Demise of Nations News

Misc. bugfixes for avatar and image buffering causing artifacts.

• Menu UI: All menu screens updated & streamlined (a.k.a. "Lipstick on a Pig").
  
• Menu & Game UI: improved to accomodate non-English texts that are longer. Some streamlining also.
  
• Chat (in-Game): Chat messages are now shown on the left edge of the screen by default (if the chat panel is closed). Text messages can by types via ENTER-key or selecting the chat button if the chat is closed.
  
• Competitions: Tournaments and leagues are now restricted to prevent games to last longer than 90 days (so the tournaments can eventually end and are not blocked).
  
• Game Setup: the minimum turn duration for games is now 30 turns (was 20 before) to prevent abuse.
  
• Quick Join: Games now start earlier. Also, they are advertised in the chat and can be joined by other players later.
  
• Language: translation center move to [Modding] --> [Customize] section.
  
• Language: fixed Arabic/Persian rendering of text.
  
• Language: latest translations added - Thanks :-D
  
• Clan Membership Requests: the notification counter is only show to a clan's admin or owner (they are the only ones being able to the handle the notification anyway).
  
• In-Game Messaging: preventing overlong in-game messages by limiting them to 512 characters at max (to prevent slowness/crashes).
  
• Clan Invites: clans can now send invites to players asking them to join their clan.
  
• Manual: explained that declaring war against a nation that isn't bordering your lands is resulting in a higher happiness penalty.
  
• Chess: time per turn is now 60 seconds for chat-chess (not 90 seconds).
  
• UI Update: game listings condensed for clarity, i.e. clutter removed.
  
• UI Update: some stuff from the menu screens moved into popups so they can be accessed from everywhere. E.g. tournament lobby can be access from within games now also.
  
• UI Update: loading indicator for misc. images, such as account images. The image loading is deferred to speed up loading of data.
  
• UI Update: single player achievement list condensed to make it look better (less distractive).
  
• UI Cursor: wait-cursor displayed where appropriate. Also, the mouse cursor should now work on Linux as well?
  
• UI Search Utility: can now search users by country also. Also added a separate search dialog.
  
• UI Popup Menu: aligned so the top/left corner is where the mouse/touch is located (not cenered around it).
  
• Camera for Screenshots: now works everywhere even when hidden behind other popups (disable as needed via settings).
  
• Keyboard: Key mappings update with additional keys for e.g. Numpad.
  
• Networking: now using HTTPS by default (can be turned off in the game's setting).
  
• Networking: network I/O improved by prioritizing non-imagery data and combining image objects that are loaded together.
  
• Networking: default image size reduced for small avatars when loaded over the network (25% of original size now).
  
• Networking: joinable games list should now load faster by not loading data already available (joined games).
  
• Networking Bugfix: some images where loaded more than once right after each other due to bad caching.
  
• Cheat Detection: emulator check updated (@Moderators: some could be false positive, so be wary!)
  
• Cheat Detection: moderators are now capable of seeing in-game fund transfers.
  
• Moderation Maps & Translations: it's not available directly in the moderator interface.
  
• Moderation Guide: section with information about privacy added. @Moderators: MUST read!
  
• Droid Login: fixed to fall back to Google Services if undefined.
  
• Map Downloads: custom listing of (1) FREE Maps and (2) Featured maps added. Also simplified the UI and removed clutter.
  
• Map Downloads: deferred map icon loading until later to speed up displaying the list of available maps. Other improvements also to reduce network calls.
  
• Crashing: the game now properly crashes during boot up so error messages are clearly missing and indicating what's wrong, incl. reporting.
  
• Crash Reporter: fixed to also show up (not hidden) in special circumstances where the render context was changed.
  
• Backend: upgraded to libGDX 1.9.13 which contains misc. bugfixes and improvements.
  
• Backend: upgraded to LWJGL3 as the desktop backend (better handling of Retina displays). If you are on Mac OS X, please download the latest installer for the game to continue working.
  
• Linux ARM Support: with the new LWJGL3 backend, the game should support Linux ARM 32 and 64 bit. It should work on e.g. Raspberry Pi (untested).
  
• Linux 32bit (non-ARM): due to missing libraries, support for x86 Linux has been dropped. Replaced by Linux ARM 32 and 64bit support. Linux support for AMD 64bit still works fine.
  
