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Patch A31
Our Motto: "Doesn't seem to be an emergency yet!"
Estimated Release: Early-February?
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* STRANGE SCENE-MATES. I guess it is the increase in the number of submaps and their layout which has increased reports of this bug (since it has been part of the game forever). Anyway, I wasn't including the submap idea in my distance calculation (hey, I didn't HAVE submaps when I wrote that!) so you were being pulled into scenes if your relative X,Y offset matched the other guy, EVEN IF YOU WERE ON DIFFERENT MAPS. Ooops.

* CUSTOM SHOPS. There is a limit to the # of items I can sell in a single shop, and A30 created SO MANY ITEMS that most of them can't be bought in the mega-store wallmarts on the A30 map. So, the A31 map has smaller shops with more tightly-controlled levels. (Port shrimpee only sells level 80-99 for example). So you'll have to travel around to find a specific item. But that's how these games usually work. Some things, like potions, are pretty universally available. Anyway, 66 new shop scenes in A31. And it's nicer this way since they provide local color, and possible plot point locations.

* ENABLE NEWS setting is remembered. Actually it was being remembered already, just on top of your 'enable map smoothing' setting instead. ooops.

* INFERNO REQUIRES FIRE BOOTS. Which means it is now unplayable until you do the fire boot quest (woo hoo, a necessary quest that already exists!) I'll do the water boot quest next, so you can get into the Sea Grotto (I think that's a pretty map, by the way). I am making it so you only have to wear the boots to get in. You can take them off after that and walk on lava without it hurting. Must be magic :-)

* QUEST ITEMS LIMITED TO ONE PER CUSTOMER. If an item is a quest item (set to cost 0 GP in the item table), attempts to give extra copies of it to a hero will reset the hero to having only one. This way, even a broken script can't hand out multiples. However, if you already have multiples, you won't get reset until the next time you are given another one - which may never happen)

* LEVEL-CHANGING RULES CHANGE AGAIN! Okie Dokie, it was too hard, it was too easy, it was too hard, now it is a bit easier again. I changed the 200K max to a sliding scale. So, XP per level is the smaller of two values. A linear value which increases with current level (with 250K needed for level 99-100, if that were possible). And a geometric value which increases a certain percentage of the previous level. So, the early levels are unchanged (easy), with proportional difficulty increases until eventually you slip into the linear section at the end. My level 87 character was boosted to level 92 as a result of this change, to give you an idea of the effect this might have on your higher level characters. Again, total XP is preserved, so we can play this game forever without really costing you actual XP :-)

* ALL BOOTS AVAILABLE. The fire, water, rubber, and various specialty movement boots are now all available somewhere or another, even if no big quest is required.

* LINK EDITOR SUPPORTS WEATHER AND FX. For each link point you can now specify the default FX and weather to be used in nearby camp/fight scenes. This means I can now have the lava bubble in Inferno and the Sea Grotto is really underwater. Plus, my favorite, snow!

* NEW GAME IN TOWN - MONSTER RACER. (Thanks to Ben for the almost-pun name, and thanks to [your name here] for the suggestion!) It's like slobber slots, but it is a 4-way race. Costs 100GP to play, you win 500GP if your horse wins, get your money back if your horse comes in second, otherwise you lose. This means that statistically it's a money-making machine. Heck, why not? I was going to make it all complicated with odds and all, but it's kinda fun in this simple form.

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Again, don't be miffed WHEN I edit your reply, AND delete all or portions of it. Nothing personal, this is just a 'special topic' in that way. As usual, you are making great suggestions and some of them are just going on my "Big List", so you may not see them in the next release.

Thanks again!

[ I *think* I made it so you can have your own effects file for your world... however, please feel free to mail me cool effects additions to be included in the standard set. And no, changes you make to effects on your machine will not be seen by the other players. - samsyn]

~DragonLord

[I like the idea of enchantments, myself. It will be on the back burner though, as it is an architectural problem to implement - sort of similar to diseases which last after you leave the scene - I mean I have to solve the same problem -samsyn]

~DragonLord

Level 1 - XP:24
Level 2 - XP:28
Level 3 - XP:33
Level 4 - XP:39
Level 5 - XP:46
Level 6 - XP:55
Level 7 - XP:66
Level 8 - XP:79
Level 9 - XP:94
Level 10 - XP:112
Level 11 - XP:134
Level 12 - XP:160
Level 13 - XP:192
Level 14 - XP:230
Level 15 - XP:276
Level 16 - XP:331
Level 17 - XP:397
Level 18 - XP:476
Level 19 - XP:571
Level 20 - XP:685
Level 21 - XP:822
Level 22 - XP:986
Level 23 - XP:1183
Level 24 - XP:1419
Level 25 - XP:1702
Level 26 - XP:2042
Level 27 - XP:2450
Level 28 - XP:2940
Level 29 - XP:3528
Level 30 - XP:4233
Level 31 - XP:5079
Level 32 - XP:6094
Level 33 - XP:7312
Level 34 - XP:8774
Level 35 - XP:10528
Level 36 - XP:12633
Level 37 - XP:15159
Level 38 - XP:18190
Level 39 - XP:21828
Level 40 - XP:26193
Level 41 - XP:31431
Level 42 - XP:37717
Level 43 - XP:45260
Level 44 - XP:54312
Level 45 - XP:65174
Level 46 - XP:78208
Level 47 - XP:93849
Level 48 - XP:112618
Level 49 - XP:122500
Level 50 - XP:125000
Level 51 - XP:127500
Level 52 - XP:130000
Level 53 - XP:132500
Level 54 - XP:135000
Level 55 - XP:137500
Level 56 - XP:140000
Level 57 - XP:142500
Level 58 - XP:145000
Level 59 - XP:147500
Level 60 - XP:150000
Level 61 - XP:152500
Level 62 - XP:155000
Level 63 - XP:157500
Level 64 - XP:160000
Level 65 - XP:162500
Level 66 - XP:165000
Level 67 - XP:167500
Level 68 - XP:170000
Level 69 - XP:172500
Level 70 - XP:175000
Level 71 - XP:177500
Level 72 - XP:180000
Level 73 - XP:182500
Level 74 - XP:185000
Level 75 - XP:187500
Level 76 - XP:190000
Level 77 - XP:192500
Level 78 - XP:195000
Level 79 - XP:197500
Level 80 - XP:200000
Level 81 - XP:202500
Level 82 - XP:205000
Level 83 - XP:207500
Level 84 - XP:210000
Level 85 - XP:212500
Level 86 - XP:215000
Level 87 - XP:217500
Level 88 - XP:220000
Level 89 - XP:222500
Level 90 - XP:225000
Level 91 - XP:227500
Level 92 - XP:230000
Level 93 - XP:232500
Level 94 - XP:235000
Level 95 - XP:237500
Level 96 - XP:240000
Level 97 - XP:242500
Level 98 - XP:245000

