mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5195
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

A Windows build of DROD RPG v1.3 is available to registered users for early access.

1.3 contains new game features and improvements (see below). A big thanks to hyperme and kieranmillar for many of the improvements featured in this release!

How to install

If you have DROD RPG registered to your user account, you may go to the Downloads page (link at the top of the forum) to download the full version installer.

Early access caveats -- read this first!

Version 1.3 is a major version upgrade. 1.3 is backwards compatible with previous game versions, but you can't take a .player or .hold file (etc) exported from 1.3 and import it into version 1.2 or earlier.

As an early access build, the "1.3 alpha" installer will create a distinct installation from any pre-existing installs of DROD RPG on your system so you can run 1.3 alongside an earlier version install (e.g., 1.2.7).

By default, the game will continue to utilize your pre-1.3 player data directory. Naturally, if you import or build holds with 1.3 features, these won't work when using the holds in 1.2 or earlier. If you want to maintain a distinct location for 1.3 player data files to avoid hold compatibility issues, you must create a DataPath.txt file in the game's install folder alongside the drod.exe file. Place a line in this file that lists the path to your intended distinct data directory, twice, like this:

<directory path>;<directory path>;

This informs the game on startup where to maintain your player data. For instance, providing

.\Data;.\Data;

will maintain a player data directory directly inside the app installation folder. If you go with this option to create player data within the installation location, you will typically need to Run as Administrator when playing the game to allow Windows to write to these player data files.

As an early access development build, there are likely stability and functional issues in the current version.

Please report any new bugs observed in 1.3 by creating new topics on this Bugs board.

For developers, please feel free to contribute change requests and track our progress on GitHub.

Thanks for trying out this early access build of 1.3!

---------------------------------------------------------

Current 1.3 Change Log

What's new in 1.3?

v1.3 includes the changes made in 1.2.8, plus the below improvements and additions.

Keep watching this space for further changes as development continues.

Legend:
+ Addition
* Bug fix
! Change in behavior

Game logic
! Cap values going into checkpoint score to 100M. PR
* Fix: account for Removes Sword behavior in quick travel. Topic PR

Graphics
+ Added Beach, Forest and Swamp styles from GatEB, with relevant music tracks (thanks, kieranmillar!).
+ Add Rain weather effect. PR
! Upscaled room style textures to look much better (thanks, kieranmillar!). Topic
! Included the newer 5.x token sprites (thanks, kieranmillar!).

Scripting
! Scripting command line dialog box enlarged (PR) and improved (PR).
! All custom equipment types now trigger on each attack/defend. Topic PR

+ Port additional DROD comparison operators for scripting. Topic1 Topic2 PR
+ Local version of stat modifier vars for NPCs. PR
+ ElseIf, Gosub, Return and Goto smart labels. PR
+ Each Victory script command. Topic PR
+ New global script variables to modify what entity type is spawned from tar, mud, gel, and roach queens. Topic PR
+ Customizable NPC egg spawn behavior and _MySpawn variable. Topic PR
+ New script command Set Monster Var. PR
+ Add many function primitives to make scripted calculations easier. Expose enemy stats via _EnemyStat(x,y,stat). PR
+ Port script commands "Room Location Text" and "Flashing text" from 5.x. PR
+ Add _MyName NPC customizable script variable. Topic PR
+ _MyMonsterStatMult script variables (provide a simple way to create brain-like enemies and equipment). Topic PR
+ Set Movement Type script command. Topic PR
+ Script support for building/removing briar and tarstuff. Add live briar to room editor menu. Topic1 Topic2 PR
+ Migrate improved face widget display logic from 5.1.1. Add support for custom face image moods. Topic PR
+ Replace Default Script and Set Var At (x,y) commands. Topic PR
+ Add Wait For Expression and complex conditional script commands PR
+ Script var: _MyWeakness Topic PR
+ New pre-defined script vars: _RoomX, _RoomY, _LevelMultiplier, _MyDescription (Topic); New script behavior: Removes Sword (Topic); Custom Processing Sequence support. PR
+ Tarstuff switcher now supports custom tar/mud/gel spawn types. Topic PR
+ Port improved media management options from TSS 5.2. PR PR
+ NPC Imperative: Invisible inspectable PR
+ NPC custom text box RGB coloring Topic PR
+ Scripting: Add predefined var to control beam damage Topic PR

