MissionComputer 4.0a9 now available

Hello again, everyone -

I've just posted alpha 9 of MissionComputer 4.0 'Crusoe', which is sneaking ever closer to feature-completeness. The main change in this alpha is a restoration of the ability to return to the star map from a system or nebula, and to the system from a spöb. Also present are the resolution of problems with DITL/DLOG, the ability to set a cloaking device's shield or fuel use to any value between 0 and 15, fixes to text fields that didn't accept Forward Delete or negatives, and numerous other small changes - see MissionComputer Help for fuller details.

MissionComputer 4.0a9 is available as a 12.7 MB disk image for Mac OS 10.3 and above on both Intel and PowerPC. Please report any difficulties you encounter with this pre-release version, and make frequent backups.

This post has been edited by David Arthur : 08 July 2008 - 03:16 PM
Reason for edit: Updated for 4.0.0a9r2

Sorry, some values got transposed, so that the numeric fields were rejecting characters they ought to have accepted. Fortunately, the work I did to standardise the code behind every numeric field into one class means that it took only a moment to fix them, and I've uploaded a revised version (4.0.0a9r2).

Weap resource still won't take negatives...

Trying to make a shän, in both the previous alpha and this one, it refused to let me set the sprites as rlëds, instead defaulting straight to picts.

In the wëap resource
Several fields will not accept negative numbers. To the best of my knowledge this only limits functionality in the Speed field, where a negative value makes a projectile travel backwards, and the Beam Width field, where a negative value affects the corona placement, but I would like to be able to enter negative numbers in all fields that take integers, even where such values are meaningless. That is, just because a negative value has no known use in a certain field, doesn't mean someone won't find a use for it.

The fields I found that won't take a negative are: Damage to shields, Damage to armor, Impact, Recoil, Decay, Reload, Speed, Duration, Turn Rate, Accuracy, Spin spďn continuously Rate, Ammo type, Beam Length, Beam Width, Falloff, Zig-zags, Amplitude, Durability, JamVuln1-4, Ionisation

As an aside with regard to the names of fields, the Nova Bible uses American spellings: Color, Armor, Ionization

In the oütf resource
Negatives cannot be entered in: Maximum, Tech Level, Random factor

And you got rid of what I really liked, being able to type anything in numeric fields and having the program just accept it and fix it when I close the resource. That was extremely user-friendly and I'd like to have it back.

The reason I want to be able to type non-numeric characters is primarily because MissionComputer currently plays an alert sound when I do. I don't want to be jolted out of my flow just because I hit a wrong key. Let me make a mistake. Let me type a letter in a numeric field. Just erase it when the resource is closed and everything's fine.

:blink:

I'll wait a few more revisions before i download, then... I'm sure it'll be great!

@0101181920, on Jul 8 2008, 05:11 PM, said in MissionComputer 4.0a9 now available:

Trying to make a shän, in both the previous alpha and this one, it refused to let me set the sprites as rlëds, instead defaulting straight to picts.

Yes, that's a limitation of the RDL scripting language. shän is the only EV Nova resource type for which MissionComputer still uses an RDL editor, so I've been planning to add some small new shän-related features to the language to make it slightly friendlier, and this was the first thing I noticed when I was looking for things to change.

Note that even though, in the current version, the Resource Selector always shows you PICTs, you can still enter the ID of an RLE resource and it will work.

@qaanol, on Jul 8 2008, 05:14 PM, said in MissionComputer 4.0a9 now available:

...I would like to be able to enter negative numbers in all fields that take integers, even where such values are meaningless. That is, just because a negative value has no known use in a certain field, doesn't mean someone won't find a use for it.

I suppose this is reasonable - there are enough undocumented and unintentional features in the engine that I'll short-circuit the feature that prohibits negatives, at least for the time being.

I'm much less convinced that it's beneficial to allow the entry of text characters in fields that can only hold a number; this was only ever possible because, in some editors, it was too difficult to do anything about it until I centralised the code. How can it be a good thing to allow you to enter a value which will be lost when you save? Normally, if the resource looks different when you re-open it than it did when you saved, I consider that prima facie evidence of a bug.

There's a significant difference between accepting a value which is probably incorrect, but might have an interesting undocumented effect, and accepting a value which MissionComputer can't even write to disk.

@qaanol, on Jul 8 2008, 05:14 PM, said in MissionComputer 4.0a9 now available:

As an aside with regard to the names of fields, the Nova Bible uses American spellings: Color, Armor, Ionization

Yes, it does.

As I recall, negative turn rate makes missiles go nuts.

Doesn't it make them fly away from the target?

