VERSION HISTORY (PART 4): --------------------------+ History From 03/25/2001, to 5/21/2001 -----------------------------------------------------------------------+ Version .85 (Released 05/21/2001) KNOWN BUG: If a Client attempts to connect to the Server before it is actually running the Server may crash. i.e. Make sure the Server is running before everyone starts connecting. I'll look into a fix for this. DirectPlay8 has been put to use. This allows for TCP/IP network games. Modem and Serial connections could be added if there's a damand for it. The game supports up to 4 players controlled be any combination of computers. i.e. 2 people on one machine and 2 on another, or 1 on one and 3 on another, or four machines etc. At this point the network code is not quite 100%. This is one of those things that will demand constant attention and will grow as the game progresses. Added The Network Options Panel. This allows you to easily connect to servers or start up your own. The top half of this panel shows which computer controls each Player. When a Client connects is can obtain any avalible Player(s) to control. Other then that this panel has everything you would expect. The last 10 servers that have been connected to will also be shown. Just click one to connect to it. The Network, Config and SaveGame panels are all avalible from the title screen. The FPS display now shows your ping. When Serving the pingtimes for all connected clients will be shown. This display now uses the small font as well. Added Console support to the Menu System. This leaves a nice graphical funk when it's closed. I'll clean that up in the next version. Added a System Menu to the game's window. So while the game is minimized it can be closed without entering the game again (right click it's button on the taskbar). Fixed a bug causing the game to crash when closed while minimized. This would also crash ddhelp.exe which is a helper app used by DirectX. The Magic Interface will no longer open while a directional key or button is being pressed. Instead the currently Armed Spell will be casted. i.e. Running up to someone and pressing Magic while Run and a direction are all held down will cast a Spell. This way the UI doesn't pop up by mistake. Items that fly over pits no longer fall straight down unless they hit a wall. Added an Ultra Gore mode. This was thrown in just for the novelty of it. The Prefs editor does not recognize this setting and changes it to the normal gore mode, otherwise the option does save. Console command "/showgore 2". Smoke particles can no longer spawn below sea level. Fixed a bug keeping characters from getting the Inventory Delay. The game's working directory can now be set using the command line. i.e. "Incoming.exe game1". This allows for future games to be created using the engine. I may add a tutorial game using this or in the event the game is a hit a sequel could be made or if anyone else wants to try messing with the engine they can. If this option is not used the engine defaults to the normal game. Info for the World Map is now loaded from "worldmapscale.dat". This let's the game know the size of the map in relation to the world so that things line up correctly. When the Message appears saying someone has gained a level. Those characters will also gain a small amount of LifeForce and MindForce (Max HP & MP), and if their HP is lower then half it will be raised up to half. Note: This will not happen untill the Party is in a relaxed state. Added Mouse support to the Title Menu. Cleaned up some minor issues and improved the Title Menu, Create Party Screen and SaveGame Panel. Create Party Screen now runs many times faster. Fixed a problem when creating the Windows window which was causing an access violation. This may or may not have effected all systems or Windows versions. Fixed some problems with character init when starting a new game. Fixed the problem with characters standing on water for a moment after a map load. The Framerate Regulation setting in Prefs now overrides that of a SaveGame. i.e. If you save a game while Frame Skipping is On then exit and set Regulation Off in the Prefs. When you load that game Skipping will be turned Off. Framerate Regulation no longer is thrown off by interfaces that stop gameplay. i.e. The Menu System, Magic UI, Vendors etc.. Resurrected characters now remain the type of characters they were before death. i.e. Guards return as guards. Player controlled character's return as such.. A check is also done to make sure multiple characters are not controlled by the same player when resurrected. This also fixed the bug causing characters to attack themselves after resurrecting. Framerate Regulation code now gets the game up to speed faster on slow systems. I've also fine tuned the existing code. The Auto FrameSkip option works a bit better now. Fixed a few bugs with Blasts. Blasts no longer effect the character that created it if that character is casting magic. i.e. A character casting Bombic won't be harmed by it (friends still will however). Blasts now create rings in water. Fixed some bugs when Targeting the Ground. A few Targeting bugs have been fixed. The cursor used while Targeting now using world cords instead of screen cords. This just makes for easier programming. Camera movement while Targeting is better. Light and Medium weapons now knock hit characters back a bit more. Exiting the game now returns you to the Main Menu instead of shutting down the whole game. All Particle related functions have been optimized. There's been a noticable speed increase thanks to this. Fixed a bug causing water particles to stain on elevated