* Fixed NPC copying cross-hold not working correctly. Topic PR
*/! Beam Blocker equipment attribute Topic1 Topic2 PR
* Copying Var Set At commands cross-hold fix PR
* Script vars to customize scoring Topic PR
* Fix custom scripted character avatar display Topic PR

Game elements
+ Add pushable crate. Allows scaling closed doors. PR
+ Add detailed map. Topic PR
+ Add huge health potion (+1000). PR
+ Add medium/large ATK/DEF gems (+3, +10). PR
+ Add broken/cracked orbs and one-use pressure plates. PR
+ Add sfx for ATK/DEF/HP pickups. Add event for these pickups that can be checked in a script. Expose event for consuming a haste/invisibility potion. Topic PR1 PR2
* Teleport/accessory slot issues Topic PR

Cosmetic
! Wall movement enemies are now not displayed raised on walls. Topic PR
+ Room Editor menu: Display power-up value on item label. PR
+ Map: now show a faint grid behind the area spanned by rooms on the mini-map. Topic PR
* Remove orthosquare highlights Topic PR
* Battle results pop-up info was displayed incorrectly. Topic PR

Restore Screen
+ Add button to Rename saved games. Can sort games by name instead of timestamp. Topic PR
+ Add Scorepoints button to show which scores have been achieved. Topic PR

UX
+ Player settings display option: persistent combat damage preview for enemies in the room. PR
+ ...and Item bonus preview effect. PR
+ New config setting: Display custom NPCs by default in the level editor. Topic PR
+ NPC config: Now enable _MyColor to be set for custom NPC color display (e.g., in room editor, room preview) PR
+ Add list box filter functionality implemented for 5.2. PR
+ Avoid slowdown in combat damage forecast by approximating damage for combats lasting >1000 turns. Now damage forecast of "Death" now includes number of enemy strikes and damage per hit. PR
+ Item multiplier can now display decimal values. PR
+ Add re-bindable key to show your current score. PR
+ Player setting option to enable/disable new game confirmation. Topic PR
+ Add click highlighting of orb/plate connected to door. PR
+ Improved tile description for custom equipment. Topic PR

* Fix crash in CCharacterDialogWidget::ExtractCommandIndent PR

----------------------------

Future pending changes:

1.2.10+:
* Fix error beep when moving sword outside of room area. Topic PR
! Plain floor text added to room click tooltip. PR
! Update SDL_ttf to version 2.20.1. Update tomnr.ttf file to a newer version without rendering issues. PR

1.3:
+ Make shields provide doubled DEF against weak monsters. Topic PR
+ Image Overlay: Add commands to cap time/turn duration. PR
! Minor changes to room editor functionality. Topic PR
* Fix regression: default aumtlich beam rounding up damage instead of down. Topic PR
* Improve battle dialog uniqueness checks Topic PR

____________________________
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 03-03-2024 11:51 PM]

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5195
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

File: drod.1_3_0_370.zip (1.3 MB)
Downloaded 72 times.
License: Public Domain

Here's a new drod.exe binary (PR 370) you may copy into your full RPG 1.3 install to get a few bug fixes (as reported on forum threads).

PR

PR2

____________________________
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 12-07-2020 11:14 PM]

JamesBond007
Level: Delver

Rank Points: 43
Registered: 07-26-2014
IP: Logged

I just downloaded the new version and it has black bars on both sides of the screen. Is there a way to change that? I prefer the old look, even if it a little bit stretched.

