Evochron Legacy SE News

Version 2.0228 includes the following improvements:

- New AI/NPC station attack system implemented (see notes).
- Visual indicator and numerical value for signal input added to axis mapping menu.
- Price for shield recharge packs (installed on secondary hardpoints) reduced by over 50%.
- Higher precision mouse input system implemented for smoother mouse look and mouse flight control.
- Improved beam cannon collision detection and damage deletion when other objects are in the way of a target.
- Station module destruction events are now recorded in the flightlog (both remote for station attacks and local).
- Indicator characters also added to station module destruction events in multiplayer for flightlog ('(MP)').
- Science crew member's ability to detect and report permanent storage containers in space increased significantly.
- Commodity prices, market offset percentages, region index, and station attack status added to savedata value set.
- Added twist rotation animation to in-cockpit joystick (still switchable with 'joystickthrottle.txt' file option).
- Improved error handling with control devices that are defective, broken, or otherwise return invalid values.
- Added ability to view current save data folder (hold mouse pointer over game logo in pilot profile manager).
- Added option to specify custom station attack alert sound effect (see customizing kit).
- Custom quest scripting system updated to accommodate specific station attack events.
- Cargo scanners can now display equipment and weapons stored in a ship's cargo bay.
- Profile backup system implemented with the station attack system (see notes).
- Improvements to specular effects to reduce over saturation at some angles.
- Shadows for plants on terrain added to 'Very High' shadow detail setting.
- Sound effects volume now automatically reduces during training.
- Improved collision detection and landing behavior with moons.
- Performance improvements for loading data during jump cycles.
- Cursor now made to blink in create and modify pilot menu.
- Training mode text, audio, and indicator improvements.
- Alternate language filename options added (see notes).
- Minor fixes.


Notes:

A new AI/NPC station attack system has been added to introduce optional and occasional attacks against station modules by computer controlled ships. The new system introduces the potential for any station (both default and player built) to be significantly destroyed, which some players have been requesting in order to introduce new elements of risk and challenge in combat through spontaneous occasional attacks at random locations. Such feedback over the years has been the basis for how this system has been designed (including a focus on making it optional with a lot of adjustable parameters). Several tweakables are available, giving the player control over which factions initiate attacks, how frequent the attacks occur, how long the attacks last (response time provided to the player before modules are potentially destroyed), how close the attacks occur (in the same sector or across the quadrant), and what chance of success they will have in destroying modules. A grace period is also provided to suspend automatic simulated module destruction until the duration timer reaches critical, giving you most of the time to reach the attack sector before modules are destroyed. Modules can be destroyed either in real time if you are present or simulated if you fail to reach the attack sector before the timer reaches critical. Attacks can occur for both allied and enemy factions, so the player can respond to an attack alert to help their faction in a strike against an enemy station or respond to defend their faction from an attack by an enemy faction. There is incentive to make the journey to respond to attack alerts both for success in offense/defense as well as a significant potential reward for defense engagements. Responding to a station attack against your faction waives all hangar transaction fees and discounts all commodities in inventory (by about 50%) for the duration of your stay in the sector or until you exit the game.

It's important to gauge if this is of interest to you and if you want to accept the risk before enabling the station attack system (it is off by default to preserve all existing station structures). The effects of station modules being destroyed in single player are permanent for your save game/profile. Modules destroyed in multiplayer will only effect the data with the server you are playing on. Also, station attacks will only occur in multiplayer when there is at least one player connected to receive the alerts and take action along with the server operator enabling the option in the server program's configuration file. The same options available in single player for the station attack system are also available server-side for multiplayer, lines 820-828 in the revised 'text8.txt' configuration file.

To help keep track of which station modules are destroyed in single player where things are saved with your profile, each destruction event is recorded in the flightlog. This way, you can refer back to which modules have been destroyed for rebuilding replacements later on. If you enable the local only option, station attacks won't activate until you are in a region that has sufficient enemy numbers to engage in the attack (ie disputed system in active conflict). Also, a local attack can progress slower over time since any hostile ships will be inbound and may not immediately be at the station when the attack alert is first received. Enemy ships can also jump in more frequently during an attack.

