Quasar4x - An Aurora4x VB6 clone q4x

[xenoscepter]

 - frakk that's crisp .

[Droll]

how robust will the modding infrasture be? Would I for example be able to mod in a recreation of C# ground combat into Quasar?

A few pages back there are screenshots and details about how the modding infrastructure works.  It might be technically possible since mods consist of code that is executed by Quasar, and they have access to the same database and memory that Quasar itself uses.  That said, I won't be going out of my way to support such a complicated mod and will be telling people I prefer they just play Aurora C# if they are interested in that kind of ground combat or any of its other features.

Honestly I don't think it would be reasonable to expect you to try to support mod that is so out of scope with the project. I asked because I really love the UI color that quasar has, + the fact that you are using C++ probably means its going to be more optimized than aurora.

Since quasar is a spin-off I have to ask - Is it open source and if it isn't, does it also have code obfuscation built in? Will the only points of access be through the API calls that you have implemented?

[xenoscepter]

 - Where can I get my hands on a copy of this?

[Froggiest1982]

- Where can I get my hands on a copy of this?

https://ozer0.itch.io/quasar4x

[Kyle (OP)]

Progress Update 2020-10-26:

Version 122 is up.  This build contains some brand new QoL features from C# Aurora, including prototypes (!), plus a solution of my own for missile engine design struggles! (More on that later).  These are all C# features I found myself missing as I play through my humble conventional-start campaign in Quasar.  First off, you can now optionally specify a capacity target after which a shipyard will stop its continual capacity expansion:






The build cost, completion date, and Required Materials are updated based on your desired target when you press enter or click outside of the text input box.




Next up, you can now change a scientist's research specialty at a cost, as in C# Aurora:








Quasar4x now has C#'s prototyping mechanics!  That gap to the right of the Suggest Name button was the perfect spot for the new Prototype button.  Additionally, I've added C#'s Show Next Tech checkbox.







C#'s Show Prototypes checkbox and Research Proto button have been added to the Class Design window:







Turrets can be prototyped as well, and they can also be based off of prototype beam weapons.   Prototype missile engines can be selected in the Missile Design window as well. 

That makes missile design a little less of a pain, but it gets better.  I have added a new option to the Engine Type dropdown list labelled < Current engine in the Create Research Project window >.






While this option is selected, you can make changes in the Missile Engine category on the Create Research Project window and those changes will update the Missile Design window in real time! 







In the code I'm calling this feature Live Prototyping.  This feature lets you work on all of the parameters of a missile simultaneously, viewing results in realtime, while staying faithful to VB6's missile design rules and UI.  Neat, huh?


That's all for now.  Looks like I have some bug reports to look at then it's back to my campaign!

[Warer]

I feel in love at first sight.

[joansam]

Beautiful, phenomenal addition Kyle! I’ve been holding off on playing a campaign because you warned us about bugginess, but I think we’re in full game mode now! Going to boot one up and see what I can see 

[Droll]

I'm not sure if I said this before but I am a big fan of the UI colors that you've gone with. Easy on the eyes and looks quite sleek.

[amram]

That is a damned slick way to handle missile prototyping, and it just feels like its the natural next step in prototyping.

A smallish request if I could, bring that to ships as well? 

Possibly best handled by being able to "reopen" or "edit" prototypes?  So you could design the ship with prototypes, and simply resume editing a prototype if you need to make changes rather than redo it for each iteration, and see the effect on the ship design as you edit the part.

[Kyle (OP)]

Progress update 2020-10-30

Version 128 is up.  This build brings in some of the features that were planned for 7.2 and later included in C#.

- Maintenance Storage Bays are now classed as Commercial components
- The cost of beam fire controls has been reduced by a third
- Colonist capacity of Orbital Habitat Modules has been increased from 50k to 200k
- Added Structural Shells and the associated No Armor checkbox to Class Design
- Civilian shipping lines will tend to build a more equal distribution of freighters and colony ships

At this time, I don't have plans to include any more of the features that were planned for 7.2. 

My campaign progresses.  I've discovered an amazing colony cost 0 world in Alpha Centauri, which is one jump away from Sol, and my first discovery of alien ruins in another system.  No sign of aliens thus far, although I know they're out there.  Fixing and polishing continues, although I keep running out of bug reports to work on so progress is slow.  I seem to have overestimated how many bug reports I'd get!  More playtesters would certainly be welcome

[Droll]

Progress update 2020-10-30

Version 128 is up.  This build brings in some of the features that were planned for 7.2 and later included in C#.

