Quest for the Unicorn (now at v7.0 HC)

[getter77]

http://www.elf-emulation.com/rcs/unicorn5/index.html

   

Rarity change to allow for ultra rare items
    Sockets may now appear on rings, necklaces, weapons and armour Items can have up to 3 sockets
    Recipe book browser added to crafting screen
    No more random treasure, all treasure now comes from mob drops
    Addition of items with enchantments, items can have up to 3 enchants
    Trophies have been added
    Many new crafted items have been added
    Added Hall of Legends and Hall of Remembrance score tables
    It is now possible to find items with enchants on them
    Identify now shows the identified item in the message area
    Added some statistics tracking
    Added magical resistance attribute to mitigate some magical damage
    Added ability for monster levels to be increased
    Added seasonal items and trophies

Linux/Unix only it seems, unless one manages with this Cygwin thing on windows.  The game has a long history to it it seems...

http://roguebasin.roguelikedevelopment.org/index.php?title=Quest_for_the_Unicorn

Anybody spent any time with this old timer?

[getter77]

So...updates seem to have happened en route to v5.6HC:

Version 5.3(HC) - Released on April 28, 2011

    -Rarity change to allow for ultra rare items
    -Sockets may now appear on rings, necklaces, weapons and armour Items can have up to 3 sockets
    -Recipe book browser added to crafting screen
    -No more random treasure, all treasure now comes from mob drops
    -Addition of items with enchantments, items can have up to 3 enchants
    -Trophies have been added
    -Many new crafted items have been added
    -Added Hall of Legends and Hall of Remembrance score tables
    -It is now possible to find items with enchants on them
    -Identify now shows the identified item in the message area
    -Added some statistics tracking
    -Added magical resistance attribute to mitigate some magical damage
    -Added ability for monster levels to be increased
    -Added seasonal items and trophies

Version 5.4(HC) - Released on May 11, 2011

    -Players now have some basic items from the start
    -Players now start with no gold
    -Health items can now never give more than max hp
    -Some restructuring of the source was done to remove most of the remaining hard coded data. This was done to facilitate the use of the underlying engine with other games, mainly I intend to rework the dataset from The Land to be used with the Unicorn engine in order to revive The Land on a system that is easier to deal with.

Version 5.5 (HC) - Not publicly released

    -Added crit as a stat, doubles damage on critical hits
    -Added gems with crit bonus
    -Added Hit/Miss/Crit counts to statistics screen
    -Added crafted gems
    -Fixed bug in interest earned stat
    -Fixed bug in F-key spell casting
    -Fixed bug where map was incorrectly positioned allowing non-map elements to appear in the map area. This also solves a crash that occurs when the map is improperly positioned
    -Added data cards for items, now you can look at the details of identified items
    -There is now a chance that items will be identified when they are first picked up. Common items will always be identified. The rarer the item the less likely the item will be auto-identified
    -Lore skill contributes to the chance of auto-identifying an item on pickup

Version 5.6 (HC) October 4, 2012

    -Added monochrome mode
    -Altered how skill levelling works
    -Altered player and monster to-hit calculation
    -Altered player and monster damage calculations
    -Added dodge attribute
    -More new items
    -Reduced duration of confusion caused by alcoholic drinks
   - Force background in color mode to be black
    -Removed hunting as a skill, now it uses search
    -Added Blunt weapon skill and moved blunt weapons to their own category
    -Added wands as a weapon type, magic is the controlling skill
    -Added weapon affinity to classes. When using weapons to which your class has affinity you gain a 50% damage bonus
    -Added new class Enchanter. This class levels like a mage but engages in combat using traditional weapons. This class has spells that allow them to enchant their own gear without the need for enchantment scrolls
    -Weapons, Armor, and gem prices are now formula based rather than the original arbitrary prices
    -Added mutable class of weapons and armor. These itmes obtain randomly generated intrisics/enchant effects upon weapon identification. There are 7,056 possible combinations that a mutable item could come in
    -Redid the haggling system, should work better than the old one did
    -Added multi-page capability to shops so that when there are more than 36 items for sale the player can move through the pages to see all items for sale
    -Added craft item shops to Radon, Nichorville, and Marduk
    -Added some legendary weapons

That's definitely some progress!   

