Author Topic: v2.2.0 Changes List  (Read 52494 times)

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Offline Steve Walmsley (OP)

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v2.2.0 Changes List
« on: September 07, 2022, 04:56:25 PM »
Changes List for 2.2.0

This post includes bug fixes or minor changes. Any more significant changes will have their own post.

Fixes
  • 'Reassign All Admin Commands' now reassigns admin commands, rather than planetary governors.
  • Fixed bug that sometimes caused fleets to move within minimum distance during close combat.
  • Fixed bug that caused weapons to malfunction even when not firing due to zero chance to hit.
  • Fixed 'Lower Shield' button for Fleets.
  • Fixed error in jump drive creation if minimum size of squadron-capable jump drive is less than 10.
  • Fixed bug that sometimes prevented NPRs from firing on STO targets.
  • Fixed bug that sometimes caused selection popup window to have blank check boxes
  • Updating amount and accessibility in Specify Minerals now also adjusts the values for future accessibility decline.
  • Fixed display order of the conditional orders list.
  • If a naval admin command is deleted, any subordinate admin commands are reassigned to the top level admin command.
  • Absorb orders no longer end movement.
  • Fixed bug causing game freeze during system generation in random stars games.
  • Fixed Sync Fire for energy weapons.
  • Fixed bug that resulted in a defeated population surrendering to the largest population on the planet, rather than the attacking population.
  • High Power Microwaves can now have fractional capacitors.
  • Fixed a bug that caused a series of #201 errors when discovering a pre-industrial race.
  • Fixed bug with ground control ranks being assigned to naval admin commands.
  • Waypoints can no longer be assigned to beam fire controls.
  • Normal colonies can no longer be created on gas giants or superjovians.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause negative water vapour if it was being removed during terraforming.
  • Fixed a bug that retained the original parent ship as owner when copying fire control assignments.
  • Fixed a bug that reported alien class shield strength as their EM signature, rather than actual strength (which is signature / 30).
  • Fixed a bug that prevented STO weapon range from being displayed if the population did not have at least one tracking station.
  • The text for beam fire control range now displays correctly on the tactical map.
  • Fixed a bug where a fleet with a contact as its ultimate destination would use Lagrange points from its starting system, rather than the contact system.
  • Miscellaneous components now appear correctly as Logistics research projects.
  • Restore now working correctly for retired commanders.
  • Fixed display bug when renaming admin commands.
  • Ground units now deleted correctly when parent colony is deleted.
  • Fixed description of heavy autocannon.
Minor Changes
  • Added a new Galactic Map distance display option for known stars that shows the real space distance in light years from the selected system to each of the other systems.
  • Terraforming Installations changed to 50,000 cargo points.
  • Shield Recharge moved after movement in sequence of play.
  • Logistics Module increased from 500 to 1000 GSP and restricted to light vehicles only.
  • Railguns with less than four shots will have a maximum recharge rate of: Capacitor Tech * (Shots / 4) .
  • When Ground Force Training Tasks are completed without all production being used, work will begin on the next item in the queue.
  • Changed ground unit cost to be rounded to 3 decimal places instead of 2.
  • 'Use Roman' checkbox on Economics window will remember state.
  • Assigning tech points to a population through disassembly or download will also apply those tech points to paused research projects at other populations.
  • Downloading tech or disassembling components can only take place at a population with at least operating one research facility (Research facilities * Manufacturing Efficiency  * Economic Prod Modifier * Radiation Production Modifier * Political Stability * Political Status Production Mod >= 1).
  • Added display option on Galactic Map for Aether Rifts.
  • Changed technology naming for MSP production to reflect it is BP, rather than MSP. The description now includes both.
  • Added display of wrecks options to Galactic Map. When active and at least one wreck is present, a small wreck icon and the number of wrecks is displayed to the right of the system name.
  • After a shipping line has built ten ships, it will no longer build small ships. After a shipping line has built twenty ships, it will only build very large ships.
  • On the Naval Organization, the list of ground units for loading will be shown with unit type abbreviation and displayed by hierarchy, then by abbreviation and then by unit name.
  • On the GU/Stockpile tab of the Economics window, any components that can be disassembled to gain tech knowledge will be shown in green text.
  • The Fleet History tab now shows movement in reverse order, so the latest executed orders are at the top.
  • Added annual MSP consumption to the Fleet window.
  • Races cannot create civilian mining colonies unless they have at least one shipyard.
  • Removed 'minimal' ground survey results.
  • Missile Agility has been removed from the game. All missiles will have a manoeuvre rating of 10.
  • The mineral requirements for Missile Engines have changed from 100% Gallicite to 50/50 Gallicite and Boronide. This is to slightly reduce the overall requirement of Gallicite in the game. Technobabble is that missiles have single-use engines and therefore have different build requirements than ship engines.
  • Weapon failures will occur during point defence fire. Previously this only happened for offensive fire.
  • Active Sensors and Missile Fire Controls split into separate projects on the Create Research Project window.
  • NPR hull sizes will potentially be much larger, up to 3x the current maximum.
  • NPR warships may use boosted engines.
  • When using the Limited Research Administration option, the chance of military academies generating scientists will be increased from 4% to 5% (and from 8% to 10% if the Academy Commandant is a scientist).
  • Significant performance improvement.
  • Changed Random Ruin option on System View to allow either Random or Selected Ruin.
  • Auto-refit tasks will retain the setting of the 'Use Components' option.
  • Added extra AI code to reduce the chance of AI fleets dodging in and out of sensor range. They will remember the threat that caused them to move away.
  • Added a new 'Transit Delay' event. This doesn't cause an interrupt and will be used in place of the current 'Transit Failure' event when the reason for failure is jump shock.
  • Intact components recovered from wrecks will add weapons, sensors and technology (as appropriate) to the respective Alien Class in v2.2
  • Technology for spinal mounts and particle lances can be recovered from wrecks and components.
  • The rate at which missile launchers recycle in hangar bays is increased by the carrier operations bonus of the carrier.
  • Moved colonization cost reduction technology from Logistics to Biology.
  • Beam Fire Controls for non-PD STO weapons will be reduced in range to 1x, 2x or 3x tracking range if that range is more than double the weapon range (lowest applied). This is to avoid extra cost in over-engineering STO weapons.
  • All fuel storage components are now available from start, including conventional start.
  • Added 0.1 ton fuel storage component which contains 100 litres.
  • MSP Production technology moved from Construction/Production to Logistics.
« Last Edit: November 27, 2023, 04:52:30 AM by Steve Walmsley »
 

