Working on Gal 2.5 - Weekly Status Update # 1

[jfetters]

Here is a quick Galactic question -

Does 2.4 generate Stellar data? I am not seeing anything. So when I go to import the data into Universe, no stellar data is listed and the world types are unclassified.

Here is the thing - like Gal because I can gen a sector that is completely uninhabited without having to re-edit all the UWPs, but there is no info about the stars.

H&E, on the other hand, gens the stellar data, but does not allow customization of the population.

 

[sid6.7]

Originally posted by Hemdian:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Valarian:
The ease of upgrade and upgrade cost from version 1.7 to version 2.0 will be a major factor in whether I continue with Universe or stick with the version I've got. Unless I've got a reduced cost upgrade (as an existing user) and an easy database migration path to choose I'm not going to be upgrading.

If the database is changing between 1.7 and 2.0, will we still be able to directly modify data in the database?

Sorry for the delay, I have some internet connection issues at the moment.

Re Universe 2

The plan is that Universe 2 will come as a "full version" and an "upgrade version". The upgrade version will be the full version (with old version verification) plus an automated migration tool but sold at a discount. I'm actually working on the migration tool now. Final prices haven't been decided yet but one idea was £20 full, £10 upgrade.

I hadn't given much thought to the idea of directly modifying the data in the database: most of the data is accessable through the application and it comes with a freeform SQL query tool. Interbase came with an admin program much like MS SQL 2000, but MSDE 2000 is just the engine. I'll have to look at this. How important is this to you?

Re Galactic 2.4

There is a strange bug with the copy of Gal24 that ships on the HIWG CD: If you try to look at the classic universe (there is no problem with the others) the program aborts with "Error #53 detected around line 5725". Or atleast it does on my CD. Since this only occurs with the classic universe I guess that means a corrupted data file.

Now I was able to work around this by finding another version on the net but it occurs to me that there should be an "official" home for Galactic on the net that includes all the usual things (downloads, links, FAQs, technical documents) and a simple knowledge base. If I wasn't technically savy I might not know how to recover my data after a bug like this.

Thoughts?

Regards PLST </font>[/QUOTE]its semi-offical home is here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gal24/

there is a link to JimV's group
there also....i supply the files
he supplies 90% of the tech help...

 

[sid6.7]

Originally posted by Jim Fetters:
Here is a quick Galactic question -

Does 2.4 generate Stellar data? I am not seeing anything. So when I go to import the data into Universe, no stellar data is listed and the world types are unclassified.

Here is the thing - like Gal because I can gen a sector that is completely uninhabited without having to re-edit all the UWPs, but there is no info about the stars.

H&E, on the other hand, gens the stellar data, but does not allow customization of the population.

i got a medical apt. this morning
i'll give it a look later today or
tomorrow morning and let you know..

i'll look into the dosbox VS winxp for
the screen status also...i think full
screen is the main way it runs becuase of
qbasic...

upside down? thats a new one..

 

[sid6.7]

okay did some looking as far as i know
gal2.4c doesnt generate stellar data
it basically runs off CT LBB 3 criteria.

gal2.4c will always run full screen some folks
have had luck with dosbox putting it in a
smaller popup window...they have no idea why
but some systems with dosbox get a smaller window
you can ALT/TAB out to windows though so it should
not be hard to work around it...its a qbasic/dos
program thingy...

as to the upside down part...thats a mystery
no one has seen before...i have a buddy that
has a tablet i'll see if he can recreate
what happend...i've emailed JimV we'll see what
he says too...

 

[jfetters]

Thanks for checking on that, sid.

Yeah, I have been playing around with the full screen and trying to alt-tab it. I can only get the window to stay small temporarily.

So, what I am doing is using Heaven and Earth to gen the sector. Then, I wrote a small app to parse the lines and reset the Starport, Pop, Gov, Law, Tech, and Bases. In order to properly import it into Universe, I then have to insert a "Na" value for allegiance.

So the file that I output can be imported into Universe with no problem.

Regarding the upside down screen - don't worry about it.

It is a bit unique to my Tablet PC configuration. When I am in normal laptop "clamshell" mode, it works fine, but when I am in Tablet "slate" mode, and placed into my docking station (so that the laptop itself is hooked up so that it is at monitor level), the NTVDM "runs to mama" and displays full screen the only way it knows how, which ends up being upside down in this configuration.

So don't worry about that one.