I've taken to checking out systems before filming and have run in to many multi-star systems that look hugely interesting. However, it seems the game crashes when trying to use autopilot in EVERY multi-star system I've been in so far. This is making filming really boring as I'm having to skip over the stranger more entertaining systems (especially with the great multi-sunrises!).

Is there anything you guys can do? Should I list a couple more systems I have found (they are similar to Arphi)? Should I use a nightly build?

All the systems are generated by the same generation routines, and it looks like it's that which is at fault. My suspicion is that you're seeing many examples of exactly the same bug. It's the same in the current master branch, so a nightly build won't help you yet.

We already chatted in IRC today, but I'll note it here for gallery. There is a problem with the autopilot in triple and quadruple systems, and its now logged as issue #921. I'm busy this weekend but will be getting into it early next week. It should be a fairly straightforward fix, I just need to properly understand it first.

Ep 15 is up! I crash a lot in this one. I got a lesson from wavemotion afterwards (aim the back of ur thrusters at the middle of the planet...duh).

Thats some nice views there. How far have you travelled/got left to go?

well the coords of the last system I filmed in was -25,0,0 or something around that number. I think the center of the galaxy is at -3250,0,0 or something around that number. got a few more systems to go!

So far, bchimself has travelled 183.76 light years from Sol. The journey from Sol to the galactic central black hole is 24996.01 light years. He's less than half of one percent of the way.

Ummm about 12 light years an episode... 2000+ episodes? 😯

Haha, its about the journey, not the destination.

I will probably start jumping ahead mulitple times before filming only the very interesting stuff.

Walker, your treads are

the path and nothing more;

walker, there is no path,

the path is made when walking

Antonio Machado

🙂

Episode 16 is up (reminder; entire episode list on first post)

@bchimself

Got a random question for you bc, how do you handle the new alpha versions that get released? They quite regularly break compatibility between save files and I was just wondering if you stick with a particular alpha version or cheat your way back to your last location after updating?

If it's the latter option, would anything really help you out that we could add to the game like setting a specific start position? Or would it just be better for us to use a non-binary format for the save files, xml perhaps, that might improve compatibility?

Andy

I can quickly provide a customised version of my "fly places" script, if necessary. It can customise the player ship, and quickly fly it to the required location.

Yeah when Bchimself gets further away your script will likely be essential 🙂

Yep I will need this eventually, but so far I've just flown the way from Earth again when new versions come out.

DVD Extra Features

https://gist.github.com/1735370

Download this script and place it into data/modules, and you too can join in the journey.

The script adds a "Let's Play" advert into the bulletin board. There, you can choose either episode 6, or any of the eight most recent episodes. Your ship will be swapped for a copy of bchimself's Viper, and once you undock you will be flown all the way to the system of the episode of your choice.

Not only that, but once you reach that system, you can spend time exploring, and when you're ready, fly to the next episode that bchimself visited, simply by jettisoning a tonne of hydrogen. This is the script's signal to reconfigure and set off to the next destination.

Of course, you get to keep the ship, too!

I plan to keep this script updated with the very latest episodes. This script doesn't bother with saved game stuff, so if you save and load, the automatic flight will be forgotten. You still get to keep your ship, though, and nothing will break.

Please, do have a play, everybody. It's 5am and I just spent a good few hours coding this through the night, so I'm bound to have made a silly mistake somewhere. Let me know when you find it. (-:

That's bloody genius brianetta! ❗

Pretty fuckin epic if i may say so.

I'll be doing an episode to showcase this mod completely. I did notice, however, that the episode list in the bulletins skips episode 7-9. Dunno if this was on purpose or not (as I dont remember the subject of those episodes and they may be some glitchy systems like Arphi, etc)

hahaha, it hops me from system to system, i totally thought i was just gonna teleport or something. haha it perfectly jumps me in a straight line, how did i miss all these systems along the way? must've skipped them. they're all perfectly in line with the line from sol to the center (x, 0, 0 coords always lol)

Another issue, the planet info view and everything doesnt follow along the route, which is ok because i Just press the current system button to bring the camera over, but thought you might like to know.

Also, does this mean you will have to release a new script for download every time I make a new episode?

Every jump on the Let's Play system seems to bring my Shield down to like 1 hp (it recharges fine, though). Also, I cant seem the find the advert in a couple of the other stations I've looked along the route (for example, in case i choose episode 6 but want to skip all the way to the last episode without going thru 9 more episodes)

Excellent idea Brianetta! 🙂 And bchimself? Its great you are doing these vids as it all helps to bring Pioneer to the attention of all those gamers out there who are desperately seeking something different to the mass of identical shooters out there. 😉

Thanks man, that's my main goal to grow the player-base! Please feel free to link the Let's Play videos to anyone and everyone you can find! Forums like reddit are useful too. I have already posted many places, but the more the merrier.

Brianetta has been the hugest help for me so far, and I'm eternally grateful, especially for adding me to one of my favorite games!

OK, let's try to untangle this...

[*:26g62rh6]There's only room for eight or nine entries on the BBS screen. The script does know about the others; you will visit each of them in turn if you jettison some hydrogen each time it stops. So, I have it show the first, and the most recent eight, reasoning that most people will want to either do the whole tour, or try the most recent ones.

If somebody's

desperate to visit episode 9, all they need to do is edit the file - near the bottom, there's an episode list made of numbers. Deleting some unwanted lines there will make others appear on the screen.

[*:26g62rh6]There's no magic teleport. Like the Matrix, some rules can be bent, others broken.

[*:26g62rh6]The planet info and the galaxy map don't follow, and there's no way to force them. Scripts can initiate hyperspace on the basis that non-player ships might need to do it. We're bending the rules by getting the player to jump.

[*:26g62rh6]I do need to release a new script, but I'll just update that gist on GitHub, so it'll always be in the same place. It's just a matter of adding a single line per system to the end of the episode list. All the numbers I need are on the "Demographics" page when you look at the system info screen (three coordinates and a system number).

[*:26g62rh6]The shield thing is because I totally reconfigure the ship for jumps. I rip out the hyperdrive and install a military drive, lose the shields and the fuel scoop, and put 9 tonnes of military fuel in there, in order to keep the mass low to increase the jump speed of the ship as much as possible. I switch everything back to conventional fuel when you arrive, and install new shields. You're seeing them charge up for the first time.

[*:26g62rh6]Due to me not bothering to sort out any saved game support, the script won't appear in any bulletin board that had been filled with adverts before it was saved and loaded. The simplest thing to do here is to jump to any nearby populated system after loading.

[*:26g62rh6]I hope you like the face I picked. There were some awful ones, and a whole load that look an awful lot like Laurence Fishburne.

Cool thanks for the answers! I didn't even notice there was a face, checking it out now...