Aurora 4x

C# Aurora => Development Discussions => Topic started by: Steve Walmsley on March 20, 2016, 01:49:52 PM

Title: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on March 20, 2016, 01:49:52 PM
This is a locked thread for anyone wanting to look at screenshots without the comments

I'm created this thread to show a few screenshots of C# Aurora as I progress. I have made a lot of progress on the Tactical Map and while it isn't finished, there is enough to provide some idea of what C# Aurora will look like. Bear in mind this is only one window and this is just displaying the current database, not running a turn. However, you could run this alongside Aurora and use it to view the map (which is what I am doing now). All the various display options work so you can toggle on and off.

Also all the systems, fleets, etc are loaded in memory so the swap between systems views is now instant.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Tactical02.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on March 20, 2016, 01:50:15 PM
Here are some of the sidebar views. I believe they are improved on current Aurora. Clicking on any Fleet, Ship, Star, System body, etc. will centre the map on that location. The military view can be used to view the forces in the system, or all forces. This is also instant as everything is in memory.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Sidebar01.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Sidebar02.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Sidebar03.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Sidebar04.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on March 20, 2016, 01:50:38 PM
SM Mode and Auto Turns are now shown as a crystal ball and on/off switch in the tool bar - this makes it easier to see when they are on/off.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SMModeOff.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SMModeOn.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on March 20, 2016, 01:50:51 PM
And a couple of Sol system shots

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SolSystem03.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SolSystem02.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on March 20, 2016, 01:51:20 PM
Another screenshot. This is the contacts sidebar tab on the Tactical Map. The top half allows you to filter contacts on the tactical map. I've replaced the existing filter dropdown for relationship status with individual check boxes for Hostile/Neutral/Friendly/Allied/Civilian. The other check boxes are similar to existing Aurora. The Spacetime Bubble only appears in the check box list when SM Mode is on.

The lower half displays all known contacts broken down by alien race and system. This can be filtered for the current system only. I'll create a larger and more customisable version of this section for the Intelligence window.

BTW there are two race dropdowns in the sidebar. The first is always present and replaces the existing default race selection from the (now defunct) menu bar. Essentially, this dropdown changes the race view for the whole application. The second race dropdown (below systems) only appears in SM mode and contains a list of other races with knowledge of the current system. For both race dropdowns, if you select a race and it has knowledge of the current system, that system will automatically be selected for viewing.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SidebarContacts02.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on March 20, 2016, 01:51:34 PM
Two more screenshots. This is the Body Info tab of the sidebar, which shows details of any selected system body. It looks a lot cleaner than the original and now includes mineral deposits as well.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SidebarBodyInfo01.PNG)    (http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SidebarBodyInfo02.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on March 20, 2016, 01:51:49 PM
Active Sensors and Weapon ranges are now functional on the tactical map display. I've decided to change the colours and use dashed lines so they stand out more vs. the planetary orbits.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ActiveSensors.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Missiles.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Weapons.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on March 27, 2016, 12:37:00 PM
The first screenshot of the new class design window. Class design is now working within C# Aurora and as you can see, the class window has undergone a more radical overhaul than the tactical window. The main differences are:

1) All class types are now shown on the left in a tree view, organised by hull type. You can filter obsolete and civilian designs
2) Available Components are also in a tree view, organised by component type. You can open and close sections as needed. Scrollbars will appear if needed. You add new components using this tree by double-clicking (amount based on radio-button selection).
3) You can flip between available components and components in the current design (see second screenshot). You remove components using this tree.
4) Instead of showing a line of details for each component, clicking on the component (in either Race or Class lists) shows a more detailed description in the lower centre.
5) The box to the right of the component description box is for design errors.
6) Any green text is editable, so you can change armour and deployment time, plus adjust the range bands and tracking speeds used to show the capabilities of beam weapons and beam fire controls.
7) A list of ships in the class is shown in the lower right. There will be a much more detailed list on another tab.
8) Many of the VB6 text boxes no longer exist on this view, either because they have been removed because they duplicate the main display, are no longer necessary, have been handled differently (lack of power is now a design error) or moved to a different tab (showing the crew calculation) because they are less important. This allows a much cleaner view with only the required information.

