HARDWAR.INFO NEWS CHANNEL - ARCHIVE 19th April 04
19th April 2004
Max has been busy fixing and modifying beta3.5.. To make Hardwar E.. (enhanced) That is he's read everyone's suggestions over this past year or so and edited hardwar's main program file.
Summary
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current 0.92 (* previous + current)
* savegame reload crash fixed (BgFixID bug)
* supply-demand economy, updated in real time
* plot: 'body-parts smuggling' section restored
* throttle fix
* afterburner is now 'on-demand' (when and how long you want it)
* server save interval 1 minute
* take ownership of moth when owner is in 'limbo' -first one inside
* AI less likely to stop and recharge/repair unnecessarily when under attack
* target information feature (requires radar/target software)
-cab passenger
-target hull/power/energy/target's target
-extended cargo information
-police moths have access to criminal record/moth registration
-hangars will display their interest in moth's cargo (normal in network client mode)
* repair costs proportional to hardware
* fog depth extended (can be reduced in the manager)
* pod values modified (general increase)
* 'rare' moth factory opened
* fusion cell fixed rate (very low) - but high enough to sustain flight / rate reduces with damage
* economy monopoly factors - sole purchaser / supplier - rare item (on sale) price
* purchase/sell stock from a private hangar - (blocks players/their thugs/repairs)
* moth recharge at affiliated hangar
* automatic moth repairs at owned hangar
* shield rate increases when critical ~1/3 -consumes energy / stops leaving enough energy to escape
* some cheating/exploit fixed * mines/oreproc role modified
* world creation gaps filled-in (eg DT moths,Gen Ind. software)
* cab collect/deliver routes added (eg faction/gang - moth factories)
* extra traders,cabs,builders
+ default economy permission and purchase moth software from owned hangar
+ economy: cost of production factor
+ moth strengths based on moth type and pilot role eg. pirate,enforcer
+ scrubber / skinner patrols
+ AI Queueing fixes (not stuck-in-scenery bug related)
+ added cell4->fusion cell and fusion leakage hazard
+ damaging faction buildings == trouble / damage to clones
+ gamma estate agent covers + haven midway reservoir mines
+ manufacture all weapons
Economy
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Calculated based on supply and demand factors Hangars selling exclusively an item will hike the price, this is a monopoly factor. Hangars that are the only purchaser of an item will lower their purchase price to reflect lack of competition. If there is only one item advertised on sale the price will be hiked. This is the rare item factor. Manufacturing costs reflect the difficulty of production - not only the price of the raw materials.
Targeting
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Targeting information has been added. Requires software upgrades.
Information includes cargo quantity, and average market price. A hangar will examine moths cargo and indicate purchase quantity and price. Hull condition is displayed in the top bar below the target name. If the target is a moth the shield bar will be displayed in the lower bar.
Fusion cell
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The fusion recharge rate is crippled. The faction scientists did manage a viable cell which could sustain a controlled fusion reaction allowing unlimited flight. Increasing the recharge rate would just lead to another disaster. No one wants to fly around with a unstable fusion reactor. Damaged fusion reactors leak and destroy electronic circuits. Other fusion cell 'fusioncellmk2' see 'produceinfo'
Private hangars
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Running a private factory is possible. The AI will buy and sell items. Players will not be given access. Moth recharge inside hangar
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If a moth lands inside a hangar the cell will be filled from the hangar electric network. The conditions: The pilot owns the hangar The pilot belongs to the hangar faction The passenger owns the hangar The passenger belongs to the hangar faction (allows cabs to get a refill) A damaged hangar cannot refill moth cell.
'Exclusive Moths'
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Provides the discerning moth customer with a 'high-end' moth to add to their collection. Produces Police, Deathshead and Swallow exclusively. There is a Neo Tiger available for a short time.
Hull strengths
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AI Pilots have access to moth upgrades, in particular enforcers and faction moths. These upgrades further modify hull/shield strengths. Moth hull/shield: In decreasing order: DeathsHead Police ... Moonmoth Hawk Neotiger Less than original: Swallow SilverY
By the time you read all that.......
You can get hardwarE from Max's section here at hardwar.info downloads.
currently version E092
First install beta 3.05 patch
then replace hardwarW.exe with the one from max's patch.
then.. well that's it really..
