The Unofficial Ascend.ash support thread.

[nsd45]

thanks that appears to have worked and for reference with me there is no need to suppress your inner snark it just makes posts more interesting to read lol

whoops spoke to soon lol new problem this time im stuck in a loop
this is what the graphical cli is saying


You have not yet slain the Boss Bat. He can be found in the Bat Hole, in the Nearby Plains.

You need to find your way into Cobb's Knob, Adventurer. Try looking around the Outskirts for a clue that might help you figure out that map we gave you.
Council of Loathing

You have not yet slain the Boss Bat. He can be found in the Bat Hole, in the Nearby Plains.

You need to find your way into Cobb's Knob, Adventurer. Try looking around the Outskirts for a clue that might help you figure out that map we gave you.
Checking step #7, 'OpenGuild'.
Working on quest step OpenGuild.
Entering guild challenge area...
Completing guild tasks...
Guild store successfully unlocked.
KoLmafia declares world peace.


ok i was able to bypass it by opening the guild before running it but i dont know if ascend was supposed to do that for me or if i was supposed to do it before running it. Sorry about all the questions.

 

[me259259]

I'm thinking about buying this ascend.ash. I don't really care about the automatic ascension thing, all I really want it for is for farm.ash. Earlier in this thread people had mentioned issues with farm.ash. Have these issues been fixed?

 

[Deathless Assassin]

Farm.ash runs into issues all the time for me that usually just involve me telling it to skip areas. Farm.ash is 100% NOT worth a Mr. A, it's just en extra to ascend.ash as far as I'm concerned.

 

[fronobulax]

I'm obviously not an unbiased source. I actually have not paid much attention to farm.ash because I have been just running turns with Ascend. Most of the issues I have found are are with EatDrink or Bale's Universal Recovery or with scripts by others that ascend calls. I believe EatDrink is useful and it found a better diet than what I had been eating with my main. As a piece of Ascend I would like a better way to tell it to save meat. Bale's UR is wonderful, but in the context of Ascend it is very hard to manage meat and the UR parameters are constantly being tweaked to find the balance between healing so automation can continue and burning all my meat. In a perfect world there would be a way to handle Beaten Up better too, but that may be Ascend's problem. The problems with other people's scripts seems to be Ascend not getting the prerequisites right, but I'm hoping to work on that. Bottom line is I can't tell you that farm is worth it or not. Maybe I'll run it and have an opinion. I will note that I am amused when people ask if something is "worth" a Mr. A. I have a job. My Starbucks habit easily tops $10/week and if I stiff the waiter the next couple of times I go out to eat, I've got $10. So in the grand scheme of things, $10 is trivial for me. I suspect the people who are concerned about it are unemployed or young enough to to be my kids

 

[Winterbay]

I'm thinking about buying this ascend.ash. I don't really care about the automatic ascension thing, all I really want it for is for farm.ash. Earlier in this thread people had mentioned issues with farm.ash. Have these issues been fixed?

There have been one fix posted for farm.ash in that it now takes the item_drops_array into account and does not crash from "map modified within foreach". I've been running that version for quite some time now and it works just fine and makes me roughly 150-200k per day. I have since managed to farm enough to buy two new Mr A. and is thus at a plus now

 

[Banana Lord]

On the topic of eatdrink.ash, I've noticed this problem for quite a while now:

(file not found)
0 prices updated from http://zachbardon.com/mafiatools/updateprices.php?action=getmap
0 prices updated from http://nixietube.info/mallprices.txt

Followed by a lengthy process in which the script checks the mall price for (as far as I can tell) EVERY consumable in the game.

 

[Winterbay]

On the topic of eatdrink.ash, I've noticed this problem for quite a while now:

(file not found)
0 prices updated from http://zachbardon.com/mafiatools/updateprices.php?action=getmap
0 prices updated from http://nixietube.info/mallprices.txt

Followed by a lengthy process in which the script checks the mall price for (as far as I can tell) EVERY consumable in the game.

The first one is because that tool does no longer exists and can be removed (as long as you instead check the little settings box that says "share prices with other users" or something similar. If you do, the second one can be commented out as well.

 

[Banana Lord]

I figured that was the problem, but you never know (or at least I don't ). I've already got that checked, have had since the option was there. Which is why this bug confuses me.

 

[Winterbay]

You can try to set the variable "eatdrink_GetPriceServer" to false. That should make it not try and do that, hopefully it should not get stuck anywhere else either since you get your data from here. But it'd be worth a try I think

 

[Banana Lord]

OK, done. I'll see how it goes tomorrow and report back Thanks!

 

[fronobulax]

And I should probably delete the reference to Zarqon's site...

Followed by a lengthy process in which the script checks the mall price for (as far as I can tell) EVERY consumable in the game.

Hmmm. I consider that normal behavior for the first session of the day. I suppose it would be nice to know when additional price checks are made.

 

[Banana Lord]

Normal? Really? I'm sure I remember a time when it didn't have to do all that. Is it not very server unfriendly? Wouldn't it make more sense to load mallprices.txt as a map for provisional decisions, then double check prices manually before consuming. If the second (more up to date) price is too great a % above the previous "assumed" price, then look for something else. I don't know. Something along those lines. My point is, the current way seems very inefficient.

 

[slyz]

On the topic of eatdrink.ash, I've noticed this problem for quite a while now:

(file not found)
0 prices updated from http://zachbardon.com/mafiatools/updateprices.php?action=getmap
0 prices updated from http://nixietube.info/mallprices.txt

Followed by a lengthy process in which the script checks the mall price for (as far as I can tell) EVERY consumable in the game.

