Evochron Legacy SE News

Version 2.0728 includes the following improvements:

- By request, added ability to import custom animated gif images for main menu mouse pointer.
- Changes applied to image index system to avoid conflicts with extensive custom media files potentially overlapping.
- Fix for rare potential intermittent CTD that could occur on some systems when exiting the shipyard.
- Sector destination preview option disabled when ship nav systems are disabled to prevent hang.
- Tractor beam button in VR menu changed to a toggle function for persistent operation.
- Improvements to collision impact system when IDS is off.
- Minor improvements and fixes.

Version 2.0708 includes the following improvements:

- Added 'Save Changes' prompt when closing a control mapping menu before saving.
- Shaders updated to incorporate more physically realistic lighting and reflection effects.
- Expanded jump drive effect options for fading and lighting parameters (see customizing kit).
- Added 'View Destination Sector' button to preview sector destination on nav quadrant map before accepting long range contracts.
- Added ability to import custom texture and heightmap data for individual planets (see customizing kit).
- Animated highlight bars added to quadrant map for station attacks and destination sector previews.
- 3D radar contact circles adjusted and range markers increased in size for improved visibility.
- Mouse cursors updated for improved clarity and better image quality at higher resolutions.
- Autopilot docking pattern for jump gates adjusted to reduce chance of missed approach.
- Added rumble and force feedback effects for compatible devices (see notes).
- Low light vision mode color saturation reduced by about 50%.
- Minor improvements and fixes.


Notes:

Rumble and Force Feedback Effects Added for Compatible Devices
If the game is able to detect a compatible device with rumble or full force feedback capability, effects can optionally be enabled for that device. Events like firing weapons, engaging the jump drive (or traveling through a jump gate), activating the afterburner, or colliding with objects can now provide effects. When enabled, the game will send signals to any compatible devices it is able to detect. Some devices may need to be set to a particular input mode before the game will be able to detect and communicate with them for such effects. Once detected and enabled, a text file named 'forceeffects.txt' will be created in the save data folder (default location is \Documents\EvochronLegacySE) which can be edited for additional configuration options. See the 'Technical Notes' section ( https://www.starwraith.com/evochronlegacy/instructions/readme.htm#12 ) of the game's included instructions for details.

Lighting and Reflections
Several of the game's object shaders and textures have been updated for rendering details like fresnel reflections and expanded light response range in an effort to shift lighting over to a more physically accurate look.

'View Destination Sector' Button
When reviewing long range inter-sector contracts in the inventory console, a new button will appear at the top of the contract's description that will allow previewing the required sector destination in the navigation console. When clicking on the button, the console system will switch to navigation and activate the quadrant mode automatically. The sector destination of the contract will then be highlighted on the map with an animated light blue box. This offers a way to visually preview an inter-sector contract location before accepting it.

Save Changes Prompt
The ability to undo mapped controls while in an Options menu has been expanded and a 'Save Changes' prompt has been added when using the close menu button ('X' button in the upper right corner of the menus). Previously, some changes would automatically be saved while others would not, regardless of which menu exit option was used. This was required to update certain mapping tables/data sets for a selected device. The menu systems now suspend saving selected control mapping and setting changes until 'Save & Exit' is clicked, allowing for testing temporary setting changes as well as undoing control mappings when exiting a menu. If control mappings are changed but not saved, they will return to their original settings after exiting a menu and selecting 'No' when prompted to save changes. This way, changes can be reversed consistently with one common exit button.

Version 2.0488 includes the following improvements:

- New strike objectives added for ALC/FDN combat regions (see notes).
- AVL indicator calculations updated to provide a more immediate and accurate value.
- Contract count minimums increased by +2 in ALC/FDN disputed regions and Vonari war zones.
- Cinematic view mode revised to provide custom camera position and rotation viewpoints (see notes).
- Unique ship icons added to the shield status indicators for both the ship status and target displays.
- Countermeasure effect revised to launch two separate bursts per CM unit with wider field of coverage.
- Lightning effects enhanced to provide improved random placement and illumination on terrain and objects.
- Sharp edge of atmosphere shell replaced with a softer blended effect for a more gradient layered appearance.
- Performance improvements related to terrain shader texture sampling and optimized weapon impact collision checks.
- Displayed nav map icon range increased to include the outer rim of sector in 9X, 17X, and 33X zoom modes.
- Nav marker no longer strictly locked to waypoints for certain planet-side objectives, now fully adjustable.
- Fog system updated for improved color and range effects, particularly in rain and snow weather conditions.
- Customizing options added for tractor and repair beam lighting color and range (see customizing kit).
- By request, nav map asteroid icons made slightly larger and placement/visibility corrections made.
- Option to disable internal animation sequences for custom individual GIF images added (see notes).
- Gunsight weapon mode and IDS indicators revised to reduce vertical size and display larger text.
- Cargo bay scanning groups (up to 5 and up to 10) added to no data notice on target MFD display.
- Scanning mode toggle timer indicators added to target MFD display when no data is available.
- Nebula and gas giant cloud structures updated to prevent visibility through console shadow.
- Dedicated alert notice added for message log when city modules are destroyed.
- Rotational thruster precision increased in non-IDS flight modes.
- Minor improvements and fixes.


Notes:

New Strike Objectives
Two new strike objectives have been added to the contract pool for disputed and fully ALC/FDN hostile regions. One requires destroying a weapon depot on the surface of a nearby planet. The objective can be accepted while at a station in the same sector, so it does not require first descending to the surface and docking at a city. Once accepted, the nav marker will be placed at the destination for reference, then the player can adjust as needed for a safe jump point near the planet's atmosphere before descending for the attack. The depots may be difficult to hit due to terrain masking and can be under water, so attack runs can require high angle approaches to attack from above to be effective. The other objective requires destroying a weapon depot in open space. In both scenarios, the depots will typically be defended by a limited number of enemy ships. The depots are fairly durable and require quite a number of hits to destroy, so multiple passes and/or destroying defenders first may be required. Depots are also beam cannon resistant, so either particle cannons or missiles will generally be required to inflict significant damage.

Cinematic View Mode Revision
The cinematic view mode now supports custom placement and rotation. This way, the player can set the camera viewpoint where they want it and keep it locked as though placed on a stand attached to their ship. This provides a wide array of available perspectives with full 360 degree view support and placement anywhere around the player's ship. The new cinematic mode supports all of the key, button, and mouse controls for view direction as well as the panning controls for placement. To change the camera's rotation after activating the cinematic mode, the default Insert, Home, Page Up, and End keys can be used. If HAT view control is enabled, that input can also be used. The 'Mouse Look' mode can also be enabled to change the view rotation angles (default Alt-F10 for inversed Y direction control). To move the camera's position, simply use the panning controls such as the default Alt-Insert/Home/Page Up/End combination or any dedicated keys or buttons you may have mapped to those inputs. New lines in 'text.dat' for the new objectives are 3070-3074, 3080-3084, and 3088.

Unique Ship Icons on Status Displays
The global ship symbol on the shield indicators of the ship and target status displays has been replaced in favor of a unique image icon. For civilian ships, the game will assemble the icon from the required image pieces and include the frame, engine, and wing system in the final icon displayed on the indicator. All other ship types without such configuration options will simply display their frame type on the icon. This now provides a quick visual reference for the player's ship as well as the ship being tracked, rather than just a generic symbol as before. 70 new images have been added for the new icons and they can also be customized (see kit for details: https://www.starwraith.com/evochronlegacy/customkitse/readme.htm )

Internal Animation Mode Option
The custom GIF animation image option that was recently introduced has been expanded to include support for individual images applied to the HUD alert, MDTS lock, missile lock, incoming missile, and incoming gunfire indicators. A second line option has been added to the 'animationimagemode.txt' file option that enables or disabled this alternate mode. When disabled (value of 0 in line two), then the default internal animation system will apply that uses the 10 image files for each indicator. When enabled (value of 1 in line two), then only the first image file is loaded for each animation sequence to support applying a custom GIF image file with its own animation frames. Details are available in the customizing kit here: ( https://www.starwraith.com/evochronlegacy/customkitse/readme.htm#301 scroll to the bottom of the image filename list)

