F&E Vassal 2.0 Test 5

by on March 6, 2015 at 9:55 pm
Posted In: F&E

Crossposted from the SFU blog on BGG.

I’ve actually been working on the 2.0 version of the F&E Vassal module again for the last month or two. Right now, there’s going to be three main phases for the project:

* Test – While I add the bulk of the content and try to get general items working
* Alpha – Cleanup and making sure all the features are up and working
* Beta – Final proofing and scenario file creation

I’ve just mailed out Test 5 to a few people. It’s already been invaluable, as I’ve been trying to add a new feature, and on the big map, it’s having trouble.

Several scenarios use ‘sectors’ to break them down into small mini-scenarios. The big scenario in ISC War used a new system of ‘cordons’ to do much the same thing. Rather than have the confusion of two sets of extra lines on the borders on the map at the same time, I came up with a system where you can turn big, transparent pieces off and on as needed.

But a big map with two big transparent layers is defeating most people’s systems. I think it’s just overrunning the default memory allocation in Vassal, but I’m still trying to get test data on that.

But here’s a look at how it’s starting to shape up:

And the latest new feature:

You can now flag ships with optional EW modes to signal their current settings, and the counter will report the appropriate stats (it still reports max Attack and EW if nothing is selected), and bases can be set to a particular EW level and report the correct AF. I envision this as a good reminder during PBeM games, but I hope to get better reporting of the battle line in this module, and it will help with that.

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F&E Vassal Module 2.0 work

by on June 11, 2014 at 7:29 pm
Posted In: F&E

Crossposted from the SFU blog on BGG.

One thing that has been on the back burner for the last couple years is the proposed version 2.0 Vassal Module for F&E. In addition to just not doing much with F&E lately, I’ve been trying to get some new features done for the module, and they have not been happening.

The first one was reporting the number of ships, and the Ship Equivalents separately (that was easy enough), and adjusting the SEs for crippled ships. Extensive testing has shown that Vassal 3.2 just can’t handle non-integer numbers in the stack viewer in any form. Here’s hoping for 4.0.

The second one has been the major roadblock. I’ve been hoping to get the fleet markers to report the stats of their contents in the stack viewer. I figure there’s two potential routes to this: Since you can see the totals in an inventory window, it seems like it should be possible to just query for the sum of, say, SE in a particular zone/map and use it directly; sadly, this doesn’t seem to be supported. The second method would be to keep track of the numbers in a global variable which gets adjusted as units are moved into/out of the box. Recently, a demo module was done showing exactly this. So far, I have not been able to get it to work in my F&E module, and even if it does work, it could very well bog down performance to keep track of all stats of all the fleets with hundreds of units sending data out.

However, I’m writing this because I do now have a new feature that is working!

I now have a submenu for ships that allows you to flag a ship as ‘captured’ by a particular empire, so that it will report as belonging to that empire in the inventory, and there is a visible marker to show its status on the counter.


How about we just trade back and call it even?

And no, I’m not planning on adjusting AF to account for Hydran hybrid wackiness. gulp

So, this is about where things stand:

New features:
x Choice of regular and large-scale maps. (Hope to figure out an Early Beginnings set up…)
x Stack viewer & inventory counts *ships* and *SEs*
x Flag captured ships to new empire.

Not appearing in this module:
– Crippled SE values (non-integers not possible under Vassal 3.2)
o Display fleet stats on hover over. (still being worked on, but will probably bog down module, even if it works)

Still planned:
* Large Fleet markers. May need a second set for the ‘small’ map.
* Fix ‘crippled’ reporting on single-sided units.

Needs thought:
* How to mark captured planets, etc, on LSM: bigger markers, smaller planet symbols, what?
* Mark the Cordon borders like the sector borders? (And how to keep it from being too busy?)
* Mark EW/AF status for ships that drop AF for EW and vice versa.
* Mark repaired/built ships as capable of free Strat Moves (wipe automatically when moved?).
* Mark hexes for retrograde (some sort of ‘done’ version for battle hexes?)

As always, feedback is appreciated, and as this module is still being pounded into shape, its easier to do something now than later.

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F&E for Vassal v2—Someday

by on September 4, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Posted In: F&E

Crossposted from the SFU blog on BGG.

As I hinted when I released version 1.3.1 of the F&E Vassal module, I had something new in mind. Specifically, I’m looking to start over and do a brand new Vassal module. My hope is to be able to add new features that I can’t current do.

