NEWSA+SIMBION_tweaked Support and Gameplay

[DARK TEMPLAR]

You seem to have killed everyone and everything. Is it a Roman doctrine, or something.

As said by The Old Stalker Rule ,,One in War: If it breathes, make it stop.''

Lately I have been trying to step away from the mindless slaughtering of our brothers sisters but in me there still lies a emotionless, coldblooded killer.

I'm real tired but the busdriver Mr.Reaper only smirks at me quietly and says ,,Your time is far from over'' as he adds speed to this bus on the superhighway of existance. Each passing hour slowly brings us closer to our end.

[Kaidonni]

Okay, no issues with dead NPCs thus far, but something happened at the Bar. I pressed Contacts and got a CTD, which, to be honest, I know all about. But then, when I reloaded my quicksave just before that event, I had a CTD immediately after the Client: Syncronising event, didn't see the save fully load, and this is the error I got:

FATAL ERROR

[error]Expression : motion_ID.valid()
[error]Function : CKinematicsAnimated::ID_Cycle
[error]File : E:\stalker\patch_1_0004\xr_3da\SkeletonAnimated.cpp
[error]Line : 136
[error]Description : ! MODEL: can't find cycle:
[error]Arguments : waunded_1_idle_0


stack trace:

I know this pertains to 2.4 only, but I thought it may be of interest as regards 3.0 just in case. For all I know, though, this may be a known issue and may be fixed in 3.0 .

[Grump642]

The USMC has a saying: "Kill them all, let God sort it out." It fits in the Zone.

[fiznerpin1962]

The USMC has a saying: "Kill them all, let God sort it out." It fits in the Zone.

Well, I was in the Security Police in the Air Force (in the 80's) - and we said "Everybody is guilty of something - trust no one" (mass paranoia of the cold war & being on a SAC base, I suppose) I guess that fits w/ friendlies turning on you in Cordon

[Nightwatch]

Kaidonni

This: "error]Function : CKinematicsAnimated::ID_Cycle
[error]File : E:\stalker\patch_1_0004\xr_3da\SkeletonAnimated.cpp" is XRay engine error, couldn't handle an animation for whatever reason only it knows. The mod is not a separate entity, actually the major chunk of data and almost everything that makes it run is the STALKER and its engine, that's why we have the disk in the drive and have the game installed. The mod only makes some changes to the already existing things, so we are living with the good and bad parts of the the whole STALKER game and the engine. So, not everything is fixable by a modder, GSC actually had chosen to forget SoC long time ago.

About the crash when looking "Contacts" list you've had: Well, previous pages are full of my repeated answers in respect of the matter, but as I believe that you've been away for some time and have not any chance to check them, I'll touch it again. It's a memory related matter, about how much memory the game (STALKER, not the mod) allocates to PDA contacts. When you have a lot of NPCs within your "PDA read range" it sometimes becomes too much for the engine to process it. This symptom has been seen when there are 20-25+ NPCs around, but when there are reasonable amount... the amount that you almost always see in vanilla (hardly ever more than a few) then no crash is seen. I've posted my "PDA contacts list open" pictures many times. I will post the link again, after the relase for you to have a look if you wish.
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version 3.0 setup is compiled and waiting to be uploaded. It will take until tomorrow.
NatVac's death_manager script input has been included in the last minute as well. Thanks.

[Kaidonni]

Well, thanks for clearing the animation error up. I just thought it only polite to report it, just in case it may have been something fixed earlier on that I didn't know about, and just in case it possibly affected anyone else.

As for the Contacts issue, I knew about that, probably shouldn't have selected it. The animation error happened right after it, in fact. I accessed my Contacts in the Bar because there appeared to be a shoot-out. I think the Bandits were attacking. CTD. I load Stalker back up, reload my quicksave (which, incidentally, was right before I checked my Contacts and as the fight was beginning elsewhere in the Bar area), and had the animation CTD where my save should have finished loading. Corrupted that save, it appears. But my auto-save 30 minutes earlier was fine. Quite peculiar, but I suspect the proximity of the Contacts CTD to me quicksaving, and it being right in the middle of a fire-fight, may have exacerbated the issue. No biggie, of course. Probably an Easter Egg off of Fate, I didn't get the CTD I was testing for . Damn...that's called Sod's Law - in this case, you won't get the CTD you were testing for anymore, you'll get another .

Anyway, I must say I am very grateful as to the effort you have put into this modification (and I am also grateful that you put me on your thanks list on the main information page). I really look forward to V3.0. You'll deserve all the rest you get this weekend.

