Brilliant! And like you say seems 'too simple', but if it works then put it down as an fantastic hack/fix and we'll toast to your good health
Brilliant! And like you say seems 'too simple', but if it works then put it down as an fantastic hack/fix and we'll toast to your good health
ooh, sweet.
FFED3DAJ v1.11 has now been released.
This build focuses on stability fixes as well as adding translations for French, German, Italian and Russian.
Planetary surface tweaks have been left as experimental, "work-in-progress" settings for the time being due to the amount of time require to test them.
Find it over on the SSC page here, or over at the Russian Elite-Games forum here.
Lots of changes:
Extra notes:
I've run the patch file through VirusTotal: Results
Bkav gives a "false-positive" fail for Bass.dll. I think that this has been the case for several versions now.
To switch translation to a language other than English, edit ffed3daj.cfg and change the value "language=EN".
Supported values are: DE = German, EN = English, FR = French, IT = Italian and RU = Russian.
Enjoy and fly safe Commanders!
This build focuses on stability fixes as well as adding translations for French, German, Italian and Russian.
Planetary surface tweaks have been left as experimental, "work-in-progress" settings for the time being due to the amount of time require to test them.
Find it over on the SSC page here, or over at the Russian Elite-Games forum here.
Lots of changes:
2016-02-21 - Version 1.11:
+ FFED3DAJ now supports translations for the Newspaper/Journal stories from external Unicode text files.
It will insert variables into the translated text, such as names and dates and it will re-format its display to
better fit the selected font size and screen resolution. See the ffed3daj_readme.txt file for more information.
+ Fixed Imperial Herald "Commander Decorated" story in FFE which had a malformed [Sl code and no variable to choose
the type of dealers which had been caught. It always displayed the text "ems".
+ FFE fix to correct thruster values on the escape pod/stowmaster before launching. FFE would leave the values
of the previous ship. This fix can be enabled/disabled via a patch setting and is enabled by default. To disable
the fix, set fixEscapePodThrusters=0 in the .cfg PATCHES section.
+ FFE fix to track the current position within the Military missions list and return to it when closing/accepting
a mission. FFE would always jump back to the top of the list. A new day will still reset the list position to the
top in the same way it does the main BBS message board. This fix can be enabled/disabled via a patch setting and
is enabled by default. To disable the fix, set rememberMilitaryBoardIdx=0 in the .cfg PATCHES section.
+ Passenger & Small Items roster icon will now be displayed on the console when there are only package deliveries in
the list.
+ FFE Fix to the small items/passenger roster list. This screen could only display the first 12 items from the roster
and the information was compromised further due to displaying the rotating ship. This screen has been reworked in
the assembly to add up/down scrolling of the list and the rotating ship has been removed so that the items can use
the full screen width. System co-ordinates have been added after the name of the destination system.
+ FFE Fix to the contracts page to improve layout. The rotating ship is removed so that the full width can be used.
System co-ordinates have been added to texts that omitted them, and up/down scrolling of entries has been added so
that contracts are displayed 4 at a time, without drawing off the bottom of the page.
+ FFE Fix to the crew roster page to improve layout. When using a mod that permits hiring of additional crew members
it will now replace the spinning ship with a 2nd column of crew when required.
Normally this extra column is unneccessary as the largest playable ships in FFE coincidentally only require a total
of 12 crew including the pilot. However, the manual did state that the Panther Clipper required 15 total, and there
was some code to draw a 2nd column, but it used a formatting string that output payment values to a fixed x-position
and so text would overlap! This could be the reason for the crew discrepancy in the manual; rather than fix the
display issue - perhaps it was deemed easier just to reduce the crew value to 12 and avoid needing the 2nd column!
+ Newspaper/Journals, BBS, Stock Market and Equipment/Status pages now have support for mouse wheel to scroll lists
up/down. Galaxy and System maps also support mouse wheel for zoom in/out actions.
+ Model 395 is now cached at start-up for modelPreLoad=2.
+ Some FFED3D packages were found to include a replacement grass-tile model for model 89 which is actually a 2-pad
base. Bases and cities are actually collections of sub-models, so a check has been added to prevent them from being
replaced.
+ New check during player/NPC docking event to test if stations or spaceports have docking bays/pads populated by star
dust or other non-ship objects! These will be tidied up and made available. Scenario typically happens if the player
has used BUFFET to destroy AI ships, but perhaps it can happen without. It has also been noted on open-air starports
that a pad can appear to be empty but does actually have a ship assigned to it - taking over the ship with BUFFET
causes the ship to be rendered on the previously empty pad. (It's unclear why the ship is not rendered, possibly it
is below ground level)
+ Missile viewer does not draw the model for the active missile now as previously it blocked the view.
+ Radar scanner, cockpit panel/lights and status messages are drawn again during video playback. Any scanner stalks
appear to freeze as their positions aren't updated during playback, this is the same as in JJFFE. They will also
be preserved when paused and within the Game settings/load/save menus too.