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5195
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

JamesBond007 wrote:
I just downloaded the new version and it has black bars on both sides of the screen. Is there a way to change that? I prefer the old look, even if it a little bit stretched.

This change is likely due to upgrading the SDL2 graphic engine.

Check out this topic for options:
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=44965

____________________________
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
Rank Points: 3143
Registered: 07-11-2014
IP: Logged

Could you provide a more up-to-date alpha exe with all the latest changes? I would like to test things like the custom Roach Queen spawning which isn't in 1.3.370.

hyperme
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1258
Registered: 06-23-2006
IP: Logged

File: drod.1_3_0_400_no_cnet.zip (1.3 MB)
Downloaded 64 times.
License: Public Domain

Here's a quick "bootleg" alpha build that has changes up to PR#400. Since it was built by me, it doesn't have CaravelNet functionality, but is otherwise a normal build.

____________________________
[Insert witty comment here]
Qzvlkx?

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5195
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

File: drod.1_3_0_403.zip (1.3 MB)
Downloaded 68 times.
License: Public Domain

Thank you! My apologies for the delay. Feel free to post builds any time!

Here's build 403 with CaravelNet included. It fixes the assertion beep on the Restore Screen and the missing roach egg growth by-turn animation. (Thanks, hyperme!)


____________________________
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.

Meta
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 106
Registered: 12-06-2016
IP: Logged

I have tested Grappling Hook behavior in 403.

Possible in 403:
* Crate on Door -> Door
* Crate on Door -> Ground
* Door -> Door
* Crate -> Ground
* Door -> Ground
* Ground -> Ground

Impossible in 403:
* Crate on Door -> Crate on Door
* Crate on Door -> Crate
* Door -> Crate
* Crate -> Crate

Since a door is higher than a crate, it does not quire make sense if we can jump to a door but not jump to a crate.

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5195
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

File: drod.1_3_0_412.zip (1.3 MB)
Downloaded 59 times.
License: Public Domain

Meta wrote:
Since a door is higher than a crate, it does not quire make sense if we can jump to a door but not jump to a crate.

Thank you for testing. Agreed. Fixed this in PR 412. Also made the change: cannot push a crate from atop another crate.

Here's a new executable with 1.3 fixes up to this point.

I'll work on adding the optional persistent damage display next.

____________________________
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.

Meta
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 106
Registered: 12-06-2016
IP: Logged

mrimer wrote:
Thank you for testing. Agreed. Fixed this in PR 412.

In 412, it is possible to jump from Ground to Crate and from Door to Crate on Door, but not from Crate to Door.

This does not look consistent enough. I think we should either allow all of the 3 jumps, or forbid all of the 3 jumps. My personal preference is to forbid them.

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5195
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

File: drod.1_3_0_413.zip (1.3 MB)
Downloaded 55 times.
License: Public Domain

New 1.3 alpha build 413 with new player settings option to display a persistent combat damage preview for all enemies in the room.
I love it, and I think you will too!

PR

Meta wrote:
In 412, it is possible to jump from Ground to Crate and from Door to Crate on Door, but not from Crate to Door.

This does not look consistent enough. I think we should either allow all of the 3 jumps, or forbid all of the 3 jumps. My personal preference is to forbid them.

Thank you for remarking on this inconsistency. Hmm, yes, I can see your point. I consider the grappling hook as basically allowing a player to step over one space of pit/water tile. I like the capability of the grappling hook latching onto crates on the player's level of elevation, because the player can already do this with a normal step. I think it also makes sense to be able to jump up from a crate to a door with a grappling hook, since this also matches what a player can do with a normal step. I'll make a change to allow this presently.

____________________________
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 09-07-2021 09:42 PM]

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5195
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

File: drod.1_3_0_414.zip (1.3 MB)
Downloaded 57 times.
License: Public Domain

PR 414

Now can grapple jump from a crate to a closed door.

