GalCiv II v1.7 Beta 1 Changelog

What's new

from JoeUser Forums

Unlike many of our change logs, this one isn't as exhaustive in length but instead focuses on have fewer much more significant items in it.

Here is what's new:

+ NEW: Lease and Maintenance tab on the Economy Screen to manage your finaces better
+ NEW: The CivManager now keeps a log of events that have happened during the game
+ NEW: Governor that changes the Ship a colony is building
+ NEW: Governor that sends all ships of a specified class, and the colonies building that ship class, to target a given rallypoint
+ VERY IMPORTANT CHANGE: Made debug.err always go in user defined data directory.  This is to deal with problems encountered by people with limited user accounts and for consistency with Vista.

+ NEW: Hitting CTRL + PRTSCN (Printscreen key) will save a screenshot in My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Screenshots
+ NEW: Made it so that the saved scoring information also saves mod name + description if mods are enabled
+ NEW: Local High score list including default high scores; files are saved in My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\SandboxGames
+ NEW: Anomalies Randomly Reappear over the course of the game

+ TWEAK: Terran Alliance more inclined to focus on building larger starships
+ TWEAK: Optimized AI sorting routines (performance)
+ TWEAK: Spore module more expensive
+ TWEAK: Spore Weapons technology more expensive
+ TWEAK: Morale buildings more powerful
+ TWEAK: New lightmap for planets courtesy of Stefan and i-mod productions

+ FIX: Bug where ignored races still could be chose in the Opponentwnd
+ FIX: Reduced lag when clicking on a star ship caused by a function that was looping through ALL the ships in the galaxy and setting them to not be selected whether or not they actually were selected
+ FIX: Changed it so that the stacked ships and fleet windows recycle their entries so that they aren't constantly allocating and deallocating.  The stackedshipwnd will attempt to shrink the number of saved entries if it hasn't used the last max number in awhile - this may need tweaking if it affects memory usage
+ FIX: Bug where notification icons were not showing up
+ FIX: Bug where the turn button was always green even if there were ships with moves left
+ FIX: Crash where code was still trying to access destroyed ships; they are now removed from the main list the turn they are destroyed so that nothing can access them
+ FIX: Bug where ignored races still could be chose in the Opponentwnd
+ FIX: The distribution of planetary tile bonuses so that there is a good number of them and that they are likely to occur on the starting homeworlds, but no more than 3 on the starting home worlds.
+ FIX: Bug where planet thumbnails were not being reused even if the planet surfaces were identical
+ FIX: Bug that was causing unnecessary information to be saved
+ FIX: Bug in the Dread Lords campaign when playing from Dark Avatar where it was not possible to continue due to it not finding the location of the next mission's files
+ FIX: Bug in the Dread Lords campaign when playing from Dark Avatar where scenarios with the Dread Lords would never end because they had the incorrect race ID
+ FIX: Bug where the graphs did not scale properly and would end abruptly without taking up the entire graphwnd
+ FIX: Bug with activation code on Win98.
+ FIX: Changed code that writes out debug messages to be more threadsafe
+ FIX: Made it so that the dxpacks are kicked out of memory after the screen has been created if there are not multiple instances of the screen, like custom list box entries, thus reducing the amount of stuff kept in memory.
+ FIX: Changed screen code to make sure that the textures created for the screens do not create mip map chains, which are unnecessary in screens and just take up more memory
+ FIX: Crash caused by not being able to find strings in the flavor text files (text that appears when the AI talks to you)

It's available on Stardock Central as an update to the Dark Avatar module to Galactic Civilizations II. The "check for betas" check box must be selected to see.

91,211 views 71 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
+ NEW: The CivManager now keeps a log of events that have happened during the game


It just says "String not Found" many many times for me.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
+ FIX: Reduced lag when clicking on a star ship caused by a function that was looping through ALL the ships in the galaxy and setting them to not be selected whether or not they actually were selected


That explains some behavior I was seeing when thousands of ships are present! Thanks!
CursorFX - Customize your Windows cursor
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
you good folks have really out-done yourselves this time. i mean, wow.

now, if you'd just time your release of new toys for when i wasn't totally flooded at work, i'd probably name my kids after you. as it is, i'm thinking about dedicating my first sci fi novel to you
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Great, I'll test these later when I have time.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
NEW: Governor that sends all ships of a specified class, and the colonies building that ship class, to target a given rallypoint




-- and --

+ NEW: Anomalies Randomly Reappear over the course of the game


Awesome!!!!

Everything else, too... I'm drooling now...


Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
NEW: Governor that sends all ships of a specified class, and the colonies building that ship class, to target a given rallypoint


OM*G !!!

I wanted that at least a year ago. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Any plans to ditch the 20-turn salvo limit in combat?
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Wow, some of that I was really expecting to turn up in TA, but here it is in 1.7 (and free to boot, of course). Have I mentioned recently that Stardock kicks ass?
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
What about all the Mega events? Is that slated for 1.7 production version? I was renewing my interest in Galciv2 because of that. This doesn't look like it particularly has any major game-changing features to it; just the morale buildings and the spawning anomalies. And then the nice-to-have governors and the usual bug fixes. But otherwise basically the same game.
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
This doesn't look like it particularly has any major game-changing features to it; just the morale buildings and the spawning anomalies. And then the nice-to-have governors and the usual bug fixes. But otherwise basically the same game.


WOOT!

Bring it....!
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I've played part of game on a tiny map, and I must say that I like the "leases and maintaince" tab. I have 2 recommendation for it though.

1. Provide a warning when paying off leases when doing so will put you in dept. I was playing as the Yor, and researched "Xeno Ethics" and became good. As such, I got a 10,000 bc lease. Then when I accidentally paid it off all at once, it took me 30+ turns at an unconfortbly high tax rate just to recover.

