Topic: Exercise with oof files

[Thomas]

I would like several D3 players here to go for a little exercise with oof files.

How many oof files (*.oof) have you got in your Descent 3's main folder (C:\Games\Descent3 or C:\Program files\Descent3 or...)?

If you have one or more of these files there, can you also tell me why they are in this folder?

Thanks in advance.

[TechPro]

I have 8 file of the oof type in my main Descent 3 folder.  ALL of them are due to custom mods that have been used with some levels and some custom MP games.  Most have not been used in quite a while.

[Thomas]

Does that mean you were hosting servers on that machine?

[-<WillyP>-]

none for me, at the moment...

[Foil]

My dedi server \Descent3 folder is chock full of .oof files.  To prevent crashes when games cycle, of course. 

[Thomas]

It's perfectly fine if those objects are there to prevent server crashes.

It'd probably be a minor catastrophy if they were there for any other reason. That's why I would like to know if there's anybody who's got object files in their D3 folder to suit other purposes.

[TechPro]

Regular users (non-servers) will also have those files.

[Thomas]

Maybe, but what for?

[TechPro]

I have 8 file of the oof type in my main Descent 3 folder.  ALL of them are due to custom mods that have been used with some levels and some custom MP games.  Most have not been used in quite a while.

[Thomas]

Techpro, thanks. I have read that. 

ALL of them are due to custom mods that have been used with some levels and some custom MP games.

How and what for have you used them? Were you hosting an in-game or a dedi server? Or was it only SP?

[Scyphi]

Probably just for having them on the machine to begin with. Techpro doesn't do much hosting (and I would know, seeing that I live with him), and most of those MP levels that require those custom mods aren't hardly played anyway.

[Thomas]

As far as I'm aware oof files in the D3 folder are only required when a server is hosted that contains custom objects.

The files are useless in SP and on clients, hence a machine that's not used for hosting servers (either dedis or in-game) shouldn't have any oof files in Descent 3's main folder.

I know that some D3 installations contain oof files, but I have no clue how they got there and why they are there in the first place. I can only imagine that they have been extracted from a mission file because they were included in something that was hosted as a server.

Another explanation would be that they have been misplaced accidentally or for some unknown reason. I'm after the unknown one.

[TechPro]

The files are useless in SP and on clients, hence a machine that's not used for hosting servers (either dedis or in-game) shouldn't have any oof files in Descent 3's main folder.

While I'm not an expert, I'm going to say that isn't true.  Most (if not all) of the oof files do more than just provide custom stuff for the server (host).  As you may be aware (no, I'm sure you're aware) most resources and custom items provided by a server for an Descent 3 MP game must be downloaded to each of the client/player computers in order for that custom mod/resource/option will be seen/used by the players (custom ships, custom weapons, custom functions/actions/visuals, custom sounds, etc.).  These oof files provide special custom items not normally provided by the standard copy of Descent 3, therefore it makes complete sense that the clients/players would be either downloading those things, or having them installed in advance of seeing or using those custom features.

For example, when participating with some MP games in connection with the Descent Fan Fiction, there was special custom games setup with custom ships fashioned after custom ships used in some of the stories posted there.  Of the 8 .oof files in my Descent 3, I know for a fact that at least 5 of those .oof files are required in order for me (as a player, not the host/server) to be able to see and/or use those custom ships in game.

[(LL)Atan]

I think there is nothing what is to be downloaded from the server.
You own all you need inside your downloaded mission-file.
It seems more to be a server problem and if I remember right, it will hit you if the server restarts first.

IMO, as player you should own no customs inside your d3 main dir.
But if you may use your d3 copy as server, than you should extract the needed customs into your d3 dir to prevent a crash.
But if you don't clean up you may run into trouble i.e. if you own a custom gam inside your dir.
That's  because D3 has some rules (chain) to look for customs (gams).
So if you replace an 'stock' object with an custom one and the custom gam is inside the D3 dir, D3 will show this custom as replacement always.
I can't remember all of that story but we searched for such related problem often. 

[Thomas]

As you may be aware (no, I'm sure you're aware) most resources and custom items provided by a server for an Descent 3 MP game must be downloaded to each of the client/player computers in order for that custom mod/resource/option will be seen/used by the players (custom ships, custom weapons, custom functions/actions/visuals, custom sounds, etc.).

As Atan said, all this information normally resides inside the mission (.mn3) file. An mn3 file is something like an archive, like a zip file, only not compressed. Once the player (client or single) and the server have the same archive there's no need for the client to download anything anymore.

At some point I believed that the scripts in SP/co-op need to be downloaded, but that's wrong. The server is the only participant in the game who executes them, hence no need for any other player to download the dll file. We've tested this.

These oof files provide special custom items not normally provided by the standard copy of Descent 3, therefore it makes complete sense that the clients/players would be either downloading those things, or having them installed in advance of seeing or using those custom features.

Descent 3 can only auto-download one single zip file. That zip file can contain several files. All of these files are afterwards found in the missions folder. Descent 3 has no feature to download anything into its main folder, but this is where these oof files can be found. All custom items should be in the mn3 file which is placed in the missions folder.

For example, when participating with some MP games in connection with the Descent Fan Fiction, there was special custom games setup with custom ships fashioned after custom ships used in some of the stories posted there.  Of the 8 .oof files in my Descent 3, I know for a fact that at least 5 of those .oof files are required in order for me (as a player, not the host/server) to be able to see and/or use those custom ships in game.

That only makes sense if the level designer forgot to put these objects in their mission file. In this case the mission should be fixed. I'm not going to cover this issue in the server tool. It's like selling a beverage without container. I'm not going to take my glass with me to the pub. 

I can also imagine that level designers who know about the bug in Descent 3 would not bother with packaging the object files with the mn3 but providing them separately instead to be placed in the main folder manually. This too is not the right way of handling the files, because the bug only manifests when a mission is hosted as a server. Descent 3 handles the files inside the mission file correctly in single-player. It also maintains custum textures, sounds, etc correctly when hosted. The only file type that cause server crashes are custom object files.