Version 0.41 Released

I seem to have caught a cold virus (dare I say, a bug?), and as such am not too much in the coding mood this weekend. Still, I was able to finish up a few more issues, and get them into this release.

The main reason I want to get this release out, is because of a fix to a problem with the player board builder that prevented the game from playing. As one e-mailer put it "Ehh - who needs to play the game after building the map?". He he he.

Also, this release sports a fix in the "Graphics Glitch" bug, so those of you that have run into it, will likely breathe a sigh of relief.

Not a lot here, but here's what's new:

NEW FEATURES:

• [690] - There is a button on the Hall of Fame to clear the data if you wish.

BUGS/ISSUES:

• [372] - At looooong last the so-called "graphics glitch" is fixed. The map counters will no longer "vanish" unexpectedly during the game.
  
• [686] - Discovering a path on board A does not automatically give you the path on board B anymore (double-board)
  
• [647] - Native summoning is distinguishing boards now (double-board)
  
• [695] - You can actually play the game now, after constructing a player board.
  
• [675] - Elusive Cloak works with non-character chits now
  
• [435] - Flowers of Rest work now, even if you don't record any actions. They also work in the situation where someone carrying the Flowers of Rest moves through, but does not stop in a clearing with a fatigued character. This will now appropriately put that character to sleep, whether or not they've had a turn.
  
• [676] - Controlled monster head/club kills count towards character total
  
• [671] - Alerted chits will appear in the fatigue/wound dialogs now
  
• [680] - If you MOVE, enchant a tile, and then try to run from combat, the road must not vanish or become "undiscovered", or you will now be unable to run. (see 3rd ed 7.10.4.d.1)

Manual Map Broken

It seems like every time I release a cool new feature, it requires a bug fix or two before its fully functional.

If you go through the trouble of building a player map with the map builder, you cannot play the game, for some reason. There's a nasty bug in there that hijacks the code before it can do the necessary preprocessing, and you end up with an unplayable game. The bug has been filed, and I'm hoping to get it fixed for the weekend.

On a good note, I finally reproduced/found/fixed the famous "graphics glitch" bug that's plagued me for half a year. That alone will be worth getting released.

If you choose automatic map building, it should still run just fine.

Update 1

This bug is fixed in version 0.41 (not yet released). I'll try to put a new release up this weekend.

Version 0.40 Released

Happy New Year!!

I had a sweet vacation! My brother-in-law visited, and I got some serious boardgaming off my chest. We played Runebound (two different campaigns), Arkham Horror, and Lord of the Rings. Oddly, we didn't play Magic Realm at all, but that's only because it is so danged easy to play online anymore, that it wasn't worth the trouble to set it up. That, and the fact we wanted to try out some new games. Very fun!!

Anyway, once he left, and some of the Christmas festivities had past, I found myself with some free time to work on RealmSpeak. Of note, there is now the ability to play with a player-generated board. It's got a few flaws (it restarts when you run out of places to play a tile), but for the most part, I think it works pretty well.

Also of note in this release, is that I've upgraded my ant build to use Java 1.5, instead of Java 1.4. You will see a warning when you start RealmSpeak if you are using an older version of Java, but otherwise will be able to continue. Please take the time to upgrade your Java installation, as it will make your RealmSpeak experience better (trust me!) If you want Java 1.5, follow this link:

   Java 5

and click the fourth "Download" button down on the page (JRE 5.0 Update 10). If you feel the need to be on the forefront of technology, there's the latest release Java 6:

   Java 6

Again, click on the fourth "Download" button down on the page (JRE 6), and you should be good to go. I haven't tried JRE 6 yet myself, so I can't vouch for its stability.

Okay, here's what's new in this release:

NEW FEATURES:

• This version of RealmSpeak is compiled under Java 1.5, and may encounter problems with Java 1.4. I recommend upgrading your Java installation to play it. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it was a necessary move.
  
• You can include Giants/Ogres/Goblins as hirelings in the combat builder now
  
• Fixed a performance bug in the board builder: boards are built nearly instantaneously now. This really helps in the case of double-boards.
  
• Players can build the board now!
  
  • New option in game setup window allows you to choose between auto-build, and player-build.
    