There are a few minor changes to class design.
1) Ships are no longer rounded to the nearest hull space
2) Range Modifiers are shown in full rather than a number. So in the case of this ship, a range modifier of 30,000 km means the weapon has a range of Max Damage x Range Modifier. The range was always calculated this way but not shown as obviously on the display
3) Internal HTK has been added to the display next to armour and shields
4) 'Damage Control Rating' is now DCR
5) The 'To Hit' chances (in the display) for beam fire controls are based on the Range Bands and Target Speed set on the right side of the window
6) Beam Weapon damage fall-off (in the display) is based on the selected Range Bands.

This window is still a work in progress but the design-related work is mostly complete. The results of class design (with the above exceptions) are matching VB6 Aurora. I need to add some other tabs, including fighter and ordnance assignment, more detailed component information, rank assignment, etc.. I'll post screenshots as I complete them.

One other interesting advantage of C# Aurora is that I have separated the data from the display, which means you can have multiple class design windows open at once :)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ClassDesign.PNG)
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ClassDesign02.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on March 31, 2016, 10:40:56 AM
Another screenshot of the class design window, showing the assignment of ordnance and fighters and a more detailed component breakdown. This combines the functionality of two tabs from the VB6 version. Fighters / Ordnance is added and removed by double-clicking.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ClassDesign03.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on March 31, 2016, 03:01:30 PM
The ship list tab of the class design window. I've added a variety of ways to sort the ships in the class.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ClassDesign04.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on April 28, 2016, 03:32:27 PM
The first screenshot of the new Economics window. I've done quite a lot of work on the backend for this window but not much of the UI yet. Here is the summary tab - still a work in progress but enough to provide a good idea of the final version.

There are quite a few additional items of information, particularly in the new third column.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Economics01.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on May 28, 2016, 05:00:06 AM
The Industry tab of the economics window. It's similar to the original except I have removed the fuel production and will add it to a different tab. I may also add an option here to see all production, not just for the selected pop.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Industry.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on June 26, 2016, 03:13:11 PM
First screenshot of the Shipyard tab. Similar in function to the VB6 equivalent but with a lot more room to display the shipyard list. I've tried to be more space conscious for the upgrade and shipyard task sections, which allows for the extra room. The blank button on the bottom is a disabled "Refit Details" button. I'll show another screenshot where it is enabled.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Shipyards01.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on June 26, 2016, 03:20:15 PM
Another shipyard screenshot, this time with an Upgrade task selected.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Shipyards02.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on June 26, 2016, 03:24:45 PM
This shipyard tab screenshot shows the refit details section activated. This is toggled on/off by the Refit Details button and displays a breakdown of a proposed refit task.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Shipyards03.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on June 26, 2016, 03:30:34 PM
The new, much simpler, Select Names window. You can now select a name from any of the available Name Themes in a number of places within the program. The Class names and System names from the old Racial Themes are included as individual categories.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SelectNames.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on June 26, 2016, 07:33:12 PM
Shipyard Tasks tab. Similar to VB6 version except more screen space due to new font and wider window. I've also adjusted the columns to move progress further to the right and used left justification for most columns to make it more readable

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ShipyardTasks.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on July 09, 2016, 09:40:35 AM
Screenshots of the ground units tab. This first pair show the Japanese forces in 'population' view and then 'all units' view. Note the drop down next to the Transfer Local button. You can directly transfer ground units to other populations on the same planet, ground bases or ships in orbit. In this case a troop transport is top of the list and is showing its available capacity. if you try to move too many units, it will be loaded to capacity and the rest will not move.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/GroundCombat01.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/GroundCombat02.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on July 09, 2016, 10:08:29 AM
These screenshots demonstrate the new multiple ground unit selection option in C# Aurora. This can be used for transferring units to other population or ships but will mainly be used to reassign units to new HQs. When assigning multiple units to an HQ, Aurora will work out the best arrangement (see the Changes List for more detail). In this case, one brigade HQ with four attached units is selected, a standalone brigade HQ and five standalone units. The Transfer button is pressed to transfer them all to the Division HQ. As part of the transfer process, Aurora attaches any standalone units to any available slots under a brigade HQ within the division (including HQ that are part of the same transfer). The second screenshot shows the result of the button click. One unit was not transferred because there were no available slots.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/GroundCombat03.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/GroundCombat04.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on July 09, 2016, 07:30:54 PM
This is the new Ground Unit Training tab. While the layout is a little different, the main change is that units can be named before the task is created and renamed while the task is in progress. Also, low tech units will no longer be displayed as an option once mobile infantry has been researched.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/GUTraining.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on July 10, 2016, 07:51:59 AM
I've updated the industry tab to include fuel refineries and maintenance facilities. The mineral requirements and maintained ships will be covered in a different tab.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/IndustryNew02.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on July 10, 2016, 08:29:20 AM
First screenshots of the mining tab. The major change is the addition of a detailed breakdown of mineral usage, plus I have included the modifiers for the different types of mining.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Mining01.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Mining02.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on July 17, 2016, 06:31:27 AM
The Wealth & Trade tab. Essentially identical to VB6 Aurora.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/WealthTrade.PNG)

Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on July 19, 2016, 12:02:04 PM
I am playing around with colour themes. Here is an example of a black and white theme instead of the default dark blue / pale yellow. For now I just wanted to check how easy this was but I will add full functionality for different colour themes before release

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Theme01.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Theme02.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on July 19, 2016, 01:44:24 PM
Just for interest, this is a screenshot of the tactical map on my main monitor - 3440 x 1440 ultra widescreen. The screenshot may have a horizontal scrollbar in lower resolutions.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Ultrawide01.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on July 24, 2016, 08:13:10 AM
First screenshot of the Research tab. The main improvement is integrating the research queue into the same list as the current research projects. I've also included more information on each project, such as the total modifier from scientist bonuses (including specialisation) and any research anomalies. Not all of the buttons will be enabled in every situation but I have left them enabled here just for the screenshot.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Research01.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on August 20, 2016, 02:29:36 PM
This is the Event Window. I am still playing around with it but the final window will look like something along these lines. It is very similar to the existing window. You can change the event colours and hide event types. The functionality is a little different as you can now just click any event and hide that type rather than scrolling through the list. You can override the hide flag by clicking the Show All Events checkbox. The colours are ones I just setup for the screenshot - you can use whatever colours you like for each event type and these are set by each race.

Rather than a number of events, you set the number of days into the past for which you wish to see events.

Also, there is a new dropdown for Event Category, which groups events into Production, Mining, Environment, Ships, Commanders, etc. so you can filter the view.

Events for the last two increments are taking place as I advance time in C# Aurora (as a lot of the population-related production/research code is complete). Everything earlier happening in VB6. The addition of this window will make the next stages easier as I can see what is happening in the game, rather than having to step through code.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/EventWindow02.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on September 10, 2016, 06:42:49 PM
This is the first screenshot from the new Naval Organisation window. This window will replace the VB6 Task Group and Ship windows, plus several minor windows used for reporting of fuel, maintenance, etc. It is a work in progress but the screenshot below shows the sidebar plus the Ship List tab of the Fleets tab.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Fleets03.PNG) 

Sidebar
Instead of the Task Forces and Task Groups in VB6 Aurora, C# Aurora takes an approach similar to the optional functionality of the VB6 Naval Organisation tab, albeit with much easier and more flexible UI. There are four primary components of Naval Organisation; Admin Commands, Fleets (VB6 Task Groups), Sub-Fleets and Ships. The Admin Commands in green and the sub-fleets in light blue are purely administrative constructs and don't appear on the tactical map.

Every race starts with a single top level Admin Command (which can't be deleted but can be renamed). All other Admin Commands descend in a tree from this one. You can only attach an Admin Command to another Admin Command but you can have an unlimited number of levels in the Admin Command hierarchy.

Fleets can only be attached to Admin Commands. Many fleets can be attached to a single Admin Command but each fleet can only be attached to one Admin Command

Sub-Fleets can only be attached to a Fleet, or to another sub-fleet. You can have an unlimited number of levels within the sub-fleet hierarchy. These are used to organise the ships within the larger fleets. Sub-fleets have no on-map function and all ships within the sub-fleet hierarchy move within the parent fleet.

A Ship can be attached to a Fleet or to a sub-fleet. When attached to a sub-fleet, it is still a member of the parent Fleet at the top of the sub-fleet hierarchy.

The sidebar tree has full drag and drop functionality so you can move Admin Commands, Fleets, Sub-Fleets and Ships around as long as the above rules are followed. You can also drag ships and sub-fleets between different fleets as long as they are in the same physical location. Entire sections of the tree can be moved with a single drag-drop. Also, you can open up multiple Fleet windows and drag and drop between the trees in two different windows.

You can detach a sub-fleet with a single click, at which point it becomes a full fleet in its own right. Any sub-fleets further down the sub-fleet hierarchy become sub-fleets of this new fleet.

