The Galactic Almanac User Manual

Introduction

The Galactic Almanac OXZ is designed to be fully configurable by other OXZs. This is done by using script info keys in the Shipdata.plist entry for the object the other OXZ is adding to the Game. There is no requirement for other OXZs to use the script keys provided by the Galactic Almanac OXZ as the Almanac will by default name and categorise all stars, planets, moons, ships and stations. If however another OXZ author wants to add a customised name or MFD entry for their ship or station they can do so using the script info keys set out below. Script Info Keys are always given priority by the Galactic Almanac OXZ, so you can also use script info keys in shipdata overwrites if you wish to change the way any object in the game is named and classified by the Almanac. All features of the Galactic Almanac OXZ can also be switched on or off for individual objects by using the script info keys.

Script Info Keys Read by the Galactic Almanac MFD Unit

The Galactic Almanac OXZ supports Script Info Keys which can be used by other OXZs to customise the descriptions given to ships and stations by the Galactic Almanac MFD Unit and to turn off automatic naming of stations.

The MFD will automatically classify any object added by an OXZ as a ship, station, missile, mine, asteroid and so on as appropriate. Planets, Moons and Gas Giants will also be automatically classified. For natural objects (planets, moons, gas giants and asteroids) the MFD will provide information on the object’s composition. For ships, stations, missiles and mines the MFD will provide information on the company or manufacturer of the ship or weapons system.

The Galactic Almanac MFD Unit contains an in-built Data Base of all ships and stations released as of the release date of the last Version of the Galactic Almanac OXZ. New ships and stations written after the Galactic Almanac OXZ are supported by the ability to add Script Info Keys specifying the Designer of the new ship or station. These Keys can also be used in Ship Data Overwrites to change the classifications of existing ships and stations.

The Default format for Ships, Stations, Missiles and Mines is the Designer and name of the Designer.

The MFD Unit provides information in the format:

Information on Targeted [OBJECT TYPE]

[OBJECT DATA NAME] : [OBJECT DETAILS]

If no Script Key is specified, then the Object Type will be Ship or Station and the Object Data Name will be Designer. Planets, Moons, Gas Giants and Ice Giants will be automatically classified by the Galactic Almanac OXZ. If the Ship or Station is a new one, not included in the Data Base, the Designer will be listed as "No Data Available." If you would like your ship or station to be given a listed designer, you can specify the name of the designer by setting the Object Details with a Script Info Key in Ship Data by setting the script info command for object details as shown below:

"script_info" = { "almanac_mfd_object_details" = "My Custom Company"; };

The MFD will then list the Designer of your ship, station or weapon as "My Custom Company". All three words the MFD displays can be custom set in Ship Data if you wish. For example, if you wished to over-write the defaults, so that your ship appeared on the MFD as "Information on Targeted UFO. Caution: Alien Vessel", set the script info to:

"script_info" = { "almanac_mfd_object_type" = "UFO"; "almanac_mfd_object_data_name" = "Caution"; "almanac_mfd_object_details" = "Alien Vessel"; };

There is no requirement to set any script info commands when designing a new ship or station. The MFD Unit will automatically classify the object if no script info is present. If the object is a new type of ship or station released after the Galactic Almanac OXZ, the Designer will be shown as "No Data Available" if no Designer has been specified in script info using the almanac_mfd_object_details script command in the object's Ship Data entry.

Script Info Keys Read by the Galactic Almanac F4 Screen

Normally all objects with a beacon will be listed on the "Galactic Almanac of GAL-ID Registered Orbitals and Stations" page. The Galactic Almanac OXZ contains an exclude list which automatically excludes certain objects with beacons (mission ships and secret stations) added by other OXZs up to the latest release of the Galactic Almanac. If you are adding a beacon to a ship, station or other object but do not want it to appear on the list of Registered Orbitals, then you can add your object to the exclude list by setting the hidden option to On as shown below:-

"script_info" = {"almanac_object_hidden" = "On";};

Please note however, that if you have given an object a beacon in Ship Data then it will still be detectable with the native Advanced Space Compass, even though it is not listed by the Almanac.

Script Info Keys Read by the Galactic Almanac Automatic Naming System

The Galactic Almanac was designed to be backwards compatible and thus all stations added by OXZs released up to December 2022 are automatically named by the Galactic Almanac OXZ (unless OXZ Station Naming is turned off in the Galactic Almanac Settings Menu). These stations and examples of the naming style used for each type of station are listed in the table on the Galactic Almanac OXZ main page. To future proof the OXZ, the Galactic Almanac OXZ will also automatically assign a unique and persistent name to any OXZ station released after the Galactic Almanac OXZ using a pool of 8,096 names. The Galactic Almanac OXZ will automatically add a name to the entity if it has Station Scan Class or it has Rock Scan Class and the isStation Flag is set to true. The Galactic Almanac OXZ will only automatically name stations. It will not automatically name dockable carriers or ships with Neutral, Police or Military Scan Class as these ships are automatically named by the Random Ship Names OXZ.

If you are adding a new station to the game and you want it to be named by the Galactic Almanac OXZ then you do not need to do anything as the Galactic Almanac will name it automatically. By default the Almanac will add a name after the display name of the station. If it also has a beacon it will add it to the list of stations for the system appearing on the F4 screen when docked and on the MFD whilst in flight. For example if the display name is "My Special Station" the Almanac will add a unique and persistent name and your station will appear as "My Special Station: Seattle Depot". If however you do not wish the Galactic Almanac to name your station, either because it is a unique station or you are giving it your own custom name then you can turn off the automatic naming feature as shown below:-

"script_info" = {"almanac_object_naming" = "Off";};

You can also if you wish manually turn naming On for an object which would not normally be named by the Galactic Almanac. The Naming Scheme is however designed to generate names which are more appropriate for Stations rather than ships (for example: Dublin Outpost, Port Lombardo, The Alexander Ryder, Citadel of Honour). Names are also designed to be persistent with a different pool of names being used for each system in the game. For example, the first two objects with the naming key turned on appearing in the Lave System would always be named: "Master of Mankind" and "Snowball in Hell". The first two objects with the naming key turned on appearing in the Zaonce System would always be named: "Change in the Wind" and "Isle of Fortitude". If you wish to turn on Automatic Naming for a ship which would not normally be automatically named by the Galactic Almanac you can do so by turning the automatic naming feature on as shown below:-

"script_info" = {"almanac_object_naming" = "On";};

Please note that the Galactic Almanac will automatically check that an object has not already been named by the Random Ship Names OXZ (or any other OXZ). If an object has already been named by another OXZ, the Galactic Almanac OXZ will not add another name to the object even if the auto naming feature is turned on in Shipdata.