@david-arthur, on Jul 8 2008, 06:07 PM, said in MissionComputer 4.0a9 now available:

I'm much less convinced that it's beneficial to allow the entry of text characters in fields that can only hold a number; this was only ever possible because, in some editors, it was too difficult to do anything about it until I centralised the code. How can it be a good thing to allow you to enter a value which will be lost when you save? Normally, if the resource looks different when you re-open it than it did when you saved, I consider that prima facie evidence of a bug.

That's perfectly reasonable. Would it be possible to make MC4 disallow non-numerics in integer fields quietly? That is, no beep, no flash, just, I type a letter and nothing happens?

@orcaloverbri9, on Jul 8 2008, 10:39 PM, said in MissionComputer 4.0a9 now available:

As I recall, negative turn rate makes missiles go nuts.

Negative missile turn works perfectly fine and just as Guy said. It's a useful feature when dealing with weapons with powerful submunitions but low supermuntion damage.

@guy, on Jul 8 2008, 08:36 PM, said in MissionComputer 4.0a9 now available:

Doesn't it make them fly away from the target?

Wait - it intentionally flies away from the target? I thought it just tried to get to the target but always turned the wrong way, ergo going nuts. If it flies in the opposite direction, it sounds like an undocumented feature, though one of questionable usefulness.

@orcaloverbri9, on Jul 9 2008, 01:36 AM, said in MissionComputer 4.0a9 now available:

Wait - it intentionally flies away from the target? I thought it just tried to get to the target but always turned the wrong way, ergo going nuts. If it flies in the opposite direction, it sounds like an undocumented feature, though one of questionable usefulness.

@archon, on Jul 9 2008, 01:13 AM, said in MissionComputer 4.0a9 now available:

Negative missile turn works perfectly fine and just as Guy said. It's a useful feature when dealing with weapons with powerful submunitions but low supermuntion damage.

@qaanol, on Jul 8 2008, 06:06 PM, said in MissionComputer 4.0a9 now available:

That's perfectly reasonable. Would it be possible to make MC4 disallow non-numerics in integer fields quietly? That is, no beep, no flash, just, I type a letter and nothing happens?

Although I don't use MC, I find beeps sometimes useful and sometimes annoying. Would it be possible to have it as a toggle option so noobs at MC can know when they make a mistake, yet experienced users can turn it off.

To DA: What no catchy subtitle on this thread? Or are you saving that for later?

@david-arthur, on Jul 8 2008, 10:46 PM, said in MissionComputer 4.0a9 now available:

The main change in this alpha is a restoration of the ability to return to the star map from a system or nebula, and to the system from a spöb.

Thank you, DA!

@qaanol, on Jul 8 2008, 09:06 PM, said in MissionComputer 4.0a9 now available:

Would it be possible to make MC4 disallow non-numerics in integer fields quietly? That is, no beep, no flash, just, I type a letter and nothing happens?

All right, I'll try it in the next alpha, and see how many people complain.

@guest_swithich_-, on Jul 8 2008, 09:55 PM, said in MissionComputer 4.0a9 now available:

Would it be possible to have it as a toggle option so noobs at MC can know when they make a mistake, yet experienced users can turn it off.

Delegating interface design to the user, though it's fashionable on Linux, tends to distract from the actual functioning of the programme.

Freezes when opening a DITL with no elements.

@orcaloverbri9, on Jul 9 2008, 01:36 PM, said in MissionComputer 4.0a9 now available:

Wait - it intentionally flies away from the target? I thought it just tried to get to the target but always turned the wrong way, ergo going nuts. If it flies in the opposite direction, it sounds like an undocumented feature, though one of questionable usefulness.

No, it's nothing special, it's just the expected behaviour of having a negative turning rate. It tries to turn toward the target but the more it tries the further away it gets.

This post has been edited by Guy : 09 July 2008 - 12:36 AM

In the shďp editor, you have a little thing to put in the target pic and the 200x200 pic, but there isn't one for the cinematic thingie in the shipyard when you click on the info button.

@guy, on Jul 9 2008, 01:31 AM, said in MissionComputer 4.0a9 now available:

Freezes when opening a DITL with no elements.

No, it's nothing special, it's just the expected behaviour of having a negative turning rate. It tries to turn toward the target but the more it tries the further away it gets.

I suppose I'm just imagining this differently. shrugs

The main point was that negative turn rates have a theoretical use.

@0101181920, on Jul 9 2008, 06:37 PM, said in MissionComputer 4.0a9 now available:

In the shďp editor, you have a little thing to put in the target pic and the 200x200 pic, but there isn't one for the cinematic thingie in the shipyard when you click on the info button.

That's because that pic is referenced in the desc, not the ship.