Announcing Oolite v1.80

[another_commander]

The new stable version of Oolite, version tag 1.80, is now available for download from the brand new www.oolite.org for Mac, Windows and Linux. On the download page you will find both 32-bit and 64-bit binaries for Windows and Linux, while the Mac version is 64-bit only.

Version 1.80 comes with a large number of new features, including but not limited to, an in-game Expansion Pack Manager for easy and efficient installation, updating and removal of expansion packs, a significant ship graphics update for the core game, new sound library for enabling positional audio, a starter tutorial, new visual effects, improved NPC AI and many more. See the changelog below for a full list of changes since version 1.77.1.

Once again, we would like to wholeheartedly thank the Oolite community for your feedback, ideas, input and restless testing during the development of the new stable version. The game would have been nowhere near where it is now without you. It really is exciting seeing Oolite being developed as a team effort, with your participation and enthusiasm being a very significant part of the process. We hope you will enjoy the result of this collaboration and we are looking forward to your feedback.

Safe flights, commanders.




Upgrade notes

If you are upgrading from a previous version:

* Make sure you remove the OXP version of an expansion pack before
installing the OXZ version either manually or through the built-in
manager. Oolite cannot automatically detect that an old OXP is the
same as a new OXZ.

* Note that the keyconfig entries have changed. If you have
customised your keys, you may need to add five more keys to it. If
you are using the default keys, dump cargo is now 'shift-D', not just
'd', and the num pad arrows are now bound separately to the normal
arrows.

* A few OXPs may not work as expected in 1.80 without upgrading them to
the latest version, or applying a workaround. See
advice on upgrading existing installations for more details.
Replacement shipset OXPs and HUD OXPs may need particular attention.





Changelog for Oolite stable version 1.80

Changes between Oolite 1.78 (release skipped) and Oolite 1.80:

General:
========
* Automatic expansion pack installer now available (not all existing
expansion packs are available for automatic installation; manual
installation still possible as before)
* New game start screen, including access to a keyboard control
summary and a ship specification library
* New Tutorial option for starting a game, for a basic flight training
course

Gameplay:
=========
* Coordinate precision increased, allowing ships to travel much
further from the witchpoint without problems
* Strict mode now only disables OXPs rather than making other gameplay
changes
* Ship hostility indicator no longer depends on weapon range
* New equipment: Integrated Targeting System
* Standard HUDs now include primable equipment dials, compass target
naming, and multi-function displays. HUD layouts reorganised
slightly to fit the extra components in. ';' and ':' keys manage
multi-function display (MFD) selection
* Major changes to NPC behaviour and AIs, including new courier,
smuggler, assassin, pirate leader, bounty hunter leader, pirate
raider, thargoid raider and police blockade roles. Significant
increases in diversity of ships used for existing roles.
* Widened the difficulty gap between Corporate States (now safer) and
Anarchy (now far more dangerous) systems. System danger now also
depends to an extent on events in neighbouring systems.
* Saving the game at stations other than the main system station is
now possible; stations added by expansion packs must be flagged by
the expansion pack as valid save locations for this to work.
* Save game file name and player commander name are now
independent. Interface added on F4 to set player commander name and
player ship name.
* Docking computers now fly a bit faster
* Improved short-term and long-term assessment of player actions for
more realistic and varied NPC responses
* Parcel and passenger contracts made much more varied. High-price
high-risk contracts added. Reputation scale increased.
* Station rotation slowed down
* Number of cargo containers used by Gold, Platinum, Gems (e.g. after
scooping) now shown on the manifest screen.

Graphics:
=========
* Graphics settings have changed to merge "shader settings" and
"reduced detail" into a single option. There is an 'extra detail'
option suitable for dedicated graphics cards.
* New look for the sun, including improved corona and a glare effect
* New explosion graphics
* Core ship models and textures replaced with significantly improved
ones by Griff/CaptSolo
* New planet and atmosphere graphics (requires 'extra detail')
* Default HUD adjusted a little to improve appearance of text

Sound:
======
* Now uses the OpenAL library to give fully positional sound. Supports
stereo speakers up to 7.1 or binaural HRTF with headphones.
* iTunes integration works again with iTunes 11 on the Mac.

