BATTLECRUISER MILLENNIUM GOLD VERSION CONTROL

Last Updated           : 05/04/04

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Legend:

   RC = Release Candidate (unofficial BETA release version. Usually internal release only)
   New to this version
   Important Note!
   Planned for next version

ISSUES UNDER INVESTIGATION

• Sometimes shuttles will land but not deploy personnel

• Graphics anomalies on some cards when the cloak or EMD are activated
• Ghost object being left behind when the first client to join a server, is destroyed.
• Fragments are generated more than once when a client is destroyed.
• Large number of packets transmitted while on the planet surface, can make mp on the planet sluggish - especially on dial-up.

NEW VERSION INFO

v1.01.06 - 05.04.04

• FIXED: Some events (e.g. !destroyed) when triggered from an object other than the current object (which is being destroyed), would sometimes either not fire or fire at the wrong time.

v1.01.05 - 04.06.04

• FIXED: If a prisoner died while in detention, his status was not being updated when player docks at a station/base and the prisoner removed.

• The respawn timer is now obtained from BCSETUPMP.INI
• The IP address:port of the first client in the "online players" list is now listed correctly.
• FIXED: Client sometimes crashes after respawning
• FIXED: If you took extensive damage and messages were queued up prior to your death, when you respawn, the queued messages (from the pre-death situation) are now flushed.
• FIXED: If a client disconnects and then reconnects (or respawns after death), the sound system is now re-initialized.
• FIXED: Turret beam graphics are now always rendered on clients.

v1.01.04 - 03.08.04

• FIXED: The server would crash if you exited the CC in fp mode
• FIXED: The multiplayer executable was not starting at the server browser by default (it required /c parameter).

v1.01.03 - 03.02.04

• FIXED: A crash introduced in the previous version, related to Tradcom and an incorrect file parameter.

v1.01.02 - 02.28.04

• Minor cleanup
• Explosion sounds are no longer played for missiles blowing up or for fragments resulting from an explosion. This presents a slight performance boost in that sounds are only played once in these two instances.
• Recompiled with revised PTE2 terrain engine. This removes randomness for straight and curved corner transition tiles which caused height variations when matched with the reference heightmap for these transitions, resulting in incorrect terrain heights at tile boundaries.
• IA/TA scenarios numbering scheme has been revised
• Now includes a limited version of the UNSUPPORTED GBS-II system for creating mission scenarios

MULTIPLAY

• Minor cleanup
• ALT+Q in mp no longer quits the game. Now ALT+Q will return to the SNG screen if the server was joined via the server browser. If +connect was used, the game will quit. Dying (KIA) while on the server still spawns you on the server after 30 secs (BCSETUPMP.INI setting)
• FIXED: Some client synch problems when on the planet

