Aurora C# Screenshots

[QuakeIV]

Dude that is so sweet, the map sounds way nicer to use now.

[littleWolf]

Why Barnard Star A III  and A IV  painted outside orbital circle ?

[jonw]

Mouse wheel scrolls and click-dragging navigation? Steve mate, you're too good to us. . .

[waresky]

@Steve "Also, the Tactical map can now be zoomed using the mouse wheel and dragged by holding the left-mouse button. 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."

 

Thanks God,Steve. You save thousands navy Commanders now..

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

Why Barnard Star A III  and A IV  painted outside orbital circle ?

Graphical glitch - will figure it out eventually

[Fl1nchous]

Holy damn that looks so good compared to the current GUI! Is it going to be out soon or?

[mrwigggles]

Holy damn that looks so good compared to the current GUI! Is it going to be out soon or?

I suspect it'll be announce, about half hour after its avaiable to download.

[Person012345]

Holy damn that looks so good compared to the current GUI! Is it going to be out soon or?

I can state with a certain level of confidence that it will be out sometime before the next century.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

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 screenshot is 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.



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 a lot of moons, is in the habitable zone, a lot of potential colony cites are available. More fleet icons are visible in this shot because the 'All Fleets' option is selected, whereas the first screenshot only showed warships.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

Holy damn that looks so good compared to the current GUI! Is it going to be out soon or?

Not soon, although I am starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. My target for now is to get to a state where I can run a test game, probably without AI. As usual, progress depends on the availability of my free time.

[lennson]

I was wondering whether it would be possible to select and move a group of system nodes. This would be useful for when new systems are discovered that require rearranging the previously explored arms on the system map.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

I was wondering whether it would be possible to select and move a group of system nodes. This would be useful for when new systems are discovered that require rearranging the previously explored arms on the system map.

You can select multiple nodes by either selecting them individually using Ctrl-click or drawing a box around a group using shift-click-drag (or a combination). If multiple systems are selected, using click-drag will move only the selected systems instead of all systems. You can deselect multiple systems with by clicking any system.

I've also added some buttons to the toolbar for saving system positions or resetting them. Until you press the Save System Positions icon, clicking the Undo icon will return all systems to their last saved positions.

[Adrinus]

Absolutely needs name generation for every individual soldier.

I had an idea.  If you add the option to draw the name pool from viewers on twitch, you could boost the popularity of this game as well.  (plus it's kinda neat)

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

Here are three updated Galactic Map screenshots. Labels have been added plus three icons have been changed to provide the following 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.



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.



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.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

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.