Hi everyone.

I'm very excited to present our latest development snapshot, which is at the same time our first release candidate for the next stable release that will have the number 0.36.0. If no significant bugs are found in this development snapshot, it will become the new stable release in two weeks. If bugs are found, we'll fix those, and then declare a new release candidate for the 0.36.0, etc.
Anyway, here's the pretty massive changelog for this one. Grab it on the downloads page, as usual.

v0.35.41 (0.36.0 Release Candidate 1) (2013-04-09, 00:16 UTC+2)
+ Bug: Fix to my Double Blind message fix.
+ Bug: Double Blind message being filtered if a unit falls during combat.
+ Bug: Fixing Arana Militia Mech. Wrong Unit encoding.
+ Bug [#3791]: Prototype Improved Jump Jets using incorrect rules (Super Griffin)
+ Feature: Random Basements Option
+ Bug: Cannot choose which bay you wish to have your units load into when there
are multiple of 1 type of bay
+ Bug [#3294]: Mechanical Jump Booster Turn Arrow not Grayed Out
+ Bug [#3780]: Mode Button Grayed Out When Attempting UAC Mode Switch 0.35.40 Dev
+ Bug [#3796]: Optional Ultra AC rule creates extra shot
+ Bug [#3799 ]: 0.39.40 Head Ejection Quirk Name Not Showing Correctly
+ Bug: Partial cover taking damage not working in some cases of 25% cover
+ Bug [#3798]: Rapid Fire MG consumed shots nly shown on miss
+ Bug [#3802]: Rapid fire MGs not effected by direct blows
+ Bug [#3803]: Ammo consumption for rapid fire mgs not always accurated reported
+ Bug [#3800]: Crash landing Dropship doesn't damage terrain
+ Bug [#3804]: Squadrons can't have additional fighters loaded since [r9651]
+ Data: More Units. Space Stations/LAMs(Only playable as Mechs)/Some missing
Dropships
+ Errata: Mech Composite IS should have a BV multiplier of 0.5
+ Bug: more than one TAG on one unit should be legal
+ Bug: M-Pods should not affect TC weight and BV
+ Bug: Fixed a NPE in BoardView1 when using the map editor
+ Bug [#3596]: Assorted Aero Bugs - AR10 related issues
+ Bug: Isomentric view not showing grounded sphereoid dropships as a single
multi-hex unit.
(This fix has a small issue that I couldn't figure out yet, for some reason
the "aft" or "rear" facing side of the unit is ghosted out as if it cannot
be seen by an enemy, but I'm not using double blind. Thoughts anyone?)
+ Bug [#3119]: Squadron Overheat Strat Ops errata
+ Bug : Several issues with the ChoiceDialog for launching fighters. It has a
nag if the bay doors are overloaded with launching fighters. This nag
message has the option to not ask again, but the answer to this isn't saved.
Now it is. Also, the nag is very specific about what kinds of rolls will
need to be made for launching too many fighters. Finally, there was an NPE
if no units were selected and ok/cancel was clicked. This made it
impossible to launch latter bays without launching from previous bays,
but it's fixed now.
+ Bug [#3808]: Launching ASFs from DSs won't damage doors and poor report
formatting
+ Bug [#3809] ASFs launched from a DS aren't able to expend MP in the turn they
are launched
+ Bug [#3810]: When loading Aeros into a Dropships, the short name can get
changed
+ Bug: Trying to load more units into a bay than the bay has capacity causes an
exception.
+ Bug: Protomech Bay checking for instanceof Mech instead of instanceof
Protomech, so can never load protos
+ Bug: Non-bay transporters such as troop space cause NPEs
+ Refactored loading menus to be a lot smarter and account for all transporter
types
+ Added Unload All From Bay # to complement loading into specific bays
+ Bug: Battle Armor Bays still not correctly setting bayNumber
+ Bug: Infantry bays show tons/ton instead of platoons/platoon
+ Refactored arlith's fix for loading too many units so that it doesn't NPE on
non-bay units. He is going to continue to refactor it so that it'll actually
be smarter, but for now it just needs to work.
+ Added entity short names to the exceptions in MechFileParser.java so that we
know WHICH entity has the issue
+ Bug: verifier does not check for ECM for stealth armor/void sig armor
+ Bug: [3812]: Active Probe Incorrect Intro Date
+ Bug: Clear and Load Unit List menu items non-functional in lounge
+ RFE: Reinforcements menu option to load reinforcements mid-game
+ Bug: Next button doesn't always cycle correctly
+ Bug: Capacities aren't checked when loading multiple units in the ChatLounge.
This can lead to exceptions in Server.
+ Better way of creating OfficialUnitList.txt using -oul from command line
+ Bug: Heavy Grenade Launcher has wrong BV
+ Bug: BA myomber booster not being accounted for in BV calculation
+ Bug: Support vehicle weights not considered in EntityWeightClass.java
+ Bug: Timestamp comparison shows local times instead of GMT, and builds for
different OSes can be off by a few seconds.
+ Bug: FighterSquadron wasn't overriding getUnused(entity), and hence loading
into squadrons in the chat lounge was broken after recent changes
+ keep track of loaded entity by their ID instead of by a reference to the
Entity object
+ Bug: NPE if a pilot has too many skills and abilities
+ Remove binary saves, all save files will be gzipped xml from here forward.
Leaving .sav support in the file filters so that people can unzip and edit
their xml save, and then reload it without having to gzip it back up
+ Bug [#3813]: The Next button doesn't work after some Entities are deleted,
since [r9688]
+ Feature: Added an unofficial optional rule to allow on-map artillery pieces
to pre-designate autohit hexes
+ Bug [#3815]: Changing weapon selection in the MechDisplay outside of the
firing phase can lead to NPEs.
+ Bug: Ground bombing was allowed in space, space bombing was allowed in ground
/atmosphere
+ Bug: FighterSquadron had a collection of Entity objects. When server/client
communication happens, these objects can get de-synched with the global
collection of Entities in the client/server. To prevent this, the
collection was changed to Entity IDs
+ Bug [#3816]: Bombs cannot be used with fighter squadrons
+ Bug: Timestamp comparision backwards
+ Bug: Server.sendLoadGame() modification for XML saves only incorrect
+ Bug: transports added to an Entity don't have their game state variable set,
which can lead to NPEs
+ Bug: Jumping backwards across elevation changes with mechanical jump boosters
could cause PSR nags, although no PSRs would be rolled
+ Bug [#3795]: Mechanical jump boosters shouldn't allow drops from any height
+ Bug [#3819]: Ejected pilots/crews still provide Command Bonus
+ Bug [#3113]: TAG against hexes (and buildings)
+ Bug [#3820]: ArrayIndexOutOfBounds in Game.getNextEntity(int)
+ Bug [#3596]: Assorted Aero Bugs (BAP mode switching in Squadrons)
+ Bug: Exception when recovering a Fighter into a squadron: FighterSquadron
needed to overload load(Entity,boolean,int)
+ Bug: Squadron MAX_SIZE is smaller than StratOps indicates
+ Bug: Fixed being stuck in drag-scroll mode after choosing an option in the
context menu with the right mouse button
+ Bug: Movement path for currently moving entity was not scaling as zoom level
changes
+ Bug [#3821]: Squadrons should be able to drop more than one salvo of bombs in
a turn
+ Bug: Fighters added to a squadron have their bomb loadout removed on the
server, but the change isn't reflected in the client
+ Bug: Missing break in HexTarget caused Hex: Bomb to display Hex: TAG
+ Bug: Fixed a divide-by-zero in Game.getEntity if Game.entities is 0 (ie, the
player is an observer)
+ Bug: Problems with unload(Entity) methods: transporters were changed to use
entity Ids instead of Entity references. Many of the unload methods were
trying to remove an Entity object from a Vector which caused
problems
+ Bug: Improper clearing of minefields on game reset could lead to NPEs in
subsequent games.
+ Bug [#3824]: Clicking on a hex won't path to that hex in certain circumstances
+ Bug [#3381]: Compute.inVisualRange and inSensorRange don't consider altitude
+ Bug [#3826]: Added a ClientPreference DebugOutputOn which can be used to
configure the client to print out additional debug information (or not).
+ Bug [#3828]: Secondary positions aren't considered when targeting with flight
paths
+ Bug: Fixed potential NPE in StepSprite.refreshZoomLevel()
+ Bug [#3827]: Report 3090 can't be seen in double blind
+ Bug: ClassException from bad typecasting in Deployment and Movement phases'
loading routines
+ Bug: Added an option to flip the zoom direction for the mouse wheel
+ Bug: CommonSettingsDialog was not initializing the selected values for
MouseWheelZoom and MouseWheelZoomFlip
+ Bug: Visibility state of the UnitOverview was not being remembered
+ Bug: TacOps partial cover damaging cover not working in some situations with
vertical cover
+ Bug [#3831]: Board.load(InputStream) does not reset board min/max elevations
+ Bug [#3603]: Refactored Entity.isHexProhibited(IHex) to
Entity.isLocationProhibited(Coords)
+ Bug[#3603]: deployment and movement checks for grounded dropships
+ Bug: Fixing error in Mechset.txt.
+ Bug: Glancing blows against conv infantry should have damage rounded up
+ Bug: Mech.getOriginalRunMPwithoutMASC() was calling Entity.getRunMP(3) instead
of Entity.getOriginalRunMP, this could cause Mechs withs JJs and leg damaged
to be marked as invalid
+ Bug [#3832]: One legged mechs jumping without a PSR
+ Bug [#3833]: Aerospace Unit Deployment Not shown Correctly on Minimap when
returning from off-map
+ Optionize large (greater than 6, less than or equal to 10) squadrons and
provide corrected support for FS.MAX_SIZE detection
+ Data: Adding some missing Aerospace Images including landed Aerodyne.
+ Bug [#3834]: NPE in Entity.setGame line 762
+ Bug: Fixed some odd behavior with drawing sprites for grounded Dropships
+ Bug: Immobile vehicles can't eject if skip_ineligble_movement is on
+ Added BA tube artillery
+ Bug [#3835]: NPE with double blind and transported units
+ Feature: Updated some of the hit and miss messages to use color, also bolded
the target of a weapon attack