[getter77]

v5.7 HC

    -Dungeon main treasures are now identified when picked up
    -Fixed bug where potions, scrolls, and meals were improperly counted
    -Added color to item names to indicate rarity
    -Fixed bug when identifying objects at pawn shops incorrectly making them mutable
    -Fixed haggling bug where shopkeeper goes into the negative
    -Modified how mutable item levels are calculated
    -Monsters no longer chase player until they have had line of site with the player. This helps to prevent the mobbings that generally happened when changing dungeon levels
    -Modified sources so that they can be compiled with MinGW, allowing for native Windows builds
    -Fixed bug where mutable armor or weapons are negative power
    -Experience is divided amongst all living party members
    -Party members gain experience/levels even outside party combat
    -Fix compass so that it works correctly when destination is not in the same region as the player
    -Added legacy weapons and armor, these items gain in strengh and abilities as the player levels. Abilities acquired by a legacy item cannot be removed
    -Fixed bug where items could no longer be dropped after 1000 of them have been

Nice assortment it looks like, Legacy equipment looks to be a nifty concept alongside the seemingly far better party management when it comes to exp and such.

[getter77]

v6.0 HC   

I cannot believe it but it has been 25 years since Quest for the Unicorn was first released. Without a doubt this has been my longest active project. I originally wrote Quest on a Tandy-1000 with two floppy drives using Turbo Pascal 3. Over the years it has gone through a few major rewrites, converting the code from Pascal to c, another to convert it to the hardcore version and now another to be able to add in extra flexibility to continue to expand in the future.

I give many thanks to those who have supported Quest through the years, either with bug reports, comments on the game, or any other suggestions which helped to keep me working on this game and keep it alive. As a special thanks to all those who supported me over the years I am releasing a special Silver Anniversary Edition. This special compilation will be available for a time here on this site. All characters created in this version, as well as those loaded from 5.7 compatible versions, will receive a special trinket geared towards their class.

A major overhaul of the underlying engine was done in this version.


    The duration of summoned creatures is now based upon level and magic skill.
    Added typed damage to monsters as well as typed resistance/immunity.
    Added new elemental spells.
    Added elemental gems.
    Some monsters now do damage over time.
    Added several new trap types.
    Changed level 1 poisonous monsters to level 2.
    Increased the potency of poison.
    Added rooting effect. A rooted player can still fight but cannot move.
    Players can no longer move if they exceed their weight limit.
    Changed water color to be a lighter blue so that it is easier to see.
    Changed school courses to account for skill changes.
    It is now possible to ask an npc to join your party after talking with them.
    Added Heroic mode. Monsters are 2 times stronger.
    Added Epic mode. Monsters are 4 times stronger.
    Added casual mode. Disables permadeath and score tracking.
    Added rebirth.
    Added racials.
    Dual weapon wielding.
    Changed Right and Left hand in inventory to Main hand and Off hand.
    Redid fear mechanic. Now fear will cuase the person feared to run from the nearest threat.
    Changed force field mechanics. Now neither the player nor monsters can walk through them. Attacking them in melee combat can weaken/destroy them. Force fields will stop all ranged combat without weakening.
    Changed ranged targeting. Now it is possible to target something that is not on any of the 8 base directions. Beware, monsters also use the new ranged targeting.
    Fixed bug where healing would use the base max health instead of the adjusted max health.
    Schools now change the price of courses depending on the level of skill.
    Added confirmation when using the <Q>uit command to prevent accidently ending a game.
    Added random spell scrolls. Any class may use these as a single cast spell.
    When <S>aving, the filename will be pre-loaded with the file used to load the game.
    Lowered price of status effect clearing potions.
    Using a weapon that you do not have at least 5 in its controlling skill will decrease chance to hit and damage done.
    Cursed items can no longer be auto identified.
    Mobs defeated in upland combat can now leave drops.
    Fixed bug where using 'x' command on inventory could cause a crash when the 'In Air' item was selected.
    Added gear restrictions. No longer can all classes equip all gear.
    Changed how Attack Power increases weapon damage.
    Added Spell Power stat to increase magical damage/healing.
    Added Spell Power gems and enchants. Mutables can also be found with Spell Power on them.
    Polymorph spells added to druid that allows the druid to polymorph himself into various animals. The druid gains attack, defense, and health based upon the animal changed into.
    Added some additional stats to the character record screen.
    Revamped and improved Wizard Mode.
    Changed how new spells are acquired and learned. No longer will casters gain a new spell on level up. Instead spell scrolls must be found or purchased and then transcribed into the caster's spellbook. Casters start with all level 1 spells already known.
    Added ability to learn spells from other classes, but chances are quite low at succeeding. Chances can be improved by increased Magic and Lore skills.
    + or - on a weapon no longer affects damage, only chance to hit.
    Further diferentiation of weapon skills.
    Mutables are now set when the item is spawned rather than when the item is identified. This allows for a mutable's effects to take effect even before the item is known.
    Shield type spells now provide armor bonuses based upon caster level.
    Added back the missing mount shop.
    You can now attempt the oin command on pacified monsters.
    Two handed weapons (swords, polearms) may never be held in the off hand.
    If a two handed weapon is in your main hand then nothing can be held in the off hand.
    Shields will no longer contribute to armor rating if using a 2-handed weapon (polearms, bows, 2 handed swords) or dual wielding.
    Added flares as a way to see further away.
    Fixed bug where mana cost reduction from increased magic skill was not computed correctly.
    Casters in your party will no longer move towards monsters, they stay put and cast from a distance.
    Fixed bug where secret doors could be found in cities.
    Changed damage reduction calculation for armor.
    Fixed bug where you could step on a party member in multi-party combat mode.
    The magic compass can now be set to any destination that you know of. Locations are known if you have entered them or if you have heard about them from an npc or scroll. To set the compass target, 'u'se it.
    Bosses have been added to the bottom level of most dungeons. They are typically a couple levels above the monsters you find on the bottom level.
    Map generator has been replaced. Generated maps are now cleaner and easier to navigate. No more strange intersections, no more doors next to doors next to doors. No more long lines of secret doors between parallel passageways.
    Reported amount of experience on a level no longer includes friendlies that are on the level.
    Dungeons no longer scale to the player.
    Legacy items will no longer spawn duplicate enchants.
    Mutable items will no longer spawn duplicate enchants.
    Fixed bug where crafting with no craft item caused a crash.
    Altering the game using Wizard mode will force the game into casual mode.
    Damage from Sticks to Snakes snakes is now based upon magic skill rather than player level.
    Number of snakes summoned by Sticks to Snakes has been changed from 5 to magic skill divided by 10 plus 2.
    Fixed bug where ring of identification was not identifying items in multi-party combat mode.
    Fixed bug with energy weapons not hitting targets.
    <I>nfo command can now be used with house inventories.
    You can now unpack into an occupied inventory slot, the item there will exchanged with the pack item.
    Fixed bug where search did not work inside the gateway.
    Modified topography of final realm to give more cover.
    Added new playable class: Shaman

