Strange new map exploration glitch

[Spocks-cuddly-tribble]

Just noticed an unknown/new map exploration error loading an ECM test game:

map_exploration_glitch.png

F-11 cheat shows a Vulcan ship in the unknown Klingon system. At some point the game must have wrongly shared the Vulcan sector map exploration data with my Cardassian empire. Neither of both races was ever encountered by me nor was first contact triggered by the glitch.

[Flocke]

Never have seen this before. Looks strange indeed!

[Spocks-cuddly-tribble]

It's a long shot but might be some of the rare bugs with alienTFInfo files. They are very infrequent, erratic and hard to diagnose.

Just fixed the broken links to your wiki pages in the modding index.
And I'm thinking about adding this gitlab link: https://gitlab.com/stbotf/ultimate-edit ... ce/ue/edit

[Flocke]

Just fixed the broken links to your wiki pages in the modding index.
And I'm thinking about adding this gitlab link: https://gitlab.com/stbotf/ultimate-edit ... ce/ue/edit

Go ahead, but this is not the most up-to-date version. I mean well, I didn't manage to complete the improve_shipgfx_export branch and release a new version yet.
Instead I worked on ... different things, including some further IDA analysis.

If interested, I can upload some new version the next days. Last weekend I just completed to clean up all my documentation mess from end of last year. It is a bit of everything, mainly targetting to document all the data structures. In part it is even more up-to-date than UE now.

edit: Oh, you can track my IDA updates at: https://gitlab.com/stbotf/ida-databases ... el-updates

[Spocks-cuddly-tribble]

Is there an option for dynamic links to always latest updates without need to search and browse from top menu each time? Many specific gitlab links posted in AFC topics tend to get outdated/broken due to gitlab project updates I guess. Still better than redicting to unwanted stuff like some Pakled OnlyFans....

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EDIT:

I pinned the map exploration issue down. It only happens in ECM but is actually a vanilla glitch.
They had no time to fix it properly and just disabled first contact ability for minor ships visiting unknown empires: viewtopic.php?p=34887#p34887
I reactivated this for minor ships - not noticing/testing a cardassian/vulcan special bug link in the vanilla code sequence: viewtopic.php?p=62537#p62537
Will see when I get around to analyse and fix this.

[Flocke]

Is there an option for dynamic links to always latest updates without need to search and browse from top menu each time?

The best I know is the active branches overview:
https://gitlab.com/stbotf/ida-databases ... hes/active

You might have to check multiple branches though, because there can be many branches actively being developed.

Many specific gitlab links posted in AFC topics tend to get outdated/broken due to gitlab project updates I guess. Still better than redicting to unwanted stuff like some Pakled OnlyFans....

That is what perma-links (permanent links) are for. They include a commit version at which you browse the repository and usually don't change. Well unless due to code cleanup some change in the commit history is enforced, which happens regularly in feature branches that are under active development.

[Spocks-cuddly-tribble]

And the Hardcore Pakled Award Gold goes to: Max Shift Range

32 bit executables are limited to a static max shift range of 31 bits, regardless of register size....
[Reg size in bits -1] *could* make some kind of sense, but enforcing max 31 for 8, 16 and 64 bit registers is just plain retarded.

shl assembler issue -> shifts greater than 31 -> 32-bit exe -> a mess depending on OS and Processor -> undefined in C programming

So minor race IDs 32-34 (0x20-0x22) are problematic if with ships and set to explorer (vanilla only Vulcans).
In this case it skips the shift for Vulcans, which equals shift 0 for the Cardassian bitmask slot 1.

[Flocke]

And the Hardcore Pakled Award Gold goes to: Max Shift Range

MAX SHIFT RANGE! MAX SHIFT RANGE! HURRAY!

So far in all code locations I have seen, they used two 32bit integers for testing race masks. But for minor race exploration / first contact they must have missed it. Possibly they originally didn't plan for minor races to explore space.

Do they actually have exploration sphere files? And are the sector exploration masks large enough?
I can't remember ever having unlocked any map exploration when membering a minor race.

[Spocks-cuddly-tribble]

As told above, vanilla skips this code for all minor ships, including the first contact checks.

I take issue with the badly and dumb predefined rule of the Processor handling for the instruction. Back in the day introduced by Intel I suppose? Performing the instructed shift, even if it zeros out the result (one might set overflow flag in this case), would allow for much more efficient and easier coding. Just leave the thinking/handling in the responsibility of the programmer.

In this case (BotF) one *might* argue the simpler exploit codes set unwanted (but effectless) bits for minor race IDs 5-7 in explored/visited bitmasks. But then again, the 31 bit shift limit doesn't even prevent this for the used 8 bit registers for this empire only feature...