Zorbus (D&D-inspired traditional roguelike)
 

http://www.zorbus.net/graphics/preview.png

Zorbus is a fantasy-themed, graphical, turn-based, role-playing roguelike game. Your goal is to delve deep into a dungeon, find a portal to a mythical place called the Zorbus where a mere mortal can ascend to demigodhood.

Thematically Zorbus draws influence from the late 70s and early 80s tabletop D&D campaigns, adventures and lore.

The goal is to create a tight dungeon crawling experience where the dungeon feels alive, eventful and rich in content. Something more than just boring empty rooms and corridors! Diversely shaped levels with themed content (throne rooms, prisons, lots of hidden treasure caches etc.) with good connectivity between the areas.

Important part of the living dungeon are the creatures. Creatures act intelligently, might fight each other, flee when threatened and try to gather their friends to overcome a threat. Most creatures can use items and also pick them up from the dungeon floor. Creatures are not silent either but comment on things with speech bubbles.

The dungeon has dynamic lighting. There are light sources as dungeon furniture and in the hands of creatures and these both can be lit and unlit. Some creatures have darkvision. Creatures react to light and sound.

You don't have to go to the fight alone but can recruit other creatures along the way.

The rule system for the game is slightly influenced by the d20 system used in the 3rd edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Zorbus has experience levels but no character classes (race is selected). On each level up, you point buy skills and talents (mostly combat maneuvers and spells).

The game is already at stable level and has had an engame since the first public release.

Runs on Windows XP+ or on Linux with Wine.


More info / online manual / download:
http://www.zorbus.net

Gameplay screenshots:
http://www.zorbus.net/gameplay.html

Sample of randomly generated dungeons:
http://www.zorbus.net/dungeon.html

Discussion thread the Rogue Temple forums:
https://forums.roguetemple.com/index.php?topic=5741.0


My own background in roguelikes started in late 80s / early 90s with the classics (Hack, Larn, Omega, Moria). At the time Moria was easily my favourite. I've wanted to make my own roguelike game since. I haven't played Angband that much. I remember trying some of the variants in the late 90s and now occasionally try/play 4.x but it's such a long game and it's hard to find time.

So far, it's been very difficult to create interest in a new game. At least 4 people have completed the game but there's very little talk about it.

I've only tried it for 1 hour but i can say it is a good roguelike. The UI is sometimes confusing but the rest is ok. I have to admit i prefer the class system more as it allows more immersion in my opinion.

Release 18 (02-Aug-2019)

This release is noticeably bigger than before (almost 170 megabytes) and the reason is...

Sound effects!
Roguelikes don't usually shine in this area but try this one out. The sounds really make the dungeon feel like a living thing.

Most creatures have custom sounds and the speech bubbles work well with the sound effects.

There are also some short ambient pieces playing when you for example discover a hidden treasure chamber or a tomb etc.
Splatting those kobols and goblins is just so more satisfying with a proper sound effect.

Hopefully the sounds work on all configurations. I could only test with Windows 10 on a real hardware. I tried with Windows 7 and
Ubuntu with Wine in VirtualBox and sadly the sounds lagged there. Sound effects won't work on Windows XP.

Added online leaderboard. When you ascend, your character information is sent to a server and added to a leaderboard.
Again, I'm hopeful that this works. At least it worked on all configurations (WinXP, Win7, Ubuntu Wine) when tested in VirtualBox.

You can start the game with a randomly generated character.

When looting things you usually pick up stuff by pressing ENTER. You can now directly equip stuff from the loot screen by
pressing CONTROL + ENTER on an item. Same rules apply as for normal equpping meaning that you can't equip armor if there
are hostile creatures seen.

You can now exchange items with your companions and edit their equipment.

First ascension in the leaderboard at:
http://wins.zorbus.net

You can click the character name to get the obituary (morgue file).