Finishing Touches
As mentioned early last year, I've been working toward implementing some of the last remaining feature requests and development goals as the game has been reaching a more finalized state. I am loosely targeting the 20th anniversary of the start of Evochron development as the series completion point with Legacy (and as I may begin to plan for starting a possible new future project). To that end, I am drafting notes on finishing touches that may be applied to the game over the course of the next few months. If there are small improvements or changes you would like to see applied to the game, please send me such feedback/requests via e-mail ( starwraith.com > contact with something like 'Evochron Legacy finishing touches' in the subject line). I'll eventually compile a list and will plan on devoting time to implementing some of the most popular ones for a planned final update. Smaller changes/additions that are low bug risk, relevant to the game's intended focus/design, and benefit the game as a whole within those parameters will likely be given priority. For reference, details on the game's intended design related to feature considerations are available at the links below.

https://www.starwraith.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=11900
https://www.starwraith.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=12072
https://www.starwraith.com/evochronlegacy/faq.htm#100

Version 2.0478 includes the following improvements:

- Added ability to change 3D compass to a flat tape structure (see customizing kit for details).
- Automatic waypoint route plotting added for scanning uncharted space contract objective (see notes).
- By request, external panning view is now calibrated to align with the curvature of planets when in atmosphere.
- HUD pitch ladder structure and textures updated for more flexible modification and higher resolution textures.
- Added ability to import GIF format images as textures to certain HUD and custom display systems (limited, see notes).
- Clickable buttons updated with a solid bar appearance for clearer distinction and highlighting.
- Missile variety in high econ rated station and city inventories expanded (Starfire minimum).
- Added shield flaring effect when beam cannons are fired on a capital ship with MDTS locked.
- Minor improvements and fixes.


Notes:

HUD Pitch Ladder Revisions
The HUD pitch ladder has been updated with this build, which was the last remaining HUD element in need of higher resolution for optimal image quality at higher screen resolutions. The structure of the pitch ladder has been divided into two parts, a left and a right. Each side can now be independently textured, placed, and scaled for a variety of new customizing options not previously available. The 'pitchladder.txt' file option has four new lines added to it to accommodate these new options (see the customizing kit for details). The resolution for the new textures has been doubled vertically and trimmed horizontally (128X4096 since each side is now its own horizontally smaller 'tape'). So no additional video memory is required for this format while a higher resolution can now be achieved. If a custom 'hudtape.png' file is detected in a '\hud' folder, then the game will default back to the original format so that the custom pitch ladder will continue to appear correctly.

Automatic Waypoint Route Plotting for Scanning Uncharted Space
Automatic waypoint route plotting now also applies for the scanning uncharted space objective. Even though the scanning destination will generally be well outside the gate network of charted systems, upon accepting the contract the computer will attempt to calculate a route to the nearest star system and then also apply a final waypoint to the scanning location. There may still be 500 or more sectors of travel required once the nearest star system is reached, so jump casters and/or long range configured ships will still be important. The player can also optionally interrupt the provided route and travel their own way if they prefer a path that may be safer or otherwise more optimal to them.

GIF Image Format Support
This capability was tried as an experiment in testing for a while and turned out to be sufficiently reliable and effective, so the capability has now been implemented in this update. Most HUD and custom display elements can now use optional GIF images in addition to the default PNG format. If replacement GIF images are present in a '\hud' folder and include animation, create a file named 'animationimagemode.txt' in the same '\hud' folder and include the number 1 in the first line to enable the animation mode. Certain indicators already use an animation system with individual PNG images (the 'hud-alert#-#.png' set for example). While GIF format is supported for these indicators, the game will continue to cycle through the 10 frames of animation for these readouts, so it will generally be best to utilize the built-in animation option for these indicators to avoid trying to time GIF animation stages across multiple images with the ten in-game animation stages. Some limitations may apply with formatting. There may also be an added resource overhead (memory and/or performance) required as more GIF images are imported, so it's recommended that such effects be used selectively where animation may be most desired.

