Yep I did it again. Made off with Baugrems "horn" which aside from the quick transformation as a short bird that tastes delicious it had the side effect of making me an admin again as well. So I've resumed my duties on the administration team and said adios to my character and my last name. Now I'm craving porg so need to track down Baugrems again.

Tweaks:
- Added protocol droid scripts editable by players
- Added generic entity scripts to creatures
- Droids now only capturable if owned by 'Hostile Owner' (("Hostile Owner" is a technical term in this context, meaning bandits))
- Added in automatic room movement for command room, hangar, docking, and entrance
- Applying images to items now require that the applier is carrying the item or that the item is on an entity that they can apply customs to. Assignment and ownership of the item are only taken into account when the above conditions cannot be satisfied.

Bugs:
- Fixed inability to cross terrain into ocean while wearing necessary protective items
- Forum post vote buttons not updating on click
- Removed reference in rules to non-existent GNS flash news for factions issuing stock (#5069)

edit: scripts waiting on a small tweak post-sync to work properly so hold tight. Station inventory has a fix written that will be done soon!

Edit2: Done!

Edit3: Added in a missing tweak.

With the meteoric rise of esports over the past few years, we are excited to announce that the Star Wars Combine will be formally entering the competitive gaming scene beginning this summer. We feel that this has the potential to significantly enhance the browser gaming experience and will give casual gamers and spectators alike the opportunity to support some of their favorite professional SWC players.

We are in the process of finalizing the recruitment requirements in order to add fresh talent to our rosters. Our goal is to support up to twelve separate teams for our upcoming Combine League International Tournament, which is expected to launch this August and will feature an exciting prize pool that includes Star Wars Combine-themed apparel* and dinner at Selatos' favorite restaurant*.

Still confused and not really sure what all this newfangled talk of electronic sports even means? Check out this exciting clip of genuine training footage to get a feel for what you can expect from the fast-paced, high-pressure world of SWC Esports. Think you've got what it takes to join the professionals and earn yourself some sweet sweet prizes? Warm up those left click fingers and keep an eye out for more details!

*Winners will be responsible for all associated costs.

Howdy, folks! I come bearing good news for all!

As of last night, we've had a bit of an overhaul to the custom system. We've introduced quite a few new features, fixed up some old ones, and gutted entire swathes of code to make the system more maintainable and reliable.

Before we get to the good stuff, I want to give a bit of a warning: due to how much was rewritten, you may encounter some new bugs. If you do, don't panic! Just scurry on over to the bug report system, check to see if the bug has already been reported, and, if not, make a report for it so we can take a look and get it sorted out!

Here's a list of the major changes:

• Custom items are now placed into the standard custom queue. Due to this change, they're no longer spawned upon request.
• Custom items may be spawned for 100cp from the CP > Custom List page.
• Custom images and items may be shared with other players and factions from the CP > Custom List page.
• Customs shared with players may be provided a number of uses (or -1 for unlimited). Currently, quantities do not apply to customs shared with factions.
• Customs may be "hidden" from the CP > Custom List page. Hiding customs there will also prevent the customs from appearing when you're applying customs.
• Planet customs can now be submitted through the custom system by the leader or 2IC of the controlling faction. Currently, system customs must still be submitted through the Public Art forum.
• Ships and vehicles can now have cockpit and hangar/docking bay custom images submitted and applied to them.

We're also introducing some changes to the way we handle public customs. Starting today, all public customs will be given a 2 year lifetime. After 2 years, the public custom will need to be resubmitted for review from the CP > Custom List page. If the public custom is denied during this review, it will be converted into a private custom.

All public customs submitted prior to today are being given a 3 month grace period to be resubmitted for review. After the 3 months are up, public customs that appear as "expired" on the CP > Custom List page will no longer be accessible in the public custom system until they've been resubmitted and reapproved.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to shoot me a DM!

Bunny Edit: Please make sure to also review the rules here

Edit 2: Looks like we've caught ourselves some bugs!

