C-Game Interface

Basics

Colour Themes

I am playing around with colour themes. Here is an example of a black and white theme instead of the default dark blue / pale yellow. For now I just wanted to check how easy this was but I will add full functionality for different colour themes before release

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Theme01.PNG

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Theme02.PNG

Date 19.07.2016

Linked Windows

C# Aurora has a option to link all the open windows, so that when you change the current Race in one window, all the other windows change to the same race. Date 02.11.2018

Select Names

The new, much simpler, Select Names window. You can now select a name from any of the available Name Themes in a number of places within the program. The Class names and System names from the old Racial Themes are included as individual categories.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SelectNames.PNG

Date 26.06.2016

Class Design Window

Basics

One other interesting advantage of C# Aurora is that I have separated the data from the display, which means you can have multiple class design windows open at once :)

Class Design

The first screenshot of the new class design window. Class design is now working within C# Aurora and as you can see, the class window has undergone a more radical overhaul than the tactical window. The main differences are:

• 1) All class types are now shown on the left in a tree view, organised by hull type. You can filter obsolete and civilian designs
• 2) Available Components are also in a tree view, organised by component type. You can open and close sections as needed. Scrollbars will appear if needed. You add new components using this tree by double-clicking (amount based on radio-button selection).
• 3) You can flip between available components and components in the current design (see second screenshot). You remove components using this tree.
• 4) Instead of showing a line of details for each component, clicking on the component (in either Race or Class lists) shows a more detailed description in the lower centre.
• 5) The box to the right of the component description box is for design errors.
• 6) Any green text is editable, so you can change armour and deployment time, plus adjust the range bands and tracking speeds used to show the capabilities of beam weapons and beam fire controls.
• 7) A list of ships in the class is shown in the lower right. There will be a much more detailed list on another tab.
• 8) Many of the VB6 text boxes no longer exist on this view, either because they have been removed because they duplicate the main display, are no longer necessary, have been handled differently (lack of power is now a design error) or moved to a different tab (showing the crew calculation) because they are less important. This allows a much cleaner view with only the required information.

There are a few minor changes to class design.

• 1) Ships are no longer rounded to the nearest hull space
• 2) Range Modifiers are shown in full rather than a number. So in the case of this ship, a range modifier of 30,000 km means the weapon has a range of Max Damage x Range Modifier. The range was always calculated this way but not shown as obviously on the display
• 3) Internal HTK has been added to the display next to armour and shields
• 4) 'Damage Control Rating' is now DCR
• 5) The 'To Hit' chances (in the display) for beam fire controls are based on the Range Bands and Target Speed set on the right side of the window
• 6) Beam Weapon damage fall-off (in the display) is based on the selected Range Bands.

This window is still a work in progress but the design-related work is mostly complete. The results of class design (with the above exceptions) are matching VB6 Aurora. I need to add some other tabs, including fighter and ordnance assignment, more detailed component information, rank assignment, etc.. I'll post screenshots as I complete them.

One other interesting advantage of C# Aurora is that I have separated the data from the display, which means you can have multiple class design windows open at once :)

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ClassDesign.PNG

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ClassDesign02.PNG

Date 27.03.2016

Another screenshot of the class design window, showing the assignment of ordnance and fighters and a more detailed component breakdown (Edit: this has changed since 2016). This combines the functionality of two tabs from the VB6 version. Fighters / Ordnance is added and removed by double-clicking.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ClassDesign03.PNG

DAte 31.03.2016

The ship list tab of the class design window. I've added a variety of ways to sort the ships in the class.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ClassDesign04.PNG

Date 31.03.2016

Event Window

This is the Event Window. I am still playing around with it but the final window will look like something along these lines. It is very similar to the existing window. You can change the event colours and hide event types. The functionality is a little different as you can now just click any event and hide that type rather than scrolling through the list. You can override the hide flag by clicking the Show All Events checkbox. The colours are ones I just setup for the screenshot - you can use whatever colours you like for each event type and these are set by each race.

Rather than a number of events, you set the number of days into the past for which you wish to see events.

Also, there is a new dropdown for Event Category, which groups events into Production, Mining, Environment, Ships, Commanders, etc. so you can filter the view.

Events for the last two increments are taking place as I advance time in C# Aurora (as a lot of the population-related production/research code is complete). Everything earlier happening in VB6. The addition of this window will make the next stages easier as I can see what is happening in the game, rather than having to step through code.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/EventWindow02.PNG

Date 20.08.2016

Industry Windows

Summary Tab

The first screenshot of the new Economics window. I've done quite a lot of work on the backend for this window but not much of the UI yet. Here is the summary tab - still a work in progress but enough to provide a good idea of the final version.

