4.0: Empty Bulletin Board

[spacepirate71]

The new bulletin board is empty, no generic missions can be found on any stations, and many NPC traders, such as the ship mechanic, have no wares to trade. All ship mechanics offer only trading software.

This began after the first mission of Rising Tide, when I was unable to locate or contact the NPC mentioned in the briefing for the mission reward. I've since also tried installing one or two shader mods and the mod builder tool "XRCatTool".

[Santi]

Have you try disabling all the mods, you could also try a no mod gamestart to check if the problems still persist. With the new version some mods may have lost compatibility and cause estrange issues.

[spacepirate71]

Disabling mods makes the saved games incompatible. I can, however, modify the save file by removing reference to the mod and load the saved game.

Edit: That is not possible anymore. All new save files are gzipped and synced to the Steam cloud.

[CBJ]

You can try a file verification from the Steam client, but if your game is modified then there's a good chance that one of the mods is interfering. Try checking that you have no mods installed and starting a new game. If missions start appearing and remain on the BBS then the chances are a mod is causing the problem, in which case you'll have to work out which one and take the matter up with the mod's author.

[YorrickVander]

you can turn off steam sync in x rebirth > properties > updates. you can then either turn off save compression in game settings or just use 7zip or whatever to extract the savefile. if you extract then delete the gz save it will find the xml one remaining.

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

BBS doesn't initiate until after leaving a starting zone if loading an existing save.


Edit: Corrected post to be specifically about existing save as the BBS populates in starting zones when we're in a new game.

[spacepirate71]

Starting a new game, 'Free Play', with all the same mods enabled, results in a fully populated bulletin board.

As I mentioned, this started after the first mission of 'Rising Tide' of The Teladi Outpost DLC, which ended with a missing mission agent NPC, before the journal entry disappeared totally.

Presently, I am trying to have a ship build (Lyramekron @ Eternal Dawn), and the Shipyard is paused at zero for a lack of energy cells. I have already sold it the required amount, and it displays none in its inventory, and will not purchase any more.

[spacepirate71]

I disabled all user mods, and modified all the save files as described. The game loads no differently than before. Save game file sizes from 2015 are over 100MB, and files from 2016 are under 50MB.

I've also noticed that my entire fleet of capital ships does not fire their turrets when attacked by raiders, whose ships have no such malfunction.

The way the game plays, and the length of time it takes to build all of that, makes me not want to start a new game just to see some new additions.

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

Starting a new game, 'Free Play', with all the same mods enabled, results in a fully populated bulletin board.

Yes, that is to be expected. I have fixed my previous post to be more accurate: You only have to change zones to initiate the BBS when loading an old save. Did you try changing zones with your old save?

I disabled all user mods, and modified all the save files as described.
...
I've also noticed that my entire fleet of capital ships does not fire their turrets when attacked by raiders, whose ships have no such malfunction.

4.0 fixed an issue where the turrets on NPC escorting capitals were not consistently firing on the player, so it is conceivable that a mod was broken by that fix. As CBJ mentioned, you need to raise possible mod issues with mod authors.

The way the game plays, and the length of time it takes to build all of that, makes me not want to start a new game just to see some new additions.

Problems with mods caused by game updates is one of the risks we have to accept when with using mods or making save game edits. Having said that, if you happened to have purchased the HoL DLC, a new start without capitals can be a good way to experience exploration of the new systems.

[spacepirate71]

First point: After validating the game files, 161 files failed to validate and are now being reacquired. I'll respond back if this succeeds.

Did you try changing zones with your old save?

Yes, I have flown to Smokestack (The campaign starting point) and then on to Cold peaks (where there is a new gate). The BBS is still empty.
Some weapon enhancements have appeared in the weapons display after being picked up. They did not appear in the player's inventory.

you need to raise possible mod issues with mod authors.

I can't understand why a modification to some material shaders would cause so many issues. I've opened the files, which is really just a numerical adjustment. I suspect instead that some kind of glitch made the save files incomplete.
The oldest save game I had, in the middle of the "Rising Tide - Sabotage Fuel Mill" mission still had a working BBS. This is about the point where the mod was installed, but it is already activated in the save file. I could return to that point without losing too much.
After that, I mostly fought Xenon and opened crates for craftable components, talking to NPC's on stations for Employee training, and saved many times. I also recall taking Xenon missions at the Split station in Maelstrom after that time, for the extra components.

I'd be interested to know what is a normal file size for saved games in 4.0.

Having said that, if you happened to have purchased the HoL DLC, a new start without capitals can be a good way to experience exploration of the new systems.

I might. Having the station production chain is the main reason I would rather not restart. It took a very long time to complete nearly twenty stations. In previous titles, the addition of the player HQ was most useful as a place to station a fleet of capital ships, and to stockpile the advanced goods produced by stations.