Known bugs:

• Public customs can't be applied
• Planet customs fail ownership validation
• Custom items spawned in cities are placed "inside of" the planet
• Shared custom items aren't associating both images together

Tweaks:
- Tweak Item and Droid Deployment to use Properties to allow easier ability to allow entities to deploy.
- Add message in inventory is asset is docked inside a deleted entity.
- Minor optimization for boarding NPCs via party screen
- Undock redirect to main cockpit screen rather than travel screen
- Allow submitting build permissions for any city (not just the city you are in) when on a planet

Rules:
- Faction Asset Protection Rules Added to Factions Rules Page
- Computer Control Centre Section added to Cities Rules Page
- Add which faction type and what facility / station used to produce entities to rules page
- Correct Stocks Percentage required for ownership on Faction Creation
- Update wording on Bacta Creation Rules Page
- Combine Points Rules Page Added
- Custom Image Rules Page Added
- Custom NPC Rules Page Added
- Entitty Deployment Rules Page Added
- Update GNS Rules Page to include corvettes as viable places to post from.
- Update Medicine Rules Page to include Kolto Patch

Bug:
- Fix issue where cannot unassign asset when faction assigned as commander
- Fix issue with Faction creation where sending wrong parameters to transfer credits
- Fix InventoryList API
- Minor Boarding Position View bugs
- Materials split interface number inputs and maximum limits on number of piles.
- Fix undefined variable on vehicle load screen
- Fix issue with xml scanners error when in ship and npc in scan results
- Fix issue when atmospheric damage would not generate an event

Edit: Vertical Lockers are now Deployable in Rooms.

Edit: Custom Images have also been improved with some new features. Ulrike will likely do a post to better explain that in greater detail in the next day or two.

Year 20 Festivities Continue this time with stuff to make your lives a little easier and more interesting new entities.

Stations

• Depot Station I
• Depot Station II
• Depot Station III
• Depot Station IV

Ships

• KRS-1 Ore Hauler

Tweaks:
- Recycling UI queueing entities is now faster
- Add unclaim option to item inventory
- Add skill component to hyperspace abort cooldown timer
- Player custom image list groups small and large images together
- Update death asset succession rules, these may be tweaked in the future

Look and feel:
- Add absolute ETA shown on sidemenu timers tooltip
- Add facility, station, city construction link to position view screen where applicable

Rules:
- Update Marketplace Rules Page to make the language a little clearer.
- Update Facility Income Rules Page to make the warning message more visible.
- Update Life & Death asset rules page
- The bugs page now lists supported browsers.
- System designer, based heavily on city designer

Bugs:
- Fix issue where facility construction was recorded as "Other" in transaction log
- Improve ordering of entities on some screens: where possible squads should be grouped in order with the squad leader first e.g. on scanners
- Two fixes to make paying off large amounts of facility income debt via inventory better: selecting all above max limit will allow you to select first set of entities, paying off debt generates a single event instead of one event per facility
- Blank page after squadron force leave (#5202)
- Fix more scanner link when controlling garrison squad (#5203)
- Fix export scanner from garrison squad (#5199)
- Update CCC Shield Gen linking rules, now CCC only needs to be assigned to the person doing the linking (#5183)
- City show stats screen not showing aborting facilities correctly (#5192)
- Fix behaviour of attack button from passenger manifest (#5194)
- Install Lock page can get into a redirect loop (#5196)
- Position screen XSS (#5193)
- Make unassign inventory events when using select all tag feature crash less (#4830)
- Fix issue using station construction using materials from diagonal location (#5188)
- Add loading spinners to scan and hail buttons in cockpit, finish-action links
- Update Creature Inventory to show Experience Level similar to how NPC Inventory does.
- Fix an issue where IFF list would crash if bad entry present
- Fix issue with corrupt facility type on build permissions able to be submitted
- Add another situation where build permissions can be automatically accepted: when you have permission to construct facilities from your faction and the facilities are going to be faction owned (issuing build permissions by plan allows faster construction by preloading details)
- Construction crash when accepted build permission contains restricted facility, error earlier if facility is out of bounds
- Fix issue with mine being full charging NPC costs for 0 yield
- Fix issue when toggling asteroid overlay when using inverse fog sensors
- Fix wrecked HQs being treated as a valid HQ
- Added an inventory filter for entities without tags assigned
- Fix up spam messages from cockpit tractor beam page, improve tractor beam load page speed for certain situations
- Add link to production in side menu when in an entity that can perform production (previously link only shown in cockpit and not under the side menu "production" heading)
- Unable to access market from NPC Owned market facilities
- Consolidate some material usage events into a single event (including production material usage events)
- Using items inside hangar/docking bay will show all passengers as targets for the action rather than those in the current room (#5205)
- Asteroid (entity) scanner icon missing on map (#5135)
- Hitting NPCs with ionic weapons give XP, hitting disabled droids with ionic weapons gives XP (#5191)