We have a new release of MekHQ ready on the downloads page. This one is full of bug fixes and some nice new features. Most of the credit goes to ralgith for this one.

Here is the full change log:
+ Planetary Data Update 36
+ New MegaMekLab.jar
+ Bug 366: Broken MekLabPanel compile with latest MML trunk compiled into jar
+ Bug: Conventional fighter pilot addition code not correctly reassigning Vessel Pilots.
+ Bug: canPerformRole() missing check for conventional fighter pilots.
+ Bug: Conventional fighter pilot backwards compatibility check correction for 0.3.0 to 0.3.1
+ Bug: Campaign file upgrade code runs twice on old campaigns
+ Bug: More conventional pilot fixes.
+ Check if existing Aerospace Pilots with Conventional Sklls and adjust to conventional pilots.
+ Add "Conventional Pilots" to the GUI's Personnel tab sort by type dropdown
+ Bug 363: All "new" units end up with no camo and the blue default non-camo colorization when a campaign camo is set.
+ Updated MegaMek.jar with revision 9541
+ Updated getTechLevel() calls to include a year for compatibility with MegaMek.
+ Update MegaMekLab.jar
+ Fix deprecation warnings with new MegaMek.jar
+ New MegaMek.jar to fix Tanks.java NPE
+ Changed how the Individual Camo option is displayed.
+ Bug 369: Removing / Paying Off Loans
+ Added more bank names for the loan randomization
+ Removed arbitrary secondary role limitation - Many of my techs are also (albiet poor ones) MechWarriors.
+ Make Male/Female portrait folders so they can be embedded inside other folders.
Also allow folders that just end in Male or Female (ie ralgith_Female)
+ Added four Canon banks to the array for randomizing the bank name for Loans
+ Fixed bug with hangar popup menu not displaying Customization options (accidentally deleted the menu.add() call)
+ Added conventional pilots to getAbilitiesFor()
+ Bug: GM Menu letting you Add XP even when not in GM Mode
+ Bug: GM Menu missing heal item
+ Added Jayof9s' Advanced Healing System
+ Added random experience to new recruits
+ Added menu items to Import/Export Personnel
+ Bug: Missing critical modifier for non-MW/ASF
+ Bug: Duplicated injuries
+ Bug: Injury time resets
+ Bug: Should only be 1 head injury possible
+ Added an Edit Injuries GM Option to the right click menu. Disabled as the background code is a WIP.
+ Bug: Vessel Crew/Pilots/Gunners/Navigators can't be multi-selected and assigned
+ Completed the Edit Injuries
+ Update the packaging scripts and utils folder to include the l4j.ini files for MegaMek and MegaMekLab
+ Update the MegaMek.app plist to grab the new libs for MegaMek's XML saves
+ Add MekHQ icon in png format to data/images/misc folder for usage by UNIX/Linux dist.
+ Dylan's Random Xp now uses unofficial campaign option.
+ Bug: All personnel were showing 'Returned from combat with the following injuries', even when uninjured.
+ Bug: Concurrent Modification Error with injuries on advance day
+ Bug: Windows version won't work when using "Start Game" from inside MekHQ
+ Bug: ProtoMech and Battle Armor "Armor" fixes for missing "instance of ..." in a lot of places.
+ Bug: Import Personnel adds twice & NPE when importing Personnel
+ Bug: Ghost Patients (doctor ID not correctly set to NULL when healed using injury system)
+ Bug: Edit Injury dialog not sized correctly for the column widths
+ Bug: Random Xp Option not visible
+ Bug: Resolution IndexOutOfBoundsException error
+ Bug: Critical Healing success for Advanced Injuries incorrect
+ Bug: Missing healing messages
+ Verify entity externalId matches UUID when loading campaign
+ Bug 374: Duplicate ExternalIDs
+ Bug 372: Refits start before parts/refit kit arrives in trunk.
+ removed Java 7 code. Do not use Java 7 please!
+ allow user customizable waiting time in days between healing checks
+ Bug: Dropships, Jumpships, and Warships with consolidated ammo (ie. LongTom Ammo:125) not detecting max ammo correctly
+ Bug: Views (Most especially Repair Bay) not refreshing after undeploying units from a scenario.
+ Bug: Hangar Right Click->GM Mode->Undeploy not working
+ Bug 373: Warship (dropships? jumpships?) can have scheduled tasks worked on twice per day [#373]
+ Bug [#343]: MegaMek server cannot be restarted if it terminates prematurely (doesn't reach the victory phase)
+ Bug [#360]: Dragoon's Rating (both methods) doesn't take loans into account
+ Bug: Incorrect pronoun usage in injuries and reports
+ Bug [#120]: Load forces from MUL file doesn't load the pilots
+ Added a "random" crew generator that will create a crew with a specific skill target (For Bugs [#120] and [#233] - I'll fix 233 at a later time)
+ WIP [#193]: Financial issue - incorrect value on Jumpship sale
+ Feature: Prisoners and Bondsmen. You can now set this via the right click menu.
+ Bug: Prisoners and Bondsmen get paid.
+ Cargo Weight and Capacity on status bar
+ Bug [#375]: No Task XP From Procurement
+ Acquisitions Table improvements (Multi-select for GM Options & Items with 0 quantity no longer hang around)
+ RFE [#68]: Dependents (0-salary AsTechs)
+ RFE [#88]: Ability to assign an overall commander and abilities
+ RFE [#109]: Import/export parts
+ RFE [#77]: Add "Ammo Bin" category in Warehouse
+ RFE [#117]: Filter Parts by "In Transit"
+ Bug: Deploying a force, then deploying it's parent force, has the first force deployed twice.
+ Bug: Undeploy Unit doesn't correctly undeploy it's parent forces
+ RFE [#61]: Undeploy single units from TO&E
+ WIP RFE [#70]: Garrison & Factory Tags
+ Rounding for Cargo values!
+ WIP RFE [#70]: Garrison & Factory Tags, part 2
+ Bug: Commander flag incorrect code (Swapped "Better" CO)
+ RFE [#80]: Alternate Missile Tracking
+ Bug: Divide by zero in new ammo tracking code
+ Completed TODO for changing how onWarehouseTab() checks which tab it's on
+ NPE when attempting to resolve via MekHQ launching MegaMek due to new
"Prisoners and Bondsmen" code that should have been commented out.
+ Added "Undamaged" to Warehouse sorting
+ WIP RFE [#99]/[#63]: Overview Summary / Statistics page (So far only the basic layout and the Dragoons Rating section are finished)
+ Planetary Data Update 37
+ WIP RFE [#99]/[#63]: Overview Summary / Statistics page (Combat Personnel and Support Personnel overviews completed)
+ Bug: NPE when using a starting faction at a era where it has already died out (ie. Smoke Jaguars in 3067)
+ Condensed Overview personnel tabs into a single tab with a split pane.
+ Updated the data/mechfiles folder with the current (MM r9679) data in zipped format
+ Data [#2]: Sorensons Sabres Campaign Pack
+ Bug: URL Escape NPE for MercRosterAccess
+ Bug: Merc Roster Upload never completes
+ RFE: Customizations embedded in data/customs// folders for ease of sorting.
+ RFE: Percentage based maintenance costs
+ Bug: Support costs calculated off payroll, should be off maintenance
+ Bug: Edit Injury dialog doesn't refresh the Infirmary
+ Added a bit of logging for Refits when a part is null in the method to check if all parts have arrived
+ Bug: Cargo Tonnage/Capacity label causes NumberFormatException due to localization of numeric strings
+ Bug: Personnel Overview incorrectly showing MIA/KIA/Retired personnel in the active counts
+ Bug: Removing a person or changing their status does not display their name in the confirmation dialog
+ RFE: Right click unit in TO&E has option to go to unit in hangar and to go to pilot/commander in personnel
+ WIP RFE [#99]/[#63]: Overview Summary / Statistics page
(Hangar overview now has Mechs, ASF, Combat Vehicles, and Gun Emplacements. Other units later)
+ Bug: Cargo counts "In Transit" too
+ WIP RFE [#99]/[#63]: Overview Summary / Statistics page (Hangar Overview Finished)
+ Added unit name to refit confirmation dialog
+ RFE: Clan Trained Technician flag for captured clan techs to ignore the modifier for clan equipment
+ Bug: Commander, Dependent, and Clan Trained Technician flags not saving/loading in XML
+ Bug: Machine Gun Ammo reloads working incorrectly
+ Bug: NPE with new clan trained tech check
+ Bug: Bad hardcoded file separators with custom units created in the MekLab
+ Bug: Missing MASC Edge check
+ Bug [#378]: Thruster Repair (Missing Thruster Part)
+ Bug [383]: Weapons with incorrect multiple weights in Parts Store
+ Bug: NPE (Again) when trying to save to a campaign named folder if the folder doesn't exist
+ Bug [#384]: Gun Emplacements cannot be added to TO&E
+ Modified TO&E Menus to disable submenus with no items in them
+ unofficial option to destroy/damage parts by the margin of failure rather than by skill level of tech
+ Bug: NPE when resolving with a Gun Emplacement in your deployed forces
+ Bug: When using advanced medical option injured pilots not hightlighted in red on TO&E
+ Bug: salvage being added even if not in control of field when resolving through megamek
+ Rewrote file exists exception to use IOException instead of Java 7's FileAlreadyExistsException

