Beta Testing - MegaMek, MekLab, MekHQ: v0.43.5-betaNov11

[BLOODWOLF]

So, I am going to release these betas for early testing before we hit the feature freeze and start working on a new stable by Christmas.  Neoancient fixed the packaging utilities for HQ so that MM and the MML.exe's run in the HQ release now(that's what delayed this from being done Sat night).

###Note: each program is stand alone and not to be used as a patch for an older release (I have to state for new players)
###Any bugs found report them on https://github.com/megamek they will be forgotten on this post

MegaMek 0.43.5-betaNov11
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HTvadvYhYD3QycE1KLpHh03cE9nfRMar

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v0.43.5-betaNov11
+ Tech Progression Fixes.
+ PR #686: Large Craft Advanced Point Defense Rules from Stratops p96
+ PR #686: Expanded AMS functionality. Now works against Arrow IV Homing and LAA/AAA/AS missiles per the rules for
    large, single missiles in TW.
+ PR #686: Santa Anna S2S nuclear missiles now correctly deal *10 damage to SI on a successful cap missile roll.
+ PR #691: Princess controlled conventional fighters will now drop bombs
+ Bug - TP wrong for AP Mount (Inner Sphere)
+ Cleaning up the Docs folder, and adding some other files.
+ Issue #684: Alternative Proto-AC ammo
in the process of Implementing the Proto-AC Ammo, I noticed the Clan Improved AC's didn't have them implemented
+ PR #693: Show unit roles in summary view.
+ Bug: Infantry weights calculated wrong, due to double adding of AntiMek training.
Fixing unit files to include standard Foot infantry and AntiMek Trained one.
+ PR #699: Errata: Mechs should not become stuck in mud
+ PR #701: Space stations now require 2 pilots, which fixes issues in MHQ
+ Issue #680: Updated startup.sh to handle Java 9
+ PR #706: Fixed several quirk-related NPEs. Implemented display of partial repairs on unit info card.
+ Issue #704, #299: Bot units will now scamper out of disabled transports.
+ Issue: Last man standing victory could fire even when checking for victory is disabled
+ Feature: Adds ASEW missile functionality
+ Feature: "OUR WORDS ARE BACKED BY NUCLEAR WEAPONS" -Mahatma Ghandi (adds Alamo, Santa Anna and Peacemaker warheads)
+ Issue #530: MegaMek Help->Contents now points at Readme.txt
+ Issue #711: Aeros and spacecraft with destroyed fire control system or combat information center now count as crippled
+ Issue #716: Targeting a non-Entity with Arrow IV Homing Missile no longer causes NPE
+ Issue #666: Linked equipment now works with bay weapons
+ PR #740: Optional cargo/transport bay damage on cargo critical hit for large craft
+ Issue #205: Airborne dropships can now fire Arrow IV artillery from weapon bays (as long as there's only one artillery weapon per bay)
+ Issue #743: Skidding Vehicle freezing Client(s)
+ Issue #738: CamoChoiceDialog.valueChanged NPE
+ Issue #521: Submarine cannot pass under bridges in a turn when their elevation changes.
+ Issue #725: BattleMech Mechanical Jump Boosters not working correctly.
+ Issue #702: Unable to deploy ASF over Woods
+ Issue #631: Show quirks in the Unit view when in the mech selector
MegaMekLab 0.43.5-betaNov11
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1mPCCOB0qRETO9PMBIFgI6tt2rQ6lpYB4

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v0.43.5-betaNov11
+ PR #81: Armor allocation view: rewrite of the armor allocation panel for mechs, vees, and fighters, with
          more convenient controls for patchwork armor. Also fixes patchwork armor weight calculations per
          TacOps errata.
+ Bug: Filter out bulky armor and structures for LAMs.
+ Bug: Set superheavy engine flag for superheavy mechs.
+ Bug: Superheavy mixed tech units cannot use Clan structure, since superheavy and standard structure are
       different and there is no Clan superheavy Endo-Steel.
+ Issue #93: Conventional Fighter Heat Sinks
+ Issue #90: Conventional infantry not showing support weapons.
+ Issue #95: Vehicle fusion engine weight calculated inconsistently
+ Issue #98: Changing MP on VTOL causing chin turret to disappear
MekHQ 0.43.5-betaNov11
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Mn14hKqyYEyZP0ks8o9lKdHs5QSm7Rck

