Atollski's Nav Tool...

[havok]

How about posting a screenshot of your directory tree?

Good Idea.

Here it is.

[Kolya]

Is this program still compatible with EM? It seems the game does not produce the required maplog.sw files anymore.

[Marvin]

Did you add the savedatasettings.txt file to the main game folder before using the mod?

[Kolya]

Yeah, I did. The problem was that EM put the maplog.sw files into the default location (C:\\sw3dg\\EvochronMercenary\\) instead of the location where I installed the game to. I read in the manual that to change this behaviour a file savedir.txt needs to exist in the game dir that specifies the location where to save. Weird, but works.
The Map Log tool itself also works and is so useful that you wonder why functionality like this doesn't exist in the game, ie why the game's autopilot cannot plot a course through gates you've visited before. Am I really supposed to remember them all or keep an excel sheet nearby? Seems kinda hardcore.

I wish there was a similar thing for trading, because it's the same problem. I can't for the life of me remember what was in demand on which station. Sometimes I find stuff and think: Yeah, that was needed....somewhere. Coloured bars below the prices would also help for the visual types like myself.

Anyway, just some thoughts. Map Log tool works fine and you can find a filled out nav file with the known systems on the creator's site: http://atollski.com/projects/
The version at SeeJay's old site (Navdata Executeble v1.2.zip) also has an instructions file. It's only mildly useful though as it doesn't explain basic usage. Like you first have to create a map log point in the game for maplog0.sw file to be created. And that the tool uses those map log points as an interface to feed back your selected "waypoints" into the game.

[Marvin]

The game has a log for coordinates ... it also keeps track of buys and sells. As for Atollski's program, it works best if you install the game at its default location.

[Kolya]

EM's own map log becomes rather unwieldy as it fills up with entries and it does not display geographical connections in any way, it's just a flat list. When all known systems are loaded into Atollski's Map Log tool you have a database of hundreds of entries. Trying to search such a number of locations in EM's flat list wouldn't be useful.

A good trading tool would remember the prices of all things in all places you visited and allow you to search for the best price of any goods you have, with a range modifier. It would, for example, answer the question: Where did I see the best price for Platinum in this system? Or in a system that's connected by a gate to my own. Price information itself could be a merchantable good, allowing you to get that info without visiting all the places yourself again and again.

How do you keep track of prices?

[DaveK]

EM's own map log becomes rather unwieldy as it fills up with entries and it does not display geographical connections in any way, it's just a flat list. When all known systems are loaded into Atollski's Map Log tool you have a database of hundreds of entries. Trying to search such a number of locations in EM's flat list wouldn't be useful.

A good trading tool would remember the prices of all things in all places you visited and allow you to search for the best price of any goods you have, with a range modifier. It would, for example, answer the question: Where did I see the best price for Platinum in this system? Or in a system that's connected by a gate to my own. Price information itself could be a merchantable good, allowing you to get that info without visiting all the places yourself again and again.

How do you keep track of prices?

paper and pencil on a grid, in my case.

[Marvin]

I use the option within the game. It lists every item I've bought and/or sold and how much I paid and/or received. For the Log, I edit out old entries and add any info I feel is necessary. I also use Atollski's program when exlporing ... but not so much now that I can pay an AI for the same information.

[Edited on 12-7-2013 by Marvin]

[Marvin]

How do you keep track of prices?

This way: Press F3 -> Select Flight/Event Log -> and you will see a list of transactions, dates, items, location coordinates and names. If you can't read the entire line, click on it and the line will be displayed in Chat.




As for the Nav Log, mine looks like this:

[Kolya]

That's almost as tedious and impractical as writing it all down on graph paper... I mean, yeah I did that too. In the early 90s. In 2013 it's not really acceptable for a game anymore.

Evochron Mercenary has a serious lack of useful tools to organise in-game data. As is evidenced by the various external helper tools that try to take over this task.
But those are outside the actual game, require alt-tabbing and break immersion. Most importantly they cannot really fill that role, because the game lacks any kind of feedback channel. There's no API, just a text file that the game updates at regular intervals.

Atollski's program is remarkable, because he found a way to feed back navigation markers into the game by modifying maplog.sw files. But it's an external crutch, that tries to help the game to a working autopilot through gates while still requiring lots of switching to the navigation to select the next map log points. All in all it's unsatisfying, even when it works.

As for the event log console: It logs my own transactions, but it's hardly a trading tool. What about the prices of stuff I haven't bought or sold myself yet at that specific station? What about price comparisons?

EM shines in many other regards, specifically in the physics department. But interfaces and data organisation aren't its strong points. This includes both navigation and trading, which are the bread and butter of any space sim. And they should work in EM especially well since the Newtonian flight model doesn't allow for space combat as fast paced and furious as in other games.

[DaveK]

I wonder how easy it would be for Vice to export it into a text file (both lists) - they would be very useful for keeping a record outside the game. In the case of prices it would also facilitate graphing to look at price trends