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Sunday, January 15, 2006

Version 0.23 Released

I mainly wanted to get this version out to fix problems I created with monster gold bounty and ambush rules in the last couple of versions. There's also a few new spells, though admittedly, we're starting to get down to the "boring" spells. (I know I need to do Broomstick and Hurricane Winds, but those are going to be hard, and I want to fix some things before I do).

Here's what's new:

NEW FEATURES:
  • New Spells:
    • Blazing Light
    • Poison
    • Peace with Nature
    • Protection from Magic
    • Pentangle V

BUGS/ISSUES:
  • Bug introduced in 0.22 that wrongly rewarded each monster kill with a gold bounty is fixed
  • Fixed broken AMBUSH rule (broke it when I added the Alchemist's Mixture treasure)
  • Alchemist's Mixture treasure now correctly inactivates your active weapon (if any) when activated
  • Native Horses appear in Native Leader inventory again, and they can use them (but not trade/drop/inactivate)
  • Fixed problem with casting Absorb Essence while hidden
  • PERSUADE properly makes native groups FRIENDLY for the following day
  • Possible to end combat with persuaded monsters/natives in the clearing now
  • Possible to reenergize an INERT spell between clearings, or in the air.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Last nights game

I played most of a game last night with a friend of mine, and we ran into some new problems:

  • The trade interface is crashing RealmSpeak (not sure if this is a general problem, or only related to the "hosted" game)
  • Killing monsters results in a gold bounty! (this one was actually kind of fun)
  • When new characters join in a hosted game, actions recorded by other characters are sometimes lost, or truncated


Damned frustrating, but with all the new stuff added recently, I'm not completely surprised. I know where the gold bug comes from: when I added Persuade and Deal with Goblins, I gave all the monsters a "wage" to be hired by. Unfortunately, my code currently uses the wage to determine bounty, and thinks you earn it when you kill a monster! This can be fixed easily enough, but I'm not going to be able to do another release until next weekend. If you can ignore the gold bounty, version 0.22 is a pretty nice build. Being able to hire a Giant or two is pretty cool.

Later!

Monday, January 09, 2006

Version 0.22 Released

Yeah, definitely too soon after the last release, but I had a couple of bugs to fix, and decided to add some spells while I was at it. At least you don't need a new resource pack this time! Here's what's new:

NEW FEATURES:
  • New Spells
    • Persuade
    • Deal with Goblins

  • New wording in combat details:
    • Smarter wording when attackers do not place an attack (or cannot attack, like light-side spear goblins)
    • Includes all missle/fumble die rolls, and the corresponding result
    • Spell casting and targeting information
    • Extra wording for Power of the Pit, Curse, and Transform

BUGS/ISSUES:
  • Fixed weirdness when transforming your opponent (Demon as frog could still cast PoP, and turn RED-side up!)
  • Made marker chits on opponents a little bit smaller, so the opponent can be seen better (particularly frogs, squirrels and birds!)
  • Sunday Color Magic is now applied towards energizing permanent spells (watch out for Day 28, Sorceror!)
  • Switched the default of the checkbox in the spell selector to hide unfinished spells from OFF to ON (every spell type has spells now, so there is no real reason to pick spells from unfinished ones anyway!)
  • Fixed problem with the "Incomplete Record Warning" (ALWAYS reported incomplete with new BirdSong design)
  • Removed "Committed" chit indicator from chit panel (Committed chits are always shown on the spell itself)
  • Added a checkbox to the window that warns the player that an item is inactive and cannot be activated (like a Pony in the Caves) to stop warning you
  • Fixed the wording in the combat details
  • Transform or Mist doesn't inactivate inventory (just hides it temporarily)
  • Fixed Power of the Pit kill behavior when cast by character
    • killed participants are removed from battle, but still displayed on combat sheet (set aside)
    • Proper fame/notoriety/gold bounty is applied

New version coming today

I finished up some work this weekend to fix a couple of bugs, and add a couple new spells (Persuade, Deal with Goblins), but ran out of time before I could get it online. I need to get it online before tonight, because I have a game planned with some friends, so if you haven't downloaded version 0.21 yet, you might want to wait. Actually, the resource pack wont change this time, so if you get that now, you'll only need to grab 0.22 when I put it up.

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Transmorphed Inventory

I mentioned in my release notes, that transmorphed inventory wasn't working yet. I was wrong. In fact, I did write the code to handle transmorphed inventory and gold, and just forgot about it!

Friday, January 06, 2006

Version 0.21 Released

Well, it took me much longer to wrap up this version than expected, but that's not surprising with the holidays going on! I did some major reworking to the action recording stuff, and needed to hammer it hard to guarantee it was working. After all, without the ability to record actions, Magic Realm is a bit broken!

I got to a few new spells and treasures (Timeless Jewel works!!), so there's a lot of new things to try. (Sidenote: the only treasure left to do, is the Eye of the Moon!!!)

