Happy new year, everyone! This is Artemis 2.8.0, and it will most likely be the LAST version of Artemis 2.x, since I am hard at work on Artemis Cosmos, the brand new ground-up re-write of Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator. Artemis Cosmos will not change the basic gameplay of Artemis that you know and love, but it will get us out from under old code, old decisions, and obsolete technology. Keep checking the website and the forums for more updates about Artemis Cosmos!


------- changes for V2.8.0 -------
Added some new textures and meshes, for scripters who want to use GenericMeshes to enhance their scripts.
Missions were cleaned up and managed. Thank you, Darrin!
You can now set the 3 main volumes in the ini file.
Made a small change to the *_comms_button script commands, to make them more useful and behave as expected.
The ship contacts on the comms screen wearnt all distance-sorted. Now they are.
There was a bug in calculating player beam enegry cost. That has been fixed.
Small change to tutorial/help text.
Weapon targeting button keys are changed in the controls.ini file.



------- changes for V2.7.99 -------
This is a test version, allowing me to give out a limited "test" release, seeking immeadate feedback, before I move to release 2.8.0,
which will likely be the very last release of Artemis 2.x

fixed problem making the border zone in boarder-war persist to subsequent missions
changed the server and network ticking, so it doesn't drop when the app is minimized
server name is now on app title bar
added more space for server buttons on client mode
comms console categories are now have a default, not simply "none selected"
the F1 help screen wasn't complete or correct for the different cleint consoles. Fixed.
The IP address line for clients was filtered in an arbitrary way. That's now removed.
bases will no longer follow pirate ship orders to build specific ordnance.
There was a nag dialog, telling everyone that the game is more than a year old. That's now removed.
Script commands now can destroy drones.
Values in the ini file can lock the client console ang resolution. Seems to be fixed.
relative display mode, plus show player arcs only, can be force-set in the INI
In comms, select a station shown as enemy, select "cease operations now", the answer: "docking crew is ready". This is fixed.
Bug: Fighters set to 0 shields in the vesselData sometimes show 789 instead. Just visual as far as we can tell, but really throws players off. This is fixed.
Bug: When a player ship is tractored, but the ship which is tractoring it moves out of tractor range, the player ship remains tractored. Fixed.
mission-file-docs.txt now documents set_player_carried_type and clear_player_station_carried
Fixed: GM console does not show all player ships in a PvP game with limited sensor range, it only shows the ships on one side (based on the ship chosen from the console screen) and enemy ships that are within sensor range. The same applies to a scripted mission if the player ships are not on the same side. I would expect the GM screen to always show all ships regardless of sensor range.
Fixed: multiple main screen clients on the same ship do not show the same view. If one joins after the Cam button is clicked, the views will be different, and clicking Cam will toggle all of them, but they will continue to be opposite views.
Fixed: (previously reported by Dart_Tech here, still present in 2.7.5): The triggersMines property does not work. The value can be set on a shielded ship (and get_object_property works with it) but it has no effect, the ship will always trigger mines.
Fixed: It's (still) sending thousands of "Player::Tick-218 Player::Tick-218 Player::Tick-218" to STDERR, which you might not notice under Windows, but would if you started it from the command-promt, PowerShell, or in my case under WINE on Linux. I think these are left over from a temporary debugging/logging window?

Some client-side options menu choices (things on the OPTN menu, like Damage Visualization for instance) are now persistant
Beam Energy Cost is now adjustabel in .ini file
The game now says which player ship looted an enemy ship (e.g. the SS Broohaha or the Jolly Roger). We were playing with 2 pirate ships and we were getting messages about ships being looted and we could not tell which got the loot.
Weapons now has the Select Nearest Target functionality, similar to the way that the Science screen has keypresses for Select Nearest, Next and Previous.
Scripted comms menu buttons can now be assigned to ships, not just sides.
The base reload time of torpedoes can now be set in the artemis.ini file (instead of a flat 15 seconds)
modified the initial logo display very slightly.
pirate ships can not give build orders at game start.

