| HST tool (Released) |
Tue, 09 May 2006 19:41  |
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Ron says that I can release my HST tool.
I'm going to put it on the Pirate's Retreat, when I finish with the race editor feature. After that I'll work on wormhole editing...
And probably ship and starbase design editing. Which will be somewhat more tricky for me since I'm doing it all in batch code.
This tool uses a trick to get passed encryption. But you have to know what the value is your editing. It's utterly worthless if you want to try and sneek peeks at your enemeies. And it doesn't edit M files (Because the REAL action is in HST files.)
The current features are:
-Mass terraforming and MC changing of uninhabited planets.
-Manual changing of habs and MC of inhabited planets.
Coming soon and coming sooner or later: In order
-Race Editor (Ingame post startup race editing, No illegal races will work, Stars forbids. But you will be able to transform one legal race into another. Good for recycling battlefields.)
-Homeworld creator
-Wormhole mover (could be tricky since the player must know the existing location of a connected worm hole.
-Ship design editor
-Starbase design editor
-Possibly a fleet mover? Good for AFON games.
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| Re: HST tool (Released) |
Tue, 09 May 2006 22:05  |
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Well Capt. Maim,
I'd sure love a copy even as it is. It would allow me to set up and host custom games for others.
I'm very happy you are going to release it.
I have some info on the wormholes and their byte locations also.
Ptolemy
[Updated on: Tue, 09 May 2006 22:07]
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| Re: HST tool (Released) |
Wed, 10 May 2006 00:39 |
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My biggest problem is the XY format. But I'd love your information! The program works by "If you know it, you can change it" so the real trick to worm holes is where do they exit? I'll have to write a explaination file for the program... The race editors to the point just prior to actual testing. I've got the framework down I think I just need to activate it and see how it does.
The menus I think are pretty self explanitory. I might caution it currently takes 45 minutes to transform every 960 uninihabited planets and edit all their habs and MC's. But then I wrote it in a batch code. I'm thinking about seeinf if I can supplement some of my code with Python (I have to use Python to do some of my math. The program links a website and generates it's own python script when it's needed.) It generates a lot, the program also spits out lots of debugging info into files. Hehe...
[Updated on: Wed, 10 May 2006 00:48]
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| Re: HST tool (Released) |
Wed, 10 May 2006 04:21 |
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I'll send you one also.
PM okay?
[Updated on: Wed, 10 May 2006 04:21]
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| Re: HST tool (Released) |
Wed, 10 May 2006 06:44 |
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I sent my editor to the Pirate's Retreat and to Darkstars (Prickly Pea's website) So you can get it from there unless you want it right now, then I can PM you a copy. The best feature is the mass uninhabited world editor. Great for taking any, or all, or all the worlds with a certain set of values, and making them all the same. Perfect for OWW games or games where you'd like say all the worlds with 1 in any resource to ahve 255 in that resource. Course you could just use it to boost a world's MC to 255 Or a set of worlds. Or whatever.
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| Re: HST tool (Released) |
Wed, 10 May 2006 16:53 |
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Sure! I don't mind! I'll look into locating the bytes that control population and other planetary values. Now that I can see them without encryption (thanks to you) I might be able to untangle them. With that, and the HW tag we can move planets anywhere we want. Question: If you made an editor to move HW's... Would it A) read through the encryption. Or B) work more like my program? (If you know it you can edit it?)
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| Re: HST tool (Released) |
Wed, 10 May 2006 17:39 |
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I'm feeling better today, so I'm working on decoding the planet blocks...
Seeing if I can generate a synthetic Homeworld. After that the rest is easy, at the least you could just lift off, instaform (with my editor) the new HW and when I get this installed I'll upload a new version that'll create HW's. I know I'm on the tag, but it's a two parter. Two tags I think make up the HW tag. I've long thought so. Anyway I'll get back to work. After this I'll check to see if I can decypher the surface minerals and factories and such.
