Posts by Bullwinkle

Quote from Raven19

i was actually more as interested in the executable scripts of course my major gol is to maby somday be able to make a game

Executables are generally programs rather than scripts, so it sounds as though you want to learn a programming language.

I agree about Visual Basic as a good starter language. It is a modern, event-driven, language, and it supports both objects and procedural code. It is versatile, can be used in either script or compiled forms. It is easy to learn, well-supported, and there are many beginner-level sources of information.

Why do you mention Java? There is nothing really bad about Java, but it is a language that never lived up to expectations. J2EE has mostly failed, and there are problems with Java implementations on many platforms which make portability an issue. On the other hand, Javascript (which is not the same as Java) is both popular and common. Javascript is primarily for web development.

For game programming, the only serious language to consider is C++. However, C++ is a very detail-oriented language. It can sometimes take a page of C++ code to perform the same action as a line or two of VB. When you are learning, you will find VB to be more forgiving and less frustrating.

As Shockwave points out, there are similarities between C++, C#, Java, Python, PHP, and other languages. Personally, I would not bother with trying to learn plain C because it is an obsolete language. There is rarely any good reason to use straight C anymore, and it is not even a good language for learning because its use of memory and pointers is archaic compared to more modern languages. There are some environments that require the precision of straight C, but not many.

Because of the similarities of C-like languages, another decent choice for starter languages is C#. It is one of the best of the modern languages, and its only real limitation is that it is Microsoft-proprietary. The good news about Microsoft is that they make the best IDE's (tools), by far, for application development. The bad news is that, since Bill Gates has gone into semi-retirement, the leadership of Microsoft has been sketchy.

If you want the language of the future, then my bet is on Python. It is the most popular language at Google, and Google's cloud-based code currently has the best potential for competing with Microsoft in the long run. Python can be used to make web applications or applications that run on a local machine.

PHP is very popular and very easy, but it is easy to write PHP badly, and there are many examples of that. In fact, it is slightly difficult to learn to develop well in PHP. However, the good news about PHP is that there is a lot of free code out there, and it is an easy way to get started on web scripting (which really is scripting).

So there are a lot of choices. If you become a professional programmer then you will eventually learn several languages. Each new language that you learn will make it easier to learn more new languages.

Ruby on Rails is another interesting platform. It is actually a combination of many languages, including Javascript, AJAX, HTML, XML, and MySQL. I don't think of Ruby on Rails as a beginner platform, because it uses so many different languages.

To recap:

- VB for a starter language.
- C# as a C-like modern language with the goodness of Microsoft's development tools.
- Python for long-term potential.
- C++ for serious professional game development (best as a second language).
- Other languages for special purposes.

There are so many books available that it is hard to pick one. As I mentioned before, the "... for Dummies" series is a good way to get started. Also the Learning Visually series and Sam's books are good for beginners. Later, perhaps as a second book, the Wrox series has many good books that are clearly written with a lot of good detail.

Quote from blackhaze

Hey, first of all i want to say this is a great mod and one of the best ive downloaded so far. The only problem is that on Singleplayer on the mission where you have to save Beta 4 the enemy kills him in like a few shots and there is no way i can kill them all before they kill him

The second half of Mission 1 is the most difficult point for many new players. The Starflier is very light, the lasers that come standard on it are too light, and you face two and a half skirmishes before you have a chance to resupply. The "half" skirmish is the initial attack on Beta 4. Sometimes you have to head toward his direction before you get his message. You can learn the direction by watching the stars.

Because of the long interval before you have a chance to resupply, I recommend against missiles. You will probably run out of them before the mission ends. Instead, replace your Justice lasers with the far more powerful Lavablade plasma guns. I believe that your only opportunity to buy them during Mission 1 is at Manhattan.

Almost immediately after you reach Beta 4, you will find yourself facing the secret Rogue base with its two weapons platforms. The weapons platforms are very powerful and have long range, so you must take them out before trying to destroy fighters. In fact, it may not be necessary to engage any fighters, even those targeting Beta 4, before you take out those weapon platforms.

In addition to your Lavablades, you will need to slide. Use the "Z" key to kill your engines, then use the thruster "Tab" key to accelerate. In engine kill mode your ship will slide, which allows you to quickly turn your guns to face in any direction while your ship continues to travel in a straight line. With a little practice, sliding will allow you to quickly circle a weapon platform while keeping your guns facing the platform most of the time.

Sliding makes it more difficult for enemies to target you, it improves your turn speed, and it improves your accuracy by allowing you to fire in any direction.

Where to learn scripting? Try your local library or the Internet. Or a "... for Dummies" book.

Sorry... just kidding. But your question is difficult to answer because it is too broad.

"Scripting" can mean anything from a shell script or batch file, to a web page, an extension for an existing program, or beyond. Some people even use the term to describe programming which is, technically, slightly different. Scripts are interpreted, whereas programs are generally compiled. There are some "interpretive programming languages" which blur this distinction.

