The Codex of Roguelikes

[tindrli]

Found this one on Greenlight, still in the works: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=558657416

Dead Hand is a turn based tactical roguelike game set in a fully destructible procedural environment. Take control of an autonomous weapons platform and fight your way through a multiple level underground cave complex in order to fulfill your directives. Along the way you'll explore abandoned caverns now populated by rogue robotic combat vehicles, scavenge parts to improve your weapons platform, engage in fearsome boss battles, and die multiple times in the process.

they should change that tank for a flying drone

 

[Tommers]

Beat Crawl SS. Nobody else cares but I need to gloat somewhere so here we are.

 

[Fenix]

Beat Crawl SS. Nobody else cares but I need to gloat somewhere so here we are.

Yeah, that sweet feeling after months or years, congrats!

 

[MWaser]

Beat Crawl SS. Nobody else cares but I need to gloat somewhere so here we are.

No worries, I beat Crawl's version 0.17 for the first time earlier this week. Last time I played and beat it before that was in 0.7
Both times it took me about 3 weeks to beat the game, and both times I lost 2 characters lategame before winning. Gotta love "third time's the charm"

 

[TOME]

I did 15 rune run earlier and now I've got another run going and I'm in second Ziggurat lvl20. I'm constantly under 30hp left but somehow I still manage to clear the floor.

Also I've got the shittiest luck with resistances this time. Earlier game I got them covered easily but this time I'm only finding rings with one res and crystal platemails with huge ac bonuses.

 

[Serus]

I never beat Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup... the best i got was one rune and dying on the floor with the second one. Granted i suck at roguelikes but still i beat a few (Tome4 on normal/roguelike and pretty confident i could do it one level higher with a good class/race combo; DoomRL on Hurt Me Plenty...) but not DCSS. i just suck at it.

 

[MWaser]

I did 15 rune run earlier and now I've got another run going and I'm in second Ziggurat lvl20. I'm constantly under 30hp left but somehow I still manage to clear the floor.

Also I've got the shittiest luck with resistances this time. Earlier game I got them covered easily but this time I'm only finding rings with one res and crystal platemails with huge ac bonuses.

Frankly, the character I've beaten the game with was pretty damn good, and I could have probably even managed a 15 rune run with him, but I was really damn eager to just beat the game first after trying for 3 weeks, just to have some peace of mind.

That character I've won with sure had some crazy ass luck though, considering I started with these mutations from the mutation roulette early game (for a wizard, mind you)

Spoiler

And by the end-game, I had this

Spoiler

 

[Fenix]

but not DCSS. i just suck at it.

Try some pure OP shit, like I post before, like Ogre Transmuter of Chei. Deep Elf Wizard (or another magic background like FE EE), easy too if you'll survive the start.
ToME4 is harder because of its crazy random. I recommend Paradox Mage aka Prime Minister, almost as powerful as Archmage, but easier to manage.

 

[MWaser]

ToME4 is harder because of its crazy random. I recommend Paradox Mage aka Prime Minister, almost as powerful as Archmage, but easier to manage.

Is it? TOME is honestly pretty pathetic on the normal+roguelike difficulty, for a roguelike at least. I've beaten it on the 4th or 5th try earlier this year (as opposed to the 73rd Crawl run)

 

[Serus]

ToME4 is harder because of its crazy random. I recommend Paradox Mage aka Prime Minister, almost as powerful as Archmage, but easier to manage.

Is it? TOME is honestly pretty pathetic on the normal+roguelike difficulty, for a roguelike at least. I've beaten it on the 4th or 5th try earlier this year (as opposed to the 73rd Crawl run)

Pathetic is too strong a word... what class did you play ? They aren't equal (aren't meant to be balanced, it isn't a Sawyer game...). I can easily murder normal/roguelike with a combo i like and that has a strong class in it but with say all the Rogue subclasses or a Wyrmic* i'm not sure i could finish it at all (not on first try for sure, rogue/rogue is so squishy at the beginning).
*Possibly it is stronger now, havent played it after the changes it got.

TOME4 has built-in difficulty levels exactly for this purpose, so people who think normal is "pathetic" can play it at higher difficulties with their prefered classes/races and still feel challenged. Nightmare at least is well balanced, nothing too crazy happens there and yet you can die there easier and you need to be more careful.

Edit: back to Cataclysm DDA

 

[Serus]

but not DCSS. i just suck at it.

Try some pure OP shit, like I post before, like Ogre Transmuter of Chei. Deep Elf Wizard (or another magic background like FE EE), easy too if you'll survive the start.
ToME4 is harder because of its crazy random. I recommend Paradox Mage aka Prime Minister, almost as powerful as Archmage, but easier to manage.

I know what is supposed to be OP in DCSS, it is not the point. I prefer to play what i like to play (also DE Wizard is very weak at the start if you ask me). DCSS just has something that makes me die all the time. As i said, i finished a few roguelikes but not DCSS despite trying at least a hundred of times. As i said i must just suck at it but one day i'll make it. I learnt some about playing roguelikes in general since i last seriously played DCSS, it should help. Besides the way DCSS seems to go in a few versions it will be easier than TOME4. :D

 

[MWaser]

In Crawl you need to be aware of every single enemy that can possibly kill you. That is how I finally learned how to beat Crawl - every death teaches something new (except when due to horrendous bad luck, like dropping 3 floors from a shaft in the middle of enemies and there's nowhere to blink-scroll to even - yeah that happened to me once, dropped from Elf:1 to Elf:3 in the middle of the Vault rooms filled with lots of really powerful enemies)

 

[stony3k]

Burnt out from playing too much Tome4, so back to playing Crawl and I must say that the changes have made the start of the game too easy. I recall almost inevitably running into something that would kill me at level 1 or 2, but now I find I can breeze to the mid-game too easily.

 

[TOME]

I think I got my fill of DCSS already. I got two consecutive chars to the very end and finished most of the sprints already. I don't think there are new things to try or content to explore.

 

[Fenix]

Is it? TOME is honestly pretty pathetic on the normal+roguelike difficulty, for a roguelike at least. I've beaten it on the 4th or 5th try earlier this year (as opposed to the 73rd Crawl run)

Dunno, it takes year for me to beat Normal, with Arcane Blade lol.
Speaking of "random" I mean "you opened a chest, random boss rolled out, you hit him hard, you died because boss was visible Rogue base with mix of PM or AM, and he threw Displacement Shield on your ass", and there is a lot of such random.
On the other hand DCSS is different - you need to understand how it work, calculate your chances, avoid risk, there is literally zero random.

They aren't equal (aren't meant to be balanced, it isn't a Sawyer game...). I can easily murder normal/roguelike with a combo i like and that has a strong class in it but with say all the Rogue subclasses or a Wyrmic* i'm not sure i could finish it at all (not on first try for sure, rogue/rogue is so squishy at the beginning).

I'm just playing mindstar-rogue now, in roguelike mode but I cheated a few times - terminated game before my char died (I thought I'll easily plunder across the game lol).
I realized what was the main difficultyof Normal - it's not that enemy who strong, it is you who weak in terms of lvl and gear, you are often underleveled.

I know what is supposed to be OP in DCSS, it is not the point. I prefer to play what i like to play

That is a self-explanatory remark. You tried to beat game with Mummy Berserker e.g. and you think that game it's hard.

I think I got my fill of DCSS already. I got two consecutive chars to the very end and finished most of the sprints already. I don't think there are new things to try or content to explore.

Yeah, that's the problem with the game.

 

[MWaser]

Is it? TOME is honestly pretty pathetic on the normal+roguelike difficulty, for a roguelike at least. I've beaten it on the 4th or 5th try earlier this year (as opposed to the 73rd Crawl run)

Dunno, it takes year for me to beat Normal, with Arcane Blade lol.

Which version?
When I first beat TOME it was in version 0.9 something or 0.8 something, and it took me like 2 months just to get past The Master. (I always played Archmage)

But I feel like in the newest versions (like post 1.0.3 I think was when I tried playing it again afterwards) the game feels considerably easier. Archmage, at least. Especially since Time Shield between then and ?now? was changed from "deals damage later after absorbing it" to "HEALS YOU LATER for the damage it absorbed". The best way to die in TOME because of this is getting instakilled - other than that and some exceptionally long fights, you've just got so many "save your ass" mechanics.

