FAangband 1.2

[Nick]

However, after fiddling around a bit on wizard mode, I realised that the 'ultimate' spellbooks for the mage classes (e.g. Necronomicon, Book of Runes, Powers of Aman) are unusable. I get the message "You cannot browse that" even at CL 50.

Confirmed - that's a bug.

Wilderness is harsh; I haven't gotten very far out of wizard mode (though it can also be attributed to my lack of skill). Spellcasters are nastier in the open.

Yes it is - if it's any comfort, it used to be worse Advanced races (especially High-Elf, Adan, Druadan and Grey-Elf) are hard to start, but strong later.

Lastly, some general comments. Why are the Nazgul still in-game? They didn't arise until the SA, although I suppose that they're there more for gameplay purposes than for flavour; there aren't any 'groups' of powerful evil characters that are like the Nazgul, so they are really hard to replace. I'd also like to see more unique Balrogs!

You'll notice that there are seven unique wraiths, but they are not formally identified as Nazgul - the two that Tolkien named as Nazgul (the Witch-King and Khamul) have been removed. I really should rework them to make it clearer. As for Balrogs, Gothmog is really the only one named, but it might be nice to identify a couple of others (particularly the one that fought Glorfindel).

Anyway, thanks again for the great variant, and I hope I didn't just repeat stuff that you already knew.

Thanks for your feedback - very helpful.

[guanlongwucaii]

Thanks for the update! It is working very well on OSX, no more crashing unlike the previous versions. However, after fiddling around a bit on wizard mode, I realised that the 'ultimate' spellbooks for the mage classes (e.g. Necronomicon, Book of Runes, Powers of Aman) are unusable. I get the message "You cannot browse that" even at CL 50.

Wilderness is harsh; I haven't gotten very far out of wizard mode (though it can also be attributed to my lack of skill). Spellcasters are nastier in the open. The lack of rings is odd, but the system is an interesting one. The new artifacts (e.g. Dramborleg) are cool too.

Lastly, some general comments. Why are the Nazgul still in-game? They didn't arise until the SA, although I suppose that they're there more for gameplay purposes than for flavour; there aren't any 'groups' of powerful evil characters that are like the Nazgul, so they are really hard to replace. I'd also like to see more unique Balrogs!

Anyway, thanks again for the great variant, and I hope I didn't just repeat stuff that you already knew.

[LostTemplar]

Fix all gameplay bugs

Good plan.

[Nick]

FAangband 1.2.11

Well, that was a long week.

FAangband 1.2.11 is now available for windows, OSX or as source from the download page.

The help crash bug, standard roller bug and lack of shapechange key are fixed; there are also some UI updates.

My current plan is:

1. Fix all gameplay bugs
2. Get the UI in order (proper Shockbolt tile support, good default layout on Windows, Cocoa port properly operational, etc.)
3. Call the resulting thing 1.3

I hope this release substantially achieves step 1, but I believe there are still some sporadic bugs around that are unfixed - in particular, I have not been able to reproduce the weird gold-in-the-inventory bug, so I'd appreciate a savefile if anyone comes across that. In fact, any gameplay bugs are ardently sought.

Thank you all for your attention.

[Whelk]

Sounds good. Thanks for looking into it, Nick.

[Nick]

I just had several crashes while opening the savefile of a recently-deceased character. It would reliably crash every time I tried to open the savefile.

OK, looks like this is because of faulty UTF8 handling on OS X. My plan is to wait until V3.4 is finished, then steal the front end. I think this is fair because I have contributed to the V OS X ports; on the other hand, I did mostly contribute bits that didn't work properly...

[Nick]

I just had several crashes while opening the savefile of a recently-deceased character. It would reliably crash every time I tried to open the savefile.

Could you send me that savefile? Address on the opening screen.

[Whelk]

I just had several crashes while opening the savefile of a recently-deceased character. It would reliably crash every time I tried to open the savefile.

[Nick]

Hi Nick, how stable is 1.2.9, a while back Lost Templar recommended 1.1.6 for stability, was curious if most bugs/issues had been fixed.

The current version is now 1.2.10, and the bugs I know of are all just upthread from here - in fact, I think Atriel has hit just about all of them The real showstoppers are that using in-game help crashes the game, and you can't de-shapechange.

I will aim to get 1.2.11 out this week.

[Malak Darkhunter]

Hi Nick, how stable is 1.2.9, a while back Lost Templar recommended 1.1.6 for stability, was curious if most bugs/issues had been fixed.

[buzzkill]

If you're brand new to rogue-likes and can't access the help in game, you can still read the help text files located in the lib/help directory.

[Nick]

In the Mac download there is no options.txt file, so I cannot access help.

Thanks - I was using the wrong file name ... will be fixed in the next release.

Also, I have been crashing quite occasionally. I know this isn't much information, but I'll post a log when it next happens (is a Mac crash log any help? I am clueless about this).

I am aware of crashes while using the help - are you having any others?

Question: how do I find out what each kind of ego item does? In the (short-lived) High Elven Warrior game I played, I started with a Long Sword of Gondolin but I had no idea of what it does. Is there any way to find out?

Either use 'I' and select the sword (for your particular item), or '~', ego item knowledge and then choose the ego type.

[guanlongwucaii]

Hello, just picked up this variant and it's pretty fun so far Playing as a Maia Warrior. I've noticed several bugs though, but I'm not sure whether these have been reported yet.

• In the Mac download there is no options.txt file, so I cannot access help.
• Also, I have been crashing quite occasionally. I know this isn't much information, but I'll post a log when it next happens (is a Mac crash log any help? I am clueless about this).

If it helps, I am on Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2 (11C74) and using a late 2011 Macbook Pro. Haven't gotten too far in the game yet, so I'll report any bugs if I find them later on. Question: how do I find out what each kind of ego item does? In the (short-lived) High Elven Warrior game I played, I started with a Long Sword of Gondolin but I had no idea of what it does. Is there any way to find out? Anyway, good job on the variant -- I'm enjoying the lack of anachronisms a lot!

[Nick]

The key to de-shapechange is assigned to 'list viewable objects', so I am currently stuck as a Dragon, without amulet.

This is good - you keep reporting bugs I know about, which makes me think there aren't too many others. You're not sounding too demanding, and I will try to rescue you soon...

[Atriel]

Hm. I didn't want to sound like, in a hurry. Lotsa games to play =]