ECM Won't Turn Off

[KillerB]

Hey I don't mean to be a pest but I have a new problem already...
Ever since I upgraded to the ECM Package III, I have constant 'low jump energy' warning on my HUD and I can't leave the system (Ptzezkab)....and it's a pretty dull place
I never needed to toggle the earlier ECM Package I since I had plenty of juice to not need to worry about it.
When I tried toggling the ECM off, most of the times when I hit the 'e' button nothing happens at all, occaisionally I get a brief "ECM Ready" and then right back to "ECM Active".
I took a leap and tried editing my vegastrike.config since that was the solution to my joystick problem. I looked for an "ECM Off" option but didn't find one. I tried editing the binding for 'e' to read "ToggleECM" instead of "ECM" but the only effect this seemed to have is that I don't even get the breif "ECM Ready" flash. I replaced the edited .config with the orginal, now I'm back to the brief "ECM Ready" again when I try to toggle the ECM off.
I tried saving my game, selling my ECM and launching. The "low jump energy" warning went away, replaced by the normal "jump too far" reading.

My Computer Specs:
HP Pavilion dv7-1232nr Entertainment Notebook
System RAM 4Gigs
Video Card ATI Radeon DH 3200 1918Megs
Vista Home Premium

Joystick:
Wingman Force 3D
3-Axis w/ Z-Axis Throttle

Game Version: Vega Strike 5.0

Ship Specs:
Llama
Missiles: Heatseakers (both mounts)
Armor: Tantalum
Capacitor: Standard VI
ECM: Pkg III
Interstellar Jump Drive
Overdrive VI
Reactor: Standard VI
SPEC Capacitor: FTL Energy Cap I
Sensors: Intermediate Starscanner 2600
Shields: Standard Quad VIII
Weps:
Beam: Repulsor Beam (1)
Guns Mounted (Light) Ion Burster (3)

p.s. I tried searching the Bug Triage and the User Help for the keywords ECM with no matches. I tried searching the whole forum for ECM, but the handful of posts were only gameplay related, not bug reports.
Obviously if I buy a bigger reactor my ECM problem will go away...but the local yokels in Ptzezkab don't even have missiles for sale and I'm running out! Let alone equipment upgrades. I thought about trying to sell my ECM III and make a run for another system, but too many people HATE me here.
btw I gave Vega Strike good reviews/advertisement in my home turf atVanguard Federation of Freelancers and in Fusion Mods and in Space Sim Central
I'm hoping that if we get enough of a player base, SOMEBODY who gets hooked on Vega Strike will have a server they can set up
We used to have 5 Freelancer Servers going at Vanguard, but sadly EVE ate up most of our hard core Freelancers...I thought about trying EVE out myself, but you don't actually FLY the ships....what's the fun in that?

[loki1950]

There was a mention about ECM not working but that was before the release of 0.5 so it would be buried in the back pages but a synopsis was that it was not working at all much like HUD repair droid you could change the energy usage of ECM III in units.csv till you find some place safer to sell it i usually just leave it on but then i also usually max the reactor and capacitors on any ship i get still lots of old bugs that need fixing but then that's to be expected bug stomping is not as cool as coding new features besides bug hunting is kinda hidden so no ego boo for the guy doing it.And with the core dev team in academic survival mode ATM not being actively done.

Enjoy the Choice

[chaotical]

I am having a similar (possibly the same) problem. The ECM will not turn off if I have damage report displayed. If I switch it to cargo display or weapons list, I can turn ECM on or off as I wish.