Release 20 is out:
fixed endgame related bugs, sound effects compressed making the download just under 30 megabytes

Release 21

• Leaderboard now has a section for non-winning characters of at least experience level 2. Only the highest level character per player and per game release gets added to this list. This option is on by default and can be changed from the settings.
• Removed weight from coins and ammunition.
• Small stealth / visibility tweaks.
• Small AI tweaks.
• Max range of ranged attacks set to 10. Max range of talents set to 8.
• Shopkeepers can no longer be lured with items from their shop area.

Release 22

• Player and recruitable creatures get full Health- and Stamina-points at experience level 2. After that the points are randomly rolled.
• Player gets 50% of the XP from creatures killed by companions (recruited / animated / summoned). Was previously 20%.
• New playable races: aasimar, half-troll, saurial, tiefling.
• Some small changes to the old playable races.
• The log shows a line "xxx comes into view" when you see a creature type for the first time. Also shows the creature's name / type over the tile for 5 rounds.
• Fixed a bug where some tamed creatures might get hostile against neutral creatures.

Someone already got the ultimate "overgod" ending: wins.zorbus.net

whoa! this looks fun :D

Oh, thanks a lot for sharing this! I was looking for a more graphic game since I had enough playing Angband and Infra Arcana. I'm having an extremely boring vacation and only fun I can get is trying various rougelike games. My brother and I headed to Montenegro 2 months ago and while he's searching for a real estate in Budva I'm spending all day at the hotel. It's very hot in the morning and there is no good pubs around so I prefer staying at the hotel in the evening. Besides no one speaks English here. I hope my brother finds what he's looking for as soon as possible and we can finally leave this place.

Release 23

• There's a letter "R" displayed on a creature's tile when it wields a ranged weapon and "r" when it wields a reach weapon.
• Log shows how much a creature resists of the damage done to it.
• Loot distribution tweaked. Bosses, uniques and treasure containers should now have a bit more magical equipment.
• Removed negative skill adjustments (disable, magic, search) from most helmets.
• Obituary shows what method was used for character creation (fully random character / rolled abilities / point buy abilities).
• Obituary shows if you witness an unique being killed by some other creature than you or your companion.
• Fixed a bug that caused errors when the game was played without sound effects.

Release 24

• Recruitable creatures that you haven't yet recruited go to Carillo (the trading demiplane) after you descend deeper into the dungeon from their initial dungeon level.
• Shop inventories get restocked with some potions (blink, endurance, healing) after a while.
• Some changes to playable races (starting talents and ability / skill adjustments tweaked).
• A new talent: Team Spirit. Normally you'll get 50% of the experience points from creatures that companions kill but with this talent you'll get the full 100%. Requires the Natural Leader -talent (which can only be selected on the 1st level).
• A green bar appears under the XP bar when you have fully explored the dungeon level even if you don't have the Stonesense -talent.
• Some new magical equipment added.
• Loot distribution and level difficulty tweaks.

www.zorbus.net

Release 26

• New command: Rest until (Stamina) restored. By pressing D or NUMPAD DIVIDE you rest until Stamina is fully restored or until interrupted by hostile creatures. If you already are at full Stamina you rest for 100 rounds or until interrupted. Resting can be stopped by pressing any key.
• New item: Scroll of Magic Mapping. Reading this scroll reveals the layout of the current dungeon level. Areas that are hidden behind secret doors are not explored but the secret doors themselves are revealed. It's easiest to use autoexplore to enter these areas.

