mrimer
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Hello!

I'm compiling a list of pending changes here that will be included in an upcoming 1.2.8 patch. (See below for a dev RC build you can test drive.)

A big thank-you up front to hyperme for developing many of these fixes and additions!

I'll be adding to this list as more changes are locked in and posting beta patches for test validation as they are produced.

Legend:
+ Addition
* Bug fix
! Change in behavior

Editor:
+ Expose multi-use pressure plates in editor menu (rotate to select). PR
+ Expose Hard Wall as a script command Build/Wait for item option. Topic PR
+ Expose NPC defeated as a script event check. PR
+ Playtesting: Support modifying custom variables in F4 dialog. Topic PR
* Room editor: Cut-and-pasting armed entities doesn't track sword positions correctly. Topic PR
* Update editor placement restrictions PR

Scripting:
! Imperative Die now processes immediately following a Wait For Defeat script command triggering. Topic PR
! Wait For Defeat is now satisfied when an NPC on tarstuff is defeated. Topic PR
! Apply Goblin and Wyrm weakness for Accessories Topic PR
+ Add command coloring, alphabetized ordering, and hotkeys to scripting. PR
* Script var changes to player position now work. Topic PR
* _ItemHPMult (etc) could have floating point imprecision when applied, potentially resulting in values one less than intended. Topic PR
* Fixed scripts becoming global (a) not being migrated to global list immediately on room entrance, and (b) running twice at once when converted on a later turn. Topic PR
* Make predefined vars _X, _Y, and _O accessible outside of an NPC script. PR

Game play:
! Fix any monster on tarstuff will now maintain a tarstuff tile underneath it while alive, and the tarstuff is removed when it is killed, just like how a tarstuff mother operates. Topic PR
* Fix monster stats resetting on room re-entry after loading game Topic PR
* Fix monster HP might not be set properly when exploring a room that was being previewed on the minimap. Topic PR
* Fix previewed rooms disappearing from the minimap in multiple cases (e.g., after picking up a map item, then undoing/restoring game). Topic PR1 PR2
* Prevent script setting player HP to 0 on room entry Topic1 Topic2 PR
* Prevent scripted explosion on turn 0. Topic PR
* Scripted token activation, questions, and event checks not occurring on turn 0 when (re)initializing the room. Topic PR
* Minimap room preview should use player's current stats for combat resolution. Topic1 Topic2 PR
* Fix player tweening effect when restarting room after entering with Player Role None. Topic PR

UX changes:
+ Add mirror movement animation. PR
+ Add new INI options for alternative full screen app management under SDL2. PR
+ Level editor screen: Now F3/F4 summary stats display shows red and black gate counts, as well as tallies for open doors. Topic PR
* Fixed light rendering glitches and artifacts.
* Multiple weapons on same tile had fluctuating display. Topic PR
* Fix armed monster flickering with weather effects. PR
* Fix some minor light rendering glitches and subtly changed certain properties of how the light and shadow rendering are animated. PR
* Falling entity's weapon now displayed. Topic PR
* Fix assertion when player falls to his death with sword pointing out of the room. Topic PR
* CaravelNet: Fix potential hangs and missed updates when uploading demo scores and server is not responding properly. Topic PR
* Bump effect fixes. Topic1 Topic2 Topic3 PR
* Play Video display glitch following video playback. Topic PR
! Vision token tarstuff opacity decreased from 80% to 65%. Topic PR
! Now stagger when vermin disappear. Topic PR
! Anti-alias the white font on the game and room editor screens. PR
! Orb activation flash now fades out smoothly. PR
! Restore Screen focus now begins on save game list box. Topic PR

Third-party libraries
* Now using SDL2 instead of SDL for the GUI.


____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 12-03-2020 06:04 PM]

mrimer
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To begin validating changes, I'm attaching a Windows dev build here that you can try out.

---

Please note I now have a novel Windows development setup in place, using VS2019 with all-new project files, on a fresh PC. I expect there will be some trial-and-error to determine exactly what needs to be done on my end to get builds working for all players.

I'll start with a baseline build so you can try it out* and provide feedback that lets me know where I need to make changes to get things working for you.

Attached is a zipped folder of an alpha .exe and accompanying required DLLs, which I think you can place in the DROD RPG install folder and run from inside the sub-directory contained in the .zip file.

