Zorbus

[Joonas]

Release 30   (28-Mar-2020)

Highlights:

• 1 year anniversary of public releases
• List of companions above the quickslots
• Commanding companions
• Optional description of a heard sound on the map if the sound source is not seen
• Tutorial: Pressing H once opens the old keyboard help layout, pressing H second time opens the tutorial

Full changelog:
http://www.zorbus.net/Zorbus.txt

Tutorial:
http://www.zorbus.net/tutorial/index.html

Leaderboard:
http://wins.zorbus.net

No ultimate endings yet.

[Zero]

Hey Joonas, fantastic updates.
The game is much more challenging than last time I played through.

I think I've come across a game-crashing bug.
If I have a bunch of poison/slime in my inventory and apply them to regular arrows or bullets, eventually the ammotype will change to blank. 
This is fine if I hit Q to change ammo type but if I don't notice for some reason and then attempt to range-attack an enemy the game crashes and quits without saving.
I've been able to reproduce it a couple of times, usually the ammo type changes to blank after adding poison/slime 3 or 4 times in a row.

https://i.imgur.com/oNXJch0.png

[Joonas]

I quickly tested, and it is indeed bugged. Thank you!

[anselmus]

Oh no; I was playing the 30 release, and my best run so far (Human lv.10), when I do alt+tab (I'm running Zorbus in Ubuntu with Wine) to look some tips in the leaderboard information, and for first time the game crashed. When I reload the game, it seems my savegame is gone. In 'save' forlder there are only 'avatars.zav' and 'characters.zav' files.

I guess this means I've lost the game, no? Or is there some way to get it back?

Thanks in advance

p.d.: and by the way: after more than 10 years playing traditional roguelikes (nethack, crawl, adom, brogue, etc.), I can say that zorbus is by far my favorite roguelike (except Cataclysm DDA, which I do not consider it a "traditional" . A great example of well done game. Thanks you!

[Joonas]

Unfortunately the save is gone. Did the game pop up any error message, or did it just crash to desktop?

I think it was Troubler in this thread who mentioned a crash with Wine after alt+tabbing, but that was several releases ago.

Based on a quick google search, crash after alt+tab is a problem with other games run under Wine as well.

[anselmus]

No log or error message, but, yes: I've noticed that alt+tabbing freezes some programs running under wine in fullscreen mode (without virtual desktop), but usually not with Zorbus. Anyway, isn't a problem or bug of Zorbus executable. I wondered only if the game has some kind of automatic backup. However, I prefer a "perma-crash-dead" than do manual backups and end up giving in to the temptation of the save-scummin XD

Thanks for your answer!

[Joonas]

Had to release a new version this quickly because the bug Zero mentioned above is quite severe.

Release 31   (04-Apr-2020)

• Fixed a bug that happened when you poison/slime coated your ammunition with scrolls, and already had that kind of ammunition in your inventory. The new coated ammunition would be combined with the previous batch, leaving the ammunition equipment slot empty. This would lead to a crash, if you didn't equip something to the empty slot before firing. Big thanks to Zero for figuring this out!
• All found magical or otherwise major items are now logged into the obituary log. Previously only the most powerful items were logged. For devices (scrolls, wands, etc.), only the first found item of specific type is logged.
• Item enchanting with scrolls is now logged into the obituary log.

I stress tested the game with Wine in Ubuntu. I used autoplay which automatically plays the game over and over by controlling the player with AI, and couldn't get it to crash. I didn't try fullscreen or alt-tabbing though, only windowed, but will look into it.

Want to help with the development? I’m especially looking for:

• Ideas for handcrafted room content
• Ideas for new talents or items
• Text for lore books
• Dialogue lines (especially for dragons, demons, devils, companions)

Congrats to Flauel, who was first to get the ultimate overgod-ending! (Leaderboard: http://wins.zorbus.net)

[Joonas]

The game skinned with a Star Wars -theme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5di9ehQTLg

[Joonas]

Mr. Delightful made a video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEVoJlrPAzU

[Joonas]

Release 32   (17-May-2020)