 

[Fenix]

Well, 1 ot 1.5 year ago I belive. Now I'm easily ripping through the game with gimmik Rogue mindstar user (except those 5-6 cheated lifesaving restarts lol).
I mean e.g. comparing with Insane Paradox Mage run this looks really easy.

 

[MWaser]

>cheating though

 

[Serus]

That is a self-explanatory remark. You tried to beat game with Mummy Berserker e.g. and you think that game it's hard.

No i did not. Mostly standard stuff, variations on typical casters (DEFE, HEWz of Vehumet and similar) or on typical melee (MiBe, MiFi, etc...). It was some time ago, i haven't "seriously" played DCSS since version 11~12 and i played (and beat) some other roguelikes in the meantime. DCSS was one of the first roguelikes i played with some regularity. I hope i will be able to beat it with all the new experience if i decide to return to it. Roguelikes seem to get a bit easier after the first 2 or 3 .

 

[Fenix]

My first 15 rune runner was Vine Stalker Transmuter of Chei.

 

[dibens]

Allahu Akbar!

 

[Grimwulf]

URW 3.3 is availiable for lifetime supporters. I was struggling to find a changelog, but then I remembered that it's actually right there in game directory, derp. New version seems to be p.gud, men.

Spoiler

Version: 3.3 - alpha 2
Released: December 2015

** Saved characters from version 3.19-> are compatible with this version. **

THIS IS ALPHA RELEASE. THERE IS HIGH BUG POTENTIAL AND THERE ARE STILL LOTS OF THINGS TO DO
AND POLISH. BACKUP YOUR OLD CHARACTERS PROPERLY BEFORE TRYING THEM WITH THIS VERSION.


These are the most obvious still to-do things you should be aware of:
* Upcoming new title song is not in there yet
* Quests aren't in effect yet
* Heading box still uses the old avatar graphics (and is to be re-organized)
* With the new graphics the game might appear slower on older computers.
Speed optimization is still being worked on.


- tile graphics overhaul

We've accomplished quite a graphics update and along with hundreds of redrawn
tiles the game has got a whole new outlook new. To put this monumental task in a
nutshell it goes as follows:

* overhauled tile graphics engine

New tile system requires a new engine and that's what we have done.
The new engine isn't limited just for drawing static map tiles, but also allows
other improvements in graphical presentation of UnReal World which are explained
further in this newslist.

* redrawn tiles

Majority of tiles have been redrawn and there are also lots and lots of new unique
tiles for old items. For example, all the knives and swords have their own tile
instead of one generic tile being used for every knife or sword.
New tiles are located in truetile/ folder.
There's also truetile/readme.txt containing general information and modding
guidelines.
Nice bunch of tile contributions for this version come from Wickham's tileset.

* separate files for each tile - easier modding of tile graphics

Sprite sheets are gone and each tile is now in a separate file. This makes modding
and personal customization of graphics far more easy.

You can specify tile graphics for modded items with new [TILEGFX:] tag which
is explained further in this newslist. To add a new graphic tile for modded item
just create a new tile graphic file in truetile/ folder and use the tag to let
the game know to use that tile.

* graphical compatibility with old savegames and mods remains

Despite of huge changes in tile graphics structure compatibility with savegames and
even old mods should work quite well. The game corrects references to old indexed vanilla
tiles on the fly and shows the applicable new tiles instead. However, updating your
mods to use new tile system is advised. See usage of [TILEGFX:] tag to associate new tiles
to your mods further in this newslist.

- variety of graphical goodies and tweaks

With the power vested in new tile graphics engine the following graphical goodies and tweaks
have been implemented:

* enhanced missile attack graphics

Missile weapons and arrows are now drawn flying their head towards the target.
Other than missile weapons now spin around in the air when they are thrown.

* enhanced fire graphics

- Fires now spread a flickering circle of light around them which brightens and tints the surrouding
terrain and items. The effect is most immersive (and most necessary) during the darkest hours.
- Fires are now animated with three frames which makes them look more lively
- Size of the fire is now represented by scaling the fire sprite instead of using multiple sprites.

* direction-wise track graphics

Tracks of creatures are now drawn to their actual direction.

* two facing direction graphics for all the creatures; east and west

If a creature is facing towards NE,E,SE or S its' eastward graphic tile is used.
If a creature is facing towards N,NW,W or SW its' westward graphic tile is used.
In the future we'll be featuring creatures drawn to all eight facing direction, but this is a start.
The good old little blue arrow beside the creature still shows its' exact facing direction.

* direction arrow and two facing direction graphics for player character

Facing direction of the player character is now shown with little yellow arrow beside the avatar.
And just like the creatures the player avatar also has two facing direction graphics; east and west.

* when skiing the skis are now actually drawn under the character

* some plants have more growth stages than previously so you can expect to see more varying plant
graphics during their lifespan

- added: [F9] key command to reload tile graphics

Pressing [F9] will reload the tiles. It's easier to mod graphics now as you can edit a tile,
save it and then reload the graphics while the game is running to see the chances in action
right away.

- added: day and night lighting cycle

Map color scheme now changes according to time of the day and time of the year.
The lighting change is based on realistic solar elevation angle on northern hemisphere on a given game-time moment
and it's calculated and applied smoothly once per game-minute. Daylight slowly turns into twilight, dusk and night -
and then into dawn again.

The change of seasons, and the great seasonal variation in length of days and nights in the Far North is now far more
concrete and immersive.
During midsummer the sun barely sets at all and nights are light and short.
During midwinter days are really short and nights are long.
And late autumn nights are the darkest ones, until the snow comes.

- added: NIGHT_BRIGHTNESS configuration option (urw_ini.txt)

If the night time tint appears too dark on your monitor you can increase the brightness by adjusting NIGHT_BRIGHTNESS
configuration option in urw_ini.txt
Possible value is 0-30, and it's set to 0 by default.

- weather overhaul

The weather engine has been rewritten from a scratch and we've got detailed and realistic simulation of
weather factors such as rain, snowfall, solar elevation angle and temperature changes. The new weather
engine deals with numerous weather variables and much greater annual and seasonal changes are to be expected.
Put it in short; the years are less alike from now on.

Here's a list of the most exciting and important weather related improvements and mechanics:

* snowfall

It can snow for real in the game now, and you can see it snowing. There can be different levels of snowing,
and with the new weather engine in action the first snow naturally doesn't fall the same day every year.
Snow thickness is now tracked per 1mm and each hour of snowfall will make the snow grow thicker and thicker.
Similarly the snow melts away gradually when it gets warm enough.
- Visibility of tracks on the snow now depends on snow thickness. You can expect to notice less tracks when
the snow cover isn't all that thick.

- How fatiguing it is to walk in the snow now depends on snow thickness. You can expect to
get less fatigued from walking in the snow in early and late winter when the snow cover isn't
very thick.

- Snow depth is told to you when you look at ground tiles that aren't occupied by items.
Instead of plain "Ground" you'll now get verbal description of the snow depth
for example as follows:
"Faint snow", "Thin snow", "Fist deep snow", "Ankle deep snow", "Calf deep snow",
"Waist deep snow", "Chest deep snow" etc.

* realistic modelling of ice and freezing of lakes

Pretty much everything related to ice has been overhauled.
Lakes start to freeze when the weather gets cold enough. This doesn't happen the same time every
year, and the ice also doesn't grow equally thick every year. And when the lakes freeze, they
now freeze gradually.

- The ice cover first starts to build up at shallow water and proceeds towards deeper sections from there on.
How fast the ice cover increases or decreases depends solely on the weather. Ice thickness can also vary at
different sections of the lake. It's not anymore safe to walk on the ice as soon as there's ice cover on the
lake. Thin ice can break under any load it can't hold - be it your character, NPCs, animals or items.

- There's a confirmation to step on the ice if the character doubts the ice will hold. This applies to thin ice
which characters can easily recognize by stomping on it to see if it cracks. Notice that even if there are no
doubts and confirmations the ice still isn't necessarily safe to walk on.

- It's not possible to travel on the ice on world map when the character doesn't trust the ice completely.
If that's the case a message to zoom in to travel on the ice will be shown. This way the character
can't mistakenly step on unreliable ice on world map. However, it should be noted that the ice can't
never be trusted completely and even when you are allowed to travel on the ice on world map it can still
break. Should this happen, the character is forced on zoomed in map where he/she needs to navigate to
safe location.

