"Unusually long" topics are marked with a "!" in subject indexes.
This should use the line count of the formatted page, but that's too
much trouble, so commit 4c0b4c0 (v4.3.27) approximated it by "source
file has more than 9999 bytes". Change that to "source file has more
than 300 lines".
Since subjects were added in Empire 2, we've always picked them up
from .SA requests. If you mistype a subject there, you get a "is a
NEW subject" warning, and incorrect subject pages. When building a
pristine tree, you get bogus "is a NEW subject" warnings for all
subjects. If you somehow delete the generated subjects.mk, but not
the generated subject files, the build breaks.
Declare subjects in Make variable subjects. Drop generated makefile
subject.mk.
Treat unknown topics in .SA arguments as errors. This replaces the
"$subj is a NEW subject" warning.
Treat subjects without member pages as errors. This replaces the "The
subject $subj has been removed" warning.
Safer and simpler.
We used to do all the info indexing work in info.pl: find subjects,
create subjects.mk (to tell make the list of subjects), the subject
pages, and TOP.t. Worked, but touching an info page triggered a full
rebuild of all subject pages and TOP.t.
Commit 2f14064 (v4.3.0) tried to avoid that by splitting info.pl into
findsubj.pl, mksubj.pl, mktop.pl. findsubj.pl puts not just the
subjects into subjects.mk, but also make rules for the subject pages,
to guide their remaking. mksubj.pl creates a single subject page.
mktop.pl creates TOP.t.
Unfortunately, this doesn't work so well. Since subjects.mk doesn't
exist in a virgin tree, we use -include. Unwanted consequence:
findsubj.pl failure doesn't stop make. Moreover, the complex make
machinery breaks down when info sources get removed or subjects get
dropped.
Go back to the old method, except keep mktop.pl separate, as that part
works just fine, and use simpler make rules. mksubj.pl now creates
subjects.mk and all subject pages, like info.pl did.
This effectively reverts most of commit 2f14064. I'll address the
excessive rebuilding of subject pages in a different way shortly.
Mark obsolete pages with '+' in subject pages. Drop the separate
"Obsolete" subject page: move "info Innards" to subject "Server", and
"info update" to "Updates" (where it came from in commit a5764534,
v4.3.10).
Change chance in percent lnd_retreat - lnd_effic - 1 to lnd_retreat -
lnd_effic. It's been that way since Empire 2, but I can't bring
myself to document the silly -1.
"info morale" wasn't updated when the retreat chance was changed in
Empire 2. Fix that.
Planes flying one-way with crew or cargo spread plague from their old
base to their new base. Planes dropping cargo spread plague from
their base to the drop's target sector.
Don't say selected sectors "show up in reverse video", that depends on
the client. Just say "will be highlighted", like we do for the other
commands that highlight, e.g. info survey.
Argument "active" is obscure. It creates a country in STAT_ACTIVE
that doesn't have a capital, and has its origin at the true origin.
If you really want such a country, create it in STAT_NEW normally,
then use edit to go to STAT_ACTIVE.
Damage due to lack of maintenance is now limited by the unit's minimum
efficiency.
Before, units could die. Unfortunately, the update left any embarked
units on their dead carrier. Should have seen this when I fixed a
related bug in commit c2c0d1ff, v4.3.22. Broken for ships and land
units when Empire 2 added their maintenance cost, and for planes when
commit 2e40a4bb (v4.3.4) replaced nuclear stockpiles by nuke units.
The common root cause of these bugs is the update bypassing pre-write
functions (bug#1010856).
If another unit with the same number got built, it picked up the stuck
cargo, triggering the oops from commit 6fb5caf6, which see.
In "stuck on dead carrier" state, units pretty much behave as if their
carrier was still alive, with additional protection from the fact that
a dead carrier can't be damaged or boarded.
The server detects this state on startup since commit 7da9aab5, and
refuses to start.
Only a deity can take units off a dead carrier.
Spy units are now enabled when a land unit type with capability spy
exists. To disable them, deities have to customize table land-chr.
Before, spy units types were ignored when option LANDSPIES was
disabled. Except for xdump land-chr, which happily dumped unusable
spy unit types.
Trade ships are now enabled when a ship type with capability trade
exists. No such type exists by default; to enable trade ships,
deities have to customize table ship-chr.
Before, trade ship types were ignored when option TRADESHIPS was
disabled. Except for xdump ship-chr, which happily dumped unusable
trade ship types.
Add bug reporting instructions.
Drop the bugs documented as fixed. File was last changed in Empire 2,
so these have been fixed for a while...
