Privateer: Ascii Sector v0.4.7 released!

www.asciisector.net/download


- Fixed bug with slow autopilot when music is set to 0.
- Fixed bug with tracking of critical wounds (again!).
- Fixed bug with naming of ejected pilots from bounty hunting missions.
- Fixed mission generation bug that sometimes created patrol missions with 0 nav points to patrol and 0 credits to earn.
- Fixed bug when saving a game while using the commodity exchange.
- Fixed bug with missiles not exploding for the first five movements.
- Fixed bug with a destroyed wingman generating a bunch of identical pods.
- Fixed bug with a milita or confed ship following you around, if you jumped away while it prepared to scan you and then jumped back.
- Fixed bug with non-existant nav points being chosen for cargo missions.
- Fixed bug that could cause an AI ship moving to a base for landing to get "stuck" close to its destination.
- Fixed bug that would sometimes freeze the game for a short while when jumping or landing.
- Fixed bug that allowed you to jump with a destroyed jump drive.
- Fixed the "jumping" experienced when contacts go from the long range to the close range part of the radar.
- Fixed bug with 'local' characters not leaving their area when engaged in combat.
- Added automatic sliding doors to seperate areas.
- You can no longer launch into space or use a computer terminal if you're completely blinded.
- Increased the effect stunned has on the time required to do actions.
- Changed the way your skill levels are displayed, allowing for a more gradual display, while also removing the Unskilled, Basic, Skilled and Expert descriptions, as they gave the wrong impression that skill gain only happens when the description changes (you actually gradually increase your skills every time you use them).
- You will now increase your skills faster -- but only at first, as the speed at which a skill increases will slow down the higher the skill level is.
- Sleeping is now a lot faster.
- Hidden compartments can now be bought/sold at Bounty as well. They will now also be displayed in red -- even on non-pirate bases, where you will get the message "only sellable at pirate base", when you try to sell it.
- The terminal screen in the commodity exchange now shows home much cargo space you have left (and hidden compartments, if any).
- You can no longer engage the autopilot if your maneuvering jets or thrusters are completely destroyed.
- You can no longer use afterburners if the generators are destroyed.
- Fixers that have left their chairs in the bar will now offer their missions when you talk to them.
- Added message and music to inform you when a mission has expired, failed or been completed.
- Added music for when in combat mode.
- Changed default 'Really quit game?' answer from 'Yes' to 'No'.
- Changed 'Buy new ship?' message to 'Enquire about new ship?'.
- When using the 'L'ook feature, you can now hold down 'C' to get the X and Y coordinates of the cursor's current position (useful when writing quests and you need the coordinates for placing a character).
- Improved the control of AI fighters: When a single fighter is attacking a ship with a rear turret from behind, it will make evasive maneuvers to try to avoid the turret fire; and when a group of fighters from the same faction are attacking the same target, they won't block eachother as much anymore.
- When flying in space, you can now use SHIFT + 'N' to select the nav point for your destination.
- In the nav computer, if you select a system that's connected to your current system, the jump point leading to that system will automatically be selected as your destination.
- Changed the jump fuel gauge to show the correct amount of jump left, instead of two bars for each jump (this will also allow for jump drives that can carry more fuel in future versions).
- Added indicator to show which of your ship's components is currently being repaired.
- You can now use SHIFT + 'R' to select which component to repair.
- It will now take longer to repair damaged components.
- Thrusters and Maneuvering Jets can no longer be completely destroyed (no more getting stranded with a crippled ship!).
- You can now use SHIFT + 'Q' to quit the game at any time and SHIFT + 'O' to access the options menu while playing.
- Added five new systems.
- Added seven new bases.
 
