Lead Developer, Stardock Entertainment
CariElf's Articles » Page 2
June 30, 2008 by CariElf
The update to 1.96 should show up on Stardock Central and Impulse shortly.  If it doesn't show up for you, try switching to server US-1 (that's the first one it gets copied to) and refresh your XML data.  If, after updating with Stardock Central, your titlescreen still says 1.95 or earlier, see below the change log for instructions on how to force it to re-update. + NEW: Clicking on Race Logos on the Civ Manager>Timeline>Legend screen will toggle them on/off in the timelin...
June 27, 2008 by CariElf

Some of you may be aware that I've been a panelist at Dragon*Con the past two years.  I usually forget to post about it until the last minute, but I'm trying to get my act together early this year.    Dragon*Con happens in downtown Atlanta every year during Labor Day weekend.  It's a great convention for geeks of all kinds, and seeing downtown Atlanta swarming with storm troopers, furries, elves, pirates, and anime characters is just awesome. 

I've sent in my application to be a Guest this year, so I'm just waiting to see if I get accepted.  My plan is to go even if I don't get accepted and crash the game developer panels.  (It's a common occurance.) 

So I have two purposes in posting today: first, to invite all of you to come to Dragon*Con, and second to bounce some ideas off of you for panels for if I do get accepted.  I haven't had to submit my panel ideas yet, so if you guys come up with something better, I can still use your ideas.

June 19, 2008 by CariElf
Hey guys, I'm really sorry for the delay, but things have been really crazy around here.  We did manage to squeak in a few more changes.  The update is available on both Impulse and Stardock Central. (Includes changes from 1.92, the unofficial alpha) + NEW: Improved Starport improvement graphics + NEW: Zoom to Mouse cursor option + NEW: Added ship components for Disruptors IV and Photonic Torpedo III techs + NEW: Removed a duplicate entry in the StarbaseModules.xml file....
April 16, 2008 by CariElf
We've got a week to go and things are looking pretty good.  Our list of bugs fixed since the last update is actually longer than this, but I had to cut off what was going into the update or we still wouldn't have it up.   At this point, we are looking for game breakers and typos.  Brad has locked himself in a room with a large supply of Coke and junk food and is making the final changes to the AI.  Well, I'm exaggerating, but he is in AI coding mode as we speak....
April 10, 2008 by CariElf
I killed a lot of bugs this week.  We're getting close on the invisible ships bug, which we were finally able to reproduce here, but only in release mode, which means that we're debugging it with output statements, so it's taking awhile.  We did manage to determine that it is unrelated to the "Warning: Clone Frames Failed" message in your debug.err files.  That happens every time you go to build a starbase that is not on a resource or an ascension crystal.  The next b...
March 27, 2008 by CariElf
Well, we had some problems initially getting the right files up on the server but we seem to have worked those out so we're going to go ahead and publish the beta.  If you can't see the latest update, try restarting SDC to see if it updates.  Then go to tools->Internet settings and change to US-1.  Refresh XML Data and then Check for Application Updates. Most of the AI changes were made to the Drengin AI, which is also used by the Korath and the Yor.  I put in some ...
March 20, 2008 by CariElf
I know that you guys have been waiting for this update for awhile, and I apologize, but we've had a nasty bug going through the office and as soon as someone recovers enough to come back to work, the next person gets it.  I'm still recovering from it, actually, but since it's a viral infection only time will get rid of it. If you can't see the beta, try switching to US-1 as that's the server that gets the updates first, then it synchs to US-2.  You may also need to Refresh your XML...
March 3, 2008 by CariElf
I've been seeing some questions about some of my new features, the option to have the AI design ships for the player, and auto launch.  So I'm going to go into a little more details about these new features than the change log went into. Auto Launch I'll start with Auto Launch because it's the simpler feature.  We had the auto launch feature in GalCiv1 before we added rallypoints.  It does just what it says: it launches all of your ships as soon as they are built.  We...
February 1, 2008 by CariElf
I'd like to apologize once more for the delay.  I kept running into snags with getting the map editor ready for the update.  I also caught a few more minor things with TA in the process that won't be visible to you as users.  This is also the first build of TA built on my new work PC.  Yay! If any of you are playing GC2 on Windows 98, ME, or 2000, if you could try out the map editor even if you don't plan to use it and see if it works for you, I'd appreciate it.  I'm ...
January 24, 2008 by CariElf
OK, I have good news and bad news.  The bad news is that there aren't any updates to the AI, the tech trees, or the races in this build.  The good news is that Brad is going to be on X-Play tomorrow at 8pm!  He'll be demoing Sins of the Solar Empire.  So he's been in L.A. this week on a media tour instead of working on the game.  We do have some bug fixes and a tweak for you, though. + FIXED: Bug in AIFindScoutDestination where the scout's planet destination was setti...
January 10, 2008 by CariElf
This is mostly a quick fix update.  Sorry for the delay in getting it up, but we've been having server issues.  If you have trouble getting it, try switching your server to US-1. + NEW:  Terror Stars are now removed from a fleet when the fleet is used to attack a star + NEW: Added new option "Move Terror Star Fleets Away From Star Attack If Possible", which is ON by default.    + When this option is on, if you use a terror star in a fleet to attack a star, the t...
January 4, 2008 by CariElf
The Thalans and the Altarians are finally in the beta.  They're going to need tweaking, but we figured that we'd give them to you anyway.  And before you ask, yes, most of the buildings that the Thalan start out with ARE supposed to be galactic achievements.  Read the tech descriptions.    + NEW: Thalans are now enabled + NEW: Altarians are now enabled + NEW:  Planet Improvements: + Shrine of Tandis + Social Matrix + Church of Valor + Gaia Vortex +...
December 20, 2007 by CariElf
So, I'm not the only one who said, "Hey cool, the beta is 3D today!" am I? The Thalans and the Altarians are not enabled for this beta as was previously scheduled because they are going to be wicked cool and with all the excitement of Christmas we were concerned for your heart condition. This update will also include some of the assets for the Ascension Victory, but it is not yet fully implemented. As a note, please make sure to e-mail your bug reports to gc2bugs@stardock.com unle...
December 14, 2007 by CariElf
I think that you guys will find the new additions to be really cool. I don't usually play as the Korx but I did today to test them, and the new abilities are very fun. + NEW: Added War Profiteering ability, which allows you to profit from other civilizations' wars. + NEW: Added persistent trade route ability, which prevents your trade routes from cancelling after your mini-freighter has been destroyed too many times. + NEW: Changed creativity to randomly finish the tech you are researc...
December 6, 2007 by CariElf
Since we posted some of the new stuff with Beta 3a earlier this week, it isn't quite as long of a list as normal, but I think that you'll find the Krynn add a lot to the game.  I also want to take the time to thank you guys for the great job you've been doing with the beta reports. Just as a reminder though, don't send in your reports to support@stardock.com unless you actually can't start the game or something of that nature and you need a response.  Send them to gc2bugs@stardo...