On Vacation Next Week

I'm going to be on vacation next week, so no updates or RealmSpeak bug acknowledgements for awhile. If you find a bug, just add it to the tracker, and I'll get to it when I return.

Later!

Update 7/31/2007: I'm back! I'll get to issues again in the next couple of days.

Version 0.50 Released

Only have a couple of nights work in this one, but its got some nice new features. First off, is the ability to build a board using a mix of the expansion tiles. I'm not going to go into great detail, but the jist is that the regular tiles are randomly mixed with the expansion tiles to allow some variability. Of course, this is an optional feature, so if you don't want to mess with it, don't.


I added a new option in the Options menu that will allow you to change the look and feel. By default, you are using what is called the "System" look and feel, but this has caused some problems for my Solaris 10 user (users?). The new option lets you switch to the "Cross-Platform" look and feel, which is supposedly more robust on these machines. I'm hoping this will enable him to get around the conflict he has encountered, and actually be able to play this game again.

Still no progress on Treachery, but I think that is my next area of focus.

Anyway, here's what's new:

NEW FEATURES:

• [440] - Added a new option (Option Menu) to allow you to switch the look and feel to "Cross-Platform". Hopefully, this will resolve the strange graphics problems on Solaris machines.
  
• Hidden Enemy status shown in character spy window (the one you get when you double-click a character in the character list window)
  
• Backspace button allows you to "unsend" your recorded turn, in case you change your mind before the other players have finished recording.
  
• Option to include a random mix of expansion tiles
  
  • Ambush always starts enchanted side up, to facilitate placement
    
  • Paths/Passages attached to tile edges work like one-way gates. For example:
    
    • Tile A Clearing 1 connects to the north edge of the tile via normal road
      
    • Tile B Clearing 5 connects to the south edge of the tile via hidden path
      
    • You can move from A1 to B5 without knowing the path
      
    • You must discover the path to move from B5 back to A1
      
    • There are only two tiles where this matters: Dark Forest and Pinnacle
    
    
  • Chasm logic is not implemented (normally prevents woodswalking across chasm)
    
  • Volcano logic IS implemented:
    
    • Red-clearings cause daily fatigue
      
    • Orange-clearings cause daily wounds
      
    • White-clearings cause daily serious wounds (1d6 wounds)
      
    • Hirelings are NOT affected by any of these (I agree that doesn't make sense), but for now, that's how it is
    
    
  • If you do a multi-board, you will not necessarily end up with two of every tile, but you will still have:
    
    • 5 "Mountain" tiles for every board
      
    • 5 "Caves" tiles for every board
      
    • 5 "Valley/Swamp" tiles for every board
      
    • 5 Woods tiles for every board
    
    
  • NONE of the rest of the expansion (spells, treasures) is implemented: this is just an inclusion of the new tiles
    
  • If you don't like this ruleset, then don't play with this option turned on

BUGS/ISSUES:

• Fixed a problem where recording a turn, and then saving the game would create a situation that made loading the game impossible
  
• Clearing plot (the yellow line that shows which clearings you are planning on moving to) is updated when different characters are selected in the character list. This is only applicable if you have multiple characters, and are plotting their turns simultaneously.
  
• [867] - Changed the threading logic on a major piece of the program that I'm hoping will eliminate the possibility of a deadlock on Solaris 10 running Java 1.6.
  
• [821] - Fixed a strange bug that would occasionally crash the game on a double-board.
  
• Fixed a graphics anomoly that was appearing on triple/quad boards
  
• Added an optimization to the map building code that has a noticable speed improvement in the auto-builds of multi-boards.
  
• [729] - Shielded Lantern, when activated in a cave with the Timeless Jewel, will properly allow you to take a bonus phase.

Dwarven God

Just thought I'd share. I played a game with the Dwarf last night. I used the Productive Dwarf rules, which allows the Dwarf to get the same number of phases as anyone else, but must pay an extra MOVE for every non-cave clearing. This appropriately punishes the Dwarf for having short legs, but does not penalize his ability to do non-move things, like resting, and searching. I did notice that there is a problem with getting the Dwarf to move from a Cave clearing, and into a Mountain clearing: since you only get 2 basic phases for being in a cave, and the Mountain costs 3 to enter, he's stuck. The only workaround is to run from the cave clearing during combat, so that he's outside during Birdsong, but that ends up costing two days to do, and really hurts the Dwarf speed. Another workaround is to simply have the Dwarf follow another character, but that doesn't help in a solo game...