WS:
- Add NPC skills to Inventory/Entity response
- Add slot size and armour to Types/Ship response (#5164)
- Inventory/Entity crashes on deleted/nonexistent entities
- Added admin event upon new WS client registrations
- WS Admin crashes on dev

Known issues:

- There are some minor issues that currently cause the FI tools to not work and todays FI to be delayed.

We recently discovered a bug with XP earned by ion weapons. When you attack enemies that cannot be damaged by ion weapons (i.e. NPCs or disabled droids), you gain XP, which is unintended. We'd like to request everyone avoid using ion weapons in situations where their only targets will be enemies that cannot be damaged by ion weapons until we get a fix in place.

Happy New Year!

Tweaks:
- Added count of total bids to galactic market auctions
- Facility construction screen will preload nearby data from accepted build permissions
- Submitting your own build permissions plans now will auto accept if you have necessary privileges
- Improved city show status page (can see under construction ETA and can pause and resume construction from city stats screen if you have necessary privileges)
- City maps now draw under construction buildings with a transparent construction overlay
- FI Transaction tool maybe works better when ouputting to CSV for large factions Does not work better
- Added split crates multiplier on equipment crate split screen
- Added split piles multiplier on material loading screen

Mobile:
- The two panes for the material loading screen and ship/vehicle loading screens now displays vertically on narrow screens.
- City show stats screen can now display vertically on narrow screens.

Bugs:
- Fix issue with item inventory crashing when viewing filtered summary and filtering by cargo container type
- Fix issue with city designer offset when resizing the browser window
- Made it more clear when repair failed because your entities were in a party
- Fix a rare crash in MovementUtil::getTravelETA causing sidemenu to crash, update sidemenu to show travel actions like other actions
- Make travel screen input boxes update when single clicking on map
- Fix an issue with admin login when accessing unverified accounts
- moveElementToCursor javascript updated from using clientX/Y to pageX/Y (Maybe fix samsung browser map click issue)
- Fix issue where NPC cannot command board in some situations / Issue with lazy loaded fields with null value incorrect isset return code (#5162)
- Fixing some security issues with community pages/login/ban screens, non logged in users will no longer be shown internal error details.
- Improve inventory jump error handling when entity is not found
- Fix forum links not showing up underlined
- Fix being able to target medical items on full HP targets
- Some fixes for custom images and items tools

LISP:
- Allow XP to be given to all Entities

Rules:
- Update HP rules to use correct terminology and add calculation example

Edit fixed Y20D36:
- Issue with facility construction crashing with invalid build permissions
- Issue with FI Transactions not forcing CSV file download (note: previous fix was ineffective for large factions)
- Fix issue with scanners crashing when characters present
- Rules page added for bandit capture

Along with the sync last night we get to release a new creature for you all. Thanks a lot to the art team for their work on the images they are amazing. Some people might be wondering what the hell that it...well we also call them crystal foxes. Enjoy and happy hunting.

Hopefully everyone is enjoying the year 20 celebration so far. There is more to come so keep an eye out on the sim news, you never know what might pop up or when. The introduction of the races seem to be generally well recieved, other than the usual complaining that is a prequisite to any change that occurs. As your person to implement them I am very glad of that, and wanted to thank Syn and Arjuna especially for their assistance in reviewing the stats and making sure I didn't screw up anything while making the races. 

Porgs also seem to be a hit as far as I've heard, and with them introduced a new feature we can take advantage of CP Creatures. Which when the idea was tossed around we all loved it so hopefully everyone else does as well, and never know we might introduce more CP Creatures as time goes on. 

I kind of kicked off the ideas for the Year 20 Celebrations so this is a fitting time for me to announce my retirement as an admin in swc and am retaking my character. The introduce of the new races and the making of porgs, purrgills and future things to come were my last offical acts as an admin in swc. Given my history it might be permanent or I might drop my character again one day to take on admin role again but for now feel I can contribute more in an advisory role than an actual admin.

