0.5.1 beta1 release

[klauss]

0.5.1 beta1 release is out the door.

We'll receive bug reports, as usual, and if enough is fixed to warrant an 0.5.1 beta2 we'll be releasing a second beta before the final release is made.

We're trying OpenSUSE's Build Service (OBS for short) for the first time, so there might be packaging issues as well - not all repos have been tested, so if you're on one of the unlucky ones to spot a packaging bug, please post on the bug tracker ASAP.

We've divided the downloads into sections:

• vegastrike - the engine
• vegastrike-data - Vega Strike UTCS game data
• vegastrike-music - Vega Strike UTCS music pack (optional download)
• vegastrike-extra - Vega Strike UTCS extra textures (optional download)
• vegastrike-speech - Vega Strike UTCS speech files (optional download)

Linux

You can look for the packages in OBS' search interface, or you can set up the repos from the urls below (which is the best way to get updates):

For the most popular linux distros (available in OBS), we have zypper/deb repos:

• OpenSUSE 11.1
• OpenSUSE 11.2
• OpenSUSE 11.3
• OpenSUSE 11.4
• OpenSUSE Factory
• Fedora 12
• Fedora 13
• Fedora 14
• Mandriva 2009.1 (x86_64 broken atm - but you can try i586)
• Mandriva 2010.1 (x86_64 broken atm - but you can try i586)
• Mandriva 2010 (x86_64 broken atm - but you can try i586)
• Debian 5.0 (lenny) - instructions
• Debian 6.0 (squeeze) - instructions
• Ubuntu 9.04 (jaunty) - instructions
• Ubuntu 9.10 (karmic) - instructions
• Ubuntu 10.04 (lucid) - instructions
• Ubuntu 10.10 (maverick) - instructions

Other distros

If your distro is not on the list, source tar balls and data packages can be downloaded directly from sourceforge:

• SourceForge download area

Instructions for building from source and installing data from the tarballs in your home folder would go like this, assuming you've downloaded the pertinent tarballs and dependencies already:

Code: Select all

~$ mkdir vegastrike-0.5.1.beta1
~$ tar xvjf vegastrike-src-0.5.1.beta1-2.tar.bz2
~$ cd vegastrike-src-0.5.1.beta1
~/vegastrike-src-0.5.1.beta1$ mkdir build
~/vegastrike-src-0.5.1.beta1$ cd build
~/vegastrike-src-0.5.1.beta1/build$ cmake ..
...
~/vegastrike-src-0.5.1.beta1/build$ make
...
~/vegastrike-src-0.5.1.beta1/build$ cd ../../vegastrike-0.5.1.beta1
~/vegastrike-0.5.1.beta1$ mkdir bin
~/vegastrike-0.5.1.beta1$ cp ../vegastrike-src-0.5.1.beta1/build/{vegastrike,vegaserver,setup/vssetup,objconv/mesh_tool} bin/.
~/vegastrike-0.5.1.beta1$ tar xvjf ../vegastrike-data-0.5.1.beta1-2.tar.bz2 --strip-components=1
...
~/vegastrike-0.5.1.beta1$ tar xvjf ../vegastrike-extra-0.5.1.beta1.tar.bz2 --strip-components=1
...
~/vegastrike-0.5.1.beta1$ tar xvf ../vegastrike-music-0.5.1.beta1.tar --strip-components=1
...
~/vegastrike-0.5.1.beta1$ tar xvf ../vegastrike-speech-0.5.1.beta1.tar --strip-components=1
...

You can obviously skip the unpacking of the optional download packs.

Windows

UPDATE: We now have an installer for windows:

• Vegastrike 0.5.1 beta1 FULL - win32

If you don't want the full install, you can:

• Download the data packages, unpack them all into a "vegastrike" folder wherever you want (e.g.: C:\Program Files\vegastrike) - watch out for the paths embedded in the packages, they unpack themselves into vegastrike-<pack>-<version>, so you'll have to move the files around a bit.
• Create a "bin" folder inside where you unpacked the data files, and put there the windows binaries from SVN.
• Enjoy

Notice though that the minimum download is ~400M, with the full install being just ~570M - not that big of a difference.