Station attacks will generally only occur in disputed systems (ALC vs FDN) or in war zones (Vonari vs either ALC or FDN). Disputed systems (yellow regions on the quadrant nav map in territory control mode) are those actively engaged in battle between the two primary factions while war zones are where active battles with Vonari are taking place. Regions under full control (green or red level) won't have enough opposition to initiate station attacks. So another strategy that can be employed is to travel to a region that is fully under enemy control, build a station there to help bring in reinforcements and supplies, then continue the attack until the region reaches a disputed level. At that point, not only will more support be available for combat operations in general, but the region will also be opened to station attacks by your faction. When a station attack begins, a text alert will appear in the message log providing the sector location, attacking faction, and name of the station being attacked. An alert indicator will also appear in the upper right corner of the HUD providing the time remaining to respond, attacking faction ID with an arrow pointing to the ID of the faction being attacked, and sector location of the attack. The alert will be yellow in color until roughly the last minute, then it will change to red to indicate critical status if you are not present in the sector where the attack is taking place and potential module destruction is imminent. Not reaching a sector to defend against an attack before the alert reaches critical can also result in a loss of a reward offer from a station.

To enable the option, simply create a new profile or modify an existing one in the pilot manager menu and the station attack options will appear in the lower menu frame. Then check the options you want to enable and adjust the variable values using the sliders, if desired. You can later change these settings to your liking with the 'Modify Pilot' option if you find you'd prefer different parameters.

To enable the option for multiplayer, server operators can edit the lines in the 'text8.dat' file referred to above. Once enabled, a player with admin authority on the server can also optionally suspend station attacks temporarily if desired with the admin command: 'password pausestationattacks' and attacks will be suspended until you send the command again. If any attack is active when the command is sent, they will finish their cycle before suspending the next attack.

If you'd rather not contend with the potential of station modules getting destroyed by AI/NPC forces and/or would rather not be involved in that line of broader combat engagement, you can leave things as they are with your profile. Also, you can engage in station attack battles in multiplayer without it effecting your single player profile status. As an additional measure of protection and backup, the game will also now make copies of your save game/profile whenever a station attack occurs and modules are destroyed. These backups are kept in a folder named '\SaveFileBackup' inside the main save data folder (default location is '\Documents\EvochronLegacySE'). Each time a backup is made, a copy of your profile is saved to the '\SaveFileBackup' folder with a sequential number after the 'se' in the profile's filename (for example, a new backup copy of the first profile in the list would be saved as 'pilot0se1.sw' and a second would be 'pilot0se2.sw' and so on). Up to five backup snapshots of your profile are preserved this way and the range of 1-5 will be from newest to oldest. If you lose a station's command module or other modules you want to keep due to a station attack, you can restore a previous state for your profile by copying one of the backup files from the '\SaveFileBackup' location over to the main save data folder and then remove the last number in the filename (replacing the old profile that is there as desired). Your profile will then be restored back to the last state it was in when the backup file was saved.

For those working on language translation, new/changed lines in 'text.dat' are 2, 251, 275, 276, 337, 338, 557, 566, 587, 2305-2308, 2766, 2778, and 2869.

Alternate filename options have been added for the 'itemdata.dat', 'optionsdata.dat', 'systemdata.dat', 'techdata.dat', 'text.dat', and 'traintext.sw' files. Simply add '-lang' to the filename to provide alternate text files for the game to load (example: 'text-lang.dat'). This way, you can apply custom text files for the game to load without overwriting the default files and without having custom files overwritten when updates are installed. Instructions have been updated to include details about the new station attack system as well as the customizing kit being updated for new options. Also, the listed minimum video memory requirement has been changed to 2 GB to better accommodate a higher margin for custom media and to reduce chances of below minimum memory conditions on systems with only 1 GB that have a significant portion consumed by other background programs.

