Yarlen Yarlen

Sins Beta 1 Update

Sins Beta 1 Update

The stuff people usually ignore in the readme file...

This is where I'll be mirroring updates that are put out on Stardock Central. This info is also in the History on SDC.

Here are the notes for what should be the last Beta 1 patch. After that the team will be transitioning the codebase over to Beta 2 (set for June).

May 16 - v.066.010 - Hotfix

+ Fix for Trade Ports not spawning trade ships.
+ Fix for weapon and repair ranges not showing up during structure placement.
+ Fix for AI spamming build trade ports message.
+ Fix for fighters not shooting at bombers.
+ Fix for AI not refreshing optimal targets.
+ Fix for throttling phase space arrival messages.
+ Fix for inconsistent ordering of build buttons.
+ Fix for tutorial crash.
+ Fix for too much bloom on team coloring of new art assets.

May 14 - v0.65.010

Note: If you have modded files, be sure to back them up before updating. As always, this patch is not save-game compatible with prior versions of the beta.

Gameplay:
+ Further differentiated fighter capacities of different types: carriers get additional squads slightly more frequently, battleships and dreadnaught more slowly and don't even start w/ a squad.
+ Experience required to level up increased for all levels after lvl 4. Buying higher levels, esp. lvl 6, made more expensive.
+ Slightly reduced bomber damage to account for higher squad count on max lvl carriers.
+ Pirate Pillager now has Plunder Ability.
+ Shorter repair range for TEC repair platform.
+ Anti-fighter frigates now unlockable via research (final research window placement tbd).
+ Cease Fire now also interrupts, which should prevent players from trapping enemy fleets w/ invincible inhibitors (either inhibitor is invincible and interrupted or functioning and vulnerable).
+ Structures under construction can no longer use their abilities until they are finished (this would include Phase Inhibiters preventing jumps before it was completed).
+ Ships can no longer initiate Phase Jumps thru gravity wells. (Warning: the AI follows this rule but he isn't very smart about it yet).
+ Fix for AI researching Artifacts incorrectly.
+ Damage Sharing should now work as intended.
+ Players now start with one metal extractor.
+ Embargo should now properly handle cases where the combined stolen income percentage from all players exceeds 100%.
+ Replaced TEC Dunov Cruiser ultimate with new one: Flux Field.
+ Fixed bug where research doesn't update.
+ Fixed ships with an auto-attack range of None not being able to target things within their weapons range.
+ Ships don't bother moving to pre-autoposition if their auto-attack range is None.
+ Fix ships not rotating to attack if they have an auto-attack range of 0.
+ Tune costs and rates of resourcing structures.
+ Fixed bug where fighters don't use their auto-attack range properly.
+ Fixed bug where fighters in hold position weren't rotating to face their targets.
+ Fixed bug where ships would run off to nowhereland under various conditions.

+ Fix for AI players becoming really stupid after loading a saved game.

+ Fix for AI players building too many Protev Colony Frigates.

User Interface:
+ Planet Upgrade shortcut now works.
+ Squad management open/close keys now appropriate for slot.
+ Fixed movement lines not drawing correctly when A. in hyperspace with multiple stops and B. when moving to exit the gravity well.
+ Auto-Attack Ranges move into the Attack button as separate modes of Auto-Attack. Iterated through by right-clicking. Old Auto-Attack button position will likely be used for more advanced AI stances.
+ Squads owned by hangars now appear in the module pipcloud so they don't clutter up the ship pip cloud.
+ When rotating the camera, strafing is now disabled.
+ Fixed bug with shiprequest count which made it show the net total requests on every ship.
+ Research infocard now states how many labs are needed to research a given subject.
+ Fixed bouncing Culture Lines.
+ Added UI and dialogue volume options.
+ Changed options to refresh from settings when you open them.
+ Fixed "can't change planet elevators option" bug.
+ Fix for objects disappearing when strafing the camera.
+ Added Research Window Pages to make room for improved research trees. Improved research trees are not included yet as they depend on assets not included with the beta.
+ In-game save-game window now has text lists for already saved games.
+ Text Entries now have the ability to select all text.
+ The Empire Tree is now fully interactable while paused.

+ Attack & repair circles are now more visible.

Graphics and Sound:
+ New TEC Trade Port art.
+ New TEC Dunov Cruiser art.
+ New TEC Marza Dreadnaught art.
+ Improved variance to starfield.
+ Fix for "all black lighting" bug.
+ Adding first pass unit sounds for almost all structures.