• Performance: game boot-up speed and other functionality speed up! :)
  
• Boot Screen: simplified & speed up by just using the Noble Master logo.
  
• Maintenance: misc. comparable functions fixed (some were even wrong/buggy).
  
• Maintenance: sort algorithms and collections streamlined (slightly more performant).
  
• Server: making sure that auto-created display names are not too long (capped further).
  
• Server: logging updated for when games are deleted to make sure all refunds are given. Also added internal tests for system function.
  
• Bugfix: Chat input focus reset if chat is hidden (to give back keyboard control).
  
• Bugfix: Chat scrolling fixed. The popup menu marked the mouse button as handled even when it didn't preventing the scroll pane to not properly react.
  
• Bugfix Modding: additional checks added to make sure map dimensions are not too larget (don't work on certain devices due to memory issues).
  
• Bugfix Screenshots: they are not saved in a fixed location. Reporting players with screenshots should now always show the actual list of screenshots (not blank anymore).
  
• Bugfix Rating History: making sure it doesn't overshoot the graph area.
  
• Bugfix Crashes: when changing the username (profile picture wasn't properly retained).
  
• Bugfix Crashes: file selection broken and could result in crashes.
  
• Bugfix Crashes: viewing games could crash (moderator option).
  

Latest Update:

• Chess: there is now a chat bot for the main chat allowing plays of humans vs. AI.
  
• Chess: there now is a chess popup to play single player against the AI (via modding section).
  
• Chat Synchronization: speed of chat system slightly increased to reduce delays.
  
• Turn Duration: a maximum of 10 min/turn now possible for fast games (was 5 min/turn max previously).
  
• Networking Fix: Multiple devices could not connect to the same server from the same network. Parameter "net.ipv4.tcp_tw_recycle" disabled which can/will cause problems connecting from the same NAT/Router with different devices.
  
• Manual/FAQ: indicated that political, religious or generally ideological messages are not desired and will be deleted as we see fit. This is a game, not a forum. Nothing good has ever come out of it.
  
• Language: latest translations added - Thanks :-D
  
• Language/Updated: plural rules link (for translators).
  
• Language/Removed: legacy translation option details (obsolete for a while now).
  
• Language: rendering of Persian text fixed.
  
• Language: render glyphs updated with latest.
  
• Username Change: cost increased to prevent abuse. Also logged by system.
  
• Maintenance: odd code removed that sometimes didn't call glTexImage2D causing mipmapping not to work.
  
• Maintenance: latest version for Droid login & purchasing system.
  
• Bugfix: disabled trade buttons for when you had initially no gold. The trade buttons are now always enabled.
  
• Bugfix: for not being able to build e.g. lumberyards below other units.
  
• Bugfix: Mouse handling updated to ignore and not hijack any other than just the 2 buttons the game is using.
  
• Bugfix: Steam Overlay on Mac OS X now working again (entitlements were missing).
  
• Bugfix: Chat command for "/list" was called "/dude" by mistake in the help section.
  
• Bugfix: custom modded world maps had the sectors not properly calculated preventing troops moving across the stitched area.
  
• Bugfix: not being able to click on a multiplayer game and go there anymore (even from menu screens).
  
• Bugfix Modding: mal-defined animations would result in errors due to out of bound coordinates when creating a new map bundle.
  
  

• Balancing: rocket truck balancing updated (Modern Europe & World maps). Thanks to Castlevaia for the help :-D
  
• Language: latest translations added - Thanks :-D
  
• UI Update: dialog notification icons updated (minor).
  
• UI Loading: popped up loading indicator now animated too (to make clear the game is still running and not frozen).
  
• Internal: Misc. cleanup for (Byte)Buffer position(...) and clear()/flip() functions.
  
• Internal: improved image compression to reduce download size (via 'pngout').
  
• Internal: OpenGL depth buffer disabled (not needed for game).
  
• Internal: purchasing system updated /w latest versions and some fixed (to make sure all purchases are properly applied).
  
• Account Creation: disable account creation if a user already has an account. Please contact the moderators if you'd like a name change.
  
• Game Setup Refunds via Deletion: game setup fees in coins are fully refunded if a game is deleted before it has started.
  
• Performance Update: disabled some stuff from still running in the background when not visible.
  
• Performance Update: changed some of the collection classes to ones that use less memory.
  
• Bugfix: world map wasn't properly doing fog of war where the map was "stitched" together (now fixed!).
  
