Hard Light Productions Forums
Hosted Projects - Standalone => The Babylon Project => Public Development => Topic started by: FUBAR-BDHR on November 03, 2012, 07:22:56 pm
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Zathras 2.2 (http://fubar.org/TBP/Zathras_2.2.rar) available for dev testing only. If your just playing the game this is not for you.
To use I suggest extracting into a new directory (something like Zathras2.2) and pointing the mod in the launcher there. This way you can switch back and forth to confirm any issues with the previous version. Of course you will need 3.6.14 or 3.6.15 exes.
Know issues:
-Multiple warnings from the launcher about invalid flags such as -spec, -normal, -env, -glow. These were removed and now default to on.
-Warning about the tech description of the Brakiri 57mm. This is an old bug that was not caught before. It is fixed in Zathras but there is no way around the warning as it still reads the 3.4b weapons.tbl first.
-A number of table entries have incorrect $detail distance entries. These should start giving warnings in 3.6.15 builds r9346 and above. I already have it fixed on my end and it will be in the next update.
Note I did not have time to test this very much and since it was almost 2 years out of date I threw it together the best I could remember. It needs some major testing.
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I need to do a bunch of multiplayer bug fixing and I suspect this will be a good place to try out a few things I can't in Diaspora.
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Thanks a lot FUBAR. I do hope there are people who are willing to test it. Goddamn hand. Bored beyond belief here, nothing to do but watch TV. Holding a book is tiresome, typing with the left hand is ssssslllloooowww in addition.
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Of course you will need 3.6.14 or 3.6.15 exes.
Do you have a quick link for those? And should we use 3.6.15, because wasn't 3.6.14 already outdated?
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Of course you will need 3.6.14 or 3.6.15 exes.
Do you have a quick link for those? And should we use 3.6.15, because wasn't 3.6.14 already outdated?
3.6.14 is the stable official version. 3.6.15 are the nightlies, a lot less stable. Do what you want at your peril.
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Okay, so maybe 3.6.14 may be better. It would still cool if someone could link both here! Thanks...
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Okay, so maybe 3.6.14 may be better. It would still cool if someone could link both here! Thanks...
Come on they aren't that buried in the forum.... (are they?)
3.6.14 linked in this page: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=82648.0
3.6.15 nightlies here: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?board=173.0
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Personally I prefer to compile my own so I can get call stacks and break into the debugger.
Anyway as stated 3.6.14 is the stable build so if your planning on releasing anything anytime soon use that. If not use 3.6.15. I'd recommend having both so if you do find a bug in 3.6.15 you can see if it worked in 3.6.14.
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Come on they aren't that buried in the forum.... (are they?)
I hardly look outside this forum, so when I did there were hundreds of different boards ;)!
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There is this HIGHLIGHT at the top.
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There is this HIGHLIGHT at the top.
If you mean the Announcement board. I assumed this was for the boards themselves only...
Update: I have started testing MAGs Star Fury missions with Zathras 2.2 and 3.6.15 INF.
A distant star: No issues at all!
And now for a word: The Centauri Primus wins against the attacking G'Quan although the
latter starts with power beams. But it has to loose according to the show otherwise the
scripts break and the mission never ends. So has the Primus been enhanced somehow in
Zathras 2.2 or was this just bad luck of the Narn cruiser? It worked the last time I tried.
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Is this the first time the Centauri have won in that mission, or have you seen it happen before?
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As you know, I think MAGs missions are usually glitch-ridden and poorly balanced. It is probably nothing related to Zathras.
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As you know, I think MAGs missions are usually glitch-ridden and poorly balanced. It is probably nothing related to Zathras.
You are right, this was the eason I made my patch, because I still like the idea to replay events from the show :)!
I tried the mission again and this time the Narn cruiser won and everything worked out, so this has nothing to do with Zathras 2.2. I think I will update my unofficial patch for his missions and add a ending in case that the Centauri win...
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Well it is possible that both Zathras and the newer code have some things to do with it. Object limits were bumped in the code and the weapons optimized in Zathras 2.1. This means that all the guns that should have been firing but were not due to hitting limits (Centauri Twin Arrays are a good example) will now be working as designed. This could easily result in a cap getting off a few more bursts then it used to if there are multiple ships firing at the same time.