* falling through the ice

- If you happen to fall through the ice climbing and pulling yourself back onto the ice is not easy and
depends on your climbing skill, agility and strength. All of these factors are tested on each turn you try to
move from the water onto the ice. Wielding any sharp pointy weapon such as knife, sword, spear or even an arrow
will improve your chances to pull yourself out of the water. Swimming skill is also important as it determines
for how long and how easily you can keep struggling in the water.

- If you're unable to get out of the water after 5-10 minutes, you're almost certainly not going to get out.
Your body temperature starts to drop as soon as you fall in the freezing water, and when hypothermia
sets in you will eventually lose consciousness and drown. Depending on your swimming and climbing skills
you will also build up certain amount fatigue on every turn you spend struggling in the water, and the more
fatigued you get the lower your chances to pull yourself out become.

* improved mechanics for making a hole in the ice

- Time required to make a hole in the ice has been adjusted and now also depends on the ice thickness
and the tool used. It's around 25 minute job to make a hole into half a meter thick ice
with an axe. An inch thick ice can be broken in a minute or so. If the ice is very thin you can
also break it without any tools.

- When making a hole in the ice the best available tool is automatically selected. In addition to axes,
spears and swords also stones and knives can be now used for breaking ice - even though they are quite
unhandy for the job. The order of ice breaking tools from best to worst goes as: axe, spear, sword,
knife, stone.

- Holes in the ice will freeze back gradually and remain recognizable for a few days. Eventually
the frozen holes will look like the regular ice cover, but may be weaker than the surrounding ice
for some time. As holes in the ice won't freeze completely overnight it's now easier to maintain
your wintertime water supply by breaking the same slightly frozen hole on a regular basis with only
a little effort.

* water temperature

- Water temperature factor has been added, and it's precisely tracked thorough the year. It's not anymore
always pleasant nor possible to swim for equally long time just about any day of the year.

- Entering the water has faster effect on character's body temperature now. Even if you were feeling warm
when going to swim in the cold water you'll get chilly or cold very soon. When the water is very warm
you can spend hours in there without ill effects, but even if the lakes aren't frozen the water can still
be so cold that there's a true risk of hypothermia. Needless to say, summer is best the season for longer
swimming trips from now on.

- If you are about to enter the cold water there's now always a confirmation if you really want to do so.
It's still safe to swim in the cold water, but now you just may need to warm up properly afterwards
to get comfortable again. However, entering the cold water when you are already freezing is not a
wise move.

- When looking at an adjacent water tile a message about the water temperature will be displayed.
"The water is freezingly cold.","The water is very cold.","The water is rather warm." etc.

- improved: temperature checks, character's body temperature and effects of freezing temperatures

Temperature checks and their results to character's physique and body temperature are now tracked per minute.
The curve at which character's body temperature now changes is smoother, more intelligent and more realistic.

* There's a new worst case character's body temperature tag added: "Freezing to death". Like the rest of tags,
it's shown in your "Nutrition/Warmth/Vigour" infobox and comes after the "Freezing" state. You should take the
new tag seriously as it informs about approaching lethal hypothermia. Actually, from now on you should take even
the "Freezing" tag more seriously than before.
The new, adjusted list of cold body temperature tags now goes as follows:
Cool, chilly, cold, bitterly cold, numbingly cold, freezing, freezing to death.

* With the new body temperature checks and their minute based tracking it's now more likely and way faster to die
of hypothermia in the cold weather if you aren't dressed properly. Previously you could walk naked in the
freezing weather for hours just getting frostbites all over your body. If you try the same thing now it can
result in a death within mere half an hour or so.

* Frostbites can still occur, but they are now more of nuisance rather than life-threatening risk. The death in the
cold now comes with lowered body temperature which at it worst leads to state of hypothermia where you lose your
consciousness and freeze to death. And it can happen without a single frostbite.
It's best to take the warmth tags and cues of lowered body temperature seriously.

* During extremely freezing temperatures it's now hardly avoidable to eventually feel cool, cold or chilly no matter
how many layers of fur you are wearing. Roaming days on end in the wild during the winter without occasionally
warming up by the fire is still sometimes manageable if you have lots of warm clothes, but it's no longer an
expedition of constant comfortable warmth.

- added: frozen ground and related digging restrictions

The ground can now get frozen along with freezing temperatures and this affects to possibilities
of digging it. It's not possible to dig at all in completely frozen ground, and it's harder to dig
in somewhat frosty ground.
When the ground first freezes and then melts again is based on average temperature of the
past few weeks. As a rule of thumb the ground gets frozen solid during the winter and starts to
melt again in the spring. Yearly variation can occur as this is based on the actual weather.
This adds a new factor to winter survival as you can't dig (trap) pits all year around anymore.

- added: restrictions to planting and preparing the soil when the ground is frozen

These actions don't depend merely on time of the year anymore, but are now linked to actual weather.
You can't plant anything or prepare the soil if it's still too cold or frosty. How early or late in
the spring you can start growing your own crops now varies annually.


- improved: weatherlore skill

As we've got a new weather engine there are also new weatherlore results. The weather prediction
is given for the next 24 hours and contains information about temperature changes and possibility
of rain or snow. Using weatherlore skill before noon gives you a weather prediction for the ongoing
day and the coming night. Using weatherlore skill after noon gives a prediction for the coming night
and tomorrow day.
How accurately you can predict the weather naturally depends on your weatherlore skill.

Examples of new weatherlore results:

"During the night the temperature will be slightly colder than now. It will be raining.
Tomorrow the temperature will be about the same as now. It will be raining."

"During the day the temperature will be slightly colder than now. It won't be snowing.
During the night the temperature will be slightly colder than now. It will be snowing a little."

- overhauled: horizon box

The "horizon box" in the upper left corner of the game view has been rewritten and refashioned.
Cloudiness, rain and snowfall are represented more beautifully with updated graphics.
The sun sails across the sky based on realistic solar elevation angle the new weather engine provides.
Tint of the horizon box also changes according to time of the day and follows the day and night lighting cycle.
Moreover, it's all updated on minute basis so everything that happens there now happens in more smooth and
precise fashion.

- added: new cursor drawing mechanics for selecting a target

The new cursor is drawn more precisely along with map refresh on each move and makes it easier to figure out what tile
you've selected. However, it may appear slow on some systems and because of that there's FAST_TARGET_CURSOR configuration
option in urw_ini.txt to turn on old-school fast target cursor at will.

- added: texture scaling quality configuration option

SCALE_QUALITY option in urw_ini.txt defines texture scaling quality as follows:
0 - nearest pixel
1 - linear
2 - best

It's set to 2 by default.

- overhauled: map of know areas (F6)

The outlook is familiar, but the content and options are enhanced and redesigned.

* map viewport is larger than before and utilizes your current screen size. If you've got the resolution the
enlargened map view appears sharp and crisp.

* cultural blocks are now round and alpha-blended on top of the map so that you get the idea of explored areas
also with cultural regions showing.

* point and click locations for more information

Hovering mouse cursor over the map brings up a target cursor and you can then point and click markers
and locations to see the associated information eg. village regional descriptions.
It's also possible to choose and select locations with keyboard if you don't care to touch the mouse.
With keyboard you can toggle target selector on and off by pressing [F3], and then use arrows keys to
move and [ENTER] to select the location.

* custom map markers

You can now add custom map markers with descriptive text. New markers can be added only at character's
current location, but editing and removing them anywhere on the map is possible regardless of character's
whereabouts. In addition to descriptive text you can also choose from five different marker colors.

Pointing and clicking a marker will show the associated description. When travelling on zoomed out
wilderness map the markers are clearly shown on when they come in your sight. You can also look at them
on wilderness map to view the descriptive text.

Markers are added and edited within Map Of Known Areas (F6) screen. To edit an already set marker
first point and click it. To add a new marker at character's location simply select [A]dd marker option.

- modding add: true modability of crafted (and cooked) items

Properties of crafted items can be modded so that truly new items can be created. This applies
to do-it-yourself items (diy_*.*) and cookery recipes (cookery_*.*).

Modding item properties is simple. You just add item property tags and preferred values after the actual
crafting code. If you are creating completely new items it's still advisable to use similar vanilla item
as a base item. Item property tags allow you to mod majority of item properties, but vanilla items may
have some fixed values which is why it's important to choose the base item carefully.
Eg. to create a new kind of a rope, base it on a vanilla rope to ensure it will be properly recognized as
tying equipment in the game.

