Event Updates

Event Updates window controls

The Event Updates, also known as the Event Log, interface tells you everything that happened in your empire during the last time increment. It can be accessed through the main Menu bar by clicking on SpaceMaster and then on Event Updates Ctrl+F3. It may also be accessed through via the Events Button on the System Map icon bar.

Overview

On the first turn, nothing has happened, so this will be empty. On later turns, the Event Log will inform you about everything from research projects completing to one of your officers dying of old age. Event reports from ground combat results to new thermal contacts being registered, new leaders being recruited, allow the player to easily manage every aspect of the empire each turn.

• Many players with the ability elect to leave this window open in a separate area of their displays in order to view events as they occur during even automated turns.
• It will also tell you how long that time increment was, in case breaking events caused the game to advance less time than you'd ordered. You can open this window at any time via Ctrl+F3 or by using the Events button on the System Map Icon Bar.
• The events listed in this window often require player action. Certain types of events facilitate that by centering the system map focus when clicked upon while other events will open the colony window when clicked on.

Event Messages

Each Event Message describes one event within your universe

Race

Since your Empire may grow to span many races, the first thing shown for every message is the race.

• If Use Race Colors has been enabled, this field will be color coded with the color designated for that race.

Event Type

Event types are broad general categories for the events happening within your empire.

• some typical event types are
  • Team Skill
  • Mineral Exhausted
  • New Officer
  • Officer Update
  • Orders Completed

System

When the scope of an event relates to a particular system within your empire, this field indicates which system it affects. Of course events that directly affect one of your systems may well have a trickle down effect in other systems as well.

Event

This is the full text describing the event being reported.

• There is a "Show Events" option in the Options section of the display tab in the system map sidebar that causes most of the event text to appear on the main system map screen. It may be necessary to review event messages in the log even when the option for displaying them on the System Map is selected because all System Map messages may be truncated.

Event Log Header Controls

Empire Selection

This pull down selector allows those in Space Master mode to review the events of any Empire in the game. Those mere mortals not using Space Master mode will be restricted to seeing only those events within their own empires.

Number of Messages to Display

The 200 most recent messages are shown in the event log by default but users may elect to see as many as 2000 (Need verification) by changing this limit.

View

This section allows you temporarily limit the messages shown to:

• Normal - All messages are shown
• Combat - Messages are limited to only those flagged as combat messages. (No Promotions or Shipyard Expansion Completions, etc. are shown)
• Firing/Damage Only - an even more restrictive view for use in the heat of combat

Default Colors

The Event Log starts in monochrome mode. Clicking Default Colors once will establish some basic background and text colors that make locating things in the log easier.

• Of course, if the default color scheme doesn't appeal, one may elect to change the way various classes of messages are displayed
  • simply click on a message of the type that you'd like to change
  • use the BG Color (background color) and Text Color buttons at the bottom of the screen.
• The color scheme that you establish will remain from session to session but may be reset to the default at any time via the Default Colors button.

Research Only

Ticking this box will limit the events shown to Research Completed and Research Begun Messages.

• Ticking this box does not effect what's actually kept in the events log. It only effects what is displayed.

Show Errors

Error Messages are not displayed by default. This will generally only be of interest to the developer.

Event Log Footer Controls

Delete Old

It's possible to remove old messages from the event log using Delete Old

Text File

It's possible to export all messages that appear in the Event Log to a text file.

• The text file will be named FederationEventLog.txt
  • It will be placed in the same directory that holds Aurora.exe
  • If a previous FederationEventLog.txt exists, it will be overwritten.
  • If a FederationEventLog.txt file does not exist, one will be created.
• The Research Only filter does NOT affect what is included in this export file.

Use Race Colours

The Use Race Colours box indicates whether you want the background color for the Race column entries to be used. The color associated with a given race may be set in the Races window.

Disable Jump to event

For many event types, if one clicks on an entry in the events log, one is taken to whatever window has been deemed best based on the message context. If you wish to turn that feature off, select this option.

Filter Events

This button allows the player to configure which messages are seen in the event log.

• Double clicking on any of the event types listed will toggle the settings between showing and hiding events of that type.
• Hiding events will NOT impact the game's logic as to creating interrupts.

BG Colour

The BG Colour button allows the user to configure the background color for events of the type last selected.

Text Colour

The Text Colour button allows the user to configure the text color for events of the type last selected.