What I'd like to request from you:

I need help to validate fixing of the issues enumerated above in first post, and for general testing of the program, to ensure everything still works as before with nothing new broken.

If you can verify a bug has been fixed, please post mention of it in the linked forum topic (if not verified already) so we can check it off our list of things to test in the wild.

If the issue isn't completely fixed, please make mention of the build number listed in the corner of the game's title screen and what issue you're experiencing.

If you spot a new issue that hasn't already been reported, please start a new bug topic with steps to reproduce the bug so we can give it some TLC as well.

Thank you in advance for trying out dev builds for 1.2.8!

------

* Disclaimer: as an alpha build, there may be bugs, potentially including critical issues like something that could wreck your game's data files. While we don't anticipate causing any harm with these builds, it's generally a wise idea to back up your installation and data files prior to running any development builds, just in case.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 09-23-2020 10:48 PM]

mrimer
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New patch: fixed regression -- bad saved game loading of NPCs in room.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 4787
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Fix for the room editor menu tab crash.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

kieranmillar
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Because they don't have their own dedicated threads in the RPG section:

* Can confirm that the editor crash no longer happens, I clicked on every single placeable object in every tab.

* The PR for updating object placement in RPG all works. Can place bombs on doors and vice versa, can place tokens on walls and pits and vice versa, cannot place stairs on level entrances and vice versa.

mrimer
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Thanks for validating!

Here's a new build with some more fixes to validate.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 4787
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

New dev build with more fixes.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 4787
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Updated dev executable (up to PR 194).

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 4787
Registered: 02-04-2003
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Updated dev executable (to PR 252).

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 4787
Registered: 02-04-2003
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File: drodrpg.1.2.8.alpha.2020-10-30.zip (2.4 MB)
Downloaded 6 times.
License: Public Domain

Updated dev executable (to PR #260).

This build fixes a serious regression that was in previous 1.2.8 dev builds: NPCs in rooms would lose their configuration parameters and scripts on hold export.

As a tester, please update to this new version immediately.

If you've exported any holds using 1.2.8, please do so again with this fixed build, as any NPC information will be missing from those previous 1.2.8 hold exports.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 10-31-2020 03:20 AM]

kieranmillar
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Please could you provide an alpha of the latest changes? I would like to check some things before continuing a discussion in Feature Requests.

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[Last edited by kieranmillar at 11-10-2020 10:12 AM]

mrimer
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Sure thing! Thank you.

I think this executable can be considered a release candidate (RC) . If any issues are found in the near future with this version, we'll fix them. Otherwise, this version may be the one that gets released as 1.2.8. (I'll provide an official patch installer with this binary to try out soon.)

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 11-11-2020 03:54 PM]

mrimer
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File: drodrpg.1.2.8.alpha.2020-11-10a.zip (2.4 MB)
Downloaded 4 times.
License: Public Domain

I migrated a bunch of fixes I'd missed from 5.1.1 to RPG, plus made a couple more fixes. I think that's everything, so no time like the present to provide a new build.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 11-11-2020 04:00 PM]

mrimer
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RC build with map room preview fixes.

Also the editor snake placement display fix, and fix for fighting NPCs acting in the role of tarstuff mothers.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 4787
Registered: 02-04-2003
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Here's an "official" RC candidate Windows patch installer for you to try out.

This version is backwards compatible with previous versions. Holds exported from this version are compatible with earlier 1.2.x versions, but naturally the user will need to use this version to get all the bug fixes and functionality included in this patch.

Please see first post for notable changes that are going into this version.

As with other previous patch installers, it will overwrite the game's drod.exe file and accompanying .dlls. As there may be bugs we're unaware of, please back up your current install directory before running the installer, just in case.

The patch installer will also overwrite some of the help files and dump some sound files in the Data/Sounds subdirectory to provide newer versions or files that were missing. (Nearly all of these were already in the previous patch, but they're all still there to allow upgrading from earlier versions of 1.2.)

As a play tester, when you're ready to make the leap from 1.2.7 to 1.2.8, which I'd recommend, testing out this installer before we release it into the wild would be helpful and appreciated.

Please post any issues you experience with the patch installer into a separate thread so we can track a fix there.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 11-11-2020 08:24 PM]

kieranmillar
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I downloaded the official patch installer. On the main menu screen the exe says that its 1.2.8.alpha.2020-11-11. I'm sure it's the correct exe despite this.

mrimer
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kieranmillar wrote:
I downloaded the official patch installer. On the main menu screen the exe says that its 1.2.8.alpha.2020-11-11. I'm sure it's the correct exe despite this.