  • Host waits until ALL players have logged in, and then presses the "Build Map" button. Tiles are distributed, and players start placing tiles, starting with the player who has Borderland. (Borderland A in a double-board game)
    
  • When playing solitaire, this option provides single tiles that you can place one at a time, starting with Borderland.
    
  • When the very rare situation arises where a player can no longer place a tile, it should start the process over, though I've been having trouble with this part. I will clean this up at a later date.
  
  
• [389] - New feature on inventory, and unassigned denizen panels: clicking on a green eye icon allows you to view the other side of counters contained within.
  
• [506] - Natives with living horses have a horse icon on them now, so you can distinguish them from natives with dead horses during the luring step in combat.
  
• [654] - New house rule allows you to play where monster weapon hits (head/club) aren't sufficient to cause T Monsters to turn RED side up

BUGS/ISSUES:

• [650] - Fixed an error that happened during summoning on double boards.
  
• [646] - Native terms of hire are by days, not turns now (ie., when playing shortened weeks in seasons)
  
• [661] - HIRE phases when dealing with pacified monsters, will be hired as a "group", not individually
  
• [662] - Hired Ogres and Goblins that own their combat sheet can be flipped like hired natives now
  
• [658] - Cache no longer "hides" clearing-affecting treasures (ie., Flowers of Rest, Dragon Essence, etc)
  
• [651] - Demon wont jump on Pilgrim sheet when he has a hireling anymore.
  
• [664] - Fixed a double-board bug that caused the game to freeze when you ran away in a "B" tile.
  
• [665] - Fixed a problem where using the Timeless Jewel, and trying to move down an undiscovered path, caused the game to hang.
  
• Cleaned up a problem with the client/server code that could cause some rare data loss during transfers. This may have been the source of random hangs for some time, but I'm not sure. Time will tell!
  
• [687] - Fixed a typo in the length of T Dragon heads to 9 (not 8!)
  
• [663] - Ambush works with non-attack spells that target individuals now.
  
• [670],[673] - Non-characters are no longer considered for the Hall of Fame. Game date is included in the display.
  
• [678] - Spells are no longer "doubled" in the spell chooser when playing a double-board game
  
• [666] - Fixed the multiplying phantasms crash bug
  
• [653] - T chits created by Unleash Power spell will suffice for opening the Vault.
  
• [682] - Fixed a problem where Hired Leaders were not using their own horses to carry inventory.
  
• [677] - Dragonfang Necklace and other control spells are cancelled if hirelings are attacking the target.
  
• [525] - Fixed an issue that left luring hirelings unassigned if they lured a Giant or T Dragon, instead of moving to the new sheet.
  
• [674] - Transmorphed monsters in color magic will no longer crash the game when they are summoned back to the setup card
  
• [655] - Casters that are killed by non-simultaneous attacks, will have their attack spells cancelled.
  
• [535] - Mission chits are completed automatically when you enter the target dwelling now, instead of waiting until midnight.
  
• [487] - When you move by clicking on the map, you will get the "unassigned hirelings" warning now (if appropriate).

Blogger Beta

It seems that Google has updated blogger, and is strongly encouraging us to "make the switch". Well, I just did, and I can definitely see some improvements!

The one that is most obvious to you, is that I can now add labels to my posts. What are labels, you ask? They are essentially keywords that tie posts together in a way other than by date. For example, I just went through and added "RealmSpeak Release" as a label to all the posts that reference a new release. At the end of such a post, you'll see a hyperlink with the words "RealmSpeak Release". Click on that link, and you will get a list of all the release posts, clear back to version 0.1!! Pretty cool.

It's Christmas in Magic Realm

The bad news: no new release until 2007. I had hoped to wrap up the current version I'm working on before Christmas, but the fact is that time is running out. I've got relatives coming this week, and still a bunch of shopping to do. I seriously doubt I'll have much coding time between now and then.

The good news? Besides the usual bug fixes, the big new feature I've been putting together is player board building. At LOONNNG last, you'll be able to assemble the board as the rules describe, and have some control over the overall game. If you play solitaire, you will place tiles randomly, one at a time, starting with the Borderland tile. If you are playing online, tiles will be shuffled and distributed to all the players, and then each player takes a turn placing a tile. Of course, the auto-build feature will still be there if you want it (I still prefer it for solitaire games).