I will create a 'join as sub-fleet' order so when one fleet joins another, its ships will automatically form a sub-fleet within the joined fleet, allowing them to subsequently detach as a whole unit.

There is still more work to do in this area, one item of which is to include a visual cue for when a fleet is out of range of its admin command. I will also add the option to display parasites, ground units or cargo within the tree.

Fleet Summary
When the Fleets tab is selected, the top portion displays a Fleet Summary, which in function is similar to the Class or Ship summaries. The current location and any orders are displayed on the top line, while the fleet commander and his bonuses are on line two. Line three displays any useful information for the fleet, such as speed (and max speed if moving more slowly), the protection value, weapon and sensor ranges, plus any special capabilities such as survey strength, mining, terraforming or fuel harvesting. These will only appear if their value is greater than zero. Line four shows capacity-related information, such as fuel storage, cargo storage, troop transport capacity, etc. plus the total size of the military hulls in the fleet. Line five shows default and conditional orders.

Ship List
The ship list that was previously show in the upper right of the VB6 Task Group window now has its own tab. With more space, more ships can be displayed and the individual ship commanders are shown in the right-most column (the fleet commander is shown in green). Ranks now have an associated abbreviation which can be changed by the player.
When a ship has a potential issue, such as low fuel, maintenance supplies or ordnance or shields are active but depleted or the deployment time has been exceeded, that rating for the ship is highlighted in either orange or red depending on severity. For example, when fuel falls below 40% capacity, it is highlighted in orange. Below 20% is highlighted in red.

Here are some more screenshots to demonstrate the Fleet Summary section. Note the detailed information on the first line regarding location and orders.When an object is referenced for location purposes, that will be the nearest jump point or planet.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Fleets04.PNG)
 
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Fleets05.PNG) 

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Fleets06.PNG) 

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Fleets07.PNG) 
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on October 09, 2016, 07:45:25 AM
The Fleets Orders tab within the Fleets tab on the Naval Organization window. The first screenshot is a basic view showing the Sol system with the default settings. In VB6, all the various movement options, such as order delay, how many items to load, whether to load sub-units of HQs, were displayed all the time. In C# Aurora, those will appear along the bottom of the window only when needed for the specific order type. There are three potential views for the left-hand column - the normal destination view, a list of auto-route destinations (where the orders are calculated automatically) and Order Templates, which are sets of orders you create and store. These are all in VB6 Aurora but not displayed in this way.

With regards to auto-route destination, in VB6 these are restricted to populations, but I will add the option to have auto-route waypoints as well (you will see a list of populations, plus all auto-route waypoints you have established). This code isn't written yet so no screenshot.

BTW I've spotted the missing space in Remove Last but I am too lazy to recreate all these screenshots :)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Orders01.PNG)

One of the odd things in VB6 Aurora was that when you show moons in the destination list, they can appear next to the wrong planet because planets with populations are excluded from the system body list. In C# Aurora, they are greyed out instead of not appearing, which makes things much clearer

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Orders02.PNG)

This screenshot shows planets turned off and fleets turned on. Fleets are now prefixed by FLT: to make the list easier to read. Civilian harvesters are also displayed (prefixed by CIV: ) so you can use them to refuel.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Orders03.PNG)

Here is a fleet that has received orders. The order list now shows the destination followed by the order. Any transits are shown in orange.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Orders04.PNG)

A fleet with troop transports picking up ground units. The whole third list is now replaced by the potential selections and will disappear once you use Add Move. Ground forces are shown with their formations to make selection easier.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Orders05.PNG)

There are no longer separate orders for each installation type. Instead, there is a Load Installation order that allows you to select which installation to pick up and also shows you the current number of installations. I have setup the code in C# Aurora to make it a lot easier to add new installation types and this new order is part of that process.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Orders06.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on January 08, 2017, 06:29:20 PM
Here is the first screenshot of the new System View window. It isn't quite finished yet but given recent discussions on terraforming, max capacity and tide-locked planets, I think it is worth showing a progress update. This is a non-SM view. There are quite a few differences between this and the existing window, including:

1) You can select races as well as systems. If you change race, the same system will be displayed if the new race is aware of it
2) The current survey status is shown at the right-centre top.
3) The Star information lists the different types of system bodies associated with that star. Habitable is less than colony cost 2.0. Near Habitable is between colony cost 2.0 and 3.0 and is split between normal and low-grav.
4) There are no longer different tabs for different stars. You select a star to show its planetary system
5) The system body information has been changed to show all the key data without scrolling. Max population capacity is shown in the right-hand column.
6) Many more bodies can be colonised due to the new low-gravity infrastructure rules. Bodies with low gravity have LG after the colony cost.
7) Populations can be given names that are different to the system body (although that isn't on this screenshot because the Commonwealth pop hasn't been renamed).
8) Jump points are shown in the bottom left. You no longer have to visit a different tab.
9) The colony cost factors for the selected system body now include water availability, a modifier for low gravity and a flag for if the body can retain an atmosphere.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SystemView01.PNG)

The second screenshot shows Sol in SM mode with Ceres selected. The various SM options are available, including exploring or modifying jump points, changing minerals or survey status and generating new systems. Every button you can see is functional with all the code behind it. System Generation is complete for both movement orders and for this window, except for generating new races. The Create Race button has not been added to this window yet for the same reason.

With Ceres selected you can see the colony cost for Acceptable Gravity of 1.00 LG. This means that even if you were to create perfectly habitable conditions the colony cost would never fall below 1.00 and you would need low gravity infrastructure to compensate. Although in this case the Atmosphere Retention is flagged as 'No' so you wouldn't be able to terraform it anyway. I'll post the updated terraforming rules separately once completed.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SystemView02.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on January 09, 2017, 06:06:38 PM
I've made some changes to the system view based on feedback.

1) There are more options regarding flagging body surveys. You have the option to display 'U' for unsurveyed and an option to display 'T' for worlds that have been surveyed by a team ('MT' if they find minerals).
2) I've rearranged the colony cost, population and atmosphere columns to put pressure next to atmosphere.
3) The atmosphere column no longer shows details of each gas, with one gas per line. Instead, the basic type of atmosphere is shown on a single line. This display is either the main two gases, the main gas and oxygen (if oxygen is present and not the main gas) or 'Venusian' for those high pressure, high temperature worlds with a runaway greenhouse effect and a combination of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide (open to suggestions for a different term than 'Venusian'). If oxygen is present, the oxygen pressure is shown.
4) Clicking on a body shows detailed atmospheric composition at the bottom of the window.
5) This section also shows the factors for the temperature calculation ( Surface Temperature (K) = Base Temp (K) * Greenhouse Factor * Albedo ) plus the base temp and surface temp in Kelvin and Celsius.

BTW for some reason the windows forms Listview control insists on changing the text colour of any selected row to the default for the control (see Mars below). This remove the indication colour (blue = habitable, etc) until that row is no longer selected. Very annoying and wasting a lot of time trying to fix it :). Any suggestions welcome.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SystemView04.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on January 09, 2017, 06:06:58 PM
Another system view screenshot, this time showing Alpha Centauri. This demonstrates just how much more real estate is now available for colonization. Note in the star listing that Alpha Centauri-A has 2 habitable bodies (less than 2.0 CC) and 142 near-habitable (between 2.0 and 3.0 CC), many of which are asteroids. Colonisation is no longer about finding potential colony sites but rather judging which of the many options is most suitable. With the new capacity rules, there are likely to be more colonies, but smaller ones.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SystemView06.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on January 28, 2017, 06:57:23 PM
The Create New Race window. This is accessed via the System View window and allows you to create a brand new empire based on a selected system body. Compared to the VB6 version, there is a lot more information on the new race, the primary species and the starting population. The race parameters are generated randomly and the details are displayed on the window. All of the fields are editable and can be used to modify the racial setup. Flags and Images can be altered before the race is created. The Random Name button is used to generate random values for the race name and title.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/CreateRace001.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on March 06, 2017, 02:49:32 PM
A minor update to the Fleet window tree view. Each Admin command now displays the required rank to be assigned to that command. The required rank is one rank higher than the most senior subordinate fleet commander or the most senior officer running a subordinate admin command. You can check the officers in the subordinate fleets by clicking on them.

For example, one of the colony fleets assigned to Colony Command has a Commander (CMDR) as it's C.O. so the Admin Command requires a Captain (CPT). Frontier Fleet requires a Rear-Admiral, as one of its subordinate fleets is commanded by a Commodore, which means the Battle Fleet (which is a higher Admin Command) needs a Vice-Admiral and the highest Admin Command (Commonwealth Navy) needs an Admiral.

With this requirement in mind, I will be creating the ability to assign minimum and maximum ranks for every ship (so you can ensure freighters are only commanded by the lowest rank for example). This should lead to much more realistic command structures.