v1.01.01 - 12.12.03

• After starting a new Roam or Campaign scenerio, player is now taken to MISCON so that they can select a scenario other than the default. And upon exiting MISCON, player is now taken to launch screen.
• When observing a planet with TACOPS, the view now zooms all the way to the player if the player is located on the planet. Previously the default zoom view is from the top level GBM.
• Player can no longer drop the tractor beam during a hyperspace transition by lowering the shields
• Minor legacy cleanup e.g. BRIG has been changed to DETENTION HOLD, all occurences of SH (shuttles) are now SC, IC to FC etc etc. Note that some locations are still abbreviated in order for them to fit in the displays when running the game at 640x480 resolution. This usually happens in Perscan and other systems which display this information.
• Roam or campaign scenarios (e.g. Feather Duster) which take place in the IA galaxy didn't allow access to all the station menu options (i.e. only Logistix is accessible) due to a script command resetting some values to IA.
• The Quick Save option has been removed from the TLM/SYSTEMS menu. Also the ALT+CTRL+S command has been removed and CTRL+S now does the Full Save.
• Intruders and now prisoners are removed from the CC (and any support crafts) when docked at a station. Previously, intruders were captured and either converted into prisoners and placed in the detention hold, or removed.
• The DIE unit is no longer cancelled automatically when player moves.
• Revised LBASES.HTML and NAVCHART.HTML files in the DOCS\APPENDIX folder. These files now contain the launch bases and galaxy maps for the two IA/TA galaxies. Also revised several other appendix data files e.g. the crew sections for cruisers and transports and also added the turret shot ratings to ships etc. Also revised the craft related files to include the turret shot ratings, units etc
• Revised the granularity of AG events so that too many NPC entity classes don't get generated at the same time
• FIXED: The OC wasn't recharging when docked with the CC
• FIXED: Some of the IA scenario descriptions (e.g. BCIA0026) were truncated in MISCON due to a missing blank line in the .DES file
• FIXED: The regions in the IA2 galaxy regions will no longer show up in the Start New Game options for ROAM/ACM scenarios
• FIXED: The regions in the IA1 and IA2 galaxy regions are now correctly filtered out of the HSD menu
• FIXED: The Esoterica station was using the New America station base class data in Tradcom/Info
• FIXED: Prisoners can no longer be given orders from Tactical/Loadout/Team
• FIXED: A very serious problem with loading saved games. In some instances the EOF marker was not being preserved and this would cause the game to either enter an infinite loop or crash.
• FIXED: The fatal error window will now be displayed when the game is running in full screen mode
• FIXED: Cloned personnel were re-created without their default inventory
• FIXED: If the controller in CONFIG is set to Mouse or Keyboard the joystick rudder axis is now ignored. This forces mouse X to perform roll when SHIFT is pressed and yaw when shift is released irrespecive of the type of joystick that is connected

MULTIPLAY

• Implemented server version checking. The client will abandon connections to a server with a mismatched version. NOTE: Release and Debug versions are classed as incompatible i.e a release build client cannot connect to a debug build server
• Further prediction and orientation tweaks. Orientation error correction is performed so that objects turn smoothly and don't snap orientation when the predicted orientation deviates from an incoming positionion/orientation packet. The error correction is performed using a velocity correction with a quadratic ease-in and ease-out profile. The duration of the correction is set to half of the delay between the last two packets.

  The orientation component of the position packet therefore no longer directly sets the orientation of the object (which causes the snap). This can result in a slight delay when an object is initially created while the error correction procedure sets the proper initial orientation. During this time the object may be observed to spin. This usually occurs after docking and launching from a station.

• During prediction, the velocity vector is rotated with predicted orientation adustment to reduce positional deviation.
• On the server, the TTD of cloaked or hidden objects is no longer displayed
• Some packet sizes have been reduced (in particular the position/orientation packet)
• Remote craft prediction is now disabled during hyperspace jumps (this would disrupt/delay the entry into a jump).
• The crafts progress time through a hyperjump is now sent in order to improve syncronization.
• Status packets (armor/shield/integrity etc) are now sent during hyperjump. Status data that effects the visual state of the craft is ignored.
• The client can now chat when in TACOPS (ESCAPE key)
• SHIFT+ESCAPE now displays the list of clients currently connected on the server. Press any key or mouse click, to dismiss the menu. Works on the server or client.
• Server operator can now send chat messages to clients by pressing ESC. Interface is the same as client chat (except t there is no "team" option). Clients can send chat message only to the server op by de-selecting all players from the send list. When the message is sent, only the server op will get it.
• Server logging to BCSDEBUG.LOG is now enabled using "/l[level]" where level can be 1 to 5. The higher the level, the more info that is recorded. The /l (lower case!) option and (a) it must be preceded by /s (server) and (b) it is valid in the debug and release builds. e.g. "bcmg.exe /s /l2"
• First pass at non-dedicated (unsupported) server. This allows the client and server to run on the same machine. To connect a client to a server running on the same machine, create (you can just clone the existing Join MP Server shortcut) a new shortcut and add +connect 127.0.0.1 commandline parameters. Then start the server and connect to it using the newly created shortcut.