The easiest way to learn any of this is to pick a (small!) project that you want to do, and then learn whatever language you need to learn in order to do the job. There are many books and web sites that can help. Google is an ideal place to look for examples and tutorials that will help you.

The problem with any kind of emulation -- including both wine and virtual machines -- is that emulation takes time. Games such as Freelancer use DirectX, which is a technology that specifically bypasses normal video software in order to achieve higher speeds. When you try to emulate DirectX, the result is likely to be worse than just using normal video routines.

In other words, it is nearly impossible to get decent game performance on a different operating system.

A similar problem exists with disk access, although to a lesser degree.

The simplest and most successful solution, by far, is dual booting Windows XP on your linux machine.

There are some people on the-Starport.net who have had partial success with wine. You could do a search there, but my memory of the discussion is that even the people who succeeded with wine prefer to use a Windows machine for actual game play.

EDIT:
Bas: Oops, sorry, Bas! I glanced at your nonexistent avatar and mistook you for another poster who asked a similar question recently. In fact, I would have guessed you to be one of the people who have had some success with wine, so that changes my answer slightly. The above is still true, but Haegar's advice might be the real show-stopper for you.

@UR-werternugen: Partitions do not slow your computer. Help your friends dual-boot Windows XP... it has the highest probability of success for you and your friends.

If it is a heat-related problem, then you should address it sooner rather than later. Heat destroys electronic components. Moderate heat shortens the lifetime of components, while excessive heat (enough to cause a shutdown) can destroy components very quickly.

Most heat-related issues are caused by lack of sufficient airflow.

Make sure that the vents (open parts) of your PC are not blocked.

Keep your PC in a cool location, if possible. Sometimes outside walls are cooler than, say, a desktop under a strong lamp. But you will have to assess your own environment.

If the problem continues, consider adding fans to your case. Most computers have available space for more fans.

In a pinch, sometimes an external fan blowing against the air intake ports can help. This works especially well on laptops (where adding internal fans is difficult).

You did not give us clear symptoms, so the heat thing is just a guess.

Peerblocker will not interfere with Freelancer or Crossfire.

Obviously, downloading torrents in the background will interfere with your network performance, so you should pause your P2P software when you play Freelancer in MP. You will not get kicked off the server, but anything that adds lag will make PVP more difficult.

Quote from Mrriddler

2) Found dimensional rift via the Order's 31st Fleet (someone told me this) ...
I missed somethings in between, right?

Well, obviously, if you cheated to find the Dimensional Rift, then you missed the clues that should lead you there, right?

Otherwise, you are doing fine. You have gotten past the sparse-clue spot.

DK Gunboats are just the beginning... prepare yourself for even more fun in the Inner Core!

Quote from [UR]GrandAndreasK

He will be stuck untill the wrecks start dropping if he want to read the awsome storry's

Yes, of course! Thank you, Andreas.

I am surprised that problem is still going on... usually OP fixes that sort of thing very quickly. It must be a puzzler.

Mrriddler, wrecks are currently not dropping items that they should drop, which includes clues! One of the bar rumors should suggest that you find a wreck. When you do, come back here and tell us (wrapped in Spoiler code) where you found it. Then we can tell you what the clue should be. OK?

Quote from I1ian

I doubt it's the launcher.

I did not say that the launcher caused the problem, but the launcher did issue the message. Programs do not do things randomly, so that message is either written in the launcher program or it is evaluated by the launcher. The author of the launcher program should be able to identify at least some of the possible factors that could result in that message.

Huor is a programmer, too, so he may have good reason for his suggestion.

Good luck.

Quote from I1ian

But if I get the same problem sometime , ... do you know what it is anyways?

That is a new one to me, but it clearly is generated by the launcher. Perhaps Haegar might have a clue? I know that he wrote the previous launcher, so he might be able to figure out what things could cause that message to appear.

Quote from Mrriddler

that's a dead end, isn't it? There's no other info on where I'm supposed to go next. Eh... so what now?

As I said, I found this particular series of hints to be troublesome. And several other people have gotten stuck on the same series of hints, as well.

Unfortunately, it has been most of a year since I ran through that Quest. Maybe there are *two* hints in Omicron Gamma, or maybe that is just a random synapse firing... I am not certain which.

But, wait... there was another hint back in the Altair Sector that mentioned something about a Rheinland expedition going astray... did the clue mention which system? If not, it is

One way or another, you need to find your way there, then look for another clue.

At that point, you should be able to pick up the trail again and follow the rest of the Quest. The Quest becomes much more clear once you find the clue in the above system.

Please post a screen shot of the error message.

I assume that you have rebooted the computer today?

Quote from Mrriddler

Oh ok, thanks for the hint. Now that you mentioned it, it makes sense. I guess I'll have to find Lost Paradise at some point via the jumps from the Omicron systems.

Yes! I do not think that Lost Paradise is a Quest, but it is certainly worthwhile to find. Planet Lost Paradise is the most unique planet in Crossfire, and there are some terrific weapons available there.

