What's New

Artemis Cosmos has introduced a number of new changes over Artemis 2.8.1, the last version of Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator. There have not been significant changes to the gameplay; Artemis Cosmos still plays the same as before. But the engine has been completely rewritten from the ground up. Among other things, this has resulted in major improvements to the game's graphics.  Combat is much more immersive and exciting, with beam animations tracing moving arcs over the ships' shields, which light up to indicate absorption of the damage. Terrain features such as asteroids and nebulae are much more detailed and realistic, and the game engine is able to generate planets now. 

More importantly, missions under the new engine are written in python, and the separation between the game code and the mission scripting is considerably more nebulous. Much of the game elements are encapsulated into python library scripts, which means that missions are able to introduce new game elements and manipulate the User Interface. Consoles may be added for a mission or altered to add new gameplay features. This greatly expands the capabilities of mission scripts in Artemis Cosmos, while at the same time making it easier and more intuitive for players to write their own scripts. If you have experience in the python programming language, you can write a script for Artemis. 

There have been tweaks to the UI as well, which have improved the gameplay. Some of the major changes, including to the various consoles, are as follows:

Gameplay:

• Player ships do less damage, but have stronger shields, particularly the weaker classes.
• The range of speeds seems to have been narrowed 
• The Destroyer has much weaker shields and does not move as fast.
• The Scout has also lost speed, from about 130% to 110%.  
• No ships have lower speed than the Light Cruiser standard. Instead, they cost a LOT more Warp power.  
• Single seat craft move about 50% faster. As noted below, they have forward and rear shields now.  
• Scanning is no longer unlimited. The sector is infinite, but the standard missions still appear to cover about the same size. 
• Scouts now have twice the scan range of other ships.
• Single seat craft have half the range.  A single seat craft can't even detect a ship until it is in missile range. 
• Logically, it follows that capital ships first detect a ship at twice torpedo range. Science triples this, as noted below.  
• There is more vertical separation between bases in the sector.  
• There is no BvB. (Yet) The Infestation scenario has been removed. 
• I have not confirmed this, but it appears as if enemy fleets consist of only a single race. That means Arvonians and Torgoth are no longer grouped with Kraliens, but their own Destroyer class ships. 
• It should still be possible to create fleets with multiple races. It is just more difficult. We may see Kraliens teamed with Arvonians and Torgoths again in the future.  

Main Screen:

The Main Screen provides much more information to the players of the game than Artemis 2.0.

• There is now a compass and altimeter displayed in on overlay on the screen.
• A readout of the ship's status, identical to what is displayed on each console, is displayed to the upper left of the screen.
• An optional Navigation Ring helps track the Artemis's orientation and clearly shows the plane of the sector even when the Artemis is diving, climbing, or optionally rolling in comparison to the horizontal plane. 

The Main Screen of the first player ship is still displayed by the game Server, and is controlled by Helm or Weapons, as in Artemis 2.0.

• The Tactical, Long Range Sensors and Engineering Status display (now renamed Data) are all present. 
• The LRS screen can see enemies at any sensor range. This may be a bug. This is only true of the server, a Mainscreen console only has a range of 10k. 

As in Artemis 2.0, multiple views from the Artemis can be displayed on the Main Screen.

• The "Outside" view shows a third person view with the Artemis visible from Front, Left, Right and Back angles.
• The "Inside" view provides a first person view through the "windows" of the Artemis.
• In addition, there is a new "Track" mode that allows the Main Screen to center on the Weapons console's current target. As shown in the image to the right, this allows the Captain and crew to monitor combat without having to change camera angles as the target's position changes. 

The Main Screen also has reticles and directional indicators for targets both on and off the screen.

• This replaces the old radar display that previously tracked the location of offscreen targets.
• This interface should be familiar to players of the Fighter console in Artemis 2.0.
• Target designations are also displayed on the overlay, so you don't have to switch to Tactical to identify your targets for communication between crew members. 

