New Spells

Its been a long time since I've implemented any new spells, and a recent discussion of RealmSpeak reminded me of that fact. I decided to take a look at the missing spells, and see which ones made sense to do right now. The full list of spells still missing from RealmSpeak is:

• Talk to Wise Bird
  
• World Fades
  
• Broomstick
  
• Peace
  
• Ask Demon
  
• Lost
  
• Illusion
  
• Fog
  
• Enchant Artifact
  
• Violent Storm
  
• Hurricane Winds
  
• Bad Luck

I spent a little time this morning, and actually knocked two spells off that list: Talk to Wise Bird, and World Fades. Speaking of which, I never realized what a cool spell World Fades is. I'm thinking a magic user with a bow or crossbow could do some serious damage with ambush rules! Heck any weapon would work, as long as you started the combat off hidden! The only real drawback, is you have to supply BLACK magic, but other than that...

Anyway, of the remaining spells, I'd say Broomstick and Peace are the most "in need", especially since a majority of RealmSpeak players enjoy playing solitaire (ie., why on earth would you cast Lost on one of your own characters!!) I'm going to dig into Broomstick, and see if I can get something in place for the next release, but I'm not going to promise anything.

Version 0.34 Released

I always try to add a new feature or two each time I do a release, so that it isn't a pure "bug fix", but this time is an exception. There were a few things that just needed fixing, and I didn't really want to muck it up with a bunch of new stuff.

One cool thing that actually works now, is riding Flying Steeds. Yes, you can finally use the Control Bats spell to get around the board, or if you prefer, Transform a buddy into the Eagle, and jump on his back (provided you aren't too heavy!!) That could almost count as a new feature, I suppose...

With this release, I think I got the last of the bugs that caused a player to remain hidden regardless of their attack, and took care of some other irritating things that affected game play. I hope that makes it worth the download for you!

Anyway, here's what's new:

BUGS/ISSUES:

• Magic users casting area affect spells (ie., Fiery Blast) will properly become unhidden when targeting multiple targets again
  
• Players using "Watchful Natives" will no longer have trouble with monsters not moving to their own sheet on attacking from hidden.
  
• Can no longer press END when hidden with unhidden hirelings vs battling natives
  
• Getting a curse during SEARCH will properly charge you an action, when you have the Timeless Jewel
  
• New "Cancel Spell" button, in case you want to cancel the casting of a spell in combat
  
• Serious wound rolls are logged
  
• Flying Carpet works again
  
• Flying critters can follow now
  
• You can ride flying critters following you now (ie., Flying Steeds). Swordsman on an Eagle? Seems odd...
  
• Transforming no longer loses mission chits
  
• Killing transformed unhired native leaders (that's a mouthful!) properly drops groups inventory now.
  
• Fixed a synching issue with Power of the Pit and Curse
  
• Fixed a problem where Hired Leaders were becoming unhidden prematurely
  
• Fixed an issue where trying to enter a mountain clearing on your last phase with a pony was failing
  
• Hired Leaders and Controlled Monsters will no longer have the summon chits flip face down in their tile anymore
  
• Can flip Giant's clubs and Dragon heads if you control them (or absorb them)

Version 0.33 Released

As I promised, here's a new release of RealmSpeak. I've had the opportunity to play several games with this version, and it seems to be working pretty good. At least there wont be any more problems with staying hidden, or Dragon Essence! :-)

Here's what's new:

NEW FEATURES:

• A new Window menu item allows you to view the game options that are in play. This is especially helpful if you've joined an online game, and you want to know which optional/advanced rules are being used.
  
• Character chooser now has two new "random" buttons for selecting a fighter or a magic user. Regardless of whether you agree with me or not, this is how I characterized them:
  
  • Fighters: Woods Girl, White Knight, Berserker, Dwarf, Black Knight, Amazon, Swordsman, Captain
    
  • Magic Users: Witch, Witch-King, Druid, Elf, Sorceror, Magician, Wizard, Pilgrim

BUGS/ISSUES:

• Fixed a bug introduced in 0.32 that breaks the game when you aquire the Dragon Essence
  
• Fixed a bug introduced in 0.31 that was not properly "unhiding" characters when they attacked in combat
  
• The buttons that "fatigue color chit" now read "play color chit" for clarity
  
• Permanent spells are energized appropriately when a game is loaded.
  