Loads of bug fixes and changes to make scripting and other systems work better.

------- specifically -------
added new scripting command "get_object_property", finally making it possible to transfer the value of a property to a variable

found a weird bug, which should have led to crashes when using the script attribute "player_slot". I think I fixed it; player_slot should be universally usable now.

Changed the theClientSim->idleTimer, and the theMainScreenDisplay->idleTimer to be slightly longer, to hopefully alleviate the issue with clients jumping back to the console choice screen due to network lag.

I added a client-side heartbeat. This message helps the server figure out of a client has crashed or otherwise stopped, so it can forget it and let a new client connect and control helm, weapons, or science stations.

Hitting an asteroid with a tag torpedo (or any type of torpedo) should no longer crash the server.

The script command <if_damcon_members> wasn't properly documented; the player ship had to be identified. That documentation is fixed.

Dave Thaler pointed out a thread in the forums which reported several errors in controls.ini. It helpfully offered a fixed version of the file. Used. Thanks!

Three of the newer elite special abilities weren't documented properly. I added them to mission_file_docs.txt.
const int SPCL_VAMP_SHIELD = 2048 --- Doesn't just suck energy from player ship shields, but adds that energy to the elite's shields.
const int SPCL_TELEPORT_BACKWARDS = 4096 --- Just like the 5km teleport forwards, but backwards.
const int SPCL_SHLD_SCRAMBLE = 8192 --- This resets the frequencies of the elite's shields occasionally. This does "cure" shield damage done by EMP blasts.

There was a secret testing AI mode, toggled by pressing E while the server was playing. That's been changed to CTRL-ALT-A.

On the client screen, you can get a button on the right side of the screen, which sez "Connect to XXXX", where XXXX is the name of a running server on your local network.
The name of this server used to be the username of that server, but now you can give the server a custom name in its Artemis.ini file. The setting is "ServerNetworkName".

changed the random target height for whale pods to a more limited range; from -500to500, to -50to50 Similarly restricted initial jelly position

restricted dragon Y position.

"if_not_exists" was not working right with player_slot. That has been fixed.

Added "target_slot" as an attribute to the "if_player_is_targeting" condition.

"set_relative_position" was poorly written, and didn't work with player_slot1 and player_slot2. This has been fixed.

When the client code loads the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ArtemisSBS\IPAddress value into the text box, I've added more error checking, in case the value is corrupted.

Thanks to Darren B., who pointed out several places where the mission-file-docs.txt file gave inaccurate information about the player_slot attribute.

"warning_popup_message" uses the "player_slot" attribute correctly, but if that ship wasn't in the game, the message went to all player ships.
This is correct behavior; if you want to send a message to all ships, just don't use a "name" or "player_slot" attribute.
BUT, if you expressly use the "player_slot" attribute, the behavior is now changed to NOT broadcast to all ships.

The hot-keys for CYCLE_TORP_TUBE_* weren't working. Fixed.

The BUTTON_QUICK_JUMP_FORWARD and BUTTON_QUICK_JUMP_BACKWARD hotkeys have been added.

What's new in 2.7.0?

Updated monsters, new torpedo types, and lots of changes.

And many bug fixes.

What's new in 2.6.0?

New layout of the comms console, different sorts of fighters, bombers and shuttles. The fighter UI is upgraded.

Name your fighters!

Powerful new scripting commands.

And many bug fixes.

What's new for V2.4?

Loads of new ships, including the all-new Ximni player race, plus new TSN Juggernaut and TSN Mine Layer.

Player fighters! Launch from your carrier and attack mercilessly.

Big changes to the GM console, and GM script options.

New Customize Ship screen, gives you a better way to choose your ship, name it, and change its accent color.

Plus loads of bug fixes and cosmetic changes.