Evochron Legacy SE News

Version 1.0808 includes the following improvements:

- Revised optional terrain shaders for added detail on planet surfaces.
- Green circle added to nav map around in-sector planets to indicate safe jump zone.
- Introduction/title sequence updated for more consistent timing/pace on a wider range of system configurations.
- 'Select Mode' indicator added to HUD when mouse flight control mode is disabled and ALT/select mode is enabled.
- Ability to set custom axis and button inputs to control the mouse pointer added to the Menu/Console Control options.
- Station command module hangars now have dedicated shield arrays for each entrance and placement moved to outer edge.
- Upper menu bar on HUD revised to include text labels on available buttons, reduce visual clutter, and display simplified icons.
- Global flight lead transfer system implemented, allowing the flight lead role to automatically transfer to another player if first was destroyed.
- Mining system could occasionally place material recovered from a planet in a new cargo bay rather than combining with existing matching materials, now fixed.
- Plant sample recovery and item lost on planet surface contract acceptance now permitted if player has terrain walker installed (no longer requires mining/tractor beam to be installed on ship).
- Contrast for Game Options, Axis Configuration, Key/Button Configuration, Training, and other menus increased for sharper appearance and improved visibility for buttons, sliders, and text.
- Navigation map system revised to fully incorporate 3D structures in rendering for improved icon alignment, rendering of map log locations, and small object signals (probes and sensor arrays) in the 3D mode.
- 'Right Click to Set Nav Marker at Position' notification now displayed whenever a detected object is highlighted on the navigation map with the mouse pointer.
- New optional reflection/environment mapping effects applied to cockpits, ships, stations, and cities when 'Effects Detail' is set to 'Very High'.
- 3D/DIR radar display accent graphics simplified and spaced further away from center for improved clarity and sphere edge legibility.
- Console menus revised to better align with upper HUD menu bar in style and appearance, reduce visual clutter, and improve clarity.
- UI text coloring updated to better distinguish between clickable button options and displays/readouts (blue vs other colors).
- Work around for 'Error 3002' that could occur on systems with damaged, missing, or altered default Windows audio codecs.
- Option to set the Y position location in Navigation console by holding the Alt key and scrolling the mouse wheel added.
- Click ranges updated on upper HUD menu bar for improved calibration along with resized highlight indicators to match.
- Improvements to AI behavior when hired as ships in single player and player faction is later changed to independent.
- By player request, contract linking in multiplayer now requires manual acceptance (default F4 key) to activate link.
- Improvements to secondary city docking point placement and activation systems when built near a planet's main trade city.
- On rare occasion, a locked target's status display object could leave behind another floating structure, now fixed.
- Improvements to handling contract cancelling between flight lead player and linked players (objective alignment).
- HUD shield array indicators moved to inside gunsight ring and now also change size based on status (HUD mode 2).
- 3D map mode now supports setting the X, Y, and Z coordinate positions, allowing nav point selection in full 3D.
- New placement indicator and directional lines added to 3D map mode for nav point visual placement reference.
- Cockpit lights and background displays can now flicker when ship's hull is hit directly by weapon fire.
- Navigation map grid background revised for a simpler appearance and improved icon visibility/contrast.
- Performance improved for initial heightmap data loading system when travelling from sector to sector.
- Improvements to multiplayer movement prediction and formation systems for low framerate conditions.
- Eagle civilian frame updated to correct small section on hull that lacked complete normal mapping.
- Several new images for 'tips' to better align with recent UI/console and other graphics changes.
- Option to map a custom dedicated key or button to toggle mouse flight/selection control added.
- New frame timing system to help reduce possible flickering in VR on lower performance systems.
- Training and instructions updated to accommodate UI, console, and control option changes.
- Various structures resized slightly to better accommodate overall VR environment scaling.
- Most navigation map icons updated for higher resolution and improved scaling/visibility.
- Added ability to scale cockpit structure and holographic displays for VR (vrsetup.txt).
- Improved navigation map animation when scrolling using directional arrows and zooming.
- Directional marker rings added to 3D radar sphere for improved orientation reference.
- 'Zoom Map' button renamed to 'Enlarge Map' to distinguish from other zoom options.
- Most wireframe hologram icons/graphics replaced with solid transparent versions.
- Subtle brackets added to highlight gunsight readout bar graphs in HUD mode 2.
- Default save data folder location moved to \Documents\EvochronLegacy.
- Both HUD gunsights revised for a more simple single 'ring' look.
- Updated target missile lock indicators for stronger visual cue.
- Ship targeting indicators revised to reduce visual clutter.
- Increased visible rain in weather effects.
- OCRS now enables only in HUD mode 2.