I haven't completely decided on how the admin commands will work but at the moment I am leaning towards:
 - Admin Commands will have a type, that will allow that Admin Command to share certain bonuses from its commander (Survey from a Survey Admin Command, Logistics from a Logistics Admin Command, etc.)
 - There will be a new installation called Naval Command Headquarters (or something similar) which can have levels in the same way as a Sector Command. These will be transportable by freighters.
 - Each Admin Command will be assigned to a population with an NCH and its reach will be dependent on the level of that NCH (same rules as sector commands - probably with bonuses for certain Admin Command types such as Survey)
 - If the physical building is destroyed, there will be a chance for any officers running Admin Commands from its location to be killed. The Admin Commands themselves will have to relocate.
 - The reach will be counted in transits and every subordinate fleet or admin command in reach will be given the benefit from that command
 - The benefit will likely be on the lines of a sector command, so providing one quarter of the Admin Command C.O.'s bonus.
 - This can stack, so a survey ship would get a quarter of the bonus from the immediate superior admin command and a sixteenth of the bonus from the one above that.
 - If two Admin Commands are providing bonuses, the immediate superior command would have to be in range of the ship and the higher command would have to be in range of the lower command. This will create an administrative network reaching out from fleet headquarters and will require defences to protect the administrative nodes.

However, all of this is optional and not using Admin Commands will not cause any issues (beyond the loss of the potential bonuses).

This type of complex hierarchy for providing bonuses and realistic command structures is a benefit of C# and the much faster execution speed.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/AdminCommands.PNG)

Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on March 17, 2017, 05:50:57 PM
The first screenshots of the new Commanders window. There may still be some minor changes and a few extra buttons but the major elements of the window are all there. The major changes compared to VB6 are as follows:

1) Ranks have been moved into a tree view format. Scientists 'ranks' are their research fields while Administrators are arranged by admin rating.
2) The available assignment section shows the actual required rank now instead of the rank number. Greyed out ships already have assigned commanders. You filter those out by using the 'Available Only' option.
3) The history is more prominent and I have added some code (for future events) to remove the unnecessary 'relieve' events where they are followed by an assignment event without any time differential.
4) The search function allows you to specify four different bonuses and the list of the commanders will be sorted by those four bonuses left to right. Duplicates in the bonuses options are ignored. This section now also shows rank and current assignment.

In general, there is more information available and should allow for easier allocation of assignments.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Commanders01.PNG)

The second screenshot shows a civilian administrator selected and a search based on administrator bonuses.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Commanders02.PNG)

The third screenshot is back to naval commanders and shows the new assignment categories. In the search section, the duplicate espionage sort criterion is ignored.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Commanders03.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on May 18, 2017, 07:11:52 AM
The new Create Research Project window. Very similar in function to the VB6 version but laid out slightly differently.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Projects01.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Projects02.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on June 12, 2017, 02:55:08 PM
The new missile design window. Very similar in principle to the VB6 version, although I have added a company name option and an instant research option. This design displayed includes a missile engine designed with the new fuel consumption rules and a thermal sensor with the new passive sensor model. As you can see, passive-seeking missiles are going to be far more effective in C# Aurora.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/MissileDesign.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on July 02, 2017, 04:51:40 AM
The new Turret Design window. Very similar in function to the VB6 version but with the addition of the company name option and instant research option. Both this window and the missile design window can be accessed via the Create Project Window (as in VB6) and via the main toolbar on the tactical map window.

Note that the changes to turret design, especially with regard to correcting the armour bug, result in this turret being significantly smaller than the VB6 equivalent. For comparison, the same twin turret with armour strength 2 in VB6 is 24.27 HS and 194 BP.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Turret02.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on July 22, 2017, 07:11:28 PM
Below is the Combat section of the Naval Organization window. This replaces the combat overview window.

This new version is much cleaner and more user-friendly than the VB6 equivalent, with most functions handled via drag and drop. You can drag and drop weapons, targets, ECCM systems and point defence modes directly on to fire controls. Missiles are dragged on to missile launchers. Any assigned targets and point defence modes are listed below the fire control, before the assigned weapons. If you click 'Drag All', dragging a single weapon will drag all weapons of that type in the same location to the new location. Similarly, dragging a single missile will equip all launchers under the same fire control. You can also drag to and from Unassigned Weapons and Unassigned ECCM.

Potential targets are listed by alien race.

