Maintenance Release v0.16.1

Due to a couple of annoying problems, I decided to get a quick fix online, so everyone could get to playing with the new features in v0.16. I apologize to those who already downloaded 0.16, but you are really going to want v0.16.1. Here's what I fixed:

• Fixed bug that prevented multiple color chits being chosen at start of game
  
• IP Address no longer relevant when saving/loading save files - in other words, you should be able to load those autosave.rsgame files now!
  
• Duplicate player names are disallowed when joining a game server (this was sorely needed)
  
• New button to allow transfer of characters between player names (in case someone leaves)
  
• Smarter client handling, when server is shut down

Autosave Woes

Thought I should mention a caveat with the autosave files. They wont work right if you try to open them on another computer. The reason for this, is that RealmSpeak is using the IP address to identify who get which character windows. This works great if everyone uses the same computer they used when they last played, but this isn't always ideal.

If you try to open a save file with a different IP address (different computer, different network, etc), then everything will open *except* the character windows. This is a problem I am aware of (the bug is posted over at Mantis), and will be a high priority for the next release.

Version 0.16 Released

This is a fairly major release. I reworked a lot of the combat logic to allow for Hired Leaders, and the absence of Hiring Characters. If you've been playing RealmSpeak for awhile, you are going to have to get back into the habit of assigning your hirelings to a guide. You only have to do this once after each successful hire (they remember their assignments from day to day), but if you forget, your hirelings will stand idly by when you move on. This also means you can no longer do a HIRE and move on in the same day. Hirelings can only be assigned at the beginning of the day, so you'll have to stick around for the night.

This release also sports a couple new spells: Remedy (by request) and Whistle for Monsters. I also fixed the "Stones Fly" spell, so it will behave like described in the rules. This should make the Druid character a bit more playable!

Oh, several new options in the host setup dialog. You can specify an "auto-save" now. What this means, is that the game will be saved every turn at midnight, to a file in the same folder as RealmSpeak, called "autosave.rsgame". It doesn't ask about overwrite, so if you start a new game, any previous autosave is lost (I'll fix this someday). If you don't want autosave turned on, simply uncheck the box.

Okay, enough blabbering. Here's the rundown of what is new:

NEW FEATURES:

• Native handling updated to match the rules
  
  • Underlings don't follow until Sunrise assignments
    
  • Underlings can be assigned to follow guides (including other characters!)
    
  • Running leaves underlings behind
    
  • Characters don't have to be present to manage the combat for their hirelings
    
  • Option in combat frame to exclude character from clearing
    
  • Native Leaders, and all that they do!
  
  
• Added the die result to Wish, Curse, and Power of the Pit result windows, so you can see what the dice did.
  
• Auto-save option in host setup window - saves a copy of the game every turn to a file "autosave.rsgame" in your RealmSpeak directory
  
• Remedy works (removes curses only - doesn't target spells, because there are no spells with a duration to target yet)
  
• Whistle for Monsters works
  
• New House Rule to keep sound/warning/treasureLocation chits from flipping face down once they are discovered
  
• Characters can be recycled after death (turn this feature OFF in my house rules)
  
• Window appears at the end of your character turn if you have unavailable maneuver options due to heavy inventory

BUGS/ISSUES:

• Can get negative fame/notoriety (I also added a house rule if you don't like this rule interpetation!)
  
• Can actually get the 50 gold from the Chest now
  
• Fixed "Negligible Harm" result on FUMBLE table (wasn't modifying harm!)
  
