Evochron Legacy SE version 2.0378 demo... file

Version 2.0378 includes the following improvements:

- Contract preview list mode added to provide a summary of all available contracts.
- IDS scale factor and control mode are now also displayed on the gunsight indicator in HUD mode 2.
- Added key and button binding options to open/close each fleet menu mode and select fleet ships for orders.
- Added support for exporting certain control and physics values via UDP for use with motion tracking devices.
- Increased frequency of eliminate enemy ace and contraband smuggler contracts (bounty hunting) in disputed regions.
- Added key/button mapping options to access quest, system information, and regional news sub-menus as well as viewing hangar details.
- Holographic layer added above station command modules to display station names and faction affiliations.
- Holographic banner system added to display images between hangar entrances for station command modules.
- Missile indicators now display red when targeting the player, yellow when targeting other ships/objects.
- Added new textures/indexes for green level direction indicators to more clearly indicate fleet ships.
- Territory control boxes on nav map now properly inversed when player is affiliated with Federation.
- Indicator symbol added to HUD indicators and target range list/detail display to mark fleet ships.
- Added customizing options to set launch HUD mode, HUD cycle direction, and mode restrictions.
- Added icons to 'Items for Sale' menu list for various commodity, equipment, and weapon items.
- Music systems (both default and custom) added to station lobby, hangar, labs, and shipyard.
- Added ability to specify custom music tracks for particular regions or sector locations.
- Font system updated to standardize color levels between button edges and center bars.
- Pathway lighting added to station gate entrances and other select module sections.
- Added buttons to activate Territory or Econ/Tech overlays in quadrant map mode.
- Maneuvering thrusters (both nozzles and exhaust) reduced in size (see notes).
- Redesigned commodity value display in Econ/Tech quadrant map mode (see notes).
- Added Alt key shortcut to open Econ/Tech quadrant map mode in nav console.
- Added single key/button mapping option for Econ/Tech quadrant nav map mode.
- Added option to enable/disable listing available weapons for sale by type.
- Added options to sort 'Items for Sale' list alphabetically or by price.
- Added ability to load media files from quests in save data folder.
- Added ability to require minimum number of credits in quests.
- Added ability to require specific ship frame type in quests.
- Added ability to spawn cargo containers in quests.
- Minor improvements and fixes.

Notes:

A new contract preview list mode is available in the inventory console which allows the player to view a summary of all available contracts (or missions if in a war zone) with a brief description of each along with the price being offered. The player can then select one from the list to view more details about it. Clicking on 'Contract List' will return to the preview list mode (as will switching between items for sale and contracts). This way, the player doesn't have to toggle through all contracts to see what's available.

The IDS scale factor and control input mode are now displayed on the gunsight indicator in HUD mode 2. New image indexes have been added to support the X1-X9 scale levels along with the 'Off' mode. A dedicated character index has also been added for the control input mode and can be modified to optionally display the scale value. Details available in the revised customizing kit: Starwraith.com

A new option for exporting certain control and physics values has been added to the main Options menu, adding to the previous '3D Head Tracking' setting that is now named 'Head/Motion Tracking'. The new button allows you to activate both the head tracking (TrackIR) mode as well as a new 'Motion' option that enables broadcasting values over a UDP port. Motion tracking devices can then receive this data and process it for simulating motion effects. Details on exported values and custom configuration options are available in the customizing kit: Starwraith.com

A new customizing option has been added to specify the HUD mode upon launching, the direction HUD modes cycle, and restrictions on available HUD modes. To apply such options, create a text file named 'hudcyclesettings.txt' in either the save data folder (\Documents\EvochronLegacySE) or the '\media' folder within the game's installation folder. You can then enter these lines to set values:

HUDLaunch=2
HUDCycleD=1
HUDActive=0

The 'HUDLaunch' parameter will set the HUD mode when the game starts or when respawning. Set to either 1 for mode 1 or 2 for mode 2. The 'HUDCycleD' parameter will set the direction the HUD modes are cycled in. Set to 1 for increasing increments or -1 for decreasing increments. The 'HUDActive' parameter will select which HUD modes will be available/active in the range. Set to 0 to allow the full range of HUD modes that includes off, mode 1, and mode 2. Set to 1 to not allow turning off the HUD entirely, leaving only mode 1 and mode 2 available. Set to 2 to restrict the modes to off and mode 1. Set to 3 to restrict the modes to off and mode 2.

The font system has been updated to standardize color levels between button edges and center bars. This allows for more consistent color matching (no more trying to guess between the different color levels, they are now 1:1) and provides more available variety for brightness when holding the mouse over buttons in the game. The included default font images (in the '\media' folder) has been updated for this new alignment and can be used as a reference for how to change any existing custom font images that may be in place.

Maneuvering thrusters have been reduced in size by about 2/3 for a more subtle appearance (based on feedback/requests over the last few years). The game will automatically update any custom thruster placements and scaling for the new layout, so changes can be made later if larger thruster nozzles are desired. Otherwise, both the nozzles and exhaust effects have been reduced to give the frames a little more of an aerodynamic appearance with less hull surface disruption. The thruster placement utility for the customizing kit has also been updated to accommodate these changes.

