Welcome to Constella (.26 New and Noteworthy)

Constella provides mapping and other help for playing StarWeb (from Flying Buffalo Inc.) and StarCon (from Strategy Guild). The program is written for the Java 1.4 platform and should be compatible with any computer system that can run Java 1.4 (Mac OS X, Linux, OS/400, Solaris, OS/2, AIX, OS/390, Windows, others).

If you want to skip the reading and just get started, download Constella.

Starweb

Starcon

world attributes

player list

order checking (Starweb only)

Making a map of 32 worlds in 45 seconds (Quicktime movie, 4Mb)

stuff that works	Load your turnsheet, or load an entire folder of turnsheets. Automatically create a map. Display vessels at a world. Display world attributes on the map (population, etc.) Print the map (also multi-page, and fit-to-page) Open/Save multiple games. Automatically open your game file (or choose from list).
broken stuff	Saved games from previous releases cannot be read by new releases. again. sorry. Sorry, no way to choose player colors. They are assigned in order as players are encountered in turnsheets. (But they are now saved in the game file, so they will not change from turn to turn.) If you use "shaded worlds", the map will not print.

Installing and using Constella

Download constella.zip into your program folder, and expand the zip file. You should have two files, constella.jar and xstream.jar.

Create folders somewhere for each game you are in. Store your turnsheets in those folders. Turn file names are not significant, but they must end with either .txt (Starweb) or .xml (Starcon). When you save a game (via File/Save Game), save it in the same folder as the turn files. Saved game names automatically end with .csox.

To run Constella, double click the icon for the jar file, or try this on your command line:

    java -jar constella.jar

Getting started

1. Use File/Load turnsheet to load a turnsheet from early in the game, like Turn 2. Turn 19 might be overwhelming for your first time.


2. All worlds will appear at once. Drag them around a bit to help the automatic mapper figure out where things go. When you're happy with the arrangement, press the anchor all button (top left). File/Save game... to save your work.


3. File/Load turnsheet for Turn 3. Newly found worlds will be added to the map and float around looking for their best positions. Drag them around to help. You might also need to press release all anchors to allow all worlds to move freely.

Other things to try

• Single click on a world to see a report in the area below.
• Click and drag a world to change its position on the map.
• Use "Preferences, world attributes" to display more information on the map, like metal, D-PROD, or population.
• Working through your turnsheet and having trouble finding a world? Click on a world number in the lower right. The world will be scrolled into view (if needed) and highlighted with a red circle.
• File/Load folder... makes it easier to load one turn at a time, or several at a time, or all turns.
• Try printing your map with the various commands in the File menu.

Constella .26 New and Noteworthy

artifacts ! ! !	Artifacts are now displayed after the world or vessel that holds them.
support for Starweb and Starcon	All features of Cobbleweb (my original Starweb playing aid) have been integrated into Constella, including Starweb order checking. (No order checking support for Starcon.) Starcon Starweb
autoloading of saved games	After saving a game file, use the menu command File/Add game to auto-load list to store the file name in "ConstellaGames.txt". If only one game is listed in the file, it will be automatically opened when Constella starts. If more than one game is listed in the file, they will be presented as choices to load when the program starts.
preferences stored for each game	All preferences are now stored in the game file. For instance, you can display different sets of world attributes for each game. The most recently used folder is also stored as a preference. The file "ConstellaPreferences" is no longer used.
Window sizing remembered	The size and position of the main map window is now remembered. The location of the sliders (below the map, and next to the world list) are also remembered.
New format for saved games	Saved game files are now created using XStream. The Constella distribution now consists of two files, constella.jar and xstream.jar. Unfortunately, saved games from previous releases cannot be read.

Acknowledgements