Notice that modding item properties doesn't start from a scratch. Every crafted item already has its'
properties initialized, and you just need to modify the ones you want to modify. When modding cooked item
properties notice that the food price and nutritional values are always automatically calculated upon cooking.

Let's take a look at few examples.
Here we'll be crafting a new modded item "Custom javelin", which is based on vanilla Javelin:

.Custom javelin. "Javelin" *COMMON* /30/
{Staff} [remove]
{Cutting weapon} <Axe>
{Fire} '+(for hardening the head)'
[POINT_ATTACK:8]
[EDGE_ATTACK:-]
[BLUNT_ATTACK:2]
[WEIGHT:0.1]
[PRICE:2]
[1HPENALTY:5]

We'll set point attack to 8, blunt to 2 and disable edge. We adjust the weight and price, and modify one-handed
penalty for out custom javelin to 5%.


Another example, a leather miniskirt:

.Leather miniskirt. "Leather shirt" *COMMON* /60/
{Leather} #2.5# [remove]
{Knife}
[ARMOUR_MATERIAL:leather]
[ARMOUR_COVERAGE:hip groin]

We base it on "Leather shirt" and then modify the coverage so the miniskirt covers only hip & groin.


And item modding is done the same way with cookery recipes.
Here's a recipe for dried berries:

.Dried berries. *COOKERY* /25/ \10d\ %50% :151:
{Berries} #1# [remove] [roast] [nameile of dried %s]
[SPOILAGE_DAYS:0]
[WEIGHT:250 g]

We decrease the weight and set spoilage time to zero which makes the food last for ever.


Here's the list of item property tags you can use in modding items:
====================================================================================================================

[NAME:] - item name

Example:
[NAME:Weird knife] - The item is called weird knife in the game.
Notice .Item name. described in the header is still always shown in crafting menus, even
if you will specify a name with this tag.


***

[TILEGFX:] - graphic tile filename for the item without the filename extension

Example:
[TILEGFX:mytile] - the item uses truetile/mytile.png graphic tile.

Tiles for the items need to be located in truetile/ folder in .png format.
See truetile/readme.txt for more information about tile format.

***

[TYPE:] - item type

Possible values: weapon / armour / tool / container / skin / food / timber / vehicle / plant / valuable

Example:
[TYPE:weapon] - the item is a weapon

***

[WEIGHT:] - weight in pounds (by default), or in grams if the value is followed by g abbreviation

Examples:
[WEIGHT:1.5] - the item weighs 1.5 pounds
[WEIGHT:100 g] - the item weighs 100 grams

***

[CONT_CAPACITY:] - capacity of container type item in pounds

Example:
[CONT_CAPACITY:3] - the container can hold 3 lbs of food, liquid etc.

***

[PRICE:] - price in squirrel hides per item (default) or per pound if the value is followed by 'per lb'

Examples:
[PRICE:4] - the item costs 4 squirrel hides
[PRICE:0.2] - the item costs 0.2 squirrel hides
[PRICE:1.5 per lb] - one pound of the item costs 1.5 squirrel hides

***

[EDGE_ATTACK:]
[POINT_ATTACK:]
[BLUNT_ATTACK:] - damage values for weapon attack aspects

possible values: 0-9 or -
numbers define the damage, - means the aspect is not available for the weapon

Example:
[EDGE_ATTACK:0]
[POINT_ATTACK:2]
[BLUNT_ATTACK:-] - thie weapon has 0 edge damage, 2 point damage and doesn't have blunt attack aspect

***

[MATERIAL:] - of what raw-material the item is made of

This property is not fully functional yet and we'll be featured better in the future. However, it's advisable
to use this tag in your mods already.

possible values: wood / iron / leather / fur / birch-bark / cloth / wool / rock / bone / antler

Examples:
[MATERIAL:wood] - the item is wooden
[MATERIAL:cloth] - the item is made of some cloth
[MATERIAL:iron] - the item is made of iron

***

[ARMOUR_MATERIAL:] - material of armour type items. This defines the protection values.

possible values: lamellar / iron / mail / leather / fur / cloth / wool / birch-bark

Examples:
[ARMOUR_MATERIAL:iron] - the armour is made of iron

***

[ARMOUR_COVERAGE:] - bodyparts covered by the armour

possible values:
one of these predefined coverage categories:
cloak / hauberk / long_hauberk / habergeon / cuirass / overcoat / greaves / rerebraces / vambraces /
shirt / short_shirt / long_shirt / trousers / tunic
or any combination of these bodyparts values:
skull / face / neck / shoulder / upper_arm / elbow / forearm / hand /
thorax / abdomen / hip / groin / thigh / knee / calf / foot

Examples:
[ARMOUR_COVERAGEvercoat] - the armour has coverage of an overcoat
[ARMOUR_COVERAGE:skull neck shoulder] - the armour covers skull, neck and shoulders

***

[SKILL:] - skill associated with the item. Only for weapons.
possible value: one of the skills in the game eg. sword,club,bow,crossbow etc.

Example:
[SKILL:sword] - the weapon uses SWORD skill

***

[1H_PENALTY:] - skill penalty from using this weapon one-handed

possible value: 0-50, defaults to 0

Example:
[1H_PENALTY:15] - 15% penalty is added when this weapon is used one-handed

***

[AD_CLASS:] - attack and defense class of the weapon. A/D classification adds related skill bonus when the
weapon is used in attack or defense.

possible value: 0-6/0-6 (both values must be entered at once separated by /)

Default is 0/0. The higher the value the better the weapon performs in attack/defense.

Example:
[AD_CLASS:5/0] - the weapon has attack class 5 and no bonus when used in defense
[AD_CLASS:1/4] - the weapon has attack class 1 and defense class 4

***

[SPOILAGE_DAYS:] - in how many days the food item spoils

possible value: 0-253 (0 means that the item never spoils)

Example:
[SPOILAGE_DAYS:5] - the food item will spoil in 5 days

***

[CARB:]
[FAT:]
[PROTEIN:] - nutritional values for food items per 100 grams of the food

possible value: 0-99 representing grams of carbohydrates/fat/protein per 100 grams of the food

Example:
[CARB:0] - the item contains no carbohydrates
[FAT:4] - the item contains 4 g of fat (per 100 g)
[PROTEIN:12] - the item contains 12 g of protein (per 100 g)

- improved: examining locations

* When looking at a location occupied by both NPC and items the information of items
is now also displayed. (Previously in such a situation only NPC information was displayed.)

* When looking at non-empty location tile type information is now always displayed.
For example, if there's a roasted cut on a sleeping bunk it will say:
You see there a roasted cut.
Sleeping bunk
(Previously tile type information was displayed only when looking at empty locations)

* Examining a distant location ([l] or [F3]) now also displays precise track information if
it's an unoccupied adjacent tile you are looking at. If you examine a further away location
with visible tracks it just mentions that there are "some tracks".

- added: information about how long a fire will burn

When examining a fire, you'll be given an estimation for how long it will burn. It's not an exact hour and
minute information, but we use descriptions like:
"This fire will burn for half an hour / an hour / over an hour / a few hours / several hours / etc. "
If the fire is expected to burn for less than half an hour it's said to last "a (very) little while".
If the fire is expected to burn many, many hours then time of day descriptions are used in this fashion:
"This fire will burn till evening / noon / early morning / etc."

- added: setup options menu

Most common setup options can be now changed from in-game setup menu.
Editing urw_ini.txt remains for configuring more advanced options.
Setup menu can be accessed from the start screen and from the game itself through
newly added help and game options menu -> [ESC].
Editing setup options through the menu changes contents of urw_ini.txt accordingly.
You'll always have the same active configuration running regardless of how you do it.

- added: help and game options menu - [ESC]

List of keyboard commands, game encyclopedia, setup options, saving and quitting can be now activated
through a single menu. This menu is accessed by pressing [ESC] in the main game view and it eases
newcomers troubles of memorizing keyboard commands or producing [?] symbol.

- added: hotkey to quickly save the character - [CTRL]+

Pressing CTRL+s saves the character and exits to main screen quickly and without confirmations.

- added: when prompted to enter a number you can now type numbers also with numpad keys

For example, when you're asked how many items to pick numpad cursor keys produce numbers.
In all the other menus numpad keys move the selector.

- changed mechanics: going on shore by watercraft

When travelling by watercraft you may now go on shore only on zoomed in map.

