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Archived news from 12/00.

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Archives - December 2000

Friday 15th December 2000
- Amiga Port. Bablos has a new Amiga port for you guys. This time it's the new version of Gumband (v2.1.1e). You should find the file your after here...
- Post Party. A very enjoyable time was had by all and as you can see, I'm in a fit enough state to use a keyboard. This is my last afternoon at work this yeah so if I don't speak to you again before January, enjoy the seasonal holidays and have a happy new year.
Thursday 14th December 2000
- Ninevon Moves. Just a quick note to say that Ninevon - Rogue Adventures has moved sites so if you've got it linked, update your bookmarks.
- More Valdor. Piotr Wolny has been fiddling with his roguelike project, Legends Of Valdor and has released a new version (v0.03). Here's what he's added to this version...
  • New features in town.
  • Additional quests.
  • Quests screen.
  • Save and load.
  • Bugs fixed (annoying crash bug too).
- Angband FTP. The long-serving FTP server ('ftp://export.andrew.cmu.edu/angband/') is finally being put out to pasture but not to worry, a replacement - courtesy of the old admin, Brian E. Gallew - has been found. It's a kinda good news/bad news thing so I'll let Robert Rühlmann explain...
"The export.andrew.cmu.edu FTP server is Going Away(tm) soon.  But
 don't worry - Brian E. Gallew, the admin of export.andrew.cmu.edu,
 provided a new FTP server.

 The new address of Angband's main FTP server is now:
 ftp://clockwork.dementia.org/angband/

 All new uploads should be done to clockwork.dementia.org and links
 and bookmarks should be changed to point to the new server.  The 
 old server will probably remain online for the next two weeks, but 
 don't rely on it.

 Good news for everybody with a crappy internet provider - the new 
 server doesn't require "reverse domain-name lookup", so everybody 
 should be able to access it.

 The archive on clockwork is up-to-date and I used the chance to 
 clean up the directory structure a bit.  The most visible change is 
 that the variant folder now contains sub-directories for the various 
 variants.  If you detect any misplaced files then please contact me.

 Another important change is that downloading from the Incoming folder 
 is no longer possible to prevent the illegal warez uploads that 
 sometimes plagued export.  This means that files can only be uploaded 
 to, but not downloaded directly from this folder.  Moving files out 
 of Incoming has to happen often, that's why I'm looking for somebody 
 with Unix and Angband experience to help Brian and myself with this 
 job.

 A note to everybody who uploads files to the Incoming folder:  Add a 
 *.txt file with a short description of what your upload contains, 
 and where it should be placed.  Files without this extra bit of 
 information are likely to stay in the Incoming folder until one of 
 the maintainers finds time to investigate.