• Bugfix: sending reports for players did crash/not attach image (underlying dialog was closed & image release before it could be processed).
  
• Bugfix: input dialog was closed prematurely in a few places resulting in incorrect behaviors.
  
• Bugfix: server bugfix that should fix a problem where games didn't update, i.e. stuck. Slow startup could prevent the initialization to properly run the first time but not re-try a second time.
  
• Bugfix: making sure crash reports are sent via render-thread (possibly crashing otherwise).
  
• Bugfix: properly showing coin balance of '100' when a new account is registered (rather than '0').
  
• Bugfix/Admin: rejecting maps didn't work (new dialog was instantiated from previous dialog which got closed).
  
• Bugfix Server: backup didn't properly close SSH connection after completion (leaving open processes).
  
• Bugfix Crashes: rendering legacy town overviews (when turning on eye-candy).
  
• Bugfix Crashes: partly unsupported SDK function IntBuffer.limit(...) replaced /w clear()!
  
• Bugfix Crashes: disposing non-existing texture (OpenGL backend).
  
• Bugfix Crashes: when image use for reporting hat dimensions 0x0px (division by '0').
  
• Bugfix Crashes: when disbanding troops (if unit was specially configured).
  
• Bugfix Crashes: making sure all relevant assets are loaded when creating a new game (possibly caused crashes?).
  
• Bugfix Crashes: closing dialogs before they were created ('null'-pointer exception).
  
• Bugfix Crashes: when matter details were displayed to user and 'null'.
  
• Bugfix Crashes: when accepting a member to a clan and the team definition was 'null'.
  
• Bugfix Crashes: listing a non-existing game (maybe just deleted).
  

• Balancing Modern Maps (by Castlevania): (1) prevent stacking ranged units (2) building fightings not a trap (3) air units more useful (4) infantry able to defend itself (5) battleship more useful.
  
• Modding: template.zip updated with modern balancing (by Castlevania).
  
• Clan Management: option to download all the clan member's list in spreadsheet format including ratings.
  
• Clan Rating: we only rate clans with 2+ players and take the top 8 players to calculate the average.
  
• AI: troop recruiting improved preventing spamming of peasants.
  
• AI: plane/helicopter refuel distance calculation improved.
  
• UI: improved layouting for languages that have longer texts (compared to English).
  
• Sponsoring: possible for password protected games also if account shows a purchase.
  
• Language: latest translations added - Thanks :-D
  
• Language: improved translatable texts.
  
• Language: map story text properly translated for tutorial.
  
• Language: further check to make sure tags have been properly used during translations.
  
• Language: minor spelling fixes.
  
• Font Rendering: improved output for long texts that are missing spaces.
  
• Networking: timeout for loading games list slightly increased to reduces errors for slow connections.
  
• Networking: additional buffering added for network I/O.
  
• Keyboard: ENTER button action added for certain popups (wasn't working before).
  
• Game Server: game update speed improved to reduce "lag"!
  
• Internal: GUIColor is now "XUITint".
  
• Internal: other GUI* components streamlined (combined/moved).
  
• Internal: combined VN & Version objects.
  
• Internal: server backups now via SFTP.
  
• Internal: server reboot time improved by ~5 minutes by skipping remote backup check and running it in later thread.
  
• Bugfix: planes and helicopters can't take off if you don't have enough fuel (fixes cheating the system).
  
• Bugfix: for some languages, the nation, diplomacy, etc. buttons in-game would not be clickable. Caused by too long texts in the background messing up layouting.
  
• Bugfix: Language Center would not properly layout for large texts on portrait screen.
  
• Bugfix: if text-color parsing fails, we ignore (rather than error out).
  
• Bugfix: randomly setup games could potentially double-join the same user if network problems were encountered during joining.
  
• Bugfix: function keys F1-F5 were working at times when they shouldn't (panels shouldn't have opened).
  
• Bugfix Crashes: crash while trying to send a message to another nation (dropdown problem).
  
• Bugfix Crashes: when not properly initialized yet (play state).
  
• Bugfix Crashes: when trying to send a private message while not logged in.
  
• Bugfix Crashes: custom nation setup popup would crash if not all the image data was loaded.
  
• Bugfix Crashes: when play-state wasn't properly initialized yet.
  
• Bugfix Crashes: if no installed maps were found.
  
• Bugfix Crashes: disposing assets after game ended.