Contribute to VASL!

VASL is not the result of a single person's effort, but has grown out of the cooperation of a large number of people over time. There are many niches, large and small, for anybody interested in contributing. The VASL Cooperative is a collection of people who contribute map artwork, counter artwork, scenario setups, web support, and/or Java programming. Or people just interested in an inside or advance view of what's happening with VASL.

Join the discussion list at
http://forums.gamesquad.com/forumdisplay.php?103-VASL.

You may find talents or obsessions you never knew you had!

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Customize VASL!

VASSAL modules are highly customizable. This means that it's possible for anybody to make enhancements to VASL. Got some third-party counters you'd like to contribute? Now it's easy! By using VASSAL's module editor, you can create your own custom extensions, with whatever new counters you like, then post it on the web site for others to enjoy!

For even more ambitious people, VASL source code is publicly available source code. Got a pet feature you'd like to add to VASL? Now you can write your own Java code and plug it straight in! Look at the 'docs' directory in the VASSAL download for documentation on the interface and a tutorial on how to do it. And of course, the VASL developers are more than willing to help you get comfortable. Find a problem or looking for ideas?  Check the VASL Issues List.

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Current Development of VASL!

VASL6.6.6-beta5

VASL6.6.6-beta5 is now released. Get it here.

VASL6.6.6

Development for VASL6.6.6 is currently underway. Our Issues List on Github usually contains about 100 items, a combination of desired features, known bugs, and board related items. Not all are being worked on at any given time. The current plan for 6.6.6 is to focus on bug fixes and to return to new feature development in 6.6.7.

New fixes in 6.6.6-beta5 from 6.6.6-beta3

Chinese LMG(j) not showing Malf'd side is fixed

Missing Free French PIAT and Radio counters added

LOS button greyed out permanently is fixed. Only way to clear LOS check now is to left-click on the map

Some Conscript/Green squads and HS were not ELRing properly; this is fixed

Some Finnish broken squads were switching to unbroken HS when using SQ/HS; this is fixed

Some Finnish counters have improved images

A more robust marsh to water transformation is implemented

Problem displaying overlays on higher/lower elevation is fixed

Problem with Light Woods LOSH calculation is fixed

New transformation available to make all buildings single story, as in SK

Release notes now displayed under Help -> What's New

6.6.6-beta3 bug fixes:

Chat Window

Setting different text colour for player’s own user message and those of their opponent’s is re-enabled (it was broken in 6.6.5)

Inconsistent use of Third Die setting now triggers null display

Jumbled display or multiple Chat Windows display is fixed by identifying conflicting extensions. The Chatter-plus-2.21.vmdx extension in particular should be deleted

Setting color for single die is re-enabled (broken by 6.6.5)

Additional colours have been added for the Coloured Die and Single Die

Reporting and Display of Concealed Stacks is fixed

Dice Over Map

Incorrect display of Sniper Highlight for both DR and dr is fixed. Highlight only appears when either SAN is rolled on IFT/TH/MC/TC DR

Background colour for player/opponent textboxes/caption is re-enabled (broken by 6.6.5)

Setting colour for single dice is re-enabled (broken by 6.6.5)

Additional colours have been added for the Coloured Die and Single Die

Shout out to Morris Legge for lots of great work on the Chat and Dice Over Map fixes!

Overlay Bug – Overlays added via the Boardpicker method (“traditional”) that overlapped two boards or were placed adjacent to another board caused a crash in 6.6.5. This is fixed

Hotkey Listing in Help – the document has been updated to include new/changed keystrokes

Remove All – PIN/TI option has been fixed to include HW/Banzai/Lax counters

+ ACQ in has been added to Light Mortars and RCL which were forgotten in 6.6.5

Foxholes and Trench counters were negating LOSH in Grain and Brush hexes in los checks. This is fixed

Terrain SSR dialog – selecting DTO Terrain from the Terrain dropdown no longer automatically triggers Broken Terrain, Steppe Terrain, and Use Desert Colours for ETO boards

LOS bugs – bug on bdodx fixed; level transform remove hills now works if hills have grain

Casualties Bin – sending a HS to the Bin with the CR & Send button no longer sends a SQD to the Bin

RB map – when adding Gutted Factory Overlays, Roof location is now removed in LOS

Night and other vision shaders were shading the full board size even when the board was cropped. No more

Stuff that isn’t a Bug Fix

Due to the good work of Alan Bills, there are a few new things in 6.6.6:

Non-Emplaced Guns. By selecting 'Non-Emplaced' from the counter's drop-down menu or by using the 'ALT_SHIFT+E' hotkey with any selected Gun, the 'Non-Emplaced Gun' counter is placed on top of the selected Gun.

Schuerzen. For those vehicles listed in D11.2 as having optional Schuerzen, the player can now select 'Schuerzen' from the counter's drop-down menu or use the 'CTRL+ALT+S' hotkey when a unit is selected to toggle an orange 'Sz" label directly below the side/rear armor number indicating the vehicle is equipped with Schuerzen.

Movement Trail. All Infantry and vehicle counters now have the ability to display a Movement Trail. This feature is activated on a per counter per player basis. To activate, the player may select 'Movement Trail' from the counter's drop-down menu or use the 'CTRL+U' hotkey when a counter is selected. This will toggle the Movement Trail on for any/all selected counters. If not selected, the Movement Trail will no longer be displayed until the counter is selected again. Movement Trails are reset in sync with the 'Moved' tag. To reset a single counter you can toggle it off by selecting 'Moved' from the counter's drop-down menu or by using the 'CTRL+M' hotkey with the counter selected. To reset all counters you can use the 'Moved' button on the map window to reset all 'Moved' tags along with all Movement Trails. Movement Trails are displayed as red dots for vehicles and as smaller green dots for infantry type counters.

As a consequential change, the Chinese counters 'Dare-Death' keystroke is now 'ALT+R'. This will make it a 'CTRL+R' for Berserk and 'ALT+R' for Dare-Death.

VASSAL changes

VASL6.6.6-beta5 is built with VASSAL3.6.11 which makes a few new VASSAL features available.

1. Recent Games Menu

The VASSAL team has added a new feature that lists most recently played games and allows you to open them. I believe (but am not 100% sure) that it displays only games opened by the module you are using (VASL). Not sure about versions.

If you think you will use this a lot, probably best to turn off the Wizard (Preferences -> General)

2. New font size and style for context menus

Popup menus are now tidier and users can pick their font size.

To set the font size, go File-> Preferences-> General-> Override default font size. Enter a value for the font size you want - 10, 12, 18, whatever. Not sure how big or small you can go. IMPORTANT: this setting seems to affect all VASSAL font display as you will quickly discover. Be careful how you use it!

VASL6.6.6 should be officially released in the Spring of 2023.

VASL code development is currently carried out using free software tools provided by Jet Brains as part of it's Open Source Support . We appreciate their on-going assistance to VASL development.