A new release of MekHQ is available from the download page. This release has a major new feature - maintenance checks as per StratOps. I will say a bit more about maintenance below, but first let me also note that there are several other nice features in this release such as graphical views for the personnel and hangar tables and the ability to create loot for scenarios that can be claimed during scenario resolution.

Now back to maintenance then. For the most part, we attempted to follow the rules in StratOps as closely as possible, but there are some fuzzy areas that you should be aware of. First, MHQ does individual part maintenance because it turns out that is actually a lot easier than coding in the various damage results for a single unit maintenance check. However, its too much information to output the result of the check for every single part on every single unit. So, we have given the option to output those detailed results to the log file. I accidentally left this on in the current release, so turn it off if you don't want your log file to get large. MekHQ itself will present a more succinct summary about overall unit quality and any damage suffered. In the future, I plan to put in a unit part view that will give you an overview of the status of each part for a given unit. Also, according to StratOps, individual parts checking should be at at -1 bonus, but we make the bonus customizable by the user in the options.

Second, StratOps is vague about how often maintenance checks need to be performed, so we left this as user customizable. By default, it is set to 7 days because the maintenance costs listed in FM:Mercs are for one week (although this will change to months in StellarOps, iirc). Personally, I think that is too frequent, but to each his own. And since we are talking about costs, thats a tricky widget. We have changed the cycle of maintenance costs so that they are paid individually by units when units make their checks and they are pro-rated based on the weekly maintenance costs given in FM:Mercs. Furthermore, what should happen if the unit can't pay its maintenance costs? There are no official rules about this, so we just added a +1 penalty to the check. Technically, this should be user-customizable, but I didn't want to confuse everyone by trying to explain how it worked in a little tooltip.

Third, handling unmaintained units can be tricky because they may be unmaintained for part of the maintenance cycle and maintained for part of it. When you try to advance the day, MHQ will nag you if you have unmaintained units, or you are short astech hours for maintenance, but you can still advance the day and then assign a tech later (which you can do from either the personnel or unit right click menu). Again there are no canon rules for how to handle this and it is further complicated by the fact that the penalties for being shorthanded can be larger than just leaving the unit unmaintained. So, I have applied the following house rules here: units that are maintained by a tech for less than 50% of the maintenance cycle suffer a +2 penalty and units that are less than 100% (but more than 50%) suffer a +1 penalty. Furthermore, we track the total number of astech person-days of support over the maintenance cycle and divide this by the cycle length to find the average number of astechs that worked on the unit. So lets say that for a weekly cycle there were no astechs on the first day, but then enough were hired for the remainder of the cycle. That would give us 36 astech person-days (6 techs * 6 days) divided by 7 days equals 5.15, rounded down to 5 astechs for a +1 shorthanded modifier. If you have a lot of unmanned units, you should probably mothball them, which you can do from the unit rick-click menu.

Fourth, since we now track quality ratings (and yes, F is better than A - I will probably put in an option to reverse that in the reporting), we add quality modifiers to repair and maintenance checks. However, I have also allowed the option to disable these quality mods for maintenance checks specifically. The reason for this is that the rule is broken. The stairstep nature of the maintenance check table is designed to allow units to gravitate toward the middle of the quality ratings. It is easier to go down in quality when you are at a high quality and harder to go up (and vice versa). The problem is that the quality modifiers directly counteract this stairstep and you end up with units that gravitate to one end of the table or the other. This can be particularly deadly when other mods are already high (such as era mods for the succession wars era) because the unit will inevitably deteriorate. You have been warned.

Ok, I think that is about all I can think of at the moment. If its all a bit too much, then you can turn maintenance checks off in the options (which I meant to by default but forgot). Please let us know what is working and what is not with this new feature. Here is the full change log:

+ maintenance checks (WIP)
+ Bug: maintenance options not being saved
+ added optional logging of maintenance rolls
+ Bug: Non-active personnel showing in infirmary when they have injuries under advanced injuries rules.
+ Bug [#388]: Penalty For Clan Tech Still Applied w/ Clan Trained Techs
+ RFE 122: Personnel kill tracking
+ allow assignment of tech to more than one maintenance job
+ show unit status column on general view
+ assign tech for maintenance from unit context menu
+ Bug [#389]: Certain Parts on Clan Mechs Not Receiving Clan Penalty
+ Improved Cargo Handling & Added a Transport Overview
+ Bug: Prisoners & Bondsmen mixed when sorting by rank
+ Bug [#391]: Repair tasks no longer show if the replacement part is available or not
+ Bug [#392]: Scenario Force Icons do not size the same as the TO&E
+ Bug: GM Mode Complete Task for Ammo Acquisition fails and reports: You shouldn't be here (AmmoBin.find())
+ Bug [#386]: Missing help text for Finances tab
+ RFE [#108]: MM and MML histories & other docs
+ maintenance fixes for self-maintained vessels
+ added a Unit.isAvailable convenience function for units that are not deployed, are present, and not refitting and whatever else in the future would disallow making various types of changes
+ allow mothballing of units
+ graphical display option for personnel and unit table
+ pay individual unit maintenance costs when maintenance cycle is up instead of weekly all at once
+ used parts value options depend on quality rating
+ Bug: Customs files created when loading a campaign get saved under a "My Campaign" folder because campaign name isn't set yet
+ Bug: Customs disappearing from campaign saves
+ packaging_local.xml updated to keep in line with full packaging.xml functionality
+ docs folder cleaned up to prevent duplicates now that we import the megamek and megameklab docs
+ Bug: mekhq.png in data/images/misc wasn't being included in releases
+ Bug: new graphical hits images not included with either packaging file
+ Fixed megamek.4j.xml file to force inclusion of new xml save libs
+ new Report class - allows for flexible inclusion of various generated reports
+ moved overview items to a reports menu
+ more packaging fixes to pull files from other projects automatically
+ removed overview tab code from CampaignGUI
+ export personnel and unit tables as CSV
+ unofficial option to set minimum hits and randomize hits for wounded multi-vehicle crews and infantry
+ new feature: add potential loot (currently money and units) to scenario that can be added during scenario resolution

A new MekHQ release is available on the downloads page. There is some fairly cool new features with this version. As the picture above shows, we have reworked the logging display window considerably for this release. I was never particularly happy with its squashed placement at the top of the window, taking up valuable vertical real estate, but I also felt like we had a lot going on in the tabs to push it in as a vertical element. We have attempted to resolve that in this release by doing two things. It is now in a split pane which means you can minimize or display it with the little arrow thingies to the right (just like you can do for various other components in the display). Alternatively, you can use the "View" menu to detatch the log report into a separate window, much like the mech display in MegaMek. Also, to assist with managing space, we have added a new feature where if you double click on a unit or person in the unit and person tabs, it will expand and collapse the individual views to the right.

