SE5 Patch 1.44 Released

[Fyron]

Yep, its available for download (http://www.spaceempires5.com/files/se5patch_v144.exe).

http://home.spaceempires.net/article304.html

[Raapys]

Yah, definitely one of the better patches. Bugs are falling by the numbers and turn processing times are slowly nearing tolerable.

[Randallw]

I see he skirts one of the issues in particular. I suppose even once it's fixed you can't come out and say what the problem was exactly.

[marhawkman]

Actually after reading the log of things fixed in the past, I don't really expect him to explain what the bugs were.

[Q]

For me this is probably the most important patch so far. It fixes problems that stopped my games and makes the game really playable and enjoyable for me.

[Slick]

Does he ever intend to work on the UI or is that just a pipe dream?

[Fyron]

He has been working on the UI, though in small steps. For example, making the retrofit and scrap screens let you select multiple ships at once. Granted, that was a while ago... I don't think he feels that the UI is a big deal to most players; in fact, he seems to think that we want confirmation dialogs in as many places as possible... A couple of forum posts here and there don't get his attention; we need more people to email him with specific UI grievances.

[Slick]

I have, and have. No response, no effect, not even a hint that he even reads the emails. It is a shame really. No offense to anyone, but if he would have put 10% of the effort he spent on making every aspect of the game moddable into just making the UI user friendly, he would have made 90% of the people happier.

[Raapys]

Yah, it's sort of sad, especially since UI improvements require very little effort code-wise, and he's got fans that have come up with pages worth of suggestions. Then again, from what I can recall he has mentioned that the UI will eventually be looked into, along with AI improvements, once the majority of bugs have been fixed. So even if we don't get it as soon as we want, chances are we will get it someday.

My fear is that no ( realistic )amount of work can make the current UI better than average; it's a fundamentally weak UI. And we are stuck with it at least until SE VI.

[Slick]

A few simple ones would go a long way. Most of this list would require very little work:

another thread (http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB23&Number=485871&Forum= All_Forums&Words=UI%20improvement&Searchpage=0&Lim it=25&Main=485786&Search=true&where=bodysub&Name=2 669&daterange=1&newerval=2&newertype=y&olderval=&o ldertype=&bodyprev=#Post485871)

That list is a little dated and some of the things have actually been addressed, but not the major PITA ones.

[Ragnarok-X]

I have been away from SEV for some time now. Are there any mods worth playing ? Something like Adamant or Devnull ?

[Kamog]

This is an excellent patch. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif The turn processing is noticeably faster now. SEV is getting better and better. Thank you Aaron!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Kana]

Ragnarok-X said:
I have been away from SEV for some time now. Are there any mods worth playing ? Something like Adamant or Devnull ?



Nothing quite that radical, Balance Mod is very popular.

[Fyron]

Could you edit that link with some short display text, Slick? It makes the page about 3000 pixels wide. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Tradelane]

It is a shame that he doesn't fix the UI. It is really horrible. As soon as I saw it and tried to play for a bit I shelved it and went back to Se4. I keep checking these patches for 'UI update' but it still hasn't come.

Oh well I guess I never will play Se5. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Ragnarok-X]

Wow, just registered to post THAT ?

Kind of weak performance imho.

[aegisx]

Not everyone agrees the UI is awful.

[Slick]

But most of us do.

[Fyron]

Given how many people are actively playing and posting about SE5 over on the official forums, I'm not sure that most is an apt qualifier (or at least not "awful" enough to make them not want to play).

[Atrocities]

It is their game now.

[Kana]

Imperator Fyron said:
Given how many people are actively playing and posting about SE5 over on the official forums, I'm not sure that most is an apt qualifier (or at least not "awful" enough to make them not want to play).



Considering 'most' don't have anything to compair it to, I'm sure they don't mind SE5 UI. Heck I have recently played some SE3 and a fair amount of SE5, and I can easily get sucked into play either on of those much easier than I can a game of SE5. I haven't even encountered a bug or anything like that, there is just something that doesn't click, which is a real shame.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Woot for new posters!

[capnq]

Ragnarok-X said: Wow, just registered to post THAT ?

Everybody has to have a first post. It's just a question of what pushes you over your "tipping point" to bother.

[StarJack]

Anybody else seeing a return of the dreaded access violations? I played several turns of a big balanced mod game that I had started under the last patch, now when I try to move any ship or fleet, boom, access violation, invalid pointer operation after that. Not sure if support will even look at a modded game, especially one started under a previous patch?

Can somebody point me to a decent free archiver? I had the free version of winzip but it's expired and I'm not paying for a utility I use only when I have a problem with this game (literally). TIA

Guess I'll go back and start a new unmodded game and see if it stays stable. Frack.

[StarJack]

aegisx said:
Not everyone agrees the UI is awful.



True, I wouldn't call it awful myself, but I would call it fair at best and in need of some playability work in some areas. (Actually what I'd expect from a programmer that doesn't play his own game though.) I can live with some of the buried menus, you learn where things are even if taking 3-4 clicks to get the job done is counter productive. Trying to manage large numbers of fleets/ships/task forces is unnecessarily tedious at the present time and I'm hopeful there are some tweaks. Time will tell!

[aegisx]

StarJack said:

Can somebody point me to a decent free archiver? I had the free version of winzip but it's expired and I'm not paying for a utility I use only when I have a problem with this game (literally). TIA

Guess I'll go back and start a new unmodded game and see if it stays stable. Frack.



winrar works pretty well. You'll get a little nag popup if you don't purchase it, but it isn't that annoying.

[Ed Kolis]

7-zip is good... can't actually create rar's but it can unpack them, and it's completely free http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif
http://www.7-zip.org/

[Theonlystd]

Welp i tried it again.


The sim times do seem much improved.

But the game still just plays slow menu delay + having to bring up total separate menus to enter stuff like designs name or its type. And other annoying UI stuff like that. Means i can do multiple Se4 turns in the time it takes me to go threw one Se5 one..

[Suicide Junkie]

Heck, I have downloaded, played and then uploaded SE4 turns while waiting for an SE5 turn just to finish downloading.

[AstralWanderer]

Also check out TugZip (www.tugzip.com) or IZArc (http://www.izarc.org/) - both are free and can handle multiple archive formats.

[StarJack]

Thanks for the archiver information! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

[Blade W]

Yes, I've got thoose violations messages. Mostly they come in the first 10 turns after started a new game. And got after generating several galaxies at game startup too.

Oh, and intel still needs some fix, I prevented a treaty offer from my empire to the Phong via political sabotage.