Appimage and Flatpak

If you don't wish to build SNIS yourself (though I must stress, building ityourself isnot difficult), Github user and (presumably) SNIS fanVince Pelss has compiled SNIS into Appimage and Flatpak forms. These may be found here:

• Flatpak:https://flathub.org/apps/io.github.smcameron.space-nerds-in-space
• Appimage:https://github.com/vpelss/Space-Nerds-In-Space-Appimage

Build Instructions

Here's a quick preview of the build instructions detailed below:

1. Acquire necessary hardware (some linux machines, network switch, cables, projector, stereo, etc.)
2. Clone git repository or obtain source tarball and unpack it.
3. Install dependencies
4. Build the code (type "make")
5. Run the game (type "bin/snis_client")
6. Download additional art assets
7. Restartsnis_client

Here is a long, boring video demonstrating how to install

Step 0: Acquire Hardware and OS

This is a linux game. You will need a computer running linux that hasa reasonably decent GPU. A Raspberry Pi 4 (with 4Gb RAM) and heatsinks issufficiently powerful to run the game at 720p for <em>some</em> screens, namely NAVIGATION,ENGINEERING, DAMAGE CONTROL, SCIENCE and COMMS, but is <em>not</em> really good enoughfor the MAIN VIEW, WEAPONS, or DEMON screens (you'll see very low FPS).Here is a long boring youtube video demonstrating installation and running SNIS on a Raspberry Pi 4Bif you want to see for yourself what it's like.Older Raspberry Pisare generallynot powerful enough to run the game.

It is possible to run the game entirely on a single linux laptop, but for the full andproper spaceship experience you will want six linux computers, a network switch,a projector or large TV, and a stereo system for audio in a reasonably darkroom.

The game is currently developed usingMint 20.3It is within the realm of possibility that the game could be made to buildand work on Mac OSX (it has been done before, but not since 2014 or so.)You're on your own if you want to try to run it on Mac, and my understandingis that newer Macs don't support OpenGL, which means you're out of luck.

Step 1: Download the Source Code

The source code is here:Space Nerds In Space github page

NOTE: Do NOT perform these steps as root!

To get the source code, there are three methods:

• If you are a registered github user, type (as a non-root user):

 git clone git@github.com:smcameron/space-nerds-in-space.git

• If not a registered github user, you can still use git with https. Type (as a non-root user):

 git clone https://github.com/smcameron/space-nerds-in-space.git

• Finally, you can just download a snapshot zipfile without using git at all:
  • https://github.com/smcameron/space-nerds-in-space/archive/master.zip

After downloading the zip file, you must unpack the zip file. Type (as a non-root user):

 unzip space-nerds-in-space-master.zip cd space-nerds-in-space-master

Step 2: Install Dependencies

There is a script,util/install_dependencies. In theory it can install dependencieson apt, yum, zypper, or rpm based systems, but it has only been tried with apt basedsystems. If you want to see what it will do without actually doing anything, it hasa--dry-run option. Even on apt-based systems, package names are not consistentacross various linux distros so it might not do the right thing. This is a HardProblem which there is no avoiding.

util/install_dependencies

If you don't want to run this script, or find that it does not work for you, you caninstall the dependencies manually, as described below. Ifutil/install_dependenciesperforms its job satisfactorily, you can advance to Step 3.

 sudo apt-get install build-essential; sudo apt-get install portaudio19-dev; sudo apt-get install libpng-dev; sudo apt-get install libvorbis-dev; sudo apt-get install libsdl2-dev; sudo apt-get install libsdl2-2.0-0; sudo apt-get install liblua5.2-dev; sudo apt-get install libglew-dev; sudo apt-get install libttspico-utils; # optional, for text to speech # Even better than libttspico is nanotts https://github.com/smcameron/nanotts # which is my version nanotts which is a version of pico2wave with a better # user interface. (original nanotts is here: https://github.com/gmn/nanotts # I just added a man page, and improved the Makefile to user PREFIX and DESTDIR) # Both nanotts and libttspico are *far* superior to espeak. sudo apt-get install sox; # for "play" command, used by text to speech sudo apt-get install libcrypt-dev; # used by bin/snis_update_assets sudo apt-get install libcurl-dev; # used by bin/snis_update_assets  You might also need these in addition or instead of some of the above: sudo apt-get install libcurl4-openssl-dev sudo apt-get install libssl-dev # Opus is needed for voice-chat, though you can compile without voice chat or, # you can have the Makefile download and compile opus for you instead of # using packages if you distro does not have Opus packages # sudo apt-get install libopus-dev; # used for voice-chat feature sudo apt-get install libopus0; # used for voice-chat feature # (The following are optional) sudo apt-get install espeak; # optional alternative to libttspico-utils sudo apt-get install alsa-utils; # optional alternative to sox, for "aplay" command sudo apt-get install openscad; # optional, only needed if you intend to work on 3D models.                 # Also, it is recommended to get it from http://www.openscad.org/downloads.html                 # as the version in the repos tends to be out of date. sudo apt-get install git; # Version control, useful if you're hacking on the game sudo apt-get install stgit; # Useful for making patches if you're hacking on the game. It's likequilt but on top of git.

If you want to try the optional pocketsphinx based local speech recognition,you will want the following packages:

 sudo apt-get install pocketsphinx-utils; sudo apt-get install pocketsphinx-lm-en-hub4; sudo apt-get install pocketsphinx-lm-en-hub4; sudo apt-get install libpocketsphinx1;

The above list may be incomplete, and these are the package names on mint 17.3 / ubuntu,so may be different on RPM based systems.

Step 3: Build the Code

To build the code, make sure you are in the top leveldirectory for the game ("space-nerds-in-space" if yougot the source using git, or "space-nerds-in-space-master" if youdownloaded the zip file), and type (as a non-root user):

 make

You should see quite a lot of output, like this:

  COMPILE mathutils.c  COMPILE snis_alloc.c  COMPILE snis_socket_io.c ... many steps omitted here ...   LINK bin/snis_server  LINK bin/snis_client  LINK bin/snis_limited_client  LINK bin/snis_multiverse

If you have problems building the code, it likely means there is somemissing dependency. Double check that you have all the required dependenciesinstalled. If the missing dependencies have to do with opus libraries, and yourdistro does not have opus packages, you can run "make DOWNLOAD_OPUS=yes", and themakefile will download the opus library source from mozilla.org and compile itfor you.

You can also file a bug report if you think you have discovered a problemwith the build process, or the instructions here. I believe you will need a githubaccount to file a bug report.

• Click here to file a bug report

Step 4: build openscad models (optional, not recommended)

Or you can skip to step 5 and just download the models instead (recommended).This step will take a long time and requires that you installed OpenSCAD.In general, unless you are working on the models, you can and should skip this step.(Again, as a non-root user):

 make models

Note: If you intend to run the game without downloading aditional assets(step 5, below), with just the default assets, this can be done, butrequires the additional step of running:

  bin/snis_update_assets --force --destdir ~/.local/share/space-nerds-in-space --srcdir ./share/snis

to copy assets into ~/.local/share/space-nerds-in-space.

Step 5: Run the game

 bin/snis_client

You should see something like this:

There are art assets not included in the source code. Click the UPDATE ASSETSbutton to fetch the assets.

After a few minutes, the assets will finish downloading. Then you can press theRESTART SNIS CLIENT button to use the newly acquired assets.

Next, start the game servers (snis_server,snis_multiverse, andssgl_server) byclicking the START SERVERS button.

Next, connect to the lobby.

Here is the Network Setup screen. Choose your ship name and password, and checkthe MAIN SCREEN role, then click the ENTER LOBBY LOCALHOST button.

Now you will see the lobby screen, with a single snis server running. Click on this andthe CONNECT TO SERVER button.

Finally, you are playing the game. First you will see the MAIN VIEW -- the view out ofthe window of your spacecraft.

In your brand new spacecraft, nothing is turned on. Press F4 to go to the ENGINEERING screen,then click on the '1' to activate the first preset which gives power and coolant to all theship's systems.

Press F2 to go to NAVIGATION. In the upper right corner of the screen is a verticalslider that controls the thrusters of your ship. Click on it to begin moving forward.

Step 5. Play around

Keyboard Controls

The function keys are used to switch between screens, except for F1, which is the 'help' key.

• F1 is the help screen. What it displays depends on which screen you're on.
• F2 - NAVIGATION
• F3 - WEAPONS
• F4 - ENGINEERING
• F5 - DAMAGE CONTROL
• F6 - SCIENCE
• F7 - COMMUNICATIONS
• F8 - MAIN SCREEN
• F9 - DEMON SCREEN (dungeon master screen)

To quit the game, press ESC and confirm using arrow keys and ENTER.Note, this only quits your client process.You can re-join the server (via "bin/snis_launcher" script option 5)It still leaves several processes running, the snis_servers, the lobby processand snis_multiverse. To kill all of them, run the "./killem" script or useoption 8 of snis_launcher.

NAVIGATION SCREEN

From the navigation screen, you can steer the ship and maneuver around.Here is a 10 minute tutorial video about the Navigation screen.

Note: Initially, your ship may have power to all systems turned off via Engineering.Many things won't work without power, including steering and moving the ship. See thesection onEngineering, below.