You might also notice from that picture above, that certain things in the report log look a lot like html links. Thats because they are! Clicking on these things will direct you to further information. So, for example, all units and personnel reported on have a link that will take you directly to their entry in the unit and personnel tables, respectively.

If you want to see something really cool, start up a new campaign with the date January 1, 3068. Then advance one day. Yes, thats a news report. You can even click on it to get a detailed report. News reports are kept in a file in the universe folder called news.xml. Right now it only contains that example report, but I believe we already have some volunteers that will be entering news data.

We have also added a feature that has been requested for some time and will open up MHQ to be used as a campaign manager for tabletop games. During scenario resolution, you are now given the option to edit any of the damage to your units. So tabletop players can just enter in damage manually and MHQ will track it correctly. A warning though that this is still a work in progress. There is also no way to add salvage manually in this release.

Ralgith is also working on a personnel market that will allow you to set up parameters that detemine a random assortment of inidividuals that you can hire at any time. This is still a work in progress, but should increase the immersive experience.

Here is the full change log:
+ Bug: Refits always return an IMPOSSIBLE target roll
+ RFE: Allow ASF to be Refit (but not customized)
+ Bug: No way to remove individual camo
+ Bug: Individual camo always set on refit completion
+ Bug: Inactive Prisoners and Bondsmen included in count on summary
+ Mothballed units only cost 10% to maintain using unofficial maintenance costs
+ Bug: part quality not saved to campaign xml
+ Bug: Mass assign menus were incorrectly letting you assign people to roles they don't fit
+ Bug [#397]: Mass Assign Units Can Cause Unit To Show Too Many Assigned
+ html tags in report link to unit and personnel views, use unit.getHyperlinkedName(), person.getHyperlinkedName(), and person.getHyperlinkedFullTitle() in report strings
+ changed report to display only one day of activity
+ news reports (see data/universe/news.xml for details and example)
+ Implemented parts loot (Just a quick hack to make it work, full re-write to be like Units will be for Taharqa if he wants)
+ Bug [#398]: Assigning Tech to Large Craft Maintenance
+ Bug: assigning of techs to Small Craft maintenance and repair confused - should always use Aero tech
+ Bug [#396]: assign tech list oversized without scrolling
+ RFE: Personnel Market - This market should be used in place of Hire and Hire in Bulk
options and provides a more realistic atmosphere of transient personnel availability
+ Bug: Personnel Market shows rank instead of Person for Graphic, and vice versa for General
+ Bug: Personnel Market incorrect renderer
+ last maintenance report now kept for each unit, no more logging
+ Bug [#400]: personnel ages in the personnel market
+ refactored BasicInfo and Sorter classes from CampaignGUI into separate files
+ used separate PersonnelTableModel for PersonnelMarketDialog.java
+ refactored PersonnelTableModel to a separate class (experimental)
+ Bug: No maintenance costs when not using the new StratOps maintenance options
+ Major refactoring of CampaignGUI, phase one - all TableModels and initComponents refactored
+ Major refactoring of CampaignGUI, phase two - cleanup
+ backwards compatability - large vessels had enginepart in addition to spacecraft engine leading to inflated values
+ Major update to the Personnel Market (WIP)
There are now four methods of randomization to choose from.
Dylan's method and the Random (original implementation) method both generate daily, but don't "clear"
Dylan's method uses a weighted version of the Random method to frequently choose personnel for your most common unit type(s)
Random method is totally random, though it now has options on how personnel are removed based on roll on 2d6 (if it's less than that target)
FM:Mercs Revised method is as close as I could code to what that book offers with a couple of TODO for roll modifiers
StratOps method follows the rules in StratOps based on whatever you set your Maint. Cycle as
This is still a WIP and there are currently no tooltips for the options.
+ Bug: Report pane not scrolling with reports
+ Updated MM and MML jar files
+ Updated UnitSelectorDialog to be compatible with new MM jar
+ Bug: Dylan's Method in Personnel Market incorrect percentage conversion
+ Bug [#401]: Personnel Market Sorts Incorrectly
+ Bug: parts in Loot not saved to XML
+ Bug: advanced search dialog shenanigans
+ Bug: Re-implement fix for UnitSelectorDialog from "+ Updated UnitSelectorDialog to be compatible with new MM jar"
+ RFE: Hyperlink Personnel Market refresh report
+ report text pane restructured into a vertical and detachable split pane
+ double-clicking on personnel and unit table expands and collapses the view
+ determine initial size based on users screen size
+ couple of grammatical corrections
+ Bug: partial repair penalty applied to unmaintained units
+ added Repair bay hyperlink to units damaged by maintenance
+ Added CampaignGUI.getTabIndexByName()
+ Bug: CampaignGUI.focusOnUnit() and CampaignGUI.focusOnPerson() using hard coded indexes (now uses CampaignGUI.getTabIndexByName())
+ Bug: Phantom Weapons on ASFs as a result of weapon groups not being filtered out in Unit.initializeParts()
+ Bug: Phantom Weapons due to EquipmentParts being skipped during campaign file loading
I've added a routine that should remove these phantom parts as well
+ Bug [#404]: Unable to assign Quirks to mechs
+ new MegaMek.jar
+ resolve scenario wizard now allows for viewing and editing of all units

Hi everyone.

I'm very excited to present our latest development snapshot. This is my first time pushing an official release, and it happens to be the RC2 for 0.36.0. If no significant bugs are found in this development snapshot, it will become the new stable release in two weeks. If bugs are found, we'll fix those, and then declare a new release candidate for the 0.36.0, etc.
Anyway, here's the changelog. Grab it on the downloads page, as usual.

v0.35.42 (0.36.0 Release Candidate 2) (2013-20-09, 21:50 UTC-5)
+ Bug [#3837]: Button panel on MechSelectorDialog can be hidden at minimum size
+ Data: Fixes to Mechset and Unit fixes.
+ Bug [#3838]: Turn button greyed out on dropship deployment
+ Bug [#3842]: Issues with ChatLounge Change Owner menu item
+ Bug [#3840]: NPE on entity.setGame
+ Refactor license and readme files into the docs folder & code references to them
+ RFE: Adjusted the MechSelectorDialog presets for unit type, weight, and rules
+ Bug: MechSelectorDialog combo box selections not saved if "x" button is used
to close dialog
+ RFE: ChatLounge 'Select Maps' usability fixes: the selected map now doesn't
change when options are updated, the selected map selection also increases by
one when a new map is selected.
+ Bug [#3845]: NPE after clicking done on an ejected MW that had been killed in
a dropship liftoff
+ Bug [#3846]: RC1 hangs when firing on an infantry platoon in a building
+ Bug: Board.setHex does not update min/max elevations
+ Bug [#3843]: Crashed Dropships Not Displacing Units Properly
+ RFE: Added a text label to the Selected Units panel in ChatLounge that gives
a brief summary of the current map
+ RFE: Removed the advance-a-row on enter behavior of the JTable in the
MechSelectorDialog
+ Added Re-engineered lasers
+ Added TSEMP construction data
+ Added HarJel II and III construction data and breach protection, armor fixing
missing
+ Added anti-penetrative ablation armor construction data
+ Added ballistic-reinforced construction data
+ Added heat-dissipating armor construction data
+ Added radical heat sink construction data
+ Started work on super-heavy mechs
+ Bug [#3849]: Advanced Map Creation wrong naming
+ Bug: Commit [r9821] missed several key Endo-Steel to Endo Steel conversions
and so bugged MechView
+ Bug: Fixed an ArrayIndexOutOfBounds exception when the Load button is pressed
when no valid units can be loaded
+ Bug [#3854]: Units without bays cannot load units during the game
+ Adding tech level changes for FM3145/TRO3145 Print.
+ Bug: Fixes to Weapon/Misc Equipment and Ammo Dates.
+ Data:Unit fixes and duplicate removal
+ Feature: Overhaul to advanced search. Now allows for an arbitrarily complex
search expression for weapons and equipment
+ Feature: UnitOverview now has more informative highlighting. During 'your'
turn, units that can be moved are highlighted in light-blue, the currently
selected unit is highlighted in purple, and ineligible units aren't
highlighted. Additionally, no highlighting is done when it's not 'your' turn
+ Feature: Added the ability to specify quirks by chassis as well as
chassis+model. Now, entries in defaultQuirks.xml don't have to specify a
tag, and if they don't the quirks apply to every specified chassis.
+ Bug: Compute.getMetalInPath() not checking for null entities
+ Scenario readme updated to include camo settings
+ Bug: ASF incorrect damage when using the unofficial UAC roll twice option (2 shots at 30 damage instead of 20 damage)
+ Bug: Game year not taken into account for Unit Selector Dialog
+ MechEditorDialog for editing entity damage in the chat lounge - disabled for the stable
+ Bug: Timestamp mismatch code was supposed to allow a 90 second variance but was accidentally only 90ms

Hi everyone.