  * FYI

  • You need a high-end machine for this setup. Minimum requirements are : P4 2.0Ghz or Athlon 2200+ with 512MB RAM
  • This will work for a LAN or Internet server.
  • When the client attempts to initialize using the port number for the server (2302) it will fail the first time as the server is already using that port. In that case the client will now attempt to retry using the next port (2303).
  • Since only one retry attempt is performed it is only possible to run one client on a machine also running a server.
  • If the server and windowed client (/w1) are run it is possible to switch focus between the two windows
  • Adding additional clients (on the LAN or otherwise) does not work. This non-dedicated server only allows a single client and server on the same machine; for the same reason you cannot run two clients on the same machine and both trying to access a server (on another machine).
  • The client running on the same machine as the server will currently not receive any player-to-player communications (e.g. chat). This is being researched further and a workaround for this will be forthcoming.

• Further prediction and object orientation tweaks. Its now a lot smoother than ever before (WIP)
• Added support for scenario loading via the commandline
  • Usage is similar to other commandline parameter passing e.g. "bcmg.exe +scenario bcmp0000"
  • The commandline option takes precedence over the BCSETUPMP.INI setting i.e. if +scenario is specified, then the value set in the INI file is ignored.
  • The default is BCMP0000 in the event that (a) +scenario is not specified and (b) the [game.scenarios] block in the INI file is empty or doesn't contain a scenario
  • The scenario value is also reported to the master servers

• Several revisions to player name/asset reporting
  • The primary asset status of an object is maintained globally. The primary asset is the object that the player starts in (unless he starts in a FP career without an asset). The name given to this asset is specified in SNG. This name will appear in logs and TTDs etc. When the player is aboard the primary asset the player name preceeds the asset name in the format: player name (asset name)
  • When aboard a support craft, the support craft name replaces the primary asset name
  • When the player is not aboard the primary asset, its name is simply the asset name
  • When in FP mode the name of the objects is the players name
  • The client info list now shows just the player name and asset name. The third name (the effective player name which would change depending on the players location, has been removed to avoid confusion and to avoid problems with very long names)

• Several revisions to the chat system
  • The key entry menu item is now taller at low screen resolutions so the text does not overflow the bottom of the menu.
  • If the text entered into a chat menu item forces the menu width close to the width of the display then menu item font size is reduced to allow entry of more text. Additional text input at the smaller size is limited so the menu cannot exceed the display width.

    If the chat message length is longer than might fit into the Commlink or Commlink menu, then it is broken into multiple parts e.g.

    [SERVER OP] If the chat message length is longer...
    ...than might fit into the commlink or commlink...
    ...menu then it is broken into multiple parts

    A reasonable attempt is made to split the message at whitespace.

  • WIP: A new multiplay specific chat system is being implemented. This allows the previous 8 (or perhaps more) messages to appear in the entry menu above the text entry menu item. Incoming messages (not local messages) will scroll here in Teletype style as they are received. This makes it easier to view messages (press the ESC key and leave the dialog open) without having to use the default Commlink system which may not be desirable during heavy combat sessions.

• The names of objects that are displayed in the CVD and TACSCAN can overflow the instrument, e.g. this one definitely does "TER/MIL Supreme Commander (GCV-Warmonger)". This happens usually when the player is aboard his primary asset. The name is too large to fit at lower resolutions. Such names are now trimmed using the following methods
  1. The asset name is stripped ie "TER/MIL Supreme Commander". If the name is still too large then
  2. The race and caste are stripped ie "Supreme Commander". If the name is still too large then
  3. The name is truncated and an ellipsis is added until it will fit, e.g. "Supreme Comman..."

  NOTE: This may be required for some menus as well, e.g. Zoom To menu that lists object names and status information can easily be too wide to be visible at lower resolutions if the player names are long.

