Z+Angband 0.2.0 (alpha) released!

[Mangojuice]

Okay, my revamp of Zangband, discussed here recently, is at a stable stage and I've finished with most of the big stuff I wanted to do. So now I'm looking for players, comments, et cetera.

You can download it (windows executable, or source code) at

http://tinyurl.com/5pq2bd

If anyone would volunteer to create executable downloads for other operating systems, I'd be happy to post them. Other operating systems should work fine, since I only changed game internals.

Lots of changes to be aware of. Looking forward to comments!

--MJ

[takkaria]

Okay, my revamp of Zangband, discussed here recently, is at a stable stage and I've finished with most of the big stuff I wanted to do. So now I'm looking for players, comments, et cetera.

You can download it (windows executable, or source code) at

http://tinyurl.com/5pq2bd

If anyone would volunteer to create executable downloads for other operating systems, I'd be happy to post them. Other operating systems should work fine, since I only changed game internals.

Lots of changes to be aware of. Looking forward to comments!

--MJ

I haven't actually played it, let alone downloaded it, but I noticed you wrote:

"I release my changes to the code freely so long as they are not used for commercial purposes."

I've been making an effort to get in touch with anyone who's ever written code for Angband or its variants and asking them if they agree to allow their code to be used under both the Angband and GPL licences. It would be really great (would encourage people to steal features from your variant in the same way you can steal them from others) if you would agree to do the same. Obviously, the GPL allows commercial use but the source must always be available. Either that, or releasing your changes under a more permissive licence would be really great.

[ekolis]

Just downloaded and eager to play - Z was a fun variant, but I lost interest after it stopped being developed; I prefer playing actively developed games for some reason! :P

Just a few comments about the download:

1. The filename is ZAngband-0.2-win.zip not Z+Angband-0.2-win.zip? I suppose plus signs don't work well in URL's, but perhaps ZPlusAngband would work to distinguish it from regular ZAngband?

2. Unzipping the file gives me a folder called "MDL 0.2 Win" - what the heck is MDL? Mangojuice's Dungeon Levels? :P

[Mangojuice]

Just downloaded and eager to play - Z was a fun variant, but I lost interest after it stopped being developed; I prefer playing actively developed games for some reason! :P

Just a few comments about the download:

1. The filename is ZAngband-0.2-win.zip not Z+Angband-0.2-win.zip? I suppose plus signs don't work well in URL's, but perhaps ZPlusAngband would work to distinguish it from regular ZAngband?

2. Unzipping the file gives me a folder called "MDL 0.2 Win" - what the heck is MDL? Mangojuice's Dungeon Levels? :P

Oops, changed that. That was a name I used for the project a while back before I chose "Z+Angband" as the name. Good idea about naming (the files) "ZPlus", I've changed to that.

[ekolis]

OK, went on my first quest, and got this message:

Built rooms? [y/n]

What's that mean? :P

[Mangojuice]

OK, went on my first quest, and got this message:

Built rooms? [y/n]

What's that mean? :P

Hm.. Crap. A debugging thing I built in. Just press any key and it'll go away. What class are you playing, out of curiosity?

[ekolis]

I was a warrior - first game and all, don't wanna die TOO soon!

[danvari]

not sure why it does not compile:

bash-3.2$ ./configure
checking for gcc... gcc
checking for C compiler default output file name... configure: error: C compiler cannot create executables
See `config.log' for more details.

[Mangojuice]

not sure why it does not compile:

bash-3.2$ ./configure
checking for gcc... gcc
checking for C compiler default output file name... configure: error: C compiler cannot create executables
See `config.log' for more details.

Honestly, I got that same error and it baffled the heck out of me: of COURSE gcc can create executables. Gcc's default output file name is a.out - does this really confuse configure so badly?

If you're trying to compile for x11, the plain makefile in the root directory is configured for that; just edit it to comment out all the lines that involve configuring and it might work.

I'm going to put together new downloads, where I revert to the Zangband 2.7.5pre1 version of the makefile stuff. I think I might have changed some in an effort to get it to compile under Windows with autoconf (which I was never able to do.) Plus, I found a couple minor errors in the code I'd like to patch.

