Included in Build Improved Moon

[DeathDaisy]

Ive heard that the moon was at some point shrunk from Majoras Mask apocalypse to a more reasonable size. but it seems this was partly(wholly?) done by shrinking the moon in the texture. the moon was using a 512x512 texture, but the actual moon only used a small area in the middle, the rest was black, which made the moon very low-res despite it using a fairly large texture.

so what Ive done is I shrunk it in the weather files instead and use a higher res moon that uses up the entire texture area. it looks very crisp! and texture size is unchanged, so theres no performance loss

the second pic is slightly marred by the fact that its a new moon but it shows the moon size at least..? Ill add some more pictures when I got them!

it comes in widescreen and narrowscreen versions. I discovered the celestial bodies need to be shrunk to 75% of their width to be round in the game on a 16:9 1920x1080 monitor. which means Ill update my very first mod, the improved sun, with a widescreen version soon too

EDIT: added a version with the automatic widescreen detection! the sun can definitely be automatic too, but Ive thrown the original a thousand miles away but! I dont think its unreasonable to replace that one too, the old one is grainy and very red

 

[Grey Roger]

Is there a way for the game to determine which display size you are using and show the correct size of moon?

 

[DeathDaisy]

Is there a way for the game to determine which display size you are using and show the correct size of moon?

hopefully, but not that I know of the old sun and moon got narrow and widescreen versions, and you choose type when installing the build mod. if it could be done dynamically, thatd be awesome

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I know of no way to read the current resolution inside the PROGRAM folder.
Maybe @ChezJfrey knows if that is possible somehow?

 

[Grey Roger]

Then it's something for @Mad Jack Wolfe to take into account when he makes the next installer. For my zip update, I can't do much about it. Maybe put both versions into the zip archive and let people use whichever one suits them. The program file "WhrSetAzmAng.c" seems to be the same in both versions, so it's perhaps just a matter of including an alternative folder of texture files along with a text file describing what to do with it.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

What IS possible is to detect if a certain file exists.
So if you select "widescreen" in the installer, the installer can write a file that otherwise wouldn't be there and the code can then switched based on that.
Not sure if that's useful here, but it is possible.

 

[Grey Roger]

Since you choose your display type during installation, and the installer sorts out the correct file, the problem should disappear when a new installer is released. It's just the interim period when we're still using the 31st August installer plus the update archive that may cause problems.

 

[Levis]

What IS possible is to detect if a certain file exists.
So if you select "widescreen" in the installer, the installer can write a file that otherwise wouldn't be there and the code can then switched based on that.
Not sure if that's useful here, but it is possible.

I believe we could even add a line in the engine.ini right?
We are able to read things from there? Or add it in the options menu instead so you can switch there?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I believe we could even add a line in the engine.ini right?

I suppose, but what's the point? Because:

We are able to read things from there?

Not that I am aware. Unless there is a PROGRAM-folder was to 'parse' it and figure out what is in there.
But that has never been done before.

 

[ChezJfrey]

I know of no way to read the current resolution inside the PROGRAM folder.
Maybe @ChezJfrey knows if that is possible somehow?

Unbeknownst to most, there is a way to determine the screen resolution being used in a program script, in 2.8:

float screen_x = stf(Render.screen_x);
float screen_y = stf(Render.screen_y);

I did not add that, it was a feature that already existed, though was not actually used in a program script within vanilla COAS; When I found this feature in the back-end code, I have taken advantage of it for a couple program scripts in our mod for interface adjustments based on the x/y ratio.

I am not sure whether it existed in prior engine versions, but you can try it. The 'Render' object appears to have been renamed from prior and I would think the equivalent in POTC/NH would be this:

float screen_x = stf(GameState.screen_x);
float screen_y = stf(GameState.screen_y);

 

[Mad Jack Wolfe]

Then it's something for @Mad Jack Wolfe to take into account when he makes the next installer. For my zip update, I can't do much about it. Maybe put both versions into the zip archive and let people use whichever one suits them. The program file "WhrSetAzmAng.c" seems to be the same in both versions, so it's perhaps just a matter of including an alternative folder of texture files along with a text file describing what to do with it.

If we're targeting the end of the year for a new installer release, that should give me time to sort out how to add the option. Shouldn't be difficult at all.

 

[DeathDaisy]

Unbeknownst to most, there is a way to determine the screen resolution being used in a program script, in 2.8:

float screen_x = stf(Render.screen_x);
float screen_y = stf(Render.screen_y);

I did not add that, it was a feature that already existed, though was not actually used in a program script within vanilla COAS; When I found this feature in the back-end code, I have taken advantage of it for a couple program scripts in our mod for interface adjustments based on the x/y ratio.

