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The seemingly endless stream of updates for Vicarious Vision's space sim Terminus is becoming a saga almost as engrossing as the game itself. Thankfully, this series of patches seems to be nearing the end, but VV is still adding features and tweaking gameplay now that the major bugs have been eliminated. This latest update tweaks the AI, addresses issues with saving and loading games, and adds several console commands for those running servers.

The console commands that have been added are quite powerful, and demonstrate clearly how interconnected and functional the economy that underlies this sim really is. One command allows you to adjust the amount of a particular 'gadget' (resource or purchasable object) at a given starbase, allowing you to drive up or suppress demand for any piece of equipment or material at will.

Here are details on this update:

Changes in version 1.8

• COMMON: Fixed a crash when saving a game in some situations.
  
• COMMON: Fixed a crash when loading a game after changing number of player saves in terminus.cfg
  
• COMMON: Several script fixes.
  
• COMMON: Added code to prevent AI for waiting around and doing nothing.
  
• COMMON: Added support for entering the port number of a server in the Join Game dialog. Simply enter the server address in ip:port format.
  

  
  Notes:
  New Server Commands
  There are several new console server commands. The first set deals with the max player saves situation. The command "setmaxplayersaves" allows you to adjust the number of player saves on the fly. If you decrease the number of player saves some player saves may have to be dropped. The command "getplayersavestats" displays how many player save slots are being used currently.
  

  
  The next set of console commands does basic economy management. By using "displaygadget," a server admin can display the price and quantity of a gadget at a base. For example:

  
  displaygadget "flare" "belt station"

  
  The "addgadget" and "removegadget" commands take the same parameters but perform opposite functions. For example:

  
  addgadget "flare" 10 "belt station"

  
  The above command will add 10 flares to Belt Station.
  

  
  In a story mode game, adding PVGs to the economy could break some scripts. Additionally, if you remove critical gadgets from bases, such as iron or water, the base may cease producing some products. This, in turn, could lead to shortages that prevent ships from leaving the base.
  

  
  Eventually the base should recover, but beware of the impact of your actions.
  

  
  Additionally, you can only add and remove gadgets. You cannot add/remove ship hulls, armor, or fuel and energy.

Terminus Demo 1.2

Terminus Demo In-Depth

Terminus Preview

Terminus 1.8 Patches

Vicarious Visions Terminus Downloads

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