Of course not setting a guardian threshold so the ship that must win can't be destroyed is a mission flaw. Never count on one ship always beating another. Even a bad luck string of misses by one cap could cause something like this to happen.
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Of course not setting a guardian threshold so the ship that must win can't be destroyed is a mission flaw.
Is there an elegant way to do this besides just setting the hulls which would be obvious on scanning?
Update: I gave the Narn cruisers two more beam salvos now, this should make sure it wins :)! But I also
noticed that MAG forgot to include a sound file. Can this be added outside the vp file for a patch fix?
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A more elegant way is to set a series of decreasing thresholds. i.e cap it at 32 for a minute and then reduce that every x seconds to 26, 23, 18, etc. Avoiding numbers divisible by 5.
Basically you give the ship a little extra time to soak up the damage. If the player notices that the ship doesn't appear to take damage from a shot, they'll probably notice it later with lower hitpoints and think they were mistaken.
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A more elegant way is to set a series of decreasing thresholds.
Although my solution works fine right now, what are these thresholds you are talking about?
BTW, what are the keys to slow/speed up time in TBP? I did try SHIFT-,/. like in FS2 FAQs...
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I'm getting an error when running this in debug.
weapons.tbl(line 953):
Warning: Error parsing id# in XSTR() tag XSTR ("For their 57mm heavy pulse cannon, Brakiri designers chose to base their weapon off of the Narn 52mm and 75mm weapons... which was no small feat considering the Narn weapons sale practices. Narn technicians would be sent along with the weapons so ensure that they weren't re-sold to 3rd parties, as well as prevent them from being reverse-engineered. Brakiri agents managed to swap examples of both weapons for dummies, which were installed on test fighters which experienced "fuel core overloads", destroying all evidence of the theft. Designers succedded in copying many of the higher yield power regulators, but chose more familiar technology in the focusing emitters, both for ease of local contruction, and to limit its apparent similarities to the Narn weapons from which they were based. Unfortunately, the 57mm is a rather poor weapon. It's poor weapon velocity and limited range are compounded by the low fire-rate. Oddly enough though, it does considerably more dammage per shot than the Narn 52mm. The Brakiri 57mm is best suited to knocking out subsystems on capital ships.", -1)
ntdll.dll! ZwWaitForSingleObject + 21 bytes
kernel32.dll! WaitForSingleObjectEx + 67 bytes
kernel32.dll! WaitForSingleObject + 18 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2.exe! SCP_DumpStack + 354 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2.exe! Warning + 430 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2.exe! error_display + 315 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2.exe! lcl_ext_get_id + 520 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2.exe! lcl_ext_localize_sub + 343 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2.exe! lcl_ext_localize + 47 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2.exe! stuff_string + 796 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2.exe! stuff_and_malloc_string + 96 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2.exe! stuff_malloc_string + 80 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2.exe! parse_weapon + 1453 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2.exe! parse_weaponstbl + 172 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2.exe! weapon_init + 79 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2.exe! game_init + 1588 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2.exe! game_main + 519 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2.exe! WinMain + 330 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2.exe! __tmainCRTStartup + 358 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2.exe! WinMainCRTStartup + 15 bytes
kernel32.dll! BaseThreadInitThunk + 18 bytes
ntdll.dll! RtlInitializeExceptionChain + 99 bytes
ntdll.dll! RtlInitializeExceptionChain + 54 bytes
I'd hazard a guess that the issue is the quote marks in that table but I'm not certain if the issue is with Zathras or my own screwed up install (I haven't run TBP for over 2 years and my folder is a complete mess of loose files (Earth Brakiri War seems to be a main contender for the cause).
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I'm getting an error when running this in debug.
/me smacks Kara for not reading the know issues area of the release post.
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I'm getting an error when running this in debug.
/me smacks Kara for not reading the know issues area of the release post.
Damnit! I did read it at the time, just didn't remember the issue when I playtested days later!
Why not stick the entire table (with a fix) in Zathras?
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In Crusade "War Zone" (the first episode) a Drakh cruiser was being pursued by an Omega. The cruiser was showering the Omega from an aft turret that fired yellow-orange pulses.
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I'm getting an error when running this in debug.
/me smacks Kara for not reading the know issues area of the release post.