• Dead Native Horses regenerate properly
  
• Fixed a problem where a hidden CombatFrame was being created each round of combat, and never being disposed
  
• Spells cancel spells as per rule 41.1/1
  
• Spells that target the clearing do not affect hidden status
  
• Switched positions of Position/Attack hotspot on denizen battle sheets
  
• Added a hash to the base game object layer to improve data access speed
  
• Default # of characters per player is set to 16 now (though if you've played RealmSpeak before, it will keep your last entry for this)
  
• Fixed problem where not placing an attack was hitting non-maneuvering characters
  
• Fixed option chooser when the number of items is too many (used to run off the screen) - now organized into tabs
  
• Native group treasures are dropped face down on leader's death
  
• Wish for Strength is tested AFTER natives when attempting to open the VAULT (or other)
  
• Deploying hirelings against natives causes appropriate BATTLING response.
  
• Fixed rare problem where hired natives would sometimes battle their employer!
  
• Gripping dust stays with the affected weapon now
  
• Magic Sight shows ALL spells on a site/artifact with Perceive Spell before allowing user to choose a spell to learn
  
• Magic Sight "Counters" result will NOT take treasure from Site CARDS (like the Enchanted Meadow)
  
• Hireling Horses are included when checking MOVE strength (Patrol 1 is M, his horse is H)
  
• Fixed WoodsGirl's special ability: her die roll ability in woods affects all meeting rolls too.
  
• Relationships for Native Leaders are the same as character
  
• Stones Fly has a minimum of four attacks as per the rules
  
• Fixed problem with showing too many spell casting options

As always, let me know if you run into any problems. The most effective way to do this is through the RealmSpeak Bug Tracker. Many of you have been using this forum, and its worked out rather nicely. Thank you!!

First draft of Hired Leaders

I actually have working Hired Leaders now! It was remarkably easy to incorporate into RealmSpeak, and though there's still a couple of minor issues to deal with, they are working nicely.

I don't think I'll get a release out this weekend, but it shouldn't be too long - maybe next weekend.

Underlings on the Move

I've got a ton of bugs piling up over at the bug tracker, but that's primarily because I've been focusing all my effort lately to get the Underlings working correctly. That is, I'm moving away from the "Hirelings as Inventory" concept, and implementing the proper rules.

I've currently got the following working:

• Underlings can get assigned to follow any guide, and only during Birdsong
  
• Employing characters can control their hirlings in combat, even if they aren't there.
  
• Underlings are left behind if the character runs away
  
• Random assignment works correctly if the character is hidden or absent from the clearing: the character chooses which hireling gets the random assignment when he/she "wins" the random assignment roll.

Next step: Hired Leaders. As far along as I am, there's no way this wont happen before version 0.16. Then maybe I can get to some of those bugs.... ;-)

Version 0.15 Released

I didn't get to fixing the Natives like I had hoped, but I did fix a bunch of other things. Here's what's new:

NEW FEATURES:

• Flashing Button reminders when multiple players online
  
• New Spell: Curse (Power of the Pit is enabled, but not fully working yet)
  
• Join game options are remembered from game to game
  
• Detail about "Spoils of War" in the Combat Detail panel
  
• Added a "Close" button to the battle detail window
  
• Daily Monster Die is shown in action table

BUGS/ISSUES:

• Removed DEBUG code that was causing MAGIC SIGHT to only "Perceive Spells"
  
• Fixed bug where casting Small Blessing (or Curse) caused the game to freeze up when there were multiple characters
  
• Fixed bug where enchanted tiles would revert to green each time a new player joined the game
  
• Enchanted Meadow result #4 will now properly cancel the WITHER curse, in addtion to healing your chits.
  
• Fixed a bug where the GUI would crash when the Pilgrim casts Exorcise on demons while hidden
  
• Hidden natives can deploy to unassigned targets
  
• RED-side-up monsters can no longer be lured off a character sheet (I know that natives can do this, but I'm not doing this now)
  
• Hirelings no longer get the Pilgrim's HEAVENLY PROTECTION, and can lure demons/imp.
  
• WISH for PEACE no longer freezes combat when monsters are on caster's sheet
  
• MAGIC chits count towards effort
  
• Running from a peaceful clearing with other characters no longer freezes the game.
  