+ Fix for curved edge star fields on widescreen monitors.

+ Numerous lighting adjustments.

+ First pass adjustment on some of the scale/size of structures so they fit in better with planets and ships.

+ Fix for glowing asteroids.

+ New Flux Field Particle Effect.

+ Re-evaluated skybox-star combinations.

Modding:
+ Removed BEGIN and END tags from archive text files.
+ Simplified Archive format and made it more user friendly.
+ BuffInstantActions that use EntryVehicles now have proper EffectAttachInfo so the entry vehicles can be launched from the correct spot on the ship.
+ Standardized all ability, buff and weapon point strings in code and mesh files.
+ New flair effects system. The particle sim name is now built into the mesh point name instead of having to be linked up in the .entity file.
+ A lot more data driven material (can't reveal specifics).
+ A lot of other powerful mod support items we can't reveal yet but is there to use and discover

+ Planet colonization can now be constrained by research prerequisites (this may or may not make into the final but its now available for experimentation).

Misc:
+ Added autosave interval setting (currently only accessible from the file user.setting).
+ Adjusted autosave anticipation interval to be more accurate.
+ Fix a potential Cinematic Camera crash at the start of game.
+ Fixed memory leak.
+ Improvements to initial load times.
+ Numerous crash fixes.


April 5 - v0.62.010 - The Happy Easter Patch!

+ Fixed numerous crashes.
+ Fixed memory leak.
+ Fixed numerous string problems.
+ Fix for missing Repair Bay string warnings.
+ Fixed numerous font problems.
+ Fixed stuttering sound problem.
+ Fixed "Failed to Initialize" crash on startup. (Special thanks to momoguru)
+ Fixed bug where it was not possible to give an order if you moved the mouse slightly.
+ Fix for not being able to generate more than 5 solar systems.
+ Pause now pauses non-music sounds as well.
+ Autosave message now appears before autosaving instead of after.
+ Planets are now their own pip group for use in control groups.
+ Control groups are now fully expandable.
+ Increased Empire Window stacking size to 10.
+ New option to place black backdrop behind Empire Tree.
+ Changed sorting of structures in Empire Tree so defenses are first in the list and resource asteroids are last.
+ Added option to hide icons of refinery and trade ships.
+ Temporary improvement to icon visibility by darkening their edges.
+ Construction ship icons made smaller.
+ Added "Some Grouped" move button graphic when not all ships in selection are in the grouped Phase Jump state.
+ Improved efficiency of pre-Phase Jump positioning for ships using grouped Phase Jump.
+ Improved frigate explosion.
+ New starfield tests.
+ New skybox color tests.
+ Increased capital ship DPS per level.
+ Canceling structures under construction now cancels the one with the least construction progress. Ties are resolved by the time of queuing.
+ Numerous rally point improvements.
+ Right-clicking planets while selecting a group of ships in another gravity well will now tell them to move to it instead of bomb it.
+ Fix for camera instant zoom levels now working after strafing.
+ Repair Bay ranges are now rendered.
+ Repair Bay range reduced.
+ Multiple Research Labs are needed to reach higher tiers of research.
+ Standardized weapon cooldown for TEC medium lasers.
+ Further improvements to mini-dump system.
+ NOTE: Old save games will be broken!


March 31 - v0.61.009

+ New camera system trial run based on user feedback.
+ Fixed bug with fighters not docking when entering Phase Space.
+ New minidump system to improve automation of error analysis.
+ Trade and refinery ship icons drastically shrunk.
+ Trade and refinery ships removed from Empire Tree.
+ Trade and refinery ships no longer follow waypoints when they are built.
+ Fix for crazy trade income bug.
+ New control group icons added to the Empire Tree for better fleet management. They are not yet expandable.
+ Ships rallied to a ship in a control group will now automatically join that control group.
+ Some minor particle improvements.
+ Numerous performance optimizations.
+ Cleanup of unused assets.
+ NOTE: Existing save games will be broken.


March 29 - v0.60.004

+ Numerous reported crash bugs fixed.
+ Fixed cargo ship research.
+ Added the option to invert both horizontal and vertical camera rotation.
+ Changed the art of the main view pip groups to be less prominent (metal casing removed).
+ Default camera mode is now the attached camera mode.
+ Changed tutorial message window position to be less obtrusive.
+ Fixed a number of sound bugs.
+ Fixed a number of video problems related to alt-tabbing, resolution changes and loading intro movies.
+ Fixed queued up capital ship levels resetting.
+ NOTE: Existing save games will be broken (expect this to happen frequently with updates).