Navigation Controls

You can use the following keys to steer the ship:

           Q   W   E                ^                                    |           A   S   D<-        ->                                    |                                    V

• A andD, andLeft Arrow andRight Arrow will yaw the ship left and right, respectively.
• W andS, andUp Arrow andDown Arrow will pitch the ship down (forward) and up (back),respectively. (If you want to invert these, press Ctrl-I).
• Thebackquote key controls the position of the camera in the 3D view,moving it closer or farther from the ship.Press it multiple times to cycle through several possible camera positions.
• + and- (plus and minus) and themouse scroll wheelcontrol the camera zoom level.
• The vertical slider control on the upper right hand side of the screen is theship's throttle. Use this to control how fast the ship moves.
• TheR buttonabove the throttle slider toggles the ship into or out of reverse thrusting.
• The horizontal slider control below the warp drive controls how much powerthe warp drive uses. To use the warp drive, set the warp drive control sliderto the desired level, wait until the warp drive gauge reaches the desiredvalue, and press theENGAGE WARP button. Set the warp drive power tozero when not in use to conserve power, although doing so will make warping yourway out of trouble take longer, so bear that in mind.
• TheGREEN ARROW on the screen points in the direction of whateverentity theSCIENCE OFFICER has selected for scanning. A good way tonavigate is for theSCIENCE OFFICER to scan whatever you wish to navigatetowards (e.g. a distant planet) and then theNAVIGATION OFFICER canfollow theGREEN ARROW
• TheCYAN ARROW indicates which direction the weapons are currentlypointed. Note that the weapons are mounted on top of the ship, and cannot fireon anything beneath the plane parallel to the floor of the ship. Keep this inmind while battling other ships. You need to make sure your guns are able toface the enemy, and you need to be aware that driving the ship in an erraticmanner makes it very difficult for theWEAPONS OFFICER to hit histargets. TheWEAPONS OFFICER will remind you if you forget.
• To dock at a star base:
  • Have theCOMMS OFFICER hail the station and request permission todock. To receive permission to dock, you must be reasonably close to thestation, and your shields must be lowered.
  Press theDOCKING MAGNETS button to engage the docking system.(to disengage the docking system press it again.)
  • Maneuver the ship towards one of the docking ports on the station. Whenclose enough, your ship will latch on.
  • To disconnect from the station, press theDOCKING MAGNETS buttonagain.
• Use theSTANDARD ORBIT button when near a planet to enter"standard orbit".
• TheCOMPUTER button allows you to ask the computer to do something.You can control most aspects of the ship in this way. For example, you cantype in "navigate to the nearest starbase", and it should point your shipin the direction of the nearest starbase.

WEAPONS SCREEN

From the weapons screen, you can fire the laser turret and launch torpedoes.Here is a short tutorial video about the Weapons screen.

Weapons Screen Controls

• The mouse controls where the guns are pointed. The guns can yaw leftand right and pitch up and down, but cannot roll.
• When the mouse is at thebottom center of the screen, the guns will be pointed straight ahead.
• Moving the mouse from the bottom to the top of the screen moves the gunsthrough the full range of pitch.
• Moving the mouse to the left side of the screen to the right sideof the screen moves the guns through the full range of yaw.(Note: Using the arrow keys, you can also yaw and pitch the guns.With the arrow keys, the yaw range is not limited (guns can rotate360 degrees. This discrepancy could be considered a bug.)
• TheLeft mouse button and theSPACE BARfire the phasers.
• TheRight mouse button and theZ key firetorpedoes.
• Themouse scroll wheel or the+ and- (plus and minus)keys control theWAVE LENGTH of the phasers. TheSCIENCE OFFICERcan use the ships scanners to determine what is what the mosteffective value for the wave length is for a given enemy.
• TheCHARGE graph shows how much power will be released inthe next phaser shot. It takes some time for the phasers to recharge.Firing rapidly means each shot contains less energy and does less damage(but if you miss, you will have wasted less energy.) If the phasers aredamaged, orENGINEERING has diverted power from the phasers, itmay take longer to recharge.

ENGINEERING SCREEN

From the engineering screen, you can control how power and coolant is distributedto the various systems of the ship.Here is a tutorial video about the Engineeringand Damage control screens.

Engineering Screen Controls

• Along the left side of the screen are the power and coolantdistribution controls for each of the systems on the ship,
  • SHIELDS
  • PHASERS
  • COMMS
  • SENSORS
  • IMPULSE DRIVE
  • WARP DRIVE
  • MANEUVERING
  • TRACTOR BEAM
• The slider controls labeledPWR control how much power is availablefor a given system. This is not quite the same as how much power thesystem actually uses. Most systems will automatically use as muchpower as you give them. Some systems (e.g.SHIELDSandWARP DRIVEhave additional controls controlling how much power they actuallyuse (e.g. the controls on the Navigation screen control how muchpower the warp drive will use.) You can think of these power controlson the left side of the engineering screen as a power deprivationsystem. You're really placing limits on how much power the systemshave access to, not telling them how much power to use.
• Note that as you deprive power from some systems, more total poweris available to distribute among the other systems, so you may have toadjust other systems power and coolant levels to keep things fromoverheating.
• The slider controls labelledCOOLANT control how much coolanteach system gets. If a system is using too much power relative to howmuch coolant it gets, it will overheat and start damaging itself.
• The charts on the right side of the screen show theSTATUSandTEMPERATURE of each system. If a system is too hot, theTEMPERATURE graph will flash red, and this means the systemis damaging itself.
• TheSTATUS bar shows the general health of each system.Hovering over theSTATUS bar with the mouse will show apopup window that gives the status of each of the components of thatsystem broken out. The components may be repaired on theDAMAGECONTROL screen.
• There are two buttons on the screen labeled1 and2.These arepresets for setting many power and coolant controlsat once. The1 preset button sets the controls with most systemspowered up, but with the warp drive powered down and the tractorbeam powered down. This setting is useful for just driving around.The2 preset button turns all systems off.
• TheDAMAGE CONTROL button switches to the DAMAGE CONTROLscreen.
• TheSHEILDS slider control in the upper right part ofthe screen controls the amount of energy the shields use. The higherthe value, the more effective the shields will be. Set to maximum,the shields will use all the power available to them (which might bezero, if theSHIELD PWR control is depriving the shields ofpower.)

DAMAGE CONTROL SCREEN

From the damage control screen, you can repair the various systems of the ship.Take a look at the tutorialvideo for the Engineering and Damage control screensabove.

Damage Control Controls

• Use theArrow Keys orW, A, S, D keys to controlthe movement of the robot.
• Use theSpace Bar to control the robot's gripper.
• The screen shows each of the systems on the ship, witheach system having three components. The components may becomedamaged, making the systems less effective.
• To repair a component, maneuver the robot near the componentand use the gripper to pick up the component. If the componentis not too badly damaged, the robot will repair it right there.After the component is repaired, operate the gripper to putthe component back.
• Note, you must put components back in the correct slots for themto work correctly, otherwise the systems will not operate well.
• If a component is too badly damaged, you will need to takethe component to the repair station located at the bottom.Put the component into one of the slots on the repair station andwait a moment for it to repair. You can pick it up before it isfully repaired and repair it to completion on the way back toreplace the component in its slot in the appropriate system.
• If you do not have enough players, or if you simply do notwant to manually repair the ship, you can press theAUTObutton, and the robot will autonomously repair the ship byitself. It probably won't do it as quickly as you could doit manually though.

SCIENCE SCREEN

From the science screen, you can scan ships, planets, asteroids, launch the miningrobot and help navigate to distant targets.

Short Range Scanner

Science Short Range Scanner Controls

• TheMouse Scroll Wheel or theRANGE slidercontrol at the top of the screen controls the range (distance)of the short range scanner.
• TheLeft and Right Arrow keyskeys control the direction the scanning beam is pointed. The boundariesof the scanning beam is indicated by two flickering lines on the display.
• TheUp and Down Arrow keyscontrol the scanning beam width. The wider the beam is the more volume itcovers, but the less resolution it has. The narrower the beam is, theless volume it covers, but the more resolving power it has.
• Items in the scanner are displayed at a distance from the centerwhich corresponds to the 3D distance.
• When the scanner has resolved an entity, you can click on it withthe mouse, and it, and nearby resolved entities will "pop up" out ofthe display to give you an idea of how they are situated in 3D space.

Scanning Target Details

Science Details Screen

• Once an entity is resolved by the scanner and selected, youcan press theDETAILS button to see more details about theselected item. What you see depends on the type of the item.
• TheWarp Factor value gives you an idea of what valueto use if you wish to travel to the entity via the warp drive(that is, you may want to relay this information totheNAVIGATION OFFICER.)
• If the entity is a ship, theSHIELD PROFILE mayindicate that some phaser frequency might be especially effective(so you may want to relay this information to theWEAPONS OFFICER.)

Long Range Scanner

Science Long Range Scanner Controls

The long range scanner is useful for locating distant planets and starbases.It shows a 3D view of the space around your ship.

• TheMouse Scroll Wheel or theRANGE slidercontrol at the top of the screen controls the range (distance)of the long range scanner.
• TheLeft and Right Arrow keys or theA andDkeys control the direction the scanning beam is pointed. The boundariesof the scanning beam is indicated by two orange dotted lines on the displayforming a kind of "orange slice".
• TheUp and Down Arrow keys or theW andS keyscontrol the scanning beam width. The wider the beam is the more volume itcovers, but the less resolution it has. The narrower the beam is, theless volume it covers, but the more resolving power it has.
• Thecomma, andforward slash keys rotate (yaw) the scannedvolume sphere to the left or right, respectively.
• Theperiod andL keys rotate (pitch) the scanned volume spheredown and up, respectively.
• TheK andsemicolon keys rotate (roll) the scannedvolume sphere counter-clockwise and and clockwise, respectively.
• TheALIGN TO SHIP button aligns the view with the ship so thatthe view is as if from behind the ship with the ship facing forwards andup is up, left is left, right is right, etc.

COMMUNICATIONS SCREEN

From the communications screen, you can hail starbases and other player ships andcontrol what is displayed on the "main screen" as well as activate the RED ALERT alarm.You also control the ship's inventory and can interact with the ship's computer toask it questions or even use it to control almost any aspect of the ship.

The row of buttons at the top is for theCOMMS OFFICER to controlwhat is displayed on theMAIN SCREEN. For this to work best, individualplayer stations should not have theMAIN SCREEN ROLE checked (on theNETWORK SETUP SCREEN when they joined the game) but only the computerattached to the projector or big TV should have theMAIN SCREEN rolechecked. Essentially these buttons make all terminals that have the MAINSCREEN role switch to displaying the selected station instead. The ideabehind this comes from Captain Picard's command, "On screen!" The captain can command anystation's screen be displayed "On Screen!" and theCOMMS OFFICER can"make it so". Note: it is also possible for any player to pressCtrl-Oon their station to make their screen be displayed on the main screen.If they pressCtrl-O a second time, the main screen reverts to showingthe main view out the window into space. So if the captain orders "Weapons,On Screen!", either theWeapons Officer can pressCtrl-O,or theComms Officer can press theWEAPONS button ontheCOMMS screen. Again, if players have the "MAIN SCREEN" rolechecked when they join the game, it can be a bit confusing, becausethentheir own computer will be considered to be a "mainscreen". In general, there normally should only beone computerper bridge that joins the game with the MAIN SCREEN role enabled,and that computer should be the one connected to a projector.

