This release unveils a complete rewrite of the command parser to increase the
power and flexibility of typed commands, and commands in macros. Besides
improving the internal handling of GECP commands such as 'route' and 'explore',
this also allows intercepting and enhancing built-in GE commands. Currently,
GE's maneuvering and cargo handling commands have been enhanced.
Along with that big change, there have been many small fixes and improvements,
thanks in part to valuable assistance from players Leo and Sean.
24 Nov 2018: GECP v2.0.0
(the "What I wanted years ago" edition)
has been released!
The focus of this release has been the tasks below. As a result, the main
screen of GECP is largely the same as the original, with some improvements.
There is certainly room for a lot of work on the UI. But for now we have:
Reimplemented to run on modern operating systems.
Added advanced new mapping and navigational capabiltites, including:
Map Window
Displays the positions of all nearby ships, planets, and wormholes.
Realtime Mapping
Builds the map of sectors and planets as you fly.
Starmap Download
Download and import a complete map of known space, updated daily, if
made available by your Sysop.
Advanced Autopilot
Calculates shortest routes, taking into account known wormholes, and
flies your ship to its destination. Supports complex routes with
multiple destinations.
The main screen of GECP.
The black region across the top holds scanner data to keep it from scrolling
away. At the upper right corner is the indicator panel, which shows the
status of various ship systems. Across the center of the screen is the
hailing window, where messages from other ships will appear. Above that is
the dashboard, which displays your location, course, speed, autopilot details,
and a few quick settings for various commands. The bottom half of the screen
is the main display of text from the game. And at the very bottom is the
command entry bar, which prevents your typing from blocking incoming data by
not sending anything to the BBS until you hit <ENTER>.
You can see on the scanner here, that there is a cluster of ships near me.
It's hard to tell exactly what's going on, but the data suggests I may have
angered them.
The new map window.
Here the same data is displayed with much more impact, and it is obvious that,
yes, I may have a problem.
The green line is my escape route. GECP calculated that as the shortest route
to the galactic center, making use of a nearby wormhole.
The black squares are sectors which have been explored, containing planets,
owned planets, and wormholes (connected by magenta lines).
And the yellow line is the galactic border.
The color of the ships depends on their class. Red is for classes used for
Cybertron ships by default, and yellow is for classes used for Human players
by default. However, the BBS Sysop is able to make changes, and in this case
a few classes normally reserved for Humans have been assigned to Cybertrons.
The map at a closer zoom.
This is a closer view of the area around the Neutral Zone.
You can see that at this zoom level, sectors are labeled with their numbers,
and planets which have been scanned at impulse speed have their environment
and resources quality displayed. Also, at the lower left, you can see one of
my planets, which are displayed green and slightly larger in order to stand
out from other planets.
The sector map.
Here we are zoomed in all the way on the Neutral Zone. At closer levels like
this, the planet names and commanders are displayed. You can also see here
how GECP's autopilot parks you at a planet facing away, for safe departure.