This feature is mostly finished, but I'm still working out a few kinks. For example, I thought it would be nice if tiles that have no possible placement (like High Pass on the first turn) were highlighted somehow. This has turned into a bit more of a nightmare than I would have imagined. For some reason, I can't get the tiles to update for other players when they should. !!!!!

I also need to handle the situation where the board reaches a state where no tiles can be placed. It's rare, but it does happen! The rules say that in this situation, you are supposed to move back to the previous player, and have them remove the last placed tile, and replace it in a way that will allow the next player to place their tile. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle this, just yet.

Anyway, I hope the holiday season is treating you all well. Merry Christmas!

Brutal Game

Wow, that was insane. We played an online game last night (till about 1am), and it was a blast! We ran into a couple of annoying bugs (game crashes if you have combat after a day-trade between characters), but mostly could recover by reloading the auto save. Once we learned what NOT to do, things went pretty well.

Oh, and I learned some new lessons:
1) Don't fire a second Fiery Blast ambush attack on a T Troll, when you are lucky enough to survive the first round as the Sorceror.
2) Don't forget to assign your hirelings after hiring them.
3) The Witch as an absorbed Winged Demon is no match for the T Octopus (damn that thing is fast!)
4) The Dwarf on a Warhorse, and the White Knight with the Bane Sword and the Gloves of Strength is a sight to behold! These two were able to nail 2 out of 3 bats in the first round, even though they both flipped to the dark side! Unbelievable.

Oh, check out how the game started:



That's the Inn on the far right, at the edge of the map. The only way to go, is through the caves of the High Pass (guarded by the Lair, and goblins), and into the valley guarded by the ever-regenerating ghosts! Talk about getting a slow start! Starting a new character was a pain too - takes damn near a week to get through there without getting killed!

All in all, I'm pretty happy with the result. Still got some kinks to work out, but I'm already looking forward to my next game.

Taking 0.39 Out for a Spin

Unless my brother-in-law gets called in to work, I'm hoping to try v0.39 in an online game tonight. The big thing I'm looking forward to, is being able to press the END button without losing my ability to do encounter actions (see earlier post). Oh, that and the kill tally.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Version 0.39 Released

Not much to say, except that I think I've ironed out most of the Seasons/Weather bugs in this release. Thanks to everyone who pointed them out, and for those that made suggestions on how to implement seasons. I think you'll like the new changes.

Oh, for no real reason, except for the fact that I'm somewhat insane (it comes with being the father of three girls), I decided to add a checkbox for playing a "double-board" in this release. It's experimental, but I think it's basically there. I played around with it a bit, and it seemed to be working in all aspects I tried. Still, its not FULLY tested, so don't be surprised if something weird pops up while you are trying it out. If you don't like that, don't use it.

Okay, here's what's new.

NEW FEATURES:

• Rearranged the host game setup dialog a bit, to make your choices a bit more clear:
  
  • Got rid of meaningless fields (game title, game setup)
    
  • Separated "host" options from "game" options
    
  • Moved the weather option out of the Optional tab (too many people not seeing it there), and onto the main tab.
  
  
• Weather info dialog improvements
  
  • Includes 7th day color magic
    
  • Shows ALL weather possibilities, with the current weather highlighted
  
  
• [346] - Support for Double Board (experimental)
  
  • New choice in setup dialog
    
  • Experimental means that I haven't tried everything yet, so you may encounter some "weirdness".
    
  • Double-board means more memory, slower startup, and slower initial network connections (if playing online). You've been warned!
    
  • It is worth looking at - pretty danged cool.
    
  • Treasures are limited to their own setup cards, and chits to their own tiles, which is wrong I know. It makes it playable, though not as variable as the rules allow. I'll tackle this at a later date.

BUGS/ISSUES:

• [627] - Choosing a Random Season no longer causes the season to change randomly each time you reload the game.
  
• [459] - If you are starting RealmSpeak from the command line, you can include the savegame filepath after "run" to have it loaded automatically. If you don't understand this, you probably don't need to use it.
  