Offline Steve Walmsley (OP)

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Re: v2.2.0 Changes List
« Reply #1 on: September 10, 2022, 10:20:59 AM »
Radiation Reduction

For v2.1, Radiation reduces at 100 per year.

In v2.2, Radiation will reduce at  100 per year or 10% of current level per year, whichever is greater.

For example, in v2.1, Radiation of 10,000 would require 100 years to reduce to zero. In v2.2, it will require 32 years.

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Re: v2.2.0 Changes List
« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2022, 12:40:24 PM »
Supernovae

v2.2 adds the option for the Spacemaster to trigger a supernova in Known Stars games. Although supernova candidates are usually high mass stars or white dwarves in special situations, there is no restriction on which stars may be chosen by the Spacemaster (in order to maximise RP opportunities). I may add random event supernovae in the future (after seeing playtesting of SM-triggered).

This is restricted to Known Stars because the 3D locations of all systems are mapped in real space. If a supernova is triggered all jump points, system bodies and military forces in the system will be destroyed. The supernova will also create an expanding sphere of radiation travelling at light speed through normal space. A new display option has been added to the Galactic Map to show 'real space' distance as an alternative to the existing distance via jump points. A second new display option on the Galactic Map displays 'time to impact' for the nearest supernova radiation wave front and the projected radiation on impact.

The strength of the supernova wave front will grow weaker as its spherical surface area increases. When it reaches a new star system, the wave front will irradiate every body in the system and potentially damage any ship and missiles. The radiation impact at different LY distances for a 'standard' supernova is shown below. A body with no atmosphere will suffer the full impact. Any bodies with atmosphere will reduce divide the impact by 100 x atmospheric pressure in atm. There is an option to increase or decrease the power of the supernova and that will have a linear effect on the subsequent damage (2x power = 2x radiation impact all distances).

Ships in an affected system will suffer a number of strength-1 hits equal to Radiation / 100,000. If the radiation is 100,000 or more, all missiles in the system will be destroyed.



Here is an example, using Ras Alhague - a A5-III system 46.7 LY from Earth as the Supernova system.