One of the new effects of changes to the beam cannon collision system includes better protection behind objects when targeted (and MDTS locked) by a hostile ship. If you are taking cover behind an object, an opponent won't be able to reach you with locked beam cannons as easily as they could before. Another effect of the changes involve capital ships. Beam cannons now strike and stop on the surface of capital ships whether they are harmonized by the MDTS or not. They do still require harmonizing with the MDTS in order to inflict significant shield damage, but they no longer disappear inside the ship when fired. Also, when locked with the MDTS on a capital ship, the beams are now free to still follow the direction of your ship's nose, but will still inflict shield damage due to the harmonizing principle when locked. So they are no longer required to point toward the direct center of a capital ship, they can still inflict shield damage wherever they come into contact with the surface of the ship, the MDTS just needs to be locked (with the ship's targeting indicator inside the gunsight and the ship in range) to be effective.

Version 2.0208 includes the following improvements:

- Dots on navigation map for sensor station ship contacts brightened.
- Improvements to beam cannon impacts on objects (better collision and spark effects).
- '*' character added to savedata string value for cargo required for delivery in contract.
- Current regional technology/economy and territory control levels added to savedata value set.
- Docked status value in savedata value set will change to '2' when player is in station hangar mode.
- Indicators in inventory console for cargo to deliver to a waiting ship objective changed to square brackets.
- Plant tractor beam range increased and biological material compatibility expanded for easier contract completion.
- Minimum velocity for collision damage with asteroids, moons, planet terrain, caves, plants, solar arrays, and comets increased from 1000 to 2500.
- Experimental VR system updated to account for certain languages that can internally change the name of a SteamVR sub-process, causing the VR system to not be able to activate.
- Work around coded for potential error message on systems with conditions causing the documents folder to not be available.
- Added VR controller button mapping options for IDS scale level and launching countermeasures for experimental VR mode.
- Added ability to advance training stage with VR controllers (in point mode, select anywhere on screen).
- Axis channel control mapping menu improved to better distinguish flight controls from view controls.
- New tractor beam effect added when capturing cargo containers and plant biological material.
- Fix for potential image error occurring when travelling to a certain uncharted system.
- Fix for item database objects following VR HMD movement and rotation.
- Terrain engine updated to allow for steeper mountains and canyons.
- New control menu added for VR controllers when in point mode.
- Added ability to skip intro with VR controller triggers.
- Corrected issue limiting probe functionality.
- Minor fixes.


Notes:

A new control menu has been added for the experimental VR mode that allows selecting options that aren't already readily available in a menu or with a button. Whenever a VR controller is switched to the point mode in-game, the menu will appear. The default locations are the middle left and right of the screen (adjustable in the updated 'vrsetup.txt' file). The player can then select shields augment controls, HUD mode, target display mode, MDTS mode, activate the tractor beam, and a number of other options. The game can now effectively be played entirely with VR controllers, albeit with the limitations they inherently carry in terms of available buttons and pointing requirements. But ship systems and selection options that were previously inaccessible without keyboard, mouse, or button input are now accessible with either a VR controller button option or a point option. And if a player wants to control virtually everything with the mouse in a standard display mode, they can also enable the point menu via a text file (details available in the updated customizing kit). For those working on translations, new lines in the 'text.dat' file are 1366, 2425-2429, 2436-2438, 2809, and 2838-2839.

For the new VR button control options, new lines have been added to the 'vrsetup.txt' file available here: https://www.starwraith.com/evochronlegacy/customkitse/vrsetup.txt (needs to be placed in the '\media' folder in the game's install folder) and also now bundled with the game (in the '\media' folder under the filename 'vrsetup-bak.txt' as a backup copy, remove the '-bak' to install or copy the new lines from the backup file over to the file you are using in the same folder to add or modify options). So if your VR controllers support enough buttons, or you want to disable some in favor of others, the new options can now be mapped to provide IDS scale level control and launching countermeasures. Training stages can now also be skipped by selecting any point on the screen while in point mode and the intro can also now be skipped with the default trigger button on a controller.