• Some properties of cloaked obects are now supported (eg noise spikes and "there's something out there"). This also addresses instances where a ship that was cloaked before cannot be seen in the CVD when it decloaks
• Added several server/client messages (e.g. destroyed, connect, disconnects etc). These are sent to clients and also the server log file
• The client info list is now consistent in all clients and server. Previously the server used a different format
• The default initial chat (when the client first joins the server) recipient is now set to ALL (when the user selects the recipient with ENTER key)
• The scenario name format in the BCSETUPMP.INI file has been revised to support future multiplay scenarios
• WIP: In fp mode the names of all clients on the server are now displayed above their TTD. When this is completed, the names will be displayed only for friendlies at long distances and be displayed for hostiles at short distances. This new feature makes combat in fp mode a bit easier (and consistent with other multiplay games) for picking out friendlies from hostiles without having to constantly use the DIE to find targets. However, since only their name is displayed, if you want the full TTD info, you have to select the person in the DIE radar mode.
• The metacharacters "~", "@" & "*" no longer perform special processing in chat text entry menu items (chat and password entry), thereby allowing them to be used.
• The CHEATS menu has been added to the graphical server window. This allows the server op to dynamically create entities in the game world. e.g. you could create a hostile carrier in the middle of a group of friendly players or even create a cargo pod of minerals (currently only Plutonium, Iridium, Radine are supported) and drop it in the game world for gamers to fight over and collect for themselves.
• Implemented -nms (no master server) which will prevent the server from broadcasting to the master servers. Can be used in cases where you don't want anyone to see your server in the in-game browser or ASE. The only way for anyone to then join the server is if they know the IP address - and then they'd have to join the server using command line options.
• Server now supports AutoGenerated entities in scripts. This is controlled in the BCSETUPMP.INI file using the allow_ag option e.g. allow_ag=1. If set to 0, then no NPCs will be generated regardless of what is in the script. i.e. this INI option overrides whatever is in the script currently running.
• The Individual and Multiple chat recipient menus can now be navigated using the up and down arrow keys so that you don't have to take your hands off the keyboard in order to use the mouse to select a recipient. The space bar will toggle the selected menu item that has a check box.
  
  In the Indivudual recipient menu, the enter key will action the selected menu item.
  
  In the Multiple recipient menu, the enter key will action "Send" irrespective of the currently selected item. (This is so the player does not need to navigate to send to actually send the message).
  
  The mouse can still be used to manipulate the menu.
• The BCSERVERCONFIG app now supports the new scenario naming format introduced in RC6
• FIXED: If you exited your craft, you sometimes couldn't get back in it. This problem appeared when the ability to have your player name in your TTD, was implemented.
• FIXED: If the first player to login to a server logged off, the server would not destroy the object. As such, it will remain "ghosted" on the server until the server was restarted.
• FIXED: Chat menu items widths/tab stops calculated using lower case text which was later forced to upper case causing text to overflow RHS of menu
• FIXED: Client crash if another player disconnects while in hyperspace
• FIXED: Location of remote craft during hyperspace jump was undefined and would sometimes cause a crash or out of synch condition
• FIXED: The Insurgent caste was available for all races instead of only for the Terran race. This would cause a problem if player selected, for example, Gammulan Insurgent.
• FIXED: Crash on server when pressing ALT+S and F1 to F10. This bug appeared when the ability to chat on the server was implemented in RC2.
• FIXED: Problems sending chat messages in FP mode
• FIXED: Tacops "ZOOM TO" menu not functioning on server
• FIXED: In the release build, when the client sends any packet to itself, (e.g. sends chat to "all"), the client could become disconnected from his asset. This manifests itself in various ways e.g. creation of ghost objects, pauses, inability to control craft, inability to see craft in exernal views, spurious instability issues etc.
• FIXED: several client synch problems due to high packet loss from the client
• FIXED: several problems related to client info in the TTD, the SHIFT+ESC client info list, the server, etc etc
• FIXED: If you have weapons armed and try to discard the comms message box with a left mouse click, the guns will no longer fire
• FIXED: Previously if a client was destroyed and respawns, sometimes it could no longer receive comms messages from other clients.
• FIXED: current speed indicator in HUD not updated. Also fixes any other problem cause by the use of the predicted velocity for local objects.
• FIXED: remote object cloaking SFX "looping" on local clients
• FIXED: sometimes, depending on their asset, when a client was destroyed a GPF would occur after the respawn delay
• FIXED: ALT+Q and ALT+S now quit the server instead of causing a crash
• FIXED: Exiting Perscan with the ESC (or any key) no longer activates the chat window on return to the bridge <>li>FIXED: A call to a time function on the server (which has no valid player profile object) is likely to cause a crash if AG is enabled on the server and an NPC docks to resupply the station.

