release notes

release 0.26

• Constella now works with Starweb text turnsheets, as well as Starcon XML turnsheets.


• All features of Cobbleweb (my original Starweb playing aid) have been integrated into Constella, including Starweb order checking. (No order checking support for Starcon.)


• All preferences are now stored in the game file. For instance, you can display different sets of world attributes for each game. The file "ConstellaPreferences" is no longer used.


• If the file "ConstellaGames.txt" exists (in the same folder as constella.jar), the game files listed therein will be presented as choices to load when the program starts. If there is only one file name, it will be loaded without prompt. You can modify the file by hand, or use the menu command File/Add game to auto-load list.


• The size and position of the map window is now remembered.


• The option to auto-load turn files is no longer supported. Do you miss it?

release 0.25 (not released)

• The save format has changed, again. Use File/Load Directory... to load all turns and recreate your map.


• New saved game files will have the extension "csox". They are created using XStream. This XML format is somewhat readable by humans.


• Artifacts are now displayed under the world or ship that contains them.


• Ships are now displayed in order, first by player, then by number. This order is observed both in the text display and when drawing the ships around a world.


• The text display of vessels includes extra spacing to help things line up. For instance, most "energy/ship" numbers should aligned.

release 0.24 (the anniversary release)

• Warning: This release cannot read saved game files from previous releases. Use "File/Load Directory..." to make reloading (a little) easier, but you'll still have to rearrange your map.
  
  
• For large maps, scroll bars will appear as needed. If you drag a world off the right or bottom sides, the map will automatically scroll and expand.


• A list of worlds (bottom right) makes it easier when to find a given world. Click on any world number in the list. A red circle will appear around the chosen world. If the world is not visible, the map will automatically scroll to reveal the world. Click on another world to move the red circle, or on "world" 0 to remove the red circle.


• Two new Print commands (in the File menu)
  • Print multi-page... divides the map into as many pages as needed before printing. You may want to save the game, then open your game file again before printing to trim empty space off the map.
  • Print to fit... scales the map to fit on one page.


• Worlds no longer move a little when you click on them. You may still move them by click-hold-drag.


• New preference "target connection length" (on the map tab), with a default of "5". The larger this number is, the further apart worlds will settle during the auto-map process (after pressing "release all anchors").

release 0.23

• Warning: This release cannot read saved game files from previous releases. I know it is very annoying to reload all turns and rearrange the map.
  
  
• Preferences/world attributes: You can display additional world attributes on the map. You can display the bulk, population, defense, or any other attributes for each world. The screenshot has been updated to illustrate this feature. This is the beginning of this feature; I would like it to be much more customizable: colors, shapes, sizes, text, show-for-me, show-for-others, and others. Please send me your feedback and requests!
  
  
• Window/Players: The beginning of player preferences (colors, nicknames?, others). In this release, it displays player names and colors, but they cannot yet be changed. For now, it serves as a reference card for player colors. See the screenshot for an example.

release 0.22

• Defense rings are now updated correctly when new turns are loaded. Previous, newly placed defenses would not show up.

release 0.21

• Fixed the tortenstŸke problem. Previously, on later versions of Java for Windows, the ships displayed as elongated flags, obscuring each other. Now on Windows, ships appear as small blobs encircling the world, as they do on Macintosh (and in the screen shot).
• The ship blobs are a little bigger. The number in the blob (representing the energy level) is one point larger.

release 0.20

• Ever have trouble mapping lots of worlds all at once? Try loading them one at a time (in order) using File/Load Directory... Load a turn, arrange worlds, then load the next. When you choose the next turn to load, the existing worlds are "anchored", and only the newly-seen worlds float. Note:A green checkmark next to a file name means that turn has already been loaded.
• When arranging worlds (auto-map), pre-existing worlds are colored gray, new ones are pink. Also, no extra things (like owner color, ships, and defense rings) are shown while arranging. When you click anchor all, the Extras you selected in Preferences will appear.
• In Preferences, there is now an option to automatically open a game file. Whenever you start Constella, this game file will automatically be loaded.
• In Preferences, there is now an option to automatically load new .XML turn files.
• With automatic loading of both the game file and turn files, all you have to do is start Constella. Any new turn files will be added to your existing map. Note: If you are playing more than one StarCon game, the auto-load options are less useful. Let me know if this is troublesome; I may be able to implement a "choose" dialog on startup.
• World colors should now accurately reflect the current owner of the world after reading multiple turns.
• Note: Constella .20 cannot read saved game files from any previous release. This will probably happen again in future releases -- but is made slightly easier using Load Directory. But you would lose the map. I will try to stabilize the save file format as soon as possible.
• You may have multiple saved games, and can call them anything you like. By default, a file extension of .cso is used. (File/Save, File/Save As, File/Open)
• Open/Load/Save/Print commands are all in the File menu now, and have been removed from the tool bar.
• Please save your work. File/Quit looks for changes and prompts you to save, but some changes might be missed. In particular, using the operating system quit command (Command-Q on Macintosh) bypasses checking for changes.
• The last directory you used for Load Turnsheet or Open Game is remembered.
• Now using the brushed metal look on Mac OS X. Let me know if you hate it. I might get rid of it or turn it into an option.
• On Mac OS X, menus are located on the menu bar (instead of in the Constella window).
• More stuff that I have forgotten...

release 0.19 (not released)

• Important! The format of the save file (ConstellaData) has changed. Release 0.19 cannot read a saved file from any previous release (sorry!). This is probably going to happen several more times, but it will not matter much until I fix the brain-dead turn load scheme.
• Added scroll bars to the map (but the total size is not much bigger -- that will come later).
• New preference: shaded worlds (this was incorrectly labeled "shaded ships" in release 0.18. This makes the map draw more slowly.
• Many internal changes to improve performance and make it easier add new features. Please let me know if you see any bugs.

release 0.18

• "load your turnsheet" now remembers the folder you used last.
• New preference: shaded ships
• New preference: skip auto-map on turn load (advanced options). This might be useful with the current brain-dead turn load scheme. Or not.

release 0.17

• Added ability to put a blue ring around worlds with defense.
• New button on toolbar: preferences.
• Current preferences: show ships, show blue ring for defense
• 0.17.1, 0.17.2: Fixes for Java 1.2 compatibility

release 0.16

• Some worlds and connections that were missing are now shown. Please let me know if you are missing anything.

release 0.15

• More information is displayed about worlds and ships (but not all).
• File/load ConstellaData, File/save ConstellaData. These new commands allow you to save your map, and reload it later. This is intended for use with a single turn. Constella still does not handle multiple turns well.
• Some worlds and connections that were missing are now shown.

release 0.14 (3 March 2003)

• Initial public version.