Early Access Update Trettiosju (37)
build id: 597BE3C0
nornware AB is happy to announce a new update to Space Beast Terror Fright.
UPDATE: A new build has been deployed that solves issues with the gui not being responsive when trying to join multiplayer parties.
User File Security and Validation
Note that all user files output by Space Beast Terror Fright will always reside in the following directory: C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\nornware\sbtf
Work has been done to minimize program crashes and lock-ups due to invalid user files. In general much more care is taken to validate file formats and making sure that settings values that are actually used by the game are within reasonable ranges. In particular, all settings will be reset to defaults if they are outside valid ranges.
Lazy Loading of Obituaries
In cases where the number of fallen characters on disk is very large (several thousand) it was found that the game locked up and / or crashed as it took significant time to parse this information (dead.txt).
The game now parses obituaries in batches, and in cases where you have very many fallen characters you will see the game noting progress of this process before the obituary list is displayed. Note that this file is updated on disk whenever a character dies, and is reloaded every time the user accesses the main page of the game menus.
The game should also be robust to corrupt data in the obituaries file, simply noting that parsing has failed. This is not a problem, as in this case the file will be completely overwritten with a fresh version the next time a character falls. Alternatively the user may take steps to manually correct the file contents (as the path is noted in the user interface).
User Interface Layout / Scaling
In response to problems with desktops that aren't 16:9 aspect ratio, all front end user interface layouts have been adjusted to align better with screen edges in those cases that are applicable. Layouts are no longer based on factors of screen height as was previously the case, and should in general be more stable regardless of resolution.
In addition, there is now an option slider that allows the user to scale the entire user interface down to a lower limit of half original size. This is primarily intended to make the existing layouts work with 4:3 and similar aspect ratios, but other users may find it preferable to scale the user interface as well. Note that these settings do not affect in-helmet HUD text displays.
While scaling the gui is not a perfect solution for 4:3 aspect ratios, I hope it is a sufficient stop gap that will allow more players to enjoy the game.
Miscellaneous
- Slider elements are now blue instead of white to better match buttons and other clickable elements.
- Button clicks will now more properly only register if the user clicks down and releases on the same button.
- Upgrade icons in the obituaries list now properly fade in and out along with text elements.
- The game now has an experimental new splash screen, my very first digital paintover! :)
As always, thank you for your support and patience.
/nornware AB c/o johno
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