• [512],[625] - Persuade/HIRE works with Giants and Ogres again
  
• [611] - Characters put to sleep by the Flowers of Rest, will no longer summon monsters
  
• [549] - Flowers of Rest will put you to sleep BEFORE you can finish your trade now.
  
• [630] - Month length based on days, not turns now.
  
• [637] - Kills on character log are working again
  
• [638] - Commerce table considered in special abilities and treasures that affect meeting rolls.
  
• [639] - Commerce table Block/Battle result now causes characters to become unhidden, just like the Meeting table
  
• Fixed responsiveness of mouse clicks on combat sheets - no more clicking 3 or 4 times to get it to place your danged weapon
  
• [635] - Roof Collapses appears correctly on combat sheets, so you know it's been placed.
  
• [642] - Chapel emits WHITE magic again.
  
• [641] - Fatigue dialog allows fatiguing MAGIC chits for weather fatigue
  
• [581] - When characters leave hirelings behind in a clearing with natives, the character no longer has an opportunity to buy drinks.
  
• [577] - Flying characters will be blocked immediately after landing in a clearing with a monster. No more free HIDE phase!
  
• Changed how the dotted (flying) lines are drawn when plotting a FLY move. Rather than end at the "offroad" location, they go to the center of the tile. Flying chits are still drawn in the offroad location, so that they aren't confused with those that are in clearings.
  
• [584] - Natives with ponies moving out of caves don't gain pony moves during the turn.
  
• [636] - Blazing Light works when you move out of the clearing now.
  
• [643] - Ghosts regenerate each week again.

Version 0.38a Released

You will need a new resource pack for this release. Yes, I know I just released a resource pack for version 0.37, but there were just too many new images to include in the application itself. I'll try to leave the resource pack alone for awhile after this!

Wheee!! I'm a happy camper. I played a successful online game last night (see previous post), and fixed the few issues that harassed us during the game. I finished Seasons/Weather (mostly), and added a "Hall of Fame". The bug tracker is down below 80 bugs, and the game has been running like a champ. Still a lot to do, but its getting closer and closer to being complete!

[PS - THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO SENT IN PICTURES TO USE IN THE SEASONS INTERFACE - I HOPE YOU LIKE MY FINAL SELECTIONS!]

Oh, why v0.38a you ask? That's because the version I used last night was technically v0.38. Since I fixed a couple more bugs, I decided to bump the version slightly to 0.38a.

Here's what's new this time around:

NEW FEATURES:

• Created a new menu called View, and moved some things around to make more sense. The tables menu is now a submenu under View.
  
• BUG 499 - Added a "Hall of Fame"
  
  • No longer specify number of VPs in the setup dialog (since this would affect scoring range)
    
  • Not considered for Hall of Fame if VPs are disabled
    
  • View Hall of Fame from View menu
  
  
• Added support for Seasons and Weather
  
  • New dropdown list on first tab of game options dialog to choose a season, choose no season, or choose a random season
    
  • New optional rule (optional tab) for weather support
    
  • Sheltered phases work (see the rules)
    
  • Eye of the Moon allows you to see/change the weather
    
  • Click on season icon to view information about the current season and weather
    
  • Mountain move cost dependant on the season (new move icons show what the cost is for each character)
    
  • All six "special" weather conditions are handled
    
    • Fatigue chits based on location
      
    • HIDE/PEER tables disabled depending on season
    
    
  • Mission special conditions (delivery locations and rewards) are NOT YET HANDLED

BUGS/ISSUES:

• BUG 608 - Items with conditional fame are priced correctly now under COMMERCE rules
  
• BUG 488,609 - Using a Horse and "other" bonus MOVE in a cave is more logical now (horse is used as soon as possible)
  
• BUG 597 - Fixed game hang when a transformed monster winds up in an enchanted tile, and stuck in magic form.
  
• BUG 519,613 - Fixed a problem where a character receiving and activating the Timeless Jewel on someone else's turn, couldn't ignore their recorded actions.
  
• BUG 600 - Transformed monsters should prowl as normal now.
  
• BUG 614 - When I fixed Bug 305 (below), I inadvertantly introduced a problem when running without any monsters in the clearing. This is fixed.
  
• Fixed a problem with the action record interface: actions are now red when they are invalid, and black when they are not. Nothing else is changed, just the color, which was confusing.
  
