Pre-Release Download

As work progresses on Supremacy, I will continue to post updated pre-releases in this thread that you can download. In return, I ask that you provide feedback about your experiences. You are my playtesters, and the more feedback I get, the more fun and stable the final release will eventually be.

What you can do:

• Build buildings
• Build ships
• Redeploy task forces
• Move task forces (ctrl+click to set waypoints)
• Assign orders to task forces (right-click a task force to get an order menu)
• Colonize systems
• Research new technologies
• Upgrade buildings
• Fiddle with an early prototype of the Diplomacy system

What the game can't yet do:

• There is no opponent AI.
• There is no diplomacy AI.
• The intel system s going to be removed and overhauled as part of a future update.
• There is no tactical combat. (You can find a separate demo Here.) [Update: development of the combat demo has been discontinued due to the unfortunate disappearance of the combat system developer. We will be developing a new combat system from scratch]
• There are currently no victory conditions.

These will be implemented in future game releases.

Download and install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 RTM.
Note: If you previously installed the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Beta, you will need to uninstall it first. Uninstalling is not necessary if you have any other versions of the .Net platform but you will still need to install the above version.

• Download the game from the link below.

• Unzip it with an archiving program such as Winzip (Free trial only) or Winrar (Free to install but its got a less user-friendly interface). Use the Wizard that comes with whichever one of those programs you chose and extract the files into a location of your choice. I'd recommend either C:/Program Files/Supremacy or a Supremacy folder on your Desktop.

• That's all you need to do. To actually play the game, just open the folder that you placed the files in and look for a file called "SupremacyClient.exe". This will load up the game. It should be self-explanatory from there.

DOWNLOAD LINK:
http://www.startreksupremacy.com/releases/SupremacyTest_20090520.zip
Last Major Update: 5th May 2009
Current Version Number: 0.4.3427.36588


To those that have inquired, once the game is completed, an installer will be made available that automatically installs the prerequisites. Further, the game will be able to automatically download updates. Until the game is finished, however, maintaining such a service would be a huge pain, and quite simply it's not going to happen.

CHANGES SINCE LAST RELEASE:
In addition to numerous bug fixes, Supremacy is now capable of automatically updating itself. If the automatic updates work as intended, this is the last time you will have to download the entire game at once. Future updates should be incremental, and the game should download only the files that have changed. Also, the game now requires the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 RTM to be installed (if you had previously installed the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Beta, you will need to uninstall it).

GRAPHICAL PERFORMANCE ISSUES
If you experience performance issues or flickering translucent windows in Supremacy (Such as the pop-up menu or the "Summary" window), then you may need to apply a windows hotfix. There are separate patches available for Windows Vista and Windows XP. If one of these patches improves your experience, then please post a quick note in this thread and let me know. It's important for me to know the technical reasons why some players experience performance issues, and how effective the countermeasures are .

Strobel pities the fool who doesn't leave feedback!
Seriously, I've spent countless hours working on this project, and I really want to know what people think. So if I can put in the hours to write the code, you can put in a minute or two to write some comments . Ideally, I'd like everyone who downloads the demo to post at least 2 or 3 specific things that they like, and 2 or 3 specific things that they think need improvement. Don't worry, you won't offend me. I'm not going to get demoralized and quit the project just because people offer constructive criticism . Believe me, it's better to address these issues now rather than later.

Known Issues:

• Issuing the "Explore" command to ships can seriously degrade performance. I recommend not using it.
• Building stations causes the game to crash. Do NOT build them for the time being.
• Ships performing escort duty do not expend fuel when they move out of range.
• The 'Cluster' galaxy shape doesn't work too well on smaller galaxy sizes.
• There is currently no way to terminate diplomatic agreements other than declaring war.
• More detailed information on known issues, as well as some fixes for the issues can be found in This Thread.

We have also released a game manual which includes hints tips, and tricks on playing the game. You can download the manual from This Post.



Supremacy is Windows 7 compatible, but it requires the running of the .Net platform. Unfortunately, .Net may be turned off in Windows 7, which will prevent the game from loading. To turn it back on, follow these instructions:

• Open the search function and go to "turn windows features on or off".
• Find "Microsoft .Net Framework 3.5,1".
• Click on it and it will show two more lines with check boxes next to them. Tick both of the boxes, and then select ok at the bottom of the window. .Net - and Supremacy - will now be able to run.

A couple notes to get you started. First, I recommend you build Wind Turbines and Shipyards. The Wind Turbines are sufficient to power the shipyards. Your population WILL NOT die from lack of food yet, so feel free to reallocate all of your labor to shipbuilding. Shipyards operate at 10x the industry capacity that they should--this is for testing purposes only. Have fun, and feel free to post a bug report if something doesn't work the way it should. Don't post bug reports for missing or incomplete features--some stuff just hasn't been implemented yet. And yes, I'm aware that Earth isn't supposed to have 3 moons (or however many it has when you run the game).

Bit late in the day tonite to try it, but ill give it a shot tomorrow mate.

ill get it.