I'm very excited to present our latest development snapshot: 0.35.43 RC3 for 0.36.0. If no significant bugs are found in this development snapshot, it will become the new stable release in two weeks. If bugs are found, we'll fix those, and then declare a new release candidate for the 0.36.0, etc.
Anyway, here's the changelog. Grab it on the downloads page, as usual.

v0.35.43 (0.36.0 Release Candidate 3)
+ Bug: Most Gladiator mechs (IS Medium, not the Executioner) did not have an
image
+ Bug: Having Chassis level and model level quirks could cause memory issues
+ Bug [#3859]: Difficult Terrain Penalty for rubble of collapsed medium building
and bridge
+ Bug [#3857]: Radical Heat Sink System not displaying during mech selection
+ Bug: MechView doesn't specify heat sink type; heat sink header now canged to
reflect heat sink type
+ Bug [#3856]: 3145 Armor Display in Select Mech
+ Bug: More Tech level and date changes.
+ Bug [#3858]: When a bridge collapsed, not resolving falling damage separately
+ Bug: Fixed possible ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException in replacePlayer command
+ bug [#3861]: Skin-of-teeth Still Not Right
+ Data: All TRO 3145 Units and some images(Thanks Deadborder). Some of these
units fail validation
since the construction and tech level data is not complete.
+ Bug: Assault Drop button not being disabled in DeploymentDisplay
+ Bug [#3863]: Game.destroyEntity removes turns when it shouldn't
+ Bug [#3867]: Potential infinite loop in Princess.calculateMoveTurn
+ Bug: Fixed a potential NPE in FiringDisplay
+ Changed the minimum size of the MechSelectorDialog to 640x480 (from 800x600)
+ Added a label in the ChatLounge that displays the current game year
+ Added a tooltip to the map summary that lists the currently selected maps
+ Bug: Manually shut down units skipped as "ineligible"
+ Data: Unit and a couple of image fixes

Hi everyone.

I'm very excited to present our latest development snapshot: 0.35.43 RC3 for 0.36.0. If no significant bugs are found in this development snapshot, it will become the new stable release in two weeks. If bugs are found, we'll fix those, and then declare a new release candidate for the 0.36.0, etc.
Anyway, here's the changelog. Grab it on the downloads page, as usual.

v0.35.44 (0.36.0 Release Candidate 4)
+ Width and height for MechSelectorDialog and GameOptions are now saved
+ Data: Unit Image Fixes and a couple of unit fixes.
+ Bug [#3871]: Missing Entity issues with double blind and transports
+ Bug[#3852]: Extra turret on Support Tank
+ Bug: Fixed a rare NPE in BoardView1
+ Bug [#3865]: Space Movement Sub-Phases Not Enforced
+ Bug [#3874]: Reinforcements never deploy
+ Bug [#3864]: Airborne units not handling Manual Shutdown Correctly
+ Bug: Could not move and shutdown on the same turn (manual shutdown was
clearing existing movement)
+ Bug [#3873]: Unfriendly behavior in the Save Locally dialog
+ More bug [#3873]: Forgot the savegames folder portion
+ Bug [#3869]: Gun Emplacement Isometric
+ Bug: Bottom 2 hexes of landed dropships are drawn semi-transparent in
isometric view
+ Bug: Damage dots can leave transparent holes in icons in some circumstances
+ Errata for patchwork armor changed a round up to just round
+ jumping jill becomes jumpy - deal with it
+ slight change to MechView so zero armor (not ARMOR_DESTROYED) is red not
black X (for MHQ)
+ Fix name for Mech Mortar
+ jumpy/jumping jill references all to hopping jack - thats my final answer
+ static methods to get EntityMovementMode via xml
+ Data: Unit Name and Date fixes. A couple of new images.
+ Bug: Large Chemical Laser missing medium range
+ Data: Fixing Black Knight and other name Fixes. A couple of new images.
+ real BattleArmor costs - still missing standard advanced and stealth prototype
armor and modular weapon mounts
+ Patch [#453]: Graphic artifacts when scrolling to the right on linux
(fix patch included)
+ Fix turret location abbreviations for dual turret tanks
+ Fix Harjel II and III tech levels, should be clan advanced
+ Fix Random Name Generator memory leak
+ Remove unnecessary warning suppressions
+ Fix multiple zipfile related memory leaks
+ Bug [#3879]: Battle Armor can't operate in vacuum
+ Data: New Images and Unit file fix.
+ Bug [#3880]: Protomech and buildings
+ BA weapon refactoring, first round - IS TechManual non-missile launchers
+ some added methods to BattleArmor for MML
+ Data: Unit fixes and additions.
+ Bug: 3145 armor types had tonnage counted in TestEntity.getWeightMiscEquip,
which caused some 3145 mechs to fail validation
+ Bug [#3887]: bug with map: wrong elevation for lake surface
+ Bug [#3883]: /localsave not working
+ Bug [#3881]: When firing at a unit in an adjacent building, missed shots
should damage the building
+ RAT fixes
+ Bug [#3884]: Single-Turret Superheavy Tank Not Turret-Twisting
+ Data: New Images and Unit file fixes.
+ Bug [#3888]: CustomMechDialog resets shots left when Okay is clicked
+ Bug [#3890]: Flechette Artillery Shells Not Damaging (Heavy?) Infantry
+ Bug: BA LBX not hitting with correct amount of pellets

Hi everyone,

after a loooong time since our last stable release, our development has finally resulted in a new stable release, 0.36.0.
I'd like to thank everyone that was involved with this, especially our newer developers who really started to fix a lot of bugs this year. As usual, the download can be found on the download page.
Here's the changelog since the last release candidate:

v0.36.0 (2013-10-25, 00:26 UTC+2)
+ Bug [#3892]: Ejected MechWarrior Takes Sprite of a 'mech from previous game
+ Bug: Adjusted Server.saveGame so that the whole XML isn't stored in memory
and is instead streamed to a file.
+ Change default max heap size to 1024m

I won't post the changelog since the last stable release, that would be 2880 lines of text.

Hey everyone,

Post Christmas I'm back doing weekly releases on Sunday. Find the latest on the download page: http://megamek.info/downloads.
here's the changelog:

v0.37.1 (2013-12-29, 19:26 UTC)
+ Added code to Princess to make (semi) intelligent use of ammo. Previously she just picked whichever ammo bin was
next on the list. Now she will examine her target and try to pick the best ammo of what she has available
(infernos vs hot targets, cluster/flak vs aero/vtol, cluster/inferno vs tanks, etc). She also takes into account
range when using ATMs and MMLs. Don't expect this to work with ammo introduced after the FCCW as I'm not familiar
with it myself.
+ Data: Unit fixes and New Images
+ Tweak TestAero to allow for customization of Aeros in MHQ
+ Data: Unit fixes and image fixes
+ Data: Remaining RS 3145 Units and a couple of new images.
+ Bug: subMunitionLength for Clan LB10-X was improperly set, which could lead
to a string index out of range exception
+ Bug: Infantry unable to use swarm/leg attacks, getting a "only infantry weapon
can fire at 0 range" message
+ Bug: Firing small arms then trying to fire field guns would lead to a
'infantry can't fire small arms and field guns in the same turn' message,
however firing a field gun then small arms didn't receive this message
+ Bug: Improved Ferro-Aluminum, Ferro-Carbide, and Lamellor Ferro-Carbide armor multipliers incorrect
I took a moment to re-work how the clan armors for these specialty types is worked as well, instead of
using a special multiplier and multiple if statements for them I used a single if statement with an
additive of 0.08 (clan multipler for FF anf FA is 1.2 vs. 1.12, and the rest of these are additions on
top of that) to the I.S. multipler.
+ Data: Unit Fixes.
+ Adjusted the too many units loading message: added a specific message for
infantry, so it makes more sense. Also fixed a bug where instead of
currentLoad/capcity being displayed it was displaying
currentLoad/currentLoad.
+ Bug [#3963]: The check for adding the MagClamp loading option was using a
different check than what is used to determine if mag clamps can be used.

Hey everyone,

Due to some nasty bugs in the previous release, here is a hotfix release.

http://megamek.info/downloads.
here's the changelog:

v0.37.2 (2014-01-01 17:32 UTC)
+ Bug [#3957]: New (Unofficial) Case Rule Duplicated
+ Data: New (Unofficial) Against The Bot RATS (Currently Civilian Only)
+ Bug [#3962]: NPE in TripodMech.hasActiveShield when Tripod adjacent to
building
+ Bug [#3958]: Re-Lasers versus Hardened Armor
+ Bug: BattleArmor couldn't fire at zero range
+ Bug: Disabling firing solutions wasn't working quite right
+ Data: Unit fixes/New Images
+ Bug: Restoring Commented out Clan Missile Ammunitions.
+ Bug: Call to CriticalSlot.getIndex can lead to an NPE in Server.CriticalEntity
+ Bug [#3965]: ABA armor incorrectly adding -2 modifier

Hey everyone,

We're excited to bring you the new experimental branch. This branch is currently being used for a major UI overhaul. Check it out and provide us some feedback!

