Cataclysm (Now at 8/25/12)

[getter77]

Nice sized update, seemingly finally getting the Windows version in much better shape such that more folks can give it a whirl.  

Clean build required.  Saves obsolete.

Windows executable: http://whalesdev.com/cataclysm.zip
Linux executable: http://whalesdev.com/cataclysm.tar.bz2

Features:

    -Major efficiency improvements.  Generally, doing anything that involves staying still for a long time, like reading, long-waiting, or sleeping, will run more than twice as fast.
    -NPC Followers.  That's right, you can now ask NPCs (there's still only one) to follow you around.  You can give them commands for how to behave in combat and trade items freely.
    -The @ screen now displays how many movement points traveling a single tile on flat ground uses up.
    -New overmap locations: cave, toxic waste dump.
    -New item: hazmat suit.


Tweaks:

    -Coughing from the flu or a cold costs movement.
    -Taking medication makes you less likely to vomit from the flu.
    -Skills degrade twice as slowly.
    -Bows no longer have a hard requirement of 8/10 Strength.  Their hard requirement is reduced to 4/5, and any strength less than twice the requirement results in decreased range.
    -Fungaloids won't spawn spores if 100 monsters exist; this will reduce the epic slowdown sleeping in a fungus-infected area causes.
    -Player health rating degrades more slowly.
    -Harder to contract the flu and the common cold.
    -Choking to death on vomit removed.
    -Carry penalty for light/hollow bones is more severe.
    -Optimistic trait is better.
    -Reading requires more light.


Bugfixes:

    -NPCs use the proper movement rate, rather than always using 100 movement points to travel a tile on flat ground.
    -MP3 player won't work unless you're carrying it in your inventory.
    -Mutations lower on a tree than you already have won't occur.

[Legend]

Is there a way to play this full screen? I couldn't find a config file or a command to do so. The game is very interesting, but the small window is a bit hard on my peepers.

[Darren Grey]

Are you using the Windows version or the ssh version?

If using the ssh through putty then you can change the font size in settings to make it larger.  If using the Windows version I think you can right-click on the top of the window bar to choose settings and change the font size.

Not sure about full screen mode for either...

[Legend]

Are you using the Windows version or the ssh version?

If using the ssh through putty then you can change the font size in settings to make it larger.  If using the Windows version I think you can right-click on the top of the window bar to choose settings and change the font size.

Not sure about full screen mode for either...

Tried right clicking on the top of the window, but no way to choose settings. Just to close or minimize the window.

[getter77]

A much-delayed update; I guess I kind of took the month of February off!  Let's hope this is the start of a productive 2012.

Clean build required.  Saves are obsolete.

Windows executable: http://whalesdev.com/cataclysm.zip
Linux executable: http://whalesdev.com/cataclysm.tar.bz2

Features:

    -Several new monster AI features.
        -Monsters now have independently-tracked anger and morale settings.  Where previously, a monster's "morale" was simply the percentage of health remaining, it is now much more complex.
        -Monsters' anger and morale may be affected by many triggers.  These include the classic "when I'm hurt," but also things like "the player is close" (bees will ignore you unless you invade the hive," "the player is weak" or "I'm getting hungry" (wolves will track you until they feel the moment is right to strike), "fire is nearby" or "my friend died" (scare off wolves with fire, or by killing one of the pack) and many more.
        -Monsters may be in one of several different states, depending on their anger and morale levels.  These include attacking, tracking (following at a distance), fleeing, ignoring, and more.
        -Monsters treat NPCs equally with the player when determining their state.  If an NPC has the Intimidating trait, and you don't, the monster might still flee.  Conversely, even if you have Insect Pheromones, bees might still attack your non-smelly friends.
        -This changes how many traits and mutations work, like Intimidating, Animal Empath, and Insect Pheromones.
        -Many fast-moving monsters, such as wolves and fast zombies, use a hit-and-run tactic.  They'll run to their target, attack once, then retreat out of range of any counter-attack.
    -New cave style: Rat Cave, with a unique encounter involving a new monster type and a new status effect.
    -New map location: Military outpost, with a new monster type involved.
    -NPCs will give you a summary of their opinion of you.
    -If you give an NPC new items, they will immediate assess them and wield a weapon or put on clothing if they feel it is appropriate.
    -New mutation category: rat-like.  New mutation: whiskers.