Damnit! I did read it at the time, just didn't remember the issue when I playtested days later!
Why not stick the entire table (with a fix) in Zathras?
I've thought about doing that for future releases. Right now I'd like to stick with the .tbm for fixes as it's also a quick way to tell what was changed. Some day I'll set up a svn repository for this stuff to take care of that. Until then it's 1 warning that is actually fixed before it gets done parsing the data so other then being a pain in the ass to hit continue once every time you run debug it's not an issue.
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Can you run the debug build and post a log so I can try to track this down.
Starfield bitmap 'xparent' already listed as a xparentxparent bitmap!! Only using the xparent version!
ntdll.dll! ZwWaitForSingleObject + 21 bytes
kernel32.dll! WaitForSingleObjectEx + 67 bytes
kernel32.dll! WaitForSingleObject + 18 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
kernel32.dll! BaseThreadInitThunk + 18 bytes
ntdll.dll! RtlInitializeExceptionChain + 99 bytes
ntdll.dll! RtlInitializeExceptionChain + 54 bytes
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Can you run the debug build and post a log so I can try to track this down.
Starfield bitmap 'xparent' already listed as a xparentxparent bitmap!! Only using the xparent version!
ntdll.dll! ZwWaitForSingleObject + 21 bytes
kernel32.dll! WaitForSingleObjectEx + 67 bytes
kernel32.dll! WaitForSingleObject + 18 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_15d_INF_SSE2-20121105_r9326.exe! <no symbol>
kernel32.dll! BaseThreadInitThunk + 18 bytes
ntdll.dll! RtlInitializeExceptionChain + 99 bytes
ntdll.dll! RtlInitializeExceptionChain + 54 bytes
That's a call stack not a log. I need the FS2_Open.log file from the data directory.
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Oops, I didn't know. Find it attached.
[attachment deleted by a basterd]
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Looks like the problem here is a duplicate entry in DoW that conflict with the version Zathras.
This entry in DoW3-str.tbm
$Bitmap: 1_p_epsilon3
is already defined by XMASnbg-str.tbm from 0rph3u5.vp in Zathras as
$BitmapX: 1_p_epsilon3
This does bring up the point that Drumbs of War Series should be installed into it's own folder not in the TBM main folder. That would be why it's showing up for you and not for me.
Now to figure out the reason for this and if it's actually a real problem if it's in it's own folder. My only guess is that he wanted to change the way the bitmap was handled for that campaign for some reason.
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I've got a feeling that the DVD might just dump everything in the main folder. Mine was a huge mess and when I looked at it, I couldn't think of any reason I'd organise things that way.
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It does for a number of things (including the first 2 parts of DOW) but not the full DOW release. The offending file is in the full release.
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So should we ask 0rph3u5 if we really need this file in Zathras or whether it should be removed from DoW? If the latter is the case, similar errors could be valid for other campaigns, because I don't have all existent campaigns on my system anymore...
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Well since it would require repacking and redistributing the campaign then hoping everyone gets the right version before playing the easiest solution is just to move it to it's own mod folder like it should be and not worry about the warning. Worst case scenario is that planet shows up with a green box around it or stars show through it.
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...the easiest solution is just to move it to it's own mod folder like it should be...
Can this be done from Zathras without repackaging the campaign? Because the Brakiri War for example also copies sound files into the main TBP folder which is quite another kind of mess. I don't think I have any mod folders at all...
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You at least have Zathras. But appart from that, everything is in ../tbp/
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...the easiest solution is just to move it to it's own mod folder like it should be...
Can this be done from Zathras without repackaging the campaign? Because the Brakiri War for example also copies sound files into the main TBP folder which is quite another kind of mess. I don't think I have any mod folders at all...
No this is not something that can be done from Zathras. The tbm file with the problem entry will always be parsed in both DOW and Zathras and throw the warning. It would need to be fixed in DOW. It may not even be causing a problem.
As for EBW are you talking about the .ogg files? Those are not sound files but movies. Granted they still should not have been installed there but not much we can do about it now.
Also lets try to keep this on topic of Zathras 2.2. This topic really isn't for discussion of other issues only for things in Zathras that aren't working correctly.
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This topic really isn't for discussion of other issues only for things in Zathras that aren't working correctly.