Helm:

The Helm console has been vastly improved with the addition of Full 3D Control of the Artemis's movement in space.

• This is an optional feature, as the so-called "Trainee" setting recreates the Artemis 2.0 steering.
• Two additional modes, "Capital 3D" and "Full 3D", gives the Helmsman much more control over the Artemis's 3D movement.
• Capital 3D lets the Helmsman control the pitch of the Artemis at Impulse, but the ship will automatically level off at Warp.
• Full 3D gives the Helmsman the same controls as a fighter pilot on the Flight Hangar console. The ship can warp in any direction, at any pitch, and can perform roll maneuvers. 
• Artemis now has much greater variation in altitude in the sector. Base stations can be as much as 1500-2000m above or below each other. (Artemis 2.0 maximum height was 500m) 
• The ship status panel combines the old status panel and the shield status indicator. 
• Ship status now includes an indicator for the Weapons, Engines, Sensors and Sheilds subsystems, replacing the red dots on the ship silhouette from Artemis 2.0. 
• It should now be obvious when Engines have taken damage, making the Helm controls sluggish, or when Sheilds are failing.  

Helm control is now with the WASD keys, with A and D controlling climb and dive, not speed.

• Impulse speed is controlled by Shift, Ctrl, and Space for Full Impulse, Half Impulse and All Stop respectively. The slider may be clicked on for more precise control of speed.  
• The artificial horizon displayed on the screen is a "trackball" and is dragged to control the ship's heading and pitch with the mouse.
• This control is not very intuitive and may be augmented with onscreen dive and climb buttons in the future.
• Clicking on a heading will still cause the ship to turn to that heading. 

The speed control now is dual purpose; it controls Impulse speed at Impulse, and Warp speed at Warp.

• Warp still has four levels, and the slider is divided into four subsections in Warp mode.
• Each subsection has a designated color. This makes it easy to tell when the ship is at Warp and what its Warp speed is.  
• Warp is controlled with the number buttons 1-4, or by clicking on the slider.  

If the ship is equipped with Jump Drive, those controls will appear to the bottom right.

• The choice of Warp or Jump drive is determined by the race of the player ship now, you cannot choose Jump Drive on a TSN ship or Warp on a Ximni ship as you could in Artemis 2.0.  

As noted above for the Main Screen, the main screen controls include a "Track" button for Weapons tracking mode.

• The other buttons should be familiar to players of Artemis 2.0.
• The "Initiate Dock" button will change to "Release Dock" one the ship is docked.
• New to Artemis Cosmos is the need to undock from a base station before engaging Impulse or Warp.
• If either drive is engaged while docked, the ship will be held in place by mooring clamps.
• These do not damage the ship at this time but could cause damage in the future. 

Helm now has three Zoom options, the highest of which will now display the entire sector. 

• These Zoom modes essentially replace Artemis 2.0's Tac and LRS tabs on each console. 
• Helm has limited sensor range. It can only see enemy ships is they are within 10k of the ship or an allied ship or base. 
• Helm can now set course on the LRS (Zoom 3) display, potentially eliminating the need to ask Science for heading information. 
• Non-lethal terrain and target height difference will not be displayed in this zoom range, so be careful about plotting a course with this mode.
• Course can also be set on the Tactical (Zoom 2) display, which will display non-lethal terrain but again will not display height difference.  
• The display can also be zoomed with the mouse wheel or gestures, which can fill in the gaps between the two smallest Zoom modes.

Weapons:

The Weapons console is largely unchanged from Artemis 2.7, when the dropdown menu for the selection of Torpedo type was introduced.

• Probes, Tags, Beacons and PShocks have not yet been implemented, but Homing Torps, Nukes, Mines and EMPs are all present.
• Keybinds are bugged at this time, but the hot keys definition file can be edited to fix this, so keyboard control is still with a number key, plus Shift and Ctrl.  
• As noted for Helm, the ship status indicator can tell the Weapons Officer when Weapons or Shields have been damaged.  
• The indicator also now shows when torpedoes are loaded into the tubes.  

