Star Wars: Armada - Vassal module version 4.2.0

By Green Knight, in Star Wars: Armada

My confusion is there is no macOS system shortcut using Control-Right Arrow or Control-Left Arrow. But I can't hotkey command the Vassal nav tool rotations.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236

Don't lose hope - I've just updated my old mac mini with the latest VASSAL module and can confirm that at some point in the past I deactivated enough keyboard shortcuts that ctrl-L/R arrow does indeed work. It might be that I'm using a windows keyboard, but i don't think so (I remember using an apple keyboard last year...).

However, I did it so long ago that I can't remember exactly what i did! Sorry....I'll keep trying to remember!

21 hours ago, ShoutingMan said:

I deactivated Ctrl Left Arrow, for example , which trigger Expose (window management) and enabled speed change or something like that.

But I can't figure out how to get Nav Tool rotations to work from the keyboard.

I'll try to dig around some more for other Mac commands that might be confusing the Vassal system.

Mac can be a hassle. But you can turn off most of the default Mac shortcuts.

I've been able to make the maneuver tool shortcuts work. But it's been years since I tired it.

On 3/20/2020 at 4:08 AM, Maturin said:

Don't lose hope - I've just updated my old mac mini with the latest VASSAL module and can confirm that at some point in the past I deactivated enough keyboard shortcuts that ctrl-L/R arrow does indeed work. It might be that I'm using a windows keyboard, but i don't think so (I remember using an apple keyboard last year...).

However, I did it so long ago that I can't remember exactly what i did! Sorry....I'll keep trying to remember!

Thanks. Any tips are appreciated! Next weekend I expect to be digging into Vassal further and maybe even trying to play games (maybe sooner). Any tips on making it usable on a Mac would be helpful! Both my regular opponent and I are Mac users for home / fun use.

Edited by ShoutingMan

Noticing some bugs in this release:

  • If you use the Rebel symbol to spawn a 'Doomed Station' objective, it arrives on the table as 'Dangerous Territory'
  • Adding evade to a ship (Needa Interdictor, say) from a recorded log file seems to go away on match starts
  • Contain token on the Starhawk only seems to discard, not exhaust (reported by @EbonHawk )

MC75's on vassal deploy with 2 rear shields instead of 3.

Just installed vassal to watch some armada games - just a question is the a mod that allows the chat text to be converted to voice as I here no chat between players, and would like some feedback from being the observer.

47 minutes ago, Mjorr said:

Just installed vassal to watch some armada games - just a question is the a mod that allows the chat text to be converted to voice as I here no chat between players, and would like some feedback from being the observer.

As far as I know, no. All communication is either done through Vassal chat, Vassal PM, or a third party like Discord (which is when it's voice).

Edited by GhostofNobodyInParticular
2 hours ago, Mjorr said:

Just installed vassal to watch some armada games - just a question is the a mod that allows the chat text to be converted to voice as I here no chat between players, and would like some feedback from being the observer.

You can see the chat in the game room you are in - 90% of the time (and 100% if I'm playing, as I prefer the logging it allows) that's all the communication going on. There are often lulls when someone is thinking about something or working on the dials - usually the players comment on that in chat when they think it will be a while.

On 4/3/2020 at 9:48 PM, xanderf said:

You can see the chat in the game room you are in - 90% of the time (and 100% if I'm playing, as I prefer the logging it allows) that's all the communication going on. There are often lulls when someone is thinking about something or working on the dials - usually the players comment on that in chat when they think it will be a while.

I think it's safe to assume that if you see absolutely no chatting in a game, they players are voice chatting via a different program (Skype, Discord, etc). Not sure on the etiquette around dropping in to listen - I suspect most people won't mind, though it's easier to do when they're on Discord than Skype.

Finally some Armada news!

While this isn't enough to trigger a new module version, I thought I should let you know that my dev version is already rigged to receive new factions, so it's just a question of adding new cards and tokens, and the ships/squadrons once they hit the real world.

Later.

On 4/2/2020 at 5:16 PM, EbonHawk said:

MC75's on vassal deploy with 2 rear shields instead of 3.

Fixed in next build.

On 3/27/2020 at 6:48 PM, xanderf said:

Noticing some bugs in this release:

  • If you use the Rebel symbol to spawn a 'Doomed Station' objective, it arrives on the table as 'Dangerous Territory'
  • Adding evade to a ship (Needa Interdictor, say) from a recorded log file seems to go away on match starts
  • Contain token on the Starhawk only seems to discard, not exhaust (reported by @EbonHawk )

No. 1 and 3 are fixed in the next build.

Not sure I fully understand the nature of 2/can't replicate.

Edited by Green Knight

In other news:

The graphics bit of ship/squads for CW is already in place.

Thanks to the internet and the many talented fans who make such nice ship models.

But for now there is no point adding it, since we don't have ship/squad cards, nor good arcs estimates.

I've also taken the opportunity to update all squadron graphics to the same top-down format.

Module version 3.13.0 is available!

Download: http://www.vassalengine.org/wiki/Module:Star_Wars:_Armada

Direct download link: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AmLOw84tw_3Yg41RygPZ1eleAbmMFA?e=CgLB7a

Checksum: 3d1b5130

This version starts to introduce some improved graphics. It also starts adding spoiled CW cards.

