This record describes API changes in 1.8 Beta 2.

Events

  • Added <OnObjGateCheck> event when an object tries to enter a gate. The event may return Nil to prevent the object from entering. For example, you can use this to prevent the player from entering a gate.

Items

  • Weapons can define explosionType=. If a ship is destroyed by that weapon, the given explosion effect is created (as opposed to the default explosion for that ship).
  • Disintegration now has a chance of success equal to (2 * D * D) + 2, where D is the disintegration value.
  • Added +tracking as an enhancement to weapons.
  • If any item has shipChargesInUseMenu="true", then we show charges on the item instead of a count of items. This is useful for analyzer, e.g.
  • Added tradeID property for items, which returns attribute used for trading computations (e.g., human.basicFood).
  • Armor is disintegration immune at level 15 and above.
  • Armor is shatter immune at level 19 and above.
  • Added canBeDisabled option for cargo holds.

Language

  • <Communications> elements can use id= as if they were dock screen actions. This allows for specifying labels in <Language> elements.
  • Added escapeQuotes flag for itmGetName to display item names with embedded quotes in dock screen.
  • Added syntax for gendered words in <Language> strings: "%he:var%" turns to either "he" or "she" depending on (@ gData 'var).

Missions

  • Added recordNonPlayer= parameter to prevent deletion of a non-player mission.
  • Added totalAccepted property.
  • Added totalExisting property.

Ships

Device Fate

When defining a device slot on a ship, you can specify what happens to the device when the ship is destroyed. The fate= attribute on a device slot can have the following values:

  • alwaysComponetized: The device drops as components (if any).
  • alwaysDamaged: The device always drops damaged.
  • alwaysDestroyed: The device is always destroyed.
  • alwaysSurvives: The device always survives intact.
  • default: The default behavior happens.

Other Changes

  • Added <EnhancementAbilities> to device slots, to confer enhancements to the installed device.
  • <Hull> element in <ShipClass> type can define timeStopImmune and cyberDefenseLevel.
  • Added <Wreck> element to define wreck properties.
  • Ships with interior HP are immune to disintegration.
  • Added playerBlacklisted property (whether the ship has blacklisted the player).
  • Added extraPowerUse property for installed devices, which will cause device to consume extra power.
  • Added cargoSpaceFreeKg and cargoSpaceUsedKg for ship to return cargo space in kilograms.

Stations

  • When a <SystemType> places a station (with <Station>), you can use eventHandler= to specify an event handler for that station.
  • Added cannotBeHit= parameter to <StationType>.
  • Elements in a ship table can have build="true" if that entry should be built (instead of enter via stargate).

Systems & Topology

  • Added uncharted="true" to stargates in topology. This prevents a stargate connection from being revealed without actually passing through it.
  • Added deferCreate= to topology nodes to prevent creation of a system until the player enters it.

VFX and Graphics

PNG Support

PNG images are now supported; alpha channels on PNG images are automatically applied (no need to specify a separate mask). Note, however, that PNGs are significantly larger than JPEGs (due to lossless compression).

sysCreateEffect

In API 41 you can create an effect with sysCreateEffect and set parameters at create-time. For example, you can create a <Ray> effect and set the length at runtime:

(sysCreateEffect someUNID anchorObj pos rotation { length:27 })

ImageFilters

Added <ImageFilters> element to <SystemType> to define a system with custom filter effects.

Other Changes

  • Added lightning style to <Orb>.
  • Stations can have images with rotations (as if they were ships).

TransLISP

New Functions

  • msnGetTypeData
  • msnSetTypeData
  • rollChance
  • sysGetStargateProperty
  • uiIsKeyPressed

Other Changes

  • Added numberReal to fmtNumber to format real numbers to default precision.
  • Added +itemAttribute:{attrib} as a special criteria.