terrain when they shouldn't have. Weapons can now be damaged. I've added this to promote the idea of using multiple weapons throughout the game (as oppose to running around with your favorite sword from begining to end). The following actions have a chance of damaging the item. When the item is damaged it's Jab or Slash Level is decreased by 1. Item is used in a Jab or Slash attack and hits... Impassible (Walls, Doors etc.) 15% Frozen Character 10% Tough Character (Max HP > 100) 10% Character and All damage was Defended 15% Character and Attacker has Fatigue 10% Item is thrown and hits... Impassible (Walls, Doors etc.) Jab damage only- 35% Item is hit by a Blast... There is a chance of both Jab and Slash damage. How much depends on the force and distance of the blast Note: Multiple things on this list can happen at once. i.e. If a Frozen, "Tough" character is attacked while fatigued, up to 3 points of damage could be taken to the item. *These numbers could change slightly in the future. Particles now move twice as smooth. The number particles showing hit damage now scale a little depending on the damage. i.e. When a 1 falls next to a 47 you'll know it's not 147 because the 47 will be larger. When picking up items, the closest item that can be picked up is now picked up. No more reaching for a sword and getting an apple! :) "Fast Pickup", (holding Run while pressing Use to pick up an item from the ground and instantly place it in inventory) is now an optional feature. This is a separate option for each player, set in the controller config panel. I personally found Fast Pickup to be more of a pain in the ass since you can't pickup something while running. I figure some people may like it though so instead of ripping out the code it's now an option. Default is Disabled. The distance from an item a character has to be to pick it up has been increased. Fixed a nasty bug causing a character's fatigue to hit 75% when they attack and miss. This may have been why AI Party Members have been dying off quick lately. Did a minor optimization in the Melee Attack code which should give a small boost. Many new Sound Effects have been added. Fixed a minor clipping bug with large items at the screen's top edge. Fixed some problems with hitmap save/load. Critters can now be killed with Jab attacks. Particles that are considered to have mass (blood, rocks etc.) now drop down when they hit a wall instead of deleting. Added Bird Particles and made some additions to Particle Spawns to support them. This allows me to make a bush or some grasses or whatever which, as a player walks bye, a set number of birds fly out. Added Rain particles. Item's within Impassible Terrain (i.e. the new Rocks, Doors etc.) can't be picked up. Added Doors. These use Item Objects but otherwise are nothing like items. Pressing Manip while facing one up close will open/close it. Doors can be borken down as well as blown up. Their Value stat is used as HP. If a Door's Value is 500 or more, it can not be broken down. Added Key Items that unlock Doors. There are only three types because I do not intend to allow any part of the game to become a find the key in the maze type of puzzle. Most Doors will be breakable. The few that arn't won't keep the play from progressing through the game. Pressing Use while a Key is In-Hand will unlock or lock the Door the character is facing. Note: Pressing Manip while holdign the right Key will also unlock a Door. Most potions now cost more. Fixed the cursor glitch in the options panel. Fixed a collision bug with item's hitting walls/terrain. They were "hitting" the stuff before they should have. Added Impassible Rocks. There are two kinds. One is just a larg rock that characters and items can not pass through. They can be moved but are very heavy. The other kind is Cracked. This one's just like the other but can be blown up with any strong blast. Both of these will be used in various ways. Such has blocking hidden areas, preventing low level character from entering areas etc. Fixed a bug causing a lot of processing on character objects that were not even active. This was a horrible waste of resources. I'm not sure how long this bug has been around, but I'm sure this fix has improved performance. Frozen Characters hit with non-Freezing items will now warm up with each hit. i.e. A character will stay frozen longer if left alone. Fixed graphical problems with Build Mode Object Renaming. Fixed a bug with particles not staining and making sounds when they hit the ground. Fixed a bug with character vs terrain collision which screwed up the movement on slopes again. This happened as a result of fixing a problem with characters warping on top of ledges. I've worked a solution that fixes both problems. Build Mode now uses the new arrow cursor except while in the HitMap Editing Sub-Mode. Fixed Cursor problems at the screen edges. Fire deals less damage then before. Secondary items are no longer displayed while attacking in water. Items with Fire deal slightly less Fire damage. Jab attacks no longer do enough to set someone on fire with one hit. Water puts out Fire faster. The Sound Channels option in the Prefs editor has been removed alltogether. Default is Stereo. I doubt anyone would want Mono. It can still be changed by editing the cfg file. The Sound quality option in Prefs is now a drop down box with Low, Medium, and High settings (11, 22, 44khz). Before the options were 22 and 44khz. Fixed misspelling of "stat summary". AI Party Members now attack boss characters even when another member has them targeted. The ManaLeech Flamberge now steals less MP. -Documented by Kevin Reems