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v0.43.5-betaNov11
+ Issue #496: Possible Packaging issue for releases with MekHQ
+ Issue #490: NPE with campaign.universe.RandomFactionGenerator.addBorderEnemy
+ Issue #494: Regenerate LAM Pilot selects from the Mechwarrior pool.
+ Issue #488: Select bombs throws "index out of bounds" errors in particular campaign file
+ Feature #280: Role folders now supported for random portrait assignment
+ PR #440: Track & report time in service
+ PR #502: Edge use for non-combat personnel
+ Issue #416: Base Attack scenarios fail to generate turrets
+ PR #439: Calculate DropShip rental costs based on untransported units only (and also take into account mothballed units)
+ Issue #452: Actually limit contract search based on contract search radius
+ Issue #429: Switching ammo now updates the UI
+ Bug: vehicle and conventional fighter refits not accounting for possible change in heat sinks.
+ Issue #514: Feature Request: Building Conventional Fighters

[NickAragua]

In case someone tries this beta, there have been some upgrades to the Princess AI - notably:

- The ability to fully operate gun emplacements
- Improved turret-placement ability (no more stacking all turrets on top of a single CF-10 building - now favoring high-CF and taller buildings)
- Improved behavior with regard to disabled units (we should no longer see Princess units bunching up around ejected mechwarriors and hostile bot units that are immobilized or under forced withdrawal)
- Oh yeah, and handling of aerospace units on ground maps (watch your facing!), with the exception of spheroid dropships.

So, feel free to let Princess play around with turrets and aeros and let us know if she does anything weird or illegal (or particularly dumb, but that last one is always difficult to tell if it's a bug or not).

[snrdg091012]

Hello BloodWolf and NickAragua,

As a new kid which of the three betas do you recommend I play with?

[NickAragua]

If you're just starting out, I'd probably just mess around with a couple of random lance-on-lance battles in MegaMek.

MekHQ is for managing a persistent force and keeping track of all the "excel spreadsheet" stuff in a campaign, while MegaMekLab is for building and customizing mechs (and vehicles and other stuff).

[Simon Landmine]

- Improved behavior with regard to disabled units (we should no longer see Princess units bunching up around ejected mechwarriors and hostile bot units that are immobilized or under forced withdrawal)

Hurrah! (I've had to 'punish' Princess-operated 'mechs in the past after they decided to stand around an immobilised, disarmed, 'mech and keep firing until the pilot was dead.)

[Andras]

I can't get the Mac version of MegaMekLab to launch.

I get "The application “MegaMek” can’t be opened." as a message.

[BLOODWOLF]

Were you able to launch MML with the 0.43.4 official release version?  I know zero about mac and dont own one so couldn't test and will not be any help.

[Andras]

Yes, 0.43.4 worked fine.

[Wrangler]

Sorry sound dumb.  Is this Development or something different like Experimental?

[BLOODWOLF]

It's just an unofficial I guess development release for beta testing, we havent had one in a while and are getting close to the feature freeze prior to stable so, we needed it.

[BLOODWOLF]

Clarification: There is nothing custom about this release, it is pretty much a normal development release containing everything that has been pulled into the projects as of Nov 11th.

So if something is broken like the mac release *hands up* I didnt do it, just followed the instructions and tested the windows release of each project and they worked.

[snrdg091012]

Hello NickAragua,

If you're just starting out, I'd probably just mess around with a couple of random lance-on-lance battles in MegaMek.

MekHQ is for managing a persistent force and keeping track of all the "excel spreadsheet" stuff in a campaign, while MegaMekLab is for building and customizing mechs (and vehicles and other stuff).

Thank you for the recommendation.

[BlueThing]

So if something is broken like the mac release *hands up* I didnt do it, just followed the instructions and tested the windows release of each project and they worked.

So, what you’re saying is that we shouldn’t shoot the messenger. ;)

I haven’t moved past the stable. Is a campaign from 42.0 (with some custom units) going to work with this? Or would I need to start fresh?

[BLOODWOLF]

What version after 0.42.0 didnt work with your campaign?  What are you changing?  But, yes you should be able to transfer over your campaign files, custom units, tilesets, custom images (be mindful that names are the same if your replacing them), local_mechset, all of that from one version to the next.  Im sure you know already not to just paste in the new release ontop of an old one like a patch.

[Andras]

Can you double check the weight of the Battlearmor LRM5(OS) as it's the same as the regular BA LRM5, and can you clean up the repeating decimals in the BA LRM4 ammo? If it hasn't already been fixed, since I can't get the new version to run yet.

