Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcsun!ukc!reading!rosemary!ssugreet
From: ssugreet@rosemary.cs.reading.ac.uk (Matthew Colin Greet)
Newsgroups: comp.sources.games.bugs
Subject: Re: GB HELP NEEDED DESPERATELY!
Summary: too many novas problem solution.
Keywords: novas  stars going bang too much   how to stop it
Message-ID: <2746@onion.reading.ac.uk>
Date: 19 Aug 90 19:06:51 GMT
References: <19886@orstcs.CS.ORST.EDU> <1990Aug17.214924.27423@ecn.purdue.edu>
Sender: news@reading.ac.uk
Reply-To: ssugreet@uk.ac.rdg.susssys1 (Matthew Colin Greet)
Followup-To: Article 1270 in comp.sources.games.bugs
Organization: Comp. Sci. Dept., Reading Univ., UK.
Lines: 29

> Another question...   Does anyone have a fix for the problem of every &^%#$*
> star going supernova immediately?  I seem to recall seeing one, but can't
> find it now...  PLEASE help me, or I may well go insane....

	One of the known problems is that star.stability is an unsigned char
and that any attempt to drop below zero will give it some daft number like 255,
which is greater than 100. Hence, a big bang.
	Also, the variation in star stability may not be set right.

	I can't tell you which line to change or what to change as I've only
got a hacked copy. Nonetheless, in the function fix_stability in doturn.c,
at the end after the final else, try the following code:

	a = int_rand(-5, int_rand(0, int_rand(0, 15)));
	s->stability = MAX(s->stability+a, 5);

	If you do a bit of calculation, the first line above gives an average
below zero. Yet stars still go nova, but only very occasionally. That'll do
for me. Of course, stars need only reach 50% stability before they spiral
towards instability.

                                            Matt


					"For a fourth dimensional hyperbeing,
					you really are quite remarkably stupid,
Matthew Greet				aren't you."
ssugreet@uk.ac.rdg.susssys1		
ssugreet@uk.ac.reading.cs.csug			Peter St John - Zenith Book 1.