+ Static views will now be redrawn after switching screen modes or when DirectX9 is recovering from a "lost-device"
event. This fixes the problem where the Game menus text, equipment/status/mission-etc pages, journals and System
information screens didn't redraw themselves and the game would return with a blank screens or areas. New functions
were added into the FFE .asm code to allow these pages to be redrawn on demand.
+ Correction to depth-sorting which caused ECM/Energy-bomb effect to draw behind distant objects when looking through
forward view. The internal FFE value for distance had been typed as unsigned when it should have been signed, and
in this instance where the object is being drawn from behind the camera, a negative distance is required.
+ Fixed the display of the semi-circular decorations which can appear on the rear half of Imperial Courier/Trader
engine pods (original polygon models) and preventing the z-fighting/shimmering that occurred. Also tweaked the
alignment of the cockpit triangles of the Courier/Trader.
+ FFE patch to prevent the Auto-Pilot from rotating the ship when about to reach the landing pad and then crashing.
It is enabled by default, to disable it set fixAutoPilotLanding=0 in the .cfg PATCHES section.
+ FFE patch to allow engine thruster noise to be played at the same time as music. FFE did not allow this.
It is enabled by default, to disable it set forceEngineSound=0 in the .cfg PATCHES section.
+ FFE data fix so that the correct value is checked to determine whether to draw the front/rear gun on the Cobra MkIII
and the front gun of the Sidewinder and Asp. Previously the opposite gun had to be installed for it to be drawn on
the FFE model!
+ New patch for each game mode that gives the option for military mission availability to be based purely on Rank, and
not to be affected by any missions completed for opposing side. This is disabled by default but arguably it makes
FFE more consistent; promotions are always earned by completing missions and irrespective of working for the
opposition. This is disabled by default as it changes original behaviour. Set syncMilitaryMissionToRank=1 to enable
this behaviour.
+ FFE data fix to correct the crazy cash value that was displayed upon payment for reporting/handing over a missing
person. FFE had an incorrect data value in its three message strings. (hex 0xFF 0x03 should have been 0xFF 0x01)
+ Start-up "tips" are now loaded from tips.ini, located in the selected language folder.
+ Additional start-up "tips" & tweaked positions. (Thank-you to Steve of FrontierAstro.co.uk for submitting some new
ones!)
+ LUA dependency has been removed as it was not really used and was causing heap corruption / random crashes at load.
+ Adjusted the Commander information screen so that the final line of medals/permits is not obscured by the cockpit
panel.
+ Corrected the apostrophe direction on Séamus and Séan NPC names.
+ Added game text translations from French, German and Italian releases, also fan-created Russian translations. These
each include additional menu options for "space colour" added by JJFFE as well as the layout/display fixes added by
this build.
+ Enhanced the Russian game text translations with additional Cyrillic characters and fixed where the translated JJFFE
build had used characters which looked similar in the game font but did not when using Windows fonts, had replaced
western characters used by the game, or referenced reserved characters such as the target direction arrows.
+ FFE patch that prevents the sector view from drawing over system information screens. The FFE code specifically
decides to do this, but it appears to be a coding error given the resulting display issue. So it appears to be a
simple bug fix to suppress the call. In case there's some side-effect I've not found, I've make the fix optional via
the .cfg PATCHES value "SystemInfoDisplayFix". The bug occurred when visiting screens in this order: sector view,
planetary view, galaxy view, system information/import-exports/government.
+ Corrected "Main Menu" button colour to display as red when defaulting game settings from .cfg file. (v1.05 bug)
+ Implemented 4:3 aspect correction so that it will work in both Window and Full-screen modes, and is now compatible
with wide-screen resolutions. It can add borders above/below or left/right to center the game display.
Set aspectfix=1 in ffed3daj.cfg to use this.
+ Game will check for 64bit Windows with >2GB memory when using replacement models. This is to see if it can default
to loading all models at start-up for a better game experience.
This feature can be disabled by setting modelPreLoadAllx64=0 in ffed3daj.cfg if a smaller memory footprint is
preferred, models will then be swapped in and out of memory.
+ Fixed animation call when a .X model has no animations - prevents the game crashing.
+ Added tris.ini for model 371 (pool) to shrink and rotate it so that it works with FFE's placement of it.
+ Redrew battle computer scanner texture tex543.png to match the original and at a higher resolution.
+ Removed specularity on asteroids as they shouldn't be shiny like plastic or glass.
+ The polygon font is not simplified now when viewed at a distance. This prevents the size discrepancies between
characters on ship Id labels, TV adverts etc.
+ Added support for rotation patches in the tris.ini files for the replacement .x models.
+ Added tris.ini fix for pond model which was rotated 90 degrees compared to the FFE polygon version and would draw
across roads etc.
+ Fixed an original FFED3D bug which occasionally caused the front laser beam to be drawn in the upper half of the
screen.
+ Restored the shimmering effect that FFE creates on Brown Dwarf objects. It was suppressed by the planet shader.
+ FFE fix: extended characters in names are now replaced with an equivalent lowercase letter before drawing the
station name on a 3D model. For example "du Prés City", the "é" will be replaced with a basic "e" character.