Okay, so in case of the DoW error, someone would just need to test the mission where this happens. Maybe it doesn't matter at all! The other error I got which you told you already knew about didn't stop me at all from playing several of Mag's missions already :)...
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Updated known issues in first post.
Discovered some table issues where the number of LODs in the tables do not match the actual models and a bug in the code that was supposed to detect the mismatch. The code should be fixed and these will be showing up as warnings in future 3.6.15 builds. I do have the entries fixed on my end and they will be in the next Zathras development update. Hopefully that will not be in the next week or so.
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Updated known issues in first post.
I had another two warnings when playing MAGs "In the beginning" mission. They pop up just before the first two nukes explode that will kill the Black Star. I have attached the log file...
[attachment deleted by a basterd]
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Unfortunately that warning doesn't give me much to go on. It would need to be traced while running a debugger. Is it random or does it happen every time you play the mission?
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Hey wesp, do you have a convenient link for MAG's missions + the patch?
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Is it random or does it happen every time you play the mission?
It does happen every time and below you will find the link to MAGs missions. I'm not yet through with my latest patch, I'm doing one mission at a time, but I didn't touch that section of the mission except renaming the "2MT nukes" to "2 MT nukes". Find it attached nevertheless.
http://heatemup.co.uk/b5sfp.html
[attachment deleted by a basterd]
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Okay, I have another error in the Severed Dreams mission: Short description "Couldn't fire turret on ship EA Alexander; subsystem turret01a has no beam weapons", log attached below. I also noticed that the Omegas do fire both projectiles and beams from some of their gun emplacements which may be connected to the error above. I'm not sure it this is intended, I'm pretty sure it's not consistent with the show where they could only fire beams from their forward arrays and it looks strange when they switch as well!
P.S.: I have another problem with that mission, the hotkey for the breaching pods is not working, although the syntax is fine. Any ideas?
[attachment deleted by a basterd]
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We've seen the EA destroyers fire from their side and rear guns. We've never seen them fire pulses simultaneously from the same turret though. Unfortunately the AI will fire whatever weapons it has available whenever it can, so this is something that has to be edited mission side.
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The beam thing is a mission issue. It means just what it says. The beam-fire sexp is being used on a regular turret not a beam turret which isn't legal.
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The beam thing is a mission issue.
Okay, I have found it now. So could you help me out with the real name of the beam forward guns on an Omega? It seems turret01a gives the warning but turret02a does not. I don't have the tables here right now...
As for the other issue, in Severed Dreams the Omegas fire small beams from all of their guns, alternating with particles, which isn't consistent with the show and looks strange too. And it's not in MAGs mission file!
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You know you can target turrets in FRED and then check the weapons on the ship to see what that turret contains. Any primary turret can be set to fire any type of primary weapon.
As for the Omega if it's not in the mission then it's the default weapons for the ship. Changing those would break all existing missions using an Omega with default weapons so that isn't going to happen.
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As for the Omega if it's not in the mission then it's the default weapons for the ship. Changing those would break all existing missions using an Omega with default weapons so that isn't going to happen.
Wow, if this is true, who took the liberties to do this? I mean giving an Omega 12 power beams compared to the 4 shown in the show! Can someone test if this is valid for all Omegas out there?
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Think you need to check your references: http://www.b5tech.com/oldb5tech/earthalliance/earthallianceshipsandvessels/earthcapships/omega/omega.html
6 Heavy Particle/Lasers
6 Heavy Pulse Cannons
12 Particle/Lasers
12 Pulse Cannons
Fusion missiles [2 launchers]
Ours has the 12/12 lasers/cannons. We are off in that we only 2 heavy pulse and 4 medium pulse as opposed to 6 heavy and only 2 laser and 4 light laser as oppsed to 6 heavy lasers. We are missing the fusion missiles entirely.
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Think you need to check your references: http://www.b5tech.com/oldb5tech/earthalliance/earthallianceshipsandvessels/earthcapships/omega/omega.html
So is this canon in any kind of way or just some info that fans imagined? Because we never ever see the small guns fire beams in the show! Also who dreamed up all the information of the TBP weapons section anyway ;)? I mean, I am not a physicist but only a chemist, still anyone knowing only a tiny bit of science knows that a X-Ray laser can't ever be visible. Call it a plasma beam or neutron beam or particle beam or whatever, but not a laser! Was this mentioned on the show somewhere? I know that the Minbari neutron beam was stated on some background screen, but I think on the Babylon 5 Scrolls it was explained that even that wasn't to be taken seriously.