I think that Vista is upgrading right now though, so I'll get it once that finishes.

I edited your post and added in a link to the .Net uninstall tool from Microsoft, MStrobel.

I've got work in a minute, but i'll download Supremacy when I get home tonight.

Ooh, good call, Mattress. Those uninstalls can be tricky, especially with the earlier prereleases. That tool is a lifesaver.

So, I have tried it right now and it runs quite nicely. I can't wait for a real demo.

As you said, the shipyard is quite "effective", it is weird that 10 ships are coming out of the shipyard in one turn. So after turn 10 I had already a big fleet in orbit around Romulus but I could not attack

I do not know if it is a bug: you said it is possible to extend the ship ranges with offline shipyards, but I didn't even need that, I could fly beyond the yellow lines (I would guess that these are the shipranges) and I had only my Sol System.
Will there ever be static ship range lines like in BotF (green, yellow, red), or will it stay this way. I hope it will be like in BotF.

Another point: I miss the "double click on the system to get in the systems view", I hope you won't forget that.

I wonder, is there a download counter.

I really have to applaude, Supremacy really looks great, and like others have already said, it is the real BotF2 for me. Keep up the good work.

I agree about missing the click twice to enter system view on a system on the map.

The game plays ok but is a bit confusing since its a new game as even tho its like botf theres ton of new stuff and a few things are done differently.

One suggestion tho mike, the movement lines when moving a ship, if you can make them 50% transparent. Might help them look better as there rather strong on the eye and distract when using them.

I do like the map scroll bars, it will make moving from one side of galaxy to the other easily and quickly compared to push sides of screen in botf or using arrow keys which took ages.

Also about using netframe 3.0 is there not someway to just incorporate the neccasary files into the game during install? As i duno about the others but i didnt like the idea of installing it in the first place and also it took about 10 mins to install which i didnt like. Just seems too much bother thats all.

Overall, very nice.

mike when you release little demos like this let me know so i can post the news on the front page, as you know people are forever asking for news

I've already talked to Mike about this, but this demo is AWESOME. There are some issues with it, such as the the planet tooltip flickering when you mouse over a rotating planet, some graphics issues with the build queues when switching colonies, and other things that I won't really get into.

I must also second the double-click to enter system screen ability that BotF1 had. Otherwise, for an early pre-pre-pre-alpha, this is really top-notch.

However, I think the .NET 3.0 requirement would have to remain. Since the .NET framework contains some sensitive files that interface directly with the OS, it would be a pretty big problem to attempt to duplicate them depending on which parts of the framework it is requiring. However, whether the game installs them or you get it from Microsoft to install, it's really a minor detail where the files come from for the user, but it could be an issue if the .NET framework gets packaged with the game (yay licensing!) Plus, I'd assume that the majority (again, majority, not all) of home-users will install the .NET framework (assuming they bother to update their computers at all) so it'd be a safe prerequisite. I do know one or two people who have a grudge against the .NET framework. But that's not really any different than the hardcore Mac users that have a grudge against Microsoft. To each their own.

Very nice , good job, i also noticed i cant enter the system by double clicking, but so far everything looks very good, also easy to find the pictures and planet gfx etc... so easy to change

Keep up and thanks for this, for an alpha its very good...

Hehe I just downloaded Supremacy. It gave me a fright coz I accidentally started playing some music in Morpheus just after I loaded Supremacy - I was gonna question your taste in music, Mike!

It's looking good, and like you said, the first time it loads its slooow. It works fine after that first load though. I have noticed one problem that no-one has mentioned before - although you probably added it in for testing purposes. The Scout is able to Cloak...

Skeeter & Defiant: I wasn't aware that BotF had a double-click shortcut to jump to the system screen. Should be easy enough to add.

Skeeter & Azhdeen: There are no legal issues redistributing the .NET Framework, but at the moment, it's twice the size of the game. Once I get more of the game framework in place, I'll start publishing future demos with the same ClickOnce installer that I used for Galactic Supremacy. That will automatically check for .NET 3.0 and, if necessary, download and install it. It will also automatically update your local version of the game whenever I publish an update.

Azhdeen: The problems with the colony build queues should be fixed in this version. It's a bit newer than the demo I sent you.

Whoelse: No, there will not be rigid ship range lines like in BotF. The range of ships in BotF2 is based how far a particular ship is able to travel from the nearest supply depot or shipyard. The max range varies from fleet to fleet, depending on what ships it is comprised of, which is why the lines only show up when you go to move a fleet. You'll be able to move beyond the maximum range, but you will begin to lose fuel and you risk becoming adrift and in need of tow. Fuel isn't implemented at the moment, so you can travel anywhere without penalty.

Mattress: Yes, I intentionally added cloaking capabilities to the Scout (for testing purposes only). If it bothers you, you can change it in the XML yourself . Look in /Resources/Data/TechObjectDatabase.xml. There's not a whole lot I can do about the slow loading time, because the game is just-in-time compiled. It should load faster after the first time, at least until you reboot. I suspect .NET caches a native image somewhere.