2. I would like to be able to decommision multiple ships at once, instead of one at a time. Allowing us to Ctlr + click to select multiple individual ships, and Shift + click to select all ships between the 2 selected will help to quickly scrap old ships.


As for renewing anomalies...

3. Could we get a auto-survey standby mode? In this standby mode,
if any new anomalies become available, the ship will wake up and switch to auto-survey mode.

Before 1.7 beta, when I run out of anomalies to survey, I either upgrade the ship or decommision it. Now I have to pay attention for new anomalies (something the AI has already shown me it can do we), and then instruct my survey ship(s) to seek out the new anomalies.

________________
I'll look into goveners tomorrow...
Reply #13 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Awesome guys! Stardock has made a life long fan out of me long ago, so now you guys are only showing off!  
Reply #14 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Are you sure there's a new planet lights image? I didn't get one in the update. Still the same old image.
Reply #15 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

What's the word on save game compatibility with 1.61 saves?

Asmodean
Reply #16 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
How much better are the Moral buildings.. is it worth building farms again?
Reply #17 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

It just says "String not Found" many many times for me.

It sounds like not all your files got updated. You can try going into the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Stardock\Drengin.net\GalCiv2 and change the version for DarkAvatar to something earlier than 1.7 and then re-start Stardock Central.  That should cause it to let you download the beta again.  Try using US-1 if you're not using that server.

1. Provide a warning when paying off leases when doing so will put you in dept. I was playing as the Yor, and researched "Xeno Ethics" and became good. As such, I got a 10,000 bc lease. Then when I accidentally paid it off all at once, it took me 30+ turns at an unconfortbly high tax rate just to recover.

Hmm, when I was testing it would tell me that I didn't have enough in my treasury to pay it off.  Maybe it only warns you if the debt will be beyond a certain level.  I'll check it out.


2. I would like to be able to decommision multiple ships at once, instead of one at a time. Allowing us to Ctlr + click to select multiple individual ships, and Shift + click to select all ships between the 2 selected will help to quickly scrap old ships.

I think you can do that on the Stacked ship list, select a bunch and then hit Delete.  I'll look into it for the Maintenance tab though.

3. Could we get a auto-survey standby mode? In this standby mode,
if any new anomalies become available, the ship will wake up and switch to auto-survey mode.

Umm...I think so.  I'll have to check; it should be similar to the Guard functionality.

Are you sure there's a new planet lights image? I didn't get one in the update. Still the same old image.

Actually, maybe the actual file didn't make it in to the update.  It was in our internal change log (the one with all the codespeak), though, which is why it's mentioned in this change log.

What's the word on save game compatibility with 1.61 saves?

1.61 games should still work with 1.7

Reply #18 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

NEW: The CivManager now keeps a log of events that have happened during the game

It sounds like some work made for the Epic Generator feature managed to reach DA  

Reply #19 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
3. Could we get a auto-survey standby mode? In this standby mode,
if any new anomalies become available, the ship will wake up and switch to auto-survey mode.


This is pretty much essential really if they are going to respawn. (which I think is ace)
The computer players will always be able to see when one has respawned, yet unless the human player wants to scroll around the map each turn checking, they're not going to be getting the advantages this system provides and so will be handicapped.

I also like the fact this makes the surveying vote in the UP actually important. I'd also like to suggest some sort of choice on game creation to influence the respawning rate, from none/slow through to fast.

great little update, really got me hooked back in.
Reply #20 from GalCiv2 Forums Top


It just says "String not Found" many many times for me.


It sounds like not all your files got updated. You can try going into the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Stardock\Drengin.net\GalCiv2 and change the version for DarkAvatar to something earlier than 1.7 and then re-start Stardock Central. That should cause it to let you download the beta again. Try using US-1 if you're not using that server.




Didn't work.

Also, the legend which explains what the icons in the event log are for is in the middle of the screen, hovering above the events.
It's also not possible to scroll the event list with the mouse wheel unless I hover over the scrollbar to the right.

I wish I could make a screenshot, but even that isn't working, CTRL+Print Screen makes no screenshots.
Reply #21 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
This may make the Galactic Guide Book actually marginally useful. Build the Eyes and station a bunch of sensor ships everywhere and,...survey.
Reply #22 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
This is pretty much essential really if they are going to respawn. (which I think is ace) The computer players will always be able to see when one has respawned, yet unless the human player wants to scroll around the map each turn checking, they're not going to be getting the advantages this system provides and so will be handicapped.


Perhaps just selecting the ship and hitting the button for it to Auto Survey will be enough w/o a fix from them. Yes, you still need to do something every round to check, but at least it's just clicking a ship and hitting a button. Either you'll get a "no anomalies" msg or the ship will take off in a direction.

That said, I'm jumping on the "wake up Auto Survey" bandwagon still.
Reply #23 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It's just a thought, but mabye the survey thing has already been adressed. I've not downloaded the update yet, so I haven't seen the new features, but SD may have put in an auto load of new anomalies when the remainder count gets down to say 4 or 5.
Reply #24 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

1. Provide a warning when paying off leases when doing so will put you in dept. I was playing as the Yor, and researched "Xeno Ethics" and became good. As such, I got a 10,000 bc lease. Then when I accidentally paid it off all at once, it took me 30+ turns at an unconfortbly high tax rate just to recover.

Ok I checked this and the code WAS checking to see if you actually have enough money in the treasury, and I verified it in my save game.  Are you sure that it wasn't something like creating a new lease or upgrading a ship?

Reply #25 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

It's just a thought, but mabye the survey thing has already been adressed. I've not downloaded the update yet, so I haven't seen the new features, but SD may have put in an auto load of new anomalies when the remainder count gets down to say 4 or 5.

I actually ran out and had auto-survey turn off in my game.