To all SSC Station occupants
Thank you for the donations over the past year (2024), it is much appreciated. I am still trying to figure out how to migrate the forums to another community software (probably phpbb) but in the meantime I have updated the forum software to the latest version. SSC has been around a while so their is some very long time members here still using the site, thanks for making SSC home and sorry I haven't been as vocal as I should be in the forums I will try to improve my posting frequency.
Thank you again to all of the members that do take the time to donate a little, it helps keep this station functioning on the outer reaches of space.
-D1-
After a break of about 1 month with Pioneer, I suddenly have the problem that planets are no longer displayed correctly. Planets now suddenly appear (at short distances) and the other; Depending on the angle at which I look at the planet... (and because pictures speak more than 100 words);
(These three screenshots were taken from the same vantage point, no movement of the ship is involved. Only the camera angle has been changed).
Graphics drivers are up to date and I haven't changed anything in the settings since I last played Pioneer.
I tried all the options and also reset the graphics settings, reinstalled Pioneer.... all to no avail.
Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be?
Thanks and greetings,
Crux
Correct, these screen shots are from Barnard's Star.
I haven't been there for a long time, but I know for sure that it wasn't always like this - but it could very well be that the December pre-release version was the last time I visited Barnard's Star.
@crux_72 could you please try the below version (compiled today), and see if the problem is still there?
<outdated link to Windows-Artifacts_2021-06-13.zip>
(Warning: you might not be able to load new saves, there's currently an unsolved bug on current master, so don't play for hours without checking that save can be loaded again, and backup your old saves. I'm not sure if the windows binary above has this save-bug).
EDIT: I'll remove the download link above in a few days.
So, as promised, here is the feedback;
Both problems, the graphic ones (as shown above) and the 'suddenly popping up' planets are no longer there.
Also, my game saves could be loaded, saved and reloaded without any problems (both; old ones and new ones).
If I understand correctly, this is an internal test build, isn't it? What do you recommend? Can I continue with this version or should I go back to the last official version?
I've already noticed some changes and of course I'm aware that if I stick with this version I would have to reckon with potentially disastrous consequences, but the planets suddenly popping up are quite annoying, but of course I prefer that to an unstable playing environment.
So what is your advice?
If you're not experiencing the save bug, then it should be OK to use this version (but keep your old saves backed up just to make sure). Not all developers can reproduce the save bug, so it's something related to compiler version / build environment, so might be OK on windows / github compiled versions (as this is).
Glad to hear the graphical glitch is fixed - I suspected that would be the case, as I thought I recognized it from a few months ago.
All saves since November 2020 should work on all pioneer versions since then (until we make some new universe-breaking change in the future). There is a coming feature to allow player to create a new game from an old save version file, so it will try to restore most things from old saves (ship, reputation, money, kills, position, etc). The reason we sometimes must (intentionally) break the save version, is when the random number generator changes, or how it is sampled, that will change all procedural systems, so stations/planets/systems are not the same after such an event. However, most of the "core systems" are (partially) hard coded from star charts, so not very noticeable, until you try to finish a mission to a place that no longer exists. Anyway, that was a tangent to the conversation.
There are some nice/important features since February, like NPC/trader ship traffic, a complete Sinonatrix overhaul, and us discovering (and fixing) the News Event module which must have been broken for +1 year (It didn't change the price&stock of commodity, e.g. when starvation event: it should x10 price of grain, and stock=0 on the market, creating very lucrative trade), and if you've never seen the news on the BBS, that's because they're not spawned the first five months of the game.
Full list here:
https://github.com/pioneerspacesim/pioneer/blob/master/Changelog.txt
Thank you for the detailed explanation and also the quick remedy and the new version. I think I will continue with this version then. I'm especially curious about the events - my way of playing could actually benefit from such things.
By the way, I don't share the opinion of many of my fellow space riders; I think, and this is especially true for projects like this, that it is essential (and also important) to accept the fact that game saves can sometimes become incompatible. Where a 'every save must remain compatible at all costs' policy leads to can be seen at the moment with X4 - and I don't think PIONEER needs to copy this approach. Especially not if, as in this case, there is the possibility to restore the initial state and / or to go back to an older version at any time.
Well then... If I come across something that seems absolutely strange to me, I'll be back here, otherwise; o7 and see you next time!
@crux_72 Here's a version with the save bug fixed, should be more stable. The Cargo missions now also allows you to negotiate the amount of cargo to bring on, and some other minor things have been fixed:
[removed Windows-Artifacts_2021-06-24.zip]
We might do a release soonish, to get the save bug fix out. Problem was an optimization in gcc11 that made un-initialized boolean variables break the save game. Thus please report any issues you find.
EDIT: Removed link to outdated build.
Cool, thanks 🙂 !
I do indeed have a first feedback for you regarding the new feature (negotiating the quantity to be transported). Because the option 'how much to transport' is no longer available, you now have to use the option 'negotiate' to find out how much it is at all. Doesn't make much sense in my opinion. It would be better if it was the same as before and you put the option of negotiating in there?
Crux
@crux_72 if you're interested, you can playtest a new version of the cargo negotiation:
just copy and replace these with your local ones:
data/lang/module-cargorun/en.json
data/modules/CargoRun/CargoRun.lua
We hope to include it in a new "summer release" of pioneer, in the comming days.
Cool, thanks - I will be happy to give feedback 👍
Just here to let you know that I haven't noticed any issues while playing around with the new cargo missions 🙂 👍
Cheers,
CRUX
@crux_72 thanks. It's been merged to master, and will be in the next release, which we hope to have out within a week or two, as we have a lot of big code changes comming, that will likely put us in "unstable territory", that will get merged once we have a build out.
AAaaand new "summer" release is out: https://pioneerspacesim.net/page/download/
Major change: all ships have been nerfed in engine performance, this will likely need some player feedback