One of the pain points of the current module is actually the map. It is half done in CorelDraw, and half in Photoshop, and exporting the first into the second is a challenge (there’s some places where it’s kind of coming apart in the latest revision that I just can’t get fixed). So, I have done an all-new map purely in CorelDraw. Since it can’t be exactly the same size as the old one, using it would break all saved games in the current module. Therefore a new module is needed.

And since I’m starting over, and I have a pure vector map, I can handle a request that’s been popular:

While I’m at it, I’m re-doing the counters to get away from the pixel-twiddled images I have now, and make them a little easier to do. Though doing all those counters all over again will take time. A lot of time.

Also, the new map comes at a price. It takes a lot of memory, and is too big for Vassal 3.1 to handle. However, Vassal 3.2 (which is just entering beta) can do it. It also has a few other new features, dealing with math that should allow the new module to handle stats around crippled status and showing the stats associated with a fleet marker.

What I need now is people to discuss the new module with. I want to bounce ideas off other people, and get input so that I can make it the best module I can, and I can get started on it from the beginning, rather than having to re-do things constantly. If you’re interested in discussing this, contact me, I want to have an email conversation with everyone who’s interested to hammer out ideas. The only caveat is that you will need to install the test version of Vassal v3.2.0 so you can follow what going on. (Note that doing so will require you to be cautious with Vassal, as you need to remember to switch back to 3.1.20 with any ongoing Vassal games you have.)

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F&E Vassal Module 1.3.1

by on July 30, 2012 at 8:22 pm
Posted In: F&E

Crossposted from the SFU blog on BGG.

Well, this one is a minor update:

Download it here:
http://www.starfleetgames.com/documents/F&E 1.3.1.zip

Change log:
-Fixed GCEs (copy and delete commands)
-Added R-NHBH and R-FHBH
-Improved Empire reporting on H- & L-shipyards; F-Fighter chits
-Overlays no longer report in the unit summaries
-Updated (603.U) setup to eliminate some minor errors
-Re-worked Battle Mats to have space for BIR/DRMs for each side
-Added CPF and CPX chits to all empires (except Feds)
-Fixed L-Base Module (not reporting fighter factors correctly)
-Fixed stats on L-PF marker
-Fixed F-, K-, R-, Z-, H-MC (no fighter property)
-Fixed T-Base Module art
-Fixed R-4CNV (bad fighter reporting)

The first item was the reason for the new release. It was found that Independent GCE markers could not be deleted. Along the way, I found a number of minor problems that likely no one else has ever seen.

One of the few feature requests left that I can do was for specific CPF and CPX markers (casual PF flotillas from AO), so they’ve been put in. Also, just about all the saved files have been updated to take advantage of the improvements.

I am hopeful that this is everything. All the bugs worth worrying about squashed, all the features that the current module can handle have been added. No need for a 1.3.2 or especially a 1.4.

(Wait, did he say current module…?)

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F&E Vassal Module 1.3

by on April 26, 2012 at 8:20 pm
Posted In: F&E

Again, long after I thought I’d be done and get it out the door, I’ve released the next version of the Federation & Empire Vassal module.

Download it here:
http://www.starfleetgames.com/documents/F&E 1.3.zip

The changelog for this version is longest one yet; it’s a pretty massive update. Here’s a quick list of the highlights:

* The ISC extension is updated for the actual published version of ISC War.
* The scenarios are now bundled into the module, so the zip is just the module plus extensions as separate files now.
* The capital charts are completely reworked so that you should be able to run a capital assault just from them.
* The racial charts and battle mats have been updated and look better.
* A lot of markers have been added as memory aids for combat. This includes handling hidden information functions such as which of multiple maulers is actually mauling.
* Added a bunch of carriers with heavy fighters, and separate counters for all the HDW (and similar) modes.
* New squadron counters for the Theater Transports, for when they’re working as a permanent team.
* A new extension (“Extras”) includes just about every unpublished ship that I have official stats for.

So, go download and enjoy! …And tell me what bugs and mistakes remain.

Oh, and I should warn you that the combined module & ISC extension are a pretty huge package. The main ISC scenario (“Driving Winds”) is also pretty massive, so you will need to give Vassal more memory space than the half-gig default. Go into the Vassal module manager, and the the module itself and select “Preferences” from the File menu, and change “JVM max heap” to 1024 (from 512). Otherwise, you’ll probably be able to load, fiddle around, but not save anything big with the ISC….

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