ANYWAY, I got distracted. The reason I'm posting, is the amazing luck I had with this little guy. He had just finished killing a Bat and two heavy trolls (love that Duck T3!!), when he discovered the Vault. He opened it, and immediately scored the Garb of Speed. This thing is a sweet treasure to have when you are a heavy fighter like the Dwarf. If you don't remember:

** = Speed 3
* = Speed 4
- = Speed 5

The conversion of his chits is phenominal:

Move H6 => Move H5
Fight H6 => Fight H5
Duck T3* => Duck T4*
Fight H5* => Fight H4*
Move H5* => Move H4*
Move T6* => Move T4*
Fight T6* => Fight T4*
Fight H4** => Fight H3**
Fight H4** => Fight H3**
Move T5** => Move T3**
Fight T5** => Fight T3**
Fight T5** => Fight T3**

The only chit that suffers, is the Duck T3* chit, which loses a point of speed, but all in all this is a pretty nice setup. The Dwarf ends up with 2 Fight T3** chits, which can just about undercut anything on his sheet, and he has plenty of asterisks to fatigue, especially since he doesn't really need the Fight H3** chits.

A bit more searching in the Vault yielded a couple more amazing treasures: Battle Bracelets (replace Fight over 4), and the Golden Arm Band (M armor vs Swing). Since the last two treasures of the Vault were now a bit too hard to aquire, the Dwarf moved onto the caves, where he found the Pool. After dispatching a Tremendous Troll, another Bat, and couple of Flying Heavy Dragons, the Dwarf went to work looting the Pool.

Feeling rather powerful already, the Dwarf made a rash decision to skip hiding, and simply do two loot actions in the Pool The first two treasures he found were the Power Boots (an asterisk free Move H4), and the Elusive Cloak (replace Move over 4). Laughing with all the power I had in my hands, I noticed for the first time the monster die roll: I had rolled a 3. The Octopus was coming out, along with 6 axe goblins……. and I’m unhidden.

Not giving up, I put the Octopus in the first red box, and then divided the goblins between the other two. I targeted the Octopus with a Fight T4* (unalerted axe, of course), and played the Power Boots as my maneuver. The Octopus lined up, and died right away, but the other two boxes changed tactics. Now I’m looking at some particularly nasty goblins. Rounds 2 and 3 brought down two of the angry goblins (thank you Fight T3**), but also demolished the last bit of armor the Dwarf had. Round 4 delivered enough wounds to leave the Dwarf in a very broken state, and despite a hard fought combat, left him dead in round 5. Dang it!

I probably could have played that better. Getting slaughtered in the caves by a bunch of Goblins was NOT how I wanted to go, but at least I got to play with some neat treasures.

Version 0.49 Released

Needs New Resource Pack v0.49!

Another big batch of bugs and features to get out to you guys. I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and its inspired me to work even harder on this stuff! I've very nearly cleared out all the issues on the bug tracker for RealmSpeak, and that's pretty darned nice. Granted, there's still a number of bugs that crash the game that I've never been able to nail down, but I think that a lot of the stability I've been building into the code lately, will make those bugs more and more rare.

Big new thing in this version, is a feature that's been needed since day one: character blocking. Yes, at long last, you can block your buddies, and block monsters to your hearts content. Simply turn on the blocking feature for each of your characters, and other characters will require approval to pass through your clearing. Unless, of course, they are hidden, and you haven't found hidden enemies. I added a couple of new icons to the character frame to account for BLOCKED status, and whether or not you've found hidden enemies.

The other big thing in this release, is the ability to do trades/rearrangement after combat, but before the new day. Look for the "Day End Trades" checkbox on your character frame to enable this feature. Turn it on, and you'll have an opportunity every evening to trade amongst your characters, and/or rearrange your belongings.

Most of the rest of this release, is really just fixing bugs. Here's what's new:

NEW FEATURES:

• [75],[313] - Characters can block other characters now
  
  • Each character has a "BLOCK ON/OFF" button on their frame
    
  • When this button is active, all characters passing through your clearing must get approval before continuing with their turn
    
  • If you are the blocking character, a "Block Now!" button will appear that will allow you to determine whether or not to block.
    