Notes:

This update introduces several significant additions/advances to certain graphics elements of the game designed to work with the recently added 'Very High' detail mode and overall expanded range of available settings in the 'Effects Detail' and 'Terrain Detail' options. As a result, some players may want to change detail settings to different levels after installing this update in order to return to desired performance levels. And to accommodate that transition, the original shaders, techniques, and detail levels have been preserved in this update to provide the option for restoring the older graphics systems/modes as may be desired. The older systems have just been moved to different detail settings in the Options menu. Also, the default settings the game applies the first time it is installed and launched are the same as before to keep the same performance, leaving the higher settings optional for players with higher performance systems. The system requirements remain the same, there are now just higher limits to the upper detail settings for more powerful systems. And as such, there is now a wider range of available setting options ranging from what was available before to what are now higher levels of details/effects.

The new optional terrain shaders now provide significantly more texture detail in higher modes, particularly at closer distances. There can be a performance impact to render the added detail, so for those running the game on older/slower systems that may have difficulty with the added shader instructions, the 'Low' and 'Medium' detail modes will provide the original shader system that removes the new detail effects for the same level of performance as before. 'Low' is equivalent to the original 'Low'/'Medium' texture detail level and 'Medium' is equivalent to the original 'High'/'Very High' texture detail level. The new 'High' and 'Very High' detail settings now apply the new terrain shader system at different detail levels. Also, for multiplayer the game will retain the shader mode you select with the 'Terrain Detail' level and will only adjust the mesh detail aspect of the setting when connecting to a server with a different setting. So if you select the new shader mode with either the 'High' or 'Very High' level, the game will keep that while you play and simply adjust the mesh detail to match so all players in the game will have the same terrain structures. And if you select the original shader mode with either the 'Low' or 'Medium' level, that shader mode too will be kept and only the mesh detail adjusted to align terrain structures for players.

The goals of the HUD and user interface changes/additions are primarily to reduce visual 'noise', increase visible contrast for buttons/highlighting, provide improved distinction for active modes/options in relation to other buttons, simplify selection, and add labels to previously unlabeled options. Overall, the changes are designed to provide a cleaner and simpler presentation both visually and functionally.

The 3D map mode now supports selecting the X, Y, and Z coordinate positions, which allows the player to move the map around to gauge the selected nav point in reference to other objects in the sector. This can be done in place of using the regular 2D flip map mode or in addition to it whenever the player might want to view the space around the selected nav point in 3D.

The range of available effects has been expanded for the 'Effects Detail' option. Players can now set it to 'Low' to disable additional effects for added performance or 'Very High' to enabled new effects not previously available. 'Low' will now also disable dynamic cube mapping for planetary water and 'Very High' will enable new reflection/environment mapping and lighting effects. You can still optionally enable or disable the cube mapping for water effects in an external configuration file, so if you've specified a value it will still apply regardless of the effects detail level so you can still control the setting independently, if desired. The performance requirement for the 'Very High' detail setting can be significant, especially on older/slower systems, so it is recommended for players using more powerful systems capable of handling the additional camera renders, memory overhead, and shader instructions. The new reflection effects can also be modified via the specular.txt file option, details available in the updated customizing kit. For those interested in retaining the original rendering system and/or level of performance, the 'Effects Detail' can be set to 'High' rather than 'Very High' and the original system will be used instead of the new one.

