Evochron Mercenary version 1.488 Ready for Action

Version 1.488 offers the following improvements, fixes, and changes:

- Distress call and event system added providing random emergencies that can occur Evochron mercenary cockpit throughout the game’s universe.
- If a ship-to-ship trade fails due to insufficient cargo space, the cargo will now be dropped into a container in space.
- Hidden cargo container access limits applied by player request (location/travel based only, not numerical).
- UI improvements including new highlight buttons for menus and consoles.
- New font added for improved legibility and a more futuristic appearance.
- Overall memory use at maximum detail settings reduced by about 40 MB.
- Click ranges for a number of options updated for improved accuracy.
- ’Font Mode’ option added to select between the old and new font.
- Map log entry scrolling limits updated for entire line lengths.
- ’Decryption’ error message displayed on some systems fixed.
- New constructor station build point integrity check added.
- New display/video options added to customizing system.
- Deploy constructor pricing indicator corrected.
- Custom quest system capacity expanded.
- Several minor bug fixes.

The new event system provides random emergency situations that can occur in numerous locations throughout the game’s universe (beyond individual sectors as with local contracts). For example, a severe food shortage on a planet could result in a distress call that would pay very well for the first player to delivery food units to that planet. A failed atmosphere processor can result in the emergency need of oxygen. Or a ship could run out of fuel far away from the nearest planet and send out a distress call for rescue. The closer a player is to the emergency, the easier it will be to respond, providing opportunistic options.

There will also be options/benefits for players who prepare in advance to respond to the emergencies. That is, those who want to be a ’first responder’ can carry full cargo bays of the items in need before the distress call is made. This lets them simply fly to the location in need rather than trying to recover the items on route. By the same token, a player who is in close proximity to an emergency could still have time to recover needed material on route and beat a more distant player with the cargo loaded already.

For multiplayer, the server operator can trigger emergency events manually or turn them off entirely. The default setting will provide events at random intervals. In multiplayer, all players will receive the distress call alerts. The first player to answer the call and complete the objective receives the reward.

When a distress call is received by a player, an alarm will sound and a multi-line text description will be displayed detailing what is required to answer the distress call. Players can optionally mute the alarm or turn off the distress calls entirely in the NAV console.

The customizing kit has also been updated for the UI changes, new button options, and new filenames.

This update is required for multiplayer compatibility.

The installer also works as an updating program for older versions of the game. It can be downloaded at: http://www.starwraith.com/evochronmercenary/downloads.htm