Without this check, the game crashes. JJFFE fixed this issue in FFE by removing the extended characters and
changing the names. I didn't want to undo the corrected names, but this does mean that any save games at affected
locations won't be compatible with JJFFE, GLFFE or the original FFED3D. Hopefully a small concession.
+ Added a separate "small" Font and size setting that can be used to override the font used for names in the cargo
inventory screen as well as medals/permits. This is to help with names that are longer after being translated.
The default font is Verdana size 11. The font can be activated in the text data files with the character 0xF0.
+ Fixed culling issue that affected Asteroidal bodies when rendered in the 3D planetary view.
+ Cockpit panel is not drawn during the death animation.
+ New patch to extend the commander's lifespan beyond 1st January, 3317 by around 250 years. It can be enabled for
each game version by setting "ExtendedLifetime=1" within the appropriate [PATCHES_xxxx] section of ffed3daj.cfg.
+ The blue explosion stars in the final segment of the intro sequence are now displayed for a shorter period so that
they do not stretch and draw across the entire screen.
+ Additional corrections to ShipData .txt files:
+ Renamed the numeric sections to contain the ship/missile names, corrected turret view value names, removed some
unknown and untested value names.
+ Corrected rear view values for Escape Capsule, Interplanetary Shuttle, Thargoid Fighter.
+ Corrected turret view values for Lion Transporter and Panther Clipper.
+ Corrections for displaying the ships which aren't normally flyable in the Equipment view/Ship yard when the user
selects one using tools such as BUFFET. Credit to George Hooper of http://ffeartpage.com/ for the display fixes.
+ Corrected swapped value names for main/retro thrusts, retro thrust is also converted into a positive value for
easier editing.
+ Drive data is now correctly split into two byte values: Default Drive Class and Maximum Drive Class.
+ Added an additional .exe build for HellMod v0.15a001 created by Helga, XL and Steel of www.Elite-Games.ru.
This was an extension of the Anisotropic mod and Nic's later GLFFE mod of it. It further balances ship data,
replaces the Moray with a Cobra Mk IV, tweaks NPC combat and creates populations which are spread throughout the
entire galaxy.
This build includes all enhancements and fixes that I have added into the FFED3DAJ Anisotropic version to date.
Otherwise, it is provided "as-is" and I won't be attempting to fix any issues that are specific to the mod itself.
*** Experimental Planet settings ***
Planetary draw has been tweaked to boost FPS within the 3D system view and within the gaming views. This is still
a "work-in-progress" and can be switched off by setting "preoptimizedDistantDivides=0".
+ Improved planetary mesh generation when displaying 3D System views so that the visible side of objects have a
higher and consistent detail level, whilst the hidden faces aren't needlessly subdivided to create detail that
won't be seen.
+ Gas giants, Red Dwarfs and Asteroid mesh generation has also been simplified in the game view to avoid dynamic
detail generation. This was causing excess CPU load and causing tears/glitches in the meshes. Have yet to
solve how to simplify hidden faces and enhance visible faces (especially at low level) as they are generated
differently to the 3D System views.
There are also some "work-in-progress" settings to perhaps improve some graphical issues that FFE had. They adjust
planet scales so that the ship lands above, rather than below the surface, and try to adjust starport/base
placement to solve the issue where they float above the terrain. Some success has been seen at the various start
points, however wider testing is time intensive.
These settings may or may not prove to be worthwhile. Please feel free to experiment and report back with any
successes or failures!
+ Experimental change to reduce instances of the ground disappearing when landing on planets and moons and being
able to see straight through into space. The issue was present in FFE/JJFFE/GLFFE but worsened in FFED3D.
Should the change prove problematic, it can be disabled by setting "surfaceFix=0" in the ffed3daj.cfg file.
Individual planet types can have their scale values tweaked in the .cfg file with the "surfaceMultiplier_nnn"
values, where nnn is the planet object #118 to 133.
+ Experimental change to reduce the height that planetary stations/bases are placed at.
Set "AlternativeStationPlacement=0" to disable the change.
Individual planet types can have the height values tweaked in the .cfg file with the "surfaceMultiplier_nnn"
values, where nnn is the planet object #118 to 133.
These values take effect when hyperspacing into a system and will not adjust stations in existing save games.
+ FFED3DAJ now supports translations for the Newspaper/Journal stories from external Unicode text files.
It will insert variables into the translated text, such as names and dates and it will re-format its display to
better fit the selected font size and screen resolution. See the ffed3daj_readme.txt file for more information.
+ Fixed Imperial Herald "Commander Decorated" story in FFE which had a malformed [Sl code and no variable to choose
the type of dealers which had been caught. It always displayed the text "ems".
+ FFE fix to correct thruster values on the escape pod/stowmaster before launching. FFE would leave the values
of the previous ship. This fix can be enabled/disabled via a patch setting and is enabled by default. To disable
the fix, set fixEscapePodThrusters=0 in the .cfg PATCHES section.