The "EMF" chart in the upper right shows a measuring of local EMF. Whenan NPC ship scans the players ship, this chart will show elevated levels ofEMF. This can give a heads up that some ship is scanning you, and an attackmight be coming soon.

TheMAIN SCREEN button in the lower right portion of the screenmakes the last 4 lines received appear on the main screen so everyonecan see them.

TheRED ALERT button toggles the red alert system on and off.

The shields display is there so the COMMS officer can know if a requestto dock will be denied due to shields still being up.

The zoom slider control at the bottom of the screen controls the zoomlevel of theMAIN SCREEN

So what can Comms do with this terminal interface? First of all, anythingwhich is typed in that is not a command is broadcast on the current channel,which is by default channel 0, which all player ships receive. You can alsoswitch channels, and only player ships tuned to the particular channel willreceive those messages. The intent here is for player-to-player chat in amulti-bridge setup. The channel system is also used (implicitly) forcommunications with starbases and with mining bots.

Commands you can type in are preceded with a slash, '/', along the lines of IRC commands.

    /help -- displays a list of commands (I need to update the help screen)    /computer",    /channel channel-number - change current channel",    /eject cargo-bay-number - eject cargo",    /hail ship-name - hail ship or starbase on current channel",    /inventory - report inventory of ship's cargo hold",    /passengers - report list of passengers    /about - report information about the game (i.e. version number, etc.)

Of the above, /hail, and /computer are the most powerful.

/hail is how you communicate with starbases to request permission to dock,or other things that starbases do (not all of which are implemented yet):

    LOCAL TRAVEL ADVISORY    REQUEST PERMISSION TO DOCK    BUY WARP-GATE TICKETS    REQUEST REMOTE FUEL DELIVERY    BUY FUEL    REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE        BUY SHIELD SYSTEM PARTS        IMPULSE DRIVE PARTS        BUY WARP DRIVE PARTS        BUY MANEUVERING PARTS        BUY PHASER BANKS PARTS        BUY SENSORS PARTS        BUY COMMUNICATIONS PARTS        BUY TRACTOR BEAM PARTS    ARRANGE TRANSPORT CONTRACTS        BUY CARGO        SELL CARGO        BOARD PASSENGERS        DISEMBARK PASSENGERS        EJECT PASSENGERS    SIGN OFF

You may /hail other player ships, or mining bots. The mining bots have somefunctionality accessed via comms:

    STATUS REPORT    RETURN TO SHIP    TRANSPORT ORES TO CARGO BAYS    STOW MINING BOT    RETARGET MINING BOT    SIGN OFF

If you aren't sure of the name of the mining bot, you can ask theSCIENCE OFFICER to scan it.

The /computer command is the most powerful action the Comms officer can use,with this, the entire ship may be controlled just by asking the computer to dothings in English. For example, stuff like this should all work:

    /computer set a course for the nearest starbase    /computer launch the mining bot    /computer lower shields    /computer set warp power to 100%    /computer engage warp drive    /computer turn left 10 degrees    /computer engineering on screen    /computer calculate a course to the nearest asteroid    /computer describe    /computer set warp drive coolant to 50 percent

MAIN SCREEN

From the main screen, you can steer the ship with theARROW KEYSand with theA, W, S, D keys and additionallyQ andEallow you to roll the ship. The primary purpose of the mainscreen view it to be projected on a large screen for all players to view at once.

Thebackquote key cycles through first person and a few third person viewsof the ship.

The+ and- (plus and minus) keys and theMouse Scroll Wheelzoom and unzoom the camera. Additionally the zoom can be controlled from theCOMMS screen.

SHIFT-W toggles the main screen view between front facing and weaponsfacing. This is fun to let the whole crew see what theWEAPONS OFFICERis busy destroying.

Note, in a proper multi-player setup, theMAIN SCREEN ROLE (on theNETWORK SETUP SCREEN, see below) should not be active (checked) for mostplayers, but only for the computer which is connected to the projector orbig TV.

TheR key can be used to cycle through different renderer modes(this is really just for debugging though.)

DEMON SCREEN

Game Master Screen (aka "Demon" screen).

• General Controls:
  • On the 2D screen
    • Selecting objects is done with theRIGHT MOUSE BUTTON.To deselect an object, click it again with theRIGHT MOUSE BUTTON.or use theSELECT NONE button on the left side of the screen.You can alsodrag with the right mouse button to select a rectangulararea. Objects in this rectangular area that were already selected will bedeselected, and those which were not previously selected will be selected.
    • Moving objects is done bydragging with the middle mouse button.
    • Zooming is done with theMouse Scroll Wheel.Where you zoom in is determined by themouse pointer location.
    • When one of theobject buttons on the left side of the screenis active (e.g. SHIP, PLANET, ASTEROID, STARBASE, NEBULA, MONSTER), thentheRIGHT MOUSE BUTTON places an object of that type instead ofselecting objects.
  • On the 3D screen
    • Navigate around byright clicking on objects. Youwill fly in near those objects.
    • Turn left, right, or pitch up and down by right clicking on empty space.Clicking closer to the bottom edge of the screen pitches down, the top edge pitchesup, the left edge yaws left, the right edge yaws right. The closer to the center ofthe screen the slower the yaw or pitch, the closer to the edge of the screen thefaster the the yaw or pitch.
    • Select objects with the middle mouse button -- they will blink pink when selected.
    • De-select objects by clicking the middle mouse button on them again. The will stop blinking pink.
    • Move objects by first selecting them, then flying to where you want them to be,then click theMOVE button on the left side of the screen.
    • Use the HOME button on the left side of the screen if you get lost.
• TheHOME button returns the camera (2D or 3D) to a fixedlocation (e.g. if you get lost zooming around).
• TheSHIP button
  • On the 2D screen this is a toggle. When it is active you canthen click with the right mouse button to place ships into theuniverse. The type of ship is random. With the 2D view, you onlycontrol 2 axes of the placement, the 3rd axis is selected randomlybut limited to a relatively thin slice. Though the slice is relativelythin, in absolute terms it is quite thick, so it is not really possibleto place things precisely.
  • On the 3D view, when you click the ship button, a ship is emittedimmediately right where you are. The type of ship is random.
• TheSTARBASE,PLANET,ASTEROID,NEBULA, andMONSTERbuttons behave just like theSHIP button except they emitobjects of the appropriate type rather than ships. NOTE:MONSTERcurrently doesn't work.
• TheCAPTAIN allows the game master to "captain" an NPC ship -- that is,drive it around and shoot with it. This is best done in the 3D view.To "captain" an NPC ship, select it in the 3D view with the middle mousebutton -- it should turnMAGENTA and start blinking. Then press theCAPTAIN button. You can now steer the ship with thearrow keys and firethe torpedoes with theTORPEDO button. To stop captaining an NPC ship,deselect it with the middle mouse button.
• TheDELETE deletes the selected objects.
• TheSELECT NONE button de-selects any objects which are currently selected.
• TheTORPEDO only works whenCAPTAINING an NPC ship. It fires a torpedofrom the NPC ship.
• ThePHASER button currently does nothing.
• The2D/3D button toggles between 2D and 3D view.
• TheMOVE button (3D view only) moves the selected objects to yourcurrent location.
• TheEXAG SCALE checkbox makes objects appear bigger than they reallyare so that you can see them from greater distances.
• TheNET STATS checkbox shows some graphs about network statistics.Currently there are graphs showing:
  • Total bytes/sec transmitted from the snis_server process to all clients
  • Total bytes/sec transmitted from all clients to the snis_server process
  • Round trip latency in milliseconds between this client and the snis_serverprocess.TheEXECUTE button executes whatever command is typed into the textbox immediately above it. Commands are as follows:
    • help - displays a short summary of commands.
    • mark - (2D view only) On the 2D view, if you right click,a flashing blue plus will appear in the display. You can mark the locationwith a name, by typing, for example: "mark orion". Then later you can usethe word "orion" to refer to this location. (This command isn't terriblyuseful.)
    • name - give the currently selected group of objects a name.For example, you might select a group of ships and type "name myfleet"to give them collectively the name "myfleet".
    • attack - commands one group to attack another. The groupsmust be previously named with the "name" command. For example, you mighttype "attack myfleet theirfleet" to command your fleet ("myfleet") to attacktheir fleet ("theirfleet").
    • goto - command anamed group to travel to amarked destination.For example, you might type "goto myfleet orion".
    • patrol - not implemented
    • halt - not implemented
    • identify - identify a previously named group by deselecting all objectsand then selecting the named object.
    • say - cause the currentlycaptained NPC ship to transmitsomething on channel 0.For example "say make like a tree and get outta here".
    • clear all - Deletes all objects except for player ships.
    • aidebug - Turns on some debug information about NPC ship AI state.
    • safemode - toggles "safemode". In "safemode", if a player shipruns out of fuel, it will be magically refueled, and NPC ships won't attackthe player (if they are already attacking when safemode is entered, they won'timmediately stop though.) There is no indicator whether safe mode is active.The purpose of this is to make testing easier (i.e. testing things outwithout danger of getting killed.)
    • enscript - saves the current state of objects to a Lua scriptso that they may be restored. Not everything is saved, but most things are.This is useful if you want to use the demon screen to populate a universefor a scenario and then store that setup in a Lua script. For this to workthe snis_server process must have been started with the --enable-enscriptoption. The lua script is created on the server in share/snis/luascripts.Example:enscript myscript.lua
    • TTS - Text to speech. Select one or more player ships, thenuse the tts command to cause the computer on those ships to speak something.(This appears to be broken at the moment.)
    • CONSOLE - toggle the demon screen console on and off. The consoleis a large terminal-like text box that you can interact with.
    • VARS [regexp] - list tweakable variables and their minimum, maximum,and default values on the demon console. There are a number of tweakablevariables that can affect gameplay. You may optionally also specify a regularexpression as an argument to the VARS command to restrict the output to onlythose commands whose name or description matches the regular expression.
    • SETvariable =value - set a tweakable variable. The specialvalueDEFAULT sets the variable back to its default value. List thetweakable variables using theVARS command.
    • CLIENTS - list the connected clients. The currently displayedstation for the client is listed, along with the client number, the clientship, and the possible client roles (as a bitfield. See theROLEcommand, below.)
    • ROLEclient-numberrole-modification - Modify or listthe permissible roles for a specified client number. The client numbers maybe obtained using theCLIENTS command (see above.)

