Jan 16, 2004

Well, I thought I would get this version out sooner, but I kept finding
more and more things I wanted to implement or fix!  Well, now here it 
is, and since the changes have been so drastic I decided to release it
as version 2.0.  I'm aware of a few bugs that are still there, but they
are minor and I feel they can wait just a little longer.  Besides, I 
want to get this out and see what people think of the new features.  I
imagine that, after getting feedback, some changes might be in order.

So please give me feedback! :)

In version 2.0, the following things have been changed:

  - Changed disruptors so that they not only slow down enemy jumpfleets
    within 3 sectors to warp speed, but also can make your warp ships 
    go jump speed within that area.  This change was made because 
    disruptors are so expensive and neither I nor anybody I've talked
    to about it have ever found them worth building.  This will make 
    them more useful and thus more attractive and pertinent.

  - Added an SRMSweep order for fleets.

  - Added (finally!) Terraforming as a gate-level technology.  This has
    been mentioned in the code (my friend and I discovered it while
    perusing the .exe while we were young teenagers) but was never quite
    implemented.  I'm not sure if I like it being so powerful, but we'll
    see how we like it.  I've tried to temper its power by making the
    side-effects pretty daunting.  Please let me know what you think!

  - In the WorldBackgroundIndex, the following changes have been made:

    - Added an 'O' target which matches the owner of the object in
      question.  Thus, '2:4  O  E:1,2' would be matched when looking
      at planet 4 only if the empire looking at it were empires 1 or 2
      AND owned the planet.  (Just '2:4 O' would match any owner.)

    - Fixed it so that multiple brackets could be used.  E.g. if part
      of your flavor text is 'Just look at [C2:13] or [N2:5]' it will
      give you the coordinates of planet 13 and the name of planet 5,
      instead of the coordinates of 13 and then '[N2:5]' for the second
      part.

    - Changed it so that any "void" coordinates (i.e. coordinates for
      an object that doesn't exist) are not displayed in the flavor
      text.  This makes it so you can show coordinates of objects not
      yet created without having the whole place covered with "-17,24"
      or whatever coordinate is just off the upper-left corner of the map

  - Added a scenario command "RandomizePlayers."  This is important
    because I always got bored with playing the same player.  I wanted
    to be able to play as other players without having to play ALL the
    players.  (Like be player 4 without having to be players 1-3 also.)
    Any non-created player empires that have NOT yet been created will
    be randomly allocated to players who have not yet been assigned an
    empire.  If RandomizePlayers comes before any player empires have 
    been created, they will all be random.  Otherwise, only remaining
    ones will be.  This is just a hook in case people want to create
    scenarios where one empire MUST be a player and others may be random-
    ized. 

  - Fixed it so that when you change your capital, the map is redrawn 
    immediately instead of having to wait until the next year for it to
    reflect the change in coordinate origins.

  - Fixed the bug that allowed fleets under orders to dump materials into
    a construction site, thus making those materials simply vanish from
    the game.  Now the materials will stay in the fleet until there's a
    valid place to drop them off.

  - Fixed a bug that made HK fleets move at the same time as Warp fleets,
    instead of moving like the jump-speed ships they are.

  - Implemented Warp Link Frequencies.  Under "Empire," you'll now see
    "Link Frequencies."  The idea is that the owner of a gate/link/disrupter
    can allow other empires to use the device by sharing the paraspace
    frequencies needed to activate it.  It opens up some neat possibilites.
    So anyway, you can use any gate as long as the frequency you provide
    matches the owner's frequency.

  - Fixed the small annoyance where you couldn't choose a construction
    site directly from the map.  Now you can.

I also have finished my scenario The Nebula, and I have a couple more in 
the works.  Those will be released in good time.  In the meantime, if 
anybody has any decent scenarios they've written, please send them to me 
and I'll consider packaging them with the next version.

Happy playing!  Please let me know if you have any suggestions / bug fixes
that you would like to see worked on.

- Adam Luker
  zot@aapc.com


Sep. 24, 2003
After 13 years, Anacreon has finally been resurrected!  Expect
lots of development in the next little while since I'm so excited
about it.  I know it's probably a little immature to release version
1.31 already, after just two little bug-fixes, but these were the
ones that are most apparent, and I wanted to get out a new version
quickly.

In version 1.31, the following long-standing bugs have been fixed:

  - Any unnamed Fleet240 or Enemy240 was unviewable except 
    through the F5 screen
  - Advanced ships (eg. starships) were allowed to defend 
    a planet, making the planet unconquerable.

Next on the to-do list:

  - Implement "SweepSRMs" and "Abort" in fleet orders
  - Fix the '[]' parsing in scenario flavor text to allow
    more than one set of brackets per line
  - See what I can do about enlarging the size of the universe
    (Larger map, more planets, more empires ... more of everything)
  - Finish scenario "The Nebula," which will depend on the '[]' bug
    being fixed
  - Implement Terraforming as a Gate-level technology
  - Investigate making Disruptors more useful
     - Less time to build?  Block gating-in?
  - That'll do, for now. :)