A Multitude of Small Changes

I implemented a bunch of smallish changes over the past few days. Most importantly:

• The bug that prevented players from exiting battles and upcoming battles has been fixed.
• The error message that occasionally popped up when surrendering has been corrected.
• I have revised the pre-built detachments to make them simpler for new players (i.e. fewer different types of craft).
• The last tick / next tick view mode selector is now easier to understand.
• The tick interval now defaults to 30 seconds. This is probably too short for more advanced players, but is better suited to newcomers who are trying to get a feel for the game.
• I have added a three-player map called Tristar.
• Deployment indicators (the concentric circles overlaid on a new unit) are now white if the unit is to be deployed next tick, and green if the unit was already deployed last tick. They were previously always green, making it difficult to tell if the deployment had actually occurred.
• Buildcraft now have a larger building range, instead of only the one tile directly in front of them.

In my last post I wrote about my plans for upgrading the craft action / tick system to accommodate some of the fancy craft capabilities that I have in my head. That will be important, but it's difficult for me to ignore the fact that the game is usually empty right now. Looking forward over the next couple weeks, I am going to put a lot more work into promoting Catastrophe X and accumulating the critical mass of players that the game needs to be fun. The game isn't ready for prime time just yet, but it would be nice to have at least a handful of players online at any given time.