ADVANCED RESEARCH ENCAPSULATION SYSTEM (ARES)

UPDATE 0.3.1 (BETA 1)


This build addresses a wide range of bug fixes and new features that should improve comfort of use and the flexibility of shell scripting. It also addresses a few minor tweaks necessary for robust compatibility with a wider range of controller hardware, such as teaching the OS to ignore projector control messages.

Our original roadmap for ARES intended to bring out the Warrior extension during the Beta 1 phase. Since the Warrior feature set leans heavily on applying RLV restrictions (malfunctions and area damage), including some that overlap with Sexuality (friction) and disabling subsystems. This realistically will necessitate working on the effector daemon (ARES's internal RLV backend) to better handle restrictions from multiple sources simultaneously.

Additionally, during the controller release one of the most consistent areas of criticism for ARES was a desire for more flexibility in the interface layout. ARES was designed to be used full-screen on a 1920x1080 display with minimal interference from other UI and HUDs; since this configuration is not universal, some users have found the ARES experience somewhat inferior to what we intended. To handle this, we're adding a new userspace service (always-active script) for assisting the interface daemon, to be called display, which will allow for switching between multiple UI layouts, and repositioning HUD elements, without manually editing configuration files, as well as more adaptability to different aspect ratios.

These features will be coming in the next build, to be termed Beta 2. The previous roadmap is being bumped back, so the old Beta 2 is now Beta 3 and the old Beta 3 is now Beta 4. This is mainly a numerical change, although the new UI work will delay things a little.


Updating instructions:

    See http://support.nanite-systems.com/?id=2978


deet bugs addressed in 0.3.1:

    3258: LCA commands not honoring defined aliases
    3245: Random package failure (sporadic 'blocked by permissions' error from server during file transfer)
    3225: ARES able to operate without a battery
    3212: llSetRemoteScriptAccessPin stale on newly-delivered copies
    3208: touchattachself=n after EPS depleted

Thank you again to everyone who's been submitting bug reports. Keep them coming!


Other changes in this version:

 - Local command access now uses the shell, so running commands with /1<prefix> will now accept aliases and device commands.
 - Badge fixes for: DAX/2 (new), DAX/2c, DAX/2m (new), DAX/3m, NS-226 (new), NS-119 (new)
 - Battery will now automatically eject when door opens. (Required for NS-120.)
 - id now checks the model for changes when it is invoked without arguments.
 - New syntax for 'if' command in exec scripts: 'if x in $y then ...' will check for presence of a key-value pair with the key x in the JSON object $y.
 - New syntax for 'if' command in exec scripts: 'if not ...' for negation.
 - hardware now broadcasts instructions to display boot screen during kernel reset and device probe.
 - Changed the order of screen size calibration steps in the Setup wizard. Now also attempts to guess correct resolution for third-person camera based on reported first-person size.
 - Fixed a bug where exec scripts hang indefinitely after calling 'input'
 - Set all standard .db files to be no-modify to discourage users from storing settings in files that will be wiped out during an OS update.
 - Individual color presets are now stored in LSD:swatch (see swatch.db) for customizability. Sadly, importing all of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X11_color_names didn't work out.
 - New database setting LSD:input.censored allows replacing the message sent to local chat when the unit attempts to speak with the mind off.
 - hardware now ignores the light bus messages 'project', 'stop_project', and 'projector ...', which are intended for receipt by the controller, not the system. These first two are deprecated; if you've written gestures to trigger 'stop_project', change them to 'menu end' instead.
 - The calc program is now part of the OS by default, so shell scripts can rely on its availability. The new version bundled with ARES 0.3.1 can also generate random numbers, which is a particularly useful thing to have for writing personas.
 - The tell program is now part of the OS by default, so shell scripts can rely on its availability. It remains at version 1.1.1.
 - pkg.version signatures have been added for several other bundled programs (wiz, media, persona, type, xset, db, and help) with the possible eventual goal of making OS updates less monolithic.


Recent changes in accompanying material:

 - [ctrl] Can now click controller body to boot system when powered down.
 - [ctrl] Can now display text on the boot screen.
 - [ctrl] Can now autoconf four-color lighting using &, $, or @ in place of #.
 - [ctrl] Support for more screen types and hooking the Revenant's projector control commands.
 - [autoexec.as] All autoexec.as files included with main controller purchase packages now run a restart of the interface daemon at the end, to refresh the model badge.