Home » Stars! Clones, Extensions, Modding » Stars! Nova - Open Discussion and Help » Stars! Nova 0.4.1 Developmental Release
Stars! Nova 0.4.1 Developmental Release |
Sun, 11 July 2010 02:58 |
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Daniel | | | Messages: 179
Registered: April 2006 Location: Nowra, Australia | |
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Stars! Nova 0.4.1 has been released on sourceforge.
This release makes it possible to complete a single player game against the AI as bombing/invasion now work and the game detects elimination of the AI and declares a winner. Who will be the first non developer to complete a single player game of Stars! Nova?
This is a developmental release (alpha) and should not be considered a full playable game. It is released for members of the community interested the ongoing development of Stars! Nova and to obtain feedback. Please read the current bug tracker. Running Stars! Nova requires some effort to work around current known issues.
Thanks to all those who provided feedback on 0.4.0. Some of the issues raised have been addressed. Others have been added to the bug or feature request trackers.
Here is a list of what has been done in this release:
General:
- No backward compatibility with save games from earlier
versions. This means that old save games cannot be loaded
in this version.
- Created default races (as close to as currently possible).
Launcher:
- Removed the ability to resize the launcher window.
Race Wizard:
- Lesser racial trait "Cheap Engines" now costs points
instead of granting them.
- Factory operation 14 and 15 /10k grants now has correct
cost.
- Added option that techs costing 75% extra starts on
level 3/4.
- Changed order of tabs to: Race, Traits, Environment,
Production and Research.
- Moved "Factories cost 1 less G" to Production tab.
- Formated primary Racial traits.
Game Play Fixes / GUI:
- Defenses limited to 100.
- Fuel calculation now include the mass of the ships, not
just cargo. (This fix only works for newly created ships
and is not a retroactive fix for games in progress.)
- Way points can now be removed with the delete key (once
selected). The backspace key also (still) works.
- Fixed a logic error in VictoryCheck that counted unowned
stars as a second player, preventing victory by
extermination from being reported.
- Reworked the invasion angorithm so invasions now work.
- Unloading colonists at a star not owned by the fleet now
results in invasion (instead of adding the colonists to
the other race's star).
- Bombing now takes place.
- Fuel pods and cargo modules now add to the base hull
correctly.
- Corrected conversions of colonists to
kilotons-of-colonists.
- Up&Down buttons add to the production queue.
- It is now possible to replace a component in the ship
designer with another. (Component removal has not yet
been implemented.)
- Fixed incorrect cost when adding 10x components.
- Mine field is now displayed at correct size. Mine layers
lay mines continuously.
- Fixed an issue that caused fuel not to be subtracted for
legs that took less than 1 whole year/turn.
- Partial fix to prevent crash when attempting cargo
transfer where there is nothing to transfer.
Console:
- Forcing turn generation before any turns are submitted
no longer crashes the console.
Component Definitions Fixes:
- Fixed % chance to hit mines in components.xml.
- Updated race restrictions form speed trap 20 and orbital
construction module in components.xml
- Orbital construction module set to a minimum kill of 2000.
Component editor now accepts minimum kill values up to
10000.
- Fixes to components.xml by Coyote: race permision, mining
propeties for robo-miners, fixed some images, fixed
engines, all bombs now have the proper kill%, Orbital
Construction Module now has a bomb property.
Documentation:
- Updated the Getting Started Guide with command line
arguments.
- Replace font-dependent single character copyright symbol
with "(C)" for cross-platform compatibility.
AI:
- Fixed an issue that caused the AI to crash when run from
the command line with incorrect parameters.
- AI now builds factories/mines/defenses (introduced to aid
in testing of bombing.) Confirmed smart bombs do bomb.
Have fun.Report message to a moderator
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Re: Stars! Nova 0.4.1 Developmental Release |
Sun, 11 July 2010 17:19 |
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"Fatal error: could not allocate home star."
Starting a game with each of the default races under AI plus a custom IS race under human control. Galaxy was 800x1200, density and uniformity don't seem to affect it.
Edit: 800x800 works fine. Maybe 1200 is just too large a dimension. :\ I was afraid initially that it was a bug with IT races' second world, but I guess that's not in yet anyhow.
...Making a larger universe doesn't actually create more stars, just more blackspace around the edge.
One thing that I want to suggest right now is a toggle for each race in the host console to switch between human and AI control.
Another bug: the start @3 box seems to get switched off once the race starts a game. Not only does it have no game effect when selected, but loading the race after starting a game with it has the box deselected and 60 points free.
[Updated on: Sun, 11 July 2010 17:39] Report message to a moderator
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Re: Stars! Nova 0.4.1 Developmental Release |
Sat, 17 July 2010 04:48 |
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m.a@stars | | Commander | Messages: 2765
Registered: October 2004 Location: Third star to the left | |
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Daniel wrote on Sat, 17 July 2010 00:56 | I see there are very specific requirements for order of rounding to get the exact values Stars! produces.
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Most of it is just artifacts of integer math. Work with Integers and most of the time the correct numbers will just happen.
Quote: | How much does it matter whether or not a clone of Stars! rounds the formula off the same? If the fuel used is plus or minus 1 more mg per leg when would that matter?
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For all kinds of small, fuel-limited fleets, like early colonizers, minelayers, scouts, FF hordes, bombers, transports, chaff...
Change the way all these small/early ships work and you're no longer a clone, but a variant.
Quote: | So if the clone gives accurate predictions, and the formula are published, does it matter if they differ by a few points from Stars!? I ask because it makes a big difference to the development effort if we need to meet these exact requirements for every calculation (not just fuel).
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I'd say that Fuel Usage is one of the most important and used calculations in the whole game. Getting it exact would be as important as getting Habitability and Pop growth exact. Luckily there's not many other calculations of that level.