Galactic Map before Supernova - Distances via Jump Point



Galactic Map before Supernova - Distances in Real Space



After triggering Supernova at Ras Alhague



Showing time to impact and radiation level on impact (for bodies with no atmosphere)



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Re: v2.2.0 Changes List
« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2022, 02:59:33 PM »
Ship Scrapped Event

A 'Civilian Ship Scrapped' Event has been added for v2.2. This will be used when shipping lines retire old ships and will not be an interrupt event.

The existing 'Ship Scrapped Event', which has an interrupt, will still be used for the completion of scrap tasks in player shipyards.

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Re: v2.2.0 Changes List
« Reply #4 on: September 10, 2022, 05:45:35 PM »
Damage Control Changes

For v2.1 (and v2.2), the damage control rating of a ship is used as a multiplier to the chance of repairing damaged systems during a given time period.

For v2.2, each ship also gains a new 'Instant Damage Control Rating'. The DCR rating for a ship or class on the summary display is now shown as two numbers separated by a dash. For example, DCR 10-15 would mean a ship had a damage control rating of 10 and an instant damage control rating of 15.

The 'Instant Damage Control Rating' is calculated as: Damage Control Rating * ((200 / Class Size)).

For example, a 20,000 ton ship with a damage control rating of 12 would have an instant damage control rating of 6. An 8,000 ton ship with a damage control rating of 12 would have an instant damage control rating of 15. If a ship has a Main Engineering component, the instant damage control rating is boosted by Engineering bonus of the Chief Engineer and half that of the Commander. The maximum instant damage control rating is 50, plus any engineering bonus.

Note that for 'normal' damage control (not instant), the Engineering Bonus is multiplied by 5.

When a ship receives internal damage and a component is deemed to be destroyed, there is a percentage chance equal to the instant damage control rating that the component remains intact. If so, this consumes maintenance supplies equal to the cost of the component (the same as maintenance failures) and will be reported as a 'damage control' event.

This change is intended to make damage control systems a more interesting factor in ship design.

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Re: v2.2.0 Changes List
« Reply #5 on: September 11, 2022, 05:03:38 AM »
Decontamination

A new Decontamination component has been added for ground forces. This has the same size and cost as the Xenoarchaeology component and can be mounted on medium or larger vehicles.

Each Decontamination component on a planetary surface will increase the rate of Radiation Reduction (see above post) by 0.01% per year.

For example, a formation of 100 Decontamination Vehicles, each with two Decontamination components, would increase the rate of Radiation Reduction by 2%. This formation would cost 872 BP.

A new Decontamination bonus has been added for ground forces commanders, although it is rare with only about 1 in 14 commanders having the bonus.

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Re: v2.2.0 Changes List
« Reply #6 on: September 11, 2022, 06:15:39 AM »
Fleet Deletion

In v2.1, you cannot delete a fleet that is the target of shipyard tasks. This is true whether that is deletion is manual or by detaching/tractoring the last ship.

For v2.2, this protection against deletion extends to fleets that are the specified target fleets for space station construction or fighter factory construction.

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Re: v2.2.0 Changes List
« Reply #7 on: September 11, 2022, 06:56:17 AM »
Ship Module Changes
  • Large Cargo Hold is now a starting system for both conventional and TN starts.
  • Cryogenic Transport development cost increased from 1000 to 2000 RP
  • Added a Large Cryogenic Transport which is 5x larger than Cryogenic Transport, 4x Cost and 3x Crew.
  • Large, Small and Emergency Cryogenic Transport modules are automatically researched when Cryogenic Transport is developed.
  • Added a Very Large Troop Transport Bay which is 5x larger than Large Troop Transport Bay, 4x Cost and 3x Crew. Automatically researched when Troop Transport Bay is researched.
  • Added a Very Large Troop Transport Drop Bay which is 5x larger than Large Troop Transport Drop Bay, 4x Cost and 3x Crew. Automatically researched when Troop Transport Drop Bay is researched.