+ FFE fix to track the current position within the Military missions list and return to it when closing/accepting
a mission. FFE would always jump back to the top of the list. A new day will still reset the list position to the
top in the same way it does the main BBS message board. This fix can be enabled/disabled via a patch setting and
is enabled by default. To disable the fix, set rememberMilitaryBoardIdx=0 in the .cfg PATCHES section.
+ Passenger & Small Items roster icon will now be displayed on the console when there are only package deliveries in
the list.
+ FFE Fix to the small items/passenger roster list. This screen could only display the first 12 items from the roster
and the information was compromised further due to displaying the rotating ship. This screen has been reworked in
the assembly to add up/down scrolling of the list and the rotating ship has been removed so that the items can use
the full screen width. System co-ordinates have been added after the name of the destination system.
+ FFE Fix to the contracts page to improve layout. The rotating ship is removed so that the full width can be used.
System co-ordinates have been added to texts that omitted them, and up/down scrolling of entries has been added so
that contracts are displayed 4 at a time, without drawing off the bottom of the page.
+ FFE Fix to the crew roster page to improve layout. When using a mod that permits hiring of additional crew members
it will now replace the spinning ship with a 2nd column of crew when required.
Normally this extra column is unneccessary as the largest playable ships in FFE coincidentally only require a total
of 12 crew including the pilot. However, the manual did state that the Panther Clipper required 15 total, and there
was some code to draw a 2nd column, but it used a formatting string that output payment values to a fixed x-position
and so text would overlap! This could be the reason for the crew discrepancy in the manual; rather than fix the
display issue - perhaps it was deemed easier just to reduce the crew value to 12 and avoid needing the 2nd column!
+ Newspaper/Journals, BBS, Stock Market and Equipment/Status pages now have support for mouse wheel to scroll lists
up/down. Galaxy and System maps also support mouse wheel for zoom in/out actions.
+ Model 395 is now cached at start-up for modelPreLoad=2.
+ Some FFED3D packages were found to include a replacement grass-tile model for model 89 which is actually a 2-pad
base. Bases and cities are actually collections of sub-models, so a check has been added to prevent them from being
replaced.
+ New check during player/NPC docking event to test if stations or spaceports have docking bays/pads populated by star
dust or other non-ship objects! These will be tidied up and made available. Scenario typically happens if the player
has used BUFFET to destroy AI ships, but perhaps it can happen without. It has also been noted on open-air starports
that a pad can appear to be empty but does actually have a ship assigned to it - taking over the ship with BUFFET
causes the ship to be rendered on the previously empty pad. (It's unclear why the ship is not rendered, possibly it
is below ground level)
+ Missile viewer does not draw the model for the active missile now as previously it blocked the view.
+ Radar scanner, cockpit panel/lights and status messages are drawn again during video playback. Any scanner stalks
appear to freeze as their positions aren't updated during playback, this is the same as in JJFFE. They will also
be preserved when paused and within the Game settings/load/save menus too.
+ Static views will now be redrawn after switching screen modes or when DirectX9 is recovering from a "lost-device"
event. This fixes the problem where the Game menus text, equipment/status/mission-etc pages, journals and System
information screens didn't redraw themselves and the game would return with a blank screens or areas. New functions
were added into the FFE .asm code to allow these pages to be redrawn on demand.
+ Correction to depth-sorting which caused ECM/Energy-bomb effect to draw behind distant objects when looking through
forward view. The internal FFE value for distance had been typed as unsigned when it should have been signed, and
in this instance where the object is being drawn from behind the camera, a negative distance is required.
+ Fixed the display of the semi-circular decorations which can appear on the rear half of Imperial Courier/Trader
engine pods (original polygon models) and preventing the z-fighting/shimmering that occurred. Also tweaked the
alignment of the cockpit triangles of the Courier/Trader.
+ FFE patch to prevent the Auto-Pilot from rotating the ship when about to reach the landing pad and then crashing.
It is enabled by default, to disable it set fixAutoPilotLanding=0 in the .cfg PATCHES section.
+ FFE patch to allow engine thruster noise to be played at the same time as music. FFE did not allow this.
It is enabled by default, to disable it set forceEngineSound=0 in the .cfg PATCHES section.
+ FFE data fix so that the correct value is checked to determine whether to draw the front/rear gun on the Cobra MkIII
and the front gun of the Sidewinder and Asp. Previously the opposite gun had to be installed for it to be drawn on
the FFE model!
+ New patch for each game mode that gives the option for military mission availability to be based purely on Rank, and
not to be affected by any missions completed for opposing side. This is disabled by default but arguably it makes
FFE more consistent; promotions are always earned by completing missions and irrespective of working for the
opposition. This is disabled by default as it changes original behaviour. Set syncMilitaryMissionToRank=1 to enable
this behaviour.
+ FFE data fix to correct the crazy cash value that was displayed upon payment for reporting/handing over a missing
person. FFE had an incorrect data value in its three message strings. (hex 0xFF 0x03 should have been 0xFF 0x01)
+ Start-up "tips" are now loaded from tips.ini, located in the selected language folder.
+ Additional start-up "tips" & tweaked positions. (Thank-you to Steve of FrontierAstro.co.uk for submitting some new
ones!)
