Announcing Oolite v1.82

[another_commander]

Following an extensive test phase that lasted slightly over one month, the brand new version of Oolite, tag 1.82, is now available for download from the Oolite website.

In this version, you will find a set of new features, including but not limited to, improved AI for NPCs, changes to combat balance to make it more approachable for new players while retaining the excitement and challenge that the more experienced players have come to expect, improvements to the user interface, a new way to handle the galactic chart, improvements to the functionality of the Expansion Pack Manager, the usual assorment of bug fixes, new scripting methods and properties and many more. You can find a more detailed description of what's new in the related page at the Oolite website: http://www.oolite.org/whatsnew/ , and an even more detailed one in the changelog that follows at the end of this announcement.

As always, we would like to extend our thanks to the game's community, who helped with suggestions, testing throughout the development and all kinds of contributions to the project. Thank you all and we do hope that this new version will offer you many hours of stellar entertainment. We are looking forward to your feedback and continued contributions.

So, waste no more time. Ride that Cobra and launch towards the stars. Right on, Commanders!


Changelog:

Changes between Oolite 1.80 and Oolite 1.82:

General:
========

* More AI improvements and adjustments. Extensive rebalancing of
combat difficulty for more interesting fights
* Laser damage and heating rates adjusted
* Missile damage adjusted
* Heat cooldown slower
* Installation time now on equipment purchase screen
* OXZ installer now updates dependency check after each install
* Added zooming, scrolling galaxy chart unifying "short range" and "long range"
options
* Internal damage from missiles now more serious
* Damaged equipment now sorts to the top of the status screen
* Adjustments to acceleration, deceleration and top speed of torus drive
* AI reaction to being attacked by ships they can't scan is more useful
* Removed some differences between NPCs and player ship performance
* Advanced Navigational Array now allows for jumping to the next system on
a long route without having to retarget
* Stations will warn if player tries to dock without required clearance
* Docking clearance now defaults to 'on' for new games (no effect on
existing games)
* Keyboard settings can be viewed from game options
* Scrape damage now does not automatically mine asteroids
* Extra detail graphics mode now has more detailed planet textures
* Field of View added as a game option
* Windows port: Improved multi-monitor support
* Windows port: Added support for grabbing mouse inside the game window when
mouse control is active
* Windows and Linux ports: V-Sync can now be controlled via user preferences

Graphics:
=========

* ECM bursts now have an effect on the scanner
* Spacedust fades out when entering atmosphere
* New and more varied explosions

Expansion pack manager:
=======================

* Installation status now updated without having to restart manager
* Missing requirements will be installed automatically if possible
* Ability to filter expansion pack lists by pressing 'f'
* Can view additional information on packs by pressing 'i'
* Can extract a pack to an OXP in your AddOns folder by pressing 'x'
* Update date now visible in OXZ manager

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

General:
--------

* mission.setInstructions() can now take an array as its first
parameter. The first element will be a heading on the manifest
screen, with the remaining elements being mission entries.
If multiple entries have the same heading, they are grouped.
* Subentities now inherit their parent's entity personality - useful
for shader randomisation.
* New trade-goods.plist allowing definition of customised trade goods
* New market scripts for JS-based modification of markets
* OXP Developer builds will now warn about deprecated code in OXPs.
* Changes to planet properties made by OXPs will be reverted if the OXP
is uninstalled
* Scenarios may now exclude OXPs and selected core plists
* Maximum star size increased significantly
* Implementation of many core equipment items modified to allow
greater customisation. No difference to effect.
* Waypoints may now have [0,0,0,0] orientation for a non-directional waypoint

New Plists:
-----------

* global-settings.plist: new plist file to hold some properties which didn't
belong in planetinfo.plist
* commodities.plist and illegal-goods.plist replaced by trade-goods.plist
* gui-settings.plist: allows customisation of various GUI options and
chart settings
* explosions.plist: allows custom explosion types to be created

Modified Plists:
----------------

* oolite-font.plist: new f6KernGovernment and f6KernTechLevel options
* equipment.plist: installation_time, repair_time
* equipment.plist: laser properties may be customised using weapon_info and
new laser weapons may be created
* equipment.plist: equipment may 'provide' other equipment
* equipment.plist: can_carry_multiple can be set on non-pylon equipment
* descriptions.plist: long-range-chart-title-G-S now allows chart title
to vary from system to system
Numerous changes due to unification of string formatting systems, see separate
"Format strings" section below
* shipdata.plist: market_broadcast, market_capacity, market_definition, market_monitored, market_script properties for stations
* shipdata.plist: weapon_energy property no longer affects lasers
* shipdata.plist: model_scale_factor property for easy size variations
* shipdata.plist: scanner_hostile_display_color1, scanner_hostile_display_color2
* shipdata.plist: show_damage to control sparks and other damage effects
* planetinfo.plist: all major properties are now coded into the main
planetinfo.plist rather than being generated using random numbers.
* planetinfo.plist: layer property allows overrides of planetinfo to
have different priorities and for JS and plist changes to planetinfo to
coexist more easily.
* planetinfo.plist: coordinates property for system coordinates (may not be
set by JS)
* planetinfo.plist: random_seed property for aspects still requiring random
generation (e.g. the precise detail of planet textures)
* planetinfo.plist: several new properties for customisation - planet_distance,
station_vector, sun_vector, planet_name, sun_name, population_description,
economy_description, government_description, percent_ice
* planetinfo.plist: has_atmosphere can apply to main planets
* planetinfo.plist: market_script property for systems
* hud.plist: MFDs and legends have color property
* hud.plist: allow_big_gui general property for HUDs which don't take up the
bottom six lines of the screen
* hud.plist: new drawCustomImage dial
* hud.plist: 'permanent' can be set on message_gui
* hud.plist: hyperspace destination can be right-aligned
* hud.plist: negative height/width can be applied to HUD bars
* shiplibrary.plist: condition_script property added