- Maintenance Storage Bays are now classed as Commercial components
- The cost of beam fire controls has been reduced by a third
- Colonist capacity of Orbital Habitat Modules has been increased from 50k to 200k
- Added Structural Shells and the associated No Armor checkbox to Class Design
- Civilian shipping lines will tend to build a more equal distribution of freighters and colony ships

At this time, I don't have plans to include any more of the features that were planned for 7.2. 

My campaign progresses.  I've discovered an amazing colony cost 0 world in Alpha Centauri, which is one jump away from Sol, and my first discovery of alien ruins in another system.  No sign of aliens thus far, although I know they're out there.  Fixing and polishing continues, although I keep running out of bug reports to work on so progress is slow.  I seem to have overestimated how many bug reports I'd get!  More playtesters would certainly be welcome

My issue right now is that I'm in a 1.12 game right now and thanks to uni I don't have the time required to get into some of the modding stuff I want to try with quasar. Rest assured I'm paying very close attention to the great progress that you've made.

As an aside - where is the list of changes that were intended for 7.2?

[icekiss]

I'm playing around with prototypes (I was really looking forward to this, thank you a lot!!), and I've got a question:

How do you convert a prototype component into a research project?

If the only current way is to recreate it with the same settings as a research project, and then changing the design from using the prototype to using the new component, and then obsoleting the prototype.   .   .   
Then I would humbly suggest offering up all prototypes for which you know all technologies (either checkbox "next technology" unused, or technologies researched after making the prototype) as research options.     
And once you research it, the part gets converted from a prototype (P) to a regular part.     And once that is done for every part, a shipyard can be retooled to build the class.     
That would massively streamline the process of designing a ship, as I understand things.       

Another (completely different) thing I noticed: Even when just showing a static screen, Quasar is still using 3/4 of a cpu core.   Are you maybe running a game loop at full speed somewhere? Especially when running on laptop battery, this is pretty wasteful.   

[Kyle (OP)]

I'm playing around with prototypes (I was really looking forward to this, thank you a lot!!), and I've got a question:

How do you convert a prototype component into a research project?

If the only current way is to recreate it with the same settings as a research project, and then changing the design from using the prototype to using the new component, and then obsoleting the prototype.   .   .   
Then I would humbly suggest offering up all prototypes for which you know all technologies (either checkbox "next technology" unused, or technologies researched after making the prototype) as research options.     
And once you research it, the part gets converted from a prototype (P) to a regular part.     And once that is done for every part, a shipyard can be retooled to build the class.     
That would massively streamline the process of designing a ship, as I understand things.       

It's the same as in C#: You select the component in the Class Design window (specifically in the Available Components table in the tab named 'Design') and click Research Proto.  The tag will change from (P) to (RP) indicating that it will now appear in your research projects list.

Another (completely different) thing I noticed: Even when just showing a static screen, Quasar is still using 3/4 of a cpu core.   Are you maybe running a game loop at full speed somewhere? Especially when running on laptop battery, this is pretty wasteful.   

Turns out Godot does have a Low Processor Usage mode that seems to be somewhat effective during idle moments.  I've added a checkbox in Main Menu > Quasar4x > Settings to enable this mode.  Just pushed version 131 which contains this change.

[icekiss]

It's the same as in C#: You select the component in the Class Design window (specifically in the Available Components table in the tab named 'Design') and click Research Proto.  The tag will change from (P) to (RP) indicating that it will now appear in your research projects list.

Thanks a bunch.  I never played the C# version, so didn't know to look for it there.  I would probably only have found it there by pure chance.
While having it just be researchable by default would be simpler, this works perfectly fine (and keeps the research list clutter free, so I can see the point of the 2 step process).  Thank you for the quick answer! 

Turns out Godot does have a Low Processor Usage mode that seems to be somewhat effective during idle moments.  I've added a checkbox in Main Menu > Quasar4x > Settings to enable this mode.  Just pushed version 131 which contains this change.

Downloaded and tested: A huge improvement! With that checkbox marked, utilization of the cpu core while the game is idle dropped (roughly) from 75% to 7%, so the game now only uses 10% of the energy it did before.
Thanks a bunch, this should let me play away from power for at least twice as long.  *thumbsup*

Edit: The energy consumption of my laptop dropped from roughly 35 Watt to 8 Watts, so actually I'll be able to play it for 4 times as long (and that is including power draw from the display and so on)! 

PS: But why the heck does the forum post editor insist on adding a space after each dot? Worst of all, they accumulate each time I edit the post, and there is no way to put dots without a space behind them. . . 

[Garfunkel]

It's an anti-spam feature to avoid you circumventing the URL block

It'll go away once you have 10 posts.