Update: Due to an error with the packaging.xml file the original upload wasn't packaged correctly. If you've downloaded this previously and the UI doesn't include the new improvements, then please download it again.

http://megamek.info/downloads.
here's the changelog:

v0.37.2-exp (2014-01-01 17:50 UTC)
+ Feature: Allowing UI components to be customized (skins)
+ Bug: readme path was wrong in MegamekGUI
+ Bug: Exception when saving client options with a tooltip dismiss delay <0
+ Feature: Added a skinning help menu item and a corresponding help file
+ Bug [#3917]: UMU button causes issues for Battlearmor moving underwater
+ Feature: Changed the typing behavior of ChatterBox2 - now it only consumes
keypresses when it's 'active' and can be activated by pressing enter,
both escape and enter will deactive text entry with escape clearing the
text and enter sending the text. Clicking on the cb2 and clicking on the
board view active and deactive text entry respectively.
+ Feature: Added WASD based scrolling for the board view. This is implemented
with timers and is considerably smoother than previous keyboard scrolling
+ Initiated a rewrite of the whole key handling framework in MegaMek.
Previously, we were using KeyListeners scattered throughout the project and
this caused issues, particularly with the MechDisplay; when the MechDisplay
has focus there are issues getting KeyEvents to the BoardView and current
phase display panel. Instead of having disparate KeyListeners, I created a
new KeyDispatcher, called MegaMekController. This KeyDispatcher gets
registered with the KeyFocusManager and basically gets first crack at all
of the KeyEvents, regardless of where they originate from. The Dispatcher
can choose to consume the event, or pass it along. This allows a more
central handler for key events regardless of focus.
+ Moved ChatterBox activation/deactivation into the new key handling framework
+ Converted MovementDisplay to use MegaMekController
+ Converted FiringDisplay to use MegaMekController
+ Converted TargetingDisplay to use MegaMekController
+ Added key binds for weapons firing and next weapon
+ Keybinds can now be specified in an xml file, defaultKeyBinds.xml has been
created which follows the schema defined in keyBindingSchem.xsl
+ Added key binds for previous weapon/next weapon (Q/E)
+ Added key binds for previous target/next target (Shift-Q/Shift-E)
+ Added key binds for previous unit/next unit (Z/C)
+ Added 'Key Binds' panel to Client Settings dialog. Keybinds can now be
edited in game and will be saved to an xml file

Hi everyone,

Time for an update to the stable. As always you can find it at
http://megamek.info/downloads.
here's the changelog:

v0.36.1 (2014-01-01, 17:11 UTC)
+ Bug: PPC capacitor has wrong explosive BV penalty
+ Bug: init bonuses from mobile hq not working correct with multiple mobile HQs
+ Bug [#3896]: Protomechs get 'stuck' in buildings
+ change default year to 3145
+ Data: Unit fixes and New Images
+ Errata change: C3 requires LOS
+ Bug: memory leak with scaled image cache in BoardView1

Hi everyone,

It's time again for an (approximately) weekly snapshot. There is a lot to enjoy with this one.

v0.37.3 (2014-01-07 02:54 UTC)
+ Bug [#3970] Princess causes an NPE when determining a FiringPlan with no valid
targets
+ Data: Unit Fixes
+ Bug: Fixed a few instances were CriticalSlot.getIndex() was causing NPEs
+ Bug: Updated Entity.isTargetable() to return false if position == null, to
prevent some exceptions in the firing solution code
+ Feature: Added black borders around text in firing solutions, for readability
+ Feature: Enabled firing solutions for offboard phase (firing tags and such)
+ Bug [#3862]: Nighttime Movement Penalty Applies to Airborne VTOLS?
+ Errata: homing artillery now always targets an area, not a mapsheet
+ Bug [#3971]: More Clan LB-X submunition trouble
+ Bug: Princess.getEntityToMove() wasn't considering whether the Entity chose
was valid for the current turn, which could lead to the Princess hanging
during the movement phase in some situations (with no Exceptions thrown)
+ Feature: Implemented TSEMP
+ Feature: Added status effects to the MechDisplay Misc tab for TSEMP
+ Feature: Implemented radical heat sinks
+ Bug: NPE for Gun Emplacements related to Server.java creating a TestTank
in receiveEntityAdd
+ RFE [#1210]: Implement Crew-size Benefits/Penalties
+ Added some new methods to Compute.java for calculating Crew size and made
it so that entities now set their crew size correctly
+ Added another crew calculation method that I missed
+ Optionized RFE 1210 and added the malus/restrictions for single crew vehicles
+ Adjusted how TSEMP hits are processed. Now they happen when the weapon is
fired instead or all being processed at the end of the firing phase.
This makes the reports look nicer.

Hi everyone,

It's time for the weekly experimental snapshot, so here it is!

v0.37.3-exp (2014-01-07 02:54 UTC)
+ Bug: If there is no entity selected, FiringDisplay.setFiringSolutions can NPE
+ Bug: Fire keybind could make attacks that were invalid
+ Feature: When using ESC to clear chat message it now also slides the box down
+ Bug: Up/Down arrows in ChatterBox didn't appear to work properly
+ Bug: BoardView was not properly acquiring focus when the ChatterBox was
activated, which could lead to key presses not being consumed by the CB
+ Feature: Added TOGGLE_CHAT_CMD keybind, which when used activates the
ChatterBox and enters the command character (/)

v0.37.3 (2014-01-07 02:54 UTC)
+ Bug [#3970] Princess causes an NPE when determining a FiringPlan with no valid
targets
+ Data: Unit Fixes
+ Bug: Fixed a few instances were CriticalSlot.getIndex() was causing NPEs
+ Bug: Updated Entity.isTargetable() to return false if position == null, to
prevent some exceptions in the firing solution code
+ Feature: Added black borders around text in firing solutions, for readability
+ Feature: Enabled firing solutions for offboard phase (firing tags and such)
+ Bug [#3862]: Nighttime Movement Penalty Applies to Airborne VTOLS?
+ Errata: homing artillery now always targets an area, not a mapsheet
+ Bug [#3971]: More Clan LB-X submunition trouble
+ Bug: Princess.getEntityToMove() wasn't considering whether the Entity chose
was valid for the current turn, which could lead to the Princess hanging
during the movement phase in some situations (with no Exceptions thrown)
+ Feature: Implemented TSEMP
+ Feature: Added status effects to the MechDisplay Misc tab for TSEMP
+ Feature: Implemented radical heat sinks
+ Bug: NPE for Gun Emplacements related to Server.java creating a TestTank
in receiveEntityAdd
+ RFE [#1210]: Implement Crew-size Benefits/Penalties
+ Added some new methods to Compute.java for calculating Crew size and made
it so that entities now set their crew size correctly
+ Added another crew calculation method that I missed
+ Optionized RFE 1210 and added the malus/restrictions for single crew vehicles
+ Adjusted how TSEMP hits are processed. Now they happen when the weapon is
fired instead or all being processed at the end of the firing phase.
This makes the reports look nicer.

Hey everyone,

Release day, and here's the experimental version

One note prior to the changelog, Hammer is still working on adjusting the Battle Armor files now that the reactive and reflective armors are in, as well as changing any armor issues.

v0.37.4-exp (2014-01-12 02:20)
+ Feature: increased the expressiveness of the skin specifications. Previously,
edges had a single tiled icon. Now, edges can have an arbitrary combination
of static and tiled icons.