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Re: v2.2.0 Changes List
« Reply #8 on: September 12, 2022, 06:36:21 AM »
Copy and Update Template

v2.2 adds a new button to the Formation Template tab of the Ground Forces window called Copy + Update. If you select an existing formation and press the button, the following will happen:
  • A new formation template will be created based on the selected template.
  • The new template will be named <Current Template Name> - <Year>. If the existing template already ends in four digits, they will be replaced by the current year.
  • The new template will have the same required rank.
  • Any existing ground formations with the existing template as their replacement template will change to the new formation template for their replacement template.
  • The formation elements of the existing template will be replicated for new template
  • If the racial armour modifier or weapon modifier has been changed since the creation of any class in the original template, a new Ground Unit Class will be generated for the matching element in the new template, based on an upgrade of the original class.
  • Any new classes will be named with the same year suffix rules as the template and instantly researched. The old classes will be marked as obsolete.
  • If the replaced class was in a unit series, the new class will be added to the series
  • If the replaced class was not in a unit series, a new unit series will be created (named '<original class name> Series') and both the original and updated classes will be added to the series
  • Any improvements in tracking speed or ECCM will be included for STO elements, although any STO weapon will remain the same as the existing templates.
I considered having the process create research projects for the new vehicles and make the new template some form of 'prototype' that you couldn't build until you completed those projects. However, I thought that would be a little messy and I want ground forces to be less involved than ship design. Rationale could be that 'vehicles based on existing designs are easier to research'.

Before clicking Copy + Update:



After:



Newly Created Unit Series


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Re: v2.2.0 Changes List
« Reply #9 on: September 12, 2022, 01:08:23 PM »
Raider, Swarm and Invader Start Times

In v2.1, the Raiders, Swarm and Invaders only appear once the player discovers a specific number of systems. This value is set on the Game window. However, there are several other factors, such as Raider and Invader spawn rates and Swarm research, that are based on time since Game Start.

For v2.2, each of the above has a separate 'Start Time', which is set to the Game Time when the player has discovered the requisite number of systems. For example, if a player starts in Jan 2025, sets the Raiders to ten systems and discovers the tenth system on July 18th 2031, the Raider Start Time will be July 18th 2031.

The three spoilers will use elapsed time since their individual 'Start Times', rather than elapsed time since game start, for the following calculations:
  • Invaders: Chance of new Aether Rift forming
  • Invaders: Chance of invasion through existing rifts
  • Raiders: Chance of new operational group being created
  • Raiders: Chance of new research facilities being added
  • Swarm: Starting Tech Points
These changes mean that players in conventional games, or other slow start games, will not immediately face a powerful enemy as soon as they hit the system trigger.

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Re: v2.2.0 Changes List
« Reply #10 on: September 12, 2022, 04:40:31 PM »
Creating Formations from Elements

On the Order of Battle tab of the Ground Forces window, you can now drag an element node from a ground formation to a population node. This will create a new formation comprised only of that element. The population has to be on the same system body as the original formation. If SM mode is active, you can drag to any population.

When you drag-drop the element on to the population, you receive two popups that allow you to enter the name and abbreviation of the new formation. Cancelling either popup will cancel the formation creation.

If the Amount Popup checkbox is checked, you will also receive a third popup so you can enter the number of units to transfer, rather than transferring the entire element. For example, if you drag 120x Leman Russ tanks to a population node you could choose to create a new formation with 40 tanks and leave the other 80 in the original formation.

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Re: v2.2.0 Changes List
« Reply #11 on: September 12, 2022, 07:02:25 PM »
Assign # Weapons

In v2.1, the Ship Combat tab of the Naval Organization window has an Assign All checkbox. When this is checked, you can drag all weapons of a given type to a fire control, or set all weapons of a given type to the same missile, etc..

v2.2 adds the Assign # checkbox, along with a numeric text-entry field next to the checkbox. If the Assign # checkbox is checked, then a number of weapons equal to the numeric field will be dragged, according to the following rules.
  • All weapons have a number suffix, such as 10cm Railgun #1, 10cm Railgun #2, etc. This numeric value is known as the weapon number.
  • When you drag a weapon, the additional weapons to be dragged will be chosen in order of ascending weapon number, starting with the number of the dragged weapon.
  • Assume you have 20 railguns on a ship, numbered 1-20. If you click the Assign # checkbox and enter 4 in the numeric field, then dragging railgun #5 to a fire control will also move railguns #6, #7 and #8
  • Note that if #6 and #7 were already assigned to another fire control before the drag, then dragging railgun #5 to a fire control would also move #8, #9 and #10.
  • If there are insufficient higher numbered weapons, then a smaller number will be moved. Weapons with a number lower than the dragged weapon will not be moved.
The Assign # functionality will work for dragging unassigned weapons to fire controls, and vice versa, dragging weapons between fire controls and dragging missiles to weapons. The Assign # checkbox only works when Assign All is not checked.