• If you update to this release with autoupdate, it might be best to update without restoring old settings.
• Sound effects revisited. Lots of new sound effects, some old ones removed / edited. Complete overhaul of the ambience sound system. Dungeon ambience is constant by default. Can be configured / turned off from the settings.
• Optional creature wiggle. On by default, can be configured / turned off from the settings.
• Health bars of summoned, hostile creatures are now in blue. Can be turned off from the settings.
• Names of summoned creatures are in blue in the target mode / when a new creature is discovered.
• Creature possession tweaked. Duration is now longer. Duration can be seen after the Break Possession talent in the quickslots.
• There was a bug when calculating how much of the level is explored. Hopefully now fixed.
• New book reading screen. Press SPACE to switch between the new and the old one. You can configure the font from the settings. Uses the "Segoe Print" font by default (comes with Windows). You can switch between the book font / regular font with TAB.
• Monsters pick up boots, belts, rings and other equipment, and also equip them. Previously only picked usable devices (potions, wands, etc.).
• AI tweaks.
• Some new items.
• An option to automatically create a map collection, an image of all dungeon maps you visited with the character. Unexplored areas are drawn in blue. The map collection is saved as a PNG image to the Obituary-folder after character death. It's also included in the character report uploaded to the leaderboard. A map collection is always created if endgame is reached.A map collection named "Last character - Maps.png" is always created but overwritten when the next character wins or dies. A map collection named "Best character - Maps.png" is created if the character''s experience points are higher than the experience points of any previous character.
• An ASCII map of the character's last view is added to the obituary file.
• Probably never mentioned this before, but you can press TAB to jump to the next divided section of a menu.

www.zorbus.net

New gameplay video:
https://youtu.be/JC3zvoy0ZvQ

[Joonas]

Release 33   (13-Jun-2020)

Full changelog:
http://www.zorbus.net/Zorbus.txt

Huge lore update! Some of the old lore books were rewritten and many new books introduced. Massive thanks to Helical Nightmares for help.

http://www.zorbus.net

[Joonas]

Release 35   (22-Jun-2020)

• Optional low Health warning popup dialog that blocks all commands. The dialog is visible for the configured duration or until closed with ESC, SPACE, ENTER, or left mouse click. The warning thresholds can be configured from the settings. You can set a cooldown in seconds between dialogs. You can disable the dialog when it's visible with DEL or CTRL + W. You can disable or re-enable the dialog with CTRL + W in normal game mode.
• Optional Health bar / UI frame flash when low on Health. Can be configured from the settings.
• When no hostile creatures are seen, companion movement speed is the same as the players.
• Companions that were not near hostile creatures are regrouped around the player after autopilot / autoexplore regardless of their movement speed.
• Setting for autopilot / autoexplore: stop if companion sees hostile creatures (off by default). Summoned / animated / charmed creatures are not counted as companions here.
• Tweaked autoexplore so that it stops before a locked door even if you have a key to the door. Next autoexplore command will open the door.
• New behavior for companions: HANDLE. You can command companion to disable or force a lock / disable a trap. Target a lock or a trap with the cursor in target mode, then press companion number to command a companion, or press 0 to select the best companion for the job. There must be a clear path to the target when issuing a HANDLE command. You won't get experience points from locks or traps disabled by a companion.
• Companions in FOLLOW behavior will try to disable or force a lock after your failed attempt if there's one with better Body-ability or Disable-skill nearby and neither the player or the companion sees hostile creatures. The same method (disable / force) will be used. Can be disabled from the settings.
• New pro tip to the manual / ingame book: Give Disable-skill boosting items to a companion. If you have found items that boost the Disable-skill, but don't want to wear them or don't have room in your equipment setup for them, give them to a companion with the highest Motion-ability. Then, when needed, command the companion to disable a lock or a trap. They will also do that automatically after your failed attempt if their Disable-skill is higher than yours.
• Better handling of charmed creatures. Fixed some related bugs.
• Previous release introduced some bugs to the book page changing with mouse. Fixed.
• Fixed a bug with book keyword filtering.
• NPCs no longer pick up scrolls.
• Fixed a bug where recruitable NPCs wouldn't always appear in the shop level.
• Since there are quite a lot of settings now, you can filter the settings-menu items by writing a keyword. Hold down SHIFT if you have binded letter keys for movement.