+ LUA dependency has been removed as it was not really used and was causing heap corruption / random crashes at load.
+ Adjusted the Commander information screen so that the final line of medals/permits is not obscured by the cockpit
panel.
+ Corrected the apostrophe direction on Séamus and Séan NPC names.
+ Added game text translations from French, German and Italian releases, also fan-created Russian translations. These
each include additional menu options for "space colour" added by JJFFE as well as the layout/display fixes added by
this build.
+ Enhanced the Russian game text translations with additional Cyrillic characters and fixed where the translated JJFFE
build had used characters which looked similar in the game font but did not when using Windows fonts, had replaced
western characters used by the game, or referenced reserved characters such as the target direction arrows.
+ FFE patch that prevents the sector view from drawing over system information screens. The FFE code specifically
decides to do this, but it appears to be a coding error given the resulting display issue. So it appears to be a
simple bug fix to suppress the call. In case there's some side-effect I've not found, I've make the fix optional via
the .cfg PATCHES value "SystemInfoDisplayFix". The bug occurred when visiting screens in this order: sector view,
planetary view, galaxy view, system information/import-exports/government.
+ Corrected "Main Menu" button colour to display as red when defaulting game settings from .cfg file. (v1.05 bug)
+ Implemented 4:3 aspect correction so that it will work in both Window and Full-screen modes, and is now compatible
with wide-screen resolutions. It can add borders above/below or left/right to center the game display.
Set aspectfix=1 in ffed3daj.cfg to use this.
+ Game will check for 64bit Windows with >2GB memory when using replacement models. This is to see if it can default
to loading all models at start-up for a better game experience.
This feature can be disabled by setting modelPreLoadAllx64=0 in ffed3daj.cfg if a smaller memory footprint is
preferred, models will then be swapped in and out of memory.
+ Fixed animation call when a .X model has no animations - prevents the game crashing.
+ Added tris.ini for model 371 (pool) to shrink and rotate it so that it works with FFE's placement of it.
+ Redrew battle computer scanner texture tex543.png to match the original and at a higher resolution.
+ Removed specularity on asteroids as they shouldn't be shiny like plastic or glass.
+ The polygon font is not simplified now when viewed at a distance. This prevents the size discrepancies between
characters on ship Id labels, TV adverts etc.
+ Added support for rotation patches in the tris.ini files for the replacement .x models.
+ Added tris.ini fix for pond model which was rotated 90 degrees compared to the FFE polygon version and would draw
across roads etc.
+ Fixed an original FFED3D bug which occasionally caused the front laser beam to be drawn in the upper half of the
screen.
+ Restored the shimmering effect that FFE creates on Brown Dwarf objects. It was suppressed by the planet shader.
+ FFE fix: extended characters in names are now replaced with an equivalent lowercase letter before drawing the
station name on a 3D model. For example "du Prés City", the "é" will be replaced with a basic "e" character.
Without this check, the game crashes. JJFFE fixed this issue in FFE by removing the extended characters and
changing the names. I didn't want to undo the corrected names, but this does mean that any save games at affected
locations won't be compatible with JJFFE, GLFFE or the original FFED3D. Hopefully a small concession.
+ Added a separate "small" Font and size setting that can be used to override the font used for names in the cargo
inventory screen as well as medals/permits. This is to help with names that are longer after being translated.
The default font is Verdana size 11. The font can be activated in the text data files with the character 0xF0.
+ Fixed culling issue that affected Asteroidal bodies when rendered in the 3D planetary view.
+ Cockpit panel is not drawn during the death animation.
+ New patch to extend the commander's lifespan beyond 1st January, 3317 by around 250 years. It can be enabled for
each game version by setting "ExtendedLifetime=1" within the appropriate [PATCHES_xxxx] section of ffed3daj.cfg.
+ The blue explosion stars in the final segment of the intro sequence are now displayed for a shorter period so that
they do not stretch and draw across the entire screen.
+ Additional corrections to ShipData .txt files:
+ Renamed the numeric sections to contain the ship/missile names, corrected turret view value names, removed some
unknown and untested value names.
+ Corrected rear view values for Escape Capsule, Interplanetary Shuttle, Thargoid Fighter.
+ Corrected turret view values for Lion Transporter and Panther Clipper.
+ Corrections for displaying the ships which aren't normally flyable in the Equipment view/Ship yard when the user
selects one using tools such as BUFFET. Credit to George Hooper of http://ffeartpage.com/ for the display fixes.
+ Corrected swapped value names for main/retro thrusts, retro thrust is also converted into a positive value for
easier editing.
+ Drive data is now correctly split into two byte values: Default Drive Class and Maximum Drive Class.
+ Added an additional .exe build for HellMod v0.15a001 created by Helga, XL and Steel of www.Elite-Games.ru.
This was an extension of the Anisotropic mod and Nic's later GLFFE mod of it. It further balances ship data,
replaces the Moray with a Cobra Mk IV, tweaks NPC combat and creates populations which are spread throughout the
entire galaxy.