A page is available on the game's official website that provides a few comparison images and work-in-progress videos to show some of the changes and improvements: https://www.starwraith.com/evochronlegacy/uiconsoles.htm

The revisions to the experimental VR system include some scaling adjustments/alignments along with optional cockpit scaling and minimum camera range setting. For cockpit scaling, the value should generally be high enough to avoid clipping at close range (ie 0.8 ), but can be adjusted in conjunction with the minimum camera range setting (default value is 1.0) for a wider array of available sizes. As a result of the scaling changes, the new default values for 'EyeDistanc' and 'HeadMScale' are now 2.0, so any vrsetup.txt file that may be in place will need these values changed to align with the new defaults (you can continue to use old values, such as 3.4, the cockpit and other structures may just appear smaller than before). A new default value has also been applied for the VRFrameTimer option. It is now set to 0 to activate the new dynamic timing system that should help reduce/eliminate possible flickering on lower performance systems. You can optionally still select a value above 0 to apply a static time delay value if you find one that works best overall with your system configuration. The download link for the latest current sample vrsetup.txt file is available here: https://www.starwraith.com/evochronlegacy/customkit/vrsetup.txt

By request, contracts in multiplayer now require players to accept the link rather than automatically being linked in. This way, a player accepting a contract won't automatically be subject to other players of the same faction doing other things in the same sector that could effect their current activity. Once a player accepts a contract, it is locked in and only players who are of the same faction and in the same sector who accept the link within about 10 seconds (using the trade link key or button) will join the player who accepted the contract. Otherwise, the accepting player will be able to complete the objective on their own and no other contract links can be accepted or interfere with the original player in the same sector until they cancel or finish the objective. If one or more players misses the opportunity to link into a contract, the player who accepted it can immediately cancel it before departing the station/hangar, then reselect it from the list. The contract will not be lost in the queue and is kept/preserved for reselecting as needed without penalty. To retain previous functionality, an option to automatically link in to allied contracts in the same sector is also available in the contract selection menu (docked or undocked). Simply click on 'Auto-Link To Local Contracts' to enable.

The new global flight lead transfer system now allows a multiplayer contract with multiple players to continue without failing it for all linked players even if the flight lead player is destroyed. The multiplayer system will automatically transfer flight lead authority to the next player in the linked group so that the objective can still be completed. At least one player must survive until the objective is finished or cancelled for payment to be received and only the surviving player(s) will receive the payment upon completion. If an objective can no longer be completed after the flight lead has been destroyed (because that player had the required equipment, material, or location), then the contract will need to be manually cancelled by the other player(s) or if possible, completed by another player acquiring or meeting the requirements with the contract still active.

The default save data folder location has been moved to \Documents\EvochronLegacy (user folder location being \Users\[username]\Documents\EvochronLegacy). The game will create the new folder and copy any save game, template, and setting files from the original \sw3dg\EvochronLegacy folder to the new location the next time you start the game (you can keep the old files in place as an original backup or move/remove them as desired). This change doesn't impact install folder locations and files, so any custom files/folders in the install folder will remain and continue to function as before. This change is only for the save data folder where save games, engineering templates, ship templates, and game settings are kept. If you'd like to retain the original save data folder location, you can place this file in the game's install folder (right click on this link to Save As): https://www.starwraith.com/evochronlegacy/customkit/savedir.txt (and if needed, replace the 'c:' in the file with the letter drive for the existing location of the \sw3dg\EvochronLegacy folder) Also, the game will default to the original \sw3dg\EvochronLegacy folder location if the new location can't be created or found for some reason.

The ability to set custom axis and button inputs to control the mouse pointer has been added to the Menu/Console Control options. You no longer need to edit the external text file to select custom values for these options, you can simply select them directly in the menu and then test them while the game is running. Simply click on the menu option to change the assigned axis or button input. Left click will increase the selected axis or button, right click will decrease the selected axis or button. Options to invert the axis input are also available as is the option to change the assigned device. This way, you can quickly select a custom input profile for whatever device you might want to use to control the mouse pointer in menus or consoles.

Version 1.0788 includes the following improvements:

- Civilian ship textures updated for more vivid coloring.
- Asteroid normal mapping updated for improved detail and light response.
- Shaders adjusted to reduce upper contrast levels under bright light conditions.
- 'Very High' option added for Effects Detail to expand available/selectable range.
- 'Very High' option added for Terrain Detail to provide optional higher texture detail for planets.
- 'Very High' texture detail mode added to provide double detail level above 'High' for certain objects.
- OCRS now automatically deactivates when any console is open and also automatically activates when console is closed.
- Internal client value bypass system added for rare angle lock condition (provides improved rotational behavior at certain angles).
- New distant object rendering system added to provide colored points of light for in-system objects when they are far away.
- Windshield blast shield lighting updated to retain consistent illumination level during entire startup procedure.
- Quest and waypoint radar blips sometimes appearing outside of central radar display frame in mode 2 fixed.
- Slight delay added to player-to-player linked jump system in multiplayer for improved arrival alignment.
- 'Rename Pilot' option in Pilot Manager changed to 'Modify Pilot' to better indicate additional options.
- Revised high speed planet entry burning effect added, including ability to apply to multiple ships.
- Indicated FVL velocity of target would sometimes mismatch by a small margin in multiplayer, fixed.
- Revised multiplayer object interpolation and prediction system implemented for smoother movement.
- Object targeting system would sometimes auto-bypass if a ship wasn't nearby in range, now fixed.
- Hull atmospheric descent flaring now displays only when hull is directly effected by friction.
- Experimental VR system updated for improved movement response performance and reduced judder.
- Atmospheric friction hull damage level that applies once shields are critical reduced by 50%.
- Move option added when the borderless reduced windowed mode is active (via swscreen.txt).
- Smooth rotation system added for panning orbit camera controls in external view modes.
- Improvements to gun turret speed offset system applied to particle cannon shots.
- Multiplayer text chat color option for blue tones updated for higher blue level.
- Improvements to AI ship affiliation distribution when arriving in new systems.
- Field of view and aspect ratio sliders added to Resolution drop down menu.
- 3D server program updated to accommodate required display module changes.
- Improvements to autopilot waypoint proximity based velocity selection.
- Subtle particle/streak effect added to jump drive sequence.
- Minor fixes.


Notes:

The new 'Very High' texture detail mode provides double the texture resolution of the 'High' mode for flyable civilian and military ships, asteroids, and the interior hangar/docking collar. The additional memory requirement is significant for this mode, so a video card with at least 2GB of dedicated video memory is advised for this option. The additional texture content increases the download size and install size by about 40-50 MB. For anyone developing custom texture files for the game, new 'veryhigh' texture filename indexes have also been added for the new optional detail level (in addition to the original 'low', 'medium', and 'high' levels). You can copy any 'high' texture file sets to include 'veryhigh' files to keep the maximum detail level the same when players switch to the 'Very High' texture detail mode, or optionally provide textures at a higher detail level. More details are available in the revised customizing kit.

To facilitate higher speed atmospheric dogfighting and travel, the damage level of atmospheric friction has been reduced by about 50%. This allows for significantly faster travel speeds in thicker atmosphere (ie lower altitude) conditions, allowing players who have been interested in dogfighting each other (particularly on private servers and LAN) to fly faster for evasion and wider turns. Other gameplay modes can also benefit from the faster travel speeds for quicker descents and escape. Short bursts of speeds up to 4000 or more can be achieved with energy shifted to shields and careful array augmenting.

When the borderless reduced windowed mode is activated with the swscreen.txt option, an icon ('+' symbol) will appear in-game in the upper right corner of the screen when the Alt key is held down. Click and hold on the icon with the mouse pointer to move the game's window frame around on the screen. This option, much like the reduced window mode itself, is somewhat experimental, but should be able to provide a way to move the game's window around while it is running on most system configurations.

You can now adjust the field of view and aspect ratio from within the game via the new sliders that appear at the bottom of the Resolution drop down menu. You can optionally reset the sliders to default value by right clicking on the slider bar for the option you want to reset.

The 3D (GPU enabled) server program has been updated to align with required changes to the display module for various VR and related functions. This will allow the 3D server program to run at the same time as the client on the same system, for those interested in running it that way. The old version of the 3D server program will cause the client to display an error message when attempting to launch it, but only if run on the same system at the same time. No changes have been made to the 2D server program as the updates were only necessary for the GPU enabled version. 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.

The experimental/unsupported VR system has received revisions in attempts to improve movement response and also reduce judder. However, the framerate rendering performance is still very much system dependent. Evochron does not automatically reduce detail levels when the VR system is active. So if you select 'High' or 'Very High' settings, they will apply the same in VR as they do in standard display modes. If added performance is desired, simply change detail levels manually to try and achieve the level of framerate you prefer with the level of performance your system can deliver. That said though, the changes in this update should dramatically improve the VR experience in the game. Also, the vrsetup.txt file option for custom settings has been updated, here is the download link to the latest current sample file with the required options: http://www.starwraith.com/evochronlegacy/customkit/vrsetup.txt

A smoother rotation system has been added for orbit panning camera controls in external view modes that utilize those options. This helps soften the start and stop movement of those camera controls. The tapering level can also be customized via an external text file (create a file named 'vieworbitrate.txt' in the install folder and enter a value in the first line). The default rotation rate level is 0.1.