March 27 - v0.60.003

+ Initial Release

156,101 views 163 replies
Reply #51 Top
seeing as I transfered my beta from one computer to another using shared files, will this beta still update normally? or will it completely ignore that I have the game on here.
Reply #52 Top
should update normally....
Reply #53 Top
and yet... it doesnt
Reply #54 Top
you are using the stardock desktop software to update, right? the same as when you had to activate the software...
Reply #55 Top
stardock central? yeah.
but this is from a different computer.
Reply #56 Top
hmm, user error?

Reply #57 Top
I could install and update my copy of Sins on two different hard drives; I'm pretty sure it's human error. I rely on the auto update from Stardock though.
Reply #58 Top
hmm, user error?

no...
I could install and update my copy of Sins on two different hard drives

the only reason I used the shared files was because it simply wouldnt load on the other computer. right click, download beta... sit... nothing happens

there isnt a lot of room for human error.
Reply #59 Top

hmm, user error?

no...
I could install and update my copy of Sins on two different hard drives

the only reason I used the shared files was because it simply wouldnt load on the other computer. right click, download beta... sit... nothing happens

there isnt a lot of room for human error.


maybe you didn't click hard enough?
Reply #60 Top
ass
Reply #61 Top

ass


...
Reply #62 Top
I noticed in the last patch the pop up window for the resources are now grouped by planet name instead of each asteroid. Cool move but might I suggest you remove the dead asteroids from the list. (unless you have something funky planned down the track)
Reply #63 Top


hmm, user error?

no...
I could install and update my copy of Sins on two different hard drives

the only reason I used the shared files was because it simply wouldnt load on the other computer. right click, download beta... sit... nothing happens

there isnt a lot of room for human error.


maybe you didn't click hard enough?


that made me laugh
Reply #64 Top
did I say that?
Reply #65 Top
whens the next update.
Reply #66 Top

whens the next update.


when its done
Reply #67 Top
Few months from now when beta 2 comes out.
Reply #68 Top
I meant patch for the beta, unless thats when the next one does?
Reply #69 Top
the next pacth/fixer, will arrive when its done But id guess less then a month
Reply #70 Top
last time they had 2 patches in as many weeks. but now they've left us dangling.

I think that some hand in the cookie jar isnt willing to share...
Reply #71 Top

last time they had 2 patches in as many weeks. but now they've left us dangling.

I think that some hand in the cookie jar isnt willing to share...


It's been 4-5 business days since they released the last patch...a bit early to claim that "they've left us dangling" IMO. And, well it's their cookie jar and more importantly their cookies
Reply #72 Top


last time they had 2 patches in as many weeks. but now they've left us dangling.

I think that some hand in the cookie jar isnt willing to share...


It's been 4-5 business days since they released the last patch...a bit early to claim that "they've left us dangling" IMO. And, well it's their cookie jar and more importantly their cookies


well then again, i brought the cookies
Reply #73 Top
most of the initial patch releases were prolly just code corrections, little "oops" or "duh" stuff things like a plus sigh that should have been a minus and other little things like that. The hard part is now tracking down crashes that don't seem to have an obvious reason.
Reply #74 Top
It's been 4-5 business days since they released the last patch...a bit early to claim that "they've left us dangling" IMO.

really?
damn paper has been screwing with my internal clock.

sorry IC!
most of the initial patch releases were prolly just code corrections, little "oops" or "duh" stuff things like a plus sigh that should have been a minus and other little things like that. The hard part is now tracking down crashes that don't seem to have an obvious reason.

true, but I would like to see something more... substantial, sooner rather than later.
Reply #75 Top
The last patch was April 5; so 6 business days ago. I'm not being picky ... just that I too think another patch should come out soon. I would almost be expecting them to work part of the weekends too (except holidays) when they're trying to get a product completed.

I am at a point where I have stopped playing as I have 3 saved games where I am to a point where each will CTD with any further activity in them. I have sent 9 or 10 SmartException logs along with saved games to them so far.

I don't expect personal responses on those emails as they should be busy working on the game, but it would be nice to at least receive an automated response from their server that it received my email. The way it is now, I have no way of knowing if my emails got through to them.

No point in me playing anymore if every game gets to a point where it CTD. Don't even have any idea why they CTD as they are not all progressed to the same point.