1.6 beta 3 now available on SDC

from GalCiv2 Forums

1.6 Beta 3 will show up if you have pre-release versions checked on SDC.  Its version number is 1.59[b].095 in SDC but it will show 1.6 Beta 3 in the title menu. If you are getting the error message when trying to start a metaverse game that your game will be invalid, you don't have the correct version.   

1.6 Beta 3 is mostly data changes and AI tweaks. 

+ Pirates event less common, somewhat less lethal

+ AI deals with Disease event better

+ Various AI tweaks

+ 3 new maps

+ Extreme Colonization more expensive

+ Visual updates to some planetary improvements

+ AI more focused on what it builds on planets (long story)

+ Some additional dialog (but no new trees) for computer players

+ AI tweaks to tech tree

+ Fixed a minor bug with the money popup in the tradewnd if you were in debt. 

+ Fixed bug where the influence and morale bonuses did not show up correctly on the summary screen (from the planet screen) if there was a influence or morale bonus (respectively) on that tile.

We're still working on some optimizations and other fixes.  There's a few wrinkles to iron out with the new minimap and line graph code but after that I should be able to work on adding some new features.

Also available today is a new optional module for pre-generated height maps, which is about 250 MB (before compression).  If you turn down the randomness of the heightmaps, the game will use the pre-generated ones more often.  This should mean a decrease in RAM usage, quicker loading times, and increased performance.  Note that these are available for people who do not have Dark Avatar yet as well, with the same benefits.

If you haven't updated from 1.50x3 before now, this would be a good time to do it since you can get it from SDC now.  I have been taking a lot of care to make these betas stable.  If you are worried about trying a beta, you can archive your current version of GalCiv2/DarkAvatar from the File->Archive menu in SDC so that you can un-install and restore 1.50x3 if you find that you need to.  If you have Windows Vista, the beta will be particularly beneficial to you as 1.6 beta 2 resolved the slowdown issue when scrolling or panning.  (Windows XP users should also see better performance, but it was REALLY noticeable on Vista.)

Update:

GalCiv2: Dread Lords and Dark Avatar will both attempt to find pre-generated heightmaps for a given class (and type) of planet.  If it can't find one, then it will generate one randomly.  So just by downloading the heightmaps module, you will be reducing load time and the amount of memory used because the game will not have to randomly generate as many maps. The Planet Surface variety slider on the Video Tab of the Options Menu will further reduce the number of heightmaps that are used.  If it is at 100%, it randomly chooses between all the heightmaps available for that class and type.  If it is at 50%, it will only choose among the first half of the heightmaps available for that class and type.  So you may find that just downloading the heightmaps module is enough, but if you're still having memory issues on gigantic galaxies, try turning down the Planet Surface variety.

 

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Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Notice: If you got 1.59b.093 as soon as it went up, please update immediately to the new 1.59b.095. This quick-fix resolves an issue that would have caused metaverse games to be flagged erroneously.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Sounds great.
Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Did the invisible ship bug get fixed?
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
How exactly do I turn down the randomness of heightmaps?
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
where can you get the thing?
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
How exactly do I turn down the randomness of heightmaps?


The Planet Surface Variety slider in the video options.

where can you get the thing?


On SDC.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I have "Show pre-release" checked, but I am not seeing 1.6. I see 1.59[b].095, but that's all she wrote!

Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
1.59[b].095 is 1.6b3.
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Thanks Kryo, I thought I was stupid for a minuit.. XD
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
the colony ship has only 250m colonists capacity
even if I create a custom ship its the same
is this because of the patch or something is wrong with my game?
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The trapezoid in the minimap which shows the currently visible area in the mainscreen is still positioned incorrectly.
If zooming the minimap in and out, the position changes by what seems to be half a screen.
It's simple to reproduce: Scroll to a position where there's a star at the edge of the screen. On the minimap, the trapezoid should intersect said star. Zoom the minimap and see it jumping around.
If scrolling around, it jumps back into the correct position immediately.
Reply #13 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
for the update, i only see 1.50 081, how come???
Reply #14 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Did the invisible ship bug get fixed?


Yes! There is now a special multi-ship icon that appears whenever there are two or more ships stacked on top of each other.
Reply #15 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Thanks very much for the update, most appreciated

I think that it is really cunning calling the 1.6 betas 1.59.05 (etc) - that, I sure, will not confuse anyone

It might have been useful if, within SDC, it could give an indication of the file size of what you are about to download, the Heightmaps one in particular must be this big
Reply #16 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
How exactly do I turn down the randomness of heightmaps?


The Planet Surface Variety slider in the video options.


DL does not have that slider.
Will it simply default to using them now that I have it installed?
Reply #17 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Sweet! And thanks for the invisible ship bug fix, annoying bug it was
Reply #18 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I had been playing a lot of DL, mainly due to my old PC not wanting to run DA very well. After D/ling beta 3 and messing around with it I gotta say Thanks!    It's running significantly smoother. Great job Stardock.

Reply #19 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
1.59[b].095 is 1.6b3.



if 1.59 is 1.6 why dose it not say that in sdc
Reply #20 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The version number 1.6 would be reserved for the official (stable) 1.6 release, after the beta period is over.
Reply #21 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It might have been useful if, within SDC, it could give an indication of the file size of what you are about to download, the Heightmaps one in particular must be this big as it is taking a while to come down.

The bottom pane with information about the selected item also tells the size of the download. The heightmaps are 250MB.

EDIT: The heightmap module has now downloaded but, even after reading the first post again, I'm not sure how to make use of it, could anyone help please..?

You don't have to do anything but install it, and the game should use it. You can save even more memory in game (DA only) though by turning down the Planet Surface Variety slider in the video options.

DL does not have that slider.
Will it simply default to using them now that I have it installed?

Yes, you should still get some benefit just from having them present.

for the update, i only see 1.50 081, how come???

Make sure you have Show Pre-release Versions checked in the View menu, and that you're looking at DA, not DL. Failing that, use the Refresh XML button in SDC's internet settings.

the colony ship has only 250m colonists capacity
even if I create a custom ship its the same

This appears to be one of the new tweaks Brad made for 1.6; colony modules have had their max capacity halved.
Reply #22 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The bottom pane with information about the selected item also tells the size of the download. The heightmaps are 250MB.


the bottom pane dose not tell you a lot in sdc. some times it will tell you the size & what it is but that it.
Reply #23 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Actually, the planet surface variety slider is also in 1.5 of Dread Lords.  I verified that this morning before I updated the post.

 

Reply #24 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
What's Heightmap?
Reply #25 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

What's Heightmap?

The heightmaps are files that tell the game how to create the planet surfaces and determines which tiles are useable, which can be improved, and which are totally useless.  They're called heightmaps because it's the elevation of a tile that determines it's useability: ie, is it a mountain, sea floor, etc.