Bug reports

Many distros (not all) have a vegastrike-debuginfo or vegastrike-dbg package you can use to install debugging info and provide better stacktraces for bug reporting - please, when reporting a crash-type bug, install that package and run vegastrike through gdb:

Code: Select all

$ gdb --args vegastrike --debug=3 2>stderr.txt
(gdb) run
...
Segmentation Fault
(gdb) bt full
<paste this in your bug report>

Also include all information about which distro and platform you're running, GPU brand and model, driver versions, the output of the "glxinfo" command, the captured output of vegastrike itself (stderr.txt from the above commands), all of which could potentially include useful information for tracking down the bugs.

[pheonixstorm]

Windows Release

The windows beta release is up and ready for everyones enjoyment.

When bug reporting make sure to give us the following:

• OS Versions (xp, vista, 7, 32bit or 64bit)
  Type of graphics card
  Type of sound card

The easiest way to do this is to use the directx diagnostic tool by doing...
Start -> Run -> and typing dxdiag
When its finished click save and upload that file. DxDiag.txt (unless you name it something else)

Also, you will need to upload the stderr.txt and stdout.txt

With those three files and a description of the issue you are having we can hopefully sort it out and get a fix out pronto.

[Turbo]

Downloading now. The SVN version stopped working on my system 6-8 months ago. Not being able to run the game dampened my enthusiasm for the voice work since I couldn't test it. But lately I've been watching Babylon 5 on DVD during my evening workout, which put me in the mood for some spaceflight.

[Sinthramyr]

Hey everybody. It's been a couple years since I've played VS, though I've been keeping an eye on the development. Now I'm itching to playtest 0.5.1 beta but to be honest, I've forgotten almost everything about building on OSX. Now I'm seeing all this newfangled stuff about OpenSUSE for 'nix distros but there's no clue about building it on OSX. Could someone post a primer for that? Thanks!

[strook]

There will Be an app store realease soon. I'm on it it works nearly. This weekend, I was moving. I'll report back when it is running.

[pheonixstorm]

beta 2 will be coming out sometime this month I think so be ready (for windows anyway)

[charlieg]

Long month.

Just push 0.5.1 out the door. Get people playing it at Xmas.

[Psyco Diver 69]

installed but won't load up, getting the message that the game has stopped working when I click on it, running windows vista 64. Never had a issue with the other vs versions

[Warlord]

Hi all. This is my first post to this forum, though I have been enjoying your game (0.5.0) for a couple of months now. After your game fried my video card (not YOUR fault), I endured the forced upgrade, and am happier for it. The game now runs smoothly and with very little trouble.
I noticed that the latest stable version is listed as 0.5.1, but I cannot find a download link, except the one labeled "beta". Is this the same as the latest stable version?
If not, where can I find the link?
And finally, are the changes to the game worth the trouble of uninstalling/reinstalling? If we are talking about just a few tweaks, I may delay upgrading. If there are significant changes, then I am definitely going to do so.

[klauss]

Latest stable is 0.5.0, but it's very old, so the recommended one would be the beta.
SVN is better than the beta, it contains lots of fixes that we're gonna release as a beta2 shortly, and you might try it.

About fried GPUs, which one was it? I did fry my GPU when working on VS too, and I've heared they have a design defect that makes them burn rather easily. Mine was a GF9800.

[Warlord]

Was a "special" from NewEgg. Sapphire AGP, (old computer). I thiink it was a Radeon knock-off. From China, of course.
Got another "special" from the same source (I love NewEgg), But was more careful this time around. The number of AGP-slotted cards are diminishing, but I got the best of the lot. Based on GeForce 6200, supports Open GL 1.5 (as if I know the difference) and seems to work just fine with 0.5.0.
With the old card, my game would crash on EXITING SPEC, usually near a jump gate. Could enter SPEC fine, but the exit would often be exiting the game prematurely. I was irritated, and since I am stubborn, I was DETERMINED to make it to Earth. So, I began exiting SPEC a couple of hundred Km from each gate, to (sometimes) avoid the crash. I made it through about twenty systems, before my card gave up the ghost.
But the new card works well, and I have visited Earth, and on a seperate campaign, explored a significant portion of Aera space. The game is beautiful, just needs a bit of flesh to its very pretty bones.

