Preliminary Results

[Maarschalk]

Upgrading your shields for the rally means only one thing....but I will not give away the spoiler....LOL....:P:P:P:P:P

[Marvin]

It also means read what is written. Or suffer the consequences. But don't complain if you rush past and ignore the warnings.

[DennyMala]

Italy, my favourite country

Glad to know.

[DaveK]

I did all five routes in a basic ship and a class 5 Fulcrum drive. I suggest using the Mantis, though, else you might end up having to do a few double jumps ... depending on which route you select. And a Mantis will definitely shorten one leg of the rally. Perhaps you'll also want to upgrade your shields.

Thanks for the advice!

I think I'll have a word with the treasurer and have some money transferred to me in my new profile - if that's allowed by [HB]

Is this a rally in the sense that the shortest journey time wins - or a race in that the first to the finish line wins? If the latter I might have to set the alarm for 3:00am! :P:P

[Marvin]

Five different rally quests will be posted, each one starting in a different location. So that you might pre-position yourself before the rally begins, the following list corresponds to the start point for each of the quest numbers:

1. Sirius
2. Alpha Centauri
3. Lambda
4. Talison
5. Iota

Unless you decide to take the long way 'round, any quest you select will have the same number of gate-jumps as the other quest files. The only real difference might be in-system, when jumps to a station or planet might be optimized, depending on the jump drive installed. A quick trip to Atlas prior to the rally might be worth your time. (In other words, without a Mantis Drive, you will be at a slight disadvantage.)

The questions will be posted at least an hour before the start of the rally. Keep in mind that the answers you get while doing the rally need not be accurate. I do this to limit the number of times somebody can look up an answer prior to start time. The answers needed to win the rally are those given after docking at the designated locations. Not those you find on Google.

[Marvin]

From an earlier post on page 1:

I’ll also make of list of all players who finish the rally and their order of crossing the finish line. Should the first place player fail to have the answers to all the questions, first place will be awarded to whoever came in next. Or, failing that, the winner will be the next in line or the next or the next, etc.

[DennyMala]

Sorry Marv, I think I lost part of the topic while I was on vacation....so when do this rally start? As soon as SeeJay is back and kicking?

[Marvin]

Yup ... the first Sunday after he gets back. I'll be posting a test route soon, though ... to see if it fits in a post.

[Marvin]

Looks like I might need to add a step in order for me to post all 5 routes at the same time: I gotta zip them! Does anybody have a problem unzipping using the standard zip format? It also works as a secondary option with 7-zip (which is what I use).

[DennyMala]

Fine for me. I have winrar.... assuming I got the working of all this right.

[MMaggio]

Looks like I might need to add a step in order for me to post all 5 routes at the same time: I gotta zip them! Does anybody have a problem unzipping using the standard zip format? It also works as a secondary option with 7-zip (which is what I use).

I have never been able to successfully open a zip file. I avoid them like viruses. I can download them, but after that, I have no idea where they went. I assume all they do is tie up memory. I have tried several "zip programs" and have winrar as well to no avail.
I realize of course, that this is a personal problem and in no way reflects on the various zip programs out there.
Anyway, I won't be participating in the race, so the problem is moot.

[DaveK]

I use a built in unzipper in my file management programme (xplorer2) - it glitches with 7-zip, but is fine with normal zip files

Marvin, it's a trust thing, but I could post the non-zipped files on my webspace and share the URL with the rallyers. You would tell me the time you want the files available - I'm in British Summer Time - I would upload the files at that time. It's the sort of thing I use the website for - sharing files too big to email. After all the fun is in the doing, not cheating to "win"

This is just an offer, but I've experienced the frustration of rtying to find an unzipper/uncompressor for files I don't already have one installed for. I avoid TAR-balls for that reason. I won't be offended if you say you'd rather not share the files

[Marvin]

MMaggio, your log will be the definitive record of who wins the race. That, by itself, disqualifies you as a competitor.

I posted some test files at the bottom of the first post. I suggest everyone who plans to compete ... download one of the test files and see if you can open it. In fact, see if you can get it to work with your rally profile (do not save, though ... just do one or two legs of the route and then quit).

If anyone has problems, then I'll work something out with either Dave or SeeJay ... SeeJay's website is linked to his sig, is known to just about everyone, and he can lock parts of it ... including unzipped rally files (locking them until rally time).

[DaveK]

SeeJay's website is linked to his sig, is known to just about everyone, and he can lock parts of it ... including unzipped rally files (locking them until rally time).

Excellent idea!

[DaveK]

Hi

I'm testing it out . . .