Beams have a new control to set fire rate.

• This will cause a Beam to charge up to 25%, 50% or 75% power and then fire, taking 25%, 50% or 75% of the cycle time.
• Thus, Beams can fire more often but will do the same damage overall.
• This is intended for use with the new Manual fire mode, or to take out drones.
• Manual mode will display a zoomed in view of the target.
• Buttons on this popup window can be used to select Weapons, Engines or Sensors to target, dealing damage to these internal systems on a Critical Hit.
• Each shot has a set change to deal a Critical Hit, so firing more often is an advantage of Manual mode. 

Unfortunately, Beams have lost the ability to be armed and disarmed.

• Beams will fire any time a target is selected, even a friendly one.
• It appears that Beams no longer use energy over time while armed, so there is no advantage in disarming them.
• Beam Frequencies and the Shields control are unchanged. 

Torpedoes of all types can all be converted into energy.

• Nukes and Mines produce twice as much energy as Homing Torps.
• EMPs produce half as much.
• Energy can only be turned back into Homing Torps, so be careful about inadvertently destroying your Nukes. 

As with Helm, Weapons has three Zoom ranges, replacing the Tac and LRS tabs from Artemis 2.0.

• Sensor range is limited for Weapons as noted for Helm.
• Also as noted above, Weapons has a new "Track" feature which will cause the Main Screen to lock onto Weapons' current target.
• Track defaults to the "Outside" view if no target is currently selected.

There are no keybinds for controlling Beams or selecting targets.

• While there are hot keys for selecting targets defined in the hot keys file, they do not work. I suspect that just as in Artemis 2.0, Weapons is intended to select targets with the mouse only. 

Engineering:

The Engineering console is now 2D only. This is also the only console to not have a 2D map of the area around the ship.

• The Engineering grid now shows an overhead view of the ship, its system nodes, and the passageways between the nodes. 
• Several nodes are also designated as rooms within the ship, which have special functions outside of battle. 
• System nodes are displayed in green, rooms in white, and passageways in grey. 
• DamCon teams move around the grid and can be directed to prioritize certain repairs, as in Artemis 2.0. 
• Unlike Artemis 2.0, DamCon teams are directed by clicking on the system and issuing orders from there, not clicking on the teams. 
• The DamCon control panel displays status information on each DamCon team and allows them to pause a work order or resume it.
• This can be useful if DamCon teams are injured or are moving into areas that are taking damage. 
• The control panel also displays information on the system or room nodes.  

Power distribution has been updated by grouping systems into four subsystems; Weapons, Engines, Sensors and Shields. 

• Coolant is now distributed by subsystem, not system. 
• For example, if Beams begins to overheat, Torps will too.  
• On the other hand, coolant distribution to Beams will also cool down Torps. 
• The effects of power distribution appear to be unchanged. 
• As noted above, it appears as if Beams use power only when fired, and do not use energy over time.  
• Shields should still use energy over time if raised.  
• This reorganization of ship systems allows new systems to be added. 
• Jump Drive can already be traded out for Warp Drive. This interface allows both drives to be used at the same time. 
• A new type of Beam or other weapon could be added to the game. It would be part of the Weapons system and share that coolant. 
• Shields could cover left and right quadrants. 
• New systems could be added for a custom mission.  
• Player ships and NPC ships now have the same number of subsystems and can be monitored using the same Science displays. 
• Science has already added the ability to monitor subsystem damage more precisely.  

Communication:

The Communication console has undergone the most changes from Artemis 2.0, Some capabilities of Comms in Artemis 2.0 have not yet been implemented, but there are a lot of new features which will make this console more attractive to players. 