This build includes all enhancements and fixes that I have added into the FFED3DAJ Anisotropic version to date.
Otherwise, it is provided "as-is" and I won't be attempting to fix any issues that are specific to the mod itself.
*** Experimental Planet settings ***
Planetary draw has been tweaked to boost FPS within the 3D system view and within the gaming views. This is still
a "work-in-progress" and can be switched off by setting "preoptimizedDistantDivides=0".
+ Improved planetary mesh generation when displaying 3D System views so that the visible side of objects have a
higher and consistent detail level, whilst the hidden faces aren't needlessly subdivided to create detail that
won't be seen.
+ Gas giants, Red Dwarfs and Asteroid mesh generation has also been simplified in the game view to avoid dynamic
detail generation. This was causing excess CPU load and causing tears/glitches in the meshes. Have yet to
solve how to simplify hidden faces and enhance visible faces (especially at low level) as they are generated
differently to the 3D System views.
There are also some "work-in-progress" settings to perhaps improve some graphical issues that FFE had. They adjust
planet scales so that the ship lands above, rather than below the surface, and try to adjust starport/base
placement to solve the issue where they float above the terrain. Some success has been seen at the various start
points, however wider testing is time intensive.
These settings may or may not prove to be worthwhile. Please feel free to experiment and report back with any
successes or failures!
+ Experimental change to reduce instances of the ground disappearing when landing on planets and moons and being
able to see straight through into space. The issue was present in FFE/JJFFE/GLFFE but worsened in FFED3D.
Should the change prove problematic, it can be disabled by setting "surfaceFix=0" in the ffed3daj.cfg file.
Individual planet types can have their scale values tweaked in the .cfg file with the "surfaceMultiplier_nnn"
values, where nnn is the planet object #118 to 133.
+ Experimental change to reduce the height that planetary stations/bases are placed at.
Set "AlternativeStationPlacement=0" to disable the change.
Individual planet types can have the height values tweaked in the .cfg file with the "surfaceMultiplier_nnn"
values, where nnn is the planet object #118 to 133.
These values take effect when hyperspacing into a system and will not adjust stations in existing save games.
Extra notes:
I've run the patch file through VirusTotal: Results
Bkav gives a "false-positive" fail for Bass.dll. I think that this has been the case for several versions now.
To switch translation to a language other than English, edit ffed3daj.cfg and change the value "language=EN".
Supported values are: DE = German, EN = English, FR = French, IT = Italian and RU = Russian.
Enjoy and fly safe Commanders!
Great work as always Andy!
Unfortunately I'm still getting major fps issues around rocky planets that I didn't get in beta 4, for some reason :O
As you'll see from my signature graphic, I'm getting a bit more into Elite: Dangerous now, but I'm always going back for a blast at D3D-AJ [yesnod]
Unfortunately I'm still getting major fps issues around rocky planets that I didn't get in beta 4, for some reason :O
As you'll see from my signature graphic, I'm getting a bit more into Elite: Dangerous now, but I'm always going back for a blast at D3D-AJ [yesnod]
You are quite the God. +1 rep.
I'm not Andy obviously, but yes the texture packs work great with 1.11. I cannot speak to Hellmod as I don't use it personally.
Well - project looks awesome, but for now I've discovered 2 flaws (One of which just I see as flaw - no offense Andy ):
a) Direct3D - I know that on Windows it would work awesome, but sometimes I'm playing on Linux as well, so I'm literally forced to use Frontier-GL or import DosBOX config (I don't know if WINE would run it smoothly);
b) Font - so far I saw on screenshots that Comic Sans MS is being used, and ehmm... It's bad reputation is well known (mostly because is frequently misused).
Is there any idea to replace it with more proper font?
):a) Direct3D - I know that on Windows it would work awesome, but sometimes I'm playing on Linux as well, so I'm literally forced to use Frontier-GL or import DosBOX config (I don't know if WINE would run it smoothly);
b) Font - so far I saw on screenshots that Comic Sans MS is being used, and ehmm... It's bad reputation is well known (mostly because is frequently misused).
Is there any idea to replace it with more proper font?
Well - project looks awesome, but for now I've discovered 2 flaws (One of which just I see as flaw - no offense Andy
a) Direct3D - I know that on Windows it would work awesome, but sometimes I'm playing on Linux as well, so I'm literally forced to use Frontier-GL or import DosBOX config (I don't know if WINE would run it smoothly);
b) Font - so far I saw on screenshots that Comic Sans MS is being used, and ehmm... It's bad reputation is well known (mostly because is frequently misused).
Is there any idea to replace it with more proper font?
Hi ShiMan & welcome to the Forum!
a) Yes this is a project that only runs under DirectX I'm afraid. (v9.0c or higher). There was an older GLFFE project but I don't know if anyone ever produced a Linux build of it. Going even further back, there was JJFFE and Google turned up this linux build which might let you run the game natively without DOSBox.
I really don't know much about Wine, but it seems that its support for DirectX is ever improving and is currently up to v10/11. So it's likely that the functionality FFED3DAJ requires would be supported by now, given that it was targeted at Windows XP with DirectX 9.