Release 27

• A map note can be added to your current location with N. Many themed areas have automatic notes.
• You can display the map of the current dungeon level in fullscreen with V. Shows stairs, teleporters and notes.
• Autopilot now has two display modes which can be changed with SPACE from the autopilot screen. The new one (set as default) shows the navimap enlarged to the game view.
• Autopilot can pilot you to the nearest upstairs with U from the autopilot screen.
• When you bump against stairs leading up, you can select to go to any previously visited upper level. When you bump against stairs leading down, you can select to go to any previously visited lower level. These options are only usable if there are no hostile creatures seen. Nearby hostile creatures may still follow you. At the moment this does not take more time than a regular level change.
• The ascend/descend stairs screen now shows some info about visited levels like how much of it you have explored, if there are still challenge / cloning / etc. switches left and so on.
• There's now only one setting for sending obituary files for the leaderboard. This settings needs to be on before you start a new game to affect that game. This is to prevent savescumming in the leaderboard.
• Fixed a bug where attacking an avatar resulted in several history lines added to the report.
• Fully exploring the shop level now shows a green "stonesense" line.
• Fixed a bug where some challenge switch rooms did not summon monsters.

Screenshot of the new fullscreen dungeon view with map notes
Screenshot of the autopilot screen

Laptop Keyboard
 

I like it so far, but I can't give it much of a go since I can't figure out how to use diagonals on my laptop keyboard. Is this possible?

If you have arrow keys, you can use shift + arrows to move diagonally.

You can also change the keybindings (from the main menu or the game menu -> keybindings).

Press H in game to see the keymap. Press a binded key in that screen to see a description of the command. In that screen you can also press shift / alt / control to see what bindings need those keys.

http://www.zorbus.net/graphics/s13.png

http://www.zorbus.net/graphics/s17.png

New release (28):
Lots of stuff!
Biggest changes: ASCII mode, mouse support, better handling of friendly fire, more challenging endgame

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

http://www.zorbus.net

Some gameplay videos:
https://youtu.be/ONHBMoXI3z0
https://youtu.be/xfjzwPnO9Bk

ASCII mode in play:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TSWraI-EGI

Release 29 (02-Mar-2020) www.zorbus.net

• AI tweaking:
• Consumable / device usage tweaked, especially for companions.
• AI tries first to target hostile creatures that are not summoned or animated.
• AI can unlit its lightsource when fleeing.
• AI can unlit furniture lightsources to ensure safe resting / sleeping in dark areas.
• Companion morale presets tweaked, hopefully resulting in better survivability.
• Killing friendly creatures no longer gives experience points.
• Weakened the necrotic damage effect that can happen from sitting on a throne or drinking from a well. The old effect could instakill characters in full health.
• Updated the descriptions of the item enchantment scrolls:
• Armors: Every enchantment point decreases the enchantment chance by 15 percentage points.
• Weapons: Every enchantment point, elemental damage point, holy property, vampiric property and on-hit effect decreases the enchantment chance by 10 percentage points (used to be 15).
• Log entry when your companion learns a new talent (companions level up at the same time as the player).
• Fixed a bug where animated / summoned creatures would sometimes disappear from view after animation.
• Fixed a small bug in ASCII mode.
• A new lore book, "Legends & Lore", a list of ascended players.
• Some typos fixed.

Already a couple of god-tier wins in the leaderboard.

Release 30 (28-Mar-2020) at www.zorbus.net

Highlights:

• List of companions above the quickslots
• Commanding companions
• Optional description of a heard sound on the map if the sound source is not seen ("large animal movement" text in the screenshot)
• Tutorial: Pressing H once opens the old keyboard help layout, pressing H second time opens the tutorial

Full changelog

This didn't get in time for the April 1st update, but added an unlockable game mode to the game: if you manage to get the ultimate ending in under 3 hours, you'll unlock a full Star Wars -themed mode with open world exploration, thousands of planets, quests and whatnot.

Preview video of Zorb Wars

Does getting the "ultimate ending" mean beating the game?

Yes, means that you ascend as the Overgod. Only one player has managed to do that so far: Leaderboard.

The Star Wars thing was really just an April Fools' joke that didn't get ready in time.

looking good! :cool:

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

Experimented with some on-the-fly animation of static tiles:

YouTube video

At 00:11 the horizontal shift effect is disabled.

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

Gameplay video, where the hero finds a sentient, talking weapon

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

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.

Video of the low health warnings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKho...ature=youtu.be

Release 36

• 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.