There's message to inform you about it if you try to go on shore on world map.
This fixes odd automatic watercraft placement attempts, and makes it more convenient to
raft on world map as you don't have to worry about accidentally going on shore.

- changed mechanic: zooming out at water based terrain

It's not allowed to zoom out at water based terrain, unless you are travelling by watercraft.

This means you need to move away from lake, river, rapids, sea etc. water based zoomed
in maps before it is allowed to zoom back out to world map. You'll get accustomed to
this quite soon, and often it's only a few steps you need to take to cross the map border
onto dry land.
This change was made to get rid of glitches which arose from game's attempts to automatically
locate walking characters on dry land on the world map. When repeatedly visiting zoomed
in terrain beside the water, returning exactly from where you last zoomed out also works
better without the world map relocation hassle.

- added: broad knife is now preferred tool in hideworking

Broad knife is the best and preferred tool in skinning carcasses and cleaning hides.
Northern knife, hunting knife and kaumolais knife - in this order - are the second best tools for
hideworking jobs.

- added: stone knife - a new craftable weapon

It's an awkward knife, but a knife nevertheless. Stone knife can be crafted with two rocks -
one for blade, one for knapping.

- added: broken arrows

When arrows break they don't just disappear anymore as there's now a broken arrow item.
Broken arrows aren't useful or weapons at all, but just firewood.

- adjusted: bowshooting accuracy of skilled bowmen

Skilled bowmen are now slightly more accurate. Nothing radical, just some fine tuning.

- adjusted: battleaxe properties

The earlier battleaxe type and its' description and properties were of an anachronistic fantasy weapon.
Several changes have been made and now battleaxe in the game represents a long-shafted viking battleaxe
which were single bladed, carefully balanced and relatively light weapons:

- battleaxes are now lighter than previously, weighing around around 3.5 lbs.
- battleaxes don't have point attack aspect anymore - the earlier fantasy battleaxe had a spike in the head
- long-shafted battleaxes are still two-handed weapons but penalty from one-handed use now lesser than previously
- game encyclopedia (F1) entry about battleaxes has been updated.

- adjusted: descriptions of parts of the day

There are a few new tags, and this is how it goes now:

12 pm Noon
13 pm Early afternoon
14 pm-15 pm Afternoon
16 pm-17 pm Late afternoon
18 pm Early evening
19 pm-20 pm Evening
21 pm Late evening
22 pm Night
23 pm Late night
00 am Midnight
1 am-2 am After midnight
3 am-5 am Small hours
6 am Early morning
8 am Morning
10 am-11 am Late morning

- changed: 'laced leather shoes' replaced with 'leather boots'
The item name here was odd and unclear and is now changed. Leather boots cover feet and calves,
just like the laced leather shoes did.

- corrected: weight of shoes and boots

Shoes were too light. A pair of leather shoes now weigh 2 lbs. A pair of boots weigh 3.2 lbs.

- corrected: knife weights

All the knives were too heavy. This has been corrected and knives now weigh from 100 grams (small knife)
to 180 grams (northern knife). Skaramasaksi weighs around 1.2 pounds.

- fixed: tracks not appearing on snow covered base rock or crag tiles

- fixed: prone enemies could hit to any body location

Now prone enemies can hit you only to lower part of the body, mostly the legs.

- fixed: character's latest body temperature status not remembered correctly upon entering the game

- fixed: beaver's diving status occasionally persisting when they get out of the water

This resulted in invisible beavers walking around.

- fixed: diving creatures mistakenly triggering notification about something entering your sight - even though
you actually can't see them

- fixed: wilderness map glitch of picked items sometimes appearing again after zooming in and returning

This was a very rare condition, but caused occasional one-time duplication of items that were
dropped and picked up on the wilderness map.

- fixed: 'place for soaking' crafting requirement wasn't properly recognized when carrying a carcass

- fixed: trapped birds occasionally being able to fly (for a very brief moment)

- fixed: map maintenance occasionally failing to free any map space

This resulted in frequent maintenance tries on every map load with no real progress.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll give it another spin.

 

[Stainless Veteran]

URW 3.3 is availiable for lifetime supporters. I was struggling to find a changelog, but then I remembered that it's actually right there in game directory, derp. New version seems to be p.gud, men.

Spoiler

Version: 3.3 - alpha 2
Released: December 2015

** Saved characters from version 3.19-> are compatible with this version. **

THIS IS ALPHA RELEASE. THERE IS HIGH BUG POTENTIAL AND THERE ARE STILL LOTS OF THINGS TO DO
AND POLISH. BACKUP YOUR OLD CHARACTERS PROPERLY BEFORE TRYING THEM WITH THIS VERSION.


These are the most obvious still to-do things you should be aware of:
* Upcoming new title song is not in there yet
* Quests aren't in effect yet
* Heading box still uses the old avatar graphics (and is to be re-organized)
* With the new graphics the game might appear slower on older computers.
Speed optimization is still being worked on.


- tile graphics overhaul

We've accomplished quite a graphics update and along with hundreds of redrawn
tiles the game has got a whole new outlook new. To put this monumental task in a
nutshell it goes as follows:

* overhauled tile graphics engine

New tile system requires a new engine and that's what we have done.
The new engine isn't limited just for drawing static map tiles, but also allows
other improvements in graphical presentation of UnReal World which are explained
further in this newslist.

* redrawn tiles

Majority of tiles have been redrawn and there are also lots and lots of new unique
tiles for old items. For example, all the knives and swords have their own tile
instead of one generic tile being used for every knife or sword.
New tiles are located in truetile/ folder.
There's also truetile/readme.txt containing general information and modding
guidelines.
Nice bunch of tile contributions for this version come from Wickham's tileset.

* separate files for each tile - easier modding of tile graphics

Sprite sheets are gone and each tile is now in a separate file. This makes modding
and personal customization of graphics far more easy.

You can specify tile graphics for modded items with new [TILEGFX:] tag which
is explained further in this newslist. To add a new graphic tile for modded item
just create a new tile graphic file in truetile/ folder and use the tag to let
the game know to use that tile.

* graphical compatibility with old savegames and mods remains

Despite of huge changes in tile graphics structure compatibility with savegames and
even old mods should work quite well. The game corrects references to old indexed vanilla
tiles on the fly and shows the applicable new tiles instead. However, updating your
mods to use new tile system is advised. See usage of [TILEGFX:] tag to associate new tiles
to your mods further in this newslist.

- variety of graphical goodies and tweaks

With the power vested in new tile graphics engine the following graphical goodies and tweaks
have been implemented:

* enhanced missile attack graphics

Missile weapons and arrows are now drawn flying their head towards the target.
Other than missile weapons now spin around in the air when they are thrown.

* enhanced fire graphics

- Fires now spread a flickering circle of light around them which brightens and tints the surrouding
terrain and items. The effect is most immersive (and most necessary) during the darkest hours.
- Fires are now animated with three frames which makes them look more lively
- Size of the fire is now represented by scaling the fire sprite instead of using multiple sprites.

* direction-wise track graphics

Tracks of creatures are now drawn to their actual direction.

* two facing direction graphics for all the creatures; east and west

If a creature is facing towards NE,E,SE or S its' eastward graphic tile is used.
If a creature is facing towards N,NW,W or SW its' westward graphic tile is used.
In the future we'll be featuring creatures drawn to all eight facing direction, but this is a start.
The good old little blue arrow beside the creature still shows its' exact facing direction.

* direction arrow and two facing direction graphics for player character

Facing direction of the player character is now shown with little yellow arrow beside the avatar.
And just like the creatures the player avatar also has two facing direction graphics; east and west.

* when skiing the skis are now actually drawn under the character

* some plants have more growth stages than previously so you can expect to see more varying plant
graphics during their lifespan

- added: [F9] key command to reload tile graphics

Pressing [F9] will reload the tiles. It's easier to mod graphics now as you can edit a tile,
save it and then reload the graphics while the game is running to see the chances in action
right away.

- added: day and night lighting cycle

Map color scheme now changes according to time of the day and time of the year.
The lighting change is based on realistic solar elevation angle on northern hemisphere on a given game-time moment
and it's calculated and applied smoothly once per game-minute. Daylight slowly turns into twilight, dusk and night -
and then into dawn again.

The change of seasons, and the great seasonal variation in length of days and nights in the Far North is now far more
concrete and immersive.
During midsummer the sun barely sets at all and nights are light and short.
During midwinter days are really short and nights are long.
And late autumn nights are the darkest ones, until the snow comes.

