Sao Feng side mission bug

[finalmenator]

Other than that, we don't really have anything. I usually figure out what things do that ARE defined in the PROGRAM folder by using the Windows search engine in the PROGRAM folder and finding where the function is defined.

Seriously? Oh crap...I've tried this out of curiosity on none other than "trace" and it returned 191 results of usage. Finding the one file where it's actually defined is totally infeasible, unless Akella actually at least properly declared prototypes of everything they use in one file (haven't seen anything named like it would suggest that). Does everyone operate like this? Sorry for the idignant tone, but this method looks like a hellish way for getting something rather essential. Even if you can do without any written explanation on a given procedure, the least you need are the return type and arguments (since the language is interpreted, there's probably no way to find out from reflection).

As far as that API is concerned, we do have the "Keywords used in POTC but defined in engine" section in "Documentation\New Horizons Tutorials & History.pdf".

That's at least something, but from what I see it's very far from complete and not everything is really known to the author of the manual or to vaguely stated (example : I could guess that "trace sends to debugger" but that doesn't really say what to expect). Any reason why it's not in alphabetic order? Well, I guess I kind of expected you woldn't have much reference material. To be honest, it's quite a major hurdle for anyone new to efficiently join in, especially given the nature of this language. I'm guessing each time a new person comes, along most of the time he's asking around the team how to achieve some bit of engine functionality? It would really save a lot of everyone's time (and patience ) if knowledge was pooled better.

If you are willing to help, there is a shipload of things that need fixing.

I bet . I can certainly try to lend a hand, but due to my current understanding of the API (which involves a lot of guesswork) and the fact that most of my time is spent programming to earn a living, you shouldn't expect rapid results .

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Seriously? Oh crap...I've tried this out of curiosity on none other than "trace" and it returned 191 results of usage. Finding the one file where it's actually defined is totally infeasible, unless Akella actually at least properly declared prototypes of everything they use in one file (haven't seen anything named like it would suggest that). Does everyone operate like this? Sorry for the idignant tone, but this method looks like a hellish way for getting something rather essential. Even if you can do without any written explanation on a given procedure, the least you need are the return type and arguments (since the language is interpreted, there's probably no way to find out from reflection).

In my case, I generally do know in what files to expect function definitions and in which files not to expect them, so that usually helps to narrow things down.
But still, you're absolutely right that it is a situation far from ideal.

In general, the best way at the moment of finding out where anything is just to ask on the forum and usually I can figure out where to find it even if I don't know it by the top of my head.
That's the advantage, I suppose, of having been going through this code for many years. Unfortunately I am not even remotely close to understanding 99% of all the code, but at least I generally can find things these days.
I'd love to come up with some proper documentation for the features of the modpack at least, but I don't even remotely have the time to do all that.
As it is, I'm pretty much up to my head with professional work on the ship I work on and when I am at home, I usually end up spending most my efforts on just getting another modpack release ready.

But one thing that we DO have is that help will always be given here to those who ask for it. As much help as we can manage, of course, but we'll always help where we can.
And even while I'm at sea, I do try to drop by here once a day or two days and post wherever I can.

 

[finalmenator]

I'd love to come up with some proper documentation for the features of the modpack at least, but I don't even remotely have the time to do all that.
As it is, I'm pretty much up to my head with professional work on the ship I work on and when I am at home, I usually end up spending most my efforts on just getting another modpack release ready.

You wanted to document everything on your own? A noble effort, but probably doomed from the start . A reference is not something one person just sits down on and churns out in any reasonable amount of time. It's almost always a team effort. In this case you're working mostly with Akella's code, so I would go about this by creating a wiki, "seeding it" with things I know about pretty well (within an acceptable amount of free time of course) and asking everyone involved in the mod to help in filling this wiki out with as much knowledge as possible, in between their coding efforts. Assuming most people would contribute a bit occasionally, given some time this would grow to a decent reference. In fact, such practise is common when dealing with third party / unfamiliar code and generally started right along with the project - just imagine how much you'd potentially have now if this was done when the mod was in early developement (as people naturally learn more with the amount of time speant coding) .

But one thing that we DO have is that help will always be given here to those who ask for it. As much help as we can manage, of course, but we'll always help where we can.

Of course, I'm not downplaying the importance of a community - even exellently documented, commercial projects need some sort of feedback mechanisms, since the poeple you're working with generally have different ways of thinking / solving problems and there are always doubts and dillemas in working around existing code. Docs are there to make everyone's life easier and save precious time, so we can get some actual work done instead of running around asking about common stuff .

As to helping out : it would probably make more sense for you guys to point out things of special importance, that you could use another set of eyes on, instead of me looking around the board for (possibly outdated or insignificant) issues.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Well, your own interests should guide you, but the one thing that bothers me the most is the Graphic Anomalies that were introduced with the flags mod. We have been beating our heads against the wall for 2 years now with little luck.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Here is a link to the thread where most of the flags discussion went on. http://forum.piratesahoy.net/index.php/topic/17697-flag-locators-repair-project/

One thing that jumps out at me is that in build 13 there was (1) flag file, but in build 14 there are (54). Pieter knows where they are located.

But the main goal is to just play the game and have fun!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Ages ago, we used to have a Wiki with modding information on it.
The wiki died, the information was outdated, but we saved it all in the "New Horizons Tutorials & History.pdf" file.
We do have a new wiki these days, but at the moment it is only used for storyline walkthroughs: http://www.piratewiki.net/index.php?title=New_Horizon_Quests .

I would love for people to make more use of it and try to build up a proper knowledge base.
Unfortunately, I have requested such many a time in the past and it just doesn't happen.
We've got a great bunch of people here, but sometimes when we want something done, I have to do it myself.
Of course, as you point out, that doesn't work with something as expansive as this.

If you want to help, what I would always recommend is just to play the game and see what you would like to change yourself.
These are a few things that I'd personally like to see worked on:

- Merging Pirate_KK's latest code base with the current Build 14 Beta 2.1 install;
this contains several fixes, improvements and the Customize Character interface addition for "Select Storyline at the start of the game

- Fixing the Capture Colonies Mod

- Finishing the Friendly Contact on High Seas (Hail Ship) mod
The code for this is in the modpack, but turned off on purpose because it isn't finished and doesn't quite work yet.
The person who worked on it has not been here for quite some time now.

The Graphic Anomalies Hylie Pistoff mentions are really annoying as well, but I wouldn't recommend that as your first project.
Many people have tried their best at it and while we managed to decrease it, we still haven't figured it out properly.
As such, it really is a shot in the dark and probably would be very frustrating to work on to start with.

But as Hylie says, the main thing is that you work on what you personally would like to work on.
If you don't, then it won't be fun for you and that won't do anyone any good.

 

[Talisman]

As to helping out : it would probably make more sense for you guys to point out things of special importance, that you could use another set of eyes on, instead of me looking around the board for (possibly outdated or insignificant) issues.

If you are interested in small problems to start with - you might like to have a look at this --->>> http://forum.piratesahoy.net/index.php/topic/7655-treasure-quests/page__view__findpost__p__419553