Post any idea's/problems etc at HpGalaticus's HW2 forum
-- http://invisionfree.com/forums/HW2_Project/index.php
--
16th February 2004
Been a while since I posted news here. But the forums have always been the hive of activity. Unfortunately Ade's board seems to have died.. another great store of knowledge lost.. but this is not the first board to have gone under and will probably not be the last. HpGalacticus & the HW2 group have a board and Zedo's Arborwood board are still alive.. Also i've added a board here for info on the various downloads and for site visitors to leave there comments etc.
http://invisionfree.com/forums/HW2_Project/index.php HW2 BOARD
http://www.arborwood.com/forums/captainzedoshardwarboard/ CAPTAIN ZEDO'S BOARD
Big news.. Flaps work on Misopians (rather excellent) script editor for hardwar 2.04 is opening up posibilities for new plots and interactions.. The comming moths will reveal all. Version 1 was released in time for Xmas.. see the downloads area here for your copy and the boards for frequent news on progress from flap.
NEW - BY PlaguedMind
ASROC .. automatic server restart on crash. Dec 2003
WITHOUT !! THIS UTILITY A CRASHED ONLINE SERVER GAME WILL NOT GET RELAUNCHED
UNTIL
YOU SHUT IT DOWN AND RESTART IT MANUALLY.
NEW BY MUN & PLAGUED MIND
Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 5:45 pm Post subject: Hardwar Version Switcher v1.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi all, it's been a long time.
I just finished making this piece of software. Basically, I was getting fed up with those self extracting patches so I made this software that will quickly patch to any version you want. Read the readme for more detailed explanations. Extract the files into your hardwar directory and enjoy.
..
All these and more.. DOWNLOADS SECTION
Downloads of the hardwar demo continue.. some weeks my stats
indicate as many as 100 downloads.
Details of how to patch it to version 2.04 and play the full game (minus the
video clips) are in the download section.
3.04 seems to have settled as the beta of choice for online games. Hammer is currently hosting again (cheers mate) see the online games section & the community boards for connection details and news on any other games being hosted.
10th November 2003
Work has continued slowly on savegame editor..
Re-released cell & engine mod racemod. revised to work on 2.04 patch
as well as 3.04 and 3.05. In 3.05 it has extra effect in that if you blag
an alien moth it uses the deaths-head frame.. Why?? so you can see out the
windows and target things..
Racemod itself.. is my attempt to add a little more speed (ok a lot) and re-balance
the power to weight of moths.. i.e SilverY is light and fast but can't carry
many weapons.. Heavier moths can carry more weapons but are slightly slower
than SilverY.
.. I've taken my 3.05 game down for a while.. currently having a little fun
in hammers 2.04 game.. refreshing not to spend so much time babysitting the
economy.. but i do miss the TI commands.
12th August 2003
I began work on a beta3 version of hardhangar in july.. See my download section
for the current version. Post any problems suggestions etc. on Ade's board.
This is a work in progress so back up your sav game file before using the
editor.
Update. Currently at revision 7.. Editor has abiltity to set stock, prices,
& production levels for any item. Also you can set hangar cash & quickly
do a hangar reset = clear all stock & deposit 200,000 .. useful for creating
demand when traders have no-where left to sell goods..
Other news.. A growing band of folks on the boards are working on an unofficial hardwar 2 see the boards for further details.
30th June 2003
Congratulations to Captain Zedo's site on celebrating 4 years of service to the hardwar community.
As for hardwar.info it's just about 1 year now since I set this site up. A lot of changes in this past year.. the loss of Software Refinery being the saddest.. And the eventual releasing of the U3 beta's being one of the happiest. Also the influx of new hardwar fans & programmer's who are sure to ensure this game live's on.
I've just added a new facility in the downloads section to be able to upload hardwar files you'd like to share.
June 8th 2003
Uploaded latest beta patches by Max, includes usb throttle patches for 3.3 3.4 & 3.5, economy & save game patches for 3.5, Afterburner multi use patch (tested in 3.4 & 3.5 so far). + many other optional extra to tweak the beta's
Uploaded 2 afterburner sound files for use with the new afterburner patch
Uploaded a hardwar.wld file which I think has stopped the AI tunnel bug between alpha & downtown. (works for new games only).
There's been a lot of activity on the boards recently with folks hex editing the save games to figure out the structure. If your not reading the boards for the latest news.. you sould be. (see the link on my nav bar.. Ade's has become the board of choice for the community at this time.. but you'll still find an occasional post on the previous board & a wealth of information shared over recent months)
May 23rd 2003
Just uploaded a new internal hangar skin made from textures from unreal tournament
2003
March 30th
Been busy this week using plaguedminds spr2bmp file to create some skin packs for hardwar..