Tweaks:

    -The tutorial map regenerates itself every time a new tutorial is started.  No more starting a tutorial and immediately dying in fire (though having a horrifyingly brutal tutorial was kind of fun )
    -Tutorial starts at noon (no more tutorialing in darkness!).
    -Burst-firing is much more attractive.
        -The recoil penalty for shots beyond the first is reduced.
        -If, after your first shot, there is no longer a monster on the tile you are targeting, you will attempt to re-aim at the nearest monster.  The most common reason this happens is if your burst killed the first monster you aimed at.  This means that you can fire a burst and re-target mid-stream at a new monster, potentially killing many at once (this makes the M249 much more attractive).
      -Your ability to re-target is limited by your Guns skill.
    -Antennae mutation is a little better.
    -More items conduct electricity.
    -Military supply bunkers are a little more generous.
    -Spears are more effective at piercing armor.
    -Items that can cut or stab, like knives, pick which to perform more intelligently.
    -Electric monsters are immune to the shock-delivering bionic.
    -Electric monsters will shock you if you attack with a conductive weapon or no weapon, and aren't wearing gloves (reverting to old behavior here, for those who remember).
    -Turrets no longer have to re-target the player if they stay in sight between rounds.

Bug Fixes and Optimizations:

    -Massive memory restructuring.  Should cut down on crashes and make things generally friendlier to smaller systems.
    -The cap on the number of monster flags has been lifted.  Modders, please feel free to add your new flag.
    -mp3 players that you aren't carrying can still run out of power.
    -More static spawn issues fixed.  Slowly working towards perfection.
    -If some dummy (me) codes bad item placement, it won't freeze up the game; it'll just not place any items.
    -NPCs who claim to need antibiotics will actually start with a lethal infection.  Also, they'll never start with antibiotics already in their inventory.

[getter77]

4/23

Clean build required.  Saves obsolete.

Windows executable: http://whalesdev.com/cataclysm.zip
Linux executable: http://whalesdev.com/cataclysm.tar.bz2

Note: Those who have been following the plans for Defense Mode (and anyone who experiments with it) will notice that "Mercenaries" has no effect.  This feature has been deferred.

Features:

    Defense Mode.  This is a "coffeebreak" game that uses the Cataclysm engine, designed to be played and finished within 5-30 minutes.  It features the player defending a single location against waves of increasingly difficult monsters, supplied periodically by a "caravan."
    Game Mode Support.  The code is set up to make the development of new game modes rapid and easy.
    Customizable Keybindings.  You can edit data/keymap.txt, a file which contains all the actions in the game.  This allows you to reorganize the controls freely.
    New overmap tiles: Mansion.
    New items: Medieval weapons and armor.  Pool balls and cues.  Candlesticks.
    A "lightly flammable" flag which applies to some terrain types, such as floor.  This terrain will burn, but much more slowly than fully-flammable terrain.

Tweaks:

    Many tweaks to item values.  Several values/prices have been modified (ammo is half-price, but guns are twice the price); most drugs now have much fewer charges per bottle.
    Player-built walls are much more useful.  Rather than simply getting destroyed the first time a zombie gets slightly lucky, they get chipped (no change), then battered (enough holes to see/shoot through), then destroyed.  Each of these steps is more difficult than the original smashing was.
    Lots of typo fixes.
    Several small tweaks to artifact generation.
    Sounds that interrupt an action (such as long-waiting) will tell you what you heard at the "Stop ___ing?" prompt.
    Monsters may be afraid of or angered by loud noises.
    More liquor in bars.  Bars may have pool cues/balls.
    A robot that targets you ("beep-beep-beep!") will stay targeted more than twice as long.
    Rat Kings are much more effective.
    Improved detection of the cause of a hallucination's "death."
    Monsters that become scared/angry if the player gets close now do so at a range of 5 tiles, not 3.
    Monsters who are angered/scared if they are hurt respond much more readily to damage.
    Several tweaks to monsters: Rat King has more HP.  Ant larvae are scared of the player.  Krecks are nerfed, and use hit-and-run tactics.
    In character creation, "<badtrait> costs -3 points" is changed to "<badtrait> earns 3 points."
    Many tweaks to overmap special-location settings: Fewer supply bunkers, much fewer radio towers (which should allow for more hospitals, megastores and mansions), fewer of most specials, actually.
    The player is asked if they would like to stop their current action if they are hurt under any circumstances.  No more dying in a fire while cooking something.
    The amount of radiation you can absorb is limited by the radiation level of your surroundings.
    Players mutate from irradiation more rapidly.  A radiation level of 2000+ causes instant mutation.
    Trap tweaks: Spiked boards are trivial to "disarm" and dissectors cannot be disarmed at all.

Bugfixes:

    Some fixes to the Windows display module.  Hopefully this will help prevent some crashes.
    Monsters that aren't attacking you will not set off Safe Mode.
    Monsters that have been immobilized are still affected by fields (e.g. fire, smoke etc)
    Calculating stabbing damage correctly refers to stabbing skill (not cutting).
    The Anger and Morale of monsters is correctly saved.
    The "Player is Weak" anger/morale trigger works correctly (instead of working overwhelmingly in reverse).
    The player's healhiness stat is correctly saved.
    Required tools for consumption (e.g. a lighter to smoke a cigarette) are properly checked and used.
    Low-capacity firearms cannot have their capacity modded under any circumstances.
    Re-targeting after killing your first target while firing a burst works correctly.

Internal:

    game::cancel_activity_query() allows for printf-like formatting.
    New display function, popup_nowait(), which is like popup() but doesn't wait for the player to hit spacebar.  This is useful for loading bars and the like.
    code_doc/TODO updated.

[jim]

Still such an enticing game, and it always crashed on Windows. Some day I will survive the apocalypse.

[getter77]

4/26

Quick patch to address some bugs from the recent update.

Clean build required.  Saves are NOT obsolete.

Windows executable: http://whalesdev.com/cataclysm.zip
Linux executable: http://whalesdev.com/cataclysm.tar.bz2

Features:

    If keymap.txt does not exist, it is created with some hard-coded defaults.  This way, you can restore defaults by simply deleting keymap.txt.
    Keymapping is now smart about directional keys.  They work everywhere, and the number keys are no longer hard-mapped to vikeys.  You can use vikeys as movement and numbers as commands, and vice versa.  You can use wasd as movement keys, and they'll work when using a lighter or setting a trap.
    Wild mansions appear!


Tweaks:

    The turret can no longer be moved around during Defense mode.
    Electronics manuals in electronics stores
    Manhacks are much cheaper.


Bugfixes:
(Special thanks to creidieki for finding/fixing half of these)

    Integrated Toolset bionic is used properly in construction.
    Canceling on the Character Creation screen for a Defense game will return you to the main menu properly.
    Fixed an extremely minor memory leak.
    Added Help and Re-Assign Inventory Letter to keymap
    Fixed a couple bugs with inventory letter assignment
    Some fixes around monster deaths.
    Many typo fixes
    Thrown items never deal less than 0 damage
    Tiles directly north of the player are properly checked for items during crafting/construction
    Mansion tiles with four small rooms have doors leading to those rooms
    Certain rare, small mansion rooms are now bathrooms
    Crash-inducing melee bug removed.
    Secubots can now shoot at you properly.  And will do so a lot.
    The "earns" messages in player creation work properly

[wolfmaster1231]

I can't compile this on Mac OS X. Can someone give me a hand and send me the executable?

Please?

[Legend]

still no fullscreen?

[getter77]

It may arrive soon'ish....a new version is likely to drop sooner than later incorporating in some well-wrought mod stuff and whatever else is cooking in the secret stew.