Release 37

• 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.

My to-do list is currently empty.

If you haven't tried the game yet, please do, and let me know if there's something you'd like to see changed.

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 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.

www.zorbus.net

Release 39 (24-Jul-2020)

• By pressing A you automatically approach and attack nearest seen hostile creature with a melee- or a reach-weapon. You can use autoattack just for approaching so you can use it to chase down a creature or to narrow the range to it for a ranged attack, spell, etc. If no openly hostile creature is seen, a target creature is selected from those who get gradually more hostile against you. Autoattack ignores creatures in areas blocked from autopilot. Autoattack is disabled if your current Health is under 30% of max Health (the percentage can be changed from the settings).
• The default keybinding for autopilot changed to P. Blocking autopilot areas changed to O, clear all blocks to CTRL+O. If you use the game updater, it's best to reset keybindings because of these changes.
• If the game crashes, it tries to save the game. A crash report is created into the Crash-folder.
• Settings: Option to disable log top add (new messages added on top of the log instead of the bottom, on by default).
• The game is saved if you select "Return to main menu" from the game menu and the setting "Save on exit" is on (on by default).

http://www.zorbus.net/tmp/splat.gif

Release 40

• New setting: Never flee. If on, creatures other than companions never flee. Some creatures, usually those using ranged attacks or spells, still try to maintain distance. Character obituary will not be sent to the leaderboard if this setting is on or turned on during a game. Off by default.
• New setting: Death splash animation. Procedurally generated death splash animation instead of the "skull on red square" animation on creature death. Off by default. Thanks to Lagi for the idea.
• New setting: Brighter darkvision. If on, the tiles seen with darkvision are a bit brighter, but only if your lightsource is unlit. Off by default.
• Fixed a bug where you could auto reach attack a creature behind another creature. Other autoattack tweaks as well.
• Buffs are listed when you inspect creatures with the target cursor. Previously only harmful effects were listed.
• Small tweaks here and there.

www.zorbus.net

A new gameplay video showcasing some of the special areas, ambient sound and sound effects:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E37BrD6Wz_0

http://www.zorbus.net/tmp/mushroom_soup.jpg

Release 41 (09-Oct-2020)

• (Regular, not Greater) Amulet of Health was bugged, it didn't protect against disease. (thanks to Zero for reporting this)
• Fixed a bug where the game unnecessarily created crash saves into the Crash-folder. You can delete your existing Crash-folder.
• Duration listed in descriptions of items with duration effects.
• New item: the Orb of Withering. This orb creates a necrotic field that prevents all creatures on the dungeon level from regenerating Health or Stamina (naturally, by talents, or by items) for the duration of the effect. Also affects vampiric attacks.
• Added archetype characters (warrior and wizard) to character creation. These are pregenerated, quickstart character types.
• Some new sound effects.
• Small fixes and tweaks here and there. Some typos fixed.

www.zorbus.net

http://www.zorbus.net/tmp/level_loot_1.png

http://www.zorbus.net/tmp/level_loot_2.png

Release 42 (17-Oct-2020)

• Fixed a bug where you would not get experience points from a creature (that you have damaged) dying outside of your view. A log entry is now also made in the style of "x dies elsewhere. (n XP)". (thanks to Robsoie for finding the bug)
• Autoattack now functions on blocked areas if you and the target are already on that blocked area.
• Two charm effect related bugs fixed.
• Added mass loot function to level loot. When you press [CTRL] + [ENTER] on an item, all items of that same type are picked up. Autopilot automatically pilots you through the items and picks them up. Mass loot can be used with ammunition, devices other than books (potions etc.), keys, and trapkits. Most of these items are normally autopicked, but autopick isn't used when hostile creatures are seen. It's best used after the level is cleared of hostile creatures, and you want to collect the remaining coins, potions, etc. Remember that you can use "0" on level loot to filter coins, special or unique items and devices (potions, wands etc.).
• Level loot now shows the distance to the item directly in the list.
• New setting: Always bright Health bars. Normally Health bars under creatures are dimmed depending on the light amount of the tile. If this setting is checked, health bars are always drawn at full brightness. (off by default) (thanks to BenightedAlizar for the idea)
• Added Archer and Leader quickstart archetypes to character creation.
• You can now change the gender of archetype / random / past characters by pressing [G] in the first character creation screen.
• Small fixes and tweaks.