For sound it uses a 3rd party API "BASS" by Un4seen Developments, and which I believe uses DirectSound. Google suggests this might be supported in Wine 1.7.34 onwards. The rest of the game code should run natively on the processor* at full speed, so why not give it a go with an up-to-date version of Wine and let us know how you get on?
I won't be able to offer any help, but I'm sure others would be interested to learn if it works or not.
*note: all of the unofficial, updated versions of FFE require a processor that supports the intel x86 instruction set - i.e. a PC or an intel-CPU Mac. They won't ever run natively on old PowerPC Macs or ARM devices such as iPhones, only via emulation such as DOSBox.
b) Yes, I hate Comic Sans MS too! (lol)
I don't know who's screenshots are running with that, it might be a different font that you've seen. But the thing is, the user can define the font/size that they wish to use, there's a couple of options in the ffed3daj.cfg file that can be edited... so don't be put off! The default set-up definitely isn't using Comic Sans!
Ah, sorry alsakari (and Donik!) for the delay - I've been having a bit of a break from FFE since the last build. 3-year burn-out I guess!
1) Yes, the texture packs from v1.10 are fully supported by v1.11.
But... there's an extra group of option for the medium gas giants to add a new texture for those that should resemble Saturn - section [134_Medium] ... and I seem to have somehow missed mentioning this addition in the versions.txt file.
If this group is not defined in a textures .cfg file then it will behave the same as v1.10 did, defaulting to the same values as the [134] group.
See the default "textures.cfg" file for example texture/fogging values if you want to to add them into v1.10 texture packs such as nanite2000's.
2) I'd recommend that newcomers play the standard game, ffed3daj.exe first.
Hellmod is an extra build to thank the Russian community from where FFED3D originated and who also created this particular mod. It's essentially an extension of the anisotropic mod which made lots of changes to the balance of the original game. If that mod wasn't your "cup of tea" then this one won't be of interest either.
Helmod was only ever released as a JJFFE build. However I was provided with several versions of assembly source, the latest an unreleaed 'alpha' that would have used GLFFE (Nic's Mod). I reviewed the code for alterations and created a new FFED3DAJ build from them. Any new features in the alpha are implemented as options that can be turned on/off in the .cfg file.
So regarding my comment about not fixing any issues in the mod - well it's because I have no experience of it at all as a modification. It may contain bugs that I'm not aware of, or make alterations that not everyone likes. I'm not intending to support or improve it, so it's provided "as-is".
I did spot that the chaff launcher was enhanced to have 10 shots per tonne of chaff, but it is storing this data for the remaining shots in a region that doesn't get included in the game save/load/restart. It's a bug, but not a critical one. The only fatal bug that I did spot was inherited from the final Anisotropic mod sources (stack corruption playing combat music) and so I fixed it in this build, along with any other fixes/changes that I'd made to Anisotropic to date.
I've not heard of any issues from the Russian fans, so I assume that it's working as expected! <shrug>
Totally loving this game ATM, it looks and plays fantastically... Amazing work!
One small issue though seems to be input sensitivities, for both mouse and joy - it seems that small, slow inputs aren't registering properly, like samples are being dropped or something. So i can make big sweeping inputs OK, but precision aim is 'notchy', with a course grain that gets chewier the slower you move the mouse..
I've also tried a HOTAS setup, mapping the thrusters to the hat, with twist yaw and roll'n'pitch on X and Y, per ED. It just about works, but seems to run into this same issue of input sensitivity - it's much more sensitive to right roll than left roll, and if i adjust right roll down to manageable levels, there's little or no left roll at all. Likewise, get the left roll just so, and right roll goes into spin cycle. And again, there seems to be significant deadzone, but in a speed-dependent kind of way - small, slow inputs don't seem to be registering consistently.
For HOTAS throttle control i've mapped the increase / decrease speed keys to W and S, doubling them up with forward and reverse thrust so that the same two keys work consistently between flight modes (FA: on or off), and divided the analogue throttle range into three bands - 'up' for W, 'down' for S, separated by a big deadzone. However you can see where i'm going - since, internally, the game engine supports incremental throttle levels, it would be way cool to be able to integrate that functionality with an analogue axis..!
In 'FA: off' mode, this could provide full and half-axis throttle control, like ED. In 'FA: on' ('set speed') mode, the same analogue control could provide a variable rate of change slider - opening the throttle slightly could vary the 'set speed' slowly in small increments, with fully open equivalent to holding down the key.
Likewise, in order to have the analogue roll axis, we currently have to sacrifice analogue yaw, whereas, in principle, the game supports both internally. So as a workaround i've used the same trick, separating my twist yaw axis into bands assigned to keys, so i'm either applying full yaw or none.
One more particularly annoying gripe - and it's an original FFE gremlin, not necessarilly a 'bug' - the mouse axes are mapped to the wrong galactic map rotation axes! Compared to FE2, which worked perfectly, in FFE the Y axis is inverted, and the X axis controls an X/Y rotation, instead of an X/Z one. This makes navigating around the galactic map horribly awkward, almost to the point of being unusable - especially for gauging relative heights between systems in the Z-plane. I'm surprised no one else (such as JJ) has fixed this yet...
