Version 1.0578 includes the following improvements:
- Target pointer moved to outer gunsight rim.
- Moon texturing updated for improve detail.
- Dedicated texture set added for Earth's moon.
- Particle cannon impact effects added for moon surfaces.
- Ability to enable terrain walker on the surface of moons added by player request.
- Mining options on moons significantly expanded for more variety and abundance of materials.
- Target pointer textures updated and default scaling set to 110 to accommodate new pointer location.
- Improved AI targeting for station weapon turrets and ships firing missiles at players with an active gun turret.
- Improved AI behavior when IND players are close to ALC and/or FDN players/ships to eliminate unprovoked attacks.
- In gun turret mode, target hull and shield status will now only be displayed when in range to avoid incorrect values.
- Drop down menu option added to control device selection system (top middle of axis and key/button configuration menus).
- 'AUTOLEVEL' text indicator added to HUD to let player know when the flight control computer is actively levelling the ship automatically (over terrain, water, etc).
- Contract restriction system that would prevent players of opposing factions from accepting in-sector contracts removed by request.
- Mouse wheel zoom, right click snap zoom, and left click nav point selection options for offset SY sector locations expanded.
- Allied player ship blips on nav map could occasionally be duplicated (spanning two locations) in multiplayer, fixed.
- Improved trade link activation if two players send trade link request at about the same time in multiplayer.
- Sensor and ship blips on nav map better aligned with 3D map structure and its object icon placement system.
- Drop down menus added to Global Deadzone setting options (for both joystick/gamepad and mouse modes).
- Axis configuration menu restructured in various places for improved spacing and mouse click ranges.
- Improvements to physics and collisions for conflicting gravity fields between stars and moons.
- Exhaust flares would remain when autopilot reached max cruise speed, now correctly disable.
- Both cockpits updated to adjust seats so headrests are better aligned with pilot viewpoint.
- New customizing options added for the AVL (Absolute Velocity Level) indicator (see notes).
- Inventory console no longer shows lowest sell price for cannons when one isn't loaded.
- Selected sector location indicator added to nav console in nav map mode (lower left).
- New option for global custom values added for civilian engine types (see notes).
- Server programs updated to allow for twice the packet update rate (see notes).
- Ship pathway tracking indicators added to ship's Heads-Up-Display (see notes).
- Improved update performance for AI ships in multiplayer for smoother movement.
- Target range and faction indicators added to gun turret's Heads-Up-Display.
- Faster initial loading of save game list for Pilot Manager menu.
- Performance improvements for high station/city module levels.
- Performance improvements for close proximity to planets.
Notes:
The tapering and alignment cap values for the AVL indicator can now be customized. Use a filename 'avlsettings.txt' created and placed in the game's install folder and use line one for the tapering value (default value is 10.0) and line two for the alignment cap (default value is 0.0018). This can change the behavior of the AVL indicator to be less responsive so it is less prone to momentary variations by making the indicator slower to respond to rapid changes in distance over time measurements, which can better accommodate possible significant intermittent performance fluctuations on some systems.
Pathway tracking indicators have been added to the Heads-Up-Display in mode 2. These indicators provide short term tracking of a ship's direction and speed to provide pilots with a better visual reference for the movement of ships around them. The new indicators are optional and can also be changed. By default the indicators will be enabled, you can deactivate them in the Options > 3D Cockpit selection menu by unchecking the box next to 'HUD Ship Pathways'. The setting for these indicators is kept in a file named hudpathways.txt in the save data folder and it will be created the next time you launch the game after installing this update. After the file has been created by the game, you can also optionally open the hudpathways.txt file in the save data folder to change the zdepth mode of the indicators. Mode 0 will not render the indicators at all, mode 1 will render the indicators with zdepth at distance, and mode 2 will render the indicators without zdepth consideration (making them visible through cockpit structures as with other HUD indicators, mode 2 is the default mode). The second line in the file will set the scale factor in case you want to make the indicators larger or smaller (1.0 is the default value). You can also optionally change the textures used for the indicators, see the customizing kit for details.
A new system has been added for custom engine outlet placement values for civilian spacecraft. The filename is 'enginesciv.txt' and the file needs to be placed in the custom \ships folder for its values to apply. Custom outlet placement values can be entered for each civilian engine type, providing a way to specify global values for each engine type not bound to a specific civilian ship type. More details and a sample file are provided in the updated customizing kit. The 'EvochronLegacyTEUtility.exe' viewing utility in the customizing kit has also been updated to support this new option.
The server programs have been updated to allow for a 50ms update speed, half the previous minimum. This can provide a faster update speed for smoother ship movement. However, to minimize potential bandwidth overload problems, this option is only recommended for LAN or very fast and close proximity internet connections and/or with only a few players. The option can only be specified in the text8.dat configuration file. There are no other significant changes to the server programs, so this is only an optional update if you want to have the setting available (LAN groups that were/are interested in the option). As with any server update, if you install this version, be sure to back up your text8.dat, factionmap.txt, and universemulti.txt files before installing it to retain your server settings, territory map status, and build modules.
For players with a rather long list of save games, the initial loading phase to populate the list in the pilot manager menu has been improved significantly. During local testing, it would take about 8 seconds on average to generate the list of profiles with 12 save games. After the improvements, the load time was reduced to a little over 3 seconds, more than twice the speed.
Some players are using a number of different control devices (sticks, throttles, rudder pedals, control panels, etc) spanning several different USB ports. This can create a significant list of devices from which to select each one when binding controls. Using the left and right selection arrows at the top of the axis and button configurations menus can require a lot of clicking to toggle through them all to get to a desired device. So a new drop down menu has been added to the device selection system, allowing the player to select a specific device quickly with just two clicks, rather than have to keep clicking on the arrow buttons to toggle through them all.
Updates will likely progress at a slower pace at this point as this update largely completes the request and to-do list I've been working on since the game launched. So with the list reaching a point of being fulfilled along with some recent real life things (which may also keep me away from a computer periodically over the coming weeks/months), I'm now looking toward what things to possibly work on in the future for the game. Such things might or might not be larger in scale and/or involve significantly more time and coding work. If you have comments on things you'd like to see implemented that are within the space flight simulation and combat focus of the game, please send your feedback to me via e-mail (starwraith.com > contact). I'm also considering starting to write a strategy guide and/or create tutorial videos that include the game's recently expanded features/options and changes, if time permits. So if there are also specific topics or details you'd like to see included in one of those, I'd welcome your input.