      Possible roles are as follows:

      • MAIN VIEW
      • NAVIGATION
      • WEAPONS
      • ENGINEERING
      • DAMAGE CONTROL
      • COMMS
      • SCIENCE
      • DEMON
      • TTS (text to speech)
      • SOUND SERVER
      The command takes several forms. Here are some examples:

      ROLE 10	lists the roles for client number 10.
      ROLE 7 MAIN	restrict client number 7 to roleMAIN SCREEN.
      ROLE 7 +ENG	addENGINEERING role to client 7
      ROLE 4 -WEAP	removeWEAPONS role from client 4.
      ROLE 3 ALL	allow client 3 to use all roles.

      NOTE: You only have to type the first three characters of the role names (e.g.ENGis the same asENGINEERING.)
      NOTE: it is not possible to remove theDEMON role from a client.
    • LOCKROLES - Lock all clients to their current roles. This is useful ifyou want players to select their own roles initially, and then confine them to thoseroles for the whole game or a period of time. If a client is on the MAINSCREEN, orthe DEMON screen, then this will have no effect on that client. ENGINEERING andDAMAGE CONTROL are considered a single screen for purposes of this command.
    • UNLOCKROLES - Allow all clients to freely switch between all roles.This is the complement of theLOCKROLES command.
    • ROTATEROLES - Rotate roles on client stations. Used in conjuction withLOCKROLES, this is a good way to keep people from hogging the weapons console.
    • FIND - find an object with the given name, e.g. "find enterprise"will find any objects or player ships named "enterprise" and print out theobject IDs for any matching objects.
    • DUMP andCDUMP - print out the state of the specified objectID. "Dump" prints out the state on the server, "Cdump" prints out the state onthe client. The server and the client don't necessarily have the same (or any)information for all fields. This command is really a debugging aid for developers.
    • AITRACE - trace (continuously print) the AI state of the specifiedobject id. If no object id is specified, any current tracing activity is ceased.
    • FOLLOW - Causes the 3D demon screen camera to follow the specifiedobject ID. If no object ID is specified, any current following activity isceased. Note that the "HOME" button will not work if an object is currentlybeing followed.
    • LUA - run a lua script. The lua scripts must reside on theserver in share/snis/luascripts. Currently there are few scripts:
      • MAINMENU.LUA
      • DEMOLISHER.LUA
      • SAVING-PLANET-ERPH.LUA
      • SILLY-SPACE-BATTLE.LUA
      • SPACEPOX.LUA
      • TRAINING-MISSION-1.LUA
      • TRAINING-MISSION-2.LUA

      Example:saving-planet-erph

      Note: Now if you enter a command that isn't a built-in, anattempt is made to run it as a lua script. This means thatinstead of enteringlua saving-planet-erph.lua,you can just entersaving-planet-erph, which isa little more convenient.

  ---

  Multiplayer Setup

  

  What a typical multiplayer setup looks like, showingwhich processes typically run on which physical machines.

  Step 0. Obtain Necessary Hardware for Multiplayer Setup

  You will need the following hardware:

  • A big TV or projector for the "Main Screen" view that you can drivedirectly from a computer (e.g. chromecast likely will not work well.)
  • A stereo or sound system of some type (something better than laptop speakers).
  • Several reasonably powerful computers running linux (at least 3, preferably5 per bridge).
  • A network router or switch which can support as many computers as you'replanning to use.Note: awired router or switch isstrongly preferred both forperformance reasons and for ease of configuration.
  • (Optional) decent microphone or headset if you want to use the speechrecognition capabilities (need to reject background noise).

  Step 0.5 Understanding the Software Components

  It helps to have a basic understanding of how the system worksin order to set it up and troubleshoot in case something doesn't worklike you expect. The system is composed of the following linux processes:

  • ssgl_lobby - This process is the lobby server and is how all the otherparts of the system find one another. There should beexactly one ssgl_serverprocess running in your system, onone computer only. You will need toknow the IP address of the system that the lobby process (ssgl_server) runson. (Use the linux commandip addr showorifconfig -a). The ssgl_lobby process has nographics and no UI at all.
  • snis_multiverse - This keeps track of player ships and storesship names, ship state, and ship password hashes. This is what allows shipsto travel between solarsystems (between snis_server instances). There shouldbeexactly one snis_multiverse process in your system. This process hasno graphics and no UI at all.
  • snis_server - This runs the simulation of a solar system, its associatedplanets, starbases, nebula, NPC ships, etc. You need at least one snis_server, butmay have more than one. This process has no graphics and no UI at all.
  • snis_client - This process is the face of SNIS, and is what theplayer interacts with. It is responsible for drawing all graphics and makingall sounds. You need one snis_client process running for each player's computerplus one for the "Main Screen".
  Note that the above diagram shows thatsnis_server,snis_multiverse,andssgl_lobby are all running on the same computer that controls theprojector and stereo, and this computer also runs asnis_client processto drive the projector and stereo. This is not a requirement. Thesnis_server,snis_multiverse, andssgl_lobby processes could also run onany other computers reachable on the network. It's usually just easiest to use a bigpowerful desktop system for the "main screen"snis_client and then also run theserver processes on that system as well, and means the other computers are simpler toset up, in that they are all identical, and only run a single process,snis_client.

  Step 1. Preliminary Hardware Setup

  The first thing that you need to do is get all the hardware into your game room,arranged on furniture in such a way that everyone can see the big TV or projector,connect it all up and make sure it is nominally working. That means:

  1. Figure out which computer will runssgl_server,snis_multiverse, andsnis_server. It is easiest if these will all run on the same computer, butthis is not a requirement. For the purposes of these instructions we will assume thisis the case, and we will refer to this system as theMain Computer. Usuallythis will also be the same computer which is connected to the projector (or big TV)and the stereo. Again, this is not a requirement, but we will assume this is the case.
  2. Boot up all your computers and make sure every computer can "ping" theMain Computer.If this doesn't work, the game won't work. Note, many wireless routersare configured to deliberately prevent local devices from talking to one anotherfor security reasons on the assumption that they normally are only using the routerto get to the internet, not to communicate amongst themselves. For this reason,and for performance reasons, awired network switch or router is stronglypreferred.

     Note: By default, the game assumes that the internet-facing network will beused. If you have a private network (the internet is inaccessible) or if your system ison multiple networksand you wish to use a network other than the defaultinternet-facing network, special action will be required. Note alsothat it is not currently possible to play with a multi-network setup in which all the stationsare not on the same network. That is, you cannot host the lobby server and snis_serveron a multi-networked system and expect clients to be able to connect via more than onenetwork. Currently, the lobby server and snis_server only server a single network, but youcan choose which network.

     If you wish to run the game on a network other than the default internet-facingnetwork, do the following prior to running snis_launcher:

     export SSGL_PRIMARY_IP_ADDR_PROBE=192.168.1.1

     Of course you should replace "192.168.1.1" with some address that is on your desired network. It isnot required that a host be present at the address you specify, this address ismerely used to probe the host's routing table to find out which interface to use.

     If on the lobby screen, you see blinking red snis_server instances with IP addresses of 0.0.0.0this indicates that the snis_server instances were not able to determine a network interfaceto use. Typically this means SSGL_PRIMARY_IP_ADDR_PROBE is not set, but should be (because theinternet is inaccessible from your network), or is set to an invalid value, e.g. it is blank, orhas a value which is not an IP address.

  Step 2. Software Setup

  1. Install "Space Nerds In Space" on all computers.(SeeBuild Instructions above). Note, you should installthe sameversion on all computers. The protocol used bysnis_server andsnis_clientto communicate with one another frequently changes, and if there is a mismatch, they won'tbe able to talk to each other (in fact, will refuse to talk to one another most likely.)Generally this means you should use the latest version from git on all computers.

  The main difference between the "main computer" and the bridge stations is that onlythe main computer needs to run the various server processes. The regular bridge stationsdo not need to run the server processes, but they will need to type the main computer'shost name or IP address into the NETWORK SETUP screen.

  Updating Space Nerds In Space

  Suppose you have set up Space Nerds In Space previously but development hasmoved on and now what's in github and on the assets server is newer than what youhave, or that you have several players together to play the game but they eachhave a different version of Space Nerds In Space. How do you sync up your gamewith the latest stuff?

  Use the following procedure:

  cd space-nerds-in-space;# Or wherever you checked out the codegit checkout master;# Just in case you switched branchesmake mostly-clean;# Let's start freshgit pull;# Fetch the new code from githubmake mostly-clean;# clean upmake

  Art assets can be updated by clicking the UPDATE ASSETS button in snis_client.

  ---

  Talking to "The Computer" (how to set up speech recognition)

  Anything you can type into "the computer" via the Navigation screen or the Comms screen,you can also just speak, provided you set things up. There are two methods by which you cando speech recognition: local, pocketsphinx-based speech recognition, and Android based speechrecognition using your phone or other Android device. Both methods are done outside of SpaceNerds In Space proper, and feed the text of the recognized speech into snis_client through afifo:/tmp/snis-natural-language-fifo. For that matter, you can echo text directlyinto this fifo if you want to, e.g.:

  echo "turn right forty five degrees" > /tmp/snis-natural-language-fifo

  • Pocketsphinx based speech-recognition

    You must install some packages:

    sudo apt-get install libttspico-utils; # for text to speechsudo apt-get install espeak; # optional alternative to libttspico-utilssudo apt-get install sox; # for "play" command, used by text to speechsudo apt-get install alsa-utils; # optional alternative to sox, for "aplay" command

    And for the pocketsphinx based speech recognition:

    sudo apt-get install pocketsphinx-utils;sudo apt-get install pocketsphinx-lm-en-hub4;sudo apt-get install pocketsphinx-lm-en-hub4;sudo apt-get install libpocketsphinx1;

    Once these are installed, on a machine that is runningsnis_client, youcan then open up a terminal window and run (as a non-root user)speech/queeg500This will start up pocketsphinx listening on the default microphone to recognize textand feed it into/tmp/snis-natural-language-fifo. If you're wondering why it'scalledqueeg500,this is the reason.You must begin every spoken command with "Computer". For example, try saying:"Computer, Ramming speed!"