Quote from Mrriddler

Am I supposed to fly through Altair and Inner Core now (via Menton and Hyperspace) or am I supposed to find some other thing first? I'm ready to head forward, but I thought I was supposed to get some mission about rescuing GMG pilots?

Also, what's my next safe location? I've heard there's a safe space on Whyr I think?

You cannot enter the Inner Core via the Hypergate at Menton. As I1ian suggests, you are missing a clue for one of the Quests:

Yes, you are correct that you will, eventually, receive a Quest to rescue GMG pilots. You must complete another Quest before that Quest will be offered to you.

Yes, the first safe base in the Inner Core is in Weth.

Yes it is a long journey! I believe that some repair depots have been added along the way, if you can find them (in the Inner Core only).

No, there is no alternate path to the Inner Core. You must follow Jack Blinch, which will lead you to another Quest (regarding the Ancients) before you will be able to enter the Inner Core.

Quote from Sorogoth

When i start the game, the game goes back to desktop at the loading picture with the tower.
...
(Do i have to install the game again after deleting the savegames?)

No, you do not have to reinstall the game after deleting saved games.

As for crashing to desktop (CTD), did you enable the Advanced Shader in FLMM? The Advanced Shader does not work on all hardware, and can result in a CTD.

Do you have IPv6 installed? Freelancer has trouble with that. It is not a standard part of Windows XP, but you can add it. If you did, then uncheck it in your network settings and try again.

Quote from Ryleous Arkane (SA_ORION)

I suspect since it is a single GPU card, it will be quite cheaper and cooler running as well!

Good catch, Arkane. I see that HD 6870 cards are selling for $250-300 USD. It may be a lot to spend on a graphics card for many people, but it is certainly competitively priced for a super-card:

HD 6870 prices

Aside from graphic artists and celebrities with more money than brains, Macs have historically been mostly irrelevant. While Mac hardware has always been elegant, the OS was mostly useless if it was the only OS that you had available. Freelancer is only one of the must-have applications that does not run on Mac OS.

The only thing that has changed recently is that Mac OS now runs on standard PC hardware, which makes dual-booting Windows easy. This is a tremendous game-changer for Apple, and for the rest of the world. It is now possible to have elegant Apple hardware, Windows, and Mac OS on a single machine. Nice!

I have a dual-booting Hackintosh netbook. The only time that I run Mac OS is for iPhone development. The rest of the time I use Windows.

However, I will say that it is nice to have a choice, and to have them both on the same hardware.

Quote from teancum79

So in the next version if the money levels before you get jump gate access where similar to the original I'm thinking about 25k or so for the level and then they went up as pod selling pays well it would allow people to not be stuck with a 400k grind inside New York. This also would allow people to play to story line with fewer work arounds.

The balance is pretty good as it is now.

As Nothingtown14 pointed out, you can earn credits quickly with a few simple trades without leaving New York. It is a bit repetitive, but it is easy enough.

I like the Rhino early in the SP campaign. It has more gun mounts than most fighters and has enough cargo space to help you to earn credits quickly.

As freighters go, the Rhino is maneuverable enough. When you become good at sliding, you will see that maneuverability is less important, because you will make most of your turns while sliding.

Quote from Zoolamon

I would have tried Hovis' racetrack but the 450 cruise speed makes this almost impossible to do (for me anyway....lol)

...

1/ Are these items meant to be used on fighters or are they for Cap ships?
2/ Should I see a noticeable difference when using them in SP or are the game mechanics different to MP?
3/ What is the general consensus on these items?

1) Armor upgrades and Weight Reduction work fine for fighters and small freighters.

2) SP game physics are the same as MP.

3) Here are my opinions:

- Armor upgrade gives you significantly more armor with minimal change in maneuverability = Good.

- Weight Reduction sucks up one of your hard points without giving you much. IMHO, it is not a good use of a hard point. The weight reduction removes a fixed amount of mass, so it works best on a light ship.

Mass is only a small factor in determining a ship's maneuverability. A ship with high mass can maneuver quickly and vice versa.

There are several more important factors that affect maneuverability, but they are not published anywhere.

The Hovis race is a trick: You cannot beat Hovis's machine-like reflexes and his ultra-maneuverable Dagger. The only way to "win" the Hovis race is for Hovis to lose! On the second race, he misses a turn, which gives you your chance to win. Also, Hovis stupidly uses Cruise speed which, at 450, causes him to miss *more* gates. He recovers quickly enough, but you can beat him but sliding and thrusting your way through the course.

Sliding allows you to conserve thruster fuel so that you can make it all the way through the entire course. At thruster speed, you have much more control, and can get through the course without missing gates. If you feel yourself sliding too fast, just use normal engine speed to recover, then slide again when you regain your composure.

At thruster speed you will still go pretty fast, but you will have much more control than Hovis has.

So, in Crossfire, do not use cruise speed on the Hovis race track. It is actually easier than it is in vanilla! I have been able to win in a freighter (Rhino and Bullpup Mk III).