- Dev Update 2024 - 4 January 2024
My fellow commanders! From the dev changelog, it has been five years since the last version release of 3.00.20.04 back on 01-02-2019. Yes - time flies. A lot has happened in those five years, both personally and professionally. But, as you all expect, I am still here. We did lose some of our friends and family along the way, but one day we will see them again. Back in 2015 when I decided to refresh the UC game via a DLC instead of doing a new Battlecruiser/Universal Combat game, it was supposed to be a relatively easy 12-14 month affair. As these things go, the more that I peeled back the layers of legacy code in a bid to upgrade them for one last dance, the more I discovered dependencies that either couldn't be left untouched or which stifled the implementation of other improvements. The challenges were further compounded by the fact that I was not only porting updated versions of vari…
- Something Awesome This Way Comes! - 18 August 2022
Hello Fans! Some people have been asking for multiplayer in the Universal Combat suite of games released here on Steam. Here's an explainer. As I mentioned in the forums, multiplayer was implemented in the original Universal Combat (2004) and up to the first Collectors Edition (2007). Maintenance and server backend issues, coupled with new features and updates made the multiplayer version lag behind the single-player version with each new point release. Unlike the All Aspects series, the Universal Combat series - which use different core engines - were never developed with multiplayer in mind because they were derived off the original Battlecruiser series. Thus, having to add multiplayer to a single-player game was fraught with all the usual challenges that such an endeavor entails. So, in the long run, having to sync the multiplayer with single-player features, bug fixes etc. was an on…
- Maintenance Update - 17 August 2022
Minor cleanup
- Maintenance Build - 17 August 2022
Minor revision/cleanup. No data or code changes.
- Battlecruiser Millennium Gold - 30 August 2021
So there's a restoration project for BCM Gold underway. More details are in this forum thread
- DEV STATUS UPDATE Q3/20 - 10 September 2020
OK - I don't even know where to begin with this without writing a massive blog. So I'm just going to try to keep it short and simple. As you all know, the Battlecruiser and Universal Combat games spawned from them are a labor of love and which I have worked on for almost three decades now. With various games in the series being derived from a previous game version while using engines and features, over the years code bloat (if it ain't broke, don't touch it!) accumulated to an unmanageable degree. Over the years, I replaced or upgraded most of the legacy code - to the extent that as of this writing, very little of the original Battlecruiser game code exists. In fact, all of the original legacy code written in TASM and MASM have since been replaced with C/C++ versions. This has been an on-going process each time I dare look at this code base with more than a passing glance. Here comes th…
- DEV STATUS UPDATE Q4/19 - 14 December 2019
So another year goes by - just like that. Remember my lengthy Summer 2018 update? Sure you do. For the past year, in between working to re-launch and bring Alganon back online, working on the UE4 port for Line Of Defense, dealing with some RL issues etc, I have also been working on the next MAJOR UCTLC build. Since the last build release, so much has changed between the official (3.00.19) and PTB (3.00.20) versions that merging the two and releasing a single build, will be a version with a LOT of broken things in it. And I don't want to keep having to maintain two branches. So I decided to hold off until I had completed some critical code which I've been working on, while also replacing old content with new (some of which you have seen in the PTB versions). Once that's fully completed, I can then deprecate both the current public and test builds in favor of a new unified build, then con…
- BUILD 3.00.20.04 RELEASED - 3 January 2019
Another build has been released via the Public Test Branch. Please refer to the complete changelog for more info. The known issues log has also been updated. Once updated, Steam client should show BuildID 3439098.
- BUILD 3.00.20.03 RELEASED - 30 December 2018
Another build has been released via the Public Test Branch. No new content. I just decided to release my current DEV build so that it matches the PTB version at year end. Please refer to the complete changelog for more info. The known issues log has also been updated. Once updated, Steam client should show BuildID 3434897.
- BUILD 3.00.20.02 RELEASED - 29 December 2018
This MINOR build has been released via the Public Test Branch. Please refer to the complete changelog for more info. The known issues log has also been updated. Once updated, Steam client should show BuildID 3432677
- DEV STATUS UPDATE - 28 December 2018
This is just a quick end of year status update. I had planned to push the latest 3.00.20.xx PTB ver to the main branch by year end; but I simply couldn't make it. This was primarily due to the massive amount of legacy planetary scene content that still needs to be replaced or the scenarios simply won't work. If you're already using the 3.00.20.01 PTB ver, then you already know that ALL the legacy planetary scenes have been removed, and awaiting replacement (each one is MANUALLY BUILT) with the newer ones as seen in the new scenes already released with that build. The main issue is that any IA or ACM scenario that requires those scenes, currently has problems. e.g. a unit that needs to be a specific location, will likely be in a completely different location due to the size and scale of the new scenes. So EACH scenario has to be scanned for planetary locations, then those locations have…
- BATTLECRUISER 3000AD - 22 YEARS LATER - 2 October 2018
22 years ago on Oct 1st, 1996, the one that started it all, BATTLECRUISER 3000AD (aka BC3K) was commercially released. Eight years later, after the series evolved beyond a single capital ship, I added more advanced features such as allowing the player to control any and all of the game's assets, fps mode in space and on planets etc, the series spiritual successor, Universal Combat, was released. A short story. http://dereksmart.com/2018/10/bc3k-is-22/
- BUILD 3.00.20.01 RELEASED - 27 September 2018
This build has been released via the Public Test Branch. Please refer to the complete changelog for more info. The known issues log has also been updated. Once updated, Steam client should show BuildID 3160131.