  • Android based speech recognition

    There is an Android app calledSpace Nerds Communicator which is very simple and just allows your Android device to do speech recognition and forwardthe resulting text to a specified IP address and port. By default the port is8080.

    • Download Space Nerds Communicatr.
    To use it, find out the IP address your machine runningsnis_client (e.g. runip addr show orifconfig -a), and open up a terminal windowon this machine. Run the following command (as a non-root user):

    netcat -lvk -p 8080 > /tmp/snis-natural-language-fifo

    This starts up anetcat process listening for connections on port 8080(or choose another port). Netcat just copies whatever comes in to its stdout, whichin this case is redirected into/tmp/snis-natural-language-fifo.

    Then run theSpace Nerds Communicator app on your Android device, andconfigure the IP address and port to match your snis_client machine. Then tap themicrophone button and speak your commands. The app will send them to netcat, whichwill then feed them into the fifo.

    Note that with the Android app, you shouldnot precede your commands with"Computer". For example, use "Ramming speed!" not "Computer, ramming speed!"

  ---

  Troubleshooting

  Contents:
  1. Using Joysticks and Controllers
  2. Bridge Verification Failed
  3. Audio Problems
  4. OpenGL versions
  5. The game is crashing!
  6. network problems
  7. Playing over the internet

  ---

  1. Using Joysticks and Controllers

     There is a config file in share/snis/joystick_config.txt that can be usedto configure the game to understand your usb controllers.

     • Step 1: Figure out what your controllers are called. Look in /dev/input/by-idfor names that end with "-joystick" and do not end with "-event-joystick". For example:

       $ls -l /dev/input/by-idtotal 0lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Nov  9 07:13 usb-0461_USB_Optical_Mouse-event-mouse -> ../event8lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Nov  9 07:13 usb-0461_USB_Optical_Mouse-mouse -> ../mouse0lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Nov  9 07:13 usb-0461_Wired_USB_Keyboard-event-if01 -> ../event7lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Nov  9 07:13 usb-0461_Wired_USB_Keyboard-event-kbd -> ../event6lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Nov 10 10:54 usb-Thrustmaster_T.16000M-event-joystick -> ../event5lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 6 Nov 10 10:54usb-Thrustmaster_T.16000M-joystick -> ../js1lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Nov 10 10:54 usb-Thrustmaster_TWCS_Throttle-event-joystick -> ../event4lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 6 Nov 10 10:54usb-Thrustmaster_TWCS_Throttle-joystick -> ../js0

       In this case, we see we have two devices of interest,usb-Thrustmaster_T.16000M-joystickandusb-Thrustmaster_TWCS_Throttle-joystick.
       
     • Step 2: Figure out what the buttons and axes for your devices are. There is a testprogram included with Space Nerds In Space called "joystick_test". Run this program, and you shouldsee something like:

       capnkirk@enterpise $ ./joystick_testusb-Thrustmaster_T.16000M-joystickusb-Thrustmaster_TWCS_Throttle-joystickDiscovered 2 joysticks0: usb-Thrustmaster_T.16000M-joystick1: usb-Thrustmaster_TWCS_Throttle-joystickDevice: 0, time 99672500, value        0, type: 129, axis/button: 0Device: 1, time 99672520, value   -32767, type: 130, axis/button: 6Device: 0, time 99672520, value        0, type: 130, axis/button: 5[... many lines omitted ...]Device: 1, time 99672520, value   -32767, type: 130, axis/button: 7Device: 1, time 99672524, value        0, type: 130, axis/button: 8Device: 1, time 99672524, value        0, type: 130, axis/button: 9

       Here we see two devices, Device 0, and Device 1, corresponding to the usb-Thrustmaster_T.16000M-joystickand the usb-Thrustmaster_TWCS_Throttle-joystick. We can press the buttons on the devices and move theaxes and this will cause more output to be printed. For example, moving the throttle controller:

       Device: 1, time 99830028, value   -29041, type:   2, axis/button: 2Device: 1, time 99830168, value   -28732, type:   2, axis/button: 2Device: 1, time 99830196, value   -21727, type:   2, axis/button: 2Device: 1, time 99830224, value   -18962, type:   2, axis/button: 2Device: 1, time 99830308, value   -18918, type:2, axis/button:2

       Here we see that the throttle axis is on device 1 (usb-Thrustmaster_TWCS_Throttle-joystick.) andon axis 2. Make a note of this. Pressing one of the buttons on the joystick, we see:

       Device: 0, time 99919292, value        1, type:   1, axis/button: 0Device: 0, time 99919388, value        0, type:   1, axis/button: 0

       Here we see that this button is button 0 on the usb-Thrustmaster_T.16000M-joystick.Make a note of this. Continue to do this with each axis and button you areinterested in, making a note of the button numbers and axis numbers.
       
     • Step 3: Modify share/snis/joystick_config.txt to add or modify theconfiguration for your devices. First check to see if there is already aconfiguration for your device. Look for a line in the file that begins:

       device:your-device-name

       If there is such a line, there is already a configuration for your deviceand you just need to modify it to suit your taste. If there is no suchline, you need to add a new device configuration. Go to the bottom of thefile and add

       device:your-device-name

       where "your-device-name" is the name of your device. Note, this is actuallyaregular expressionso if your device name contains a serial number it is possible to write a genericname that will ignore the serial number part, but for most devices, just usingthe device name as is will be fine.

       Follow the other examples to add mappings from your device buttons andaxes to game functions for each appropriate game mode. The game functions are:

       • damcon-gripper
       • damcon-pitch
       • damcon-roll
       • nav-attitude-indicator-abs-rel
       • nav-change-pov
       • nav-docking-magnets
       • nav-engage-warp
       • nav-nudge-warp-down
       • nav-nudge-warp-up
       • nav-nudge-zoom-down
       • nav-nudge-zoom-up
       • nav-reverse
       • nav-standard-orbit
       • nav-starmap
       • phaser
       • pitch
       • roll
       • throttle
       • torpedo
       • weapons-pitch
       • weapons-yaw
       • yaw
       The game modes are:
       • mode 0 - main screen
       • mode 1 - navigation
       • mode 2 - weapons
       • mode 3 - engineering
       • mode 4 - science
       • mode 5 - comms
       • mode 6 - demon screen
       • mode 7 - damage control
       So for example, if you have a "super-duper-brand-controller", and you wantthe Navigation screen to map axis 5 to yaw, axis 6 to pitch, and button 3engage warp, you would write:

       device:super-duper-brand-controller mode 1 axis 5 yaw mode 1 axis 6 pitch mode 1 button 3 nav-engage-warp

     ---

  2. I keep getting "BRIDGE VERIFICATION FAILED" -- what am I doing wrong?

     This means one of several things:

     1. If you have checked the "CREATE SHIP" checkbox:Either:
        • You meant to create a new ship with the given name, but a ship with thatname has already been created. In that case, choose a different name for yourship.
        • You meant to re-use an existing ship. In that case, uncheck the "CREATE SHIP"checkbox. If the ship is already running in the game (other players are onboard)check the JOIN SHIP checkbox. If the ship is not yet in the game (but has beenused before and is recorded) then uncheck the JOIN SHIP checkbox.
     2. If you have not checked the "CREATE SHIP" checkbox:
        • If you have checked the "JOIN SHIP" checkbox: One of the following has occurred:
          • You have entered the name of an existing ship, and entered the passwordcorrectly, but this ship is only known from past runs, the ship has not enteredthe solar system where you are trying to join it. In that case, uncheck theJOIN SHIP checkbox.
          • You have entered the name of a ship which does not exist, or mistyped thename of the ship. Enter the name of a ship which exists.
          • You have entered the name of an existing ship, but entered an incorrect password.
        • If you have not checked the "JOIN SHIP" checkbox. This means that one ofthe following has occurred:
          • You intended to start up a previously used ship in a solarsystembut that ship is already in the solarsystem with players on it. Youneed to check the "JOIN SHIP" checkbox.
          • You have entered an incorrect ship name.
          • You have entered an incorrect ship password.
     3. What is with this "JOIN SHIP" and "CREATE SHIP" checkbox crap? Why is it so confusing?

        "CREATE SHIP" has to do with whether snis_multiverse knows about your shipname/password.The snis_multiverse process maintains a database of shipname/password hashes which is persistentacross invocations. However snis_server also has a notion of whether a ship is known to it.When you check "CREATE SHIP", you are telling snis_server to tell snis_multiverse to createa new ship. If snis_multiverse thinks the ship already exists, you will get BRIDGE VERIFICATIONFAILURE. The "JOIN SHIP" checkbox means that you are attempting to join a ship that snis_serveralready knows about -- that means, a ship that already has other snis_clients attached to it.If you are the first snis_client in a session to use a ship, you should not check JOIN SHIP.If you arenot the first snis_client to use a ship name, then you should checkJOIN SHIP.

        Basically it is about intent. The game needs to know the difference between intentionallycreating a new ship vs. mistyping a ship name, and the difference between creating a new shipand joining an existing ship. Not to suggest that there isn't room for improvement in howit works.