Since this will likely be my last sim news post I do. I would like to thank everyone in swc for building a community that has lasted 20 years. Some of you I have worked more closely with than others but everyone contributes to make this game interesting. For that you have my thanks.

Also like to say given the recent massive earthquake in Alaska hopefully all of our players there are safe and sound, or as good as you could be given the circumstances. 

1	Year 20 Day 133, 13:15	Baugrems banned player Yeva Dmitrievna providing the following reason: Multi Ban
2	Year 20 Day 133, 13:15	Baugrems banned player Maia Yen providing the following reason: Multi Ban

Yet again proving that we can't have nice things. As a second (third? idk) offense, this is a permanent ban. (See I know where the ban button is still)

Player can submit a help ticket in 3 weeks to request an unban.

1	Year 20 Day 93, 17:38	Noctis banned player Zephyrine Russa providing the following reason: Multi Ban - Failing to register, funneling assets.
2	Year 20 Day 93, 17:38	Noctis banned player Zandar Russa providing the following reason: Multi Ban - Failing to register, funneling assets.

Oldest account can request unban after 3 weeks and forfeiture of assets.

Reminder, if you share a connection, register.  

1

Year 20 Day 90, 17:10

Noctis banned player Karai Darkstar providing the following reason: Harassment - DM Spam, and acknowledging they shouldnt.

Player can request an unban in 3 weeks for abusing the DM system.

PS: We don't delete accounts.

1	Year 20 Day 84, 19:31	Noctis banned player Bobby Boudreaux providing the following reason: Multi Ban - Accounts coming under control of a single player.
2	Year 20 Day 84, 19:31	Noctis banned player Breton Boudreaux providing the following reason: Multi Ban - Accounts coming under control of a single player.

 Registering as multis doesn't mean you won't get caught.  Oldest account can request an unban in 6 weeks.

1	Year 20 Day 83, 12:33	Noctis banned player Mykil Gahrl providing the following reason: Multi Ban - failing to register as multis, attempting to create new characters despite multiple warnings.
2	Year 20 Day 83, 12:33	Noctis banned player Kyp Ryll providing the following reason: Multi Ban - failing to register as multis, attempting to create new characters despite multiple warnings.

I don't know what to tell people anymore, stahp.  6 weeks request an unban of the oldest account.

Attempting to get around the death timer by registering a new account.  Submit a help ticket in 6 weeks 3 months for attempting to make another.

Baugrems Edit: Awww I'm my own motivation too!

1	Year 20 Day 53, 11:41	Baugrems banned player Freddy Barkhuizen providing the following reason: Multi Ban
2	Year 20 Day 53, 11:41	Baugrems banned player Jaqueline Barkhuizen providing the following reason: Multi Ban

Freddy being the older of the accounts can request an unban in 3 weeks. Both accounts were being controlled by one person.

1

Year 20 Day 50, 21:08

Baugrems banned player Natalya Volkov providing the following reason: Multi Ban - Jasper Merlyn

Read the thing above. Permanent Ban. Returning banned player.

5	Year 20 Day 8, 21:29	Noctis banned player Penny Var providing the following reason: Multi Ban
6	Year 20 Day 8, 21:29	Noctis banned player Adec Boda providing the following reason: Multi Ban

Failed to register as multis. Submit help ticket in 2 weeks.

1	Year 20 Day 8, 21:30	Noctis banned player Cal Visla providing the following reason: Multi Ban
2	Year 20 Day 8, 21:30	Noctis banned player Avianus Antornis providing the following reason: Multi Ban
3	Year 20 Day 8, 21:30	Noctis banned player Ramos Rob providing the following reason: Multi Ban
4	Year 20 Day 8, 21:30	Noctis banned player Amalyta Tasy providing the following reason: Multi Ban

Legal multis at one point that have under control of a single player.  Even if you register multis that does not mean one player can access multiple accounts.  An appeal can be requested in 3 weeks.

1	Year 19 Day 362, 11:54	Noctis banned player Yaxe Warden providing the following reason: Hacking
2	Year 19 Day 362, 11:54	Noctis banned player Valdis Hardwar providing the following reason: Hacking

Multi accounts that appear to have under control of one player, exploiting the market, and asset sharing; also involving Swahg S`haghakh.

