Pinter Computing

When we activate the Debug feature of Visual Studio Code, the Terminal displays the console output.

To find the correct location of data among the objects and variables, we can use the Debug Console.

Start the application in debug mode

• Set up your application in the debug configuration file
  
• Set a breakpoint in your code by clicking the margin. When you add or remove a breakpoint, you always have to stop and start the debug session for the debugger to notice the change.
  
• Start the application with the debugger
  

Explore the object and variable values in the Debug Console

• Select the Debug Console at the bottom of the screen
  
• Type the name of the object to see its value
  
• Expand the elements to see their structure
  
• Use dot notation to display the value of elements. Use the same in your code to access the value runtime.
  

Node.js packages are constantly updated, and the developers usually test those against the latest versions of other packages. When our application uses older packages, a single package update can cause errors and the application will stop with an error, like

TypeError: (0 , _styledEngine.internal_processStyles) is not a function

Usually a global update of all Node.js packages can bring those to the latest allowed version and solve the incompatibility error.

• Open a terminal in the application root directory
• Execute
  npm update

Steam keeps all versions of all games in an online storage location. You can get any version of your games using the Steam Console. The entire process is explained by Jason Currie at How to downgrade Steam Games.

If you use CKAN, the Comprehensive Kerbal Archive Network to manage your Kerbal Space Program 2 (KSP2) mods, you may select the new version of a mod,

but the Apply button stays disabled.

This happens, when the “max game version” of the mod is lower, than the version of the installed game.

As the development of Kerbal Space Program 2 has been cancelled no new game versions are released, and also many mod developers stopped updating their mods.

If we have not installed the latest versions of all mods while the game development was still in its active phase, on version 0.2.1, CKAN prevents further installation, as the game version has been upgraded to 0.2.2, but some mods only show compatibility with game version 0.2.1.

The only way to install the latest versions of mods where the max game version is lower than the installed game version is to

1. Change the Compatible game versions settings in CKAN
2. Install the latest versions of all mods

To change the compatible game versions in CKAN

• Start CKAN
• In the Settings menu select Compatible game versions
  
• Set the Additionally install mods compatible with following game versions to 0.2
  
  This will allow the installation of mods with max game version of 0.2.0 – 0.2.2

To access the list of applications that automatically start at login

• Open Settings
  
• Enter login into the search box and select Login items
  

The following table contains the owner of some of the items found in the Allow in background list.

When executing Node.js code on the workstation, the process can stop with the PAUSED BEFORE OUT OF MEMORY EXCEPTION.

When we stop the execution, the following message appears in the terminal:

FATAL ERROR: Ineffective mark-compacts near heap limit Allocation failed – JavaScript heap out of memory

This can happen for two reasons:

1. There is a memory leak in the application which fills up the memory and the Garbage Collector is not able to clear it. It can be caused by an infinite loop, when we eventually call the same function from itself, or repeatedly appending data to an array without ever clearing it. Please see Debugging Memory Leaks in Node.js Applications by Vlad Miller for an excellent article on the topic.
2. Our application is too large to fit in the default JavaScript heap, the memory where the application code and data is stored in the memory.

Altough Node.js 12 and later versions use more efficient memory management, if our application is too big to fit in the default heap size, we may need to allocate larger heap memory size.

To set the JavaScript heap memory size, we need to specify the amount in an environment variable. The value is in MB, so use the following table for the most common values. The value does not have to be the product of 1024, these are just examples.

There are multiple ways to set this depending on the operating system we use:

macOS and Linux

To get the current JavaScript heap size execute the command in the terminal

node -e 'console.log(v8.getHeapStatistics().heap_size_limit/(1024*1024))'

On Macintosh and Linux operating systems the most convenient way to specify the heap size is in the ~/.bashrc file, which is executed every time a Bash terminal window is opened. Add the following line to the file to set the value to 8 GB and restart the terminal for the change to take effect:

export NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=8192"

Windows

On Windows set the the NODE_OPTIONS value to --max-old-space-size=8192 (or to the preferred size).

To set system level environment variable values

• Open the Settings panel
  
• Type “environment variables” into the search field
  
• On the Advanced tab click the Environment Variables button
  
• On the Environment Variables panel under System variable click the New button
  
• Set the variable name to NODE_OPTIONS, and the value to
  --max-old-space-size=8192 (it starts with two dashes)
  
• Click the OK button to save the value and restart all terminals for the change to take effect.

Force game save

When you are at a point in the game you want to save, exit to the Main Menu. This saves the current state of the game, and when you force quit the game in case of an accident (see Accident below), the game will start at least from that location.

Accident

When an accident happens and you know the truck cannot recover, like flipping on its side, quickly press Alt-F4 to immediately exit the game. When you restart the game, you can continue from the last automatic save point.

Time of day

It is very challenging to drive hard terrain in the dark. To set the time of day

• Open the map view with the “M” key on the keyboard,
• Press the “T” key on the keyboard to cycle through 0:00, 6:00, 13:00, 20:30.
  

Selecting the truck

This table contains my findings on the most appropriate truck for the job. As you progress in the game more upgrade options become available, so make sure to try the customization time to time. Mount mud tires when those become available.

Trailer delivery in tasks and contracts

When a trailer is requested, usually only a specific trailer satisfies the requirements. It can be on a different map, so in that case you have to tow it across the tunnels.

Find the trailer

The correct trailer is marked with the magnifier icon.

• On the Global Map navigate to the map which has the trailer. If not stated, check all unlocked maps to find it.
• On the Objects tab in the Trucks and Trailers section the trailer is marked with a magnifier icon.
  
• Select it to show it on the map (ouch!)
  

You need to have the trailer attached or winched to the truck with both the truck and trailer inside the zone for it to count.

Maintenance Trailer

A Maintenance Trailer cannot be empty to be accepted, it needs to have at least 201 liters fuel in it.

Eventually there will be many options when you customize your trucks in the garage. These are some recommendations.

Winch

When you get stuck in the mud, the length of the rope is usually more important than the power of the winch motor. Pick the longest rope possible to be able to reach more trees and power poles.

The Extended and Advanced winches have the longest rope. Pick the Advanced if it is available, as it has a stronger motor.