     4. I made a ship, but I forgot the password, what can I do?

        Or you made a ship, and you want to delete it. You cannot recover thepassword, or recover the ship. You can delete the ship and make a new onewith the same name though.First, make sure the game is not running. Use snis_client and click the"Stop all SNIS processes" button on the system that is runningsnis_multiverse.Then, on the system that runssnis_multiverse, look for a directory calledsnisdb. Let's say you named your shipenterprise, and you wantto delete it and create a new one with the same name.

        capnkirk@enterprise ~/github/space-nerds-in-space $ ls -l snisdb/*/*/*-rw-r--r-- 1 capnkirk capnkirk 5370 Jul 19 18:36 snisdb/2aa8/3672/2aa83672bace43178acab8e73b7391d1c316e80d.data-rw-r--r-- 1 capnkirk capnkirk 5241 Jul 19 18:36 snisdb/80f2/969e/80f2969eded0cb559081e3e3202c94fcb5917a41.data-rw-r--r-- 1 capnkirk capnkirk 5355 Jul 19 18:36 snisdb/82b2/4d25/82b24d25b042724aa94a39a9ea38e05cf0cf6340.data-rw-r--r-- 1 capnkirk capnkirk 5241 Jul 19 18:36 snisdb/d253/706d/d253706d8cecf7537337da834ea7d48894f0618f.data-rw-r--r-- 1 capnkirk capnkirk 5432 Jul 19 18:36 snisdb/e7d9/fa36/e7d9fa368467e5549e6846be3d8d11ebac751851.data-rw-r--r-- 1 capnkirk capnkirk 5427 Jul 19 18:36 snisdb/fc4c/c56a/fc4cc56a58319495465a36128e65d1dcf69b2c08.datacapnkirk@enterprise ~/github/space-nerds-in-space $ grep enterprise snisdb/*/*/*snisdb/e7d9/fa36/e7d9fa368467e5549e6846be3d8d11ebac751851.data:sdata.name:enterprise

        From this we can see that the data for the "enterprise" ship (including the hashed password) isstored insnisdb/e7d9/fa36/e7d9fa368467e5549e6846be3d8d11ebac751851.data

        Delete this file.

        capnkirk@enterprise ~/github/space-nerds-in-space $ rm snisdb/e7d9/fa36/e7d9fa368467e5549e6846be3d8d11ebac751851.data

        Now you should be able to create a new ship with the name "enterprise" in the usual way.

     ---

  3. Sound isn't working! (Or sound isn't working quite as I expected)

     Audio on linux is complicated. In general, there are two main takes on howaudio should work in linux, "the pulse way", and "the JACK way". The "JACK way"is generally concerned with professional audio recording, very low latency, etc.The "pulse way" is less concerned with such things, and is more concerned with"just make some damn sound work." I'm going to assume you're using the "pulseway," since if you're using JACK, you probably already know what you're doingand can troubleshoot it yourself.

     Space Nerds in Space usesthe Portaudiolibrary for sound. You need version1.9 of portaudio (not 2.0).There is a test program,snis_test_audio to help trace down audio problems.It will print out a list of devices that Portaudio knows about. Often,when there is some audio problem, the problem turns out to be that soundis by default playing on a different device than what you expected.

     Here is an example of running thesnis_test_audioprogram on my system:

     $ make snis_test_audio$ ./snis_test_audioSpace Nerds In Space audio test program.ALSA lib pcm.c:2266:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.rearALSA lib pcm.c:2266:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.center_lfeALSA lib pcm.c:2266:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.sideALSA lib pcm_route.c:867:(find_matching_chmap) Found no matching channel mapconnect(2) call to /dev/shm/jack-1000/default/jack_0 failed (err=No such file or directory)attempt to connect to server failedPortaudio reports 21 sound devices.Portaudio says the default device is: 20wwviaudio_initialize_portaudio returned 0Portaudio reports 21 devices0: HDA Intel PCH: ALC887-VD Analog (hw:0,0)1: HDA Intel PCH: ALC887-VD Digital (hw:0,1)2: HDA Intel PCH: ALC887-VD Alt Analog (hw:0,2)3: HDA Intel PCH: HDMI 0 (hw:0,3)4: HDA Intel PCH: HDMI 1 (hw:0,7)5: HDA Intel PCH: HDMI 2 (hw:0,8)6: Scarlett 2i2 USB: Audio (hw:1,0)7: sysdefault8: front9: surround2110: surround4011: surround4112: surround5013: surround5114: surround7115: iec95816: spdif17: hdmi18: pulse19: dmix20: defaultAttempting to play sound... ...finished attempting to play sound

     You can try alternate devices, for example, I can make it play through myScarlett 2i2 USB sound device by:

     $ ./snis_test_audio 6Space Nerds In Space audio test program.Manually setting sound device to 6ALSA lib pcm.c:2266:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.rearALSA lib pcm.c:2266:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.center_lfeALSA lib pcm.c:2266:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.sideALSA lib pcm_route.c:867:(find_matching_chmap) Found no matching channel mapconnect(2) call to /dev/shm/jack-1000/default/jack_0 failed (err=No such file or directory)attempt to connect to server failedPortaudio reports 21 sound devices.Portaudio says the default device is: 20Using sound device 6wwviaudio_initialize_portaudio returned 0Portaudio reports 21 devices0: HDA Intel PCH: ALC887-VD Analog (hw:0,0)1: HDA Intel PCH: ALC887-VD Digital (hw:0,1)2: HDA Intel PCH: ALC887-VD Alt Analog (hw:0,2)3: HDA Intel PCH: HDMI 0 (hw:0,3)4: HDA Intel PCH: HDMI 1 (hw:0,7)5: HDA Intel PCH: HDMI 2 (hw:0,8)6: Scarlett 2i2 USB: Audio (hw:1,0)7: sysdefault8: front9: surround2110: surround4011: surround4112: surround5013: surround5114: surround7115: iec95816: spdif17: hdmi18: pulse19: dmix20: defaultAttempting to play sound... ...finished attempting to play sound

     So, you can see what devices it thinks you have, and try them out.

     I also made it so snis_client can use alternate sound devices, e.g.

     export SNIS_AUDIO_DEVICE=6

     then launch the game and it will play sounds through my Scarlett 2i2 USB device instead of the default device.

     Another thing worth trying. On my system (Mint 18.1)there is a "Sound Settings..." thing that I can play with. When the game isrunning, it shows "ALSA plug-in [snis_client]: ALSA Playback on", and from thisGUI Sound Setting thing, I can dynamically switch it to play on either"Built-in Audio Analog Stereo" (which I think is probably what portaudio calls"0: HDA Intel PCH: ALC887-VD Analog (hw:0,0)", and the Scarlett 2i2. But Ithink that is via pulse, so if snis_test_audio shows "pulse" as a device itknows, then you should probably do: export SNIS_AUDIO_DEVICE={whatever numberportaudio thinks pulse is according to snis_test_audio output} (You can installpulse andpavucontrol if they aren't installed andsee if that helps. Thepavucontrol program should let you dynamicallycontrol to which device a running program's sound output is directed.

     Note: I have seen the sound get stuck on a per-program basis to a particularaudio device. For example, I used the "Sound Settings..." to set the audio outputto HDMI for Space Nerds In Space. Later, I disconnected the HDMI cable. The soundoutput remained stuck to HDMI, however, since there was no HDMI cable plugged in,the HDMI interface doesn't even show up in the Sound Settings. However other programswhich used portaudio (e.g. Word War Vi) continued to work just fine. I was able tofix this using pavucontrol (which is will show the HDMI sound interface even if no HDMIcable is connected), or by manually using the SNIS_AUDIO_DEVICE environmentvariable to override the default.

     ---

  4. OpenGL version problems

     For most recent versions of Space Nerds In Space, OpenGL version 2.1 (aka "#version 120"(SeeOpenGLversion decoder ring))is required. This is quite old, so your computer probably supports it.

     For awhile OpenGL version 3.0 (aka "#version 130") was required. This isno longer the case.

     Historically, the following OpenGL versions were required:

     Feb 17, 2019 - Present	OpenGL 2.1	Commit fa60c565411db509a9dccaf4a83ec2dfc7951a00
     Apr 12, 2018 - Feb 16, 2019	OpenGL 3.0	Commit 3c8ea5c71021b3eb3ede34543013d30cce117529
     Dec 22, 2013 - Apr 11, 2018	OpenGL 2.1	Commit fad901a5602c1edecab75e6cc1171e9c6f39cfe5
     Aug 31, 2013 - Dec 22, 2013	Very old OpenGL (fixed pipeline)	Commit 8b039d60cf96a08b69f394a9ee07c8f2a928b8da
     Nov 3, 2012 - Aug 31, 2013	No OpenGL required at all	Commit f421da62ce8d7a0b5e489e78a77e526d7448a62e (first commit)

     From Apr 12, 2018 until Feb 17, 2019, the shaders used by Space Nerds In Space requiredOpenGL version 3.0 (aka "#version 130") or better. If your computer does not support arecent enough version of OpenGL, you can run the limited client instead,which does not use OpenGL at all. Be sure to de-select MAIN SCREEN andWEAPONS roles on the login screen, as these screens do not work wellwith the limited client. The remaining should work sufficientlywell with the limited client, althoughNAVIGATION and especiallytheDEMON screen will probably exhibit poor performance and reducedFPS, so it's best to use the limited client only forENGINEERING,DAMAGE CONTROL,COMMS, andSCIENCE.

     NOTE: The limited client is not as well tested as the OpenGL client,so you are more likely to encounter bugs.

