Attention Captains,
Patch 2.2 is now LIVE!
The work on the multiplayer / terminal beta is now complete. This means that you can now assemble a crew of sorts and fly together to uncover the mystery of the Astra Protocol. Will it me a case of many hands make light work, or will it be too many cooks spoil the broth?
Here's a summary of all the changes since the last major patch:
New Features
Terminal Support
This is the headline feature for this release. We've added in the ability to connect to Astra Protocol 2 via a remote terminal. This is some pretty simple tech at the root of it, so it can be a PC, mobile device, or even older tech. As long as you're able to connect through to an IP endpoint, and enter and receive text commands, it should work for you (though some network configuration may be required).
Terminals offer an extra way to input text commands - including almost all of the regular commands you're used to when controlling your ship (though there are a few we've intentionally disallowed, such as those which change the UI or SELF DESTRUCT). Our intent is that you get a few allies together, allowing one user to pilot the ship whilst another manages some of the other systems, like keeping the engines cool or operating the ship's weapons.
We've not imposed a limit on the number of connections, but this will depend on what your network / hardware can support. In testing we've had at least three additional terminals open along with the main user interface. We've tested this using Telnet via Windows command prompt, Termux on Android, and even an Amstrad CPC 464. Please note though that remote connections will also depend on how your network is set up.
Fixed Terminal Modes
Along with the ability to enter commands, we've also implemented a few fixed terminal modes that provide real-time updates depending on which mode they are in. Essentially these repeatedly send a command to the system that provides some form of diagnostic information. This mode may be of use to single players, as it can act as a second screen of sorts (just connect through to your local machine via the terminal).
The implemented modes are as follows:
DIAGNOSTICS - Real-time display of the DISPLAY DIAGNOSTICS command
DOCKING - A text-based version of the DOCKING HUD
ENGINEERING - A text-based version of the ENGINEERING module
SCAN - Real-time display of the last LONG RANGE SCAN
TARGET - Real-time display of the ship's target
WEAPONRY - Real-time information on the ship's weaponry and shields
Whilst in a mode, the terminal will refresh periodically to show the appropriate information, you can still input commands, though your command history may be overwritten. To exit a mode, either press the ESC key, or enter the EXIT MODE command.
Improvements
Random Seed
If you pass in the command line argument "seed=x" (where x is a number, e.g. seed=97), this will ensure that when a session begins, the random number generator will be seeded using that specific value - ensuring that whenever you start a session, you should always have the same start. Previously this would only happen the first time the application was launched and if ever it was restarted (through a mission failure) would not be reset. Now, if the seed value is passed in, each new session should be the same.
Renderer Adjustments
The way that the shaders rendered the scene had some inefficiencies to them. These have been removed. Whilst unlikely to be noticeable, this should improve performance slightly.
Bug Fixes
Autocomplete Fixes
The issue when autocompleting SET / SETTINGS should now be resolved.
Please note that autocomplete doesn't work for some commands as the values you pass in are parameters and not subcommands. E.g. TARGET will not autocomplete values such as ASTEROID or PLANET as they are not subcommands.
F10 Issue
When running in windowed mode, there was a quirk with Windows where pressing F10 would try to open up a menu bar. This would create issues in certain modules such as SCIENCE and NAVIGATION where it clashed with the zoom in command. This has now been resolved and F10 should work as intended.
Print Screen Fix
There was a quirk where the window would not be picked up for Print Screen commands when running in full screen. This should now be fixed.
As usual, wo hope that you enjoy the work that has gone into this patch. Multiplayer support, of a sort, has been something we'd been interested in implementing. Also the terminal modes work as a replacement for the second screen functionality we had to remove when we updated the game's renderer.
Please let us know how you get on with these changes - and if working as a team helps or hinders your exploration of the stars.
Until next time captains...