[getter77]

Clean build required.  Saves are obsolete.

Windows executable: http://whalesdev.com/cataclysm.zip
Linux executable: http://whalesdev.com/cataclysm.tar.bz2

Features:

    -Unarmed styles!
        Styles feature a set of moves, which give your attack special effects, allow you to block attacks, get in counter-attacks, and more.
        Moves are unlocked at levels of unarmed skill.  Some styles are "easy" featuring low-level moves, while others require an expert to use properly.
        Most styles also have a unique special effect.  These include the ability to run along walls, enhanced blocking after an attack, combo moves and more.
        New Help item explaining styles.
    -New trait: Martial Arts Training.  Allows you to start with your pick of a common martial art style.  The more complex ones need to be taught by an NPC!
    -Several weapons have had special moves added to them.  Many items can parry attacks or act like a shield.
    -Monsters can be knocked down.  So can the player.
    -The player can be "stunned" like monsters are.
    -Melee combat reworked significantly.
        Damage tweaked extensively.
        Messages improved.
        Code streamlined and much nicer to read.
        Body parts hit in NPC combat tweaked.
        Critical hit chances tweaked.  Critical hit effects improved.
        Mutation-based attacks can be used against NPCs
    -Two new missions: "Reach Safety" and "Find Book"
    -Gremour's Vehicle Mod added.  Most/many players are already using this.  It is awesome.
    -Ability to chop down trees and chop up the logs they create added.
    -Wandering NPCs.  They're be flavored and have skills/equipment to match.
    -Lots of new NPC dialogue.
    -NPCs can now train you in skills or melee styles.
    -Interruptable Actions.  If you spot a monster while crafting, go ahead and stop crafting, kill the monster, and resume--the time spent crafting won't be wasted, and you'll pick up where you left off.  This applies to all long-term activities except reloading.
    -Game state saving improved.  NPCs, missions, and much more are all saved.
    -Debug functions expanded.
    -If you're on fire, running into water will put it out.
    -New Monster: Zombie Master.  Upgrades nearby zombies to special zombies.
    -New Monsters: Zombie Grabber, Vinebeast.  Both will grab the player.
    -Non-swimming monsters will drown if knocked into water.  Aquatic monsters will die if knocked onto land.
    -NPCs may lead the player (e.g. to safety).

Tweaks:

    -Spawn rate reduced.
    -Installing bionics trains the relevant skills.
    -Amigara entrancement lasts 20 turns max.
    -Many terrain types are "permanent traps."  Spiked pit, for example, is no longer a trap type but only refers to the terrain.
    -Getting sleepy queries to cancel activity, rather than just canceling it.
    -No longer warned when a dangerous weather pattern remains the same.
    -Motion Alarm bionic queries to cancel activity (rather than forcing).
    -Lots of places that used trig_dist() now use rl_dist(); more consistant.
    -Inventory is colored better.
    -Active items appear as yellow when you go to pick them up.
    -Nyquil gives you the sleep aid addiction.
    -Manhole covers may spawn in pawn shops.
    -Sledge hammers do more damage.
    -Combat knives more accurate.
    -Bee/wasp stings less accurate.
    -Awl pike does less damage.
    -Arrows much less damaging.  Wood arrows less accurate, carbon fiber arrows more accurate.  Crossbolt bolts less damaging as well.
    -Bows less accurate.
    -Almost all ammo has better armor-piercing capabilities, making AP-oriented rounds much more effective.
    -Marlin 39A reloads one round at a time.
    -Bayonets have a worse recoil penalty.
    -Top Gear magazine teaches driving skill, not mechanics.
    -Setting traps takes longer.
    -Lava is no longer a see-through wall.  Zombies will walk into it and die a fiery death.  You can too, if you want.
    -Disarming traps trains trap skill.
    -Being in a dangerous field prompts to cancel activity, rather than just canceling it.
    -Turret range increased by 50%.  Turrets use rl_dist not trig_dist.
    -Monsters dodge more often.
    -Stunning an already-stunned monster extends the duration of the stun.  Ths applies to other monster effects, too.
    -Zombie necromancers will attack if you strike first, or if you're near death.
    -Dark wyrms are faster and tougher.
    -Many monsters which should not have had heads no longer have heads (i.e. headshots won't happen on a Flaming Eye)
    -Robots have greatly improved armor.
    -Manhacks dodge better.
    -Mutations are good more often.  Robust Genetics is a more effective trait.
    -NPC starting skills tweaked extensively.
    -Scientist NPCs will specialize in computers, electronics or medicine.
    -NPCs are more frightened of guns.
    -NPCs are more easily provoked into a homicidal rage.  Be nice!
    -NPC dialogue uses letters, not numbers, for selection.
    -Labs are much more populous.
    -Swamp populations modified; swamp monsters less common.
    -Radiation is much less devastating.  It's harder to mutation from radiation.
    -Throwing up reduces hunger and thirst by more.
    -Skill rust reduces faster.
    -You can throw further with higher levels of skill.
    -Burst-firing won't target friendly monsters.