The custom music system has been updated to support specifying music tracks for particular regions or sector locations. This way, you can have the game play specific music that takes location into account in addition to threat level. To implement this option, first place the maximum number of global music files you want added to the '\music' folder. This tells the game what the maximum number of tracks is to search for. Next, if you want to specify tracks for sectors, create one or more folders inside the '\music' folder with sector locations in their names using underscores to separate the values. For example, to add music files to the sector specific to the planet Pearl, the folder name would be '3500_0_-1800'. Then copy the tracks you want over to that folder starting with 'musiclevel1-1.ogg'. Remember to keep music files in sets of three for each threat level (1-1, 1-2, and 1-3). The game will allow an existing track to finish before selecting a new one, either sector/region based or just baseline random, unless a new threat level condition triggers a new load event as per normal operation. To specify music files by region, use the word 'region' in the folder name along with the region number. For example, to add music files to the region that contains the entire Pearl system, you would use the folder name 'region179'. You don't need to include the total number of music file sets located in the base '\music' folder, the maximum number of tracks specific to a sector or region folder simply needs to be the same or less than the music file sets in the '\music' folder.

The commodity value display in the navigation console's quadrant map mode has been redesigned to show both the price variation bar graphs as well as the specific values for all commodities at the same time. So highlighting a region will now provide a more comprehensive and detailed overview of market conditions. The Econ/Tech quadrant map mode can also now be quickly accessed with the default Alt-F1 key combination, making the mode accessible with one input rather than requiring three. Additionally, an optional single key/button binding option has been added to page 4 of the Key/Button Controls menu.

Key and button mapping options have been added to access inventory console sub-menu options that generally require two or more layers of selecting. With the new key/button options, they can now be optionally accessed with one selection input. For the the Quest Menu, System Information, and Regional News options, pressing a key or button mapped to one of those options when the inventory console is closed will immediately open the console in the selected mode. Pressing the same key or button again will close the console (just like the default F3 key). That is, if the inventory console is already open and is in the specified mode, then it will simply close (or not respond if inside station lobbies). If the inventory console is open and not in the specified mode, then the sub-menu mode will simply activate. So these options are designed for quick access to their respective modes. Since the View Hangar Details option reports information in the message log and doesn't involve a separate sub-menu mode, it can be accessed any time.

Fleet ships now have new indicators for their descriptions and HUD elements. For ship descriptions, a filled circle character has been added to the target and non-target direction indicators to mark them as fleet ships. The filled circle character has also been added to the target detail and range cockpit display modes. You can optionally specify custom characters by creating a text file in either the save data folder or '\media' folder named 'fleetshipcharacters.txt' and in the first two lines, enter the left and right characters you'd like to apply. You can enter just a left character to leave an extra character for ship descriptions or you can also enter blank lines to remove the characters entirely. As an added measure of visual distinction, new dedicated texture indexes and images have been added to the HUD direction indicators. The default indicators will display 'Fleet' above their targeting circles and can be replaced by different images, if desired. Details are available in the revised customizing kit (target3green-fleet.png, target7-fleet.png, targetshadow-fleet.png, and targetshadow2-fleet.png).

A holographic banner has been added above station command module to display the name of the station and its faction affiliation. If a station is part of the same faction as the player, its affiliation text will appear green on the banner. If its neutral (IND relative to ALC or FDN player), it will appear yellow. If it's hostile and blocked for docking, it will appear red. Options to hide or change this banner and the other holograms below are available in the revised customizing kit.

Holographic images have also been added between station entrances. This system can also import custom images, including sector specific and animated (up to 10 frames each). To import custom images, simply replace the images in the '\media\stationbanners' folder. Images with the prefix 'alc' will be displayed for ALC affiliated stations, 'fdn' for FDN affiliated, and 'ind' for IND affiliated. You can have up to 5 still images (filenames ending in 'banner#.png' where '#' is a number between 1 and 5). Still images will cycle after a few seconds. Importing left/right seamless images can support scrolling (for caution banners, waveforms, etc). To enable the scrolling mode, a 'bannerscroll.txt' (with faction and dash prefix characters) can be used to set the scrolling speed. The 'ind-bannerscroll.txt' text file that is included with the game in the '\stationbanners' folder can be used for reference. A positive value will scroll in one direction, negative value in the other. Alternatively (and using a little more video memory), you can import a series of images for each holographic surface for an animated effect (limited for memory and best used for effects like spinning logos, sparkling effects, and/or moving letters). Filenames for animated indexes include a dash and a number at the end, so 'banner1-1.png' (again with faction and dash prefix characters, ie 'alc-banner1-1.png') would apply a first image for an animated set and additional images added up through 'banner1-10.png' for a complete group. Missing images in a set will be skipped, so you can use gaps for short pauses, but the first 'banner#-1.png' filename need to be included as a baseline. In addition to importing images globally by faction, custom images can also be applied to specific sectors by placing them inside a folder with the sector location separate by underscores. For example, placing image files inside a folder named '3500_0_-1800' within the '\stationbanners' folder will apply those images for a station built in that sector (so you can use this to apply custom images to a station you build in single player).