These players have been banned for one month.  Valdis Hardwar can submit a support ticket to request reinstatement along with credit forfeiture after 1 month.

1

Year 19 Day 362, 22:37

Noctis banned player Ace Snyde providing the following reason: Harassment

Threatening characters IC for the OOC banning.  He may request an unban in 2 weeks.

1	Year 19 Day 362, 1:41	Baugrems banned player Zack Cole providing the following reason: Multi Ban
2	Year 19 Day 362, 1:41	Baugrems banned player Domin Rob providing the following reason: Multi Ban
3	Year 19 Day 362, 1:41	Baugrems banned player Rada Welles providing the following reason: Multi Ban
4	Year 19 Day 362, 1:41	Baugrems banned player Chris Morgan providing the following reason: Multi Ban
5	Year 19 Day 362, 1:41	Baugrems banned player Dirk Kalamar providing the following reason: Multi Ban
6	Year 19 Day 362, 1:41	Baugrems banned player Teresa Rowley providing the following reason: Multi Ban

Banned (again) for being controlled by one person. Teresa controlled some, Domin controlled others but it doesn't matter. They're one happy family of banned now. There is no plan to unban any of the above for the foreseeable future.

1

Year 19 Day 358, 17:23

Noctis banned player Swahg S`haghakh providing the following reason: Use of an external program to exploit the combine.

Player can submit a support ticket in 1 month to request reinstatement along with a forfeiture of XP.

A recent sync report, if you noticed, mentioned that Creatures can now be scripted! This means our pets can be interactive but we need help filling them out. Have a script idea for a certain creature? Give us a shout and you might be rewarded!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE THREAD

In the interest of helping people prepare for the next phases, I am releasing the action plan with a few redactions. Here you go!

Phase One:

Tags Returned:	DNA Bashers	Sport Hunters	Tech Lovers	Zoo Keepers
1
5
10
100

Individual tag turn-ins beyond 100 may yield additional rewards but will not be announced ahead of time.

2000 tags will need to be collected to end phase one. If it ends up taking too long it will become a running total rather than a team total. We will see where we are in 2 weeks time.

Phase Two:

Terminal Hack Mini-Game

Participation in phase two will result in a Firespray (Gunboat) being spawned for your use in phase 3 if needed. Keep it nearby.

• 100 xp per point scored
• 1000 xp per match won
• 15 max points, 3 max wins per character

Winning team for phase two will get an additional reward that is not being announced ahead of time.

At the end of phase 2, the two losing* teams will be eliminated. Members will be prompted to choose one of the two remaining teams instead.

* Losing teams meaning lowest placement within phase one and lowest within phase two. If the same team places last both times, the next lowest score will be eliminated.

Phase Three:

Space Combat

In this phase you will be fighting hostile ships owned by the other teams. Shoot them down to stop them from claiming victory!

Individual rewards will not be rewarded this phase. Winning team wins the Feud and will get a team reward at the end. Losing team will get a consolation prize.

The winning team will have the entity-type of their choice added to a community design competition.:

• DNA: Medium Creature with good attack
• Sport Hunters: Large Creature with High HP
• Tech Lovers: New Projectile Weapon
• Zoo Keeper: New Military/Security Droid

The next stage of the feud will begin soon! Zoos, Ranches, and Wildlife Preserves will all have connections for you to get started on FRIDAY of this week. If you go now, it might look a bit empty.

Don't fret if you can't make it by Friday, there will be plenty of time to participate.

More details and storyline will be released soon. For now, this is your official warning to get ready. Below is a map of Darkness/Quest owned locations to get started.

edit: Join discord here if you like: https://discord.gg/WjcrVkg

edit2: Team selection added. You will be able to begin hunting creatures and bandits for quest items in 4 hours.

You've waited patiently and now it is time for the quest to begin!

Step one will allow people to get ready and recover from the swap meet. You may notice a new guest in your ship's cockpit.

A small puzzle should keep you busy during hyperspace travel or waiting times.

The rest of the quest will begin after 200 people capture their Purrgil. Just to give everyone time to prepare.