So in summary - incredible work so far, but fine input control currently seems a little flaky, and beyond that, full HOTAS supports seems tantalisingly viable, without compromising mouse and keys..
That said, i'd definitely recommend this game to anyone, veteran or noob. This is Elite..
One small issue though seems to be input sensitivities, for both mouse and joy - it seems that small, slow inputs aren't registering properly, like samples are being dropped or something. So i can make big sweeping inputs OK, but precision aim is 'notchy', with a course grain that gets chewier the slower you move the mouse..
I've also tried a HOTAS setup, mapping the thrusters to the hat, with twist yaw and roll'n'pitch on X and Y, per ED. It just about works, but seems to run into this same issue of input sensitivity - it's much more sensitive to right roll than left roll, and if i adjust right roll down to manageable levels, there's little or no left roll at all. Likewise, get the left roll just so, and right roll goes into spin cycle. And again, there seems to be significant deadzone, but in a speed-dependent kind of way - small, slow inputs don't seem to be registering consistently.
For HOTAS throttle control i've mapped the increase / decrease speed keys to W and S, doubling them up with forward and reverse thrust so that the same two keys work consistently between flight modes (FA: on or off), and divided the analogue throttle range into three bands - 'up' for W, 'down' for S, separated by a big deadzone. However you can see where i'm going - since, internally, the game engine supports incremental throttle levels, it would be way cool to be able to integrate that functionality with an analogue axis..!
In 'FA: off' mode, this could provide full and half-axis throttle control, like ED. In 'FA: on' ('set speed') mode, the same analogue control could provide a variable rate of change slider - opening the throttle slightly could vary the 'set speed' slowly in small increments, with fully open equivalent to holding down the key.
Likewise, in order to have the analogue roll axis, we currently have to sacrifice analogue yaw, whereas, in principle, the game supports both internally. So as a workaround i've used the same trick, separating my twist yaw axis into bands assigned to keys, so i'm either applying full yaw or none.
One more particularly annoying gripe - and it's an original FFE gremlin, not necessarilly a 'bug' - the mouse axes are mapped to the wrong galactic map rotation axes! Compared to FE2, which worked perfectly, in FFE the Y axis is inverted, and the X axis controls an X/Y rotation, instead of an X/Z one. This makes navigating around the galactic map horribly awkward, almost to the point of being unusable - especially for gauging relative heights between systems in the Z-plane. I'm surprised no one else (such as JJ) has fixed this yet...
So in summary - incredible work so far, but fine input control currently seems a little flaky, and beyond that, full HOTAS supports seems tantalisingly viable, without compromising mouse and keys..
That said, i'd definitely recommend this game to anyone, veteran or noob. This is Elite..
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..also just want to mention that the following keys work brilliantly in FA: off mode:
W & S - speed up / down (for both manual and 'set speed' modes)
A & D - thrust left / right
LSHIFT / LCONTROL - thrust up / down
Tab - launch / engine control / flight mode
E - ECM
..etc. etc. Main point being, the thing plays wicked as a classic FPS shooter. You can totally run rings around the laser fire itself, let alone the ships gunning at you.. but you can just as easily dock with FA: off - you have a heading vector on the HUD which you nudge around with controlled thruster burns, very intuitive and likewise so for launches and lift-offs - just thrust up / down for VTOL.
This really takes the classic FE2 style of combat to the next level, and i'm getting totally hooked. Got some ranking up to do..
W & S - speed up / down (for both manual and 'set speed' modes)
A & D - thrust left / right
LSHIFT / LCONTROL - thrust up / down
Tab - launch / engine control / flight mode
E - ECM
..etc. etc. Main point being, the thing plays wicked as a classic FPS shooter. You can totally run rings around the laser fire itself, let alone the ships gunning at you.. but you can just as easily dock with FA: off - you have a heading vector on the HUD which you nudge around with controlled thruster burns, very intuitive and likewise so for launches and lift-offs - just thrust up / down for VTOL.
This really takes the classic FE2 style of combat to the next level, and i'm getting totally hooked. Got some ranking up to do..
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It's certainly kept me hooked far longer than ED. But that's a secret too. Shhhhh! [big grin]Shhhh! Don't tell everyone it's a better game than E
Soon I will have no internet meaning I wont be able to play ED so I thought that ill try this and finally it decided to download.
The only issue I have (other than controls) is that there is black textures all around the starting area does anyone have a fix for this?
The only issue I have (other than controls) is that there is black textures all around the starting area does anyone have a fix for this?
If you've got black textures everywhere, it sounds to me like it didn't get set up properly and you're only running "a part" of the whole thing/mod.
Can you list all of the files you downloaded initially and then what steps you take to get it all installed?
I should be able to help you out.
Can you list all of the files you downloaded initially and then what steps you take to get it all installed?
I should be able to help you out.
I remember installing FFED3D into my FFE directory then installing AJ followed by its core files and then installed all the high res nanite textures