There are quite a few additional items of information, particularly in the new third column.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Economics01.PNG

Date 28.04.2016

Industry Tab

The Industry tab of the economics window. It's similar to the original except I have removed the fuel production and will add it to a different tab. I may also add an option here to see all production, not just for the selected pop.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Industry.PNG

Date 28.05.2016

I've updated the industry tab to include fuel refineries and maintenance facilities. The mineral requirements and maintained ships will be covered in a different tab.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/IndustryNew02.PNG

10.07.2016

Mining Tab

First screenshots of the mining tab. The major change is the addition of a detailed breakdown of mineral usage, plus I have included the modifiers for the different types of mining.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Mining01.PNG

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Mining02.PNG

Date 10.07.2016

Mineral Search Window

The new version of the Mineral Search window. This should be more flexible than the VB6 version as you can specify minimum amounts and accessibilities for every mineral, plus the amounts are now nicely lined up so it is easier to compare different bodies. The window will order by the mineral with the highest minimum amount. The filter apply in left to right order, so if you specify gas giants only, it doesn't matter what you specify for asteroids.

For example, here are all bodies with at least 1000 tons of Duranium with 0.3 accessibility or higher.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Minerals001.PNG

Here is the same but with the added requirement of at least 1 ton of Sorium.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Minerals002.PNG

Date 07.11.2018

Wealth & Trade Tab

The Wealth & Trade tab. Essentially identical to VB6 Aurora.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/WealthTrade.PNG

Date 17.07.2016

Research Window

First screenshot of the Research tab. The main improvement is integrating the research queue into the same list as the current research projects. I've also included more information on each project, such as the total modifier from scientist bonuses (including specialisation) and any research anomalies. Not all of the buttons will be enabled in every situation but I have left them enabled here just for the screenshot.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Research01.PNG

Date 08.10.2016

Shipyard Window

First screenshot of the Shipyard tab. Similar in function to the VB6 equivalent but with a lot more room to display the shipyard list. I've tried to be more space conscious for the upgrade and shipyard task sections, which allows for the extra room. The blank button on the bottom is a disabled "Refit Details" button. I'll show another screenshot where it is enabled.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Shipyards01.PNG

Date 26.06.2016

Another shipyard screenshot, this time with an Upgrade task selected.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Shipyards02.PNG

Date 26.06.2016

This shipyard tab screenshot shows the refit details section activated. This is toggled on/off by the Refit Details button and displays a breakdown of a proposed refit task.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Shipyards03.PNG

Date 26.06.2016

Shipyard Tasks tab. Similar to VB6 version except more screen space due to new font and wider window. I've also adjusted the columns to move progress further to the right and used left justification for most columns to make it more readable

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ShipyardTasks.PNG

Date 27.06.2016

System View Window

Here is the first screenshot of the new System View window. It isn't quite finished yet but given recent discussions on terraforming, max capacity and tide-locked planets, I think it is worth showing a progress update. This is a non-SM view. There are quite a few differences between this and the existing window, including:

• 1) You can select races as well as systems. If you change race, the same system will be displayed if the new race is aware of it
• 2) The current survey status is shown at the right-centre top.
• 3) The Star information lists the different types of system bodies associated with that star. Habitable is less than colony cost 2.0. Near Habitable is between colony cost 2.0 and 3.0 and is split between normal and low-grav.
• 4) There are no longer different tabs for different stars. You select a star to show its planetary system
• 5) The system body information has been changed to show all the key data without scrolling. Max population capacity is shown in the right-hand column.
• 6) Many more bodies can be colonised due to the new low-gravity infrastructure rules. Bodies with low gravity have LG after the colony cost.
• 7) Populations can be given names that are different to the system body (although that isn't on this screenshot because the Commonwealth pop hasn't been renamed).
• 8) Jump points are shown in the bottom left. You no longer have to visit a different tab.
• 9) The colony cost factors for the selected system body now include water availability, a modifier for low gravity and a flag for if the body can retain an atmosphere.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SystemView01.PNG

The second screenshot shows Sol in SM mode with Ceres selected. The various SM options are available, including exploring or modifying jump points, changing minerals or survey status and generating new systems. Every button you can see is functional with all the code behind it. System Generation is complete for both movement orders and for this window, except for generating new races. The Create Race button has not been added to this window yet for the same reason.

With Ceres selected you can see the colony cost for Acceptable Gravity of 1.00 LG. This means that even if you were to create perfectly habitable conditions the colony cost would never fall below 1.00 and you would need low gravity infrastructure to compensate. Although in this case the Atmosphere Retention is flagged as 'No' so you wouldn't be able to terraform it anyway. I'll post the updated terraforming rules separately once completed.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SystemView02.PNG

Date 09.01.2017

I've made some changes to the system view based on feedback.