[klauss]

Was a "special" from NewEgg. Sapphire AGP, (old computer). I thiink it was a Radeon knock-off. From China, of course.
Got another "special" from the same source (I love NewEgg), But was more careful this time around. The number of AGP-slotted cards are diminishing, but I got the best of the lot. Based on GeForce 6200, supports Open GL 1.5 (as if I know the difference) and seems to work just fine with 0.5.0.

GF 6200 will run VS with all bells and whistles, but not at 1080p with a decent framerate, at least not 0.5.1. That will require something along the lines of my late 9800. But I've been managing with an 8200 (the emergency replacement) at low framerates just fine. It takes some getting used to the low frame rates though.

With the old card, my game would crash on EXITING SPEC, usually near a jump gate. Could enter SPEC fine, but the exit would often be exiting the game prematurely. I was irritated, and since I am stubborn, I was DETERMINED to make it to Earth. So, I began exiting SPEC a couple of hundred Km from each gate, to (sometimes) avoid the crash. I made it through about twenty systems, before my card gave up the ghost.

Ya, those are driver bugs we could never properly track. Rather, 0.5.1 has reworked shaders that, AFAIK, work around the bug.

But the new card works well, and I have visited Earth, and on a seperate campaign, explored a significant portion of Aera space. The game is beautiful, just needs a bit of flesh to its very pretty bones.

Sol is a beautiful system indeed.

[travists]

... I have visited Earth, and on a seperate campaign, explored a significant portion of Aera space. The game is beautiful, just needs a bit of flesh to its very pretty bones.

Do I understand that the appearance of the game looks good to you? Does this include the ships? There has been some spirited debate lately about new fancier models, more less, keep the current, get the additional features running first, etc. A relatively new viewpoint on this would be nice.

[Warlord]

Well, a few more choices of ships, particularly some medium-sized ones, would be nice. I can check out some ship types, by flying too close to other factions' ships and snapping screnshots to peruse at my leisure. I like some of what I see, but cannot find any for sale. I hear tell of folks who have a Clydesdale in their stable, so to speak, but I have not seen any for sale, anywhere, as of yet.
The Midwife looks interesting, but I do not know if they can be purchased, either.
It seems that a quick solution would be to allow ships already in the game-space, used by NPCs, to be bought by the player at some point in the game, or at some location. Maybe have a faction relation requirement(s) or cash on hand value, limit the new purchases in some way, to maintain balance.
My only beef, if you are pressing, is that I cannot PAINT my ship.
This may sound like a trivial thing to those of you who have labored long and hard to produce a fine product, but the ability to personalize one's ship, really helps the user to "invest" in the game experience. You know, THIS ship is MINE, THAT is YOURS, and even with the same ship type, and similar upgrades, the two ships (if painted differently) really seem like different ships.
The last small point, is the economic model. I realize that it is just a basic model, but I was really angry when I brought a plowshare load of water to an arid planet, only to find they did not want any. Really? Out here in the back end of beyond, no surface water of any note, and you are refusing to pay COST for water? That blew my mind.
But, it was only a small economic loss, and a valuable lesson. Research the prices on items, before shipping in bulk lots. It will save a lot of heartache!

[Warlord]

That brings me to today's question.

I have been playing around with your game, I figured out how to make money, and have been blowing some of my gains on checking out ship types. I buy one, fit it out, fly it around, shoot things up (where applicable) and usually end up selling the thing at a loss. Only because I like my Milspec Hunter variant Franklin better.
My question:
Why do the Aera ships and the Rlaan ships have the weird cockpit display, while the Confed, Andolian, Hunter, Merchant and Regional defense force ships do not? Truth be told, I like the "no cockpit" look better.
And a follow on:
Is there a way to fly the Aera and Rlaan ships so that the display is the same as the Confed types (ie. no cockpit)?