The new distant object rendering system will render points of light out in the distance for planets, moons, nebula clouds, and stars that are close enough to be in the same system, but far enough away to not be rendered by the primary entity system. The distant object system will take over when objects reach that distance so there is still a visual cue among the background stars that an object is there even when it is several sectors away. And they are also rendered with a more pronounced glow effect to help make them a little more obvious. The coloring for each point will match the reflective/atmospheric properties of the object (such as planets) or the emissive properties of the object (such as stars). Even though you will now be able to see these objects at much greater distance, as the pilot, you'll still need to learn how to distinguish what is a fairly nearby planet or star object versus something that is much farther out in the background (likely much larger) and is fixed/static rather than a closer entity being rendered by the new system. One way to gauge this is to observe if/how a point of light moves or doesn't move when you move since at some distances and angles, their appearance can line up pretty closely with other points in the background. So learning to distinguish between such points can be a useful thing to practice.

Version 1.0788 includes the following improvements:

- Civilian ship textures updated for more vivid coloring.
- Asteroid normal mapping updated for improved detail and light response.
- Shaders adjusted to reduce upper contrast levels under bright light conditions.
- 'Very High' option added for Effects Detail to expand available/selectable range.
- 'Very High' option added for Terrain Detail to provide optional higher texture detail for planets.
- 'Very High' texture detail mode added to provide double detail level above 'High' for certain objects.
- OCRS now automatically deactivates when any console is open and also automatically activates when console is closed.
- Internal client value bypass system added for rare angle lock condition (provides improved rotational behavior at certain angles).
- New distant object rendering system added to provide colored points of light for in-system objects when they are far away.
- Windshield blast shield lighting updated to retain consistent illumination level during entire startup procedure.
- Quest and waypoint radar blips sometimes appearing outside of central radar display frame in mode 2 fixed.
- Slight delay added to player-to-player linked jump system in multiplayer for improved arrival alignment.
- 'Rename Pilot' option in Pilot Manager changed to 'Modify Pilot' to better indicate additional options.
- Revised high speed planet entry burning effect added, including ability to apply to multiple ships.
- Indicated FVL velocity of target would sometimes mismatch by a small margin in multiplayer, fixed.
- Revised multiplayer object interpolation and prediction system implemented for smoother movement.
- Object targeting system would sometimes auto-bypass if a ship wasn't nearby in range, now fixed.
- Hull atmospheric descent flaring now displays only when hull is directly effected by friction.
- Experimental VR system updated for improved movement response performance and reduced judder.
- Atmospheric friction hull damage level that applies once shields are critical reduced by 50%.
- Move option added when the borderless reduced windowed mode is active (via swscreen.txt).
- Smooth rotation system added for panning orbit camera controls in external view modes.
- Improvements to gun turret speed offset system applied to particle cannon shots.
- Multiplayer text chat color option for blue tones updated for higher blue level.
- Improvements to AI ship affiliation distribution when arriving in new systems.
- Field of view and aspect ratio sliders added to Resolution drop down menu.
- 3D server program updated to accommodate required display module changes.
- Improvements to autopilot waypoint proximity based velocity selection.
- Subtle particle/streak effect added to jump drive sequence.
- Minor fixes.


Notes:

The new 'Very High' texture detail mode provides double the texture resolution of the 'High' mode for flyable civilian and military ships, asteroids, and the interior hangar/docking collar. The additional memory requirement is significant for this mode, so a video card with at least 2GB of dedicated video memory is advised for this option. The additional texture content increases the download size and install size by about 40-50 MB. For anyone developing custom texture files for the game, new 'veryhigh' texture filename indexes have also been added for the new optional detail level (in addition to the original 'low', 'medium', and 'high' levels). You can copy any 'high' texture file sets to include 'veryhigh' files to keep the maximum detail level the same when players switch to the 'Very High' texture detail mode, or optionally provide textures at a higher detail level. More details are available in the revised customizing kit.

