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

[getter77]

Seems to indeed be a lagging update---probably sort itself out overnight.

[akeley]

So I managed to kill some monsters and gather some loot...but how to sell it?

Also this is the most brutal inventory system ever, has its own item permadeath it seems - half of the stuff I found disappeared because I was doing something wrong (?) in the inventory...at least Incursion/Omega will warn you that something will be gone forever, here items just vanish into thin air.

[getter77]

v6.2 and actually there in full, it still says Unicorn6 on the archive, but the included changelog and the title screen itself are as they should be:   

World seed is now used to create dungeons, this makes dungeon maps persistant on a given run
- Arena combat mode is now disabled be default.  It can still be turned back on using -ac when starting a new game.  Boss fights still use the arena mode
- Dungeon mobs, items, etc remain persistant so long as another dungeon is not entered
- A gear manager has been added so that you can save up to 10 sets of gear
- Ring of Force Negation no longer works in fight with final boss
- Fixed bug where shaman spells could not be properly learned
- <e>at command now auto-picks item to be eaten.  If you wish to eat a specific item then <u>se instead
- <t>alk, <j>oin, <o>pen, <c>lose no longer ask for direction if only one choice is possible
- Changed monk level skills so they no longer gain worthless weapon skills
- <h>eal command will now auto-look for healing items.  Specific items can still be <u>sed
- Charged throwables (bag of rocks, throwing stars) have been added
- Added - as shortcut for throw left hand
- Added = as shortcut for throw right hand
- Added auto-targeting mode for ranged attacks.  Will auto-target closest enemy

[getter77]

v6.3 HC plus some experimental graphical mode downloads and various other configurations(Windows Native, Cygwin, Pi Raspbian)/source

Version 6.3 is not quite as major a change as the last couple of versions, but with this version it is again possible to compile the game in graphics mode. Unlike prior graphic version of Unicorn, which were limited to a 640x480 window, 6.3 allows you to define how large a window to create for playing the game. The graphics mode works reasonably well in Linux/Unix as well as on Windows running on top of Cygwin/X. I did put some code into the native Windows version for graphics, but since I am not a Windows programmer, there are a number of issues, as such I do not recommend the Widows native graphic version be played seriously. If somebody wants to make the effort to get it working better, I would gladly add you to the list of credits.

I have also changed how F Keys work. It is now possible use the F keys for other than just spells. Using a config option, F keys can now be used to select weapons from the gear manager, whole gear sets from the gear manager, spells, and a new macro capability. By default the unshifted F keys select spells as they have in all prior versions. Shifted F keys store your current weapons into the gear manager. Control F keys will execute macros defined in the config file. and Alt F keys will load weapons from the gear manager. Note that not all terminals/systems can generate the Ctrl/Alt/Shift combinations of function keys, so your milage may vary.

    'f' will act like <enter> when targeting
    Fixed F2 in arena combat mode
    Fixed bug where some classes could not use <h>eal command
    Find traps now finds all traps on current dungeon level
    Enhanced Find Traps find all traps in entire dungeon
    Allow polymorph to replace an existing polymorph
    Added skills as possible enchants for dropped items
    Fixed bug where shamen could cross mountains unaided
    Reduced affinity bonus from 50% to 15%, makes using non-affinity weapons less penalizing
    Reduced contribution of combat skill to damage from 50% to 25%
    Reduced contribution of weapon skill to damage from 100% to 50%
    <s>earch is now a synonym for the <h>unt command upland
    Hunting upland can now find items other than just food
    Fixed bug where dungeon treasure forcefield could overwrite boss group
    Bug fixed when magically leaving a dungeon level not saving level
    Added pit traps
    Added back ability to compile for graphic mode
    Fixed message log so that long lines wrap properly
    Added options to allow Fkeys to be used for spells, weapons, or gear
    Added ability to read character specific configuration files

[Frumple]

Okay, I feel like I'm missing something terribly obvious with the latest version, and figured I'd ask somewhere before trying to contact the dev. Windows native, non-graphical version. I can't seem to enter arena combat except versus bosses and on the wilderness map. I've got party members, arena combat is on, and as near as I can tell from the documentation you're supposed to be able to fight in arena mode in general dungeon combat, so long as you have minions and the option turned on. But I can't for the life of me figure out how to get it to work.

Anyone have any idea what's going on? Am I forgetting to press a button or something? I'd really like to be using my party members more often

[getter77]

v7.0

Version 7.0 is more of a back-end change than of new features. The most noticable changes for the player is that mobs now have a more effective path finding algorythm, no longer will the player be able to hide around corners or use other blocking tricks to keep mobs away, If there is a path to the player, a mob will use it. Summoning mechanics have now been changed and allow for summoning in the main dungeon view, including Sticks to Snakes.

Two new object quests have been added, bringing the total number of object quests to 4. I have also added a much asked for feature, during crafting, auto-ingredient selection will occur not only from your pack but from a house inventory. To auto select from a house inventory, you must be standing next to the mailbox for the house containing the inventory you want to use.

Then on the backend, I have finally decoupled the save file format from the internal data structures. The save files are now in an encrypted text format which makes future changes to internal systems far easier to implement since I will no longer have to worry about the effects on the save files.

For the player, the save files are now quite a bit smaller than they were before, averaging between .5meg and 1meg. Save files are also much more portable between platforms than they were before. As of 7.0, the game will no longer natively load older formats. Instead I have provided a utility called 'saveconvert' that will convert older save files into the new 7.0 format.


    Monsters now attack before moving rather than after
    Player will stop running if a trap is triggered
    Player will stop running upon entering a room
    Some actions no longer take time, checking inventory for example
    Monsters can now open doors
    Monsters can open jammed doors, but more difficult
    Added path finding to mobs, no longer can you hide around corners
    Fixed bug where legacy shields could not be equipped
    Fixed bug where searching could remove treasure force fields
    Summoning mechanics have been changed
    Sticks to Snakes can now be used outside of arena combat
    Save format decoupled from internal data formats
    Score record file changed to text format
    Fixed bug where cleared dungeons stat was not being updated
    Some items are now considered unique and only 1 of them can be owned
    Enable use of F11 and F12 for macros and spells
    Two new object quests have been added, bringing the total to 4
    Crafting ingredients can be auto-selected from a house inventory if you are standing near your house