 Many thanks to Brian E. Gallew who provides this great service for 
 the Angband community!"
As I said, it's a little good news/bad news, especially if you're a RLNews visitor who likes to download the newly announced Angband related files. It means that authors will no longer be announcing the FTP address for their uploads and unless the new address/files are available, I won't be able to include a download address. Maybe now is the time for authors to begin looking for their own space on the net as an alternative download option?
- Xmas Updates. Tonight is the night of the fabled company Xmas party and I fear I may be in a bit of a state come tomorrow - which is a shame really as it's my last day at work this year, having conserved my spare days off and used them in bulk. All this means to the regular visitor is that between now and the start of January, my updates may become very sporadic - to the point of vanishing all together. Who knows. Have fun, folks.
- New AllegroHack. 'Wingnut' has released a new version (1.7) of his enhancement - AllegroHack. Here is a list of changes...
  • Status lines too long to fit on-screen are now "squashed" horizontally to display the whole line.
  • Finally: Male and Female versions of every class.
  • Added official support for 8-bit tiles. They worked all along, but now it's official that they work.
  • Shrank the tileset from 6.85 MB to 2.75 MB by using 8-bit tiles and converting 95% of tiles to the new system.
  • Changed the magic portal fadeout/fadein effect to one that draws faster.
  • Fixed: Pets were hilighted even with hilite_pet turned off.
  • Fixed: Thrown objects and mimics could display incorrectly.
  • Fixed: Tiles for the demon lords were missing.
- EyAngband Final. Out of beta, there is a new version (0.2.0) of Eytan Zweig's roguelike variant EyAngband. Here are the changes since the last beta...
  • Young mystics now properly appear in groups.
  • Fear spells now get a description.
  • Bard spell "tone of destruction" now works correctly.
  • Various bugs with creating spoiler files fixed.
  • More colour variation in canines - Grip and Fang are now orange, Rabid Jackals now green, Rabid Wolves now dark green.
  • Finished help files.
Apparently the Sourceforge servers aren't allowing uploads at the moment so for a shortwhile, you should be able to get the files from...
Tuesday 12th December 2000
- New Roguelke. Tarn Adams would very much like you to take a peek at his project page for his new roguelike - Slaves to Armok: God of Blood. Tarn has a number of plans for the project, including...
  • Randomly generated universe with multiple earth-sized worlds.
  • Populate your world with familiar creatures or with randomly generated ones.
  • Skill-based advanced system: no fixed classes or levels.
  • Each creature has a working body with detailed, interconnected bodyparts (no hitpoints).
  • Detailed items that can be built and broken.
  • Working civilizations that expand, utilize resources, wage war, trade, and interact with each other.
  • Complex magic system with "programmable" spells.
  • Explore freely. There is no fixed plot, although plots develop as creatures interact.
  • A robust Z coordinate (no dungeon levels, etc).
- Telnet Fun. If you fancy playing roguelikes from a selection of 18 (inc. four Angband variants, P/I/Umoria, Morgul, Nethack, Hack, etc.) without bothering with all that downloading fuss, try telnetting to telnet://chungkuo.org and log in as "new" to get an account. No information required except your e-mail address.
- Another Gumband. Joseph William Dixon has released another quick update to his Gumband (v2.1.1f). Here are some of the changes...
  • The Stormbringer has been removed.
  • Elementals are now a summonable type [all 'E' creatures].
  • The Branding spells can now affect non-stacked weapons on the ground and in your pack, instead of just what you're wielding.
  • Stores now create items with enchantments and charges based on character level.
  • Humans gain Self Knowledge at level 15.
  • Elves gain animal detection at level 10.
  • Half-Elves gain it at level 15.
  • Yeeks now gain their Scare Monster at level 5 and at a cost of 10.
  • Instead of a Banish (ie, teleport away all monsters in line of sight) effect, Mindcrafters' 'Major Displacement' now gives normal Teleport Other at level 50.
  • Moved 'Stormbringer' to a_info.txt and it's now a Runesword.
  • Also added auto-cursing.
And here are the files...
Friday 8th December 2000
- Links Snip. Thank you to Kristoffer Tyvik for running through the Links page and digging out a mass of dead links. Most of them come from people with college/university provided sites who have since moved on. If you were one of these brainiacs and have since moved your site to another location, get in touch to tell me your new address and I'll add it again.
Thursday 7th December 2000
- StarRogue Release. A new alpha version of Robin Gawlik's roguelike game Star Rogue (v0.26a) is available. According to Robin, this should be the last alpha with the next version being a beta. Anyhoo, here is the large list of changes...
  • Added names of all six levels of psionic skills.
  • Added brief description of all psionic skills to help file.
  • Changed access code to wizard section.
  • Added more content to space station help section.
  • Shops names changed.
  • Added delete save file when dead or running back into game.
  • Added data structure for room safe storage.
  • Added safe code to store and retreive items.
  • In university now only identifies one item at a time.