Outstanding to see such a meaty changelog is still well and truly a thing for a project of this vintage!   

[Samildanach]

You're having a giraffe!

It's funny really, I've made an effort to try and get into Quest for the Unicorn, but found the opacity of the interface problematic. I didn't expect an update in a million years!

EDIT: I'm disappointed to discover it hasn't fixed the biggest fundamental problem with the game, which is that there's no way to get a light source unless you start as a cleric. Without a light source you can't do anything to get money, which means literally the only class that is actually usable is the cleric. Annoying.

[getter77]

There must be something somehow---try contacting the dev at this rate, heh.   

[Samildanach]

I notice the new version contains an instruction manual! That's a welcome relief.

Having said that, the manual says you should always buy supplies before doing anything...but you start with 0 gold. I'm not convinced that the dev knows anything about his game.

[getter77]

The mystery is solved apparently by the, could've sworn it wasn't there before, Tips & Tricks sidebar section on the website.

Also there was apparently a late night mini-update of sorts, so re-downloading is probably a good idea.

[Samildanach]

The mystery is solved apparently by the, could've sworn it wasn't there before, Tips & Tricks sidebar section on the website.

Also there was apparently a late night mini-update of sorts, so re-downloading is probably a good idea.

Yeah, I checked out the tips and tricks. It doesn't address the light issue, which still makes the game fundamentally a mess.

Not to be negative.

[getter77]

Now the site is a WIP on updates with more coming in Tips & Tricks and the addition of a FAQ section as well as an explicit dev contact email to help populate the pair with aid and answers.   

[getter77]

Brief experiment:   Rolled a throwaway Monk, found dungeon due north of the starting town I couldn't be bothered to do anything in outside of being surprised to see such a large starting town with multiple screens to it and whatnot, entered, hit the l key as per the manual's section on Dungeon contextual key presses---light radius of a few tiles activated...quickly assailed by 3 foes in the open unto death, but hey...that sorted it!

Also works with Fighter, the new Shaman, presumably the rest in a similar manner.