The holidays have given me a bit of extra free time to work on Ascii Sector, so here's a new version with some bugfixes and new features...


www.asciisector.net/download


- Fixed bug that potentially crashed the game when accessing the terminal computer in the commodity exchange when you have a ship with more than 255 cargo space.
- Fixed bug that potentially crashed the game when dealing damage from a melee attack.
- Fixed bug with the listing of criminal offences.
- Fixed some minor issues with the automatic doors when in combat mode.
- Added news feed to the front page of the Quine5000.
- Added random events that change the supply/demand of a commodity on a base or planet for a short number of days.
- Most people now carry a random amount of credits that you can take when you kill or stun them (if anybody sees you taking the credits, you risk getting fined).
- Using a Stunrod or Pepperspray will now increase your Armed Fighting skill (very slowly, though).
 
v0.4.7 released!

www.asciisector.net/download


- Fixed bug that would crash the game when entering the quest menu if you're playing a new game (not a loaded game).
- Fixed bug that caused time not to pass for some events when using the autopilot (mainly the simulation of production and consumption of commodities as well as the commodity affecting events - which resulted in these events being active for way too long and not happening often enough).
- Fixed bug with characters trying to get an object on the ground even though somebody is standing there.
- Added quest achievements. When you complete a quest, an achievement describing what you did will be added to the Achievements section under Stats in your Quine5000 (if the quest author has added an achievement to his quest).
- Added quest requirement. If used in a quest, the player can't play the quest if he hasn't completed the required quest.
- Allowed character dialogues in quests to use the STEP feature used in ship dialogues. This can give the player up to five different reply options and more branching dialogue than just Accept/Reject.
- Added a GOTO feature in quest dialogues to allow an immediate "jump" to another step without having to wait for the player to choose a reply.
- Added quest ship settings: Armor, ECM, Guns, GunBoosts, GunCoolers, Missiles, Experience, Morale, Shields, X and Y positions in space.
- Added quest character settings: Health, Equipment, CriticalWounds, Order, OrderTarget, Precision, Speed, Strength, Template.
- Added quest trigger events: AreaEntered, CargoBought, CargoSold, CargoInHold, CharacterBlinded, CharacterHitByPlayer, CharacterKilledByPlayer, CharacterOrderCompleted, CharacterStunned, Credits, ItemAcquired, ItemLost.
- Added quest trigger results: ChangeCharacterOrder, ChangeCharacterOrderTarget, CreateCharacter, RemoveCargo, CreateItem, GiveItem, PlaceItemOnBase, RemoveItem, RenameItem and RemoveCredits.
- Made some changes to the "Kilrathi Hunt" example quest to use some of these new quest features.
- When a fixer or wingman has left his chair due to a fight breaking out, he will now stay inside the bar and will in time sit down again when the fight is over.
 
I'm starting preliminary work on version 0.5, which will allow the player to walk around on his ship. I've been looking around for blueprints of the various Privateer ships that show the internal layouts of the ships (placement and size of the cockpit, cargo hold, engine room, and whatever else is on a ship like that). I haven't found any, though, so do they even exist or should I just make it up myself?
 
Hehe... Thanks for the vote of confidence! :)

It would've been nice if there were any "official" information in this area, but I guess I'll just make it up as I go. I guess it's also kinda more fun that way.
 
I wouldn't imagine there's all that much to walk around in, really. Except for the Centurion, other than what you see when looking around the cockpit there's probably not much more than a big boxy area for any of the original game player ships (I forget if P:AS uses other ships as well, offhand), maybe with a bulkhead or two for closing off the reactor, a head (bathroom, in ship-speak), and possibly one or two other compartments besides the main cargo hold (which may have one or two turret assemblies sticking into it, depending on the ship; for a rough idea, this is a B-17G's top turret, viewed from inside the fuselage).

Remember, their primary purpose (again, with the Centurion exception) is hauling small to medium cargo loads on relatively short runs. They're not dedicated to heavy lifting like a Drayman (or, elsewhere, the transports we see in WC3/4).
 
Death: Yeah, that's pretty much the kind of compartments I had in mind. And also a couple of cabins for passengers (at least on the larger ships). Your mention of turrets also got me thinking... It would be neat if you actually had to leave the cockpit and walk to a turret in order to use it, instead of just pressing the function keys to switch to a turret like you do now. You'd have an option to buy automatic turret AIs, but they won't be as precise as doing it yourself.

DarkOne: I think you just need to refresh your browser. :)
 
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