• Reworked Spoils of War code - this should be accurate now - (Exception: When hired leaders kill, their inventory score goes to the character for now)
  
• Multiple spell kills are sorted from most to least points (rule 43.4)
  
• Hireling kills appear on character table

Another Online Game

Played another online game last night, this time with four online players! Though I wont detail the game here, it went fairly well. The Druid, Wizard, Captain, and White Knight explored a good portion of the Realm without getting killed. We saved the game (it was getting late), to play another day.

At one point, the player playing the Captain had a problem with the interface: it said he was playing his turn, but in fact nothing appeared on his screen. A game killing bug? I suggested dropping out and rejoining, knowing that there was at least a chance that it would resync itself, and get going again. In fact, it worked, and the game was off and running again.

Some problems we noted:

• Each time a new player joined, all the enchanted tiles flipped back to their normal side. This is a bug, and quite annoying to the magic users!
  
• At one point, the Captain (unhidden) discovered the Altar, and no-one else in the clearing got the discovery. Argh, I know this USED to work. At least the "trade discoveries" feature worked, so we were still able to save us some searches, and get to looting.
  
• Something strange happened when a person tried to log on with the wrong password. It didn't affect the game, really, but it left a strange ghost row in the Connections window.
  
• People couldn't log on during a turn. Apparently, there is something preventing a new player from connecting to the server during a turn. The solution was to tell them to wait (we were using TeamSpeak to communicate) until the turn was finished (Midnight), and then it worked fine.
  
• Its frustrating when someone (including myself) forgets to press "Send", "Next", or "Done". At least the character list window makes it clear what is happening, so you can shout at the person who has forgotten, and keep the game moving. I'm thinking about adding a feature that flashes the button after a few seconds to remind you that you haven't yet pressed it.

Version 0.15 is moving along. I've already had to fix a game killing bug where casting Small Blessing with more than one character in a clearing will crash the game. There's also a problem with Magic Sight again, although this time it has to do with some debugging code I forgot to remove (sigh). I'll probably do another release next weekend just to get these bugs out of the mix. I finished the Curse spell (my first V), and I may be able to finish Power of the Pit by then too.

Hireling changes are next

I think the single biggest flaw in RealmSpeak at this time, is the way Hirelings are handled. They shouldn't follow the same day they are hired, and they shouldn't run when you run. There should be a mechanism to trade hirelings among characters, and/or leave them behind.

I intentionally wrote the code this way, as a sort of temporary way to handle hirelings, but its time to get this fixed. Look for a change in the way hirelings are handled coming very soon, likely the next release.

Hired leaders? Maybe, but I'm not sure yet.

Version 0.14 Released

First off, I want to thank everyone who has signed on over at the bug tracker database, and contributed a report. This system is working out nicely, and I think it keeps things organized in a way that everyone can track the progress.

Here's what's new in this release:

NEW FEATURES:

• New option for hiding DEAD Characters
  
• Manual zoom added to map as an option
  
• Chit adjustment panels (fatigue, wound, rest) gray out chits that can't be moved

BUGS/ISSUES:

• Followers remain hidden at the start of their turn, if hidden as a result of following their guide
  
• Magic Sight crash bug fixed (would freeze if doing Magic Sight on an artifact with all spells already learned)
  
• Berserker can play MOVE-H6 chit now after going BERSERK (used to say no moves were available)
  
• Toadstool Circle PEER ANY is implemented
  
• Fixed a bug with the Kill Character button that was preventing it from working
  
• Captain's action chits fixed
  
• Luring is no longer skipped when there are no unassigned denizens
  
• Maneuver hotspots added back on character sheet
  
• WISH for STRENGTH is implemented
  
• Character's with WITHER curse no longer fall asleep in a clearing with the Flowers of Rest
  
• Books with fully awakened spells no longer prevent searching
  
• More cleanup of the text of trade interactions
  
• WISH for PEACE is implemented