1.40b20 patch development progress

Here are the things I am working on. Some or all will be in the next release:

• Correct the cloned outpost and colony ships bug (Thanks to Siron for the excellent saved game. I am now able to duplicate this bug.)
• Alter the /noorion switch so that it actually removes Orion and the Guardian rather than moving the system off the map. It should leave a regular system in its place.
• Re-examine the effects of the /nobh switch and possibly change the the type of star the black hole is converted to.
• Alter the /picks switch so that the switch effects all players in a multiplayer LAN game.
• Add the /noscan switch. The scan button during combat will be disabled. This will limit scanning. You will still be able to see what weapons have been fired or are available as your opponent selects them.
• Add the /noreport switch. The report button on the diplomacy screen will be disabled preventing you from seeing what technology your opponent has.
• Add the /bonus Each worker, scientist, and farmer receives a +3 bonus. It is not effected by moral, race picks, pollution, or any other effect. It also does not contribute to pollution. It is a flat bonus added after all regular calculations are done. This switch is intended to lessen the benefits of and reduce the negative effects of some race picks. Also, it should shorten multiplayer game length.

DOS/16M error when starting Orion2v140

For those of you that experience this error message when starting Orion2v140:

DOS/16M error: [17] system software does not follow VCPI or DPMI specifications

There is a simple solution. Edit your autoexec2.nt file (in C:\windows\system32 folder typically) and remove 'lh' from one or two of the lines in the file. The error occurs because you are out of high memory and dosx did not load because of that.

Moo2v140b19 released today

I have just released the b19 patch. The Cluster galaxy size has been dropped for now due to multiple bugs. Here is what is in the new release:

• Added Post Warp Technology Age.All technologies 250RPs and below are received by all races even those not creative.
• Corrected minor bug in autoexec2.nt script creation when kali is not detected.
• Fixed repeat build bug. You can no longer cancel bought production.
• Improved dosx for SP2 detection. Better support for non-US versions of windows.
• Added 32K bytes of code space to the exe file. This gives us plenty of space for future patch code

Cluster Flop

There will be a slight delay in the release of b19 as testing has shown that the new Cluster Galaxy Size has a few minor bugs. The bugs arise only in multiplayer LAN games and do not seem to effect single player or even hot seated games.

On the positive side...The new Post Warp technology age is working well and the code seems stable.

Update on patch developement progress

Here is what I have completed so far. These items will be in the b19 patch for sure:

• Added Post Warp Technology Age - All technologies 250RPs and below are received by all races even those not creative.
• Added Cluster Galaxy Size - The galaxy is physically the same distance across as a large galaxy but has the same number of stars as a Huge. All the systems are much closer together.
• Corrected a bug to do with repeat build which allowed players to buy stored production and cheat.
• Cleaned up some items within the patcher program (the program that applies the patch).
• Added 32K bytes of code space to the exe file. This gives us plenty of space for future patch code