March 16th
Just uploaded 2 new hardwar programs written by plaguedmind. The first lets you convert spr files to bmp's so you can now repaint most of the textures used in hardwar (not all.. but he's working on that).. the 2nd is his res extractor for getting the spr files out of hardwar.res.. you can do that via programs already made by other hardwar programmers.. this one though lets you put files back into hardwar.res.. not essential as anything you put in your hardwar folder will be used instead of what's in(or not in) hardwar.res.. but if you want a single distrubutable file to share with folks e.g as a new skin pack this makes that possible. Try them both out and let plaguemind know any problems as they are both brand new and not fully tested..
Most of what's going on in the hardwar community at the moment revolves around finding a stable way to play the beta's especially beta5 which has a massive economy update that wasn't completely fine tuned by SR before they shut down. Fortunately timski & others have been putting in huge efforts to script the prices & buying/selling activity to fix this.. still ongoing but showing great promise.
One of my favourite features of beta5 is the new produceinfo command it the TI (terminal interface).. No more guess work as to what materials a factory need to produce a product. You can see the output from that on the manufacturing page i've uploaded.
Unfortunately we still haven't been able to settle on one
version of hardwar to suit all. Partly due to incompatability issues various
versions have with peoples machines & party due to beta 5 economy being
unstable. But there are so many new players there's enough of us to form groups
playing each version. We still need more people hosting long term games, perhaps
that will come when beta5 has been made more stable.
Personally I find beta5 the most playable on my machine despite the economy
issues & occasional crash.
U3 patch released by Captain Zedo
4th March 2003.
The very first version of the U3 patch is now available at Captain Zedo's
site
Solidox's has now also released all 5 versions of beta3.
I've uploaded them here also to help spread them far and wide.
On a minor note. Added a hell in the cell deathmatch idea to my challenges section.
Install at your own risk because this is a beta & will very probably have bugs that cause hardwar to not run perfectly if at all. Also any games from earlier versions will not be playable unless you uninstall and re-install you current version.
Solidox has just released all five versions of Beta 3 (Many thanks). I've uploaded them to my download page also not because i'm trying to steal the limelight from solidox or anyone else, just simply so that as many people can find them as possible & to share the cost burden of providing enough download bandwidth.
I found U3.00b1 from Zedo's didn't support my geoforce3 graphics card (some other card are okay) & there where various other bugs making the game crash. Have just tried U3.00b5 and the graphics + joystick throttle is working again (reports have said that the economy i.e. buying and selling prices get screwed up, but i haven't checked that out yet). I plan to test all 5 versions and see what bugs each has with my set up.
-- THESE ARE BETA'S NOT FULLY STABLE RELEASES --
-- SO INSTALL AT YOUR OWN RISK --
-- check Zedo's forum to discuss bugs & solutions etc..--
Hardwar Downloads & Underdogs.org -- March 2003
If reports are accurate, during february, 3000+ have downloaded
the demo+2.04 patch+missingres.exe bundle from underdogs. Every day there
are new members logging onto Zedo's hardwar community forum. This game is
finally starting to grow a fanbase that is screaming to buy the game officially,
but for now can only get it by patch demo & "abandonware iso"
means. In addition 250+ have download the 3files from my site in recent weeks.
I think the missingres.exe I made using Cypher (E_voids) extractor.. gave
this demo/patch version the final push it needed to make it stable for a wider
audience. But for whatever reason fate has given this great game a new bite
at the world wide recognition it deserves.
I've been getting a lot of visitors exploring hardwar.info. Welcome, I'm working
hard trying to make this site easier to read & giving you all the information
you need to get playing online & offline.
I've only scratched the surface of what's known about hardwar at this site
so I recommend you view my site in conjuction with all the other hardwar sites
listed on my links page.
Hardwar Download Feb 2003
If my site statistics are to be believed 88 people downloaded the demo last
week & 40+ the patch.
I guess that means we have a lot of new pilots joining the hardwar community.
Welcome one and all
Do visit the board at Zedo's to make yourself know. Have any of your questions
answered & share your tips/discoveries etc.
Also feel free to copy any of the downloads to your own hardwar site.
Let me know the address and i'll add it to my links when you feel it's ready
for public viewing.