  • Monster inventories activated can now carry up to three items which will be dropped when killed.
  • Added basic floor tiles for planet 3 Pa and planet 4 Cheol
  • Finished basic tiles for all planets some are very basic help!
  • Added code in program to handle new planet tiles.
  • Added some more items and two uniques hurra.
  • Level 2 psionic skills added.
  • Added ability to teleport to any level in wizard mode.
  • New front title screen added supplied kindly by Troy Rosman.
  • Teleport effect added.
  • Created map editor to help in design of base and special levels.
  • Added basic monsters for each planet.
  • Altered base map to allow for end of game room.
  • Added security to prison cells and police station.
  • Added new security key cards.
  • Program can now handle userdefined maps for set places in game which will load map and set NPCs and items.
  • New death screen kindly created by Bryan Strait added.
  • NPC's can now carry upto five items.
  • More NPC's added to starbase level.
  • Added one bitmap in mtiles for NPC for each NPC type and added list mtiles.txt as to which is which if someone wants to edit and change feel free.
  • End of level bosses now carry key for next level.
  • Added breed/replicate flag to NPC's.
  • Some NPC's will now breed beware the space weevils.
  • Cheat Nag removed for the moment.
  • Basic stats for new NPC'S added.
  • Wizard box pops up with cursor in code section every time now.
  • Only allowing player to join psionics guild properly says you are in others but not.
  • Not allowing player on some guild computers.
  • Two weapons had incorrect ammo in dat file snipers and assualt rifle.
  • Player should not appear next to up teleport when teleporting upwards.
  • Can move right through signs.
  • Key cards security level not working properly.
- Big Snip. As it was getting a bit chunky, I've archived both October and November at the same time. That's why this page is temporarily teeny-weeny.
Wednesday 6th December 2000
- Palm-sized Roguelike. Craig Lipinski has been in touch to tell us about a roguelike game he's found for the WinCE-based 'palm-tops' called Deep Dungeon. Unfortunately, I can't really tell you much more about the game as the pages are in Japanese (but the game text is in English, I'm assured) and although the Excite pages offer an auto-translate function, it doesn't really explain a lot. Still, there is a fairly enjoyable little Java version to twiddle with on the page, so go have a look. Ps. Craig is having trouble saving so if anyone figures it out, drop him a note here.
- New Gumband. Joseph William Dixon has released a new version (v2.1.1e) of his new variant - Gumband. Here are some of the changes...
  • Made some more mods to races and classes, mostly minor. Elves and Half-Elves gain detect animals at level 10, and humans gain self knowledge at level 15.
  • Moved Stormbringer to a_info.txt, and it's now a Runesword. [thanks, Kieron]
  • Auto-cursing added. [thanks again, Kieron]
  • GWAR's manager, Sleazy P. Martini, added. He can summon the band, so be careful. :)
  • Added two of my favorites: Duke Nukem and Lo Wang (the Shadow Warrior). They're nasty. :)
And here are the files...
Tuesday 5th December 2000
- Amiga Stuff. More port-age of the Amiga variety from Bablos. This time you can get you hands on Amiga flavoured versions of CatH-Angband (v2.9.1.3), EyAngband (v0.2.0 b4) and Gumband (v2.1.1d). If you're lucky, the files might still be found here...
- PernMAngband Update. 'Darkgod' has a new update of client for his multiplayer variant, PernMAngband (v3.0.6) and in his own words - "it allows the use of the *EXPERIMENTAL* Mimics, the goblins, and the so wanted graphics :)". Crumbs, what a quick snippet.
- EyAngband Moves. Eytan Zweig has dumped his rather flakey NCBi website for his project and moved EyAngband to SourceForge. He's also released a new version (0.2.0b4) which you'll find on his new homepage. Here's the changes...
  • Help files updated.
  • Musical instruments are now different colours, both in the equipted character display and in the actual spell casting interface, to reduce the chance of casting the wrong spell.
  • CTRL+Q will no longer cause crashes if you're not on a quest.
  • Bard Spell "Fear Tempo" works properly.
  • Bard spell mana requirements corrected.
  • Musical instruments priced corrected.
  • Monster memory no longer incorrectly says some monsters can "blink near you".
  • An "object memory" term window will now properly show spells from a musical instrument with a pval greater than 1.
  • Disease slowed further.
  • A potion of *enlightment* properly takes the bard's LORE ability into account.
- Borg Tweaks. Some changes have been made to Andrew White's borg. Here are the details, in Andrew's own words...
"Adam Goodman finish and submitted the changes for the new Dynamic Borg.
This new dynamic borg will allow you to select his item and equipment 
requirements from the borg.txt file. It is very cool. So if you have a 
particular method of play or you desire a certain equipment selection, 
you can define it in borg.txt. This is loaded when you start the borg so
you do not need to recompile if you make slight changes to the reward 
system. You can also modify the borg.txt while in the game and just use 
^z$ to reload the borg.txt. You are strongly discouraged from messing with 
the borg.txt unless you completely understand the formulas."
For more info/files, check Andrew's web page here.
© Copyright 2000 Darren Hebden.