v1.01.00 - 05.30.03

• Replaced DivX version with Indeo 5.10 version of Dreamcatcher logo animation. For more on this, read the troubleshooting FAQ.
• Updated README.RTF, added BCMG_MANUAL_REV.HTML and renamed BCMFAQ.HTML to BCMGFAQ.HTML (update your shortcut properties accordingly because the old version will continue to point to BCMFAQ.HTML) to avoid confusion with files from the original BCM game.
• Added IA galaxy maps galaxy_map_links_ia1.jpg and galaxy_map_links_ia2.jpg to docs\appendix\images\maps.
• If you go to MISCON and attempt to LOG OFF while running an IA or TA scenario, you will now return to the game instead of only being allowed to exit entirely. Previously, you could only return to the craft by first going to another sub system e.g. Logistix.
• The wing of fighters in BCIA0043 will now start in the same space region as you, instead of being created on the planet you are supposed to be attacking. Some people didn't realize that they were being created on the planet.
• Your race/caste in BCIA0044 is now set to TER/INS instead of TER/MIL, thereby preventing your imminent destruction by the station when you launch.
• Navitron will no longer display the main galaxy map in IA/TA scenarios, since they take place in a different galaxy
• Restricted the station's ability to have extremely high quantities of items
• Revised orders menu so that access to all assets is now possible regardless of where the AE is located. Previously the Tacops shuttles menu could not be used to launch a shuttle if the AE is not aboard the CC. This was reported as a bug. Its not. Thats how it was originally designed to work.

  Also, a problem was reported in which if the AE was assigned to an OC in a launched shuttle, on quit/restore, the Tacops waypoint orders menu only listed orders for the OC regardless of the craft selected. This is not a bug. Basically the waypoint menu is showing options valid for the SC (for example it shows TOW which is not a valid OC option), however the AE is located in the OC and the startup code is using the asset (OC) that the AE is currently located in to create the menu and not his primary asset (CC). As the OC has no OC/FC/SC/DRN assets of its own, no orders that relate to these craft will be added to the orders menu. This occurs when the game is restored and the player is not located in his primary asset. The menu revision above should alleviate this confusion but it may cause other quirks elsewhere e.g. trying to order a unit that is invalid or in a completely different region.

• Introduced special handling so that TER/MIL and TER/INS station captures work more reliably. Someone reported that EPs and medals were not awarded for capturing stations. This is false. As the manual indicates, EPs and medals are only awarded for the capture of hostile stations. In the case of TER/MIL and TER/INS, because the Insurgents are a special case caste, sometimes EPs would not be awarded in some cases. Also, as the EP.HTML file in the appendix indicates, medals for station captures are only awarded if you are playing as TER/MIL, TER/INS and TER/EAR.
• The commander career now has access to the illegal items list in Tradcom
• FIXED: If you attempt to tow a unit when there is no power to launch control and cannot, when you turn power on to launch control and try again, the tow operation will fail. What was happening is that after the message "LAUNCH CONTROL NEEDS POWER" message is displayed a further message: "RECOVERY FAILED" is queued. This message had a zero display time, which is used when asking a question. But no question was issued with this message. The consequences of this situation are:

  1) the message is never seen
  2) the message remains locked in the message channel (waiting for a response)
  3) the icon representing the person asking the message will remain on the display
  4) further messages from the person are queued but never seen

  The deadlock is cleared when the message queue is flushed.

• Updated appendix files airdefense2.html, cruisers.html, transports.html
• FIXED: Clearing the Commlink log will cause a crash due to the long install path to the game folder
• FIXED: If you accessed Logistix from Tacops, selected the SC icon and then select the CARGO icon (for the CC) without first selecting a craft, a crash may sometimes occur.
• FIXED: The LBASES.INI file had some incorrect entries which affected the starting base locations for some careers.
• FIXED: In certain conditions an item can get into the "repair suspended" state but will be prevented from switching to "ready" status once it was 100% repaired.

