Published on October 31, 2023
Hello Command Users.
Today we are releasing Command: PE version 2.2.5.1, a hotfix update that also marks the end of the development line for the 32-bit branch of CPE. At the same time, we are on the very cusp of the general release of the next major update for CPE, version 2.3. This milestone upgrade features a host of radical new features, chief among them the switch to a 64-bit architecture and a new map rendering engine. Both of these features aim towards both immediate, tangible benefits to performance, scalability, compliance and and support, while (equally importantly) providing the necessary headroom and growth potential for a whole range of new significant features on the development horizon.
While the v2.2.5.1 hotfix includes updates to the database as well as the latest tweaks and fixes as always in accordance with user feedback, its primary focus is to address an issue that has developed with our third-party mapping provider. For the last 5 years we have been using, with permission, a mapping company's map tiles to provide high zoom-level topography information in Command. This company has decided to put these map tiles behind a paywall as of October 31st. We only just became aware of this when the map tiles started disappearing in the commercial product, so the short-term solution has been to remove these map layers. Serendipitously, the v2.3 release of CPE adds support for the OpenTopoMap layer, which also offers excellent topography and road+urban network visualization, so the disruption should be minimal.
These changes in map information will not in any way effect the actual simulations running in CPE; the updates to the map layers are purely cosmetic. At the same time, this turn of events has motivated us to start exploring additional map layers & services out there which may be of good value to users of CMO and CPE. We are evaluating some possible candidates but we are also open to suggestions from the user community.
Thanks again for your understanding and support.