This functionality is intended to help with ships that have a lot of similar weapons but are unlikely to use them all at once, such a ship with a large number of box launchers. For this type of design, the Assign All option is not very useful.

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Re: v2.2.0 Changes List
« Reply #12 on: September 14, 2022, 04:15:50 AM »
Ground Construction Change

In v2.1, each Ground Force Construction Complex (GFCC) builds ground units independently and at the currently researched Ground Formation Construction Rate (GFCR), in a similar way to shipyards.

For v2.2, the output of all GFCC will be combined into a single construction rate, similar to the mechanics of industrial projects. For example, if the GFCR is 320 and there are 12 GFCC, the population will have a ground unit construction capacity of 3840, plus any governor bonus.

Creating tasks will work exactly as it does now, with the addition that you can assign a percentage of output to individual tasks in the same way as industrial projects. If tasks are assigned at 100%, then a population will work on one ground formation at a time.

As with v2.1, if you add tasks when the GFCC are already working at 100%, they will be added to the queue. Queue tasks will also have an assigned percentage and will be moved into production once sufficient capacity is available

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Re: v2.2.0 Changes List
« Reply #13 on: September 14, 2022, 05:14:55 PM »
Ground Force Organizations

A new tab called Organization has been added to the Ground Forces window.

This has two tree view controls. The first, on the right, lists all existing formation templates and their elements. The second, on the left, is for creating organizational hierarchies for ground forces.

To create an organization, you press a button called Create Org and enter the name of your organization. This creates a node without any units that acts in a similar way to a naval admin node. With the top level in place, you can drag and drop formation templates from the right hand side to create any depth of hierarchal organization.

For example, you could create an organization called Infantry Division. Under that you would drag the template with the divisional assets (which might also be called Infantry Division, or Division HQ, etc.). The admin nodes are green, like naval admins, while all nodes containing an actual template are yellow-white. Under the divisional assets, you might drag your infantry regiment template four times, plus perhaps an STO regiment.

You might also drag several battalions under each regiment, but there is an easier way to do that. When you drag nodes on the treeview, anything with an existing parent is moved, but anything without a parent creates a copy instead.

That means, you can create smaller, or lower level, organizations and then drag copies of that entire org into a different org.

For example, you could create a regiment org with a HQ formation template directly under the admin node and then four battalions under the HQ. Then you create a division org, add a division HQ formation template, then drag-copy three regiment orgs under the divisional HQ. When you drag-copy an admin node into another org, the admin node itself is not transferred, so in this example the regimental HQ formation templates of the regimental org would move directly under the divisional HQ (along with their subordinate battalions.

You can set field positions for formation templates in the organization in a similar way to active formations.

Once you have the org created, you can choose a population and add everything in the org to the build queue. The build tasks will retain the organizational hierarchy and the resulting ground formations will assemble into the same org once they are built. They will adopt the specified field positions. Even if you change or remove the organization after issuing the build order, the build tasks will remember the hierarchy and the field positions. The build order will work down the hierarchy so each new formation should have the correct parent waiting when it is built. Changing the build queue manually may prevent this working correctly.

There is also an 'Instant Build' option that can be activated by the SM and will build the entire org instantly with hierarchy and field positions.

The reason for having the admin node is to allow different configurations of similar formations. For example, if the division HQ formation was the top node, you would only have one org under that division HQ. With admin nodes, you can re-use the same top-level templates in multiple similar nodes. You could also have more than one formation directly under the admin node. For example, you could have ten boarding forces under the admin node and build them all with one click.

Using Copy + Update (see earlier post) to create new formation templates based on improved technology will replace the existing templates in the organizational structures with the updated templates.

This screenshot shows simple regimental and divisional organizations, but these could be made very detailed. The 'Infantry Regiment' org was dragged on to the 'Divisional Assets' three times.



The second screenshot shows the OOB view after using the Instant option on the 'Infantry Division' org.



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Re: v2.2.0 Changes List
« Reply #14 on: September 15, 2022, 12:16:31 PM »
New Logistics Orders

I've added two new movement orders:

Refuel Stationary Fleet
Resupply Stationary Fleet

The new orders function in the same way as Refuel from Stationary Fleet and Resupply from Stationary Supply Ship, except the tanker or supply ship is the one receiving the orders and moving to the target fleet.