Yitzi's unofficial SMAX patch 2.4c

[Dio]

Does anyone have any idea where the labels Battle Report, Mission Status, Viewing, and Moving might appear in the game? They are in the same procedure as the labels for Surface-to-Air Duel, Air-to-Air Duel, Bombardment and Artillery Duel. This procedure starts at address 004B4A20.

[Geo]

Does anyone have any idea where the labels Battle Report, Mission Status, Viewing, and Moving might appear in the game? They are in the same procedure as the labels for Surface-to-Air Duel, Air-to-Air Duel, Bombardment and Artillery Duel. This procedure starts at address 004B4A20.

Battle Report likely pops up after a battle happened ingame, and the popup option is enabled of course.

[Dio]

Does anyone have any idea where the labels Battle Report, Mission Status, Viewing, and Moving might appear in the game? They are in the same procedure as the labels for Surface-to-Air Duel, Air-to-Air Duel, Bombardment and Artillery Duel. This procedure starts at address 004B4A20.

Battle Report likely pops up after a battle happened ingame, and the popup option is enabled of course.

First that does not happen and I have been unable to figure out where it might have appeared. Also, do you think this is a bug? It says bomb $basename but then is followed by the no orders label. This can be triggered by selecting bombing run to while having no movement points left. Here is a screenshot.

[Yitzi]

Yeah, I'd guess it's a bug.

[Dio]

Regarding the edit faction diplomacy screen, I have figured out that all of the non faction checkboxes are actually labels. I am currently uncertain how that would interact with the script boxes.

[Fishman]

So I'm fairly new to Alpha Centauri. I was wondering what these patches change and how to go about installing them? Would you recommend it for a new player?

[Yitzi]

So I'm fairly new to Alpha Centauri. I was wondering what these patches change and how to go about installing them? Would you recommend it for a new player?

The changelist can be found at http://alphacentauri2.info/wiki/Yitzi%27s_patch, but the real addition of my patch is the new modding options, found at http://alphacentauri2.info/wiki/New_alphax_variables_in_Yitzi%27s_patch.  My patch builds on Kyrub's AI patch and Scient's patch (which did a lot of bugfixes).  To install, simply download the files and overwrite the corresponding files in your  Alpha Centauri folder.  I would recommend it for a new player, as other than bugfixes and some badly needed AI boosts from Kyrub, all the changes are optional (accessed via alphax.txt).

[Buster's Uncle]

A new downloads comment I just spotted:

It took me a while to figure it out, but if you use this alone on the last official patch then it will have a parsing error. Other users should keep in mind that you need the other files from the 2.4 zip file. Today at 01:18:10 AM FSaved

[Yitzi]

Yeah, I should have noted that.  I'll put it in the wiki for the patch, in case I forget in a future one.

[Dio]

Do you think this is a minor bug? Should the labels for enemy bases as outposts go from size 1-3 rather than only size 1? Also, should the enemy base label "Base" go from 4-7 rather than from 2-7? Attached below are screenshots with the effected labels circled in yellow. If you do, then I can post the coding that will fix it.

[Yitzi]

I could see it being plausible either way; as long as it's consistent, I don't think there's reason to think it's a bug.

If it were a bug, whether it were a minor bug would be irrelevant if you already have a fix, but seeing as I've never seen either label appear, it would be a minor one in any case.

[Dio]

Anyways, to make this consistent, you need to change cmp al, 1 at address 004B60D4 to cmp al, 3. Note: Bolded text shows what would change. This changes the base population size above which the procedure jumps.

[Yitzi]

Ok thanks, but if it always changes at 2 I don't think it's a bug.

[Quota]

Hey Yitzi, thanks for your great work and please keep it up.

I seem to have encountered a bug. Using your patch (at least versions 2.4c and 2.4), my planet busters are bugged. They do the usual (fx, crater/terrain modification) but they don't actually destroy anything! Bases and units are left behind unharmed (except units that are caused to drown, those die as appropriate, but nothing happens to those in the base), which is quite frustrating.
Tested a bit and it happens regardless of reactor, whether a unit or a base is targetted, or whether I or an AI uses the PB.

Oddly, if I hit a base without a Pressure Dome, causing it to submerge, the defenders and base will survive and will miraculously have a Pressure Dome added...! I've read about this happening to save bases in other situations as well, what's up with that?

Since it's essentially a broken feature, odd that it hasn't been noticed before (?), though I guess the people that use the patch happen not to use PBs. Took me a while to encounter it (and boy what a surprise). Or perhaps it only occurs on my end? Can anyone verify? My PBs work with vanilla alphax.txt and terranx.exe.
It'd be nice if you could release a hotfix, so I could vaporize my enemies into oblivion!

Also another thing I encountered, which is probably a vanilla thing: you can't target an empty (no defenders) base with a PB, the game responds takes that as if you're trying to capture the base with a missile, not blow it up to hell. Maybe it's worth fixing while you're at it.

I have GOG SMAX and Windows 7.

[Yitzi]

Hey Yitzi, thanks for your great work and please keep it up.

I seem to have encountered a bug. Using your patch (at least versions 2.4c and 2.4), my planet busters are bugged. They do the usual (fx, crater/terrain modification) but they don't actually destroy anything! Bases and units are left behind unharmed (except units that are caused to drown, those die as appropriate, but nothing happens to those in the base), which is quite frustrating.
Tested a bit and it happens regardless of reactor, whether a unit or a base is targetted, or whether I or an AI uses the PB.

Oddly, if I hit a base without a Pressure Dome, causing it to submerge, the defenders and base will survive and will miraculously have a Pressure Dome added...! I've read about this happening to save bases in other situations as well, what's up with that?

Since it's essentially a broken feature, odd that it hasn't been noticed before (?), though I guess the people that use the patch happen not to use PBs. Took me a while to encounter it (and boy what a surprise). Or perhaps it only occurs on my end? Can anyone verify? My PBs work with vanilla alphax.txt and terranx.exe.
It'd be nice if you could release a hotfix, so I could vaporize my enemies into oblivion!

Also another thing I encountered, which is probably a vanilla thing: you can't target an empty (no defenders) base with a PB, the game responds takes that as if you're trying to capture the base with a missile, not blow it up to hell. Maybe it's worth fixing while you're at it.

I have GOG SMAX and Windows 7.

I can look into it.  Most likely the "PBs don't work" bug will be fixed in version 2.5 (which should be coming soon), and the "can't target empty base" one in 2.5b (if there is one) or 2.6.