Z+Angband 0.2.3 released

[Mangojuice]

Hey folks.

Z+Angband 0.2.3 is now available, at

http://tinyurl.com/5pq2bd

The new program is savefile-compatible with the old one. Again, there's a .tar.gz source package and a .zip Windows executable, and I'd love it if anyone could compile on other systems, but this is all I've got.

Changes are detailed in the download file and on the website. Briefly, there are a number of bug fixes, including all the ones reported here in the last week; the courier crash, a wilderness wandering crash, the auto_dump problem, and the quality/type squelch system has been improved to deal better with pseudo-id and non-combat objects. In addition, a few features of interest:

- When you import a savefile in 0.2.3 it will actually *repair* old quests that were generated incorrectly; this includes the off-the-map-edge bug, the non-completion bugs from 0.2.0, etc.
- Added a new "autosave_b" option, which automatically makes backups of your savefile whenever an autosave occurs. This replaces the "panic save" disabling feature from 0.2.2 which didn't work for everyone.
- Added a new style of quivers - container objects you keep in your inventory. This is not a feature I want to impose on everyone, so you will have to edit the "k_info.txt" file in lib/edit and follow the instructions near the bottom, or quivers will not actually show up in your game.

Please let me know any issues you have with the new release, but do check the changes file so you know what I intended to fix. Hope you all like it!

As always, thanks very much to all those who have been playing, and thanks for the bug reports and other feedback, it's been very helpful. Especially this time around!

[ekolis]

Autosave_b sounds a lot like the much-requested-by-newbs feature of save scumming, does it not?

[Mangojuice]

Autosave_b sounds a lot like the much-requested-by-newbs feature of save scumming, does it not?

It doesn't concern me too much. If people want to save scum, I don't mind making it easy for them to do it. It's fun to play that way, too.

I was even thinking of adding a "revert" command that would reload your savefile from the beginning... and mark you as a cheater.

And if people are opposed to save scumming, I don't think this will tempt them.

But now that I think about it, I think I will make the game Autosave when you die. That way, at least, you can't cheat death with it.

[pampl]

The auto-destroy still hits good cursed stuff, at least under some circumstances. I ID'd some item on the ground and it showed up as an ostensibly 'good' ego item (resist lightning or something) and was instantly destroyed because it was cursed.

Other than that it looks great, I don't think I've ever seen a game with such a breakneck pace of bugfixing

[Mangojuice]

The auto-destroy still hits good cursed stuff, at least under some circumstances. I ID'd some item on the ground and it showed up as an ostensibly 'good' ego item (resist lightning or something) and was instantly destroyed because it was cursed.

Other than that it looks great, I don't think I've ever seen a game with such a breakneck pace of bugfixing

Well, hm. I guess it checks for the {tainted} and {dubious} feeling, but not objects that would earn that feeling if they were pseudo-id'ed.

Added to the todo list.

I'd take a slower bugfixing rate any day, if I could have fewer bugs in the first place. Heh.

--MJ

[Mangojuice]

New known issue: Don't take out Loans of over 30,000 gp. There's an overflow bug.

I learned this the hard way. I was playing the competition 60 character, and with about 65,000 gp of my own, I found the Necronomicon for sale in a plain Temple: 131,000 gp. Now, I knew that loan amounts are based on your character level and your current gold, and there was a bank in the next town, so I rushed over there to borrow another 65K... but it ended up giving me -900 gp, even though I still had to pay around 65K to pay off the loan. So basically, it wiped me down to about 0 gold.

Will be fixed in the next version. But oh, man. I wanted that book so bad...

[RogerN]

I found the Necronomicon for sale in a plain Temple... But oh, man. I wanted that book so bad...

Just remember to say the words. You do remember the words, right?

[RogerN]

Are magical figurines broken? I bought one from the store but it doesn't do anything when I throw it. I've thrown it four or five times now but nothing happens.

[RogerN]

Are magical figurines broken? I bought one from the store but it doesn't do anything when I throw it. I've thrown it four or five times now but nothing happens.

Responding to my own question here... could the problem be related to the themed dungeons? In other words, the monster you're trying to summon is out-of-theme for your current dungeon, so the figurine doesn't work? If so, that makes figurines rather useless for most quest levels.

[Mangojuice]

Just remember to say the words. You do remember the words, right?

Klaatu... Verata... Niktie?

Yup, figurines are a fail. Easy to fix, added to the next version. Apparently it's been that way since 0.2.0 and no one has bothered throwing one since then.

[perost]

I've been playing a priest now, and just found the spell book Sacred Rites on a level 11 thieves guild quest. Nice!

However, I found two very minor issues at the same time. The first is that Banishment is misspelled as Banisment. The second is that I tried out my new spells and summoned an angel. When it disappeared after a while I got the "You just completed your quest!"-message a second time for that quest, since I had already cleared out the level before summoning the angel. Aside from the message nothing else seems to have happened, so I guess it's a harmless enough bug.

[Mangojuice]

I've been playing a priest now, and just found the spell book Sacred Rites on a level 11 thieves guild quest. Nice!

However, I found two very minor issues at the same time. The first is that Banishment is misspelled as Banisment. The second is that I tried out my new spells and summoned an angel. When it disappeared after a while I got the "You just completed your quest!"-message a second time for that quest, since I had already cleared out the level before summoning the angel. Aside from the message nothing else seems to have happened, so I guess it's a harmless enough bug.

Nice find! Fixed the bug; yes, it was simple and harmless.

[rhukath]

Unique bug

I managed to get to Clvl 11 and was wandering between towns gathering quests as I usually do. During this time I killed Freesia. I have now just requested a quest and it is a quest to kill Freesia. Does the game check against the known unique list? this would possibly be a way to avoid such a bug

Rhukath

[Mangojuice]

I managed to get to Clvl 11 and was wandering between towns gathering quests as I usually do. During this time I killed Freesia. I have now just requested a quest and it is a quest to kill Freesia. Does the game check against the known unique list? this would possibly be a way to avoid such a bug

Rhukath

Hm... I thought I had fixed that. The quest was simply "Kill Freesia"? Or, "Kill Freesia, who is guarding dungeon level 3"?

[RogerN]

Here's another. I currently have a quest to kill Adunaphel the Quiet on dungeon level 75. However, while trying to complete a different quest (destroy a Dark Elven Shade and his minions) one of the sorcerers managed to summon Adunaphel the Quiet.

Since I managed to kill her (and it didn't mark the quest as finished), what will happen if I go down to level 75? Will it crash? Will I be able to descend to dungeon level 76? I hope I didn't just screw my game file up... this was the competition character