Since revision 8351, the price updating process is handled internally by Mafia, if you checked "share mall price data with other users" in Preferences -> general. 0 prices are found on those servers simply because they aren't maintained anymore. Mall prices are now shared here on kolmafia.us.

Normal? Really? I'm sure I remember a time when it didn't have to do all that.

There are several versions of EatDrink floating around now, but the one I'm looking at has a eatdrink_maxAge zlib setting: try raising it to 2 or more so it uses older prices instead of checking for current ones.

Is it not very server unfriendly? Wouldn't it make more sense to load mallprices.txt as a map for provisional decisions, then double check prices manually before consuming. If the second (more up to date) price is too great a % above the previous "assumed" price, then look for something else.

This might be a good idea. On the other hand, once a user checks all the prices and shares them when logging off, the next users won't need to re-check them. Maybe it's not that server-unfriendly.

My point is, the current way seems very inefficient.

Then you should consider doing your own efficient consumption script and stop using dj_d's slightly out-of-date inefficient EatDrink.ash.

 

[Banana Lord]

Since revision 8351, the price updating process is handled internally by Mafia, if you checked "share mall price data with other users" in Preferences -> general. 0 prices are found on those servers simply because they aren't maintained anymore. Mall prices are now shared here on kolmafia.us.

Oh I see. Is there somewhere similar to the old http://nixietube.info/mallprices.txt on kolmafia.us? What I'm asking is, what's the easiest way of getting access to mafia's price data?

There are several versions of EatDrink floating around now, but the one I'm looking at has a eatdrink_maxAge zlib setting: try raising it to 2 or more so it uses older prices instead of checking for current ones.

OK great, I'll give that a shot. Thanks!

This might be a good idea. On the other hand, once a user checks all the prices and shares them when logging off, the next users won't need to re-check them. Maybe it's not that server-unfriendly.

You have a point

Then you should consider doing your own efficient consumption script and stop using dj_d's slightly out-of-date inefficient EatDrink.ash.

Oh I didn't mean any disrespect to dj_d or his script. I've been using eatdrink for a while now, and I'd be the last person to suggest it wasn't any good. I was just trying to think of ways to improve it (although, having such a limited knowledge of scripting probably invalidates most of what I can think of), it *is* still under unofficial development isn't it? I haven't been following this thread very closely.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[slyz]

it *is* still under unofficial development isn't it?

I think it's more on a life-support for Ascend.ash than in actual development.

The current mallprice data is gathered here.

 

[Banana Lord]

Fantastic! Thanks again!

 

[fronobulax]

I'm the life support. At the moment I am merely trying to ease the pain of folks who paid for Ascend and then find it doesn't work from a mechanical standpoint. dj_d has said "my" changes will be incorporated so the patient may come out of the coma. That said, there are several things that annoy me about Ascend and if I figure out how to fix them, I probably will. My current big gripes are two. First there is no easy way to handle Beaten Up in an automated fashion. I think for my play style (which is a silly concept for a scripted run, except these are the cases where the script stops) I want something to either remove Beaten Up and the restore health to the Restore To setting OR adventure somewhere that is safe and useful until the effect is gone and then restore to the Restore To value. UR is a little too concerned with efficiency to be helpful, which is fine, except that Ascend doesn't seem to pick a safe place. Next, a side effect of all the automation is that lots of meat gets spent. Ascend needs to know about meat prerequisites and save some. Think buying forged ID docs or the Palindrome items. Finally (whoops, I said two) Ascend could make better choices when configuring the external scripts of Zarqon's that manage Levels 11 and 12. Currently I am only running Ascend on one character who was created for test purposes. My main has never ascended and probably never will and my primary multi is slogging through Bad Moon runs for a while.

 

[HippoKing]

I have literally no idea why you have chosen to continue posting updates to this encrypted with his password, when that might encourage people to pay for something that is apparently entirely unfit for purpose - something he must have known when he started selling it, and definitely knew when he continued selling it and stopped developing it.

 

[fronobulax]

I have literally no idea why you have chosen to continue posting updates to this encrypted with his password, when that might encourage people to pay for something that is apparently entirely unfit for purpose - something he must have known when he started selling it, and definitely knew when he continued selling it and stopped developing it.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, in spite of your offensive presumption of other people's motivation.

I am supporting the script because I was seized by an apparently unappreciated desire to help out the people who had already bought it and could not get it to work. I password protect those things which were originally password protected because the script is dj_d's intellectual property, not mine, and he has not yet abandoned it. I find a contradiction between your complaint that the updates are protected and your statement that script is unfit for purpose.

I do not share your belief that the script is "unfit for purpose" but the root may be in the definition of "purpose". Ascend is not for people who already have an optimal Ascension strategy and want to automate it. It is not for people in Hardcore or Bad Moon unless they are masochists. It is for people who just want to automate a character for whatever reason where automation trumps optimality.

 

[HippoKing]

I apologise for the offensive presumption and the fact that it sounds like I was directing much of my criticsm at you. I just found out from a friend the level to which this doesn't work (the script being sold won't even run without modification?) and I was fairly outraged.

Also, I do understand why you're supporting the script but I'm not sure why you're apparently now the guy to whom the issues get directed when dj_d's still receiving the money for it. I'm simply surprised that you are willing to prop up his business model in order to help out those who have been taken in. You're certainly a better man than I in that regard.

When I say "unfit for purpose", I do not mean that it is not an efficient ascender, or that it does not work in BM/HC. Obviously any script this complex must have limitations (although he should probably have explicitly stated 'no hardcore support' in the thread). I mean that it does not work in a way that literally could not have been missed because it will not run at all.