[Gungnir]

Why do the Aera ships and the Rlaan ships have the weird cockpit display, while the Confed, Andolian, Hunter, Merchant and Regional defense force ships do not? Truth be told, I like the "no cockpit" look better.
And a follow on:
Is there a way to fly the Aera and Rlaan ships so that the display is the same as the Confed types (ie. no cockpit)?

Pressing 1 should alternate between the 3D cockpit and the standard one, IIRC. The cockpits need some work, though; they shake way too much and reduce visibility to the point of unuseability at times. At least, it was that way last time I used them. I don't use Aera or Rlaan ships much.

Also, I second the motion for a paint feature; visual customization would be a very nice feature to have. Even better would be a Forza Motorsport-style decal editor, but that would be a lot of work...

By the way, Clydesdales are available on Ice-type planets, but they are extremely rare and extremely expensive. Not sure about the Midwife.

[Warlord]

Pressing 1 should alternate between the 3D cockpit and the standard one, IIRC. The cockpits need some work, though; they shake way too much and reduce visibility to the point of unuseability at times. At least, it was that way last time I used them. I don't use Aera or Rlaan ships much.

By the way, Clydesdales are available on Ice-type planets, but they are extremely rare and extremely expensive. Not sure about the Midwife.

Thanks for the tips. It never occurred to me to press the 1 key TWICE. Usually, I alternate between the 4 key, and the 1 key. You know, check the rear-view, then proceed.

I have not visited too many ice worlds. Maybe because I personally HATE the cold. But I might visit a few more, particularly when I have amassed the mega-millions needed for a Clydesdale.

[Warlord]

I had the bright idea to strip the turets off my Franklin, in the mistaken impression that it would give more pace for other stuff. It DID reduce the ships total mass, but added no extra space. The lighter load makes it more nimble however, and I never got full value from the turrets anyway, when I was in combat, so I do not miss them overmuch.
Which is a good thing, I guess, because I will be damned if I can remember where I sold the things in the first place!

[travists]

Also, I second the motion for a paint feature; visual customization would be a very nice feature to have. Even better would be a Forza Motorsport-style decal editor, but that would be a lot of work...

All in favor say aye...

Aye!

@Warlord I ask because there is a feeling that the ship models are not up to snuff. Your input in this regard would be helpful as you have not spent years looking at the models and learned to heat those you dislike. Look around and join the fray. We don't bite, too hard anyway.

[Blackbeard]

All in favor say aye...

Aye!

I actually thought that feature was included in SVN. My mistake, but I definitely second it's implementation.
Also, I would like to be able to name my ship. Just my opinion, but I get a bit bored of "Shlimazel".

[klauss]

Well, depends on how much integration you want.

If you drop a set of textures prefixed with "privateer_", they will be used for your ship instead of the regular ones. That's how factions customize their ships (and the player has a faction "privateer").

So you can paint your ship, from outside the game. If you want to do it from inside the game, it's another matter.

[Warlord]

Well, depends on how much integration you want.

If you drop a set of textures prefixed with "privateer_", they will be used for your ship instead of the regular ones. That's how factions customize their ships (and the player has a faction "privateer").

So you can paint your ship, from outside the game. If you want to do it from inside the game, it's another matter.

Unfortunately, this may take more technical knowledge than I possess. Now, if someone were to have textures that they already are using, available for sharing, that might work.

Cause I can copy and paste with the best of them, I just know zero about coding.

[Warlord]

@Warlord I ask because there is a feeling that the ship models are not up to snuff. Your input in this regard would be helpful as you have not spent years looking at the models and learned to heat those you dislike. Look around and join the fray. We don't bite, too hard anyway.

Well, the Dodo seems a bit blocky, like its not quite finished. I assumed its because it is a tug, and was never meant to be pretty.

And ALL the Yeoman-class ships have the exact same patchwork paint job. Maybe you could randomize the different module textures. That way, no new ones need to be added, but they shift around from ship to ship, making each one a little bit different from the next. You know, one has red/green/blue, the other yellow/red/green. They would look at least a little different, even using the same textures, and no (or few) new ones needed.