- added: NIGHT_BRIGHTNESS configuration option (urw_ini.txt)

If the night time tint appears too dark on your monitor you can increase the brightness by adjusting NIGHT_BRIGHTNESS
configuration option in urw_ini.txt
Possible value is 0-30, and it's set to 0 by default.

- weather overhaul

The weather engine has been rewritten from a scratch and we've got detailed and realistic simulation of
weather factors such as rain, snowfall, solar elevation angle and temperature changes. The new weather
engine deals with numerous weather variables and much greater annual and seasonal changes are to be expected.
Put it in short; the years are less alike from now on.

Here's a list of the most exciting and important weather related improvements and mechanics:

* snowfall

It can snow for real in the game now, and you can see it snowing. There can be different levels of snowing,
and with the new weather engine in action the first snow naturally doesn't fall the same day every year.
Snow thickness is now tracked per 1mm and each hour of snowfall will make the snow grow thicker and thicker.
Similarly the snow melts away gradually when it gets warm enough.
- Visibility of tracks on the snow now depends on snow thickness. You can expect to notice less tracks when
the snow cover isn't all that thick.

- How fatiguing it is to walk in the snow now depends on snow thickness. You can expect to
get less fatigued from walking in the snow in early and late winter when the snow cover isn't
very thick.

- Snow depth is told to you when you look at ground tiles that aren't occupied by items.
Instead of plain "Ground" you'll now get verbal description of the snow depth
for example as follows:
"Faint snow", "Thin snow", "Fist deep snow", "Ankle deep snow", "Calf deep snow",
"Waist deep snow", "Chest deep snow" etc.

* realistic modelling of ice and freezing of lakes

Pretty much everything related to ice has been overhauled.
Lakes start to freeze when the weather gets cold enough. This doesn't happen the same time every
year, and the ice also doesn't grow equally thick every year. And when the lakes freeze, they
now freeze gradually.

- The ice cover first starts to build up at shallow water and proceeds towards deeper sections from there on.
How fast the ice cover increases or decreases depends solely on the weather. Ice thickness can also vary at
different sections of the lake. It's not anymore safe to walk on the ice as soon as there's ice cover on the
lake. Thin ice can break under any load it can't hold - be it your character, NPCs, animals or items.

- There's a confirmation to step on the ice if the character doubts the ice will hold. This applies to thin ice
which characters can easily recognize by stomping on it to see if it cracks. Notice that even if there are no
doubts and confirmations the ice still isn't necessarily safe to walk on.

- It's not possible to travel on the ice on world map when the character doesn't trust the ice completely.
If that's the case a message to zoom in to travel on the ice will be shown. This way the character
can't mistakenly step on unreliable ice on world map. However, it should be noted that the ice can't
never be trusted completely and even when you are allowed to travel on the ice on world map it can still
break. Should this happen, the character is forced on zoomed in map where he/she needs to navigate to
safe location.

* falling through the ice

- If you happen to fall through the ice climbing and pulling yourself back onto the ice is not easy and
depends on your climbing skill, agility and strength. All of these factors are tested on each turn you try to
move from the water onto the ice. Wielding any sharp pointy weapon such as knife, sword, spear or even an arrow
will improve your chances to pull yourself out of the water. Swimming skill is also important as it determines
for how long and how easily you can keep struggling in the water.

- If you're unable to get out of the water after 5-10 minutes, you're almost certainly not going to get out.
Your body temperature starts to drop as soon as you fall in the freezing water, and when hypothermia
sets in you will eventually lose consciousness and drown. Depending on your swimming and climbing skills
you will also build up certain amount fatigue on every turn you spend struggling in the water, and the more
fatigued you get the lower your chances to pull yourself out become.

* improved mechanics for making a hole in the ice

- Time required to make a hole in the ice has been adjusted and now also depends on the ice thickness
and the tool used. It's around 25 minute job to make a hole into half a meter thick ice
with an axe. An inch thick ice can be broken in a minute or so. If the ice is very thin you can
also break it without any tools.

- When making a hole in the ice the best available tool is automatically selected. In addition to axes,
spears and swords also stones and knives can be now used for breaking ice - even though they are quite
unhandy for the job. The order of ice breaking tools from best to worst goes as: axe, spear, sword,
knife, stone.

- Holes in the ice will freeze back gradually and remain recognizable for a few days. Eventually
the frozen holes will look like the regular ice cover, but may be weaker than the surrounding ice
for some time. As holes in the ice won't freeze completely overnight it's now easier to maintain
your wintertime water supply by breaking the same slightly frozen hole on a regular basis with only
a little effort.

* water temperature

- Water temperature factor has been added, and it's precisely tracked thorough the year. It's not anymore
always pleasant nor possible to swim for equally long time just about any day of the year.

- Entering the water has faster effect on character's body temperature now. Even if you were feeling warm
when going to swim in the cold water you'll get chilly or cold very soon. When the water is very warm
you can spend hours in there without ill effects, but even if the lakes aren't frozen the water can still
be so cold that there's a true risk of hypothermia. Needless to say, summer is best the season for longer
swimming trips from now on.

- If you are about to enter the cold water there's now always a confirmation if you really want to do so.
It's still safe to swim in the cold water, but now you just may need to warm up properly afterwards
to get comfortable again. However, entering the cold water when you are already freezing is not a
wise move.

- When looking at an adjacent water tile a message about the water temperature will be displayed.
"The water is freezingly cold.","The water is very cold.","The water is rather warm." etc.

- improved: temperature checks, character's body temperature and effects of freezing temperatures

Temperature checks and their results to character's physique and body temperature are now tracked per minute.
The curve at which character's body temperature now changes is smoother, more intelligent and more realistic.

* There's a new worst case character's body temperature tag added: "Freezing to death". Like the rest of tags,
it's shown in your "Nutrition/Warmth/Vigour" infobox and comes after the "Freezing" state. You should take the
new tag seriously as it informs about approaching lethal hypothermia. Actually, from now on you should take even
the "Freezing" tag more seriously than before.
The new, adjusted list of cold body temperature tags now goes as follows:
Cool, chilly, cold, bitterly cold, numbingly cold, freezing, freezing to death.

* With the new body temperature checks and their minute based tracking it's now more likely and way faster to die
of hypothermia in the cold weather if you aren't dressed properly. Previously you could walk naked in the
freezing weather for hours just getting frostbites all over your body. If you try the same thing now it can
result in a death within mere half an hour or so.

* Frostbites can still occur, but they are now more of nuisance rather than life-threatening risk. The death in the
cold now comes with lowered body temperature which at it worst leads to state of hypothermia where you lose your
consciousness and freeze to death. And it can happen without a single frostbite.
It's best to take the warmth tags and cues of lowered body temperature seriously.

* During extremely freezing temperatures it's now hardly avoidable to eventually feel cool, cold or chilly no matter
how many layers of fur you are wearing. Roaming days on end in the wild during the winter without occasionally
warming up by the fire is still sometimes manageable if you have lots of warm clothes, but it's no longer an
expedition of constant comfortable warmth.

- added: frozen ground and related digging restrictions

The ground can now get frozen along with freezing temperatures and this affects to possibilities
of digging it. It's not possible to dig at all in completely frozen ground, and it's harder to dig
in somewhat frosty ground.
When the ground first freezes and then melts again is based on average temperature of the
past few weeks. As a rule of thumb the ground gets frozen solid during the winter and starts to
melt again in the spring. Yearly variation can occur as this is based on the actual weather.
This adds a new factor to winter survival as you can't dig (trap) pits all year around anymore.

- added: restrictions to planting and preparing the soil when the ground is frozen

These actions don't depend merely on time of the year anymore, but are now linked to actual weather.
You can't plant anything or prepare the soil if it's still too cold or frosty. How early or late in
the spring you can start growing your own crops now varies annually.


- improved: weatherlore skill

As we've got a new weather engine there are also new weatherlore results. The weather prediction
is given for the next 24 hours and contains information about temperature changes and possibility
of rain or snow. Using weatherlore skill before noon gives you a weather prediction for the ongoing
day and the coming night. Using weatherlore skill after noon gives a prediction for the coming night
and tomorrow day.
How accurately you can predict the weather naturally depends on your weatherlore skill.

Examples of new weatherlore results:

"During the night the temperature will be slightly colder than now. It will be raining.
Tomorrow the temperature will be about the same as now. It will be raining."