To facilitate higher speed atmospheric dogfighting and travel, the damage level of atmospheric friction has been reduced by about 50%. This allows for significantly faster travel speeds in thicker atmosphere (ie lower altitude) conditions, allowing players who have been interested in dogfighting each other (particularly on private servers and LAN) to fly faster for evasion and wider turns. Other gameplay modes can also benefit from the faster travel speeds for quicker descents and escape. Short bursts of speeds up to 4000 or more can be achieved with energy shifted to shields and careful array augmenting.

When the borderless reduced windowed mode is activated with the swscreen.txt option, an icon ('+' symbol) will appear in-game in the upper right corner of the screen when the Alt key is held down. Click and hold on the icon with the mouse pointer to move the game's window frame around on the screen. This option, much like the reduced window mode itself, is somewhat experimental, but should be able to provide a way to move the game's window around while it is running on most system configurations.

You can now adjust the field of view and aspect ratio from within the game via the new sliders that appear at the bottom of the Resolution drop down menu. You can optionally reset the sliders to default value by right clicking on the slider bar for the option you want to reset.

The 3D (GPU enabled) server program has been updated to align with required changes to the display module for various VR and related functions. This will allow the 3D server program to run at the same time as the client on the same system, for those interested in running it that way. The old version of the 3D server program will cause the client to display an error message when attempting to launch it, but only if run on the same system at the same time. No changes have been made to the 2D server program as the updates were only necessary for the GPU enabled version. 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.

The experimental/unsupported VR system has received revisions in attempts to improve movement response and also reduce judder. However, the framerate rendering performance is still very much system dependent. Evochron does not automatically reduce detail levels when the VR system is active. So if you select 'High' or 'Very High' settings, they will apply the same in VR as they do in standard display modes. If added performance is desired, simply change detail levels manually to try and achieve the level of framerate you prefer with the level of performance your system can deliver. That said though, the changes in this update should dramatically improve the VR experience in the game. Also, the vrsetup.txt file option for custom settings has been updated, here is the download link to the latest current sample file with the required options: http://www.starwraith.com/evochronlegacy/customkit/vrsetup.txt

A smoother rotation system has been added for orbit panning camera controls in external view modes that utilize those options. This helps soften the start and stop movement of those camera controls. The tapering level can also be customized via an external text file (create a file named 'vieworbitrate.txt' in the install folder and enter a value in the first line). The default rotation rate level is 0.1.

The new distant object rendering system will render points of light out in the distance for planets, moons, nebula clouds, and stars that are close enough to be in the same system, but far enough away to not be rendered by the primary entity system. The distant object system will take over when objects reach that distance so there is still a visual cue among the background stars that an object is there even when it is several sectors away. And they are also rendered with a more pronounced glow effect to help make them a little more obvious. The coloring for each point will match the reflective/atmospheric properties of the object (such as planets) or the emissive properties of the object (such as stars). Even though you will now be able to see these objects at much greater distance, as the pilot, you'll still need to learn how to distinguish what is a fairly nearby planet or star object versus something that is much farther out in the background (likely much larger) and is fixed/static rather than a closer entity being rendered by the new system. One way to gauge this is to observe if/how a point of light moves or doesn't move when you move since at some distances and angles, their appearance can line up pretty closely with other points in the background. So learning to distinguish between such points can be a useful thing to practice.

Version 1.0728 includes the following improvements:

- Flight control system updated to provide improved key/button rotation control during active jump drive sequences.
- Set velocity level system updated to remain at selected value when engine damage occurs while using a non-axis (mouse or keyboard) flight control.
- AI ships will now usually no longer hover near city docking ports for delayed docking or waiting, they will now generally dock immediately with no holding patterns.
- Planetary atmospheric density calculation updated to provide more accurate/consistent gravitational pull levels across various speed ranges that are subject to lift offset by ship.
- Under some conditions, recovering cargo from a container with multiple materials could result in lost or mismatched sorted/counted units left behind, now fixed.
- By request, selected firing mode now retains particle weapon setting above maximum particle cannon velocity (no longer defaults to beam).
- Terrain walkers piloted by other players in multiplayer could appear misaligned on the surface of moons, now fixed.
- GPU enabled version of server program updated to provide option to disable menu controls (Alt-C once connected).
- Planet ring particles could sometimes be left behind in view at certain departure angles, now fixed.
- Debris explosion system updated to better account for timer limitation issues on some systems.
- Improved terrain walker Heads-Up-Display reaction and recovery behavior to EMP missiles.
- Inbound missile pointer indicators on HUD better aligned with gunsight 3D spacing.
- Improved lightning effect in planet atmospheres, gas giants, and nebula clouds.
- Improvements to missile contrail behavior with offset movement system.
- Optional control profile added for Thrustmaster T.16000M joystick.
- Custom radio chatter volume option added to customizing options.
- Improved blip indicator alignment in 2D overhead radar mode.
- Faster mixed material/quantity recovery from containers.
- Radio chatter frequency and volume reduced.


