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berto -> RE: What new features are included. (7/9/2015 1:32:21 PM)
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I should clarify that the above features are key new features in Middle East beyond and over and above new features introduced in last year's JTCS 2.0*.
From the earlier JTCS 2.00 Changelog and 2.01 Changelog [changes from JTCS 1.04 & before]:
quote:
V2.00 – Feb 12, 2014
[list of bug fixes]
...
Improvements
o The game engine now runs as a full-fledged, resizable, movable windowed application. Before now, the game engine was a fixed, immobile, full-screen application. (In future, the player will have the option to switch between the two game windowed/non-windowed (full-screen) modes.)
o Hot keys documented in-game in the Menu Bar options, also in the toolbar tooltips.
o Relocated and resequenced several of the Menu Bar options (in engine mainly, but also in edit, edmap & edorg).
o Variable Animation Speeds.
o Changed "slots" and/or "slot" designations for several nations: Australia, New Zealand, Communist Vietnam, Communist China, South Africa, Philippines.
o Merged the Campaign Series & Modern Wars codebases.
o Implemented File>New & File>Open in the game engine .exe.
o Added TEM & Morale modifiers to the unit Info Box display.
o Added new LayManyMines & Commando unit capabilities. (For now, ME & VN only.)
o Moved unit capability (graphical) display from the unit Info Box to (as text) the Unit Handbook.
o Variable highlight colors, available via the Options menu. Includes five new graphics .bmp files: StackHighlights1D.bmp, StackHighlights2D.bmp, BaseHighlights3D.bmp, BaseHighlights4D.bmp, BaseHighlights5D.bmp. Install them in the top-level game folder (alongside the game .exe's).
o New Continuous AI Play mode.
o New game engine toolbar.
o New Units menu options, and toolbar buttons, for: Banzai, Fire Smoke, Fire Starshell.
o New player-selectable A/I options: Aggressiveness, Audacious, Cautious, Shifting.
o New ai.ini AI configuration file.
o New Backup Saves option.
o New Test Trial Play mode.
o New -X NOENCRYPTION command-line option, permitting access to unencrypted data files (e.g., OOB instead of OBX) (for testing and solo play only, not for multiplayer).
o At the frontend Main Menu, selecting Edit Map takes you directly to the edmap EXE, bypassing the frontend Map Editor display (no more direct random map generation).
o The frontend Scenarios selection screen no longer displays Backup Saves versions.
o Reorganized the nation names & sides Msg strings.
o The screen-top main Menu is now fixed, and cannot be toggled off. Removed the Menu icon from the screen-bottom toolbar, and freed up the Ctrl-M hot key for other uses.
o With High Details in effect, the Damage Report dialog box now reports the firing side.
o Removed the Details/Delay toggle from the Damage Report. (One sets this in Options > Highlights.)
o With Extreme FOW in effect, High Details are unavailable.
o Removed several hard-coded numbers in edit, redoing them as macros instead (defined in misc.h).
o Added support for AlliedFinland & AlliedGermany.
o Added game-specific Results & Command dialog boxes.
o New feature: dynamic, designer specified day/night & visibility.
o Restored game-specific Damage Reports & Command Reports.
o For nations ID#s & Msg* strings, fixed many omissions, inconsistencies, and other faults.
o Implemented a flexible, full-featured logging facility, all EXEs (frontend.log, engine.log, edit.log, edmap.log, edorg.log, error.log, ai.log).
o Added a Redraw Display (Alt-D) menu selection (hot key), for fixing any graphics glitches and map display corruption.
o Added Jump Map (J) menu selection (& hot key) to edit & edmap.
o Like engine, edit & edmap now have all available hot keys annotated in the top-level menu, also in the status bar.
o Incorporated Warhorse's new terrain[12]d.bmp files, all regions. These support elevations from 0 to +19.
o Incorporated Warhorse's new Beach[12]d.bmp files. These show beaches in the proper sandy color.
o Coded in support for elevations > 12, also separate beach graphics.
o For all logging, added the option to show in-EXE message pop-ups indicating significant, noteworthy error conditions.
o Implemented a functioning in-game (for engine only) F1 General Help access of the CS Manual PDF file.
o On edorg launch, added a message box warning of data loading/processing delay.
o Redid the implementation of Variable Visibility (optional rule). (Note: Visibility varies only once per turn. The same Visibility applies throughout the turn, both sides, all phases.)
o In the engine, F2 now summons the EBOOK version of the game Manual (with table of contents), no longer the LIGHT version.
o Toned down some needlessly worrisome logging "errors".
o At the Status Bar, clarified use of the Unit Handbook icon.
o Due to a, for now, unfixable bug, retired Hot Seat Replay. Will be fixed and restored in future. (Standard & PBEM Replay remain intact.)
o Changed the WF window border & toolbar color to match the EF color. (Had been matching the tropical RS color.)
o Fine tuned the "duplicate ID" error messages in edorg.log.
o Further refined the error messages in edorg.log, adding file & line number where the error occurs.
o Improved (if not quite fixed) night shading in ZoomIn25 (3-key) map mode. Includes three new files: Gray3d.bmp, Gray4d.bmp, Gray5d.bmp.
o If a unit has no assigned Unit Handbook picture file, attempt to display any graphic defined in its bitmap3d field instead.
quote:
V2.01 – May 10, 2014
[list of bug fixes]
...
Improvements
⦁ Implemented Options > Toolbar > None/Classic/Standard/Large.
⦁ Implemented Options > System Colors.
⦁ Implemented Help > Unit Viewer (F3).
⦁ Implemented the -X NoEncryption option implemented in all of: engine, edit, edorg, edmap.
⦁ Added, in ai.ini and elsewhere, three new moddable A/I parameters: AI_smoke_prob, AI_blind_fire_prob, AI_dig_prob.
⦁ Tweaked the highlight/selected colors for greater color contrast.
⦁ The game engine now defaults to window maximized mode on startup.
⦁ Adapted paradrop and airplane animations to the new Variable Animation Speed system. (Also, flight animations are now capped at 80% of the max ground unit animation speed.)
⦁ Applied a minor code tweak for ground unit animations.
⦁ Added more logreturn() calls and better exception handling for missing files.
⦁ Added a new Campaign.pdt and .pdx data file for all engines
⦁ Added a new Main.pdt and .pdx data file for all engines (supply covers now all countries for 1930-1952
⦁ Implemented a moddable timelines.dat, for customizing nation timelines.
⦁ Corrected several nation timelines.
⦁ Improved frontend exception handling and crash prevention.
⦁ Improved and extended frontend error reporting/logging.
⦁ Eliminated many code & data redundancies between the (TS) frontend and the other four (JT) EXEs.
⦁ West Front 2D graphics:
⦁ Most units now will have an unique 2d picture on the game counter when using graphical icons.
⦁ Units were all given a military icon to add more variety to the very limited original mix. The original game had less than 90, now there are 303!
⦁ Enhanced many of the 3D graphics as well.
⦁ Updated all countrys to include common files such as trains, supply depots, etc.
⦁ Updated a lot of the Minor countrys kit, especially Belgium, France, Italy, Albania, Yugoslavia, Norway, and Ethiopia.
⦁ East Front and Rising Sun to follow in Patch 2.1
A couple of late minute additions were included as well, such as:
- Implemented Help > Manual (F1).
In my previous post above, again those are just the key new features in Middle East. When Middle East is released, we will post a complete Changelog for ME too, which will be longer still than the Changelog for JTCS 2.0*.
Old Wine in New Bottles. Or to mix metaphors: Old-timer Campaign Series players will find themselves right at home in Middle East, while still enjoying all the new renovations. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
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