Bugfixes:
(Special thanks to creidieki for finding/fixing half of these)

    -Moon phases work properly.
    -Some Windows display/input fixes.
    -Amigara Fault event fixes--you probably won't be trapped forever anymore.
   - Heatsink bionic protects from temple flame bursts.
    -Plant Skin correctly reduces thirst.
    -Misplacement of contained items ("Cocaine of Whiskey" bug) fixed.
    -Unwielding artifacts works correctly.
    -Debug functions expanded.
    -Some fixes to monsters following you across stairs.
    -Items save better, reducing some rare bugs.
    -Mansion generation fixes.
    -Monsters will match the new type's aggression and morale if they change form.
    -Mutations with more than one prerequisite can use EITHER prerequisite.
    -NPCs retain their gender and skills through time.
    -NPCs will avoid "banned" items better.
    -A few bugs related to NPC death fixed.
    -Rare bug that obscured the name of terrain you've seen fixed.
    -Mansion placement fixed.
    -Player healthiness is initialized properly.
    -Thick Scales mutation correctly reduces Dexterity by 2.
    -Alignment fixes in the skills display.
    -If an NPC is hurt you won't see a prompt to cancel your activity.
    -Flamethrowers won't sputter out.
    -Throwing uses rl_dist like firing guns does.
    -Messages fixed for when NPCs throw items and hit a monster.
    -Item wishing crash fixed.

Next big release coming mid-August, care of Attempted Scrum:

http://whalesdev.com/forums/index.php?topic=1355.0

[getter77]

Apparently been some misc crash fixes and whatnot since release day, so re-download it you grabbed it back then from above.

[getter77]

7/13/12    Interim release!

Some little UI improvements for ya, and more bugfixes - mostly courtesy of Creidieki!

Clean build is NOT required.  Old saves are NOT compatible.


Windows executable: http://whalesdev.com/cataclysm.zip
Linux executable: http://whalesdev.com/cataclysm.tar.bz2

Features:

    -MOTD updated
    -Picking up a piece of clothing while your inventory and your hands are full will prompt you to wear the clothing directly.  Less inventory shuffle dancing
    -Using an item from a stack will bind the original inventory letter to the new activated item.  Hence, if you have a - grenade [3] then upon activating one, the active grenade will be bound to a.
    -Drevlin's Random Name patch: You can now assign a random name to your character.
    -Lots of efficiency improvements to vehicles, and the game at large.
    -Scissors can cut rope into 6 pieces.
    -Incendiary ammo, or flamethrowers, will burn down spider webs.
    -Other bullets have a chance to tear spider webs.

Tweaks:

    -Fire now spreads to webs more readily.
    -Lots of language improvements to vehicle-related messages.  Gremour seems to speak a language where articles are used differently
    -The symbols for lots of car parts were changed to be more consistant, and to avoid overlap with terrain symbols (like 0 or #).
    -Improved messages when NPCs attack using an unarmed style.
    -Wished-for items are always fresh.

Bugfixes:  Thanks again to Creidieki for being responsible for 90% of these.