Properties:
-----------
* Removed manifest.liquor/wines, manifest.liquorWines, manifest.gemStones
manifest.alienItems aliases for trade goods
* ship.maxYaw, ship.maxPitch, ship.maxRoll, ship.maxThrust, ship.thrust,
ship.maxSpeed, ship.maxEnergy, ship.energyRechargeRate now read/write
* ship.collisionExceptions
* ship.cargoSpaceCapacity now writable
* ship.injectorBurnRate, ship.injectorSpeedFactor properties
* ship.scanDescription
* ship.hyperspaceSpinTime, now writable, now property of all ships not
just player
* ship.scannerHostileDisplayColor1, ship.scannerHostileDisplayColor2
* ship.subEntityRotation
* ship.entityPersonality is now writable
* equipmentInfo.provides
* player.ship.forwardShield, player.ship.maxForwardShield,
player.ship.forwardShieldRechargeRate, player.ship.aftShield,
player.ship.maxAftShield, player.ship.aftShieldRechargeRate are all
now writable.
* player.ship.injectorsEngaged and player.ship.torusEngaged
* player.ship.routeMode
* system.ambientLevel

Methods:
--------
* manifest.comment()
* manifest.setComment()
* manifest.setShortComment()
* manifest.shortComment()
* mission.runShipLibrary()
* systemInfo.samplePrice()
* ship.addCollisionException(ship)
* ship.adjustCargo(commodity,amount)
* ship.removeCollisionException(ship)
* ship.hasEquipmentProviding(eq)
* ship.dumpCargo(amount, preferredtype) second parameter
* player.ship.equipmentStatus(eqKey,true) second parameter
* SystemInfo.setInterstellarProperty(g,s1,s2,l,k,v,[m])

Events:
-------

* gamePaused and gameResumed world events (useful for sound OXPs)
* equipmentAdded and equipmentRemoved ship events
* updateEquipmentPrice(eq,price) condition script event
* allowShowLibraryShip(key) condition script event
* shipWillEnterWitchspace event has second parameter (destination)
* playerRescuedEscapePod(decicredits, reason, rescuee) event
* playerCompletedContract(type,result,fee,contract) event
* playerEnteredContract(type,info) event
* stationReceivedDockingRequest ship event now does what it says
* stationAcceptedDockingRequest new ship event
* playerBoughtNewShip has second 'price' parameter