Version 2.0188 includes the following improvements:

- New control device profiles added for the new input system.
- New optional control device input system added to support more devices and options.
- Improvements to 3D cockpit movement response to control input and directional changes.
- Axis mapping system updated to remove requirement to clear an axis before remapping it.
- Planetary plant system updated to instance based rendering structure for better performance.
- By request, a 'M' character will be included at the end of the set speed savedata value if speed match is active.
- Some residual icons could remain behind on nav map when zoom level changed or centered sector changed from current sector, fixed.
- Buy, sell, and install options available with left and right mouse clicking now displayed when item is highlighted in inventory console (in 'Item Description' section).
- Subtle orange color tones added to brighter elements of asteroid explosion sequence and new customizing options added.
- Added VR controller support for experimental VR mode (menu selection and basic flight controls, see notes).
- Selected nav point distance now displayed in Build Console when Jump Caster deploy option is highlighted.
- New values added to savedata set to provide status and location of in-sector nav list objects.
- Fulcrum drive range and nav point distance added to large nav map mode (left side).
- Vertical height center locking option added to experimental VR mode (see notes).
- Revised animation effect for jump gates, wormholes, and jump casters.
- Jump caster given green warp bubble effect when in close proximity.
- Jump caster sound effect fixed.
- UI alignment improvements.


Notes:

A new default control device input system has been implemented due to reports of a few devices not working with the earlier control input system (a single axis rudder and a button box) and to expand input options. The earlier system (now labelled 'Limited') will continue as normal to avoid altering existing control selections players have already set up and you can optionally change to the new mode manually in the Axis Configuration menu. The new system will be default for new installations of the game and is labelled 'Advanced'. It features additional axis channel inputs, higher POV/HAT limits, better device naming, and broader device support. When switching control input systems, you will likely need to remap axis inputs and possibly some button inputs. But once configured, the game preserves each configuration independently so you can later switch between the two and use whatever the last configuration was that you set up. You can also export your configurations to profiles in both modes for preserving and reloading later. Configuration/setting files using the new control input system will carry '-advanced' in their filenames to keep them separate from the earlier control system's files. With both control systems in place, if you run into a limitation with one, you can switch to the other and likely find options best suited to your control device configuration.

By request to better accommodate the E.V.A. VoiceAttack profile, new values have been added to the savedata set to provide the status and location of objects in the current sector that can appear on the points of interest list next to the nav map. Each line includes the state of the object (0 for off if not present in sector, 1 for on if present in sector) followed by the in-sector XYZ coordinates. All values are divided by a backslash character as a delimiter. So the format is 'state/X/Y/Z'. This option now also means you can generate a local map and/or display type and location details with external third party programs for primary in-sector objects detected on nav sensors in the current sector. Also newly added is a value in the last line to provide the sector distance to the selected nav point. The list order and details are provided in the revised customizing kit: https://starwraith.com/evochronlegacy/customkitse/readme.htm

A new 'CenterLock' option has been added to the 'vrsetup.txt' configuration file for the experimental VR mode. It enables or disables the vertical height locking mode. By default (mode 0), the vertical height will be reset to the optimal target vertical height location whenever the CenterKey is pressed. Enabling mode 1 will lock the vertical height to the value reported by the HMD and adjust centering from there. To restore previous functionality, change the value to '1'. The updated sample 'vrsetup.txt' file is available here: https://starwraith.com/evochronlegacy/customkitse/vrsetup.txt

