Evochron Legacy SE version 2.0178 demo... file

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.