I spent a TON of time getting the other two transform spells (Transform, Melt into Mist) going. They still aren't totally finished (still don't transform your inventory and gold), but you can do just about everything else. Transform into an animal, and you can Walk the Woods. Transform into a flying critter, and you can fly. Transform into a Mist, and you can move along any path/passage, and evade combat with ease. It's all there!

Okay, enough horn tooting. Check it out (this is a big one!):

NEW FEATURES:
  • Remodeled BirdSong
    • Can record any action, whether valid or not (though they are marked in RED as a warning)
    • Can select any clearing on the board when doing a move (overkill I admit, but will alleviate the issue where you want to anticipate a tile flipping)
    • Can no longer rearrange items, or do any trading (though there is a house rule to cancel this new behavior)
    • Items used to gain phases during Birdsong will be reactivated during Daylight when necessary and possible
    • Known available actions are shown while you are recording your turn

  • Holding the SHIFT-key down while moving the mouse on the map, will show the "flipside" of the tile the pointer is on (my favorite new feature!)
  • Holding the SHIFT-key down while moving the mouse on the combat sheet, allows you to view "flipside" of all counters in play (not quite as seamless as the map is, but it works)
  • Two new warnings (see option menu) to help the player "remember" to assign hirelings during birdsong, and not record a HIRE-MOVE combination
  • Separated the Druid Optional advantage into two separate options: one for curse immunity, the other for Site summoning. (I did this because I like the curse immunity, but not the lack of Site summoning!)
  • Added a picture of the die roll, along with the spell of interest, in the ReadRunes dialog, so you know what you rolled
  • Double-clicking on any character in the character list will bring up a picture of the character card
  • New checkbox in the Spell Selector (when you first choose a character) to hide unfinished spells
  • New tile graphics from Dan Evans higher-resolution scans
  • New spells working:
    • Prophecy
    • Premonition
    • Transform (can walk woods too!)
    • Melt-into-Mist
      • NOTE: I am aware that the inventory doesn't "transform" like it is supposed to here! I'll get it next time around. For now, enjoy that freedom! :-)

  • New treasures working (only 1 left to go after this: Eye of the Moon)
    • Alchemists Mixture
    • Dragonfang Necklace
    • Timeless Jewel (see Prophecy)

  • Other treasures working in full capacity
    • Flying Carpet can now be used in combat to run away, or maneuver
    • Crystal Ball can do "Remote Spell" phases
    • Amulet can cancel a spell

  • New Options:
    • Replaced my Dwarf House Rule with Daniel Farrow's version from the Wiki
    • Added the revised "Hamblen Kludge Adjustment" for use with the revised missile table

BUGS/ISSUES:
  • Added a house rule option to allow rearranging belongings during birdsong (since this is now illegal with the "standard" rules)
  • Fixed a long standing memory leak that occurs when you restart a game
  • Added some manual calls to Java GC (shouldn't be necessary, but does seem to help)
  • Fixed Pony movement - used to ignore extra MOVE phases when counting the double movement
  • Fixed horse/pony handling when travelling through caves.
  • "Discover Chits" results includes a peek at the chits in the tile (if necessary).
  • Only true characters can be cursed (not hired leaders or controlled monsters)
  • Only true characters can Read Runes
  • Flying Carpet is more realistic now: functions like a permanent spell has been cast on it (ie., walking through PURPLE magic will energize the carpet for combat)
  • Wish for HEALTH no longer rests the chit used to cast it
  • Fixed gold price for Regent of Jewels: was 8 gold! Now its 67 gold.
  • Running from combat with a 2* chit, and leaving hirelings behind, no longer costs 1 fatigue every round!
  • Landing in a cave after flying will no longer allow you to use recorded sunlight phases
  • Looting Toadstool Circle: get teleported to CAVE, will lose recorded sunlight phases
  • Fixed a bug where a Power of the Pit die result 1 (Kill Everything in the Clearing) wouldn't kill any characters!
  • Color sources in a native group's stock, hold do not provide color magic until they have been seen (ie., trading).
  • If you have the Magic Wand active, all attack spell missile rolls will set the red die to "1" automatically (why would you want anything else?)
  • Fixed the behavior of Power-of-the-Pit so it works against hirelings, as well as characters.
  • If you absorb a Demon or Imp, you will be able to cast Power of the Pit or Curse, respectively
  • Fixed neverending PEACE (Wish result)
  • Fixed problem with controlling multiple identically-named monsters (most noticeable with Control Bats)
  • Fixed table selection problem when the list included DEAD characters
  • Hirelings following a Hired Leader or Controlled Monster no longer vanish when their guide is killed
  • Fixed the behavior of three potions: Oil of Poison, Ointment of Bite, Penetrating Grease. These potions now properly stay with the weapon they are used on. One other potion (Gripping Dust) already worked this way.


PS - Be sure to download the new resource pack!