Freelancer Path Generator
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Timmy51m wrote:
When you say FLServer does this for you, does that mean path files are not necessary in multiplayer but are necessary for single player?No, what it means is that if one or more of the path files are missing, FL Server will rebuild the missing one(s) when it starts up.
Chips and I didn’t know this, and my mod’s FL Server was crashing on startup so I couldn’t prove this, it was because I had more than 10 jumps in one system while it was trying to regenerate the path files.
Once I found the cause and reduced the jumps to 10, FL Server regenerated the path files. I tested by deleting them one by one and all at once and it regenerated all or just the missing ones.
It was yet another case where someone knew this but didn’t document or divulge it, and then someone else pointed us to it after I had gone through such a long troubleshooting episode.
Chips wrote this super utility, which takes into consideration locked jumpgates and badly-made jumps and lists them out and avoids them. Much better.
He was my contractor programmer at the time! rofl
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I think Flak is protected!
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That message is bloody useless I should have made it display the errors it has found - whoops blushes
I think it’s an easy fix for me, but… unfortunately timing is everything, it’s silly’o’clock in the morning and I’m off to bed. In 24 hours I am flying off to Vienna for a week skiing in Austria
If it’s an RC I cannot download to check the mod.
edit Well, apart from having an issue with two versions (whoops, so clumsy of me) on my PC and being unsure which I was working upon - I’ve uploaded the current release with a small fix to hopefully display the errors window.
I did a preliminary test by just renaming Ku02.ini to Ku02a.ini - it throws an ioexception, but displays in the errors window afterwards “missing file KU02” - so whilst I dunno what your error is, I hope this will allow for some clarity in displaying the errors window
Try downloading the original link (file should be 102kb or so).
It will give exception still, BUT hopefully the errors window will then appear saying wtf it is Let me know
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Not at all!
What I mean is that some modders changed some file headings so they can’t be easily opened to be modified, and it is possibly that is causing the error.
I don’t know for sure but I think Flak has some similar changes?
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I am curious as to why you might think locking a mod is going low?
I don’t see it that way at all, I have no problem - some mods are issued with no FLServer. That is extreme to me but isn’t considered going “low”.
Anyway, this is not the problem here, probably just a file problem.
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A note for “completeness”.
Alex sent me a link to the Flak mod, and the paths generated perfectly fine on windows XP - no issues.
Alex is on Windows 7 - which I currently do not have installed, so cannot verify 100% that this is the cause of his issue - or whether “run as administrator” (or whatever the usual fix is) allows the program to work as normal.
BUT
without further feedback about whether it is working, or installing Windows 7 here (I’ll see if I can get it within the next few days, I get a free copy under the academic alliance) I’m going to say that was the cause and therefore the solution should be “run as admin” :-? :-?
I also noticed that I uploaded a badly out of date source code version - whoops. I have therefore uploaded the latest source as well. See the first post.
Again, you don’t need the tool as FLServer apparently generates the path files if they are already missing
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Yep - but it’s not as complete as yours, Chips.
So I’m glad you made it, and I use it by preference.
One query: now you understand more about it - my mod loves jumpholes, and there are no gates in my outer worlds, so for the main part there is no path plotting possible.
What’s your feeling about plotting through jumpholes, if you could/would plot them as legal paths, would FL generate a proper path through them?
What would be the bad side where there are both jumpholes and jumpgates ot the same destination system?
I’ve not tested this but if I am with a pirate faction would I get plots through jumpholes?
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StarTrader wrote:
Yep - but it’s not as complete as yours, Chips.So I’m glad you made it, and I use it by preference.
One query: now you understand more about it - my mod loves jumpholes, and there are no gates in my outer worlds, so for the main part there is no path plotting possible.
What’s your feeling about plotting through jumpholes, if you could/would plot them as legal paths, would FL generate a proper path through them?
What would be the bad side where there are both jumpholes and jumpgates ot the same destination system?
I’ve not tested this but if I am with a pirate faction would I get plots through jumpholes?
Hmm, good question - the program parses solararch.ini and identifies things as illegal if
type = JUMP_HOLE
Logically change one jumphole type to
type = JUMP_GATE ```to have it included as a legal path. I haven't tested, but logically having multiple jumpgates in one system to another system makes zero difference to the program. What I definitely do not know is what happens if no illegal paths are in a mod at all (i.e. no type = JUMP_HOLE in the mod). Guess an empty file, or maybe just a Current System, Current System, Current System entry? Now onto Freelancer - and how it plots paths. If there are multiple options from one system to another, I guess it selects the object in the order it appears in the file (i.e. faced with plotting path from A to B, where A has two jump gates to B, which has two receiving jump gates, it selects the jump gate in A which is first in the file). With regards to legal/illegal, I assume it plots the path via objects which are defined in the Solararch.ini as type = JUMP_GATE - but I haven't tested this, so I really do not know. If you wish for a mixture of jump holes / jump gates, then I suggest making duplicate jump hole entries in solararch which are (obviously nick-named different - such as jumphole_green2) defined as Type = JUMP_GATE. Since jump holes don't appear in course plots, you can replace existing jump holes with these types (i.e. archetype in the system goes from jumphole_green to jumphole_green2) and run the application. Illegal shortest path may be differently generated as this will no longer be an illegal jump object, but I don't quite know what the game uses the illegal path file for. I assume this would then let you plot paths through "jump holes" (to the players eye. Obviously check NPC behaviour is as expected if you make these changes).
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Have you forgotten about FL Hack’s “Best path uses jump holes” option? Here’s the patches it makes:
server.dll 01B1D3 0A->03 = consider jump holes for best path PART 1 ~adoxa server.dll 01B1DC EB05->7407 = consider jump holes for best path PART 2 ~adoxa content.dll 0897D2 C4->8C = swap systems_shortest_path.ini content.dll 089852 8C->C4 = and shortest_legal_path.ini
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Thank you both!
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It appears the links in the opening post are now dead…
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Chips you know I am your most faithful follower…
My latest copy is attached below (January 2010) just in case you don’t have it or the time?