• 1) There are more options regarding flagging body surveys. You have the option to display 'U' for unsurveyed and an option to display 'T' for worlds that have been surveyed by a team ('MT' if they find minerals).
• 2) I've rearranged the colony cost, population and atmosphere columns to put pressure next to atmosphere.
• 3) The atmosphere column no longer shows details of each gas, with one gas per line. Instead, the basic type of atmosphere is shown on a single line. This display is either the main two gases, the main gas and oxygen (if oxygen is present and not the main gas) or 'Venusian' for those high pressure, high temperature worlds with a runaway greenhouse effect and a combination of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide (open to suggestions for a different term than 'Venusian'). If oxygen is present, the oxygen pressure is shown.
• 4) Clicking on a body shows detailed atmospheric composition at the bottom of the window.
• 5) This section also shows the factors for the temperature calculation ( Surface Temperature (K) = Base Temp (K) * Greenhouse Factor * Albedo ) plus the base temp and surface temp in Kelvin and Celsius.

BTW for some reason the windows forms Listview control insists on changing the text colour of any selected row to the default for the control (see Mars below). This remove the indication colour (blue = habitable, etc) until that row is no longer selected. Very annoying and wasting a lot of time trying to fix it :). Any suggestions welcome.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SystemView04.PNG

Date 10.01.2017

Another system view screenshot, this time showing Alpha Centauri. This demonstrates just how much more real estate is now available for colonization. Note in the star listing that Alpha Centauri-A has 2 habitable bodies (less than 2.0 CC) and 142 near-habitable (between 2.0 and 3.0 CC), many of which are asteroids. Colonisation is no longer about finding potential colony sites but rather judging which of the many options is most suitable. With the new capacity rules, there are likely to be more colonies, but smaller ones.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SystemView06.PNG

Date 10.01.2017

Tactical Map Window

Basics

Tactical Map in Background

C# does not have a starting menu bar in the same way as VB6. Instead, the Tactical Map is the main game window.

Once the Tactical Map is open however, both VB6 and C# have a similar issue. Assume you have the Tactical Map on maximised and you open the Economics window. That window is now on top of the Tactical Map. Now you click the button on the Tactical Map to open the Fleet Window. While that is on top of the Tactical Map, the existing Economics window is now behind the Tactical Map because clicking on the button gave the tactical map focus and therefore precedence over the existing Economics window.

Which means if you want to see both Economics and Fleet at the same time you need to manually bring Fleet to the front (or move Economics to a second monitor before clicking the Fleet button).

Therefore C# now has an option called 'Keep Tactical in Background'. While this is active, after pressing the toolbar button on the Tactical Map, the new window will open and then the Tactical Map will move to the background, leaving all other windows in front of it and the newly opened one on top.

Date 05.11.2018

Auto-Centre

Clicking on any Fleet, Ship, Star, System body, etc. will centre the map on that location. Date 20.03.2016

Tactical Map

I have made a lot of progress on the Tactical Map and while it isn't finished, there is enough to provide some idea of what C# Aurora will look like. Bear in mind this is only one window and this is just displaying the current database, not running a turn. However, you could run this alongside Aurora and use it to view the map (which is what I am doing now). All the various display options work so you can toggle on and off.

Also all the systems, fleets, etc are loaded in memory so the swap between systems views is now instant.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Tactical02.PNG

Date 20.03.2016

And a couple of Sol system shots

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SolSystem03.PNG

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SolSystem02.PNG

DAte 20.03.2016

Active Sensors and Weapon ranges are now functional on the tactical map display. I've decided to change the colours and use dashed lines so they stand out more vs. the planetary orbits.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ActiveSensors.PNG

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Missiles.PNG

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Weapons.PNG

DAte 20.03.2018

Sidebars

Here are some of the sidebar views. I believe they are improved on current Aurora. Clicking on any Fleet, Ship, Star, System body, etc. will centre the map on that location. The military view can be used to view the forces in the system, or all forces. This is also instant as everything is in memory.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Sidebar01.PNG

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Sidebar02.PNG

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Sidebar03.PNG

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Sidebar04.PNG

Date 20.03.2016

Another screenshot. This is the contacts sidebar tab on the Tactical Map. The top half allows you to filter contacts on the tactical map. I've replaced the existing filter dropdown for relationship status with individual check boxes for Hostile/Neutral/Friendly/Allied/Civilian. The other check boxes are similar to existing Aurora. The Spacetime Bubble only appears in the check box list when SM Mode is on.

The lower half displays all known contacts broken down by alien race and system. This can be filtered for the current system only. I'll create a larger and more customisable version of this section for the Intelligence window.

BTW there are two race dropdowns in the sidebar. The first is always present and replaces the existing default race selection from the (now defunct) menu bar. Essentially, this dropdown changes the race view for the whole application. The second race dropdown (below systems) only appears in SM mode and contains a list of other races with knowledge of the current system. For both race dropdowns, if you select a race and it has knowledge of the current system, that system will automatically be selected for viewing.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SidebarContacts02.PNG

Date 20.03.2016

Two more screenshots. This is the Body Info tab of the sidebar, which shows details of any selected system body. It looks a lot cleaner than the original and now includes mineral deposits as well.

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SidebarBodyInfo01.PNG

http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/SidebarBodyInfo02.PNG

Date 20.03.2016