Controls:
=========
* Default key for dump cargo now "Shift-D", not "d", to reduce chance
of pressing accidentally
* Number pad keys can now be bound independently of arrow keys
* Number keys can now be bound independently of function keys
* GUI direction keys now independent of flight direction keys
* With an Advanced Navigation Array, the '?' key now cycles through
different colour highlights
* New ';' and ':' keys for multi-function displays
* 'tab' and '0' keys are now fast activation keys for primable
equipment. Equipment previously using those keys has been rewritten
to be primable equipment and will automatically be initially
assigned to those keys if it is installed. New interface on F4 to
rebind these keys.
* New joystick axis configuration interface, allowing much more
precise control

Settings:
=========

* --noshaders command line option to temporarily start Oolite without
shader support, for debugging graphics card problems.
* Windows and Linux ports: Default spoken messages voice changed to
female.

Expansion pack development:
===========================

Packaging:
----------
* New compressed OXZ format for easy - and automatic - expansion pack
distribution.
* Default Javascript properties set from manifest.plist

General:
--------
* The system populator is now run via Javascript and can be modified
by expansion pack scripts. There is also a system repopulator to
allow replacement of expected ship losses or departures.
* shipdata.plist reorganised to make heavy use of templates. This
allows shipset OXPs to be written to take advantage of future
changes to core shipdata.
* Javascript may be used as a language for ship AIs. Numerous extra JS
properties, methods and handlers have been added to allow this.
* Priority-based AI library available for writing Javascript AIs in,
with a wide range of predefined behaviours and easy addition of
custom behaviours
* Multi-function displays for arbitrary persistent in-flight text display
* Primable equipment dial added to HUD
* Sun colour and background star colour are now separated
* Ship cargo is now defined when ships are created
* Mission screens can now have an arbitrary text entry prompt
* Waypoints can be added - like a compass target, but not attached to
any other entity.
* [oolite_key_FOO] description expansion describes keyconfig entry key_FOO
* Javascript representation for ship exhausts
* Wormholes have a read-only Javascript representation
* Javascript representation for flashers
* Description and mission text expansions now use a much better random
number generator

New properties:
---------------
* entity.isWormhole
* oolite.gameSettings.keyConfig
* planet.name
* player.cargoReputationPrecise
* player.parcelReputationPrecise
* player.passengerReputationPrecise
* player.roleWeights
* player.setPlayerRole(role [,index])
* player.ship.multiFunctionDisplays
* player.ship.renovationCost
* player.ship.renovationMultiplier
* player.ship.viewPosition*
* ship.AIScript
* ship.AIScriptWakeTime
* ship.autoWeapons
* ship.beaconLabel
* ship.cargoList
* ship.crew
* ship.destinationSystem
* ship.dockingInstructions
* ship.energyRechargeRate
* ship.exhaustEmissiveColor
* ship.exhausts
* ship.extraCargo
* ship.flashers
* ship.homeSystem
* ship.isFleeing
* ship.isMinable
* ship.isTurret
* ship.markedForFines
* ship.shipClassName
* ship.shipUniqueName
* ship.sunGlareFilter
* station.allegiance
* station.market[*].legalPenalty
* sun.name
* system.allDemoShips
* system.populatorSettings
* system.stations
* system.waypoints
* system.wormholes
* visualeffect.beaconLabel
* wormhole.arrivalTime
* wormhole.destination
* wormhole.expiryTime
* wormhole.origin

New methods:
------------
* Ship.keys() (static method)
* Ship.keysForRole(role) (static method)
* Ship.roleIsInCategory(role,category) (static method)
* Ship.roles() (static method)
* Ship.shipDataForKey(key) (static method)
* dock.isQueued(ship)
* player.endScenario(key)
* player.ship.hideHUDSelector(selector)
* player.ship.resetScannerZoom()
* player.ship.setMultiFunctionDisplay(index,key)
* player.ship.setMultiFunctionText(key, string)
* player.ship.showHUDSelector(selector)
* ship.becomeCascadeExplosion()
* ship.broadcastCascadeImminent()
* ship.broadcastDistressMessage()
* ship.checkCourseToDestination()
* ship.checkScanner()
* ship.damageAssessment()
* ship.dumpCargo (change to specify how many items to dump)
* ship.enterWormhole(hole)
* ship.findNearestStation()
* ship.getSafeCourseToDestination()
* ship.markTargetForFines()
* ship.notifyGroupOfWormhole()
* ship.offerToEscort(mother)
* ship.patrolReportIn(station)
* ship.performAttack()
* ship.performCollect()
* ship.performEscort()
* ship.performFaceDestination()
* ship.performFlee()
* ship.performFlyToRangeFromDestination()
* ship.performHold()
* ship.performIdle()
* ship.performIntercept()
* ship.performLandOnPlanet()
* ship.performMining()
* ship.performScriptedAI()
* ship.performScriptedAttackAI()
* ship.performStop()
* ship.performTumble()
* ship.recallDockingInstructions();
* ship.removeDefenseTarget(target)
* ship.requestDockingInstructions();
* ship.requestHelpFromGroup()
* ship.setCargoType(type)
* ship.setCrew(crew)
* ship.throwSpark()
* station.abortAllDockings()
* station.abortDockingForShip(ship)
* station.launchEscort()
* system.locationFromCode(code)
* system.setWaypoint()

