Beta version of PWMAngband 1.1.12 released

[PowerWyrm]

How exactly do you run the game? I fetched Beta version (PWMAngband 1.1.12 beta 8), unzipped it, ran the server (mangband) and then any of the 3 clients but none works.

Yes, normally you connect via a metaserver hosted by mangband.org, but it's currently down, so you need to connect to your server manually:

- REPORT_TO_METASERVER = false in mangband.cfg
- host=localhost in mangclient.ini (just uncomment the line)

If you want to play with turn based mode like Angband instead of real time, set TURN_BASED = true in mangband.cfg.

[PowerWyrm]

New PWMAngband 1.1.12 beta 9 released!

Some game balance following my test run described with details in the AAR section + some changes from V. And as always some bugfixes. List of changes:

- Add option to display effective speed
- Change to main-gcu.c
- Place stairs in safer places, forbid stairs in vaults, starburst rooms and rooms of chambers
- Randomise teleport distances a bit
- Prevent conflict between object flags and curses
- Fix ART_TAG stuff for plurals
- Give a chance to get dracoliches when using Raise Dead on dragon corpses
- Make controlled monsters more likely to react to new orders
- Fix typo in description of potions of life
- Fix description of objects with random effects
- Fix placement of rubble and traps in turn-based mode
- Fix oversized labyrinths generated above or below a static level
- Make Mirrored script "B"s vault centered
- Make ancient wyrms rarer
- Add ABOMINATION flag (currently used for death oozes and chaos masses)
- Add S_ABOMINATION spell (Xakaze)
- Add S_SPIRIT spell (Melkor)
- Don't allow antimagic field from monsters to disrupt other monsters' spells

Files updated: client, server and source code.
Files are available for download at the usual location: http://powerwyrm.monsite-orange.fr

[PowerWyrm]

I've found a fix for the endless wait while querying a non-responding metaserver. Now the code calls SocketReadable() ten times, once per second, and defaults to selecting a server manually if the ten second timeout expires. Tested vs MAngband's metaserver (the timeout triggers) and TomeNET's metaserver (data is properly read from the meta).

[PowerWyrm]

Unless something gamebreaking pops out, the next beta will be the last beta. As usual, a christmas release is likely...

[PowerWyrm]

New PWMAngband 1.1.12 beta 10 released!

Last minute changes:

- Place player more safely
- Make all random breath activations have the same damage
- Allow ESP undead to detect ghost players
- Fix client hanging when the metaserver is reachable but not responding
- Make "rest until morning" properly work
- Reduce stat boosts on the Massive Iron Crown of Morgoth to +50
- Remove ABOMINATION flag from death oozes
- Tweak base depth of some postgame monsters
- Restrict nether vortices and crawling masses of primal chaos to the Nether Realm
- Add new abomination: vlodblad
- Reorder monster.txt for the last three dungeons

Files updated: client, server and source code.
Files are available for download at the usual location: http://powerwyrm.monsite-orange.fr

[PowerWyrm]

I was tired of the MAngband metaserver being down, so I looked at the TomeNET code to see if I could plug connection to the TomeNET metaserver instead. The format is a bit different:
- for MAngband, server info is given as "server name: port Number of players: n Names: player 1 ... player n Version: v"
- for TomeNET, server info is given as "<server url="server" port="port" protocol="2"><game>...</game><version>v</version><player>player 1</player>...<player>player n</player></server>

When a client connects to the metaserver to receive the list of available servers, the format is quite similar:
- for MAngband, a list of zero-terminated strings with "server" for server names, "%port" for port values and " notice" for anything else
- for TomeNET, a unique xml section "<meta>TomeNET metaserver</meta><server>server info 1</server>...<server>server info n></server>, with server info equal to what's sent from each server to the meta

I've implemented the required parsing to display entries from the TomeNET metaserver, while keeping the current code for the MAngband metaserver, and this part works fine (you can see TomeNET servers with their players, and even select them -- you'll just get a "not a PWMAngband server" error when connecting). The only problem is that I cannot register a PWMAngband server on the meta. No idea if it's because I'm doing that from my laptop which connects via a proxy to the internet, or if it's due to some restrictions on the metaserver, or simply because of a malformed request (I can connect a socket and send stuff, but the code doesn't wait for a reply so I cannot tell if the registration succeeded or not). I'll try that again tonight from my PC at home.

[PowerWyrm]

Doesn't work from my home PC either. This means the metaserver has a strict format and doesn't recognize connections from other than TomeNET games. Oh well...

[PowerWyrm]

Last changes before the release:

- Make effects and curses unnecessary for IDing jewellery
- Make not obviously aimed flavored items use a random direction if unknown (except rods)
- Simplify the readme.7z archive
- Add missing IM_NETHER to crawling masses of primal chaos
- More abominations: chaos mutants and blood lurchers
- Make ancient wyrms even more rarer
- Fix crash when inspecting a nonequipped cursed item
- Don't send extra info in the reply when the server refuses a client connection
- Check status error immediately when the client tries to contact a server and return "not a PWMAngband server" for unknown errors
- Fix crash when unable to place stairs on new generated dungeon level
- Refactor object_xtra structure, splitting activation and aiming flags
- Don't give the Dungeon Master full flavor knowledge at birth to allow generation of unaware items
- Allow '*' to specify a rod when generating an item with the Dungeon Master