The Assign buttons on the right allow you to copy the complete combat setup for the selected ship to all other ships of the same class, or just those within the same sub-fleet, fleet or system.

There are also buttons for activating sensors, raising & lowering shields and firing using either a single fire control or all of them.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Combat01.PNG)

This screenshot shows a more developed naval organization on the left. On the right, note that when a fire control is given the order to fire it is displayed as Orange instead of Green.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Combat02.PNG)

A couple more to show different layouts

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Combat03.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Combat05.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on August 05, 2017, 11:59:10 AM
Although this is not a view of a new screen, it is a development milestone.

Racial Design Philosophy (used by NPRs) and Automated Design (used by NPRs and Shipping Lines) are both complete. Below is a computer-created design for a missile cruiser, using a random design philosophy. This uses all the new rules for sensors, shields, missiles, command & control, etc.. The automated design process includes designing missiles and allocating them to the class. The second screenshot is for a beam-armed destroyer, created using the same tech but a different design philosophy.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/AutoDesign01.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/AutoDesign02.PNG)

Note there is a small display bug in the missile range which I fixed after creating the screenshot.
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on August 12, 2017, 08:05:55 AM
The Naval Organization window with the updated Admin Command functionality described in this post:

http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8495.msg103849#msg103849

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/AdminCommand01.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on August 12, 2017, 08:17:03 AM
The updated Admin Command functionality (shown above) has been added to the sidebar display on the Tactical Map. Only those admin commands relevant to the fleets in the system are displayed (unless the player uses the options to show fleets from all systems).

There is also an option to show civilian ships in the system, in which case all shipping lines with ships present are listed as Admin Commands with the prefix SPL.

Clicking on any fleet in the sidebar view, including civilians, will centre the map on that fleet.

One other minor change since the last Tactical Map screenshot is the addition of missile design and turret design buttons in the centre of the toolbar.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Tactical03.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on August 18, 2017, 06:43:25 PM
The first screenshots of the C# Aurora Galactic Map. It is very similar in overall function to the VB6 Galactic Map, but with a cleaner look and a few additions. The screenshots are 3400x1400 so you may have to scroll to see the full width.

1) The system icons are larger, mainly because the number of low cost worlds is much higher now due to the low gravity options and I need room for the numbers. You can see that from the second screenshot

2) The yellow dashed circles with large dashes identify the locations of Admin Commands.

3) The dashed circles with small dashes are the locations of alien contacts. You can filter this option on the contacts tab to independently show allied, friendly, neutral, hostile or civilian. The colour used for the dashed circle will be the most threatening contact in the system (hostile, then neutral, etc.).

4) The contacts and naval forces tab replicate those tabs from the tactical map.

5) The toolbar buttons all have the same function as the identical buttons on the tactical map, so you can run the Empire from this window if desired. Clicking on SM mode or Auto-turns on the galactic or tactical map will also highlight the equivalent button on the other window.

6) Clicking in open space and dragging will move the map. Clicking on a system and dragging will move only that system. Unlike VB6, the map and the system move with the mouse rather than moving only when you release the button.

7) A whole new set of more modern hull icons are available and you can change the racial icon from this window. You can also choose a space station icon to represent shipyard locations.

8) The flag icons are displayed much more cleanly than in VB6.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/GalacticMap01.png)

This second screenshot has the low gravity colony cost 2.00 - 2.99 option checked, which demonstrates the huge number of potential colony sites in C# Aurora. Alpha Centauri for example has 144 bodies in this category. Vega has 215. When an asteroid belt, or a gas giant with many moons, is in the habitable zone, a lot of potential colony cites become available. More fleet icons are visible in this shot because the 'All Fleets' option is selected, whereas the first screenshot only showed warships.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/GalacticMap02.png)

Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on August 20, 2017, 11:28:48 AM
The Fuel Report window from VB6 becomes a tab on the Naval Organization window in C# Aurora. The fields are very similar, although C# offers more options in terms of exclusions.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/FuelReport01.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on August 20, 2017, 11:47:51 AM
Here are three updated Galactic Map screenshots. Labels have been added plus three icons have been changed to provide the functionality:

1) Saving changes to system positions
2) Undoing any system position changes since the last save
3) Lining up systems in a grid.

