Evochron Legacy SE version 2.0228 demo... file

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: '<admincomm>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.