Notes:

As with any server update, if you install the updated 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 since the installer will restore default files.

A new custom radio chatter volume option has been added to the customizing options. To set a custom volume level for radio chatter, create a file named 'chattervolume.txt' in the game's install folder and in the first line, enter the volume offset factor you want. The default volume level is a factor of 0.35. The volume level factor will be multiplied by the global volume level set in the game. So if you set the in-game volume level to 100%, radio chatter will play at 35% volume by default or at the level you select in the file. Set to 1.0 for 100% volume or you can silence radio chatter by setting the value to 0. The radio chatter volume level will not impact the radio directives sent directly to the player by the station's dockmaster nor radio communication to the player from other ships. Only traffic/docking chatter to/from other ships and other general chatter sequences are effected.

Four training videos are also now available on YouTube, here are links to each:

Navigation Console: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJK85clxFhQ
Build Console: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IdWHDf-5Nc
Ship Control and Physics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcrX8MFGmWc
Space Combat, Weapon Systems, and Target Tracking Systems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd7VdKMVEGM

Version 1.0728 includes the following improvements:

- Flight control system updated to provide improved key/button rotation control during active jump drive sequences.
- Set velocity level system updated to remain at selected value when engine damage occurs while using a non-axis (mouse or keyboard) flight control.
- AI ships will now usually no longer hover near city docking ports for delayed docking or waiting, they will now generally dock immediately with no holding patterns.
- Planetary atmospheric density calculation updated to provide more accurate/consistent gravitational pull levels across various speed ranges that are subject to lift offset by ship.
- Under some conditions, recovering cargo from a container with multiple materials could result in lost or mismatched sorted/counted units left behind, now fixed.
- By request, selected firing mode now retains particle weapon setting above maximum particle cannon velocity (no longer defaults to beam).
- Terrain walkers piloted by other players in multiplayer could appear misaligned on the surface of moons, now fixed.
- GPU enabled version of server program updated to provide option to disable menu controls (Alt-C once connected).
- Planet ring particles could sometimes be left behind in view at certain departure angles, now fixed.
- Debris explosion system updated to better account for timer limitation issues on some systems.
- Improved terrain walker Heads-Up-Display reaction and recovery behavior to EMP missiles.
- Inbound missile pointer indicators on HUD better aligned with gunsight 3D spacing.
- Improved lightning effect in planet atmospheres, gas giants, and nebula clouds.
- Improvements to missile contrail behavior with offset movement system.
- Optional control profile added for Thrustmaster T.16000M joystick.
- Custom radio chatter volume option added to customizing options.
- Improved blip indicator alignment in 2D overhead radar mode.
- Faster mixed material/quantity recovery from containers.
- Radio chatter frequency and volume reduced.


Notes:

As with any server update, if you install the updated 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 since the installer will restore default files.

A new custom radio chatter volume option has been added to the customizing options. To set a custom volume level for radio chatter, create a file named 'chattervolume.txt' in the game's install folder and in the first line, enter the volume offset factor you want. The default volume level is a factor of 0.35. The volume level factor will be multiplied by the global volume level set in the game. So if you set the in-game volume level to 100%, radio chatter will play at 35% volume by default or at the level you select in the file. Set to 1.0 for 100% volume or you can silence radio chatter by setting the value to 0. The radio chatter volume level will not impact the radio directives sent directly to the player by the station's dockmaster nor radio communication to the player from other ships. Only traffic/docking chatter to/from other ships and other general chatter sequences are effected.

Four training videos are also now available on YouTube, here are links to each:

Navigation Console: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJK85clxFhQ
Build Console: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IdWHDf-5Nc
Ship Control and Physics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcrX8MFGmWc
Space Combat, Weapon Systems, and Target Tracking Systems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd7VdKMVEGM