v0.37.4 (2014-01-12 02:20)
+ Data: Unit Fixes
+ Data: Start of FM:3145 RAT's (Mechs only)
+ Bug [#3977]: Unable to load MUL files created in versions prior to 0.37.3
+ Modified the ammo selection logic for Princess because I miss-understood the
way incendiary ammo works and to take into account fire-resistant armor.
+ Bug: TESMP shutdown effect on tanks didn't last as long as it should
+ Bug: Tanks don't report when they automatically startup in the end phase
+ Added code to reduce the utility of firing on ejected mechwarriors/crews by
1000. This should make Princess much less likely to fire on them.
+ Bug: /localLoad not working
+ Bug [#3981]: NPE in WeaponAttackAction.toHit with Apollo and ArtV
+ Bug: TSEMP shutdown effect on BA caused NPE
+ Bug [#3921]: charges and DFAs not working
+ Bug [#3973]: Partial Wings aren't dissipating heat (37.2 exp)
+ Bug: Mechs with Laser heatsinks and RHS have incorrect heat capacity
+ Bug [#3982]: TSEMP should cause interference to firing unit even on miss
+ BA had special armor types separate from the armor types for every other unit.
This makes some of the code difficult to work with. I have consolidated
the BA armor into the armor for the rest of the units. This required
updating a few methods in EquipmentType.
+ Feature: Updated BattleArmor.setArmorType to handle setting state for special
armor types, like stealth
+ Feature: BattleArmor BLK files can now specify armor_type and armor_tech
tags which will be read in and written out
+ Added a BAArmor enum to TestBattleArmor. This works like the AeroArmor enum
in TestAero and is used to define what subset of all armors are legal for
BattleArmor.
+ Feature: Implemented BA Reactive and Reflective armor
+ Added a new armor types, T_ARMOR_BA_REACTIVE and T_ARMOR_BA_REFLECTIVE along
with MiscType creation methods for both types. This is necessary as the
tech lvls and intro dates differ from the 'mech version of the armor
+ EquipmentType and BattleArmor both had defines for BA armor names, they are
now unified
+ Created a separate T_ARMOR_BA_STANDARD instead of sharing T_ARMOR_STANDARD
+ Added MiscTypes for separated Clan/IS BattleArmor Armors (Thanks to Hammer,
who did most of the work)+
+ Correct some of the techlevel and dates for the MiscTypes
+ Bug: TestAero would fail Aeros for mounted bombs, this has been fixed
+ Bug: Updated methods getGoodCriticals, getBadCriticals, getDamagedCriticals, and
getHitCriticals to work with mounteds due to EQUIPMENT_TYPE critical slots no
longer having indexes
+ Data: Unit fixes and first batch of BA with new Armor Type and Tech Tags
+ Bug [#3985]: Bombs cannot be loaded via MUL files
This fix involved adding 2 new methods to BombType:
public static int getBombTypeFromName(String name) and
public static int getBombTypeFromInternalName(String name)
+ Bug: Methods in Entity updated 2 commits ago still not quite right,
re-written for clarity & damageSystem() also re-written to work correctly
with TYPE_EQUIPMENT
+ Fix Stone's Brigades Filenames due to packaging errors

Hey everyone,

Release day, and here's the dev trunk version

One note prior to the changelog, Hammer is still working on adjusting the Battle Armor files now that the reactive and reflective armors are in, as well as changing any armor issues.

v0.37.4 (2014-01-12 02:20)
+ Data: Unit Fixes
+ Data: Start of FM:3145 RAT's (Mechs only)
+ Bug [#3977]: Unable to load MUL files created in versions prior to 0.37.3
+ Modified the ammo selection logic for Princess because I miss-understood the
way incendiary ammo works and to take into account fire-resistant armor.
+ Bug: TESMP shutdown effect on tanks didn't last as long as it should
+ Bug: Tanks don't report when they automatically startup in the end phase
+ Added code to reduce the utility of firing on ejected mechwarriors/crews by
1000. This should make Princess much less likely to fire on them.
+ Bug: /localLoad not working
+ Bug [#3981]: NPE in WeaponAttackAction.toHit with Apollo and ArtV
+ Bug: TSEMP shutdown effect on BA caused NPE
+ Bug [#3921]: charges and DFAs not working
+ Bug [#3973]: Partial Wings aren't dissipating heat (37.2 exp)
+ Bug: Mechs with Laser heatsinks and RHS have incorrect heat capacity
+ Bug [#3982]: TSEMP should cause interference to firing unit even on miss
+ BA had special armor types separate from the armor types for every other unit.
This makes some of the code difficult to work with. I have consolidated
the BA armor into the armor for the rest of the units. This required
updating a few methods in EquipmentType.
+ Feature: Updated BattleArmor.setArmorType to handle setting state for special
armor types, like stealth
+ Feature: BattleArmor BLK files can now specify armor_type and armor_tech
tags which will be read in and written out
+ Added a BAArmor enum to TestBattleArmor. This works like the AeroArmor enum
in TestAero and is used to define what subset of all armors are legal for
BattleArmor.
+ Feature: Implemented BA Reactive and Reflective armor
+ Added a new armor types, T_ARMOR_BA_REACTIVE and T_ARMOR_BA_REFLECTIVE along
with MiscType creation methods for both types. This is necessary as the
tech lvls and intro dates differ from the 'mech version of the armor
+ EquipmentType and BattleArmor both had defines for BA armor names, they are
now unified
+ Created a separate T_ARMOR_BA_STANDARD instead of sharing T_ARMOR_STANDARD
+ Added MiscTypes for separated Clan/IS BattleArmor Armors (Thanks to Hammer,
who did most of the work)+
+ Correct some of the techlevel and dates for the MiscTypes
+ Bug: TestAero would fail Aeros for mounted bombs, this has been fixed
+ Bug: Updated methods getGoodCriticals, getBadCriticals, getDamagedCriticals, and
getHitCriticals to work with mounteds due to EQUIPMENT_TYPE critical slots no
longer having indexes
+ Data: Unit fixes and first batch of BA with new Armor Type and Tech Tags
+ Bug [#3985]: Bombs cannot be loaded via MUL files
This fix involved adding 2 new methods to BombType:
public static int getBombTypeFromName(String name) and
public static int getBombTypeFromInternalName(String name)
+ Bug: Methods in Entity updated 2 commits ago still not quite right,
re-written for clarity & damageSystem() also re-written to work correctly
with TYPE_EQUIPMENT
+ Fix Stone's Brigades Filenames due to packaging errors

For several months now I've been the release engineer for MegaMek. During that time, with the exception of a break during finals, I've been publishing regular releases of MegaMek along with my custom releases.

It has been on my mind, and I will discuss this with the rest of the team, that I should probably be made release engineer for all three projects. This would allow me, on the bi-weekly schedule I've currently adopted, to keep all projects current with current builds of the other projects each one uses as a library.

This would help eliminate the syndrome that we suffered from for so long with the MegaMek stable where it was three or four years out of date and caused a lot of issues for users.

Along those lines, I've also already discussed with the team and had approved, is a plan to make more frequent stable releases of MegaMek. This new plan involves a three month open development (which may change to four months once we've had some experience with this new system) period. This will be followed by a feature freeze that will last 1-3 months as needed to reach a new stable. Then of course the cycle will start over.

This new release cycle will be a boon for our users since it will allow new features to enter the code; while at the same time keeping the stable refreshed and fairly up to date. This will also allow us to better provide support because no development cycle will be so overloaded with new features that the team cannot keep up mentally with all of the changes affecting it.

These are my random and rambling thoughts. Feel free to comment and provide us feedback. I'm sure the whole team will be interested to know what our users think.

Last year I wrote a PHP program that I never really finished for contract generation following the FM: Mercenaries Revised rules. I plan on translating this into a module for MekHQ, however I already know I'll find myself up against the same stumbling block as I did in the PHP version.

That stumbling block is contract negotiation. One way is to allow players to negotiate both sides for themselves, however this allows for a lot of "cheating". Sure, I'm still going to have that as an option, just because some people will want it and it can be used by a player+GM to negotiate where the GM negotiates for the employer.

The other side of this is what I had started with the PHP version and never finished: AI Negotiators. This itself presents many challenges and issues since negotiator behavior can vary so much for so many reasons. It can even vary based on the era. This presents many challenges and opportunities both.

My current theory is to implement the AI's as described in official publications, but throw in some code where there is a chance a different negotiator will be picked, which can be chalked up to every negotiator works differently. I think I will also provide several negotiators that follow behavior I outline myself. In universe entities that do not have specified behavior, such as corporations and other Mercenaries, will follow some kind of formula to randomly choose a negotiator.