Moth Paintshop remove Feb 2003
To save a little on bandwidth & because it was really a page without purpose beyond showing off. I've removed the page of my painted moths, you can still see them here and there in the general graphics that illustrate the site.
Hardwar Movies added. Feb 2003
I've made a few hardwar movies from screen grabs, have a look at the movies link. They take a few mins each to download fully (each is approx 600k)
Download Section added. Feb 2003
Along with a minor refresh of the graphics here (mostly so you don't need the flash plug in to view the first page, but you'll need it on the paint shop page)... I've just added a download section to hardwar.info, where you can get the last patch released (2.04) & the original demo of hardwar (which can be patched to play the full game .. minus the videos & soundtrack). I've also used some of the tools written by E_Void to extract the missing files such as scenery textures to fix a few minor bugs with the "demo/patch full game" (thanks jeff for letting me know that putting these extracted files (from hardwar.res)in the same folder as hardwar will fix the missing textures in the .res file).
Despite the sad loss of SR late last year, there's been a renewed burst of activity in the community lots of folks are still playing online games despite the lag and are putting in huge efforts to deciding what can be done to enhance/patch/clone hardwar... the future looks optimistic for hardwar fans.
SR ~ R.I.P.
Sadly software refinery has fought it's last battle.. They brought us a great
game and supported it above & beyond all reason for many years. Good luck
and good fortune to all the team in your futures...
As far as the U3 patch goes, check out the board at Captain Zedo's for an
update.
Jan 2003
I guess I haven't done much here for a while and have had a little break from playing hardwar so much (but I am still playing and will continue to update this site over the coming year). Hardwar.info has finally made it into the google search results on the first page. The forums are a little quieter these past few months but there's still a regular group of players hosting games and showing there continued enthusiasm for hardwar.
Forums
27th Oct 02..
Due to recent events I have added a forums page rather than linking direct
to
planethardwars forum (my personal favourite), I'll leave you to chose which
board you prefer to use, or like most ppl use them all.
Ghost tunnel using Hardluck.exe cheat 27th oct 02.
27th Oct 02 but found some time ago.. Install the hardluck.exe program
then when in the game hit F12 then use F11 to cycle until viewing your moth
position it outside the hidden tunnel between downtown and reservoir,
use the +/- keys on the keypad to zoom in and out and the 0 & . keys to
rotate your view
Zedo's has returned..
24th Oct 02.. Due to his busy life, Captain Zedo had to take a little time away from updating his site. His return has shown how much his presence has been missed.
He has put up a new board but has linked the 3 main boards in action at this time and I guess in time folks will get used to posting in more than one place
There's also a lot of new content on his site and work has begun to remove dead links & add links to new sites
Challenges
24th Oct 02.. I have been playing through some challenge ideas & trying to come up with some new ones, details of ideas as bugs are ironed out will be discussed in my postings at the planethardwar forum, once an idea is complete i'll add them to my challenges page here.
I welcome any ideas you would like to include, & will add them with appropriate credit
Paint Shop "My Moths" updated,
24th Oct 02.. Thanks to the tips on zedo's site i finally got downtown moths to build one of each moth type, and am working on painting them all (still have never managed to get bargain moths to build a swallow, someday they will co-operate)
new Moon Moth, Hawk & Deaths Head - 10th oct 02
Hardwar Sites
I have moved the hardwar links into a page of it's own to keep things a little tidier and to allow more sites to be listed. Sites aren't listed in any particular order (i.e. they are not ranked), I'll leave you to judge for yourself which sites you like.
Well it's happened again 30th Sept 02
Yet another message forum has inflicted adverts without warning. Fortunately
ninechars got a new board up and running today, so check it out for yourselves
and let him know what you think of it. Personally I think it's great, but
I said the same about the aimoo forum until the ads started (But this time
the board is under ninechars complete control so there will be no ads).
There are links to the old and new boards on my nav bar.
I've added a new section for online / offline challenges 30th Sept 02
I know there not as good as the one's at zedo's but it's a start and I hope they are at least a little different, most of the challenges on zedo's board are too tough or time consuming for me at the moment. If you have any you'd like to add, please reply to one of my postings on the new forum.
Hardnet
Hardnet was recently brought back to life by it's creator ninechars
this program lists online hardwar games being run by its users,
you can chat with them within the hardnet program
and join active games directly from the interface.
A great program and ninechars is currently working on a new improved version.