• Comms now has a ship status panel like Helm and Weapons. 
• Instead of selecting contacts from the Command Menu, there is a list displaying all contacts that are in sensor range (10k) of a base station or a friendly ship, including the Artemis. 
• This list can be filtered to select only enemies, only allies, or a specific race. 
• When a contact is selected, an image of the ship's Captain or station Commander will appear above the contact list. 
• This is the first time the alien races have been seen in the game. 
• The Command Menu will change depending on the contact selected. 
• Thus, sending a message is a two-step process:
• First, the contact is selected, which is the equivalent of selecting a contact type and a contact from the transmit menu in Artemis 2.0.
• Second, the command is selected, which is the equivalent of picking an order from the transmit submenus. 
• Some Command Menu options will have submenus, just as in Artemis 2.0.   
• The message system has been collapsed down into a single list.
• Clicking on a message in the list will expand it, allowing it to display multiple lines if the message is longer than a single line. 
• A tiny image of the corresponding Captain will appear next to the message. 

Comms now has a minimap, allowing ships to be identified in the area of the Artemis, or around any contact that Comms has selected. 

• The minimap cannot be clicked on to select a contact. Contacts must be selected with the contact list. 
• The minimap is extremely limited in range and cannot be used to view the entire sector.
• Contacts can be selected that are very far away from the Artemis, allowing different portions of the sector to be viewed. 
• The map can also be zoomed or scrolled. 
• The minimap is primarily intended to allow Communications to select a location, so they can direct an allied ship to go to that location.
• Allied ships may no longer be directed to protect each other, as in Artemis 2.0. They must be directed to protect an area around a base or allied ship. 
• Allied ships may be directed to attack enemy ships in an area, protect an area, or explore an area. 

Allied ships may no longer be hailed to report their status. 

• It appears to be Science's job to report ally ship status now.  
• It is not known if side missions have been implemented.
• See below for how Science may be able to tell if an allied ship is in distress. 
• The only Comms option that appears for allied ships is Give Orders, which directs a ship to a specific location as described above.
• Comms no longer has the option to direct a ship by exact heading, or release a ship to continue out of the sector. 

Enemy ship taunts are no longer specific to a race and now are individual to the enemy ship Captain. 

• Captains are no longer "exceptional" or "bombastic", etc,. and ships do not under or overperform. 

The chat interface has not been implemented, and player ships cannot be sent quick messages. 

• The Artemis itself has four crewmen that can be contacted; 
• The ship's doctor in Sickbay. This can be used to check status of DamCon teams or possibly make SickBay work more efficiently.
• The security chief in Security. This is probably related to custom missions and the Brig rooms on the Engineering grid. 
• A biology specialist in Exobiology. This is used to check the crew for pathogens or diseases. Also mission related.
• The ship's Counselor. This may be mission related but seems to report the tension level on the ship.  
• Ship-to-ship communications may be put off until PvP missions are implemented.  

Other contacts are likely to be available based on a custom mission.

• A ship Captain or base Commander may have additional options related to the mission.  
• If a contact can be added to a ship or base station, they would have their own portrait, just as the Artemis crewmen do.  

Science:

Science is largely unchanged, but the interface has been improved with the addition of a contact list that works similarly to Communications. 

• Science now has a ship status panel like Helm and Weapons. The Sensors subsystem indicator can help the Science officer tell when sensors have taken damage. 
• Science's Zoom control has been greatly simplified, as this console now shares the same 2D display as Helm and Weapons. 
• Unlike those consoles, Science has three times the range of Tactical sensors, displaying ships that cannot be seen on other consoles, including the LRS. 
• The map can be zoomed with the mouse wheel or gestures, allowing for finer control of the zoom level than the three Zoom icons that are displayed on the screen. 
• Clicking on a zoom icon will center the screen on the Artemis. This can be annoying and may not be intended.
• Sensor Range is no longer Unlimited by default, as in Artemis 2.0, and cannot be selected by the players. 
• Tactical range is currently 10k, Science has a range of 30k.  
• Enemies around bases or friendly ships will be visible at 10k, even on Science.  

Contacts can be selected by clicking on them with the mouse or selecting them from the contact list.  