1. There are 2 swords with A255 at different levels, El Diablo being one of them, the other is a level 92 sword.

   [OK, I knew you were crazy about this one, as the quest table clearly disagrees with your statement. But, of course, it turns out there is a 255 limit on that attribute, and I had a little math error in the sword table as a result. Now the sword table parallels the other right-hand tables]

   Does this mean the limit has been raised above 255? Or is the maximum 255 flat out?

   [the max is still 255 but there was a place in the sword table where I increased the A too much in one step]

2. 32k EXP cap interferes with any fights bigger than the 3 Scissorjaw + 2 Troll combo, if you decide to make a bigger fight.

   [given the max XP level change is 250K, that's only 8 32K fights, so I think this fits under the canopy of 'balance' Allowing higher XP per fight puts pressure in all the inflationary directions.. need more levels.. more this.. more that.]

   I didn't say the fights had to be EASY, did I?

3. Using the Quest editor while in a Multiplayer game on a Mix server results in missing graphics, and when you leave the world and try to return, it shows no worlds available, and no background image shown either.

   [I can totally not recreate this. I'll need a more detailed recipe for the disaster]

   I'll try to make a step-by-step recreation soon.

4. The area outside of Reaper's Temple has no monsters in the fight scene, it just automatically awards 0 exp/0 gp, and an occasional item or two.

   [fixed]

5. Sell all sells one item at a time, and refreshes the list each time, making it a slow process for large quantities of an item.

   [there is a certain class of operation which is intentionally unwieldy. If this were a business app, it would make sense to automate it. But as a game, I think some things like this are actually part of the experience. I always run to the SENSE HEADING command in everquest as an example of this. If you really went into a weapons shop and sold 200 gloves, it would take awhile for the gloves to get handed over.. Likewise, one big button which automatically sold everything you didn't want in one click would be convenient, but I think in the long run it would be detrimental to the game. Like an auto-pilot which automatically walked your character around and slugged out the fights for it would be convenient... It's a tough call though, since some things are just plain irritating.]

   True, but selling one at a time is a bit tedious. Maybe sell in bunches of 5 or 10? But if you think about it, if you have a sack with 200 gauntlets, basically, you CAN hand it over all at once. Same with a pack with a dozen swords. But I do see your point. I just hate that it locks up WoS for the duration of the selling.

   [well, it's pretty unusual to have a large number of an item that you want to get rid off.. I mean through normal play]

6. The large Moraysaur has the white guide lines showing.

7. Some skins have incorrect transparent information (the first pixel is black instead of the background color).

   [As near as I can tell, all the skins I ship with the game are OK. Do you have names? There have been problem copies of the atlatler and one other in the past, but I think the official release have clean versions]

   I can't give names because I edited the skins myself to fix them. But atlater was one of them.

   [ok, then I think the official distribution is OK]

8. I noticed you can click on the column headers in shop menus to sort items, but when you sort by type, the level numbers aren't in order. However, if you sort by price, the levels go in order due to the increase in prices.

   [more laziness on my part, but fixed now]

   I see you're a bit like me. I don't do much until someone comes after me with a red-hot poker.

[This message has been edited by Lurch (edited 01-22-2000).]

[This message has been edited by samsyn (edited 01-23-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Lurch (edited 01-23-2000).]

now I know what ya said about being a pker means you gotta live with the high level ppl killing you, but this isn't fair. some ppl (like me in the far beginning) wanted to be pk to duel friends and no more. alot of ppl are like this. but then certain people come along and make it a nightmare for them to level.

Soultion 1) make a cap so where you can only kill someone if they are 5 levels lower on up. unless the low level guy hits first. like Bob can't kill Joe cuz Bob is level 15 and joe is 9. but if Joe hits Bob then it is open hunting season for Bob (don't ask about the names)

Solution 2) This un may require more work but ya know.... make like a duel button or a thing in the file menu called duel. only if both characters have duel clciked/pressed can they fight. This would eliminate the whole being a pk or not thing. and although you can kill someone and go un pk, you can't kill them unless the other guy wanted to duel.