Ah, sorry for the confusion. Yes, that is the correct .exe, but I inadvertently still included the "alpha" in the version text. I'll correct this for the next installer.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 4787
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

File: DRODRPGPatch1_2_8_build325.exe (3.4 MB)
Downloaded 7 times.
License: Public Domain

New RC build:
* Remove Neather sfx from patch. Now use Halph sfx.
* Fix serpent placement issues.
* Fix enemies on tarstuff issues.
* Fix title screen label.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

kieranmillar
Level: Smitemaster
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IP: Logged

As far as I am concerned, from a testing standpoint, all is good to go for 1.2.8.

I don't know if there are any plans for another round of demo verification, if any hold needs updating in response to these changes I still have the tools available to do it. Reminder that Growing needs updating, as per this thread: https://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=44769

---

[Last edited by kieranmillar at 11-12-2020 07:58 PM]

mrimer
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Excellent!

Agree this would be a good time to run another round of demo verification. Matt, would you please run that at your convenience?

I just observed a rendering issue that I posted a bug topic on.
I'll put up a new version when this issue and the serpent visual glitch you spotted are fixed. These aren't game logic-related, so they don't need to hold up validation.

I'll let this build "bake" for a few days, and if nothing else comes up in addition to the above minor visual issues (which we'll fix first), I'll put up the next version as an official patch.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 11-13-2020 05:45 AM]

slimm tom
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It might be a week or two but I can assist in providing a new OS X bundle for RPG. I see there's also one other issue assigned to me which I might be able to tackle then. Will let you know!

mrimer
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File: DRODRPGPatch1_2_8_build339.exe (3.4 MB)
Downloaded 157 times.
License: Public Domain

With all known issues in 1.2.8 addressed, here's a new beta patch installer.

A bunch of UX issues addressed, including fixing of multiple light rendering glitches and artifacts.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 11-18-2020 12:02 AM]

mrimer
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File: DRODRPGPatch1_2_8_build345.exe (3.4 MB)
Downloaded 155 times.
License: Public Domain

I've migrated the full screen window management fixes and support for additional full screen INI settings from 5.1.1, since this seems an potentially crucial part of the experience under SDL2.

PR

Here's an updated RC patch installer.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 11-21-2020 03:45 PM]

mrimer
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File: DRODRPGPatch1_2_8_build365.exe (3.4 MB)
Downloaded 13 times.
License: Public Domain

Fixed the visual regressions noted in the last patch.

Edit: plus the F3/F4 level editor improvement.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 12-01-2020 11:42 PM]

kieranmillar
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mrimer wrote:
Agree this would be a good time to run another round of demo verification. Matt, would you please run that at your convenience?

Did this ever happen?

As you may be able to tell from the occasional bug report over the last few weeks I've been playing and editing in RPG a bunch with these beta patches, so I feel like with the latest round of minor regression fixes we are in a good place for 1.2.8 as I've been able to put it through a fair amount of use.

---

[Last edited by kieranmillar at 12-02-2020 06:00 PM]

kieranmillar
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kieranmillar wrote:

mrimer wrote:
Agree this would be a good time to run another round of demo verification. Matt, would you please run that at your convenience?

Did this ever happen?

Bump.

We are really close to getting this patch over the line. Let's not stall out now!

Schik
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Hey, missed this. I've updated the spider and started a recheck of all demos.

____________________________
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.
--Mahatma Gandhi

kieranmillar
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The demos have finished verifying. Looking at my demo failures at https://forum.caravelgames.com/deletedrpgscores.php , all seems fine and I believe I can account for all of them. However I wasnt actually expecting everything to be fine, I was expecting the latest version of the spider to blow up most of the scores for Growing because of a change to prevent scripts running twice on one turn.

Was the version of Growing the spider is verifying against already updated to the bug fix I posted here: http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=44769&page=0#437121 ? If not, then I suspect that the bug fix is not a part of what the spider just verified.

kieranmillar
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It's been a month. I think we should go ahead with releasing 1.2.8.

mrimer
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kieranmillar wrote:
It's been a month. I think we should go ahead with releasing 1.2.8.

Okay!

I'll plan on beginning the process that rolls out a new version everywhere for 1.2.8. I'll post when I have it all done.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.