Support for VR controllers has been added to the experimental VR mode. Compatibility may be limited, but the system has been tested with Vive controllers as a functional baseline. Details and options are available in the revised 'vrsetup.txt' file available at the link above. By default, button 1 enables/disables the point mode to select menu options (a pointer laser will appear when active) and the handle/grip button toggles through the flight modes (joystick and throttle). The current flight mode for each controller is displayed above each hand in the game as a hologram. In joystick mode, the trigger fires primary weapons and touch pad button fires missiles. Controller movement adjusts the pitch and either yaw or roll (changeable in the 'vrsetup.txt' file, available at the link above). The controller's touchpad or joystick (if applicable) controls strafe thrusters. In throttle control mode, the trigger activates the afterburner and touch pad button changes the IDS mode. Controller movement adjusts the throttle level. The touchpad controls either roll or yaw and forward/reverse strafe thruster control in IDS off mode. Buttons can be remapped in the 'vrsetup.txt' file. Different control modes are available to support yaw or roll by moving a controller. By default, roll control will also be available on the other controller's touchpad/joystick X axis when in throttle control mode. In another optional control mode with roll available on the flight controller, yaw control will be available on the other controller's touchpad/joystick X axis when in throttle control mode.

New customizing options have been added for the asteroid explosion effect that provides access to values used in the shader system. These options let you apply custom color values throughout the range of the explosion sequence. You can set a desired base level value where color mixing starts and a multiplier that specifies how much color to add from that range up to maximum. You can create red/orange, green, yellow, purple, or blue type explosions using these options. As a secondary option, you can also apply any color sequence to all explosions in the game globally. Details are available in the customizing kit at the link above.

For those working on language translations, the following lines are new in the the text.dat file: 1266, 2065, 2066, 2136, 2255-2259, 2336-2339, and 2351.

Version 2.0178 includes the following improvements:

- New item database option added to inventory console.
- Training voice sequences now pause when opening exit menu.
- Training voice sequences now immediately apply selected 'sound effects' volume level when changed in exit menu.
- Added ability to save/export current control device's button and axis mapping profile for later reloading (see notes).
- UI background frames revised to provide improved contrast between console names and list headers with clickable options.
- UI lists updated to left align items for sale, prices, and ship loadout list numbers in inventory console.
- Experimental VR mode updated to support command line activation of VR system (improved Steam integration).
- Multiplayer connection system updated to automatically switch to exclusive TCP mode if UDP can't connect.
- Multiplayer text chat system updated to support much longer individual messages through multiple lines.
- 'Part' and 'Beam' labels added to ship's primary weapon list in inventory console.
- Default control device profiles updated to account for additional mapping options.
- Targeted object contents detected with target scanner added to savedata value set.
- Primary weapon firing mode and low light vision mode added to savedata value set.
- Added ability to import text messages into the game's internal message log.
- Improvements to flightlog console for better scrollbar alignment.
- Improvements to plant rendering for added detail and layers.
- Default jump drive effect made less bright.
- Minor fixes.


Notes:

You can now save your current button and axis mappings for backup and reloading. To save your current control profile, first select the device you want to save mappings for from the top drop down list in the 'Axis Configuration' menu. You can also optionally use the left and right arrow buttons on each side to scroll through the available detected control devices. Once you've selected the device, then click on 'Save Current Device Profile'. A menu will open prompting you to enter the name of the profile you want to save. After entering the desired name, press enter. The profile will now be saved in the list of available custom profiles.

Then to load a profile, first select the device you want to bind custom mappings to from the drop down menu at the top of the 'Axis Configuration' menu. Once the device is selected, then click on 'Load Custom Device Profile'. Left click on the profile you want to select from the list. The custom mappings will then be applied to the current device. It's generally best to map the top device in the list of detected devices first, then map additional devices afterwards as this allows the game to sort through secondary mappings without overwriting mappings from devices higher on the list. Custom control profiles are stored in the save data folder (default location is '\Documents\EvochronLegacySE'). You can optionally delete a custom control profile by right clicking on its entry in the menu, rather than left clicking. The game won't fully delete control profiles in case a player accidently deletes one they want to keep. Instead, it will simply rename them with a '-bak#' marker in the filename where '#' is the number of times a profile has been backed up in a given index. So you can optionally remove the '-bak#' letters in the filename to restore a profile. For those working on language translations, new lines added to the text.dat file are 602, 603, and 2366.