     ---

  5. The game is crashing! What can I do?

     Suppose you see something like this ("Segmentation fault"):

     snis_multiverse: hash 82b24d25b042724aa94a39a9ea38e05cf0cf6340 exists, as expected.snis_multiverse: checking hash 82b24d25b042724aa94a39a9ea38e05cf0cf6340snis_multiverse: verify existence pass=1snis_multiverse: looking up hash '82b24d25b042724aa94a39a9ea38e05cf0cf6340'snis_multiverse: checking against '2aa83672bace43178acab8e73b7391d1c316e80d'snis_multiverse: checking against '80f2969eded0cb559081e3e3202c94fcb5917a41'snis_multiverse: checking against '82b24d25b042724aa94a39a9ea38e05cf0cf6340'snis_multiverse: match hash '82b24d25b042724aa94a39a9ea38e05cf0cf6340'Segmentation faultcapnkirk@enterprise ~/github/space-nerds-in-space $ Last buffer length read from socket 14 was 6732 30 31 37 2d 30 33 2d 30 34 20 30 37 3a 35 39 3a 30 30 20 64 31 39 64 62 64 66 30 62 39 33 38 30 34 62 63 62 65 35 36 66 31 33 64 34 66 33 32 63 63 62 34 39 32 33 31 63 37 32 34 20 2b 20 33 36 38 00 snis_server: client refcount = 1snis_server: client refcount = 0snis_server: client count of bridge 0 = 0snis_server: calling remove_client 0snis_server: remove_client 0 returned

     First, see if you can make it happen reliably. If you can, then do the following:Here is a summary of what to do (more detailed instructions are below).
     1. make mostly-clean
     2. make O=0 # Capital letter O = zero -- suppress optimization.
     3. ulimit -c unlimited
     4. Reproduce the problem with the unoptimized program andobtain a core file.
     5. Figure out which program the core file came from (most likely,snis_clientbut could be something else, likesnis_server orsnis_multiverse.)
     6. file core
     7. gdb -c core bin/snis_client
     8. (gdb)bt
     9. Capture the output of gdb and paste it into a bug report.
  Here is a more detailed version of the above instructions.
  1. Try to capture a core dump

     $ulimit -c unlimited

     Then run the game again. This time you should see something like this for example:

     Replacing ./share/snis/solarsystems/default/../../textures/planet-texture4-4.png with ./share/snis/solarsystems/karado/ounii-with-clouds-4.pngReplacing ./share/snis/solarsystems/default/../../textures/planet-texture4-5.png with ./share/snis/solarsystems/karado/ounii-with-clouds-5.pngReplacing ./share/snis/solarsystems/default/../../textures/planet-texture4-0.png with ./share/snis/solarsystems/karado/ounii-with-clouds-0.pngReplacing ./share/snis/solarsystems/default/../../textures/planet-texture4-2.png with ./share/snis/solarsystems/karado/ounii-with-clouds-2.pngsnis_text_to_speech.sh Leaving high security area.Segmentation fault (core dumped)capnkirk@enterprise ~/github/space-nerds-in-space $ Last buffer length read from socket 14 was 16

     The "(core dumped)" means a memory image of the game was captured in a filenamed "core" (or maybe "core.xxxxxx", where xxxxxx is some numbers.) Run the followingcommand:

     $ls -ltr | tail -5-rwxr-xr-x 1 capnkirk capnkirk    850856 Mar  4 07:59 snis_server-rwxr-xr-x 1 capnkirk capnkirk   1193104 Mar  4 07:59 snis_client-rwxr-xr-x 1 capnkirk capnkirk    909616 Mar  4 07:59 snis_limited_client-rwxr-xr-x 1 capnkirk capnkirk    212432 Mar  4 07:59 snis_multiverse-rw------- 1 capnkirk capnkirk 417386496 Mar  4 08:17 core

  2. See if we can get any information out of the core file with the debugger,gdb. Run the following command:

     $$ file corecore: ELF 64-bit LSB core file x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), SVR4-style, from 'bin/snis_client --fullscreen --starship spacenerd --pw spacenerd'

     From this, we can see that the core file came from thesnis_clientprogram (rather than fromsnis_server,snis_multiverse,or something else.) Now that we know what program the core file is from,we can try to get a bit more info out of it. Run the following:

     $gdb -c core ./snis_client$ gdb -c coreGNU gdb (Ubuntu 7.11.1-0ubuntu1~16.04) 7.11.1Copyright (C) 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.  Type "show copying"and "show warranty" for details.This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".Type "show configuration" for configuration details.For bug reporting instructions, please see:<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>For help, type "help".Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word".[New LWP 6365][New LWP 6386][New LWP 6371][New LWP 6375][New LWP 6372][New LWP 6373][New LWP 6385][New LWP 6374]Core was generated by `./snis_client --fullscreen --starship spacenerd --pw spacenerd'.Program terminated with signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.#0  0x0000000000431960 in ?? ()[Current thread is 1 (LWP 6365)](gdb) _

     At this point, you're runninggdb and it is waiting for you to tell it whatto do. We can already see some information though. The program terminated withSIGSEGV (segmentation fault, we already knew that).

     Now typebt to see aback trace:

     (gdb)bt#0  0x0000000000431960 in ?? ()#1  0x000000000044de3b in ?? ()#2  0x00000000006fb480 in ?? ()#3  0x00000000004752dd in ?? ()#4  0x00007ffc221ca910 in ?? ()#5  0x00000001bc70f20e in ?? ()#6  0x00007ffc221ca900 in ?? ()#7  0x00007ffc221f3cd5 in ?? ()#8  0x00007ffc221ca930 in ?? ()#9  0x000000017fffffff in ?? ()#10 0x0000000000000001 in ?? ()#11 0xa4ef74cf09462800 in ?? ()#12 0x00007ffc221ca968 in ?? ()#13 0x0000000000000000 in ?? ()(gdb) _

     Not very helpful. Typequit to exitgdb.

     (gdb)quit$ _

     This is because the program was builtoptimizedand stripped of debugging symbols (to make it smaller). So now we should tryto recreate the problem with an unoptimized version of the program withdebugging symbols. To make an unoptimized build, do the following:

     $make mostly-clean... lots of output omitted ...$make O=0  COMPILE mathutils.c    COMPILE snis_alloc.c    COMPILE snis_socket_io.c    COMPILE snis_marshal.c... lots of output omitted ...  LINK snis_server  LINK snis_client  LINK snis_limited_client  LINK snis_multiverse

     Now, try to recreate the problem by running the unoptimized game.Presuming you're successful at recreating the problem, you shouldhave a new core file.

     $ls -ltr | tail -5-rwxr-xr-x 1 capnkirk capnkirk   1410480 Mar  4 08:37 snis_client-rwxr-xr-x 1 capnkirk capnkirk   1124344 Mar  4 08:37 snis_limited_client-rwxr-xr-x 1 capnkirk capnkirk    237352 Mar  4 08:37 snis_multiversedrwxr-xr-x 2 capnkirk capnkirk      4096 Mar  4 08:37 bin-rw------- 1 capnkirk capnkirk 417390592 Mar  4 08:39 core

     Let's run the debugger on the new core file:

     $ file corecore: ELF 64-bit LSB core file x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), SVR4-style, from './snis_client --fullscreen --starship spacenerd --pw spacenerd'capnkirk@enterprise ~/github/space-nerds-in-space $ gdb -c core ./snis_clientGNU gdb (Ubuntu 7.11.1-0ubuntu1~16.04) 7.11.1Copyright (C) 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.  Type "show copying"and "show warranty" for details.This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".Type "show configuration" for configuration details.For bug reporting instructions, please see:<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.For help, type "help".Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...Reading symbols from ./snis_client...done.[New LWP 6866][New LWP 6851][New LWP 6867][New LWP 6850][New LWP 6848][New LWP 6841][New LWP 6849][New LWP 6847][Thread debugging using libthread_db enabled]Using host libthread_db library "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libthread_db.so.1".Core was generated by `./snis_client --fullscreen --starship spacenerd --pw spacenerd'.Program terminated with signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.#0  0x000000000043c305 in vec3_init (vo=0x7c, x=221934.969, y=-5072.68408, z=175696.594) at quat.c:419419vo->v.x = x;[Current thread is 1 (Thread 0x7fb02f7fe700 (LWP 6866))](gdb) _

     Now we see some more information. It's telling us the program crashed in the functioncalledvec3_init in the filequat.c at line419and it's even showing use the line of source code where the program crashed. Thisis perfect information to put into bug report.Typebt to get aback trace:

     (gdb)bt#0  0x000000000043c305 in vec3_init (vo=0x7c, x=221934.969, y=-5072.68408, z=175696.594) at quat.c:419#1  0x0000000000433034 in update_entity_pos (e=0x0, x=221934.969, y=-5072.68408, z=175696.594) at entity.c:189#2  0x0000000000456383 in laserbeam_move (o=0x7da290 <go+938448>) at snis_client.c:1335#3  0x0000000000456774 in init_laserbeam_data (o=0x7da290 <go+938448> at snis_client.c:1389#4  0x000000000045587e in update_laserbeam (id=887, timestamp=243, origin=293, target=354) at snis_client.c:1143#5  0x00000000004628ba in process_update_laserbeam () at snis_client.c:5386#6  0x0000000000462fdf in gameserver_reader (arg=0x0) at snis_client.c:5586#7  0x00007fb07228d6ba in start_thread (arg=0x7fb02f7fe700) at pthread_create.c:333#8  0x00007fb071dba82d in clone () at ../sysdeps/unix/sysv/linux/x86_64/clone.S:109(gdb)

     Now it's showing us all the function calls along the way that lead up to the crashwithin thevec3_init function, which is more great info to put into abug report. This is probably sufficient. But, if you want to go a little further...

     (gdb)list414quat_init_axis_v(q, &v, angle);415}416417void vec3_init(union vec3 *vo, float x, float y, float z)418{419vo->v.x = x;420vo->v.y = y;421vo->v.z = z;422}423

     Unless you know C, that probably doesn't mean much to you. If youdo know C, you can see that "vo" is a pointer to a union, and the functionis setting several members of the union, and there aren't any other pointersin the vicinity, so let's look at vo.

     (gdb)print vo$1 = (union vec3 *) 0x7c(gdb) _

     Hmm,0x7c does not look especially like a valid memory address.

     (gdb)print *voCannot access memory at address 0x7c(gdb) _

     Nope, it's not valid. Digging a little more, let's goupthe stack and see what called thisvec3_init() function.

     (gdb)up#1  0x0000000000433034 in update_entity_pos (e=0x0, x=221934.969, y=-5072.68408, z=175696.594) at entity.c:189189vec3_init(&e->e_pos, x, y, z);(gdb)list184}185}186187void update_entity_pos(struct entity *e, float x, float y, float z)188{189vec3_init(&e->e_pos, x, y, z);190}191192void update_entity_orientation(struct entity *e, const union quat *orientation)193{(gdb)print e$2 = (struct entity *) 0x0

     Hmm,e is null, but was passed in here, so let's go up the stack again.

