!! Pioneer Question Time !! - Ask them here

[PLecN]

Hi, I'm also a new guy to pioneer. Have been playing with it since alpha-29. I'm sure you've all heard this many times but I'd like to say it again ... thank you for Pioneer. I'm not sure how I could contribute (effectively) but I have been travelling around for the last couple of months - trading and exploring - and could report on my travels. The sorts of things I could report on are:* Glitches and bugs I encounter (very few so far)* Aspects of (what might be considered) gameplay* Unusual star systems and bodies* Trading routes and 'ways to trade' (I'm getting quite good at making money quite quickly)* Encounters with other ships Please let me know if any of this sounds useful and once again, thanks for Pioneer. Paul.

[mikehgentry]

@Starblade: Mostly the answer to your questions is 'it's an alpha', I think (though I'm certainly not a dev.) The economic system is underdeveloped as yet, but will no doubt become more complicated and dynamic. Factions are at a very early stage, but some discussion exists on the mailing lists - you could check the archives. Donations will probably affect your reputation with factions or organisations eventually, right now I don't think they do anything. Pirates and assassins do spawn I believe, but the AI code was unable to plot intercepts until recently. I think they now can plot intercepts, but because of the scale of solar systems if they start at a random point they have basically no chance of catching you before you hit your destination. There are design discussions at the moment about 'in system jumps', or perhaps making ships land in a certain area when they jump into a system (e.g. aligned with the star they've come from), avoiding this problem. @PLecN Bug reports if repeatable should be put on the issue tracker. With random crashes, I'm not qualified to say whether the output's useful, so I tend to just post it anyway - I figure it's probably better to have a little 'noise' from useless bug reports if occasionally that gains you the info you need to fix something. [url]https://github.com/pioneerspacesim/pioneer/issues[/url] Interesting things you've found like trade routes or weird planets would probably be best put on the wiki. [url]http://pioneerwiki.com/wiki/Pioneer_Wiki[/url]

[PLecN]

Hi Mike, Thanks for your reply. Re: the issue tracker - it looks a bit daunting for someone who's not contributed to a project like this before. Do you add every bug you come across? I have found at least two issues that were already listed so would there be any value in adding further instances of the same bug? Sorry for the noob questions, but just don't know the ettiquette.

[fluffyfreak]

It doesn't normally help to add an issue again, just make a comment on the existing one with extra details like:Was the bug in an older version but still in a new one?Are you getting it on a different operating system than the original bug?Have you found another way to make the bug happen?Any other information not mentioned in the original bug report - sometimes we get a report but just cannot recreate it ourselves :(For new bugs (or adding to old ones I guess) it's really helpful if you can list a few things:How to make the bug happen (seems obvious but y'know...)How often do you get the bug when you try to get it? 1 in 10? Every single time?What your system is: OS, ram, CPU, GPU (+ram) is very helpful.Attach the logs which we create: "opengl.txt", "stderr.txt" and "stdout.txt" - not always practical due to size so maybe ask first if they're huge!Andy

[PLecN]

Thanks Andy, that really helps. Will do my best!

[Vuzz]

What about the alpha32 freeze ? It was release since many hours ... No post about this ? 

[walterar]

He was not released, escaped. And we are looking to for imprison.

[fluffyfreak]

The freeze started, that doesn't mean that it's complete.The freeze is just the time when Robn stops accepting new things (expect bug fixes maybe) for the upcoming alpha release.The release happens later once he's integrated everything.

[Guest]

The freeze is just the time when Robn stops accepting new things (expect bug fixes maybe) for the upcoming alpha release. "Except bug fixes" is quite important. Freeze is a week for people to do extra testing and fix bugs before the release. John B

[Vuzz]

@ walterar , Andy & John B Okayyy , i've misunderstand again , thanks for these precision.

[Stas]

Will include reconnaissance missions (from Scout +) in release a32 or later ? Add minimal allowable altitude or atmospheric pressure for hyperspace jump?

[fluffyfreak]

No Walterar hasn't submitted a pull request or asked us too as far as I'm aware.It'd be nice to have it in the main game as people seem to enjoy it. EDIT: We've not added a restriction to hyperspace jumps, do you think there should be one?

[Stas]

At least - block jumps in the dense atmosphere or directly over the city.Possible to explain the impossibility of a jump near the planet by interference from its gravitation.In my view, need to move into open space for jump will add realism to game.

[Mysibrat]

HS jumps should be possible only in vacuum. Or, jumping in atmosphere will be penalted by mass of gases sorrounding ship in radius of HS bubble. Big mass mean less jump distance or missjump straight to interstellar space.

[walterar]

@Stas "Will include reconnaissance missions (from Scout +) in release a32 or later ?" Pioneer Scout+ is a project that is just beginning and so far I have not thought to include it in the vanilla version. Maybe never will. Actually proposes a game with some differences. In any case there are things like small utilities for building modules missions themselves are likely to ask for inclusion in master, maybe will be useful to anyone who wants to build a different game in mod. I'm a fan of the powerful facilities of the Pioneer engine to create mods with different forms of game. :good: 

[ollobrain]

@Stas "Will include reconnaissance missions (from Scout +) in release a32 or later ?" Pioneer Scout+ is a project that is just beginning and so far I have not thought to include it in the vanilla version. Maybe never will. Actually proposes a game with some differences. In any case there are things like small utilities for building modules missions themselves are likely to ask for inclusion in master, maybe will be useful to anyone who wants to build a different game in mod. I'm a fan of the powerful facilities of the Pioneer engine to create mods with different forms of game. :good: well the scouting missions are something that could be included.Building modules missions would be a good initial step to building some limited things in teh gameworld , and could tie into he faction system

[Fhalo]

Hi Just signed up. What lang are you using? I've notice the script lang LUA. Also, c++ Like the look and feel of the game. Hope I can join in the development. Keep up the good work.

[ollobrain]

c++ for the engine, LUA for missions and other "content" i guess LUA Is expandable as more game elements are added

[fluffyfreak]

Yes, more and more gets exposed to Lua all the time.

[Rhonijin]

Hi everyone, I'm really new to Pioneer, and I'm experiencing a minor graphical problem that I don't know how to fix. There are these see-through areas on planets that usually occur on the horizon (especially on Earth's oceans, which can be seen on the screenshot I'm attatching) or when the planet is really far away. I'm guessing this is a shader problem, but I updated all of my graphics drivers and they still appear. The version I'm using is Alpha 33, and I'm on a Linux system (Ubuntu 12.10 32-bit) with an Nvidia 7600 GS, if that helps. Aside from this small issue and the minor bugs that occur every now and then, the game seems to be working fantastically and looks great. Anyone know what the problem might be? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, is there any way to turn off the HUD for taking screenshots?