The inventory console has been updated to align items for sale to the left side of the buttons as well as the related prices vertically. This should help make things easier to read. The ship's cargo, equipment, and secondary weapon lists now also have their list numbers vertically aligned on the left side. The 'P:' and 'B:' labels in the primary weapon list have been removed and replaced with spelled out 'Part' and 'Beam' labels to the right side of the buttons.

The primary weapon firing mode has been added to the savedata value set in the fourth to last line. Detectable contents of an object are now displayed in place of ship contents using the same savedata lines when a target scanner is installed and the object is targeted. The current faction affiliation has also been added to the third to last line in the savedata value set. The low light vision mode has been added to the second to last line. And the message entry status has been added to the last line. The customizing kit has been updated to reflect these additions/changes.

A new message log import system has been added by request to allow external programs to display messages in the game's internal message log. To enable this mode, create a text file named 'messagelogoutput.txt' inside the game's save data folder (default location '\Documents\EvochronLegacySE') and in the first line, specify how frequently you want the game to check for messages in milliseconds (more frequent checks may result in more of a performance impact). A good average might be 1000 for checking once a second. Once enabled, the game will look for a file named 'messagelogqueue.txt' inside the same save data folder. If that file exists, then the game will load the data using the following format:

- Number of lines to load
- Line text
- Text color in RGB format

So for example, if two lines of data were to be displayed, it would look like this:

2
Line one text.
0,255,0
Line two text.
0,255,255

Line one would be loaded and displayed in green while line two would be loaded and displayed in cyan. The game will then delete the 'messagelogqueue.txt' file to make room for any future messages to be displayed.

The primary in-game multiplayer text chat system has been updated to support much longer individual messages through multiple lines. The game will handle all new line points internally and broadcast as needed. The GUI version of the server program needed to be updated to better support this option for messages displayed in the program's internal message log. This is not a required updated as the older version of the GUI server can still handle multi-line messages, they may just overlap successive messages in the program's internally displayed log (the exported chatlog files will display any multi-line messages correctly). These changes do not impact the non-GUI version of the program.

A new item database option has been added to the inventory console that lets you review the available commodities, equipment, and weapons available in the game. This way, you can better compare weapon types as well as review commodities and equipment all in one location and without having to preview such items in available inventory markets. For those working on language translations, new lines added to the text.dat file are 856, 911, and 2138.

Version 2.0148 includes the following improvements:

- Font character index table expanded to support wider range of characters for cockpit/HUD displays.
- Visual artifacts that could briefly appear on some AMD based display device when quick saving fixed.
- Added optional '%docfolder%' directive for save data folder system to support selecting system specific documents folder location.
- The 'savedata' export options has been expanded to include general docking, carrier docking, nebula cloud, asteroid field, and planetary atmosphere status.
- Changes applied to executable that may solve startup issues that may occur on some system configurations.
- Terrain self-shadowing enabled for the 'Very High' shadow detail mode.


Notes:

The font character index table (stored in the 'bitmapfonts.evo' file) has been expanded to include more characters for cockpit and HUD displays. This is to accommodate those working on language translations that need the additional character indexes.

Terrain self-shadowing has been enabled for this build using the 'Very High' shadow detail mode. This adds another level of shadow rendering, so if you encounter unwanted performance implications or would otherwise prefer the previous render appearance, you can change the shadow detail setting to 'High' to set things back as they were.

The save data folder system ('savedir.txt', 'savedatasettings.txt', and 'messagelogsave.txt') can now apply a system/account specific documents folder location with a '%docfolder%' (no quotes) directive in specified target folder lines. When applied, the '%docfolder' directive will be replaced with whatever the current documents folder location is on the system (example: 'c:\Users\UserName\Documents').

Several new values have been added to the 'savedata' export option. Details are available in the revised customizing kit. In short, docking conditions, nebula cloud condition, proximity to an asteroid field, and planetary atmosphere condition status indications have been added.