http://www.zorbus.net/graphics/tournament.jpg

A tournament with Amazon eGift Card prizes is active from Friday 27-Nov-2020 to Thursday 31-Dec-2020.

For the rules and leaderboard check tournament.zorbus.net.


Release 43 (27-Nov-2020)

• A tournament version of the game is included (Zorbus_Tournament.exe). You can not save the game in this version. The "hostile creatures never flee" setting can not be used in this version.
• When you are about to use a Flask of Poison or a Flask of Slime, the item description shows which item it will affect.
• The wiggle effect of partially seen multi-tile creatures was bugged. Fixed. (thanks to lemon10 for reporting)
• If a default character name is set in settings, it is now used for archetype characters as well.
• As usual, small tweaks here and there.

www.zorbus.net

Release 44 (05-Dec-2020)

A tournament with Amazon eGift Card prizes is still running until the end of December.
For the rules and leaderboard check http://tournament.zorbus.net.

• Target mode renamed to examine mode.
• New setting: Furniture animations. Teleporters, lightsources and crystal formations are animated. On by default, can be disabled from the settings.
• In the autopilot-screen (P command) you can move the target cursor by 10 tiles with CTRL + arrows / numpad. Same works in the examine mode. (thanks to ZXC for the idea)
• Recruitable creatures no longer pick up devices (potions, wands, etc.). You can still give them devices, but can not transfer devices from them to you, so you can no longer recruit creatures just to get their potions. Companions may also have equipment that can not be removed.
• Changed weapon autoequip so that only thrown weapons are re-equipped (if you're still unarmed). Thrown weapons are also autopicked if no hostile creatures are seen. The notoriously buggy autoequip is hopefully finally fixed. (thanks Masterox and others before for reporting)
• Keyboard help screen is color coded: movement, combat, resting, items. The screen is quite crowded and couldn't really fit any description for the colors.
• Keybindings menu has presets for DCSS-style keybindings. Might need more tweaking.
• If mouse is disabled but mouse tooltips are enabled in the settings, you can now see tooltips of items / talents in the panels of the main game view. This makes it possible to quickly see descriptions of items / talents without risking accidentally using them. (thanks to ZXC for the idea)
• Mouse hovering over the current weapon set in the main game view shows the same extended info as the equipment screen.
• Fixed the behaviour of creatures animated / summoned by a charmed creature so that when the charm is broken they stay friendly with the animator / summoner. (thanks to Adam Skinner for reporting)
• Dismiss no longer affects multi-tile creatures. Some creatures are now immune to dismiss. (thanks to Adam Skinner for reporting)
• Fixed a bug related to Arrow of Dismiss / Bullet of Dismiss.
• Fixed a bug with the ability point-buy method in character creation. (thanks to Pieter Kirkham for reporting)
• Fixed a bug where CTRL or ALT + NUMPAD 4 / 6 didn't adjust item amount in inventory. CTRL pressed adjusts the amount by 10, ALT pressed adjusts the amount by 50. (thanks to Adam Skinner for reporting)
• Fixed several bugs related to multi-monitor setups. The game now remembers which monitor it was played on. (thanks to ZXC for help)
• Removed the penalty to Search-skill check from having your lantern turned off when using autoexplore to detect secret doors. (thanks to ZXC for reporting)
• Several typos fixed. (thanks to Tone and YARD, noticed them while watching / reading their let's play of the game)

http://www.zorbus.net/graphics/zorbuspunk.jpg


After all this waiting, it's out! It's finally out! Yeah, probably the worst day ever to release a game update...