[Samildanach]

Brief experiment:   Rolled a throwaway Monk, found dungeon due north of the starting town I couldn't be bothered to do anything in outside of being surprised to see such a large starting town with multiple screens to it and whatnot, entered, hit the l key as per the manual's section on Dungeon contextual key presses---light radius of a few tiles activated...quickly assailed by 3 foes in the open unto death, but hey...that sorted it!

Also works with Fighter, the new Shaman, presumably the rest in a similar manner.

I'll try it out. Thanks!

The game needs to make things a lot clearer, but the important thing is that it's playable. By the way, it can be a nuisance trying to find merchants in the city due to the tiny vision radius, so I'll mention that they're mostly at the south end of the city in little houses.

[Samildanach]

quickly assailed by 3 foes in the open unto death

As an aside, that seems to happen a lot. I just played five games in a row where I was mobbed by 4-7 enemies in the first room and killed.

[getter77]

v6.1 hits a heap of things   

    A trap will now be discovered if it is sprung
    There is now a .2% per point of Scout of finding a trap automatically
    Slowed down party member level progression
    Character name will be used for save name on new characters
    Added pickaxes
    Item shops are now sorted alphabetically
    Fixed bug where entering villages caused a crash
    Fixed bug where you could keep eating while satiated in the wilderness
    Added day/night cycle to upland travel, allows to see further in daylight
    Live update of secondary stats while setting primary stats during character creation
    Made game clock change on every turn
    Added <E>at command to dungeons
    Made it so <ESC> can escape from all screens
    Fixed light on upland combats, and leaving other screens while upland
    Merchants can also be activated with <t>alk command
    Fixed bug where you can sell an empty inventory slot
    Fixed bug where you could have the pawn shop identify an empty inventory slot
    Colors for hunger indicator
    Clear keybuffer before upland
    Delay before monsters attack after first arriving on level
    Purchased mounts now have full hp for level
    Changed dungeon level label in side display to depth
    Added up/down commands to pack/house inventory
    Added space/exchange to pack/house invenotry
    Fixed bug where player disappears when standing on a friendly/dungeon stairs/etc
    made long messages wrap lines
    Modified <v>iew mode to show whatever is under the cursor
    Fixed bug where merchant would give item away for nothing
    Added <G> as an alternate for <P> to Get and pack.
    Item from in-air can now drop on nearest empty space within 5 squares
    Inventory cannot be exited if a space to drop in-air cannot be found
    Can now open/close doors on the diagonal
    Added Auto Bump Door option to open doors when run into
    Added Auto Bump Wall option, will perform <s>earch when running into wall
    Added Auto Pickup Gold option, will pick up gold when walking over it
    Added Auto Pickup Torch option, will pick up torches when walking over them
    Will read unicorn.cfg for options before command line options
    Renamed In Air slot of inventory to On Ground to better indicate that the item in that slot is not in your inventory, but laying on the ground.
    Monsters can now drop loot even when not in an empty space, the loot will appear in adjacent space if the one the monster is on is not empty.
    In inventory screen, <0> and <space> will select the 'On Ground' slot
    Fixed where you could continue to eat after being satiated
    A full room will now be revealed when walking into it
    Added option for turning off multi-monster combat, can only be used when starting a game
    Added command line option to permenently downgrade the dungeon depth in a saved game
    Added command line option to permenantly turn off arena combat mode in a saved game
    Add option to enable dungeon scaling (-eds -nds)
    Add option to set number of monsters per level (-mc amount), only settable on new game
    Make run stop if lights go out
    Make run stop if encountering stairs
    Make run stop if hit by ranged.
    Wake up player if hit while napping, will not wake if slept by effect.
    Add option for full combat mode damage between party and mobs (-fcd -rcd)
    <ESC><ENTER> to leave combat mode, Will allow even if monsters still alive.
    Added <I>nfo option to store inventories
    New navigation method for item shops
    Added -dt, -dr, -dh to change delays for combat effects
    Added auto-identify code from <g>et to <P>ack from ground
    Added message when you attempt to move while overburdoned
    Ranged targeting will remember the last spot you fired at, unless you move
    Changed how protection items (non-armor) work, now they contribute to armor value
    Added in some missing data from the <I>nfo screen
    Changed how Cube of Force works, now it gives a much more useful effect
    Added warning to Cavaliers guild that it will change your class to join them
    Added vampires. Can drain levels on hit if you do not have proper protection

[Avagart]

Unfortunately, v6.1 isn't released yet (on Unicorn homepage last downloadable version is 6.0)