LambdaRogue 1.5.1 (patch) released

[mariodonick]

I have released a patch for LambdaRogue 1.5, so we are now at version 1.5.1. The patch fixes some minor, but annoying bugs and introduces the "skip the boring temple level"-feature  You can now directly start in the dungeon, instead of wasting your time with talking and trading.

At the moment, this patch is only available for Windows users. Get the patch here (.zip-archive, 500 KB). You need to extract the files in the archive into your existing LambdaRogue folder. Replace all existing files with the ones contained in the archive.

The patch is compatible with existing save games (from 1.5, not earlier).

Changelog:

New Features:

• player may decide to skip the entire temple level at beginning and start directly in the catacombs (quickstart mode games will automatically skip the temple level)
• some more items can be sacrificed at altars

Bug Fixes:

• after buying an Insurance Card, the card showed up as "Unknown Rune" in inventory (reported by dorwinrin and siglegion in the LambdaRogue forum)
• when returning from the wilderness to the catacombs, the player was placed at the stairs to the sewers (reported by Krice in a blog comment)
• tile description was not shown if player had a equipped lantern in dark areas (reported by Grimwerk in a blog comment)
• sometimes, the random item a player got at start was from the same type as one of the items he got because of profession. this created 2 stacks of the same type in inventory. then, when picking up an additional item of the same type, the number in both stacks increased. (reported by Grimwerk in a blog comment)
• AP of shoes and hats showed up as "defense bonus" in item info screen, which should be reserved for other item types (such as rings)
• it was possible to sacrifice items at altars, even if the altars were not empty
• sometimes players were placed in spider webs immediatly after entering a dungeon level
• even if player had equipped a lantern, player was shown grayed out in dark areas

Interface:

• simply pressing ENTER cancels item dropping; also added a hint about this

Balancing:

• a lifetime health insurance card now simply costs 1000 * DIFFICULTY Credits
• preparation courses at academies now simply cost 300 * DIFFICULTY Credits

Misc:

• after loading a saved game, a "tip of the day" is shown
• added a message about unsuccessfully attempting to open a locked door without key
• added a message that Searching (e.g. for hidden doors) worked, even if nothing was found
• removed an obsolete message related to (long-ago removed) mouse input

Have fun.

[mariodonick]

Shortly after releasing patch 1.5.1, I stumbled upon a critical error regarding the killing of "big", "strong" and "mighty" variants of monsters. If you have activiated "Growing Monsters" in the options, the game will crash with a range-check error as soon as you kill a "big" variant of a standard monsters.

Here is a hotfix for this problem, changing version number to 1.5.1a (.zip-archive, 470 KB)

The archive contains an updated lambdarogue.exe. Use it to replace your current one.

If you don't have downloaded the 1.5.1 patch already and still use 1.5, it is sufficient to get the hotfix to update to the latest version. The 1.5.1 patch archive only contains some updated text files (changelog and credits), not necessary for actual playing.

[Etinarg]

New Features:

• player may decide to skip the entire temple level at beginning and start directly in the catacombs (quickstart mode games will automatically skip the temple level)
• some more items can be sacrificed at altars

In regard to the other thread on how to attract new players to a game, and my reply to advertise, I'd want to ask here:

A new player like me, why should they think this is a good feature? If I start the game, I know nothing about the temple level (not even that there is one), and how should I decide if it is good to skip it or not?

If you want to advertise, you must explain to players, why the options are good and interesting. If the temple level can be skipped ... why was it there in first place? Do I lose something by skipping it? Do I gain something?

[mariodonick]

I never thought of potential _new_ players reading these announcements ... so many features are changed in roguelikes so often, it must be hard to describe everytime to possible new players why the changes are good.

Anyway ... the temple level is the only static level. it's like the town level in Angband, but there are some NPCs in there which offer quests, esp. the priestess, who offers the main quest.

Before the patch, some players did not know what do to in this level -- they wanted to go down the dungeon and crawl. Some others liked the temple for the first few times, but would like to skip it in subsequent plays. Now they can -- it's a way to ignore the story.

Edit:

If I start the game, I know nothing about the temple level (not even that there is one

You know, because when the game asks you if you want to skip it, it also summarizes the goal of the game, in which the temple is mentioned. Some lines below, it explains as a hint what the temple is (that there are traders and NPCs).

[mariodonick]

Another addition: I've enhanced the LambdaRogue website with some background information about interesting places in the game, plus a buzzwordish feature list and some of the positive player voices directly at the home page.

Hajo, thanks again for your input, here and in the other thread.

[Hi]

I really really like the homepage. the visual layout is perfect

one bit that hits my ear as a little odd is the beginnings of the second and their paragraphs

"Now you're standing here"
and
"Finally you get some rest"

Usually dramatic work starts out in the passive voice so it caught my attention to see that expectation violated here.

it's like the difference between "You will start your journey in" and "Your journey starts in"

[mariodonick]

Thanks

Ah, you are speaking of the different use of tenses here, I think. "Now you're standing here" is present progressive and "Finally you get some rest" is present.

You are right, at school (long ago...) they told us not to mix tenses, and in my native language I don't do this. It's harder in a foreign language to pay enough attention to such things.

What should I write instead?

[Hi]

Thanks

Ah, you are speaking of the different use of tenses here, I think. "Now you're standing here" is present progressive and "Finally you get some rest" is present.

You are right, at school (long ago...) they told us not to mix tenses, and in my native language I don't do this. It's harder in a foreign language to pay enough attention to such things.

What should I write instead?

"Now you're standing here, all alone"  vs "You stand all alone"
"Finally you get some rest, regaining" vs "At long last rest comes, restoring"

[mariodonick]

In 2010, LR: The Book of Stars becomes 4 years old. Thus, I created a visual history of the game's different development phases, as part of the Screenshots section of the website.

Go to the gallery and share my memories