• BUG 615 - Created a problem in the wound interface when I added color chits. This is fixed.
  
• BUG 218 - Color chits are now considered to be "in play" for purposes of determining death.
  
• BUG 617 - GodRob discovered that the enchanted side of the Crag had one too many hidden paths! Good catch!!
  
• BUG 510 - Flowers of Rest will no longer affect characters before being discovered.
  
• BUG 520 - Inconsistency in Cloven Hoof behaviour is fixed.
  
• BUG 544 - Cloven Hoof no longer affects denizen rolls anymore.
  
• BUG 533 - Kill tally no longer shows multiple hits for split kills
  
• BUG 548 - Effects of the poison spell and Oil of Poison will stack. In other words, you can add 2 sharpness stars to your active weapon.
  
• BUG 573 - Can no longer use Pony to infinitely traverse mountains.
  
• BUG 424 - REST stacking with the Berserker works correctly now
  
• BUG 490 - Unhidden hired leaders in a clearing with a monster can no longer press the END button to exit combat.
  
• BUG 475 - Burning a color chit is sufficient to continue combat.
  
• BUG 512 - Can hire Ogres with Persuade spell now.
  
• BUG 518 - Correct number of soldiers on Pillage campaign.
  
• BUG 542 - Vial of Healing will now activate wounded, non-asterisk chits.
  
• BUG 620 - Pressing END during a multiplayer game no longer permanently disables the encounter phase buttons.
  
• BUG 621 - Fixed a small problem with CACHEs.
  
• BUG 575 - Can no longer use MAGIC SIGHT to learn spells off inactive inventory
  
• BUG 623 - Attack Spells will trigger Grudges now.
  
• BUG 394 - Hitting friendly natives with Roof Collapses no longer causes them to turn on you (you target the clearing, not the natives)
  
• BUG 540 - Weapon altering potions will work with the Alchemists's Mixture now.
  
• BUG 622 - Timeless Jewel owners can do multiple REST phases at once now. Pressing REST will pop up a dialog asking "How Many". Hope this isn't more of a pain than before!

Great online game last night

Sweet. It's been a long time since I played RealmSpeak online (since April, v.0.30). That game went badly because RealmSpeak froze up too much, and we had to can it. Since then, I've been more than a little nervous to even try it again.

Well, last night I decided to give it a shot. Using the latest build (v0.38 - not yet publicly available), me and two buddies fired up a game. We chose randomly (sort of), and ended up with the Woods Girl (me), Magician, and the White Knight. Without going into great detail, the Woods Girl started off quite well, successfully offing numerous monsters with her alerted bow, but not in time to prevent the death of the White Knight to three bats. Respawning as the Black Knight, the trio continued to wander through numerous treasure locations: Cairns (found the lost keys!), the Vault (good thing too!), and the Hoard. The Woods Girl got cursed at one point, and then attempted to get healed at the Order. Making the mistake of doing a TRADE, the Woods Girl got blocked, and then pounced on by the Patrol. Dead. (that sucked!!)

Anyway, the game overall was a blast, and most everything worked as it should. There were a couple of minor problems:

1. Pressing the END button disabled all of the buttons in the Encounter panel for the rest of the game, or until saving and restarting.
   
2. Kills were not showing up in the usual place.
   
3. At one point, I was unable to move into a normal clearing with the timeless jewel, even though I had one phase left to use!

All in all, that was pretty good, and we were able to play as long as we wanted, with relatively few restarts. I'm excited to know that I can play this game online again, and know exactly what needs fixing. I should be able to get a good release up later today (if all goes well).

Version 0.37 Released

NOTE: You'll need to download a new version (0.37) of the "Resource Pack" for this release!

I spent a lot of time working on aesthetics for this release. All of the spells now have text information and tables straight from the 3rd edition rules, available with nothing more than a mouse-click. It's also easier to see who and how cast what spells, and what spells are currently bewitching you.

I also reworked the RealmSpeak Battle Builder. It's a lot more user friendly, and lets you edit saved battles, for the first time! Much easier to experiment now, and much less frustrating to run (in my opinion).

