This release adds the tactical combat into the strategic game. Now, when the UPF and Sathar end up in the same system in the strategic game and you pick the fleets that will be involved in the battle, to "To the Battleboard" button now illuminates and when you click on it starts up the tactical combat game with the actual fleets involved. It is now possible to play out the entire game "hot seat" style with two players taking turns at the same computer.
I've provided a sample game file that you can use to play around with the strategic game if you don't want to set up your own. Just save the file to disk and use the File->Open menu item to load it up. It has a minimal Sathar entry - four 5 ship fleets entering from 4 different points - and was saved right after the setup was complete so it is the Sathar's turn (they can bring in more ships if they want) and SF Nova is not yet on the board.
In the tactical game, I've added in the effects of gravity when moving around a planet on the map. Now when a planet is present and your path goes by it, the computer will automatically adjust your path to swing around the planet.
Ships' weapons are replenished at the end of a strategic turn once combat is over. However, the supply rules are not currently being enforced which means that any ship that survives the battle automatically gets its ammo replenished even if it is technically out of supply. However, there is still no repair so lost weapons and HP stay lost.
There are probably some edge cases in various areas that I missed so if you run into any problems let me know. I'll be updating the User's Guide over the next few days to include the complete strategic game instructions in addition to the existing tactical game instructions.
The sample battle is still there and still pits 3 UPF Assault Scouts and 1 Frigate against a Sathar Destroyer and Light Cruiser. However, I've added in a planet and armed station for the UPF so you can test out the gravity effects if you don't want to play the entire strategic game. I'll be curious to see how many times each team wins with the new balance of power.
Here are the download files:
Download the Windows version (~1.6 MB)
Download the Linux version (~4.4 MB)
I said this with the last release but I mean it this time. It will probably be a while before another release comes out. I'm going to be doing some serious refactoring of the code behind the scenes and adding a bunch of unit tests. I decided to get the somewhat playable full game out first so you have something to do while I'm working on this. There are some issues with the code base that I need to clean up to really be able to move forward that I want take care of and it may take a while.
In the mean time, enjoy and send feedback.