Release 45 (10-Dec-2020)

• Autoexplore now picks up items that you would normally autopick, first from the current area that you're in, then after nothing to explore is found on the dungeon level, any remaining items from the whole level.
• As the autoexplore in the game works in bursts, area by area, it may look like it skips nearby items, but those items are then likely located on a different area number.
• If you press CTRL + ENTER in the level loot list when the selector is on the top position, it will automatically pick all items from the explored areas on the level that would normally be autopicked. Pressing CTRL + ENTER on an item in the lists picks up all items of the same type (only works with ammunition, devices, keys, trapkits and coins).
• Negative modifiers from equipment to Search-skill are not taken into account when autoexplore is used to detect secret doors. So you don't have to unequip your helmet even if it has a negative Search-modifier. This only applies to searching with autoexplore, not to normal searching during movement.
• You'll get no experience points from animated or summoned creatures that are created after initial level creation. These can be identified from blue Health bars if the setting "Blue Health bars" is checked.
• The inventory encumbrance bar now has slots for better encumbrance level visualization.
• Items show the price that they can be sold for. Items that can be sold are in green in loot lists.
• Buy / sell price adjustments now use modifier from the base, unadjusted Spirit-value.
• You can no longer transfer books or scrolls to companions.
• If you have an everlasting ammunition in your possession, same type of ammunition of equal or lower enchantment won't be autopicked. Branded and coated ammunition will always be autopicked. If the setting "Pick all ammunition" is disabled, then only ammunition for your currently equipped weapon will be automatically picked up.
• Changed a bit how Elixir of Experience works: now you get the needed for next level minus needed for current level xp added to your current xp amount. Previously it just set xp to needed for next level amount.
• Trapkits are now autopicked.
• Current dungeon level is shown in the corner of the minimap.
• Added color group descriptions to the keyboard help image.
• Keybindings menu now has some help text. Binding conflicts (same binding used twice) are in red. Changed the DCSS preset a bit as it had some conflicts.
• Obituary files now have more detailed dungeon level statistics (kills, xp total, xp from combat / skill use / exploration / other).
• Talent descriptions now list their speed.
• You can autopilot to containers which are mimics. Note that if some destination seems unreachable in autopilot mode, try moving the cursor around a bit.
• Fixed a bug where some creatures (guardian ghosts etc.) would forget their hostility against the player.
• Hopefully finally fixed a visual glitch where a map cloud effect like web or slime could stay on the map forever.
• Fixed a bug where enchantment chance to succeed was negative with some items. If chance is 0%, enchantment is automatically aborted. (thanks to ZXC for reporting)
• Fixed a bug where last log lines in obituary files would be wrong when "Log new messages on top" setting was no checked. (thanks to ZXC for reporting)
• If your base Mind-ability increases, the talent counter will be recalculated properly. Previously it was reset when you got a talent-point.
• Fixed a bug where taking the Lone Wolf talent didn't set the talent counter properly at the start of the game. (thanks to ZXC for reporting)
• Fixed a bug where using hoopak and the Dualshot-talent at an enemy in reach attack range resulted in a reach attack instead of two ranged attacks. There's still the problem that you can not make a normal ranged attack at that range, it always makes a reach attack. Sometimes you might want to make a ranged attack in that situation with special ammunition. (thanks to Cookedpoo for reporting)
• Fixed a bug where you could not reach attack using the mouse. (thanks to Cookedpoo for reporting)
• Fixed descriptions of the Silver Spoon talent and the Wand of Fireball. (thanks to Tone for reporting)
• Manual updated with some clarifications (experience, critical hits).
• Several typos fixed.