[Mangojuice]

Slightly patched downloads are now availabe.

* Reverts to Zangband 2.7.5pre1 version of makefiles and such
* Fixed bug in Thieves Guild: no message displayed for non-members
* Removed "Built rooms[Y/N]" from level generation
* Fixed active level bug (quests).
* "Running amok the area" -> "Running amok in the area"

Savefiles are compatible.

No more changes will be uploaded for at least a week; any future ones will have to actually get their own version.

[ekolis]

Gah, now the zipfile unzips without a Z+Angband directory, so "unzip here" creates a bunch of files wherever I download it to!

Fortunately I thought to open the zip file first *just in case*, but I always find that sort of thing annoying

edit: Something is wrong with examining spellbooks in shops... if there are books from two or more schools offered in the same shop, examining a book will list the spells in the wrong school!

[Jude]

I will download soon!

[Donald Jonker]

Got a little play time in. Truly fantastic stuff. Despite myself, I like what you've done with mushrooms, and love the quests. It feels like there's always a lot to do. A few thoughts (disclaimer: I haven't played much Z and am a fairly new 'bander in general):

-Quests ought to let you know how many monsters are left, and when they are completed. Judging whether you finished by seeing if the staircase is still there or not once you exit isn't ideal. This seems to work on the Strong Farm quests, but:

-Strong Farm quests (which, IMO, are pretty darn neat) are completed after killing only 1 monster, even when it says 5.

-When buying, stores should suggest the maximum affordable quantity of the item in question. Also, unaffordable items should be greyed out.

-Squelching: quality squelching would be nice (someone was going to ask eventually NPP and Heng are two good squelch templates, IMO.

-The graphic for wands doesn't show up in lists.

-Unusually high levels of excellent, and even a few artifact, items at low levels (1-10).

-Would like walls to show up as blocks .

EDIT: Would also like dungeons to be named at the bottom by the depth, and for the downstairs in the wilderness to display the name, i.e.: "You see a down staircase [danger level 1, Mine Quest]." Like Hengband, basically.

Thanks for taking this very noble enterprise up. I anticipate good times ahead.

--J

[Mangojuice]

Got a little play time in. Truly fantastic stuff. Despite myself, I like what you've done with mushrooms, and love the quests. It feels like there's always a lot to do. A few thoughts (disclaimer: I haven't played much Z and am a fairly new 'bander in general):

--J

(In reverse order)

-- I like the staircase idea, will add that to my to-do list.

-- Walls as blocks: I think this is something they did to fix a bug some people had where block walls didn't show up at all. I'll take a look at it.

-- Excellent items: The RNG must love you. I've been playing myself and no excellent items or artifacts so far.

-- Squelching -- I'll take a look; I'll consider it for the next revision.

-- Graphic for wands -- are you looking in a Magic Shop? Because graphics for non-identified wands (and rods, staves, potions, and scrolls) purposely don't show up so you don't get to learn about their flavor too soon. They show up in my inventory list, and they show up in store lists when you know the item's flavor.

-- Farm quests. That's definitely a bug, I'll fix that in the next version. Glad you like them... they don't have much of a reward, but they're fun.

-- Other quests -- most of the quests that have their own dungeon are completed when you clear the level of monsters. There's a message when you clear a level: either "You just completed your quest!" or "You have made progress in your quest," if there are multiple levels.

Just FYI: if you are getting stuck on a quest, you can always fail it: just enter it and leave over and over and eventually you'll fail the quest. You won't get a reward, but you can then get the next quest from the quest building. This can take a really long time for certain quests: if it doesn't work after 10 times, it'll take 10,000 times.

[Mangojuice]

edit: Something is wrong with examining spellbooks in shops... if there are books from two or more schools offered in the same shop, examining a book will list the spells in the wrong school!

Are you sure you're using the "x) eXamine" command rather than "b) Browse?" If you use "b" in a store, you'll browse your own books.