3.13.0 is not fully backwards compatible bc of the graphics changes.

ArmadaExtension_AltMapSizesPack_2.5.2.vmdx has a fix for the 3x3 setup area (RitR).

CRITICAL BUGFIXES
Fixed the Speed-0 turn bug

OTHER BUGFIXES
Squadron card backs now have the correct size.
Spawn point now correctly spawns Doomed Station.
MC75 will now setup with 3rd shield in the rear.
(Someone reported a bug with Starhawk contain token. I couldn't replicate. Seems to work in 3.12.0)

MAJOR NEW FEATURES
Squad bases updated with tweaked size and a grey band around the edge.
New squad graphics for some squads.

OTHER NEW FEATURES
Better scan RitR map (thanks to ArmadaMatt).
Added spoiled cards: Reactive Gunnery and Munitions Resupply.

TO-DO
The rest of CW...
Replace ALL cards once the Card Pack hits.
Add new scans of damage cards that have the right game text.
Get scan of Superweapon card back (for now the Superweapons have the Turbolaser back).

Edited by Green Knight

All hail the vassal god GK! But seriously thank you!!

For a very long time I've wanted to redo some of the graphics to make the module more coherent and visually appealing. Still no 3D models 😛 but looking quite good for system that was made to model cardboard counters :D

All ships will have 3 color variants. Not because it's strictly needed, but bc it looks nice and will make telling different ships apart even easier (the colored dots will also remain). This ISD model is obviously still much smaller that the IRL model. This is purely for gameplay benefits, as it would obscure the shield dials if it was to scale.

All the squadrons now use the same top-down images you're used to form the original squads (ships are based on pictures of the real models, but squads are too small and unpainted, so are based off artwork).

Expect this stuff to arrive with the new Clone Wars models.

4b508f394d69ed58725f2398b02ec3ed.png

Edited by Green Knight
9 hours ago, Green Knight said:

All ships will have 3 color variants.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is something I've wanted several times before but didn't even think it'd be possible.

2 hours ago, ArmadaMatt said:

Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is something I've wanted several times before but didn't even think it'd be possible.

Anything is possible with the Force as my ally 🙄 🤔

Blue Group, standing by!

abd578256b449aab16779723730bd3ea.png

There is a bug in Vassal 3.4.X (not the Armada module) that affects auto reporting on stuff like defense tokens.

Basically the module fails to report type of token acted upon. So if you spend a Brace token, the report just says a token.

This will be fixed in the next Vassal release. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Edited by Green Knight

May I suggest something to add to the next Armada Vassal module?

Since the introduction of the Starhawk (especially Kyrsta Agate and the Starhawk ship titles) additional defense tokens can be assigned to Rebel ships. Until now you can only assign the standard number of defense tokens shown on the ship card so you have to put a separate token next to the ship, cluttering the play area up.

For the sake of streamlining the game module I therefore suggest adding two new defense token slots for the Starhawk and the MC80 Liberty (Endeavor title) and one new slot for all other Rebel ships except for the flotillas. Is that feasible?

Since I'm mainly a Rebel player I don't know if additional defense tokens can be assigned to Imperial ships by certain upgrades, too. If yes, additional slots should be added to those ships.

Keep up the great work! 👍 😊

1 hour ago, Laminidas said:

May I suggest something to add to the next Armada Vassal module?

Since the introduction of the Starhawk (especially Kyrsta Agate and the Starhawk ship titles) additional defense tokens can be assigned to Rebel ships. Until now you can only assign the standard number of defense tokens shown on the ship card so you have to put a separate token next to the ship, cluttering the play area up.

For the sake of streamlining the game module I therefore suggest adding two new defense token slots for the Starhawk and the MC80 Liberty (Endeavor title) and one new slot for all other Rebel ships except for the flotillas. Is that feasible?

Since I'm mainly a Rebel player I don't know if additional defense tokens can be assigned to Imperial ships by certain upgrades, too. If yes, additional slots should be added to those ships.

Keep up the great work! 👍 😊

This has been suggested before, and it's a very natural thing to want.

However, due to how Vassal operates under the hood and the extreme complexity of the defense token setup, this isn't such a great idea as it tends to slow down the entire module.

It's been a while though, and maybe the new vassal versions have improved performance. I can do some tests, but I won't guarantee anything.

But at least now you know why it haven't already been implemented.

This got me thinking.

All rebel ships can handle 4 tokens. So only those that go over 4 tokens with Agate need an extra slot. And only the SH needs 6. The SH is also special in that more often than not it WILL have 6 tokens.

So I could re-used the code for the SSD, but with different image layers to account for base size. This will fix the SH. Just have to make sure it doesn't slow things down.

Then the MC-series ships could get a separate definition for an "Agate" icon, as they all have 4 tokens. This could add the 5th token, if needed. Again, need to check that this doesn't slow things down.

Edit: This could be a convenient solution as it future-proofs the CW ships as well.

Edited by Green Knight

To make things easier, you could assign EVERY ship (whether it is Rebel, Imperial, Republic, Separatist) the same amount of 6 defense token slots, so every ship refers back to that same code piece. You won't have to use different code for each ship. Those ships using less than 6 tokens just leave some of the slots unused.

I'm by no means a coder, but that concept should leave the vassal module less complex.

Edited by Laminidas