Remaining bugs:
The classification scheme used by report is dumb.
It still is.
You can make a sector temporarily useless by filling up all its
fields with delivery and distribution information. This is useful
when an enemy is trying to capture the sector (his mil don't have
room to move in :-) You have to halt some of the deliveries or
distributions to make room for the military to move in. (Mostly
fixed by changing the number of available fields)
Fixed since 4.2.14 eliminated `variables'. Delete.
Warehouses can't distribute all commodities simultaneously, due to
limited fields for this information. This becomes a problem if
you have a countrywide network of warehouses distributing to each
other. (Mostly fixed by changing the number of available fields)
Fixed since 4.2.14 eliminated `variables'. Delete.
You can sometimes move small quantities of certain items from
warehouses at no mobility cost, even into mountains (this is my
favorite bug, I'd hate to see it fixed :-)
Feature; delete.
Guerrillas don't seem to carry the plague.
They still don't.
You can sometimes trick someone into paying a huge price for
commodities by changing the price suddenly. Therefore one should
always check prices when buying commodities.
You can't increase prices anymore. Delete.
When two countries are attacking each other simultaneously, you
can sometimes move into a sector he is in the process of
attacking. If you get the timing right, he will take the sector
but you will get it back, along with all his military.
Can't reproduce; delete.
If a plane is out to trade, and gets shot down, it can still be
bought until the next update. If another country builds a new
plane that gets the number of the plane that was shot down, the
new plane will go on the trading market automatically. Then if
that plane is bought, the money goes to the country whose plane
was shot down, not the country that built the plane. I stole
numerous planes (including nuclear missiles :-) this way (by
deliberately putting low numbered planes up for trade, then having
them shot down).
Planes on a trading block can't get shot down, because they can't fly.
They can get destroyed on the ground, though. A new plane with the
same number still goes on the market automatically. Same for ships,
land units and nukes. check_trade() deletes a trade when the object's
owner changed. Reword the paragraph accordingly.
If a plane has negative mobility, then gets traded, mobility goes to 0.
Still correct.
Firing on sectors with land-locked sunken ships does strange
things.
Can't reproduce; delete.
If two countries are cooperating, its possible to raid an enemy
airport and steal the planes by putting them out to trade.
Still correct.
You can also strip enemy sectors of commodities using "sell", if
you have military control temporarily.
Requires mobility now. Delete.
One can make work go back to 100 everywhere in a country by moving
all civil- ians in low-work sectors onto a bridge, then collapsing
the bridge. Work then goes to 100 at the next update, if you
leave some mil in the vacated sectors. Or you can move mil out
too, letting the sector ownership change to the Deity, then move
back in from a 100% working sector, and work goes immediately to
100.
Feature; delete.
Two cooperative countries can move commodities around at no
mobility cost using the market.
Still correct.
You can collapse enemy bridges by making a lightning raid on his
bridgeheads and redesignating them, even if you only hold the
bridgehead for a short time. (In this games, bridges work
differently, see info build, info bridges")
Still correct. The parenthesis is cryptic, though; delete it.
You can map out enemy territory by raiding his radar stations.
Feature; delete.
Condition checking is very treacherous. Global commands with
conditions are unreliable. I never figured out exactly what was
wrong, although I think your method of putting conditions towards
the front of the line helped sometimes.
Can't reproduce; delete.
You can have more than 26 ships in a fleet, but only the first 26
will move when you navigate the fleet (I think 26 is the right
number, but I'm not cer- tain. It might be 32).
Can't reproduce; delete.
"Look" only spots subs (from destroyers) at a certain distance.
If you are too close you won't see them (unless you are in the
same sector).
Can't reproduce; delete.
You can only fly as many planes on a mission as you can fit on the
command line (so low numbered planes have an advantage this way).
USE WINGS
The real issue here is truncation of long input lines. Replace.
When a sector has a visible ship, radar doesn't show whether the
sector is land or sea, just the ship. This has interesting
possibilities for exploita- tion (like land-locking a battleship
in your capital in order to deceive the enemy :-)
Feature; delete.
I don't think you can land planes on a land-locked aircraft
carrier anymore.
Yes, you can. Is that good or bad? Anyway, delete.
Its common to mistakenly set the price of a plane or ship
incorrectly so one should check trade after using set.
Pilot error; delete.
The "must be accepted by" date on offered loans is bogus.
Why is it bogus? The date looks good to me. The offer expires at
that time. Delete.
"Turn off" doesn't stop updates.
Feature; delete.