- BUILD 3.00.20 RELEASED - 17 September 2018
FINALLY!! This is a MAJOR release! It requires a mandatory re-install of the game even if you don't own the DLC. To avoid confusion, I am not putting any notes in this bulletin. Please refer to the complete changelog for more info. Due to some missing content and random instability (not very frequent), this build is released via Steam's Beta test branch. It took a while to get it to work for a DLC, but I finally got it working. So there are now THREE builds to choose from depending on whether or not you have the DLC. AVAILABLE BUILDS Base 2.00.05 game The Lyrius Conflict DLC 3.00.19 The Lyrius Conflict DLC 3.00.20 (via Beta tab) INSTALLATION UPDATE 09-18-2018 Please follow this procedure to uninstall and re-install the game, even if you don't have the DLC installed. Backup your saved games (.19 games are compatible with .20) Uninstall the base game. This will also uninstall the DLC Inst…
- BUILD 3.00.20 STATUS UPDATE - 2 September 2018
Hey guys, Just a quick update to let you guys know that I am still working through some breaking issues which I have recently fixed. The issue that I am faced with is that, from this point on, future builds can and will break certain functionality (99% of which are graphics related) as legacy things are removed, replaced etc. That major work has started with this upcoming .20 update which, as you can see from the changelog, is pretty massive. So I have been looking into setting up a BETA tab so that .19 and .20 can be run independently. Going forward, this will allow me to have a stable and unstable build for people who want to switch while still checking out the new things. However, as TLC is actually DLC and not a full title, the Steam backend isn't being co-operative. But I am still trying to figure a workaround. If that fails, then I will have no choice but to roll out .20 and just…
- BUILD 3.00.20 STATUS UPDATE - 10 August 2018
Yes, it has been awhile but this was a major update and quite a few things were either flat-out broken, or didn't work as expected. In the end, I decided to move some items into a later build in the interest of getting this one out sooner. I have now updated the changelog to reflect the final revision. I am planning to release this update SOON. Yesterday I also released an update to the base 2.0 build due to some legacy issues which were worth fixing there. Stay tuned!
- BUILD 2.00.05 RELEASED - 10 August 2018
This is a minor maintenance release to the base UCCE 2.0 game. If you are already on the 3.0 (The Lyrius Conflict) Early Access build, then you can only play this by uninstalling 3.0 within the Steam client. The upcoming UCCE 3.00.20 build will pick up these base line updates as well where applicable. See the full changelog for more details.
- DEV STATUS UPDATE - 3 May 2018
As it has been over a month since I teased the release of a MAJOR build, I wanted to post a quick word on the latest status. It's a combination of things; but without getting too technical, here is briefly what's been happening. GAME DEV IS HARD - EVEN FOR A VET OK, that one was obvious. But it's a lot more complicated than that. As you know, my plan with this 3.x generation was to improve on the game in a variety of areas including not only in terms of visual improvements, but also in improvements to the AI, gameplay elements, world assets etc. But putting on a coat of paint, can only go so far - especially since I really don't plan on doing another complex game like this. Ever. That's why I created the ACM scenario first, and tested it using the previous engine iteration etc. Part of the visual improvements involves porting UCCE to use the slightly more advanced engine used in AAW/AOA…
- 3.00.20 INBOUND. AND IT'S MAJOR! - 24 March 2018
This is a very extensive update which wasn't scheduled to be released until later this year due to the sheer scope. On the content side, as there will be new scenes mixed in with the legacy ones yet to be removed, it means that any/all scenarios which take place on the planet, will likely not work as expected due to referenced units not being present where they were scripted to be. Particularly since the new scenes are very large. They are 8km x 8km compared to the approx 1.5km x 1.5km sizes of the legacy ones. The All Aspects engine (used in AAW/AOA games) suite being ported over, also has a vast number of built-in features which have to be ported over or things will either break, or just cause more work to be done. e.g. the character animation system is completely different in AAW as it is skeleton based. Which means that all the characters in UCCE have to support it. Which means that…
- 3.00.20 INBOUND. AND IT'S MAJOR! - 24 March 2018
This is a very extensive update which wasn't scheduled to be released until later this year due to the sheer scope. On the content side, as there will be new scenes mixed in with the legacy ones yet to be removed, it means that any/all scenarios which take place on the planet, will likely not work as expected due to referenced units not being present where they were scripted to be. Particularly since the new scenes are very large. They are 8km x 8km compared to the approx 1.5km x 1.5km sizes of the legacy ones. The All Aspects engine (used in AAW/AOA games) suite being ported over, also has a vast number of built-in features which have to be ported over or things will either break, or just cause more work to be done. e.g. the character animation system is completely different in AAW as it is skeleton based. Which means that all the characters in UCCE have to support it. Which means that…