I am not sure whether it existed in prior engine versions, but you can try it. The 'Render' object appears to have been renamed from prior and I would think the equivalent in POTC/NH would be this:

float screen_x = stf(GameState.screen_x);
float screen_y = stf(GameState.screen_y);

cool find! I tried it out to list the resolution thru the console but it returned 0 so seems it probably doesnt exist in the old engine

 

[Grey Roger]

If we're targeting the end of the year for a new installer release, that should give me time to sort out how to add the option. Shouldn't be difficult at all.

No, I'm thinking more of the start of next year. That way people have the whole Christmas holiday to test the final zip update of 2017 and if they don't find any problems, it can become the basis of the first installer of 2018. Which means you have even more time to figure out how to add the option.

 

[DeathDaisy]

a new, better picture

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Unbeknownst to most, there is a way to determine the screen resolution being used in a program script, in 2.8:

float screen_x = stf(Render.screen_x);
float screen_y = stf(Render.screen_y);

I did not add that, it was a feature that already existed, though was not actually used in a program script within vanilla COAS; When I found this feature in the back-end code, I have taken advantage of it for a couple program scripts in our mod for interface adjustments based on the x/y ratio.

I am not sure whether it existed in prior engine versions, but you can try it. The 'Render' object appears to have been renamed from prior and I would think the equivalent in POTC/NH would be this:

float screen_x = stf(GameState.screen_x);
float screen_y = stf(GameState.screen_y);

That is really very cool! Since @DeathDaisy says it doesn't work in Storm 2.0, that's another nice plus for your version instead.

 

[Grey Roger]

View attachment 31539
a new, better picture

Superb! One of the things I'll be checking over the weekend is whether the moon is the same size as the original - we don't want this to be like "Space 1999" where the moon appears to have started its own journey. Assuming that the moon is indeed still the right size, this is going into the update which I plan to release next week.

One nice thing in AoP, possibly only in the Supermod, was astronomy. If you had a top grade spyglass, you could see planets. We'll probably never get that in PoTC, but a more detailed moon is certainly a step in the right direction!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

One nice thing in AoP, possibly only in the Supermod, was astronomy. If you had a top grade spyglass, you could see planets.

I remember that was one of the things they added in the engine. Nice to have a real sky, though not truly necessary.
(That would differ if the worldmap were accurate and you could measure the azimuth and elevation of known celestial bodies. Then you could do astronomical navigation for real!)

We'll probably never get that in PoTC, but a more detailed moon is certainly a step in the right direction!

Could be in PotC if a move is made to ChezJfrey's updated engine.

 

[DeathDaisy]

Superb! One of the things I'll be checking over the weekend is whether the moon is the same size as the original - we don't want this to be like "Space 1999" where the moon appears to have started its own journey. Assuming that the moon is indeed still the right size, this is going into the update which I plan to release next week.

One nice thing in AoP, possibly only in the Supermod, was astronomy. If you had a top grade spyglass, you could see planets. We'll probably never get that in PoTC, but a more detailed moon is certainly a step in the right direction!

I have a weird love for Space 1999 but Id not wish that fate on our caribbean moon! the size is luckily super easy to change if it turns out I made it too small

I remember that was one of the things they added in the engine. Nice to have a real sky, though not truly necessary.
(That would differ if the worldmap were accurate and you could measure the azimuth and elevation of known celestial bodies. Then you could do astronomical navigation for real!)

reminds me of my adventures in microsoft flight simulator, where I took it upon myself to fly WWI era biplanes all over the place without GPS and the amazing Rise of Flight for that matter, it sucks(but in a good way) being hopelessly lost behind enemy lines

Could be in PotC if a move is made to ChezJfrey's updated engine.

 

[Mad Jack Wolfe]

Superb! One of the things I'll be checking over the weekend is whether the moon is the same size as the original - we don't want this to be like "Space 1999" where the moon appears to have started its own journey. Assuming that the moon is indeed still the right size, this is going into the update which I plan to release next week.

One nice thing in AoP, possibly only in the Supermod, was astronomy. If you had a top grade spyglass, you could see planets. We'll probably never get that in PoTC, but a more detailed moon is certainly a step in the right direction!

I tried it out yesterday, and @DeathDaisy's new moon is a significant improvement! The realistic size makes the open sea at night seem a bit lonelier and mysterious, just as it should. What's more, you aren't tempted to look for Moonbase Alpha anymore. Though I'd love to stumble across an Eagle landed somewhere in the jungle at least once.

Superb work, as usual, @DeathDaisy!

 

[DeathDaisy]

I tried it out yesterday, and @DeathDaisy's new moon is a significant improvement! The realistic size makes the open sea at night seem a bit lonelier and mysterious, just as it should. What's more, you aren't tempted to look for Moonbase Alpha anymore. Though I'd love to stumble across an Eagle landed somewhere in the jungle at least once.

Superb work, as usual, @DeathDaisy!

wow thanks!