"During the day the temperature will be slightly colder than now. It won't be snowing.
During the night the temperature will be slightly colder than now. It will be snowing a little."

- overhauled: horizon box

The "horizon box" in the upper left corner of the game view has been rewritten and refashioned.
Cloudiness, rain and snowfall are represented more beautifully with updated graphics.
The sun sails across the sky based on realistic solar elevation angle the new weather engine provides.
Tint of the horizon box also changes according to time of the day and follows the day and night lighting cycle.
Moreover, it's all updated on minute basis so everything that happens there now happens in more smooth and
precise fashion.

- added: new cursor drawing mechanics for selecting a target

The new cursor is drawn more precisely along with map refresh on each move and makes it easier to figure out what tile
you've selected. However, it may appear slow on some systems and because of that there's FAST_TARGET_CURSOR configuration
option in urw_ini.txt to turn on old-school fast target cursor at will.

- added: texture scaling quality configuration option

SCALE_QUALITY option in urw_ini.txt defines texture scaling quality as follows:
0 - nearest pixel
1 - linear
2 - best

It's set to 2 by default.

- overhauled: map of know areas (F6)

The outlook is familiar, but the content and options are enhanced and redesigned.

* map viewport is larger than before and utilizes your current screen size. If you've got the resolution the
enlargened map view appears sharp and crisp.

* cultural blocks are now round and alpha-blended on top of the map so that you get the idea of explored areas
also with cultural regions showing.

* point and click locations for more information

Hovering mouse cursor over the map brings up a target cursor and you can then point and click markers
and locations to see the associated information eg. village regional descriptions.
It's also possible to choose and select locations with keyboard if you don't care to touch the mouse.
With keyboard you can toggle target selector on and off by pressing [F3], and then use arrows keys to
move and [ENTER] to select the location.

* custom map markers

You can now add custom map markers with descriptive text. New markers can be added only at character's
current location, but editing and removing them anywhere on the map is possible regardless of character's
whereabouts. In addition to descriptive text you can also choose from five different marker colors.

Pointing and clicking a marker will show the associated description. When travelling on zoomed out
wilderness map the markers are clearly shown on when they come in your sight. You can also look at them
on wilderness map to view the descriptive text.

Markers are added and edited within Map Of Known Areas (F6) screen. To edit an already set marker
first point and click it. To add a new marker at character's location simply select [A]dd marker option.

- modding add: true modability of crafted (and cooked) items

Properties of crafted items can be modded so that truly new items can be created. This applies
to do-it-yourself items (diy_*.*) and cookery recipes (cookery_*.*).

Modding item properties is simple. You just add item property tags and preferred values after the actual
crafting code. If you are creating completely new items it's still advisable to use similar vanilla item
as a base item. Item property tags allow you to mod majority of item properties, but vanilla items may
have some fixed values which is why it's important to choose the base item carefully.
Eg. to create a new kind of a rope, base it on a vanilla rope to ensure it will be properly recognized as
tying equipment in the game.

Notice that modding item properties doesn't start from a scratch. Every crafted item already has its'
properties initialized, and you just need to modify the ones you want to modify. When modding cooked item
properties notice that the food price and nutritional values are always automatically calculated upon cooking.

Let's take a look at few examples.
Here we'll be crafting a new modded item "Custom javelin", which is based on vanilla Javelin:

.Custom javelin. "Javelin" *COMMON* /30/
{Staff} [remove]
{Cutting weapon} <Axe>
{Fire} '+(for hardening the head)'
[POINT_ATTACK:8]
[EDGE_ATTACK:-]
[BLUNT_ATTACK:2]
[WEIGHT:0.1]
[PRICE:2]
[1HPENALTY:5]

We'll set point attack to 8, blunt to 2 and disable edge. We adjust the weight and price, and modify one-handed
penalty for out custom javelin to 5%.


Another example, a leather miniskirt:

.Leather miniskirt. "Leather shirt" *COMMON* /60/
{Leather} #2.5# [remove]
{Knife}
[ARMOUR_MATERIAL:leather]
[ARMOUR_COVERAGE:hip groin]

We base it on "Leather shirt" and then modify the coverage so the miniskirt covers only hip & groin.


And item modding is done the same way with cookery recipes.
Here's a recipe for dried berries:

.Dried berries. *COOKERY* /25/ \10d\ %50% :151:
{Berries} #1# [remove] [roast] [nameile of dried %s]
[SPOILAGE_DAYS:0]
[WEIGHT:250 g]

We decrease the weight and set spoilage time to zero which makes the food last for ever.


Here's the list of item property tags you can use in modding items:
====================================================================================================================

[NAME:] - item name

Example:
[NAME:Weird knife] - The item is called weird knife in the game.
Notice .Item name. described in the header is still always shown in crafting menus, even
if you will specify a name with this tag.


***

[TILEGFX:] - graphic tile filename for the item without the filename extension

Example:
[TILEGFX:mytile] - the item uses truetile/mytile.png graphic tile.

Tiles for the items need to be located in truetile/ folder in .png format.
See truetile/readme.txt for more information about tile format.

***

[TYPE:] - item type

Possible values: weapon / armour / tool / container / skin / food / timber / vehicle / plant / valuable

Example:
[TYPE:weapon] - the item is a weapon

***

[WEIGHT:] - weight in pounds (by default), or in grams if the value is followed by g abbreviation

Examples:
[WEIGHT:1.5] - the item weighs 1.5 pounds
[WEIGHT:100 g] - the item weighs 100 grams

***

[CONT_CAPACITY:] - capacity of container type item in pounds

Example:
[CONT_CAPACITY:3] - the container can hold 3 lbs of food, liquid etc.

***

[PRICE:] - price in squirrel hides per item (default) or per pound if the value is followed by 'per lb'

Examples:
[PRICE:4] - the item costs 4 squirrel hides
[PRICE:0.2] - the item costs 0.2 squirrel hides
[PRICE:1.5 per lb] - one pound of the item costs 1.5 squirrel hides

***

[EDGE_ATTACK:]
[POINT_ATTACK:]
[BLUNT_ATTACK:] - damage values for weapon attack aspects

possible values: 0-9 or -
numbers define the damage, - means the aspect is not available for the weapon

Example:
[EDGE_ATTACK:0]
[POINT_ATTACK:2]
[BLUNT_ATTACK:-] - thie weapon has 0 edge damage, 2 point damage and doesn't have blunt attack aspect

***

[MATERIAL:] - of what raw-material the item is made of

This property is not fully functional yet and we'll be featured better in the future. However, it's advisable
to use this tag in your mods already.

possible values: wood / iron / leather / fur / birch-bark / cloth / wool / rock / bone / antler

Examples:
[MATERIAL:wood] - the item is wooden
[MATERIAL:cloth] - the item is made of some cloth
[MATERIAL:iron] - the item is made of iron

***

[ARMOUR_MATERIAL:] - material of armour type items. This defines the protection values.

possible values: lamellar / iron / mail / leather / fur / cloth / wool / birch-bark

Examples:
[ARMOUR_MATERIAL:iron] - the armour is made of iron

***

[ARMOUR_COVERAGE:] - bodyparts covered by the armour

possible values:
one of these predefined coverage categories:
cloak / hauberk / long_hauberk / habergeon / cuirass / overcoat / greaves / rerebraces / vambraces /
shirt / short_shirt / long_shirt / trousers / tunic
or any combination of these bodyparts values:
skull / face / neck / shoulder / upper_arm / elbow / forearm / hand /
thorax / abdomen / hip / groin / thigh / knee / calf / foot

Examples:
[ARMOUR_COVERAGEvercoat] - the armour has coverage of an overcoat
[ARMOUR_COVERAGE:skull neck shoulder] - the armour covers skull, neck and shoulders

***

[SKILL:] - skill associated with the item. Only for weapons.
possible value: one of the skills in the game eg. sword,club,bow,crossbow etc.

Example:
[SKILL:sword] - the weapon uses SWORD skill

***

[1H_PENALTY:] - skill penalty from using this weapon one-handed

possible value: 0-50, defaults to 0

Example:
[1H_PENALTY:15] - 15% penalty is added when this weapon is used one-handed

***

[AD_CLASS:] - attack and defense class of the weapon. A/D classification adds related skill bonus when the
weapon is used in attack or defense.

possible value: 0-6/0-6 (both values must be entered at once separated by /)

Default is 0/0. The higher the value the better the weapon performs in attack/defense.