Hi everyone,

Release day comes so fast sometimes. Here is the current development trunk snapshot. Lots of fixes in this one!

v0.37.5 (2014-01-26 16:55 UTC)
+ Feature: BattleArmor equipment now tracks which location on the BA suit it is
mounted on. This isn't completely necessary from a current rules
standpoint, but is required to facilitate consistency in MML (we need to
be able to save the location a user assigns a weapon to). Mounted used to
only track if the weapon was body mounted, now it has a state variable
baMountLoc, and BattleArmor defines 4 possible locations: NONE, BODY, LARM,
RARM. Additionally, the :DWP tag can be used in conjunction with a
location tag (before only one tag was possible).
+ Added construction data for "machina domini" interface cockpit and gyro none
+ Added construction data for a few support vehicle engine types and chassis
modifications
+ Added construction data for BattleMech Neural Interface Unit
+ Feature: Updated BLKFile to write out modifiers to Mounted so BattleArmor can
load properly
+ Bug: Aeros, MUL, Reinforce and Bombs not working right still
+ Bug: TestAero would fail Aeros for mounted bombs, this has been fixed (for
real this time)
+ Data: Some BA with new location tags.
+ Data: More BA Changes with new tags.
+ Added TSEMP modifier for steam engines
+ Data: Last of the new BA changes. They will need to be looked at in MM for
errors.
+ Data: Unit fixes.
+ Bug [#3990]: Jumping Vehicles roll on the motive crit table but it's not
clear why
+ Feature/Data: Battle armor equipment and some fixed units. Some of the data
still needs to be checked and corrected. Some fixed units included.
+ Bug [#3988]: Fixes to Server for BA reflective/reactive armor
+ Bug: Cougar-XR was missing a jump jet in each leg
+ Bug [#3997]: PSR Needs 2, Rolls 2, Failed.
+ Bug: Potential NPE in TilesetManager
+ Data: More BA equipment and weapons (Compact NARC breaks MML).
+ Bug [#4001]: Arty Icons and SpecialHexDisplay
+ Bug: Fixed potential NPE in Los highlighting/darkening code
+ Refactored BoardView1.getToolTipText to use a StringBuffer
+ Bug [#4002]: BoardView1 Hex tooltip doesn't contain SpecialHexDisplay info
+ Data: New Images - Thanks SteveRestless.
+ Data: BA Equipment fixes.
+ Feature [#1218]: Ability to add a note to a hex
+ Data: More BA Equipment stuff.
+ Data: Name Fixes for Various BA Equipment and Unit file Fixes.
+ Data: More Units and Equipment fixes.
+ Data: Unit Corrections per Official Errata to MUL.
+ Feature: Updated TestAero to properly account for the space taken up by XXL
engines
+ Bug [#3991]: Dagger DAR4-XP armor type
+ Updated MechFileParser so that only one instance of Start/Stop Swarm,
Leg Attack, etc get added to BA
+ Bug: BA Clan Reactive/Reflective armor had some data errors (internal names
were set improperly)
+ Bug: TechConstants.isLegal didn't consider T_ALL_IS and T_ALL_CLAN for
equipmentTechLvl
+ Bug [#4005]: VTOL Turrets always show target out of Arc
+ Bug: Mounted.baMountLocation was being initialized as
BattleArmor.MOUNT_LOC_BODY instead of BattleArmor.MOUNT_LOC_NONE, which was
causing the :Body tag to get added to all Mounteds that were saved to BLK
files.
+ Added support for keeping track of the number of shots per crit for BA ammo
+ BLKFile now encodes a :ShotN# string for BA Ammo, where N is the number of
shots in the crit
+ BLKBattleArmor now parses the :ShotN# string to set the shots per crit
+ TestBattleArmor now accounts for ammo weight based on KG per shot
+ Bug: MunitionMutator didn't properly handle mutating BA ammo
+ Bug [#3420]: Pilots from MekHQ w/o Artillery skill do not import properly
+ Bug [#3960]: Player Disconnected, Could Not Reconnect.
+ Bug [#4000]: Default Icon for Ultra Light and Super Heavy Mechs
+ Bug [#3976]: Aerospace Launch/Recovery Bugs
+ Data: New Camo Pack - Thanks to SeaVea
+ Construction data ONLY for Naval Mass Drivers (need to be coded to work as a
weapon)
+ Unit file Fixes.
+ Fixed protomech AC AP crit modifiers per a recent ruling on the rules question
forum (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,34101.msg800042.html)
+ Feature: With the addition of more camos in MM, it the camo dialog has become
painful to use. I changed the dropdown for category selection to a
JTreeView.
+ Bug [#3966]: Tripod cockpit BV modifier
+ Fixed MechDisplay not changing the displayed location in the systems tab
when used from MekWars
+ Bug: displacement was not setting elevation when displacement did not result
in a fall, which resulted in lost buoyancy PSR fails when pushing into water
+ Fixed newlines in breach message
+ Bug: CamoChoiceDialog not working when no subfolders exist in camo folder

Hi everyone,

Release day comes so fast sometimes. Here is the current experimental snapshot. Lots of fixes in this one!

v0.37.5-exp (2014-01-26 16:55 UTC)
+ Bug: Infantry and BattleArmor didn't have a jump button

v0.37.5 (2014-01-26 16:55 UTC)
+ Feature: BattleArmor equipment now tracks which location on the BA suit it is
mounted on. This isn't completely necessary from a current rules
standpoint, but is required to facilitate consistency in MML (we need to
be able to save the location a user assigns a weapon to). Mounted used to
only track if the weapon was body mounted, now it has a state variable
baMountLoc, and BattleArmor defines 4 possible locations: NONE, BODY, LARM,
RARM. Additionally, the :DWP tag can be used in conjunction with a
location tag (before only one tag was possible).
+ Added construction data for "machina domini" interface cockpit and gyro none
+ Added construction data for a few support vehicle engine types and chassis
modifications
+ Added construction data for BattleMech Neural Interface Unit
+ Feature: Updated BLKFile to write out modifiers to Mounted so BattleArmor can
load properly
+ Bug: Aeros, MUL, Reinforce and Bombs not working right still
+ Bug: TestAero would fail Aeros for mounted bombs, this has been fixed (for
real this time)
+ Data: Some BA with new location tags.
+ Data: More BA Changes with new tags.
+ Added TSEMP modifier for steam engines
+ Data: Last of the new BA changes. They will need to be looked at in MM for
errors.
+ Data: Unit fixes.
+ Bug [#3990]: Jumping Vehicles roll on the motive crit table but it's not
clear why
+ Feature/Data: Battle armor equipment and some fixed units. Some of the data
still needs to be checked and corrected. Some fixed units included.
+ Bug [#3988]: Fixes to Server for BA reflective/reactive armor
+ Bug: Cougar-XR was missing a jump jet in each leg
+ Bug [#3997]: PSR Needs 2, Rolls 2, Failed.
+ Bug: Potential NPE in TilesetManager
+ Data: More BA equipment and weapons (Compact NARC breaks MML).
+ Bug [#4001]: Arty Icons and SpecialHexDisplay
+ Bug: Fixed potential NPE in Los highlighting/darkening code
+ Refactored BoardView1.getToolTipText to use a StringBuffer
+ Bug [#4002]: BoardView1 Hex tooltip doesn't contain SpecialHexDisplay info
+ Data: New Images - Thanks SteveRestless.
+ Data: BA Equipment fixes.
+ Feature [#1218]: Ability to add a note to a hex
+ Data: More BA Equipment stuff.
+ Data: Name Fixes for Various BA Equipment and Unit file Fixes.
+ Data: More Units and Equipment fixes.
+ Data: Unit Corrections per Official Errata to MUL.
+ Feature: Updated TestAero to properly account for the space taken up by XXL
engines
+ Bug [#3991]: Dagger DAR4-XP armor type
+ Updated MechFileParser so that only one instance of Start/Stop Swarm,
Leg Attack, etc get added to BA
+ Bug: BA Clan Reactive/Reflective armor had some data errors (internal names
were set improperly)
+ Bug: TechConstants.isLegal didn't consider T_ALL_IS and T_ALL_CLAN for
equipmentTechLvl
+ Bug [#4005]: VTOL Turrets always show target out of Arc
+ Bug: Mounted.baMountLocation was being initialized as
BattleArmor.MOUNT_LOC_BODY instead of BattleArmor.MOUNT_LOC_NONE, which was
causing the :Body tag to get added to all Mounteds that were saved to BLK
files.
+ Added support for keeping track of the number of shots per crit for BA ammo
+ BLKFile now encodes a :ShotN# string for BA Ammo, where N is the number of
shots in the crit
+ BLKBattleArmor now parses the :ShotN# string to set the shots per crit
+ TestBattleArmor now accounts for ammo weight based on KG per shot
+ Bug: MunitionMutator didn't properly handle mutating BA ammo
+ Bug [#3420]: Pilots from MekHQ w/o Artillery skill do not import properly
+ Bug [#3960]: Player Disconnected, Could Not Reconnect.
+ Bug [#4000]: Default Icon for Ultra Light and Super Heavy Mechs
+ Bug [#3976]: Aerospace Launch/Recovery Bugs
+ Data: New Camo Pack - Thanks to SeaVea
+ Construction data ONLY for Naval Mass Drivers (need to be coded to work as a
weapon)
+ Unit file Fixes.
+ Fixed protomech AC AP crit modifiers per a recent ruling on the rules question
forum (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,34101.msg800042.html)
+ Feature: With the addition of more camos in MM, it the camo dialog has become
painful to use. I changed the dropdown for category selection to a
JTreeView.
+ Bug [#3966]: Tripod cockpit BV modifier
+ Fixed MechDisplay not changing the displayed location in the systems tab
when used from MekWars
+ Bug: displacement was not setting elevation when displacement did not result
in a fall, which resulted in lost buoyancy PSR fails when pushing into water
+ Fixed newlines in breach message
+ Bug: CamoChoiceDialog not working when no subfolders exist in camo folder