Here's what's new:

NEW FEATURES:

• BUG 593,594 - Spell information enhancements
  
  • New green bar on spell card identifies spells that are "Alive"
    
  • Table on character spell page displays all spell currently affecting (bewitching) the character
    
  • Right-clicking spells in inventory, or in "Bewitching Spells" table brings up a useful information panel that describes:
    
    • Owner
      
    • Caster
      
    • Incantation Chit/Item
      
    • Target(s)
      
    • Complete text from 3rd edition rules
      
    • Associated spell table, if applicable
    
    
  • Right-clicking spells in Spell Selector allows you to read the rules for that spell, and see any related table that might be used
  
  
• Most die roll tables are now available in the "Tables" menu
  
• RealmSpeak Battle Builder got a face lift
  
  • Entry dialog is a bit more user-friendly
    
  • Three choices: New Battle, Edit Battle, and Play Battle
    
  • Yes, you can edit battles you have saved (finally!!!), including game options!
    
  • The builder is a Frame instead of a dialog now. That means it will appear in your Taskbar, and not get "lost" in the sea of windows.
    
  • You can delete a character from battle
    
  • Treasures are sorted in alphabetical order, to make them easier to find (finally!!!)
  
  
• BUG 231 - New button to allow the HOST to change game options during the game. (Like, if Watchful Natives breaks again, and you got a good game going, you can turn it off)

BUGS/ISSUES:

• BUG 606 - Flying causes you to become unhidden now
  
• BUG 601 - Sharpness dampening is shown in log now
  
• BUG 553 - Toadstool Circle is exhibiting its effects again (BLACK magic and extra SPELL phases)
  
• BUG 305 - If you are playing with STUMBLE rules, and are unsuccessful running with a 2 asterisk chit, you are no longer penalized for fatigue twice!
  
• BUG 126 - When running away from combat with a horse, the correct side (trot/gallop) of the horse is shown.
  
• BUG 111 - Followers now get left behind if the guide uses a Pony MOVE, unless they themselves have a Pony active.
  
• BUG 373,596 - Native Horses are now made inactive when in a CAVE
  
• BUG 370 - New optional rule to play with "Seasonal Color Magic", which has been the default of RealmSpeak forever. Now you can turn this off, and use the "BLACK/WHITE" colors for the 7th day.

Version 0.36 Released

Thought I'd get a release out while I had a version that is working pretty good in my hands, and before I break into some bigger issues. I think Watchful Natives actually works in this release, so hopefully those of you that have been having trouble will find that the bugs are finally gone. I set up numerous combat situations, and coded until ALL of them worked as expected. Thanks to everyone who reported bugs on this rule, as you really gave me the direction I needed to get this done.

As mentioned in the previous post, there are some new optional rules in place (Commerce and Grudges), as well as the advanced CACHE rule. This gets RealmSpeak more into my own "comfort zone", as I have always played Face-to-Face games with these rules in place.

Okay, here's what's new:

NEW FEATURES:

• Advanced Rule CACHING is done
  
  • New option in game setup dialog under ADVANCED RULES tab
    
  • CACHE action is available
  
  
• Optional Commerce rules are now in place
  
  • Native groups modify the price of treasure base on FAME, NOTORIETY, or BOTH (depends on group)
    
  • Treasures with special FAME get that value added to the base price when dealing with a particular native group
    
  • Selling items uses the Commerce table
  
  
• Optional Grudges/Gratitude
  
  • Buying/Selling treasures with special FAME affect friendliness
    
  • Killing FRIENDLY and ALLY natives affect friendliness by 2 and 4 levels, respectively.
  
  
• Changed the spell selector a bit: removed the blue arrow buttons - selecting spells is now as easy as clicking the spell you want. I thought having to select spells and press buttons was a bit tedious.
  
• Power of the Pit dialog now shows who all was killed (if any), so it is clear what happened.

BUG FIXES:

• BUG 410 - Running as a transformed monster no longer adds the same monster to the "Used Chits" box, and available for attacks by yourself!!
  
• BUG 579 - Added some code to guarantee that NO situation leads to a target not moving to their own sheet. This should resolve "Watchful Natives" once and for all.
  
