Copyright (c) 2000 - 2005 by News from December, 2000
December 18th, 2000
Today is the last day of programming before vacation. I'll be back on January 6th. I won't be idle during that time - I just won't have access to the web page. I will still be able to check e-mail, so feel free to send me any comments regarding the game.
Regarding today's changes: A character with really lousy endurance (roughly 50 or below) will have trouble playing right now, unless you like sleeping. You can check your attributes on the status screen by pressing S. Willpower also helps - once you are exhausted, willpower will keep you on your feet until you have absolutely no energy left (willpower also helps you avoid passing out from pain). You can get energy back by pressing period to waiting (although this is a little tedious) or switching scenarios (press Z). I'll add in a longer term wait button in time.
December 17th, 2000
So... I did some work today. As usual, I've altered the plan to mesh with the new changes. Although working on the interface is wearing my nerves thin, I'm going to do some more with it soon. But to break the technical monotony, I'll be tossing in energy and endurance, stunning, and item condition. Item condition refers not just to wear and breakage, but various forms of... sullying. The blood isn't quite well defined yet, but I imagine it'll have to dry on the items after some time. There will certainly be fluid transfer from blood-soaked items to clean ones. This won't show up until I add clothing. Then you can, for instance, wipe off your sword on your shirt, and so on.
There is a great opportunity for the cockroach hordes to infest the game as I add these things, so I'm not convinced I'll be able to get through them before I leave for my two week vacation on the 20th. I won't have access to a compiler, so my plans for vacation include adding sections to the manual, math, planning the next stages of the game that I want to add, math, improving the future section of the web page, and math. I'm sure my brother and his wife have other plans for me. So we'll see what I actually get done.
December 16th, 2000
The log contains the fruits of today's labor. I spent a lot of time on that rotten bug! I have also tinkered with the plan slightly and put up Version 0.03.03 (incorporating the latest changes). Later on, I might not post new versions so frequently, but as I fix the worst errors I like to get the stale versions out of sight. Otherwise, I feel unclean:)
Steal supplies from work? Be warned: a mere mortal playtester has metamorphosed into Silvair, the Lawful Silver Dragon Knight. The change is reflected in the credits.
Update: I just noticed that the download I sent has "a feature". Pressing Y causes all creatures (except you) to rise into the air 10 feet. Repeated presses yield more elevation... and more damage when the creatures fall. This was part of debugging the nasty error I just fixed. It won't be there in the next version, so have fun while you can. Consider it a prelude to telekinesis.
December 15th, 2000
More work: log. I'll continue to be making updates until the 20th, at which time I'm going on a planned vacation until the 6th of January. I'll be able to respond to e-mail, but there won't be any updates during this period. The plan has been altered to accommodate today's changes - putting pain back in has helped combat flow a lot. Try it.
There has also been an addition to the play-testing/suggestion credits.
December 14th, 2000
Went back to work today: it's in the log, and the downloads have been updated (with version numbers now! This is 0.03.01). I've made some changes to The Plan as well. I also put up some known bugs on the contact page.
December 13th, 2000
Thanks to those who have responded with some information regarding the downloads. The play-testing/suggestion credits have been updated. I still need more specifics on the DLL problem that is crashing your many computers! From sketchy clues, I gather it is related to Direct X - is anyone having trouble with armok_w? Finals ended today, so I should be able to apply myself tomorrow. Oh, The Near Future has been tweaked a bit, as well, and added some more questions to the contact page.
December 12th, 2000
In what promises to be the first of many compatibility rewrites, I've updated the download versions. It may fix some DLL problems people have been having -- if not, contact me with as much info as possible. I can't fix these kinds of problems unless I know about them... between the development team members, there are only three computers or so to test on. Also: let me know how fast it goes, and how fast your machine is!
Update: replaced the old versions -- the "fix" didn't seem to work, and caused new problems. Let me know any specific error messages. I'd like to squash the bug!
December 11th, 2000
Reworked the web site again. Now we have the Near and Foreseeable future -- as well as some links. I'm grading papers Tuesday and taking my last final on Wednesday. After that, I'll stop toying around with the site and get some honest work done.
December 10th, 2000
Reorganized the web site. Also some additions to the credits, and a link to the manual on the Features page. Now it's back to studying for finals!
December 9th, 2000
Hi! The page went up today. There are two alphas up for Win 95/8 - one with Direct X, one without it. These include a "manual" with lots of juicy details on the future of the game. The graphics are ugly right now... I haven't been focused on that. These versions haven't received a lot of play on other computers: please send any bug reports, suggestions, comments etc. to me at tarn@stanford.edu. There are also a number of menu options (like (E)ditors) on the intro screen that are disabled right now. Fortunately there is some online help - just press (H) once you get started and things should become more clear. I've been working on the interface only insofar as it helps to debug the game. I'll try to get better with this as things go along:)