    -Dropping the 27th item into a vehicle's trunk will not banish it to the void.
    -Construction menu doesn't have weird text issues.
    -NPC opinion is correctly modified in dialog.
    -Training a skill and constructing a vehicle are correctly prompted when interrupted.
    -NPC inventories load correctly.
    -NPC locations save/load better.
    -Bugfix for minimap while underground.
    -The inventory letter for the style you're wielding is displayed properly.
    -NPCs are smarter about wielding melee styles.
    -Fixed inconsistant lab computer difficulties.
    -Some NPC-related crashes fixed.
    -NPCs' combat rules are saved with them.
    -Improved display of NPC's worn item list.
    -NPCs will train you in unarmed styles correctly.
    -Road-by-river polishing works properly.
    -Crash caused by removing mission-related items fixed.
    -some others i forget leave me alone 

[getter77]

8/5/12

Psst, here's a little update!

Clean build IS required.  Old saves are NOT compatible.

Windows executable: http://whalesdev.com/cataclysm.zip
Linux executable: http://whalesdev.com/cataclysm.tar.bz2

Features:

    -Improved messages section, with more colors, and stackable messages (i.e. "Whump! x 3" instead of "Whump!  Whump!  Whump!").
    -Message buffer, which displays old messages (the 256 most-recent ones are displayed).
    -New monster list, which is better in many ways.  It lights up specially for dangerous monsters, it's directionally-oriented to make it easier to glance at, and monsters are color-coded by difficulty.
    -Player kills are tracked properly.  No longer will you get credit for monsters that die to acid rain.  You also won't get blamed for "killing" a hallucination of your mother.
    -New item: NX-17 charge gun.  Works like the gauss gun from Half-Life.  It is craftable, and also can be found wherever military rifles are found.  It requires a UPS to be used.
    -Emoticons indicate your morale.

Tweaks:

    -autosafemode defaults to off.
    -You are never warned about sounds that come from you.
    -Chances of spilling gas greatly reduced.
    -You're prompted to pump fuel into your vehicle before you're prompted to pump it onto the ground.
    -The way bows fire tweaked a bit
    -Insects report their armor as "carapace."
    -Triffid queens adjusted to have a higher difficulty rating (biggest impact is that it'll take them longer to show up).
    -Throwing distance capped lower.
    -Higher throwing penalty for very low dexterity.
    -Higher ranged penalty for very low perception.
    -Higher throwing penalty for very low skill.
    -Flamethrowers greatly improved.

Bugfixes:

    -Constructing status is cleared before the end of construction.  This way, you won't be warned of the sound of the tree of just chopped down crashing to the ground.
    -Fixed a freeze during Amigara events.
    -Hugely improved monster/NPC death tracking system.  Basically, they're all "cleaned up" between rounds, when nothing's happening.  This should remove many crashes, particularly the "killing an NPC who's given you a quest" bug.  It should also improve efficiency a bit.
    -Pumping gas into a vehicle allows you to use any directional keys you please.
    -Fixed a crash caused by using a defensive throw on an NPC (or an NPC using one on you).
    -NPCs won't magically melee you (or monsters) from afar.
    -NPCs will hunt for you if they want to kill you and you escaped.
    -Item "gifts" from NPCs properly limited to 1 per 3 hours.
    -No more spears as chopping items if you're wielding them

Plus a bit more:

Save file IS compatible.  Clean build NOT required.

Features:

    -The help menu's listing of key commands (?1) now shows the actual keys in use, as taken from keymap.txt.  You can edit your keybindings there, too.

Tweaks:

    -Messages print new-at-bottom, old-at-top, like they used to.
    -Yes/No query now warns you that it's case sensitive.

Bug fixes:

    -Coloring of messages is improved.  Sometimes they'd appear as light gray for a turn, THEN go red.  They don't do that any more.
    -Monsters no longer appear as a "ghost" for a turn after dying before disappearing.
    -Some monster/NPC-death-related crashes fixed.
    -Charger-gun-related crash fixed.
    -Monster list coloring fix for nearby monsters.