[BLOODWOLF]

I am not a dev.  Sounds like you need to go on github.com/megamek/megameklab and create a bug report with the log file and screenshots.  I asked around about not being able to run MML on mac for this release but there needs to be a whole lot more information provided.  It might be your setup.

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It could be incompatible java version, permissions not set right, gatekeeper issues, paths, etc
Since MegaMekLab isn’t signed (I don’t think anyways), Gatekeeper throws a fit unless you open apps a certain way (right click and open)

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Would need way more info.
Is he trying to launch from HQ, or stand alone.
Is he trying to launch the jar file,. Or trying to use the Mac app
Personally, I don't use the Mac app, and always down load the "Linux" version
Then launch the jar from the command line.

[Andras]

0.43.4 works fine. There's something about 0.43.5 that won't work. I just redownloaded it and tried again.

The megameklab.jar file doesn't run in any version, but I can run the megameklab application.
I always use the stand alone file, not from HQ.

Conversely, the Megamek.jar game file runs perfectly, as does the Solaris Skunk Werks.jar 

And other java games like TripleA also work fine.

OSX El Capitan 10.11.6
Java 8 Update 151

[BLOODWOLF]

I'm guessing here (have never owned a mac) but, if this is anything like I have experience with windows and trying to run a custom HQ jar then (and I dont know what the file structure looks like in the mac release, screenshot it so we can see) get all three .jar's in the same location.  In the windows release the jars are in the lib\ folder, so to run a custom HQ.jar outside of that folder with all the .exe's you would need to paste the MM and MML jars into the same location as the new HQ jar.

So, if MM runs for you but MML does not, I would try cutting or copying and pasting the MM.jar into the same folder location that your MML jar or app or wtvr it is called for mac is and retry.  MML depends on the MM jar, HQ depends on both MM and MML jars to run.

The Windows exe has scripts or whatever to tell it where the jars are but the just normal jars all need to be in the same spot.  I dont know if this helps any.

[Andras]

I downloaded the entire MekHQ folder, and none of the new versions work from that folder.

I opened up the Java packages and tried to launch Megamak.jar and Megameklab.jar from there. Megamek launched, but it first could not find the mechset text file, then it couldn't use the requested port (already in use/bind failed). MekHQ still refused to work at all.
 
MML seemed to launch, but nothing happened for several minutes after Java fired up. I didn't get the mek design window that normally pops up when launched.

[BLOODWOLF]

Then I dont know, create a bug report on github on the meklab tracker and post the logfile.

[bluedragon7]

I always use the Linux version on a mac, works.
Really like princess using Fighters, will make my campaigns in the future more interesting.

[BlueThing]

What version after 0.42.0 didnt work with your campaign?  What are you changing?  But, yes you should be able to transfer over your campaign files, custom units, tilesets, custom images (be mindful that names are the same if your replacing them), local_mechset, all of that from one version to the next.  Im sure you know already not to just paste in the new release ontop of an old one like a patch.

I didn’t run into any major problems, so I just kept going with 0.42.0. :)

I know that the unit techlevel stuff all changed. I didn’t know if that was expected to be a breaking change for backwards compatibility with anything.

[Wrangler]

If one thing could be added, id I like to see the restoration when selecting units.   Selecting ALL (over all one) as in everything, not specific tech level type of vehicle.  It when you have Dark Age and Succession Wars era units on list of mechs you need to choose.  So your not going from Intro tech to Experimental/Advanced.

[Hammer]

If one thing could be added, id I like to see the restoration when selecting units.   Selecting ALL (over all one) as in everything, not specific tech level type of vehicle.  It when you have Dark Age and Succession Wars era units on list of mechs you need to choose.  So your not going from Intro tech to Experimental/Advanced.

You mean this...


You can shift-click the Tech Levels to select which ones to look at.

[BLOODWOLF]

I have yet to ever have my campaign file not load with a new release.  They are specifically designed so that you can carry your cpnx over to each new version.  I would update Blue Thing and then just paste your cpnx into the next version and fire it up.  Even if players dont care about the new features your still missing out on bug fixes by hanging on to an old version.  Thats like deciding to hold your country back at a medieval tech level with swords and melee weapons while the rest of the world upgrades to firearms and F-16's the way I see it.

[Hammer]

I know that the unit techlevel stuff all changed. I didn’t know if that was expected to be a breaking change for backwards compatibility with anything.

No, IO tech progression is an option.  We have some bugs on the MekHQ side from it, but they are steadily getting fixed.

We are going to try for a new Stable in January.