[NatVac]

Guys, check out this link when you get a CTD. Help me flesh it out, too. Note that there is already an entry for a CKinematicsAnimated problem (a vanilla issue) as well as an entry for one of the Contacts crashes (with cause and treatment), although it might not be this particular Contacts crash (no log error was mentioned).

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

I'm beginning to wonder what NatVac's "day job" is. Teacher?,
Technical instructor?, Author? or are you just a deeply analytical
hobbyist? Please give us a hint!

I do contract software development, but the answer would be "yes" to all of the above, audioave10. My wife dislikes my posting on web forum sites, because that means I'm not earning money. I am currently working on replacing an isolation motor coupling in our washing machine, and that kind of stuff always makes her smile -- and I like that look.

[Nightwatch]

Thanks NatVac for reminding the website that you've wonedrfully created for the benefit of all modders and gaming enthusiasts alike. I will certainly not forget to utilize it next time in reply to enquiries. Very clear and detailed info that can possibly be found.


You're welcome Kaidonni. If you wish to have your pictures and game data to appear on the Players Corner (which I'll start updating after the relase) you can start getting some in-game pictures definitive of the actions and environment, and keep the photographic record of your improvement.
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Quotes reminded me of those Clint Eastwood movies, fiznerpin1962 and Grump642, lol.

SAC you say, fiznerpin1962? Could be the Strategic Air Command? Coz my father was in it in 50s-60s. (Much earlier than your time, of course; so, you wouldn't know him.)
____________________________


GUYS,

The set up is 399Mb, compressed from 830 Mb installation (XTR mode only) by by the Inno Setup which uses 7_Zip's Izma compression.

it will come zipped by WinZip self exe (so even those who may not have winZip on their PC can unzip it) and although this zipping does not provide any further compression/reduction in file size, it's useful for a safe download. Also comes, as ususal, an add-on file for 1.0005/1.0006 STALKER patched games, though I recommend a (much proven) 1.0004 STALKER installation.

I refrained from further compressing the setup with 7zip, which may drop to size around 320-ish, as I was not 100 percent sure if this second compression of the already highly compressed would not end up harming any of the files, say, textures, or causing missing characters, etc, in the files. So it comes with one layer (but quite high) compression.

I think, I hope, I will be able to upload the setup by the evening. It's nearly morning now in the UK.
Thanks everybody.

[busetibi]

[fiznerpin1962]

SAC you say, fiznerpin1962? Could be the Strategic Air Command? Coz my father was in it in 50s-60s. (Much earlier than your time, of course; so, you wouldn't know him.)
____________________________

You hit the nail right on the head, Nightwatch!
Grand Forks AFB (where all the Nukes are/were) 321st Aircraft wing - Security Police

[Ultradad]

Hello there

I just got to say it, good friday just might be the best friday ever , got my shot gun and stole some easter eggs and i am all ready for the carnage , let the killing begin

[Grump642]

Today is the 10th, right!?!?!?!?

[Lyoko774]

8:20 PM EST..

[busetibi]

10:36 AM Saturday the 11th here atm.
last minute glitches can happen.
patience guys,

[fiznerpin1962]

Nightwatch repeatedly mentioned that uploading it was going to be a real bitch. He needs to sleep sometime too....

[Wombat_70]

[rockingmtranch]

Well worth the wait guys.....well worth the wait

[busetibi]

from memory once the file is uploaded to filefront, it takes them more than a few hours to put the file up for download, I'm sure Nightwatch is just waiting to get the okay from filefront.

[Nightwatch]

GUYS,

First of all I really thank you really really very much for all the interest you've all been showing, I'm embarrassed and flattered.

Secondly, The Mod is READY TO DOWNLOAD from the usual link, from my Filefront folder which can be accessed through the NEWSA website through the link on my sig (which takes you to the mod website)

Also Separately:Direct link to Filefront download folder: http://files.filefront.com/NEWSASIMBION ... einfo.html


I have spent over 12 (yes 12) hours, struggling to upload the 399Mb file on this Friday very busy traffic, I hadn't thought of it before, apparently. And I had to abondon upload into the first two hours of download, and start again. Now finally finished.

Now let me play a bit lawyer here : When I said it sould be ready on the 10th, I hadn't specified a region as I remember, so right now it's (let me check, yes...) 23.48 in EST in the USA. So it's still the 10th. So we can say we've hit the deadline.

Guys, it's 4.50 now in the UK, and I am just jumping into the bed for a few hours sleep.

I'm sorry that I can't answer all those nice posts, (so sleepy) but I'll com eback and we'll have nice chat. (but not the way Max chats.. lol )

See you Guys.

(PS: I forgot to tell you that you won't need to try saving Kruglov in Yantar anymore.
...because you will be too busy trying to save your own skin (in XTR) )