Here's a video of the low Health warning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKho9KuEsFA&feature=youtu.be

[Joonas]

Release 36   (27-Jun-2020)

• Improved autoexplore: There is no need to manually walk around the dungeon to search for remaining hidden areas. Once autoexplore no longer finds anything to explore, it will check if your Search-skill is high enough to detect any of the possibly existing secret doors on the map. If something is found, autoexplore autopilots you to the found secret door. You may want to boost your Search-skill with items, potions or talents, even temporarily, for better results.
• Type "0" as a filter in inventory / level loot lists to filter special items, unique items, devices (potions, wands, etc.). Remember that you can filter with an item type (function keys) and a keyword at the same time, so you could press F3 to filter weapons and then type "0" to filter only unique or special weapons.
• Some difficulty finetuning.
• Leaderboard has been reset. The old leaderboard for releases 28-35 can be found at http://wins.zorbus.net/r35.
• You can add a timestamped comment to the journal by pressing CTRL + N. The log journal is added to obituary files.
• Some new sound effects. Fixed some audio related bugs.
• Added new gameplay tips to the manual and ingame tips book: dualwielding, different ways to open locks, level loot.
• The ingame Zorbupedia now has a list of all talents in the game. You can filter Zorbupedia topics with a keyword. Zorbupedia can be opened from the game menu, during character generation and during level up.

[Joonas]

Release 37   (04-Jul-2020)

• Fixed a bug where NPCs could equip a 2-h weapon after only a shield was equipped in off-hand. (thanks to KurzedMetal for reporting this)
• Charmed creatures no longer react to player looting containers in their home. (thanks to KurzedMetal)
• Fixed a bug where the shop level teleporter wouldn't work if the game was saved before all companions arrived at the level. (thanks to szary)
• Changed weapon enchantment a bit: There's a chance that the weapon will be destroyed in the process if it's already enchanted with more than 3 enchantments. Every enchantment point above 3 decreases the enchantment chance by 15 percentage points. Plusses, extra elemental damage points, holy-/returning-/vampiric-properties and on-hit effects count as enchantments.
• When the selector is over an enchantment scroll in the inventory, the info box shows which item the scroll would target and the enchantment success chance.
• New item: Scroll of Returning Weapon. Adds the returning-property to a weapon (thrown weapon returns to thrower's hand).
• Small fixes and polishing done.

[Joonas]

Release 38   (13-Jul-2020)

Most of the stuff in this release is implemented after feedback, so big thanks for it!

• Hopefully fixed a severe infinite loop bug that could happen when you looted home furniture of charmed creatures. (thanks to Horvatii and Mkok)
• Companions no longer enter a teleporter that you just came out from. (thanks to Claudio)
• Companions follow the player better in corridors and other tight areas. (thanks to Claudio)
• Resting 100 rounds for Health / Stamina is interrupted when one of your companions reach full Health / Stamina. (thanks to Claudio)
• Companions use ammunition now more intelligently. (thanks to Claudio)
• You can give a Flask of Poison or a Flask of Slime to a companion who will then automatically use it.
• New feature: Autoammo. When autoammo is enabled, the best ammunition against a target is automatically selected. Autoammo tries to restrain, poison, or otherwise select an ammunition that the creature is most vulnerable to. Ammunition of Dismiss or Explosion are not used, but ammunition of Slime and Poison are. Can be toggled with [CTRL] + [Q]. Can be toggled from the main game mode or from target mode. A green "AA" text is shown in the weapon set box when a ranged weapon and autoammo is active.
• Squirm talent grants a bonus when trying to squirm through a restraining map effect (web, slime).
• Fixed checking if a creature is on a restraining map effect when he uses reach or ranged attack.
• AI spellcasters are not so spammy with web / poison cloud spells.
• It is no longer possible to edit inventories of summoned celestials. (You could summon them, take their weapons and sell them at the shop, thanks to Mkok for reporting this)
• Drow companion now has a proper dualwield talent that is listed on his character sheet. (thanks to Claudio)
• Log viewer [L] separates which messages belong to a given round. (thanks to Claudio)
• Amulet of Health no longer grants immunity to poison but resistance of 2 points.
• The miscellaneous statistics in obituary files shows the number of animated and summoned creatures.