I downloaded all 5 without a problem.
I extracted them without a problem - the "questtext" is a .txt, but the IMG "questtext" is .dat - does this matter?
I put "test 3" into the EM folder and loaded up in MP, but which system is "test 3" based in at the start? I'm in the Talison WZ at present in a combat frame with a C1 drive so which test file would be nearest?

[Marvin]

I'm not nutty enough to make unnecessary work for myself. All five test routes are the same ... they start in Sapphire and stay in Sapphire ... going from one station to the next. You can read the first message same as you would read the "last message sent" in any of the IMG quests.

I posted the test routes to see if it was possible to post five routes at the same time. The only way to do it at this forum is to put them in folders, give the folders unique names, and zip them. I'll re-check the format to make certain it's correct.

[DaveK]

Right - I'll create a new profile in Sapphire and see if anything happens - I know . . . but i'm getting quite excited! :P:P:P:P

[DaveK]

created a racer in Sapphire - no quest
changed filetype to .dat - no quest

finally got the message - not a test of the files - a test of the uploads!

I feel not unlike a fool! :P:P:P:P:P:P

still excited about the rally though

[Marvin]

Stand by for change 1. The compiled version of the questtext file doesn't work at all. I've checked both the compiled and uncompiled versions ... the uncompiled file works just fine. Well, it, too, has something strange going on. But at least you can see the instructions in the chat window. I get nothing, though, with the compiled version. Ergo, a bit of troubleshooting is in order.

On a totally different subject, does anyone know how to de-link a program from auto-launch in Windows 7? You can delete a program from the list in Win-XP but I can't find that option in Win7.

[DaveK]

1: having done a bit of programming in the past I can at least understand the gist of what you are saying - sorry can't help with the detail - what language are you compiling? Which compiler are you using?

2: If you mean how can you stop a programme starting when W7 starts, then do you mean using "msconfig" to control which programs start at the startup?

if so:

1. click on "Start"
2. in the bottom window type "msconfig" to start msconfig(!)
3. goto the "startup" tab and untick the program you no longer want to start with W7 when W7 starts up
   [/list=1]
   
   If not, then you are like my wife who spent 20 years using room sized mainframe computers (twinned (?) sometimes), and totally beyond my ability to help!

[MMaggio]

Of course, that doesn't delete the program, it only removes it from the start up list.
If you want to delete the program altogether and can't find it in the programs list, I suggest clicking on "search" and listing the file name and un-installing it from there.

[DaveK]

does de-link = de-stroy?

[DaveK]

Of course, that doesn't delete the program, it only removes it from the start up list.
If you want to delete the program altogether and can't find it in the programs list, I suggest clicking on "search" and listing the file name and un-installing it from there.

Or install (my favourite) Revo Uninstall - it does the standard uninstall and then sweeps the whole system and registry for "litter" left behind. It's very easy to use (I can use it) and safe (I've used it without incident for several years)

[Marvin]

About the de-link, I mean where you want to, say, open a DDS file and your computer doesn't know how. So it asks you which program you want to use to open it. Only, the default is always "use this program till the end of eternity" and, if you forget to uncheck the box, the program you use is then assigned to always open that program. How do you then undo it in Win-7 (I know how in Win-XP).

About the questtext file used for the rally, I've been in contact with Vice. He explained that the compiled version must be changed from a .txt file to a .dat file ... which can be done easily enough. Except, when you then install the file to your game folder, it deletes the default quest file ... unless you either use the Generic Mod Enabler (like I do) or you manually save the original questtext file somewhere else.

So, Vice has given me a couple options. Before I decide on which to use, I need to know if anyone has problems with saving the original before installing the rally. If so, then we go with something a little more complicated but a little less likely to leave players without the default IMG quest.

[DaveK]

I renamed the original questtext.dat as IMGquesttext.dat before moving your new questtext.txt into the EM folder and renaming it as questtext.dat.

Tomorrow (it's 11:00pm at the moment) I'll take the new one out and rename the old one and try it, though it's my 34th wedding anniversary, so it depends how long her ladyship is sorting out the horse before we go off for the day to celebrate


Usually you can go into the program you want use and tell it to take control of the filetype by default. You might find:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91 ... tocol.html

useful as an alternative

or http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... by-default

from microsoft

I googled "associating filetype windows 7" and came up with quite a few.

Edit: some second thoughts - will the new questtext alter a profile in a way that can filter through into the main profile I use and so change it? I'm creating a brand new newbie profile just for the rally and obviously don't want to risk altering the way my main profile is read by the game


[Edited on 2-9-2011 by DaveK]