• BUG 588 - Fixed an issue with natives fighting natives under the Watchful Natives option
  
• BUG 582 - Fixed a problem where characters were unable to share TWT locations (ie., Toadstool Circle)
  
• BUG 589 - Treasures in battle builder are face up again
  
• BUG 587 - Characters transformed into MIST, and has hirelings, are no longer available for attack by monsters/natives.
  
• BUG 556,567 - Power of the Pit TERROR result was not killing hirelings following hired leaders. It is now.
  
• BUG 566 - Magic Sight no longer protects you from getting cursed by the Remains of Theif or Mouldy Skeleton
  
• BUG 411 - Read Runes allows a choice from awakened or Top Spell, as per 3rd ed rule 7.5.6.b.
  
• BUG 580 - Fixed spelling of Sorceror (from Sorcerer - technically correct, but doesn't match the game)
  
• BUG 578 - Fixed some fatal errors caused by fly chits expiring after use.

I'm experimenting with adding the bug links in here. It was kind of a pain, so don't expect to see these every time!!

Some Long Awaited Optional Rules

Someone wrote to me, and said that if they had Caching and Grudges, they'd be content. I thought, "Sure! Why not!"

In a crazed fit of coding last night, I assembled a fairly nice Caching interface (if I do say so myself), along with all the bells and whistles. Any character/leader/monster can cache items, and access caches later. Caches can be found/shared/looted by other characters. When you create a cache, you can specify the order of the items, and even store gold. I played around with it, and its pretty nice to have, especially when you find a huge treasure that you can't carry! Now you can stash it, and come back later when you have big boots, or a hired native. Neat!

The other piece was strangely easy, but that was by design. I had always intended to get the Commerce rules in place, because I prefer to use them over the standard rules. Now the treasures have differing values based on the group you are selling them to, which makes relationships all that more important. Got the Sacred Grail? Better hope the Order is your friend so you can score some big money!

Along with this, is Grudges and Gratitudes. I felt uncomfortable grouping this with the Commerce stuff, even though they are that way in the 2nd edition manual, so you'll find this as a standalone option. Essentially, buying/selling treasure with special FAME attributes to the appropriate denizen can score not only big money, but relationship improvements as well. Imagine the joy the Order will have when you deliver the Sacred Grail! This could make the Sorceror a bit less at ends with these Knights, and give him a strange edge in the game.

Of course, the down side of this rule, is that you gotta be careful who you kill. Elf decides to murder a Woodfolk, he's going to find that they are an enemy very quickly!

Okay, okay. I promised to get on Absorb Essence and Transform, and I still intend to, but I gotta have fun too, you know!

Later!

Version 0.35 Released

Lots of cool new stuff in this release that really improve the quality of play, IMHO. I played several full games without so much as a hitch, and I was doing all kinds of stuff. My best game involved the Captain working with the Witch-King, because I got to see what having the Belt of Strength and the Truesteel sword was like. Very nice killing machine!! At least it was fun for awhile: the Witch-King flew into a cave with a bunch of goblins and got killed, and the Captain got cursed with Ill-Health and Wither at a VERY inopportune time. Oh well!

The biggest new feature, I believe, is the addition of the Broomstick spell. This gives the Witch and Witch-King (Magician?) a nice new strategy possibility, and pretty much rounds out all the really useful spells. The remaining spells (see previous post), with the exception of Enchant Artifact, are pretty much worthless in a solo game, or non-competitive play. I'll get to them someday I suppose.

The big bug fix in this one, is that curses no longer crash the game. I introduced this problem in the last release, and its caused a few headaches. Oh, and wait until you see the new chit panel! A lot of people (myself included) hated the way chits were being displayed in the fatigue/wound/rest dialogs. I've cleaned this up a lot, and made it a lot easier to work with.

Okay, here's what's new:

NEW FEATURES:

• New Spells working:
  
  • Talk to Wise Bird
    
  • World Fades
    
  • Broomstick - works for flying self only (cannot affect other characters yet, though you can still cast it on them)
  
  
• Added target information to spell cards
  
• Added Character name to combat sheets
  
• Revamped the character chit display to group like chits together - makes it a bit easier to see what you want. This affects:
  
  • Initial chit enchantment when choosing a new magic user (MUCH easier on the eyes)
    
  • Fatigue/Rest/Wound displays
    
  • Combat builder display allows easy clicking to change the state (no more buttons to do this)
    
  • Character chit display now has a "detail" button to bring up the new grouped display

BUGS/ISSUES:

• Curse will not crash the game anymore.
  