Speaking of the latter, there was some cool info on that site stating that the forward beam guns on the Omegas were supposed to be the two big rectangular sections in the middle, looking exactly like the beam guns on G'Quan cruisers where the EA bought them from, and not the small guns on the sides, which were pulse cannons. Only the mistake of a CGI guy made them use those guns for the beams as well and it seem TBP and the B5 Tech site took that for valid and made it true for all the pulse cannons. Okay, I doubt it is the job of Zathras to fix something like this...
BTW, I know there is another thread for this, but you really need to consider including yellow power beams for Drazi, Centauri and Brakiri into the next Zathras version. I did this in another way than described there now and it looks great! You see, there are separate Drazi beam bitmaps which are in fact copies of the EA files. So I changed them to yellow in Paint.Net and gave them to the Centauri and Brakiri using weapons.tbl. This would be an easy thing to do in Zathras and would make TBP more consistent to the show :)!
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Think you need to check your references: http://www.b5tech.com/oldb5tech/earthalliance/earthallianceshipsandvessels/earthcapships/omega/omega.html
So is this canon in any kind of way or just some info that fans imagined? Because we never ever see the small guns fire beams in the show!
The Agamemnon fires a laser from one of those small guns in "Messages from Earth." Check the scene where Sheridan is trying to lose the destroyer in Jupiter's atmosphere.
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We never actually see which bank is firing, as the ship itself is blocking our view, but given that it wasn' t being fired from the forward batteries and and the angle we see, we can easily deduce that the beam was being fired from one of the ventral turrets.
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Should we expand the Escort List to allow for more ships? All it takes is one line in a modular table. The example I attached expands the list from 3 to 5. According to the wiki, so long as we use a reasonable number (< 16) we shouldn't crowd in on other HUD guages.
I was also going to attach normal maps for the Terran debris that TBP uses from FS2. It should probably be replaced with TBP specific debris models but I doubt this is a priority right now. In any event the forums won't let me attach it right now.
[attachment deleted by a basterd]
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Well you were a few minutes late for this. I just packed up 2.3 a few minutes ago.
I don't have a problem with expanding the escort list. Actually I thought I already did. Could have sworn I set it to 6 so you could have 3v3 cap ships in TvT. I'll double check that.
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We never actually see which bank is firing, as the ship itself is blocking our view, but given that it wasn' t being fired from the forward batteries and and the angle we see, we can easily deduce that the beam was being fired from one of the ventral turrets.
Okay, I'll need to check this on the DVD unless someone has a YouTube link ready. But even if this is true I would probably blame it on a single CGI guy mistake like the beams firing out of the wrong Omega cannons as I explained before, because it makes no sense at all that AFAIR they don't use these beams in the massive ship to ship fight in Severed Dreams! Anyway, is is possible to disable the beams in the mission, so the fight looks more like the show?
And how about adding the yellow Drazi, Centauri and Brakiri beams to Zathras 2.4?
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They probably did use them in Severed Dreams, we just didn't get to see them in action. We didn't get to see what happened to the entire strike force in that episode either; I believe there were four capital ships total and we only see two of them get dealt with...
There's also the ISN feed where the anchor reports on hostilities breaking out at the Io Transfer Point.
(http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/5955/vlcsnap2012112016h28m33.png)
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There's also the ISN feed where the anchor reports on hostilities breaking out at the Io Transfer Point.
Okay, I couldn't find that one yet, but I admit defeat :)! In Severed Dreams a Hyperion cruiser fires a beam from one of it's side turrets, so obviously one turret beam led to another after the main mistake, not using the frontal big guns intended for them, was made ;). After all even the FI guys were only human which also explains the beam in "Messages from earth", which could only come from the rotating section which has no turrets on it at all.
Also did you know that those red sections along the sides of the Omegas were supposed to be missiles to be delivered in new Battlestar Galactica style of barrages, but for one reason or another they were never used?
But now what about the yellow beams :)?