AI Methods:
-----------
* behaviourWaitHere

Format strings:
---------------
Work has begun on replacing the %@-type formatting strings in descriptions.plist
with ones that work the same as format strings used in scripts. In most cases,
a placeholder like %@ or %d has been replaced with one like [destination] or
[population].
* @-credits -> credits-format
* oxp-containing-messages-list-@ -> oxp-containing-messages-list
* bounty-@-total-@ -> bounty-awarded
* autopilot-station-@-does-not-allow-autodocking -> autopilot-station-does-not-allow-autodocking
* witch-to-@-in-f-seconds -> witch-to-x-in-y-seconds
* witch-blocked-by-@ -> witch-blocked
* witch-galactic-in-f-seconds -> witch-galactic-in-x-seconds
* game-paused-@ -> game-paused
* game-paused-docked-@ -> game-paused-docked
* missile-locked-onto-@ -> missile-locked-onto-target
* ident-locked-onto-@ -> ident-locked-onto-target
* @-armed -> missile-armed and mine-armed
* @-ejected -> commodity-ejected
* @-ready-to-eject and ready-to-eject-@ -> ready-to-eject-commodity
* @-scooped -> scripted-item-scooped
* scoop-captured-@ -> scoop-captured-character
* scoop-rescued-@ -> scoop-rescued-character
* equipment-primed-@ -> equipment-primed
* equipment-primed-hud-@ -> equipment-primed-hud
* mfd-d-selected -> mfd-N-selected
* station-docking-clearance-abort-cancelled-in-f -> station-docking-clearance-abort-cancelled-in-time
* status-hyperspace-system-multi-@-@ -> status-hyperspace-system-multi
* equipment-plural-d-@ -> equipment-plural
* equipment-plural-d-d-@ -> equipment-plural-some-na
* manifest-cargo-quantity-format -> manifest-cargo-quantity
* manifest-cargo-quantity-format2 -> manifest-cargo-quantity-extended
* manifest-@-travelling-to-@-to-arrive-within-@ -> oolite-manifest-person-travelling
* manifest-deliver-@-to-@within-@ -> oolite-manifest-item-delivery
* charts-distance-f -> charts-distance
* charts-est-travel-time-f -> charts-est-travel-time
* short-range-chart-distance-f -> short-range-chart-distance
* short-range-chart-est-travel-time-f -> short-range-chart-est-travel-time
* long-range-chart-distance-f -> long-range-chart-distance
* long-range-chart-est-travel-time-f -> long-range-chart-est-travel-time
* @-commodity-market -> system-commodity-market
* @-station-commodity-market -> station-commodity-market
* cash-@-load-d-of-d -> market-cash-and-load
* sysdata-planet-name-@ -> sysdata-data-on-system
* sysdata-prod-worth -> sysdata-prod-value
* gameoptions-voice-@ -> gameoptions-voice-name
* gameoptions-music-mode-@ -> gameoptions-music-mode
* gameoptions-fullscreen-mode-d-by-d-at-g-hz -> gameoptions-fullscreen-with-refresh-rate
* gameoptions-fullscreen-mode-d-by-d -> gameoptions-fullscreen
* equip-cash-@ -> equip-cash-value
* @-equip-cash-value -> equip-cash-value
* shipyard-price -> shipyard-price-label
* shipyard-cargo -> shipyard-cargo-label
* shipyard-cargo-d-tc -> shipyard-cargo-value
* shipyard-speed -> shipyard-speed-label
* shipyard-speed-f-ls -> shipyard-speed-value
* shipyard-your-@-trade-in-value-@ -> shipyard-trade-in-value
* shipyard-total-available-%@-%@-plus-%@-trade -> shipyard-total-available-with-trade-in
* plus-@ -> shipyard-first-extra and shipyard-additional-extra
* shipyard-forward-weapon-upgraded-to-@ -> shipyard-forward-weapon-upgraded
* shipyard-price-@ -> shipyard-price
* character-a-@-from-@ -> character-generic-description
* sysdata-billion-word has been replaced with sysdata-pop-value, which allows
more flexible formatting of population values
* planetname-derivative-suffix has been replaced with planetname-possessive.
The default planetname-possessive references planetname-derivative-suffix for
compatibility (it isn't used anywhere else).
* New: number-negative
* New: credits-negative
* New: sysdata-tl-value
* New: sysdata-radius-value
* Removed: extra-@-@-(long-description)
* Removed: extra-@-@-@-(passenger-berth-long-description)
* Removed: shipyard-forward-weapon-upgraded-long
* Removed: shipyard-selling-price-@

OXP Verifier:
-------------

* Validates syntax (but not keys) of all plists
* Validates syntax of all JS files
* Updates to shipdata plist verifier

Bug fixes:
==========

* Restore something like the 1.76 behaviour in terms of alloy plates in debris
* Speech synthesis slightly more conservative in detecting 'credits'
abbreviation
* Fixes to some core ship role lists
* Show JS error locations properly
* Better handling of various ZIP formats in the OXZ manager
* Fix slowness in market screen
* Corona_flare property works more consistently
* Better handling of system info changes in Nova mission
* Apply higher safety factor to docking
* Contracts no longer generated to Nova systems
* Suns now display properly at extreme range
* Some missing commands added to the Joystick mapper
* Fix non-alphanumeric characters not being available on mission screen
* Fix problem with large OXZ downloads on Windows
* Fix some problems with docking of fast and fast-turning ships
* Fix display problem with sun corona in rare cases
* Fixed key 5 switching to status screen when used during save game
filename entry.
* Fix Linux uninstall script error handling
* Fix errors with escape pod launch from subentities
* Fix consistency errors on ship library screen
* Ship registration forms now return to interfaces page
* Fix error with "OUTER_SYSTEM" positions in very large systems
* Fix bug where ship.checkScanner would detect a docked player and other
invalid targets.
* Windows and Linux ports: Gamma is now a generic game option, not a save
file one. Fixes unexpected gamma resets when starting a new game.
* Windows port: Fixed unnecessary double OpenGL initializations under
certain resize window conditions.
* Windows port: Fixed bugs in handling a maximized game window.
* Windows and Linux ports: Fix for inability to unset joystick buttons
beyond 16.
* Fix return type of EquipmentInfo.requiredCargoSpace
* Handle sun glare correctly also for too tall or too wide game windows.
* Redefining the currently selected waypoint no longer resets the compass
* Assassins no longer chase players who only take low-risk contracts
* Zero-distance system doubles now handled better on chart
* More docking protocol bug fixes
* Various chart view settings now preserved in the save game
* Some full-screen and multi-monitor fixes
* NPC ships entering hyperspace near massive stations should be clearer
* Destination systems for long-range NPCs now set correctly
* checkScanner method now correctly excludes unpowered ships
* Plasma turrets won't fire when cloaked if cloakPassive is true
* AI errors related to system ID 0 fixed
* Bug making tutorial extremely difficult to complete if player obtained a
bounty fixed.
* Fix error with cargo dumping when reloading save after death
* Fix NPC turret aim
* Some OXZ manager bugs related to duplicate manifest IDs fixed