. Ideally there would be both, with Edit… button showing the image instead of the word Edit, and the hex strings being editable text fields so it is not necessary to open the edit pane unless you want checkboxes.
Well, really ideally would be both this and the enhanced edit pane with favorites lists.
MissionComputer 4.1 is now available from davidarthur.evula.net.
I don't know if this is a problem you can look into on your end, David, but when I downloaded the .dmg file, it went straight to the trash without being mounted at all. I had to manually pull it out, mount it, and copy MC 4.1 to my hard drive.
It wasn't a big problem, and Mission Computer seems to be working fine regardless, but I thought I'd report it in case it might be something major.
This post has been edited by DarthKev : 28 August 2010 - 01:48 PM
Nothing has changed about the way MissionComputer is packaged. If your browser is handling Internet-enabled disk images correctly, it should automatically extract MissionComputer, place the application in your Downloads folder, and then move the disk image to the trash.
I downloaded it about an hour ago, and didn't have a problem.