• The contact list may be filtered, the same as Comms, and are displayed in order from closest to the Artemis to furthest away.  
• Selecting a contact from the list will not center the display on the contact. This is different from Comms. 
• Selecting a contact from the list will display scan information in the panel above the contact list. 
• Unlike Artemis 2.0, Scan now has four levels, selected by clicking on tabs on the panel. 
• Scan displays direction and distance, as well as altitude and shield strength. This is also displayed on the other tabs. 
• Status displays shield frequencies and subsystem damage. 
• Subsystem damage is displayed as a percentage, so Science can report how weak a given subsystem's power level is. 
• Intel displays taunt hints and Skaraan elite abilities. 
• Bio is primarily used for Space Monsters, although it may be used to detect a disease or intruders on a friendly ship. 
• Each scan level must be scanned for separately, using a button on the panel. 
• The first level is still scanned automatically if the target gets within 5k. (It was 7.5k in Artemis 2.0)

Anomalies may now be seen on LRS and other consoles. 

• Science must still scan anomalies to find out what Upgrades they provide. 
•  Helm and LRS are also limited to 10k when detecting Anomalies, while Science can see them at 30k.  
• Anomalies may have been visible on Helm on late versions of Artemis 2.0, as they needed to be located and scanned to be useful. I don't believe they could be seen on LRS or the Captain's Map.  

Flight Hangar:

The Fighter console has been renamed Flight Hangar and is usable even when the crew is not playing a carrier. A fighter pilot can now be launched from a base station in the sector and fly to the Artemis to repair and resupply closer to the action.  

• Capital ships may now host any number of fighters in the Flight Hangar. The capacity of a player ship only limits its initial complement, which is usually one fighter and one shuttle. 
• Pilots may dock with any base station or player ship in the sector and even travel from home base to home base.  
• The Flight Hangar console itself shows a 2D map of the sector, allowing the pilot to look around the sector and determine which would be the best base station to launch from. 
• Stations usually have a larger complement of fighters and bombers than capital ships. 
• Bombers are armed with Nukes, Mines and EMPs, and are able to deal considerably more damage than a fighter, at a cost of greater risk. 
• Bombers can be picked up at a base and flown to the Artemis for increased firepower.  
• Shuttles are able to pick up anomalies, as in Artemis 2.0, and may be able to carry cargo in custom missions.  
• The pilot is able to assign a callsign to himself, or one will be chosen randomly. This callsign refers to the player's fighter no matter what type of craft he launches in or from what home base he launches. 

The actual control of the fighter is unchanged from Artemis 2.0 and pretty much has the same interface, upgraded for the new game engine.  

• Directional control is with the arrow keys and Q and E for roll, or clicking and dragging the artificial horizon trackball, as with the Helm console. 
• Thrust is Shift, Boost is Ctrl, and space bar fires the beam.
• Unlike in Artemis 2.0, the fighter is stationary by default and Thrust must be held down to move forward. 
• Missiles are fired with the "T" key.  
• Missile type may be selected for bombers, so Nukes or EMPs can be fired, or Mines dropped in bombing runs. 
• Docking is initiated with "Z". This is different from Artemis 2.0. 
• Fighters now have fore and aft shields, with each having the strength of an Artemis 2.0 shield. 
• Shields still do not regenerate and have to be recharged when docked. 
• Shields may be redistributed to allow an undamaged shield to reinforce a shield that has taken damage, or to even out the remaining charge. 
• Fighters now have an Engineering grid. It has only a handful of nodes, but all systems can be monitored for internal damage. 
• Fighters do not have DamCon teams and cannot redistribute power.  

Side missions are available for players that are not engaged in combat. 

• These side missions can be launched from the Artemis or any base station in the sector and consists of delivering a passenger from a base station to Artemis or vice versa or visiting different base stations in the sector. 
• An onboard computer lets the pilot find his destination from anywhere on the map or eject if he needs to return to the Artemis immediately.  
• This replaces the ability to play blackjack in the Hangar and is more fun anyway.