All these functions exist in VB6 Aurora, although now they should be easier to use.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/GalacticMap03.png)

Thsi screenshot shows the Map Labels tab, which allows you to create, delete or change labels, or copying existing labels (to retain the colour and font). Labels are moved around the map by clicking and dragging and are saved in the same way as system positions.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/GalacticMap04.png)

This screenshot shows the Naval Forces tab, which can display all naval forces or only those within the selected system. In the latter case, only Admin Commands relevant to that system are displayed.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/GalacticMap05.png)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on August 20, 2017, 11:54:45 AM
One more Galactic Map Screenshot, this time showing the overview tab, which displays a summary of the planetary bodies and the jump points in the system.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/GalacticMap06.png)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on February 23, 2018, 12:22:38 PM
Not had a screenshot for a while, so here is the Standing Orders sub-tab of the Fleet tab on the Naval Organization window. This isn't the final list of order types and conditions but is sufficient to show the layout.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/StandingOrders02.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on February 25, 2018, 11:59:50 AM
Screenshots below show the new Waypoint functionality described in the following changes post:

http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8495.msg106845#msg106845

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Waypoints001.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Waypoints002.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on March 13, 2018, 02:41:20 PM
Ship Class Components View

The components view has been expanded considerably for C# Aurora.

The tab still has the functionality from VB6, showing the component breakdown by Amount, Size, Cost, Crew and HTK. To that has been added ordnance loadout, fuel and maintenance supplies, plus a breakdown of minerals and wealth. The mineral and wealth breakdown takes into account the mineral requirement and/or cost for the full loadout of fuel, maintenance and ordnance, so you can see the full cost of the design

Two new columns have been added which replace the damage allocation chart from VB6. Instead, this is the percentage chance that a component of the specified type will be selected for internal damage. E-DAC is for weapons that only target electronics.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ComponentView002.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on March 24, 2018, 11:57:55 AM
These are screenshots of the Ship view on the Naval Organization window. This will replace the Ship window, which is no longer separate. The section at the top will list all ship officers (up to 6), while the four panels below show various information about the ship.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Ship001.PNG)

The fourth panel shows any ordnance or cargo carried by the ship

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Ship002.PNG)

The narrow panel just above the ship summary shows information relevant to the ship. In the first two screenshots, this was target speed and range band information as both ships had energy weapons. For this ship, a tanker, the auto-refuel options are shown. Colliers will have auto-ordnance transfer options, etc.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Ship003.PNG)

The armour display is similar to VB6

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Ship004.PNG)

Except that the size of the boxes changes to show the whole armour layout for larger ships - no more horizontal scrolling required.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Ship005.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on March 30, 2018, 12:54:37 PM
The first screenshots of the Intelligence and Foreign Relations window. This has very similar functionality to the VB6 equivalent, although the layout is quite different.

At the top left, the first race is viewing and the second race is the alien race (from the viewing race perspective). The Alien Race Treaties section of the first box in the top row shows the treaties granted by the alien race to the viewing race, while the second box has the diplomatic options available to the viewing race. In this case, simply choosing between hostile and neutral. With higher diplomatic rating, additional options appear (Friendly, Allied, Allow Trade, Share Geological Data, Share Gravitational Data, Share Research Data). I may expand the diplomatic options for C# Aurora and will add those as appropriate.

The third box has a dropdown with the known species of the alien race and the attributes of that species (if known). The remaining boxes in the top row show a picture of the dominant species, the alien ship design and the alien flag

The first three boxes in the second row shows the known technology of the alien race (based on salvage), the systems in which an alien ship or population has been detected and the alien ship classes identified by the viewing race's sensors.

Clicking on a Alien class will show what information is known about that class, based on sensor readings, plus any weapons, sensor or technology known to be part of that alien class design. To the right is a list of known members of the class and their last known location. If the alien class summary is available, it will be shown in the bottom right box.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Intelligence001.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Intelligence002.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Intelligence003.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on September 02, 2018, 02:27:09 PM
A screenshot of the damage control section, covered by the following rules post:

http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8495.msg109602#msg109602

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/DamageControl02.PNG)

Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on September 02, 2018, 02:53:25 PM
A screenshot of the manual damage section. You can damage your own ships with your own weapons for test purposes, then use SM repair to fix them.

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ManualDamage.PNG)
Title: Re: Screenshots published so far
Post by: Steve Walmsley on September 15, 2018, 09:08:13 AM
Ground Forces window screenshots from the Ground Logistics rules post

http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8495.msg109760#msg109760

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SupplyVehicle02.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Logistics003.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Logistics004.PNG)

(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Logistics005.PNG)