____________________________
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: 5195
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

File: drod.1_3_0_415.zip (1.3 MB)
Downloaded 64 times.
License: Public Domain

PR 415

Fixed damage preview effects not displaying on map room display.

(I can't get over how nice this feature is. In hindsight, would have been nice to have thought of it, like, ten years ago.)

____________________________
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.

Meta
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 106
Registered: 12-06-2016
IP: Logged

I found that the accessories Wall Walking and Warp Token have similar issue. In 415, they cannot be used when the target tile has a crate. We also need to decide whether it is allowed to use them to make 3 kinds of teleports Ground -> Crate, Crate -> Door, and Door -> Crate on Door.

Doom
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3335
Registered: 07-05-2004
IP: Logged

mrimer wrote:
New 1.3 alpha build 413 with new player settings option to display a persistent combat damage preview for all enemies in the room.

Cool! I played around with this and found that it makes the game laggy in edge cases like moving around in a room full of brains.

Another mildly interesting corner case: An enemy that takes a very long time to fight (say, 10M rounds) calculates combat math within a second on 1.2.8.398 but for some reason takes ten times as long on build 415 even if combat preview is disabled. Enabling combat preview in this scenario makes the game unresponsive.

Well, odds are you won't run into any issues in a proper not-trying-to-break-the-game hold. The feature worked smoothly in all the ones that I tried, at least.

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5195
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

Thank you for the testing!

Seems like there is some sleuthing to do to understand what is causing the new combat slowdown. I'm unaware of any changes made to combat resolution logic.

Also, how to make combat preview faster. Maybe something similar to the Tactical Nexus preview (though I'm hoping to show numbers a bit closer to the final result for >1000 rounds of combat).

Meta wrote:
I found that the accessories Wall Walking and Warp Token have similar issue. In 415, they cannot be used when the target tile has a crate. We also need to decide whether it is allowed to use them to make 3 kinds of teleports Ground -> Crate, Crate -> Door, and Door -> Crate on Door.

Thank you! I hadn't thought about these cases. I agree they need to be addressed. Any strong objections from anyone to allowing these three possibilities?

____________________________
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 09-10-2021 03:30 AM]

mauvebutterfly
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 776
Registered: 05-03-2015
IP: Logged

Makes sense to me that teleporting would let you move anywhere where you'd normally be able to move. Any restrictions would feel incredibly arbitrary.

____________________________
106th Skywatcher

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5195
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

File: drod.1_3_0_418.zip (1.3 MB)
Downloaded 63 times.
License: Public Domain

PR 418

Fixed the above issues and added some additional niceties:

* Wall Walking and Warp tokens now allow the usual crate-climbing movements.
* Fixed combat calculation slowdown introduced after 1.2.8.
* Optimized performance of combat damage forecasting by limiting combat simulation to 1000 turns. Total damage is extrapolated from the percentage of damage inflicted on the enemy by that point. An extrapolated damage value is preceded by a tilde (~).
+ In the battle dialog, combat forecasting with damage listed as "Death" now displays the expected number of enemy hits and damage per hit.

____________________________
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 10-17-2021 04:49 AM]

Doom
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3335
Registered: 07-05-2004
IP: Logged

mrimer wrote:
* Wall Walking and Warp tokens now allow the usual crate-climbing movements.

Confirmed that Ground -> Crate, Crate -> Door and Door -> Crate on Door works with Grapple, Wall Walking and Warp Token. Conversely Ground -> Door, Ground -> Crate on Door and Crate -> Crate on Door still fail as they should.

* Fixed combat calculation slowdown introduced after 1.2.8.
* Optimized performance of combat damage forecasting by limiting combat simulation to 1000 turns. Total damage is extrapolated from the percentage of damage inflicted on the enemy by that point. An extrapolated damage value is preceded by a tilde (~).