Example:
[AD_CLASS:5/0] - the weapon has attack class 5 and no bonus when used in defense
[AD_CLASS:1/4] - the weapon has attack class 1 and defense class 4

***

[SPOILAGE_DAYS:] - in how many days the food item spoils

possible value: 0-253 (0 means that the item never spoils)

Example:
[SPOILAGE_DAYS:5] - the food item will spoil in 5 days

***

[CARB:]
[FAT:]
[PROTEIN:] - nutritional values for food items per 100 grams of the food

possible value: 0-99 representing grams of carbohydrates/fat/protein per 100 grams of the food

Example:
[CARB:0] - the item contains no carbohydrates
[FAT:4] - the item contains 4 g of fat (per 100 g)
[PROTEIN:12] - the item contains 12 g of protein (per 100 g)

- improved: examining locations

* When looking at a location occupied by both NPC and items the information of items
is now also displayed. (Previously in such a situation only NPC information was displayed.)

* When looking at non-empty location tile type information is now always displayed.
For example, if there's a roasted cut on a sleeping bunk it will say:
You see there a roasted cut.
Sleeping bunk
(Previously tile type information was displayed only when looking at empty locations)

* Examining a distant location ([l] or [F3]) now also displays precise track information if
it's an unoccupied adjacent tile you are looking at. If you examine a further away location
with visible tracks it just mentions that there are "some tracks".

- added: information about how long a fire will burn

When examining a fire, you'll be given an estimation for how long it will burn. It's not an exact hour and
minute information, but we use descriptions like:
"This fire will burn for half an hour / an hour / over an hour / a few hours / several hours / etc. "
If the fire is expected to burn for less than half an hour it's said to last "a (very) little while".
If the fire is expected to burn many, many hours then time of day descriptions are used in this fashion:
"This fire will burn till evening / noon / early morning / etc."

- added: setup options menu

Most common setup options can be now changed from in-game setup menu.
Editing urw_ini.txt remains for configuring more advanced options.
Setup menu can be accessed from the start screen and from the game itself through
newly added help and game options menu -> [ESC].
Editing setup options through the menu changes contents of urw_ini.txt accordingly.
You'll always have the same active configuration running regardless of how you do it.

- added: help and game options menu - [ESC]

List of keyboard commands, game encyclopedia, setup options, saving and quitting can be now activated
through a single menu. This menu is accessed by pressing [ESC] in the main game view and it eases
newcomers troubles of memorizing keyboard commands or producing [?] symbol.

- added: hotkey to quickly save the character - [CTRL]+

Pressing CTRL+s saves the character and exits to main screen quickly and without confirmations.

- added: when prompted to enter a number you can now type numbers also with numpad keys

For example, when you're asked how many items to pick numpad cursor keys produce numbers.
In all the other menus numpad keys move the selector.

- changed mechanics: going on shore by watercraft

When travelling by watercraft you may now go on shore only on zoomed in map.

There's message to inform you about it if you try to go on shore on world map.
This fixes odd automatic watercraft placement attempts, and makes it more convenient to
raft on world map as you don't have to worry about accidentally going on shore.

- changed mechanic: zooming out at water based terrain

It's not allowed to zoom out at water based terrain, unless you are travelling by watercraft.

This means you need to move away from lake, river, rapids, sea etc. water based zoomed
in maps before it is allowed to zoom back out to world map. You'll get accustomed to
this quite soon, and often it's only a few steps you need to take to cross the map border
onto dry land.
This change was made to get rid of glitches which arose from game's attempts to automatically
locate walking characters on dry land on the world map. When repeatedly visiting zoomed
in terrain beside the water, returning exactly from where you last zoomed out also works
better without the world map relocation hassle.

- added: broad knife is now preferred tool in hideworking

Broad knife is the best and preferred tool in skinning carcasses and cleaning hides.
Northern knife, hunting knife and kaumolais knife - in this order - are the second best tools for
hideworking jobs.

- added: stone knife - a new craftable weapon

It's an awkward knife, but a knife nevertheless. Stone knife can be crafted with two rocks -
one for blade, one for knapping.

- added: broken arrows

When arrows break they don't just disappear anymore as there's now a broken arrow item.
Broken arrows aren't useful or weapons at all, but just firewood.

- adjusted: bowshooting accuracy of skilled bowmen

Skilled bowmen are now slightly more accurate. Nothing radical, just some fine tuning.

- adjusted: battleaxe properties

The earlier battleaxe type and its' description and properties were of an anachronistic fantasy weapon.
Several changes have been made and now battleaxe in the game represents a long-shafted viking battleaxe
which were single bladed, carefully balanced and relatively light weapons:

- battleaxes are now lighter than previously, weighing around around 3.5 lbs.
- battleaxes don't have point attack aspect anymore - the earlier fantasy battleaxe had a spike in the head
- long-shafted battleaxes are still two-handed weapons but penalty from one-handed use now lesser than previously
- game encyclopedia (F1) entry about battleaxes has been updated.

- adjusted: descriptions of parts of the day

There are a few new tags, and this is how it goes now:

12 pm Noon
13 pm Early afternoon
14 pm-15 pm Afternoon
16 pm-17 pm Late afternoon
18 pm Early evening
19 pm-20 pm Evening
21 pm Late evening
22 pm Night
23 pm Late night
00 am Midnight
1 am-2 am After midnight
3 am-5 am Small hours
6 am Early morning
8 am Morning
10 am-11 am Late morning

- changed: 'laced leather shoes' replaced with 'leather boots'
The item name here was odd and unclear and is now changed. Leather boots cover feet and calves,
just like the laced leather shoes did.

- corrected: weight of shoes and boots

Shoes were too light. A pair of leather shoes now weigh 2 lbs. A pair of boots weigh 3.2 lbs.

- corrected: knife weights

All the knives were too heavy. This has been corrected and knives now weigh from 100 grams (small knife)
to 180 grams (northern knife). Skaramasaksi weighs around 1.2 pounds.

- fixed: tracks not appearing on snow covered base rock or crag tiles

- fixed: prone enemies could hit to any body location

Now prone enemies can hit you only to lower part of the body, mostly the legs.

- fixed: character's latest body temperature status not remembered correctly upon entering the game

- fixed: beaver's diving status occasionally persisting when they get out of the water

This resulted in invisible beavers walking around.

- fixed: diving creatures mistakenly triggering notification about something entering your sight - even though
you actually can't see them

- fixed: wilderness map glitch of picked items sometimes appearing again after zooming in and returning

This was a very rare condition, but caused occasional one-time duplication of items that were
dropped and picked up on the wilderness map.

- fixed: 'place for soaking' crafting requirement wasn't properly recognized when carrying a carcass

- fixed: trapped birds occasionally being able to fly (for a very brief moment)

- fixed: map maintenance occasionally failing to free any map space

This resulted in frequent maintenance tries on every map load with no real progress.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll give it another spin.

Dammit, now here's another holiday timesink trap. Like I don't have Underrail, AoD and ADOM already.

 

[Tito Anic]

Allahu Akbar!

insha'Allah

Also i tracked your char, very interesting build: mix of shield defence, nightmare, dreaming. What was the pace of game? Rough start, easy finish? I am considering playing your build after steamrolled through continent with last winning build

Elandar did not have a chance

 

[dibens]

insha'Allah

Also i tracked your char, very interesting build: mix of shield defence, nightmare, dreaming. What was the pace of game? Rough start, easy finish?

The build is aimed to be unkillable and succeeds fairly well at the task as long as nobody cancels your regen and/or sustains.

Since it only has one offensive talent tree, you'll need some +mind% and penetration to get the damage going. Early game is super easy with base abilities alone, but damage peters out a bit in 20s, then picks up again after the Mental Tyranny prodigy. Once you start getting decent items, you become unstoppable, doing 1k+ dmg guaranteed every 2nd turn to everyone in a straight line. Overall I'd say midgame is the weakest stretch.

The usefulness of Nightmare is really hard to gauge. At worst you won't be able to land it, at best it will humiliate the rare/boss completely. Most of the time the nightmares act as useful distractions and let you work in the background.

The build is far from ideal though. If I would roll the same character, I'd probably dump some talents in favor of others.

after steamrolled through continent with last winning build

-Adventure mode
-Escorts Enchanted
-Succor and easement
-Quick Drown NPCs