So many Stars, so few Missiles!
In space no one can hear you scheme! Report message to a moderator
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Re: Stars! Nova 0.4.1 Developmental Release |
Sat, 17 July 2010 17:10 |
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I don't see how it's necessary to reproduce rounding errors, as long as the formula as a whole is the same. A couple mg here and there are not a big deal... and if you're relying on them you're running way too close to the edge of disaster anyway.
In fact, why not include calculator utilities as part of the full release of Nova? Build them right into the UI!
[Updated on: Sat, 17 July 2010 17:18] Report message to a moderator
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Re: Stars! Nova 0.4.1 Developmental Release |
Fri, 26 November 2010 16:56 |
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Strategic | | Crewman 1st Class | Messages: 25
Registered: January 2003 Location: United Kingdom | |
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Hi
Is anybody using Stars! Nova running it under Mono on Linux? Is anything other than Windows even a target platform? I assume it is from Sourceforge. Does that mean I can submit bugs directly there too?
Thanks
[Updated on: Fri, 26 November 2010 17:38]
Strategic
Past host of Walking on Eggs (2000), Walking on Shattered Eggs (2001), Dangerous Frontier (2001), Undisputed Power (2001), A Matter of Honour (2002) and Conflicted Empires (2002)Report message to a moderator
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Re: Stars! Nova 0.4.1 Developmental Release |
Fri, 26 November 2010 19:03 |
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Strategic | | Crewman 1st Class | Messages: 25
Registered: January 2003 Location: United Kingdom | |
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Okay, I just ran it under Debian Linux (Unstable), and it runs fine with minor bugs until you actually load the main game screen. From there, the canvas flickers constantly and you can't see a starmap
But it looks like you've done a great amount of work here, definitely the best clone I've seen yet.
Is it your intention to stick with the original game design or do you intend to expand it? Expansion obviously comes with the risk of alienating the original community of course while enhancing what is available. Optional expansion should provide the best of both worlds, but comes at greater work.
Strategic
Past host of Walking on Eggs (2000), Walking on Shattered Eggs (2001), Dangerous Frontier (2001), Undisputed Power (2001), A Matter of Honour (2002) and Conflicted Empires (2002)Report message to a moderator
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Re: Stars! Nova 0.4.1 Developmental Release |
Sat, 27 November 2010 00:17 |
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Daniel | | | Messages: 179
Registered: April 2006 Location: Nowra, Australia | |
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Strategic wrote on Sat, 27 November 2010 11:03 |
Okay, I just ran it under Debian Linux (Unstable), and it runs fine with minor bugs until you actually load the main game screen. From there, the canvas flickers constantly and you can't see a starmap
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Thanks for confirming that issue. I have only had one other report of that. Now it is confirmed I can up the priority.
Quote: |
But it looks like you've done a great amount of work here, definitely the best clone I've seen yet.
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Thanks, but it was already the most complete clone before the current development team picked it up, so we can't take all the credit.
Quote: |
Is it your intention to stick with the original game design or do you intend to expand it? Expansion obviously comes with the risk of alienating the original community of course while enhancing what is available. Optional expansion should provide the best of both worlds, but comes at greater work.
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The intention is for version 1.0 of Stars! Nova to be a clone of the Stars! gameplay with _optional_ enhancements. Those optional enhancements are things individual developers wanted to put in and are required to be selectable options. Any difference in gameplay between Stars! Nova and Stars! is a bug, unless it is a bug in Stars! we have decided to fix, as per the list here: http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/stars-nova/index.php?t itle=Specification#Bugs
Have fun.Report message to a moderator
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Re: Stars! Nova 0.4.1 Developmental Release |
Sat, 27 November 2010 00:25 |
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I don't think we'll need to worry that much about alienating the purists when you get to that point, as the hardcore purists will just play Original Stars! anyway. However, leaving the game open to third-party modding and expansion will maybe help breathe some new life into the game.
Just my
[Updated on: Sat, 27 November 2010 00:27] Report message to a moderator
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Re: Stars! Nova 0.4.1 Developmental Release |
Sat, 27 November 2010 08:38 |
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Strategic | | Crewman 1st Class | Messages: 25
Registered: January 2003 Location: United Kingdom | |
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Quote: | I don't think we'll need to worry that much about alienating the purists when you get to that point, as the hardcore purists will just play Original Stars! anyway. However, leaving the game open to third-party modding and expansion will maybe help breathe some new life into the game.
Just my my 2 cents
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I actually disagree with this. Stars! itself in it's current form is clearly dying due to the age of the game. A new open-source port which easily runs on modern PC's across all platforms with no commercial cost to the player will clearly pick up new players and breathe new life into the community. This is without putting any modifications into it at all
Stars! itself has been a good enough game to attract an initially large community and then keep players for a number of years. We can't be sure what effect the modifications made to this port will eventually do to the community. Therefore, keeping in touch with the original playing base is a good idea.
As for hardcore purists sticking with the original Stars!, this may be true in some cases. However, you have to remember that Stars! is getting harder to run on some modern machines (particularly 64-bit) and eventually only those with enough computer technical skills or older PC's will be able to run it. The community will naturally die off.
I agree finally that adding extensions to the project will extend it and create more interest. But I think it's important to stick with the original concept too, so we don't lose sight of what the project really is. Therefore, I do think the design idea that Daniel has stated is the best.
It's a pity that the game is programmed in .NET, a platform I know nothing about or I could have seen what I could do to help
[Updated on: Sat, 27 November 2010 08:39]
Strategic
Past host of Walking on Eggs (2000), Walking on Shattered Eggs (2001), Dangerous Frontier (2001), Undisputed Power (2001), A Matter of Honour (2002) and Conflicted Empires (2002)Report message to a moderator
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