     (gdb)up#2  0x0000000000456383 in laserbeam_move (o=0x7da290 <go+938448> at snis_client.c:13351335update_entity_pos(o->entity, x, y, z);(gdb)list13301331x = origin->x + 0.5 * target_vector.v.x;1332y = origin->y + 0.5 * target_vector.v.y;1333z = origin->z + 0.5 * target_vector.v.z;13341335update_entity_pos(o->entity, x, y, z);1336update_entity_orientation(o->entity, &orientation);1337update_entity_material(o->entity, o->tsd.laserbeam.material);1338update_entity_non_uniform_scale(o->entity, length, 2.0 + snis_randn(7), 0.0);1339(gdb)print o$3 = (struct snis_entity *) 0x7da290 <go+938448>(gdb) print o->entity$4 = (struct entity *) 0x0(gdb)

     Soo seems to be a valid pointer, buto->entity is 0 (means NULL).So it seems we have an unexpected null pointer.
• Network Problems
  • Connectivity problems

    First make sure your computers can ping each other. You can find out the IPaddress of your computer viaifconfig -a orip a.

    capnkirk@enterprise ~ $ifconfigenp3s0    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 30:5a:3a:78:f9:d8inet addr:192.168.1.157  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0          inet6 addr: fe80::29fe:4469:7af1:2fcb/64 Scope:Link          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1          RX packets:18743 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0          TX packets:12293 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000          RX bytes:14826741 (14.8 MB)  TX bytes:2321884 (2.3 MB)lo        Link encap:Local Loopback          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1          RX packets:20 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0          TX packets:20 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1          RX bytes:2106 (2.1 KB)  TX bytes:2106 (2.1 KB)capnkirk@enterprise ~ $ip a1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever    inet6 ::1/128 scope host       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever2: enp3s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP group default qlen 1000    link/ether 30:5a:3a:78:f9:d8 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ffinet 192.168.1.157/24 brd 192.168.1.255 scope global dynamic enp3s0       valid_lft 85692sec preferred_lft 85692sec    inet6 fe80::29fe:4469:7af1:2fcb/64 scope link       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

    Here's what it looks like when the network is working:

    capnkirk@enterprise ~ $ping 8.8.8.8PING 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8) 56(84) bytes of data.64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=1 ttl=57 time=10.8 ms64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=2 ttl=57 time=11.1 ms64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3 ttl=57 time=11.2 ms64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=4 ttl=57 time=9.08 ms

    This is what it looks like if you can't ping:

    scameron@wombat ~ $ ping 192.168.1.99PING 192.168.1.99 (192.168.1.99) 56(84) bytes of data.From 192.168.1.157 icmp_seq=1 Destination Host UnreachableFrom 192.168.1.157 icmp_seq=2 Destination Host UnreachableFrom 192.168.1.157 icmp_seq=3 Destination Host UnreachableFrom 192.168.1.157 icmp_seq=4 Destination Host Unreachable

    Try pinging 8.8.8.8, which is Google's DNS server. If you are tryingto run SNIS on a private network without access to the internet (if youcannot successfully ping 8.8.8.8), and youare able to ping other machines on your network, then special action isrequired to make SNIS work.Let's say all the machines on your network have an IP address like192.168.1.xxx. When you start snis_launcher, you should do it like so:

    export SSGL_PRIMARY_IP_ADDR_PROBE=192.168.1.1bin/snis_launcher

    IPv6. SNIS does not yet work with IPv6. Feel free to send patches.

  • Latency and Bandwidth related problems

    Space Nerds in Space is designed to be run on a LAN, not over the internet. Generallyon a LAN, you shouldn't have too much trouble, provided you have awired networkand not awireless network.

    You can monitor graphs of bandwidth usage and latency on the DEMON screen (press the NET STATSbutton).

    That being said, there are several variables that are tweakable via the DEMON screenwhich you can use to reduce the bandwidth requirements and potentially improve latency.(note: use the "vars" command on the DEMON screen to see a list of tweakable variables andtheir minimum, maximum, and default values).

    1. BANDWIDTH_THROTTLE_DISTANCE: this is the distance below which updated values may not betransmitted to player consoles. Far away objects do not need to have super accurate valuesreflected in player consoles, so not updating them when they are far away saves bandwidth.Reducing this distance to the minimum will save the most bandwidth at the cost that somethings may move around a bit weirdly, esp. at high zoom levels.
    2. DISTANT_UPDATE_PERIOD: For distant objects, updates are throttled and sent only so often.This value controls how often. By default, it is every 2 seconds (20 ticks). Increasing thisvalue to the maximum will save more bandwidth by sending updates for distant objects even lessfrequently.
    3. NPC_SHIP_COUNT: This is the number of NPC ships generated when the universe is generated.By default it is 250. Reducing this drastically (e.g. say to 20) will drastically reduce bandwidthrequirements. This only has an effect when generating the universe, so after setting this, usethe REGENERATE command to regenerate a new universe.
    4. ASTEROID_COUNT: This is the number of asteroids generated when the universe is generated.By default it is 200. Reducing this drastically (e.g. say to 20) will drastically reduce bandwidthrequirements. This only has an effect when generating the universe, so after setting this, usethe REGENERATE command to regenerate a new universe.
    Note, adjusting ASTEROID_COUNT and NPC_SHIP_COUNT generally will not help when running Lua scriptedscenarios as such scenarios typically do not use the procedural generation code used by the REGENERATE commandwhen populating the universe but instead typically use their own custom code or a pre-setconfiguration when populating the initial conditions.

• Playing over the internet

  Space Nerds in Space was designed to be played on a LAN, not over the internet.I do not recommend playing over the internet. Be aware that the protocol is notencrypted in any way and is not secure.

  Some people insist on attempting it anyway.

  You can control the port that the lobby server runs on via the environmentvariable via the "Options" menu item of the snis_launcher script or via theenvironment variable SSGL_PORT. For snis_client, the lobby port number may beentered via the "Options" menu of the snis_launcher script, via the SSGL_PORTenvironment variable, or via the UI on the network setup screen.

  You can control the range of ports which snis_server will use via the "Options"menu of the snis_launcher script or via the environment variableSNIS_SERVER_PORT_RANGE, e.g. "export SNIS_SERVER_PORT_RANGE=32000:32100". Youmight want to do this to limit what ports you need to open up on your firewall.

  Seedoc/running-in-the-cloud.txtfor more information.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  ---

  Lua Scripting

  Space Nerds In Space has a Lua scripting API to allow you to create mission scripts.This API is described inlua-api.txt.Additionally, the game comes with a few scripts which you can take a look at to get someideas inshare/snis/luascripts.The best examples are:

  • TRAINING-MISSION-1.LUA
  • SAVING-PLANET-ERPH.LUA
  • SPACEPOX.LUA

  Additionally, have a look atMAINMENU.LUA to see how you can tie them all together with a menu system.

  Here are a few video tutorials explaining how to use Lua to create mission scripts:

  • Part 1:
    
  • Part 2:
    
  • Part 3:
    
  • Part 4:
    

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  Miscellaneous Development Topics

  • Why aren't there binaries? Why do I have to compile it myself?

    I will let Linus Torvalds explain why:

  • What about installing the game? The above instructions for building the game have youdownload the source, compile it, then run it right where you compiled it. What if you want to installit on your system?

    One reason you mightnot want to install the game is that the game changes quite frequently, andif the protocol changes (as it does) the version you installed is likely to be out of date and you willhave to recompile anyway. So "git pull" followed by "make" is not that hard.

    That being said, maybe you do insist on wanting to try installing the game inthe traditional sense. I would advise against this (see below), but if you insist,here's how to install the game into /usr/local:

    • make mostly-clean
    • make DESTDIR= PREFIX=/usr/local
    • make DESTDIR= PREFIX=/usr/local update-assets
    • sudo make DESTDIR= PREFIX=/usr/local install
    • sudo make DESTDIR= PREFIX=/usr/lcoal install-assets

    Note thatDESTDIR is. by default, so you must specifyDESTDIR=if you want it to really land in/usr/local.

    Then you can run it via:

    /usr/local/bin/snis_launcher

    Note that I don't usemake install very much, so it's quite possible there are some bugs in theMakefile around this area, though it worked as of Jan 16, 2019, so far as I know.

    If you do want to usemake install, there's no reason to do so as root if you picka PREFIX that you have permission to write into. The main rationale for installing thingsas root is to put them into, e.g. /usr/local/ and the main rationale for doingthatis so that multiple users on the same system can run the program while installing it onlyonce. These days, while linux is a multiuser system, the nature of this game requires thateach player have their own computer, and since the game uses OpenGL, you're not going to login remotely and try to run the game with X windows over the network, so there's no goodreason tomake install as root.

    Also,snis_launcher will be installed in the bin subdirectory rather thanat the top level, so to run it, do:cd $HOME/snis ; bin/snis_launcher.

  • If you want to hack on the game, have a look atCONTRIBUTING.md,and for more details about how to find what bit of functionality is controlled by which bit of code, havea look atHacking On Space Nerds In Space.
  • Here is ayoutubeplaylist of development videos for Space Nerds In Space spanning the time from the very beginningwhen the game was literally not much more thanjust a bunch of dots on the screen up until the present day.

    Here isa set of slides about speech recognition andnatural language processing in Space Nerds In Space.

  • Here is a set of slides from a talk I gave about procedurally generating gas giantplanet textures:Procedurally GeneratingGas Giant Textures.

    Here are some pictures showingvarious noise-scales and the effect they have in gaseous-giganticus.

  • Here is aslideshow about theimplemenation of planetary rings and shadows cast by and on them in Space NerdsIn Space.
  • Here is aslideshow about 'earthlike', whichis a program used to generate some of the earthlike planet textures within Space Nerds In Space.(Use arrow keys to navigate the slideshow. And press F11 for full screen.)

    Most of the code islicensed under the GPL v. 2, or at your option, any later version. Some parts of the codehave an MIT license. Audio files havevarious other licenses, typically some variant of a Creative Commons license. I have triedto be diligent about making sure it is clear which parts of the code have what licenses.Consult the source if in doubt.

  • Here aresome notes about creating Arduino based physicalcontrol panels for Space Nerds in Space.
  • Here aresome very old out-of-date instructionsabout creating bootable images to play the game.
  • Here is a copy of the freegamdev.net thread about this game (just a backup in case some disaster strikes that forum)

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