  • Once approval has been given, the only way to reset, is to turn the button off, and then on again
    
  • Midnight resets all block buttons
    
  • You cannot block hidden characters, unless you have found hidden enemies that day
  
  
• [313] - Characters can block monsters now
  
  • Activate the "BLOCK ON" button when moving through clearings with monsters
    
  • If there are monsters to block, a "Block Now!" button will appear
    
  • Pressing the button gives you an opportunity to block the monsters in your clearing
  
  
• New icons in character frame
  
  • Block icon shows if you've been blocked
    
  • Hidden Enemies icon shows if you've found hidden enemies - mouse over to see who, if you found enemies using magic sight
  
  
  
• Battle Builder has new option to specify whether the character has "Found Hidden Enemies" or not
  
• [552] - New "Day End Trades" checkbox on every character frame, allows players to do trades/rearrangements once combat has ended (but before MIDNIGHT)
  
• [618] - Missions are affected by season now (if you are playing seasons).

BUGS/ISSUES:

• [854] - Using a color chit during the actions phase will no longer disable the run button.
  
• Daily Combat button state will be remembered when you save/load a game.
  
• [360],[406] - Added a "flip" hotspot to the luring stage for hirelings, to allow the owner to choose their initial side.
  
• [557] - When doing random assignment, you can no longer add monsters to natives with a Red-side-up T Monster on their sheet.
  
• [861] - Trading the belt of strength while activated no longer leaves your chits in the enhanced state.
  
• [855] - Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented you from flying away after transforming.
  
• [508] - When you have multiple inert absorb essence spells, you will get to choose which one becomes active when you are in the presence of a permanent color source.
  
• [814] - The strength of the transmorph spells are now considered when dealing with conflicts (ie., Absorb Essence cannot overpower Transform)
  
• [753] - "Wish You Were Elsewhere" will properly cancel combat targets on the wished victim.
  
• [619] - Map of Lost Castle and Lost City no longer give you the bonus BEFORE the chits are discovered.
  
• [862] - Problem with Discover Chits in a tile with Lost Castle or Lost City before chit reveal, is fixed.
  
• When you are energizing an inert Transform, or just looking at the spell info, you can now see the target animal (Dragon, Lion, Eagle, Squirrel, Frog, or Bird) that it will turn you into.
  
• [863] - The "End Game" menu item now reads "Exit Game" to distinguish it from the END game button, which does an entirely different thing.
  
• [774] - Hired Leaders that find hidden enemies during the day can be deployed to hidden targets during combat now.
  
• Charging a hidden character now requires that you find hidden enemies.
  
• Switched the wording and logic on the "Decline Opportunity" dialog, so that it doesn't require a voting mentality to figure out which way to go.
  
• [796] - Fixed a nasty bug that would crash combat anytime an unhired native HQ was killed, and grudges/gratitudes is in play.
  
• [793] - Denizens transformed into mist become unassigned, and cannot be randomly assigned, lured, or deployed against.
  
• [858] - Fixed the mission logic for multiple boards.
  
• Fixed a issue that was causing missions/campaign from BOTH boards to be summoned
  
• [829] - Fixed cross-board specials
  
  • Lost Keys match to Vault and Chest from same board
    
  • Maps of Lost City/Castle match chits from same board
  
  
• Pressing END game does some additional work:
  
  • [799] - All Missions/Campaigns that are underway are expired, and the owning characters punished appropriately.
    
  • [537] - All spells (of every type) are cancelled.
  
  
• [624],[818] - Treasure setup card improvements:
  
  • Visitors are all available in the sidebar
    
  • All cache's appear on the sidebar
    
  • If the cache belongs to you, you can see all the treasures face up.
  
  
• [669] - When buying items that are worth less than zero from a native group (commerce rules), they will give you the difference in gold to take it off their hands.
  
• [806] - Witch's familiar can follow the witch when she flies
  
• [729] - Shielded Lantern, when activated in a cave with the Timeless Jewel, will properly show a bonus phase in the display.
  
• [521] - Native horses no longer grant an extra move in the caves.
  
• [866] - Positioning stage is enabled every round of combat (used to only show when there was somebody targeted). This will enable the strategy of extending combat while hidden, by playing two asterisks during this stage.
  
• [792] - Followers that get blocked, can still finish the follow activities.
  
• "Find Hidden Enemies and Paths" Peer result was NOT setting the hidden enemies flag (Only "Find Hidden Enemies" was).

What's next you ask? Think "Treachery"... :-)