Version 2.0458 includes the following improvements:

- Added new lines to 'hudmotion.txt' file to support custom direction, depth, and row settings.
- Shield level indicators on cockpit ship and target status displays updated for a cleaner look.
- Current target HUD indicator now has 3-bar directional shield indicators to match gunsight indicators.
- Gunsight inbound missile direction indicators increased in resolution and range bar reversed for clarity.
- Improvements to character capacities and types for ship descriptions/names on cockpit displays and HUD readouts.
- Added new 'Plot Route' navigation system that automatically plots waypoints to a selected location in another charted system linked by jump gates.
- Integrated new route plotting system into inter-sector contract framework so waypoint path is automatically applied.
- Added message log notification when entering a new star system through a jump gate or wormhole (includes war zones).
- Improvements to solar array structures (now solid and much larger) and related tractor beam cleaning precision.
- Added new lines to savedata option to export custom waypoint status, selected waypoint, and location values.
- Added new 'Hold at Nav' fleet order (replacing 'Dismiss' in the HUD drop down menu and key/button index).
- Added new dedicated key/button mapping index for 'Dismiss fleet ship(s)' (page 4).
- Improvements to NPC small ship collision system to reduce 'stacking' condition.
- Improvements to autopilot docking maneuvers and course selection.
- Ship and station textures updated for a cleaner panel look.
- Minor improvements and fixes.


Notes:

Plot Route System and Inter-Sector Contract Integration
A new route plotting capability has been added to the navigation console which can automatically set a waypoint path through the game's jump gate network spanning multiple charted systems to travel to a selected destination. If no waypoints have already been plotted, then the 'Plot Route' button will appear on the left side of the console where the 'Set Nav' button appears when waypoints are active. To set a route, simply selected the destination in another star system you want to travel to in the navigation console, then click on the 'Plot Route' button. The system will attempt to plot the most efficient route to the selected destination and set waypoints to each jump gate along the way. If you want to set up a different destination after a route has already been plotted, simply right click on the 'Delete' button to clear all waypoints and then reset the route. For the route to be plotted, it must span at least one star system and each waypoint must be within nav sensor range of a jump gate to each arrival point. If the system is unable to plot a route to a selected destination, it will provide an explanation in the message log. Once set up, the nav point is set to the first waypoint automatically and the player can simply engage the autopilot to travel through the complete waypoint route. As with previous autopilot functionality, any sector-to-sector distances will have the autopilot engage the jump drive automatically while in-sector locations will require the player to manually engage the jump drive so they can optionally control local arrival angles and adjustments as may be needed.

The new route plotting system has also been integrated into inter-sector contract system. This way, the player no longer has to manually plot a course and the entire route to the distant location through the jump gate network can be plotted automatically when accepting such contracts. The system will also clear out any old waypoints to reset the route for a newly accepted contract. The one exception to this is the scanning in uncharted space objective where the player will still need to plot their own waypoint course manually to the nearest star system. However, waypoint one will still be placed at the required destination for scanning as a guide. Additionally, station attack alerts will offer optional route plotting when they occur and provide a 15 second window to link in for the coordinates. To retrieve the nav details where the attack is occurring, press the trade key or button during the countdown to establish the link and have the route plotted for you. If you miss the time limit, you can still manually plot a route to the destination sector by simply putting the nav point anywhere in that sector, then clicking on 'Plot Route'.

Hold at Nav Fleet Order
This new directive instructs single player fleet ships to hold at the current specified in-sector nav point. The player can issue the order with an existing nav point, then change the nav point to travel somewhere else while the fleet ships remain at the original location. The player can also specify individual nav points for each fleet ship. This can be useful if a player wants to temporarily keep their fleet ships at one location while they travel to a different location in the sector and/or complete some other task. As with the mining directive, if the player leaves the sector, the fleet ships will automatically return to formation to stay with the player.

New 'HUDMotion.txt' Lines
Three new lines have been added to the 'hudmotion.txt' file option. Line 5 supports locking the tunnel to the direction of the ship's forward HUD and/or rotating it 90 degrees. Line 6 supports disabling depth sorting for the tunnel or spears mode. And line 7 supports changing the number of rows for the tunnel mode. See the customizing kit for details.