Earlier I said this:

An enemy that takes a very long time to fight (say, 10M rounds) calculates combat math within a second on 1.2.8.398

Since then I've built a new PC and can no longer reproduce this result. 1.2.8 takes just as long on my current setup as other builds.

Regardless, there is a clear improvement on build 418 and very long combat is now calculated instantly.

Test data

kieranmillar
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 3143
Registered: 07-11-2014
IP: Logged

Given the incredible features lined up for 1.3, it would be nice to see if it's possible to move towards a full release.

greenscience
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 164
Registered: 02-27-2015
IP: Logged

https://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=44917&page=0#441051 still affects the latest build, easiest to see in Accessory Training Facility. Don't know whether this breaks any holds though.

hyperme
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1258
Registered: 06-23-2006
IP: Logged

File: drod.1_3_0_446x.zip (1.3 MB)
Downloaded 62 times.
License: Public Domain

While I cannot provide a timeline for 1.3's release, I can provide a new no CNet build. It has some fixes and feature.

Fixed an issue with movement accessories
Fixed a problem with style transparency
Adds new script command "Wait until expression", for comparing expressions using hold variables to a constant value.

It would be nice if the bug fixes are checked, since those are big deals.

____________________________
[Insert witty comment here]
Qzvlkx?

greenscience
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 164
Registered: 02-27-2015
IP: Logged

Tested the fix for accessories, looks like Wall Walking is working better now but not Warp Token. Looking at the PR it looks like the logic for Warp Token did not use new parameter in TeleportPlayer?

hyperme
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1258
Registered: 06-23-2006
IP: Logged

Thanks for catching! I've updated the PR to be correct.

____________________________
[Insert witty comment here]
Qzvlkx?

hyperme
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1258
Registered: 06-23-2006
IP: Logged

File: drod.1_3_0_467x.zip (1.2 MB)
Downloaded 62 times.
License: Public Domain

A new batch of fixes and features means a new x-build.

Fixes an issue with movement accessories, but properly this time
Fixes the battle preview dialog getting Too Big
Fixes a problem with custom character player avatars

Removes orthosquare highlighting

Adds kieranmillar's custom scoring vars
Adds _MyWeakness var

Lots of good features onboard now!

____________________________
[Insert witty comment here]
Qzvlkx?

---

[Last edited by hyperme at 12-17-2022 02:31 PM]

hyperme
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1258
Registered: 06-23-2006
IP: Logged

File: drod.1_3_0_495x.zip (1.3 MB)
Downloaded 40 times.
License: Public Domain

It's an x-cellent time for a new x-build. It's also something of a "plus" build because it's slightly ahead of what's been merged.

What's Fixed:

A problem that broke scoring in older saves
Caps score for each resource at ±100 million points to prevent overflows.

What's Added:

A control to bring up the score dialog at any time to see how your score is calculated. (minus key by default)
New read-only vars to get the current room's X and Y position in the level, and to get the current level's multiplier.
Character behaviour to take away the player's sword
Support for custom character descriptors
Tarstuff spawn vars will now also affect how tarstuff switchers work

Editable processing sequence for NPCs.

A confirmation dialog when starting a new game if a game is in progress
Improved media management dialog (port 5.2 of work originally done by skell)

Edit: A new version has been uploaded to fix some script variable issues.

____________________________
[Insert witty comment here]
Qzvlkx?

---

[Last edited by hyperme at 05-28-2023 01:00 PM]

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5195
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

File: drod.1_3_0_499.zip (1.3 MB)
Downloaded 51 times.
License: Public Domain

A new dev build (1.3.0.499) that should have all pending changes merged.

Plus:
* A new display feature, showing pending bonuses for basic room items (health potions, attack gems, and defense gems).


____________________________
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
Rank Points: 3143
Registered: 07-11-2014
IP: Logged

Thanks for the new build, and the display on the health and gem pickups is really nice feature too. I notice the setting in the menus is still called Combat damage preview which I guess is technically inaccurate now.