[Updated on: Wed, 10 May 2006 18:32]
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| Re: HST tool (Released) |
Wed, 10 May 2006 18:33 |
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Prickly Pea... If you can read through the encryption, you could just write something that would straight copy two entire blocks containing two planets, and then switch them. I'm currently working on decoding the planet block. I've managed to swap ownership of 4 worlds. Using a formula. I'm still trying to isolate the HW tag. If you don't want to write that program, I'll keep working until I can synthesize my own HW's and then I'll work on the hard part. The population and the other planetary resources.
Can you tell me what their limits are, (how many bytes each value occupies? Or perhaps how many bits it requires? Because they're all tangled together.)
Also, if we're releasing the decryption code. Perhaps when we're done you could make a new encryption code? Just to "Seal that deal" . After we make editors and new AI and all that good stuff.
Added:
HMm... Okay, after checking out your data dumper. Can you tell me how to sort the pop, surface minerals and installations out? (I know my batch program's primative, but I'd like to help. And the program does work.) Which bytes, and what's the formula that'll pull the correct numbers out? I know it's bit masked and that's about all I know. Can you send me the data I need? I'll incorprate that and update my editor to do the rest of the planet. HW tag too if you can. I can do ownership. I already spawned a living planet from a random never been inhabited world.
[Updated on: Wed, 10 May 2006 19:04]
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| Re: HST tool (Released) |
Sun, 14 May 2006 03:02 |
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Honestly,
I don't see a problem with code releases that help us all continue work on the Stars! project. There aren't so many of us that can, or are wiling, to spend time and effort to get the original source code available by reverse engineering so that we can create a newer version of Stars!, one that addresses and fixes / compensates the bugs and inequities in our last great version.
We in the Stars! community are very fortunate and lucky to have members that are so inclined to give us their time and efforts to give us all a better game.
Only by making the source code available can other people work on it to help make a more balanced game - no matter what the Primary Race trait may be - And yes, it is possible to create new race traits then. Perhaps we can create Supernova itself via our own efforts in the Stars! community.
[edited because I constantly spell 'the' as 'teh']
Ptolemy
[Updated on: Sun, 14 May 2006 03:13]
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| Re: HST tool (Released) |
Sun, 14 May 2006 04:10 |
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Heh, it's almost like the game's gone through the ultimate playtest. And it looks like public opinion is going to take some effect now. Heck if I had that code I could just go straight to data reading instead of my current "If you know it can edit it" method. I would have worked on the encryption, but I made a promise to Ron that I wouldn't work on it. And now I'd hardly have the insentive.
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| Re: HST tool (Released) |
Mon, 15 May 2006 06:32 |
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| PricklyPea wrote on Wed, 10 May 2006 22:42 |
after that, i intend to write a X and M filter program and then an interface to read and write X and M files (for writing AI and player assistants and also to interface to any starlike games).
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Ooh, yes please. If you could dump the contents of the .M file (in XML maybe) then we can do all kinds of useful things with the info.
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| Re: HST tool (Released) |
Mon, 15 May 2006 06:44 |
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like make a more colorful client? Or a better Xboarders.. Heck more info in the .Px files or making the .Fx files actually useful could be nice too. I don't know how easy that would be though.
XML... Hmm isn't that a web based format? playing stars on a web browser...  Whoa! Now that's spooky! Probably be slower too.
[Updated on: Mon, 15 May 2006 06:46]
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| Re: HST tool (Released) |
Mon, 15 May 2006 17:30 |
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with enough M file info you wouldn't even need to decode it. Hehe. You could just have Stars spit out everything the player knows. And then just teach a program to read that, and write X files.
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<-- See my meds at work!
to someone whom I'm hoping will be willing to make a fun editor out of it and share it with me.
<--that's pretty much how I get my batch programs to work. Keep working on them till they stop braking. Heh.. I could post it right here in the forum since it's all text. But if anyone wants a copy they can PM me for one. 