Who or what controls the NUMBER of ships in each system? Look, I like having lots of other ships flying around, space is a big, lonely place. But WOW! Some systems have so many ships, it's a wonder everyone is not colliding, all the time. The frame rate slows drastically in these systems, as my outdated tower tries gamely to track all these different folks, and their ships. Perhaps an upper limit on the total number might be in order. I mean, key systems would still have lots of ships, but not so many that one could WALK from one to the next, across the system. I know they can jump from system to system, when running, chasing or supporting me, the player. Do they do this regularly on their own as well? THAT could be the reason they end up where I seem to end up, as the systems I like, have good trading opportunities that they may be interested in as well? I don't know how the NPC's strategic behavior is modeled, I AM aware of how their tactical options can and will affect me, though, and in that regard, I like what I am seeing. Too many games allow the player to warp (load) a new area, and suddenly all strife and conflict disappears, like magic. Here at least, trouble CAN and WILL follow you, even to the end of the universe itself, in some cases.

[Warlord]

May I also ask how the factional relationships have been altered/fixed for the two newer versions, 0.5.1 & SVN?
I can keep the factions (other than pirates and luddites) from hating me, but in order to accomplish this feat, my character is made to act like a bit of a dithering panty-waist.
My first attempt at playing 0.5.0, I racked up 166 kills, before the universe officially turned against me, making it impossible to launch any ship, from anywhere.
This evolution, I have explored 100 plus systems, and enjoy a respectable relationship with most of the factions. My kill count, however, is at a paltry 14. Playing the nice guy in a refurbished diplomatic shuttle, seems to help a lot.
Which of the two versions has the better factional relationship tree?
Also:
Which of the two versions would run best on a 1.67Pentium with 2G Ram and a GForce6200 clone?

I am ready for the next level of Vega Strike, though my hardware may not be!

[Warlord]

And may I throw in my own thoughts on the factional relationships?

1) The amount of movement (up or down) on the relationship list seems inordinately high for each individual ship killed. Let's stop for a moment. One ship is blasted by a unknown party (me). Let's be realistic. In the big, wide universe, who will notice? Or care? It's only ONE SHIP. Now, if I continue my spree, and continue gunning down the same faction's ships, without relent, it would stand to reason that a particular faction will take umbrage and start to do something about it. I would expect it to start slowly, with limited patrols, ending with a full-on, empire-wide APB/BOLO on me and my ship.

2) Some of the connections between factions should be weaker than others in my opinion. Perhaps the Uln DO have some sort of working relationship with pirates. Lord knows I have done a mission or two for the scum of the spaceways, from time to time. But just because they would prefer that I NOT blast every pirate that I encounter should not translate into sacrificing themselves, their ships, and potentially the ownership of their star systems themselves, as a statement of solidarity. The stat could decline, but slowly, as they dislike what I am doing, but are not ready to risk their lives and fortune to try to stop me........yet.

3) It seems not to matter what type of ship that I blast. Feeble Redeemer-class ships bring the same downtick in relationship (for the concerned parties) that zapping a Watson-class (carrier?) does. Now this make little sense. Referencing my point #1 above: te universe might not notice one or two Redeemer fighters that fail to return, but I am sure the Shaper faction WILL definitely miss those two Watsons. Acutely. Those two ships could reasonably spark that muti-system search for the hotshot who DARED to interfere with a Shaper offensive, in hostile space.

Now, knowing little to nothing about coding, here's the part where I throw in my suggestions. If they are not workable, I will understand. I am going for a simple ( as I see it) fix.

1) Have the amount of relationship lost/gained reduced, so that it takes MORE ships to get the same result. This will help the noobs by allowing an "ooopsie" or two, without the whole known universe going for their throat. This will allow experienced players to "game the system" killing one or two ships of a faction, without permanently damaging the relationship past all repair.

2) Have a modifier for the factions that like pirates, scum and religious fanatics. They may SYMPATHIZE with those types, but are they ready to lay it all on the line for those weirdos?

3) Have another modifier for the SIZE or VALUE of the ship in question. Will the Confederation REALLY come full force on someone for flash-frying a couple of Shrodingers? I doubt it. But burn JUST ONE Archimedes-class, and see how angry a multi-system Star Nation can get.

Just some thoughts. Hope there is something in there you guys can use.