Nah, it wasn't bothering me, I just wondered if you knew about it. It's a little bit unusual for a non-Defiant Federation ship to Cloak, that's all.

it looks pretty good so far

Stupid question; how can I tell what version of XP (normal or 64 bit) that I am using?

Chances are you're using a "normal" (32 bit) version if you must ask. A 64 bit version of XP is only for use with 64 bit processors (AMD 64 and the like).

Although, I'm not sure if dual-cores utilize 32 or 64 bit XP. I haven't done too much research into dual-cores, although I do know they have 64 bit pipelines (so I'd guess 64 bit XP). I could be wrong here as I've done very little research on dual-cores.

However, if you have a Pentium 4 that's almost 2 years old or older or an AMD that is not a 64 bit CPU, chances are you have 32 bit.

In theory, the 32-bit version should work regardless of what version of Windows you're running. As Azhdeen said, if you don't know for sure, chances are you're 32-bit anyway.

I'm loving that demo, and I just got my system back up and running with VS8 so I can do more on those XML and script files mstrobel.

I'm having some minor graphical artifacts in the Systems screen in the Production section. The empty tabs have a thin "full" line on the right side of the tab. It's only one pixel wide, and it may be just the fact that I have to run in 1440x900 res.

One other thing (and I'm also ummm...forthing(?) that double-click on systems feature), I miss the F keys and ESC functions. F1 was the Main screen, F2 was the Systems, and so on. Also the ESC button would take you from any screen, right back to the main galaxy, and if you pressed it on the galaxy screen, you'd get the menu. Nothing too hard to program, just a convenience feature is all.

About 64-bit computing, my Core 2 is a 64-bit Dual Core processor, but I don't have Windows XP x64 Edition (very few people do) so the fact that my Proc can handle 64-bit instructions doesn't mean anything. The OS can't, so that's that.

The way you find out your OS is by right clicking on the My Computer icon and clicking Properties. Under the General tab it will show your edition of Windows. But as mstrobel says, 32 bit version should work regardless.

Raven, can you send me screenshot of the visual artifacts you're getting? It shouldn't be an issue with your resolution, as I run 1440x900 as well. Thanks for the note on those keyboard shortcuts--they'll be easy to implement, and I didn't even know they existed in BotF. Thanks again for working on that XML for me .

No prob, I'll attach it to a new post when I get home.

One other thing I noticed is that the System information (Name, Pop, Growth, etc...) disappears when you go into the Systems view. I'll attach a screen of that too if you want.

I get some lines when i zoom out of the galaxy screen.



Edit - Nvm as mike said there the seperator lines for the quadrents.

Skeeter: Those white lines on the grid are the quadrant axis lines. They mark the divisions between the four galactic quadrants (Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma).

Raven: I disable the system stats in the planets view in the system management screen. I'll probably add them back once I figure out how I want to redo them. At the moment, larger systems get scaled down quite a bit at lower resolutions, and the class letters beneath the planets become difficult to read. I'm debating whether to add the system stats to the left-side panel of the System Screen as an alternative (under a heading "Population Info", which would include race, population, max populaton, growth rate, morale level).

Uploaded a slightly updated version of the demo and updated the link in the original post. I added a couple shortcut keys (and the double-click sector shortcut), added some music, and made a few minor tweaks to the build list and build queue controls.

I downloaded the old version just before you put up the updated version. I made a list with some points that I noticed, some of them where already mentioned but I will just put up the whole list.

- Secondary programs running on the pc may pop up during the game (example: when someone signs in on msn messenger it pops up in the game)

- Sol (and other owned systems) show ?/? orbitals.

- System stats disappear in system view.

- All names of star systems and stellar bodies are visible when you select the system.

- With a ship selected and you only want to deselect it with a right click it instantly brings up the right-click menu.

- Ship stats are missing (speed for instance)

- Fed scouts can cloak?? Intended no doubt, but why? It is not canon and that technology did not exist in that time period.

- Description of, for example, pulsars, do not fit in the screen.


That was it so far, probably most of these issues are known already or even fixed already. Nevertheless, I appreciate the work done. It is looking very, very promising. Keep up the good work!!

Really nice Mstrobel, one thing i really like is the pull down menu near the top to select other systems, nice feature.

One bug which cropped up but i can't seem to replocate is i had a refresh issue where the old screen overlapped the new one when moving from system screen to galactic map, bringing up other popups etc fixed certain sections and ending trun cleared it all up anyway. anyone else experience this?

Sounds like a glitch with the WPF, Direct3D, or your video drivers. I don't see how that could possibly happen the way I have the screens managed. In other words, I think it was a display issue independent of my application.

I posted another update to the demo, this time with some performance enhancements. The link in the main post has been updated.

Added a new version of with a couple bugfixes and a simple music engine that features different music tracks on each screen. Your game also auto-saves each turn, so if you run into any interesting bugs, you can send me a copy of your savegame file. Sorry, no manual game saving at the moment, though you can always copy and rename your auto.sav file.

Will look up this update soon, bit tired atm since its 5am. :p