Top Clickers:

1. Thrall Lothbrok with 1,928 clicks through the Purrgil system. (Biggest April Fool)

2.  Graham Buccheri with 606 clicks. (Wow Thrall)

3. Magnhild Valthjofdottir with 535 clicks. (lol Thrall clicked a lot)

TOTAL CLICKS: 39,151! (Thrall did 1,928 of them)

(That's 4.9%)

One of the biggest announcements the team has for the upcoming years is finally here. Many players old and new complain that SWCombine can often take too long. Flying across the galaxy in a cap ship can take ages. Say goodbye to this old system as we look to the future.

SWC+ will enter us into the world of CCGs. Collect cards, build decks, and battle other players for dominance. Factions and assets will remain the same.

Click here for a preview of the cards.

Many of you have asked about the part two of our previous quest with GenSci and the Twilight Foundation. We announced it would launch early March and well... here we are! A few things are being completed but be prepared for it to come very soon. It might end up officially launching closer to April now, but don't fear it is on the way.

Some FAQ for you guys:

Q: If we did not participate in part one, can we join part two?
A: Yes, of course.

Q: Where do we need to go?
A: It will be galaxy-wide.

Q: What do we need?
A: Fighters for space combat. NPCs/Gear for Ground combat. If you do not have much you can still participate just fine.

Q: Am I stuck on the same team?
A: No. You are free to join whatever team you like at the start of phase 2.

Q: Can I help with quest management?
A: Not for this one. Future events/quests/NPC work can always use more people though!

Edit: This will start AFTER the swap meet. Because I am nice and won't ruin your fun. This time. For now.

The Descriptions Team is looking for capable writers to produce new content and provide editing services to submissions from players. The typical test to apply for the team is to write three descriptions for entities that currently lack a quality one - you can either find some of these entities on your own or we can select them for you.

If you feel that you possess a basic comprehension of the English language and aren't afraid of a serial comma, feel free to apply for the team by messaging Tomas O`Cuinn in Darkness or catching me on Discord. We pay out a monthly salary of CPs as long as you can fool me into believing that you've been active, so what have you got to lose!?

As of today, I've taken over as Art Team Director. I'd like to give a big thank you to Jevon for his years of service. All current and future questions about the art rules, custom submissions, default image submissions, etc. should be directed to me from now on.

Thanks again for all of your hard work, Jevon!

Deathmatch has moved to the next round!

CLICK ME TO GO VOTE

Grudge Sign up bug is fixed. Sign up for next round. No new ones this time but death match did move ahead.

The votes are in , tallied, sorted, recounted, and comple. Here are the winners for the first ever Competition to design your own CP ship

Fighter:

1. Ixzis' Einstar APOSTRO-9 - 15,000 CPs

2. Knightcrawler's Raptor-Wasp Starfighter - 10,000 CPs

3. Mishka's Spirit MSDB - 5,000 CPs

Freighter:

1. Squall's Decadence-class Pleasure Yacht - 15,000 CPs

2. Argon's RZ-68 Defender Troop Transport - 10,000 CPs

3. Euna's Xanadu-class Superyacht - 5,000 CPs

Capital:

1. Syn's Prometheus-class Starcraft - 15,000 CPs

2. Crueya's Verpine-class Heavy Cruiser - 10,000 CPs

3. Mikel's KR-4B Luxury Star Cruiser - 5,000 CPs

Most Creative Concept:

Bentake's Spacelane Diner - 2,000 CPs

Lets congratualte all our submitters, and especially our winners! Eventually all of these will make their way into a galaxy near you.

For winners, prizes will be distributed shortly.

UPDATE:

All submissions are being reviewed and voted on currently by a panel of judges. There will be multiple rounds, and winners will be announced at the end of all judging rounds. 

We may look at upvotes and downvotes for some decision making, but they are not being used in any official capacity at this time. Showing your support for designs you like though and letting us know what you all want to see in game cannot hurt.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Combine Art team is officially hosting the first ever design your own CP ship competition in the art forum! Please head over here to read up on the rules and submission requirements:

http://www.swcombine.com/forum/thread.php?thread=74561&page=0

Submissions are open until January 15, 2018. Any and all questions can be DMed to me, or head over to the #swc-art IRC channel. 

Edit: Last day to get these in. You have 24 hours!

The Deathmatch has moved ahead again. I feel like I did not post last time so we had few votes.... oops?

Grudges are updated but please submit more.