We've also made additional fixes, improvements to how the game handles BIK files, and, as always, more performance improvements and general bug fixes.
Remaining playthrough videos
Since April's blog post, we stopped at the E6M3 playthrough video. Here are the links to the remainder of the campaign playthrough.
TGL Compiler
Added transparent JSON localization support to the BCMM runtime. When the game requests a .tgl file, BCMM now first checks for a matching .json source file, automatically compiles it into a …
The final stages of the singleplayer campaign playtest ended up becoming far more than a simple balancing or stability pass.
Over the course of more than 100 git commits, BCMM evolved through new runtime systems, crash safeguards, rendering optimizations and engine-level rewrites aimed at modernizing Bridge Commander without breaking its original structure.
Campaign Playtesting as a Stress Test
The playtest we conducted was not a showcase or a simple let's play, but an actual stress test designed to evaluate:
We started playtesting the stock SP Maelstrom campaign
Numerous runtime fixes
New smaller QoL features
New NIF models exploring the limits of what the old BC engine can handle
Large Battle Simulation
This prototype feature has now been balanced, and the results for the post-release phase will be highly dynamic and unpredictable. The latest tests conducted at the start of April produced different outcomes:
2K Cardassians vs 1K Federation ships
Cardassians were without the Hybrid ship type. The battle ended in a slaughter of the Cardassians. End …
This month has been relatively quiet as we've been busy with real-life commitments. That said, progress has definitely continued behind the scenes.
Here's what we've been working on.
Fixing Bugs
We've resolved several long-standing stock game issues that we've been tracking for years and had placed on the backburner. These include problems such as Mission Group Remove/Add call freezes and various CTDs. Cleaning these up improves overall engine stability and provides a stronger foundation for everything built on top of BCMM.
NanoFX in Single Player
NanoFX has now been fully enabled for Single Player.
A number of updates have landed in BCMM recently. This post provides a concise overview of what's new, with links to deeper articles where appropriate.
Widescreen support and new resolutions
This topic was covered in detail in a separate article, so if you haven't read it yet, I recommend starting there. What's worth reiterating here is that BCMM does not treat resolution as a literal rendering size anymore.
Instead, the selected resolution acts as a layout profile.
The profile defines UI proportions, font sizes, and layout logic, which are then used as the basis for upscaling. This allows proper …
New Fonts and a Cleaner UI – First Time Since 2001
If the UI feels cleaner and more readable than ever, that is not an accident.
For the first time since 2001, the game has received new fonts -- but more importantly, it now has a UI that is actually designed for modern displays.
This is not just a cosmetic change.
It is something the community has been asking for for years.
What's New?
To clarify upfront: Crillee remains the default font and will continue to be the only default font on UI layouts other than the widescreen layouts provided by BCMM …
Bridge Commander has seen many widescreen attempts over the years, but most of them ultimately amounted to superficial patches.
With BCMM, we decided to address the problem properly and without compromises.
What Has Been Done
Aspect Ratio (AR) Fixes
First, credit where it is due.
AlphaYellow's widescreen fixes served as an important reference point and helped initiate more in-depth widescreen work in BCMM.
BCMM applies the core subset of these fixes and extends them further to correctly support exterior ship views and eliminate reticle drift. While the original patch targets 16 memory locations, BCMM integrates …
We're back with our final progress report of the year. We're pleased to announce that we'll soon begin work on the final campaign for the BCMM SFC3 port, which should enter development shortly.
Now onto our report.
Talking to ChatGPT\Ollama
We've showcased something rare in games, and please note that this is purely a technical demo. It demonstrates live integration of ChatGPT\Ollama inside the game.
A LCARS-style communication window (native look and feel) sends player input through BCMM's IPC layer to an external process that communicates with OpenAI\Ollama. The generated response is then …
We're back and restarting BCMM development after our short break. So what's new?
More Performance Gains
We're still squeezing more out of Bridge Commander, and the latest results speak for themselves.
This month we're showcasing a 35-ship battle - the same scale most YouTubers use for their videos - except instead of a slideshow, BCMM runs it at 120+ FPS.
Full video demo is included below.
Discord Integration
We've added new Discord features, including two fully optional settings:
Mirror Window (for Streaming):
Creates a mirror window, so Discord can capture the game even when DX7 causes issues.