Plug-in: Plot Jump Route

[Alan]

Plot Jump Route

Summary
This plugin will find the route with the fewest number of jumps between two systems based on the given maximum jump distance and the systems marked as valid jump points. This will only run on the visible systems making it easier to filter out political affiliations and subsystems that you may wish to avoid.

Instructions
Marking Valid Jump Points
The first step to using this plugin is to mark systems as being jump points. There are several ways to do this, you can mark either all, selected, or visible systems when you choose the "Mark Jump Points" option in the plugin. There is also the option to unmark systems in the same menu in the same manner. This will allow you to edit the jump point options for many systems at a time. For example: you may mark all systems as jump points in the plugin, then use search to find and select all black holes, and then choose to unmark all selected bodies in the plugin. This will make sure that black holes are not considered when searching for a route but all other systems are. You may also mark systems individually by right clicking on a system and selecting the "Toggle Jump Point" option.

Plotting a Jump Route
Once you have the jump points set it is time to plot a route. The easiest way to do this is by selecting 2 systems. The first system will be the origin and the second system will be the destination. This way when you choose the "Plot Jump Route" option in the plugin the UABI of the origin and destination systems will already be filled in. If you have a large map and find it difficult navigating and selecting the origin and destination at the same time you can enter the UABI 's of the systems by copying them from the systems properties window and pasting them into notepad and then copying them from notepad and pasting them there into the plugin. You can then choose the route Type, Name, Colour, Style, and Width like any other route. The last option is "Max Jump" this is the maximum distance that can be travelled in a single jump. The plugin will then search for the route that has the fewest number of jumps.

Change Log:
Version 1.5
- Added support for AstroSynthesis 3.

Version 1.4
- Jump Routes will now save properly.

Version 1.3
- "Toggle Jump Point" will no longer throw a script error if it is run when no system is selected.

Version 1.2
- "Toggle Jump Point" will now only affect the root body of a system even if it is done on a child body.

Version 1.1
- Fixed error in "Toggle Jump Point"

Version 1.0
- Initial upload

[DarthPedro]

I just tried it on a new starmap and it worked fine after first marking "all systems". My first attempt is a success which speaks volumes for the usefulness of this tool.

Thanks for the GREAT work on this!

[Alan]

I just tried it on a new starmap and it worked fine after first marking "all systems". My first attempt is a success which speaks volumes for the usefulness of this tool.

Thanks for the GREAT work on this!

I'm glad to hear that your finding it useful. Systems do have to be marked as valid jump points before the script will consider them when plotting the route and marking "all systems" is by far the easiest way to do it. However, if you want to only allow certain systems you can use the other mark and unmark options in combination with the search and filter functions to customise what systems are or are not valid jump points.

P.S.: Sorry for the late reply, it's been a little crazy lately.

Best Regards,
Alan Bartholet

[DarthPedro]

Alan,

I am Pre-Alpha Testing a game called Empyrean Cluster Wars. A friend and I are using Astro Synthesis to map out the stars. Several of the features are not quite what is needed for the game though. Do you think you could do some customizing that would allow us to emulate the game more closely?

All star systems are at Integer value coordinates in a 3D light-year grid.
Each star system has up to five stars with 10 orbits each.
An 11th orbit encircles the whole system and is the arrival orbit for incoming ships.
Interstellar moves use a JUMP order and Hyper Engines.
Interorbit moves use a MOVE order and Hyper Engines.
Intraorbit maneuvers to dock, run, close, go to, etc. use Space Drives and a specific order type per maneuver.
Each orbit consists of the planet location at 0,0,0 and the grid is 10,000 miles per unit.
Planets in each orbit are NONE, ASTEROIDS, GAS GIANT, and TERRESTRIAL.
Terrestrial planets in orbits 1-5 MAY have a habitability factor which equates to life support capacity of population.
There are mining deposits (up to 6 per planet).
Each turn is 1/4 standard year.
There is a matrix of unit types each of which has unique tech-level controlled output capacities and manufacturing requirements.
Non=Metals, Metals and Fuel are the 3 resource types which are mined from deposits found on planets (all types may have deposits).
A few deposits are "unlimited" nut most have finite quantities of resources which eventually become depleted from mining operations.
Each deposit also has a "YIELD" which is the percentage of ore mined which remains after refining.

It is a very complex game and is played via FTP of orders from the players on a turn basis and FTP of data files back to the players for each turn after the orders are processed.

You might be interested in trying the game out. There may be an open position. The current game started in early 2008 and there are 14 player positions of which 13 are known to be active at this time. Each turn is about two weeks to analyze the new turn data, conduct political relations and write orders for upload.

http://empyreanchallenge.startlogic.com/downloads.html

The above link will get you the Central Command application and a demo game database. It uses MS ACCESS (.mdb) as a back end database file but you don't need Access on your computer.


http://empyreanchallenge.com/ECW%20Manu ... .htm#ABOUT

The above link is to the HTML version of the game manual. It is chasing a moving target. I am working independently to rewrite the whole thing and it is an enormous challenge with debugging and errors in execution VS rules interpretation, etc. I am a volunteer play tester and work as a technical writer so it is natural for me to want to improve the manual.

Let me know if you are interested in playing or doing some custom programming. The programmer is looking for some code to integrate and you may be able to work something out? Maybe not. I was planning to write my own code before we discovered Astro Synthesis. I am also working with a friend on some external management utilities and reporting tools for the game.

Take care,

Darth Pedro

[Alan]

Hello Darth,
It sounds like an interesting project but I'm really short on free time right now. I'm hoping things will clear up around mid June though, then I would be able to help you out.

Best Regards,
Alan Bartholet

[DarthPedro]

Alan,

Let me know if you really want to check it out. I know of one player who is new to the game and has a new job with big demands on his time. He has been talking about dropping out. You could probably take over his position if I hook you up.

Darth

[Warped1701]

This would be a godsend, but I've been trying to use this script with 3.0 but for some reason it keeps returning a VBScript error. I'm not versed enough in it to find the cause and fix it myself. Any ideas on how to make it work?

[Alan]

This would be a godsend, but I've been trying to use this script with 3.0 but for some reason it keeps returning a VBScript error. I'm not versed enough in it to find the cause and fix it myself. Any ideas on how to make it work?

Hello Warped1701,
Sorry about the lateness of the reply. This is a problem with changes that were made to the search class in AS3. Once the API documentation for AS3 is released I will be able to update the plugin.

Best Regards,
Alan Bartholet

[ElectricZ]

Hi Alan,

Any luck getting the SDK for version 3 of AstroSynthesis, and maybe more importantly, the motivation to update your route finder script? It's a great tool. I'd even figure out how to buy you beer if that would seal the deal!

Thanks

EZ

[Alan]

Hi Alan,

Any luck getting the SDK for version 3 of AstroSynthesis, and maybe more importantly, the motivation to update your route finder script? It's a great tool. I'd even figure out how to buy you beer if that would seal the deal!

Thanks

EZ

Hello EZ,

I'm glad to hear that you like my plug-in. I haven't seen anything from Ed about API documentation for AS3 yet but I might have missed it. Once I get it I will work at upgrading my plug-ins and probably doing some code clean up while I'm at it.

Best Regards,
Alan Bartholet