[KillerB]

So I'm stuck in Ptzezkbab until I find a passing ship with a bigger reactor...bummer man! I did land on one with actual equipment for sale, but at the time I was nearly broke from doing all those low paying Ptzezkhbab Patrol missions where I wound up spending most of my mission money on repairs and H-Fuel

As I said in my original post, I tried hacking the .config to say "ToggleECM" instead of "ECM" and the only result was that the 'e' button didn't do ANYthing.
I think the problem is that the command "ECM" winds up saying "turn ECM on" instead of "turn ECM on/off"
Where would I look to change "ECM" into "ToggleECM"?
Is it further down the .config or is there another widget I need to peek in?
Plain English as much as possible please! I used to be able to read and write code back in the days when Dinosaurs and Trash 80's ruled the Earth but nowadays Geek is all Greek to me

[loki1950]

Code: Select all

bind key="c" modifier="none" command="CloakKey" />
   <bind key="E" modifier="alt" command="EjectKey" />
   <bind key="e" modifier="none" command="ECMKey" />
   <bind key="Z" modifier="none" command="EjectCargoKey" />
   <b

This is what i have so it's "ECMKey" not just "EMC" or "ToggleEMC" as those commands are define in the C++ code in Flybywire.cpp IIRC.

Enjoy the Choice

[KillerB]

Code: Select all

bind key="c" modifier="none" command="CloakKey" />
   <bind key="E" modifier="alt" command="EjectKey" />
   <bind key="e" modifier="none" command="ECMKey" />
   <bind key="Z" modifier="none" command="EjectCargoKey" />
   <b

This is what i have so it's "ECMKey" not just "EMC" or "ToggleEMC" as those commands are define in the C++ code in Flybywire.cpp IIRC.

Enjoy the Choice

I told ya I don't speak fluent Geek
Yes you are correct, I made my mistake in my post but not in my .config. What I had tried looked like:<bind key="e" modifier="none" command="ToggleECMKey" />

I tried another trick while waiting to hear any suggestions:
I copied
<bind key="e" modifier="none" command="ECMKey" />
hit 'enter' to make another line
pasted
<bind key="e" modifier="none" command="ECMKey" />
and then changed the pasted line to
<bind key="E" modifier="none" command="ECMOffKey" />

End result: mixed success.....I still can't turn the damn ECM off, but now my jump drive recharges after I press shift-e
apparently (well my hypothesis) the game wants the damn ECM to run all the time whether we tell it to turn on or not; adding the turn-off switch gives the reactor a millisecond or two to play catch-up before the program turns the ECM back on AGAIN.
From peeking at the rest of the .config, my guess is that if I ever find a Cloaking Device, I'll run into the same brick wall....an on button but no off button.....meanwhile I'm OUTA Ptzezkhab!!!!! On my way to someplace in the big crowded downtown startropolis where I can go SHOPPING again. I'm as happy as a little girl
Thanks,
KB

p.s. is there a Fixes/Patches page we could post this to, so other people running into the same brick wall can find this hack easier?

[loki1950]

p.s. is there a Fixes/Patches page we could post this to, so other people running into the same brick wall can find this hack easier?

Now that is a good idea now for implementation as a sticky thread here on the forum or as a wiki page or both i am thinking both for maximum exposure.

Enjoy the Choice

[KillerB]

I had the same problem show up again, twice. Both times, the 'low jump energy' warning came up after I got my ship shot to pieces. After landing and repairing, the LJE warning stayed on & I was unable to leave the system. The first time I fixed the problem by going to the next size larger reactor, from a mk5 to a mk6 in a Llama.start.

The second time this happened, I was in my new hooptimobile Pacifier. The reactor was already as big as I could afford, and as well it was more than adequate for the mk 10 shield and the weapons loadout (16 seconds of continuous fire). I landed back on the planet I was working out of, sold the ECM, waited for the Jump Energy bar to max out, landed again and bought my ECM back.

In both cases, the blue Jump Energy bar was all the way up while the LJE warning was stuck on.

[Zebedee]

Just had the exact same problem. Thanks for the hack, now I'm off to try and figure out how to implement it Perhaps related, I also now seem to be lacking a missile rack despite it not reporting itself as broken to be fixed.

Really hope someone comes up with a fix for this because ECM is kind of needed.