• Witch's Brew (and similar spells) can target all chits, not just active ones.
  
• Fixed character combat order - now identical to day combat order as it should be.
  
• Combat frame shows character order: First character is in first row, second character in second row, and so on.
  
• Targeting a single opponent with Stones Fly (which does 4 attacks) will no longer cause you to become unhidden automatically when Ambush is in play.
  
• Fixed another "Watchful Natives" bug, that was not moving an ambusher's target to a new combat sheet.
  
• MAGIC chits dedicated to spells are no longer ignored when determining if you can learn a new spell.
  
• Casting logic now correctly matches spells with casting options (i.e., using spell from book when you use the book)
  
• When a guide does an ALERT phase, the followers are no longer REQUIRED to complete it (though they can use it if desired)
  
• Fixed an infinite loop that occurs when the Witch's familiar is following her when she discovers or loots a treasure Site.
  
• Game no longer hangs when a hired leader hires another native
  
• Fixed a problem where simultaneous attacks hitting a treasure card were spilling through to other armor.
  
• Must now land after running with a fly action. You can fly again, if you have the magic.
  
• Fixed the logic of Site Cards: They are added to the bottom of the treasure pile so they can be found by other characters. They remain visible on the board, however.
  
• Fixed the run-away logic for flyers: only flying opponents can stop you from running if you are flying away
  
• Timeless Jewel now properly handles newly activated items and horses

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!!

Version 0.32 Released

It's definitely been a slow hot summer. I actually experienced my first day above 120 degrees last month, and I can tell you, it was unpleasant! Living in southern California has its perks though. A recent visit from my brother and his family found us visiting a number of the tourist traps around here: Sea World, Six Flags, Wild Animal Park, the beach, to name a few. We even got to go see the Ringling Bros & Barnum Baily Circus here yesterday!!

Okay, so maybe you don't really care what I've been up to, but I bring it up only to excuse myself somewhat from the lack of RealmSpeak updates. Even this update is a bit light in content, but should still be worth a the download, I think. I fixed a few game killing bugs, and added a way to repay a boon (thanks Steve for your great idea!)

Here's what you will find:

NEW FEATURES:

• You can repay a boon now:
  
  • Receiving a boon puts a "Boon" token in your active inventory, showing the native/visitor, and the base price of the item given
    
  • The Boon token cannot be dropped or traded
    
  • To repay a boon, return to the native group, and do a BUY trade. The boon will appear in their inventory, and you can buy it there. Of course, you only have one chance to succeed, so don't attempt it unless you got the cash!

BUGS/ISSUES:

• Fixed a bug in the "Watchful Natives" code that caused the game to crash when fighting monsters (sigh).
  
• Melt-into-Mist and Pentangle now properly "nullify" spells/curses, and not cancel them!
  
• Fixed a bug where using a horse to move into a mountain clearing was not properly handling phases, and causing a minor crash
  
• Fixed a bug where activating Timeless Jewel immediately on discovery was causing a game freeze
  
• Fixed a gnarly bug in the combat interface, that occurs when you select an unassigned target while hidden, just prior to a spellcaster casting a spell (yes, very specific)
  
• Dragonfang necklace works on ALL dragons now, not just land dragons. This includes the firedrake and venerable wyrm from Pruitt's alternative monster set.
  
• Fixed a crash related to the dragonfang necklace
  
• Changed a piece of code that may have been causing problems on Solaris 10 (the jury is out on this one)
  
• Can now click on the map during Prophecy or Timeless Jewel to move (just like during BIRDSONG)
  
• Pressing the MOVE button during Prophecy or Timeless Jewel, will now properly gray out other actions
  
• Can only burn color chits during the encounter step and daylight
  
• Charging characters works now:
  
  • Charger can not do any encounter actions
    
  • Chargee is subject to the penalties of having the MOVE chit on his/her sheet
    
  • Still to do: make sure that charging character does not switch targets during the same round (2e: 34.4/1b)
  
  
• Fixed an issue where Druid going first would cancel the chit summoning for the entire evening!