MULTIPLAY

• The /c parameter in the "Join MP Server" shortcut is no longer required. If this parameter is present in the shortcut, it can safely be removed. Note that this patch will remove this parameter.
• Requesting a tow ship has been disabled on the client in order to prevent abuse. Once acceptable restrictings are identified, it MAY be re-enabled with said restrictions.
• Implemented several towing restrictions in order to prevent cheating. See the FAQ for more on multi play restrictions
• Local LAN servers will no longer report to the master server. This was a problem in the ASE sdk.
• Servers will no longer connect to the CDKEY authentication server. THIS IS TEMPORARY AND WILL BE RE-ENABLED IN A LATER UPDATE!
• There is now a backup master server hosted on 3000ad.com. Internet servers will now report to both the ASE and 3000AD master servers.
• Optimized the prediction code to make it smoother under low transmission conditions. Still needs further tweaking.
• Added support for Multiple (M) and individual (P) chat recipients. With individual recipients, select one item from the chat menu. With multiple recipients, check the menu boxes for desired recipients and then click SEND.
• The text entry (for sending chat and server password) now uses a larger font in order to improve readability.
• When the player quits the game or if the connection to the server fails, the game will do a clean exit instead of going back to the server browser.
• When a player is killed he goes back to Start New Game to change settings (remains connected to the server) instead of being spawned with previously selected settings. This is required in circumstances where player may wish to change his game options e.g. switch from Elite Force Marine to Planetary Support Pilot, without having to disconnect from the server, reconnect etc because on popular and crowded servers, player may lose his slot when disconnected.
• Implemented a third-party networking SDK update which fixes packet flooding and other problems on the server.
• Support for the /cheat parameter has now been disabled in the client in order to prevent, well, cheating.
• Included a stand-alone MFC server config app called, funny enough, BCServerConfig. This allows you to configure the server without having to manually edit the BCSETUPMP.INI server file. For usage info, see the BCServerConfig.txt file located in the game install folder.
• The server will no longer do any graphics rendering when minimized. This improves performance as well as the reliability of a minimized server app. THE SERVER REQUIRES A GRAPHICAL INTERFACE AND WAS NOT DESIGNED TO BE RUN WHILE MINIMIZED. SO, DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK
• All sound fx have now been disabled on the server. This greatly improves performance. This has no effect on the client.
• Some graphics options e.g. planetary terrain detail texturing, blast fragments, are now disabled on the server. This improves performance. This has no effect on the client.
• Added more options for All Seeing Eye browser support.
  • More entries in the BCSETUPMP.INI file are now reported to the ASE master server
  • Revised ASE launch syntax: bcmg.exe +connect ip:port +name "my_name" +password "server_password". You can also use this syntax to connect directly to a server (i.e. its not just for launching the game from within the ASE browser)

• Added more options to the in-game browser (powered by ASE).
  • An internet server which also resides on an internal LAN subnet will no longer appear in the browser's LAN servers list
  • The in game server browser now has all elements as part of the bitmap. Previously they were handled by program code. It looks better this way and entities are now nicely lined up and neater looking. To see what I mean, compare the previous ROS-MP.BMP file in the GFX\FRONTEND\INTERFACE.ZIP file to the newer version from this patch.
  • You can now see and filter different server types e.g. dedicated, fleet, private. An icon indicating the server type is also displayed next to the server name.
  • The server list is now obtained when you start the client. No need to do a Refresh first. If you don't see any servers, the master server is either down or your firewall is incorrectly configured. Read the Multiplayer Issues section of the troubleshooting FAQ for more info on this.
  • Added support for displaying the selected server version. When a server is selected, the version number is displayed at the bottom of the server list display, next to its ping time.

• The C key conflicted with the first person crouch action and so was changed. In order to chat, press the ESCAPE key and the message prompt will appear. See the manual revision file for more info on multiplay chat.
• FIXED: The "Start in" section in the properties for the "Join MP Server" and "Start MP Server" shortcuts did not contain the path to the game folder.