Fed2 Star - the newsletter for the space trading game Federation 2

The weekly newsletter for Fed2
by ibgames

EARTHDATE: May 15, 2016

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NEW FEDTERM IS NOW LIVE

by Hazed

The new version of FedTerm, the game front-end, is now live and you can download it from our website here: http://www.ibgames.net/fed2/fedterm/winfedterm.html. This is the version for Windows.

This is a complete rewrite of the program. Alan realised that in order to put ship fighting into the game he was going to have to add some features to FedTerm – for example, the ship stats need to show details of weapons, and the maps need to display peace locations. But because the older version of FedTerm was nine years old, which is programming terms is positively ancient, and because the tools he used to design the graphical interface were out of date, he started from scratch and redesigned the program.

The new version simplifies the interface by removing some of the features that nobody uses.

It also adds some new features – in particular, a page for traders which lets you buy and sell with a click of your mouse.

The FedTerm manual has been updated and you can download the Word document or read it online here: http://www.ibgames.net/fed2/fedterm/manual/index.html.

Installation Notes

When you run the program you have downloaded the installation process will start. You can choose where on your computer to put FedTerm – the default is c:\ibgames\fedterm3. Just make sure you use a new, empty folder – do not install it into the same folder as your old version of FedTerm because that will mess things up!

Logon Details

You will have to re-enter your logon details because the new version of FedTerm stores them in a different place from the old version. If you have forgotten your ID and password you can find them in the folder for your old version, in the file called init.xml.

Map Files

New FedTerm’s maps are not compatible with old FedTerm. They contain more information about the locations, for example whether a space location is a Peace loc. That means that when you first run new FedTerm the maps will all be blank and you will have to re-explore the planets to redraw the maps.

Notes for Testers

if you downloaded the test version of FedTerm (versions 2.60.40 to 2.60.52 then you should install the live version into a different folder. This is because we made some changes to the library files needed and they may be incompatibility issues if the two sets get mixed up.

This doesn’t mean you have to start your mapping all over again - you can copy over your maps from version 2.60 to the folder for the live version. Maps live in the maps sub-folder. Similarly, copy over your log files from the logs sub-folder. You can then delete the folder that contained the test version. If you have any questions about this, just ask.

You won’t need to re-enter your character details because those are stored outside of the FedTerm folder.

Thanks to those who helped us test the new front-end.

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