New handlers:
-------------
* ship.cargoDumpedNearby(cargo,dumper)
* ship.defenseTargetDestroyed(target)
* ship.escortRejected
* ship.helpRequestReceived(ally,enemy)
* ship.shipAIFrustrated(context)
* ship.shipAchievedDesiredRange
* ship.shipNowFacingDestination()
* ship.shipWasDumped()
* ship.shipWitchspaceBlocked(blocker)
* ship.stationWithdrewDockingClearance
* ship.wormholeSuggested(hole)
* station.stationDockingQueuesAreEmpty
* station.stationReceivedDockingRequest(ship)
* world.guiScreenWillChange fires on changing to GUI_SCREEN_INTERFACES
* world.startUpComplete
* world.systemInformationChanged(gal,sys,key,newValue)

Plists:
-------
New plists:
* manifest.plist: required for OXZ format distribution
* role-categories.plist: supersedes and extends pirate-victim-roles.plist
* scenarios.plist: allows alternative game starts to be added
* shiplibrary.plist: adds ships to the start game ship database
* The demoships.plist file no longer has any effect as there is no
longer a demo ships screen.

New properties:
* equipment.plist: fast_affinity_defensive
* equipment.plist: fast_affinity_offensive
* equipment.plist: sort_order
* hud.plist: alert_conditions
* hud.plist: align
* hud.plist: color_critical
* hud.plist: color_high
* hud.plist: color_low
* hud.plist: color_medium
* hud.plist: color_surround
* hud.plist: drawASCTarget:
* hud.plist: drawPrimedEquipment:
* hud.plist: drawWaypoints:
* hud.plist: drawWitchspaceDestination:
* hud.plist: multi_function_displays
* hud.plist: reticle_scale (scanner targeting enhancement)
* hud.plist: scanner_non_linear
* hud.plist: scanner_ultra_zoom
* planetinfo.plist: nebula_color_1
* planetinfo.plist: nebula_color_2
* planetinfo.plist: planet_name
* planetinfo.plist: populator
* planetinfo.plist: repopulator
* planetinfo.plist: sun_name
* shipdata.plist: auto_weapons
* shipdata.plist: escort_roles
* shipdata.plist: exhaust_emissive_color
* shipdata.plist: sun_glare_filter
* shipyard.plist: renovation_multiplier
* shipyard.plist: ship_name
* shipyard.plist: ship_class_name

Shaders:
--------
* tradeInFactor uniform for player ship
* Simplified shader mode no longer exists

Bug fixes:
==========
* Stop previously unknown targets appearing in the target memory
* Reduce need for JS garbage collection while in flight
* Fix some bugs with combat flight causing misses on really easy shots
* Several Javascript crashes fixed
* Errors in NPC escape pod use for lighter ships fixed
* Fix bug with station subentity initialisation
* Fix bug in ship.forwardWeapon property
* Consistently use ship scanner ranges
* Asp can now equip a fuel scoop
* Core ships with only one missile pylon can no longer buy the
Multi-Targeting System as it's only useful to ships with at least
two missiles.
* Fix some bugs with the escape pod launch sequence
* Fix bug with reticle target sensitivity
* Fix some bugs with compass dial requirements
* Fix bug when pressing opposite movement direction keys together
* Fix various random number generation bugs
* Clean up momentum transfer in explosions
* Fix error in manifest screen paging
* Fix problem with duplicate passenger names in contract generation
* Fix some issues moving in and out of strict mode

System requirements:
====================

General
-------
* Use of the "extra detail" graphics setting is likely to require a
dedicated graphics card for best performance.

Mac-specific
------------
* Oolite now requires Mac OS X 10.6 or later, and is 64-bit only.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Changes between Oolite 1.77.1 and Oolite 1.78 (release skipped):

* Bug with behaviour of ship.forwardWeapon when ship had no forward
laser but subentity did fixed.
* Shaders re-enabled on AMD R600/R700 if drivers recent enough
* Game over message no longer depends on HUD settings
* Cosmetic bugs with player escape pod sequence fixed
* Player ship doppelganger no longer persists in obscure cases
* New ships always have weapons online
* Target-sensitive reticle accounts for weapon offsets
* Include fix for build process on lunar-linux