• Rare problem with extending a game is fixed.
  
• Fixed some more Timeless Jewel issues:
  
  • Cancelling an action (ie., SEARCH, ALERT, MOVE) will no longer "cost" you an action phase.
    
  • Deactivating the Timeless Jewel now presents you with an "Are you sure?" dialog, so you can change your mind.
  
  
• Fixed the spell order on Sites and Books so that higher numbered spell types come before lower ones
  
• Characters with timeless jewel active can still FOLLOW other characters, provided they record a FOLLOW during BIRDSONG
  
• Fixed a nasty bug with Food/Ale, and Escort Party, that was causing the game to crash. There was also a rare bug that I discovered in the same code that would cause other gold chits to crash the game on occasion.
  
• Set the maximum allowable characters to "8", because there are too many problems with memory past that point. Yes, I know that's a kludgy way to solve the problem, but until I can find the source, I'm stuck with this solution for now.
  
• Using a color chit during combat is sufficient to keep the combat going (was being ignored)
  
• Fixed Victory Point calculations for Fame and Gold when cursed with Disgust or Ashes.
  
• Abandoned hidden hired natives become unhidden next turn as they should.
  
• Belongings can now only be rearranged at the beginning of a phase, unless the item has just been aquired (new items appear with a yellow border)
  
• Fixed a bug that was crashing the game when someone followed a leader that did both ALERT and REST during their turn
  
• Fixed a situation where it was possible to end up with an active Pony carrying an object that was too heavy
  
• Trading can now only occur at the beginning of a phase, or with someone who is playing their turn (3e-7.2.1)
  
• Fixed the sort order of items in a clearing, so that Monsters no longer appear underneath treasures.
  
• Natives can no longer ride dead horses during the day.
  
• Dwarven REST bonus, and Poultice of Health no longer cost actual REST phases
  
• Following the Dwarf, or someone who has just used the Poultice of Health, no longer gives you the double-asterisk bonus.

Elf & Dwarf

I just finished a solo game with the Elf and Dwarf, using the "Productive Dwarf" rules. It's been awhile since I've just sat down and played a game (without chasing bugs, that is), and it was both short and sweet.

The Elf and Dwarf found the Pool in the caves right away, and after dispatching the Octopus, looted like crazy until there was only one item left. Scoring both the Elven Slippers for the Elf and the 7-League boots for the Dwarf was definitely a good way to start the game. Moving out of the caves into the woods brought some bad luck for the Elf, however. A pack of wolves. Since both the Dwarf and the Elf were hidden, it seemed appropriate for the Elf to let fly an arrow or two. Unfortunately, he was discovered on his first try.

I made a rather stupid mistake here, and chose NOT to lure the wolves with the hidden Dwarf, and the Elf met a rather quick end. The Dwarf did decide to jump out at the last minute (probably just as stupid), and managed, single-handedly, to kill all 6 wolves. Whew!

The Dwarf, having lost his primary mode of transportation (following the Elf) was stuck wandering slowly across the map. An uneventful number of tiles left nothing to be desired. He finally arrived at the Guard where he was able to sell off some loot, and ended the game with a score of .... -26.

Not my best game, but it was good to play the game, just to play it!

Getting close to a new release

I'm hoping to get a new release out this weekend. A couple of annoying bugs in version 0.32 keep popping up in the bug tracker, and I'm getting tired of looking at them:

- Appearance of Dragon Essence freezes the game (fixed in 0.33)
- Fighting melee while hidden doesn't cause you to become unhidden

Both of these were introduced in the last two releases, and have been bothering quite a few RealmSpeakers, I'm sure!!

Lots and lots of other little fixes, should make version 0.33 a pretty stable release. I'm hoping to get a network game going on in the next couple of weeks (maybe even this weekend), so maybe I'll have news to report on that front.

I want to extend a special thanks to vincegamer who has been hammering on RealmSpeak the last couple of weeks, and has shed the light on quite a few problems. I also want to thank icewall, for his effort in solving a game crash issue while following. Thanks you guys!!