Release 46 (18-Dec-2020)

• After character death, a new statistics table and maps of visited dungeon levels are shown. The maps show unexplored areas in blue. The statistics table shows "actions/s" which is a sum of keypresses and mouseclicks per second. You can switch between the tables with up/down or mousewheel. In the "game over"-dialog there's also a new button for opening the character obituary file (opens in system default text editor).
• New setting: Never blink. If on, creatures other than you or your companions never blink (teleport away). Off by default. Character obituary will not be sent to the leaderboard if this setting is on or turned on during a game.
• Autoexplore now picks up items that you have thrown. (thanks to Boomaye for reporting)
• Autoexplore now picks up items from nearby areas if the tile they're on is explored and near enough to current location.
• Autoexplore should now find a path to secret doors that are blocked by immobile creatures such as fungi or plants.
• If one of your companions has a higher Search-skill than you then it is used with autoexplore to detect secret doors. You can give equipment to companions to boost their Search.
• When you examine a creature the description now says if there is no XP awarded from killing it.
• You can press W in the autopilot screen to cycle between wells, thrones and switches.
• You get XP from killing a creature after its charm effect has ended (if the creature awarded XP in the first place). (thanks to Cookedpoo for reporting)
• Fixed a bug where the max distance for a ranged weapon was calculated wrong. (thanks to Cookedpoo and Boomaye for reporting)
• Fixed a bug where autopickup didn't pick up items with no weight when you were encumbered. (thanks to ZXC for reporting)
• You can only have one clone (or simulacrum) at a time, a second clone will go berserk and attack you. Some update broke this, the clone would not turn hostile. (thanks to Dynast for reporting) Added warning about several clones to elixir and talent descriptions.
• Fixed a bug where some unlikely creatures (golems, statues, etc.) were stealthy in darkness. (noticed from Tone's stream)
• Creatures that follow you to another dungeon level are now ready to act faster after arriving. (thanks to Boomaye for mentioning) Their distance to you determines in what order they arrive on the new level. Companions still follow you from anywhere on the level, but that might change in the future.
• Companions now react faster to creatures who slowly turn hostile against you. (thanks to Cookedpoo for reporting)
• Shop restocking is now tied to several values, not just game rounds spent away from the shop level. (noticed from Tone's stream)
• Skill tooltips in character sheet show the related key ability. Same for Zorbupedia skill descriptions. (noticed from Tone's stream)
• In the level loot list, the "0" filter now also shows weapons with at least 3 enchantments.
• Holy-damage now affects only evil-aligned creatures.
• Fixed a bug where 1.5 x negative Body-modifier was added to damage with two-handed and versatile weapons (negative modifier should be added as is).
• The visited dungeon levels table in the obituary files now show actions (keypresses / mouseclicks) per second per dungeon level.
• Added some clarifications to skill descriptions.
• Added examples of weapon combinations / sets to the manual. Also basic explanation of how the action queue in the game works.
• There's now support for smaller patches that only replace the executable files. These patches are much smaller to download (below 5 megabytes). Autoupdate informs if a patch is available. Save files should be combatible but I wouldn't risk it so it's best to update only after you don't have any unfinished games.

Video:
https://youtu.be/jEyJ-p9Hbug

Release 47 (21-May-2021)

• You can no longer return to the previous dungeon level. The reason for this was to remove tedious gameplay, where you returned to previous levels to find remaining secrets, and cheesy gameplay, where you returned to previous level to rest safely.
• Support for game controllers. I've only tested it with Microsoft Xbox Wireless Controller, hopefully others will work too. Controller needs to be enabled from the settings, and you can configure / test various things from there. The last page of the tutorial shows the controls, and the same page can also be seen if you enter the game menu with the controller.
• Replaced old raycasting-based field of view -routine with an algorithm by Adam Milazzo (http://www.adammil.net/blog/v125_Rog...lgorithms.html). If you are creating a game yourself, check it out. It's absolutely brilliant!
• Removed the Map-command (V). Autopilot-command (P) can now be used for map. It can now be opened even when hostile creatures are seen.
• Removed the map note- and journal note -commands.
• Creature AI changes:
  • Some creatures can now track you by scent. Races have different odour intensities, shown in character creation.
  • When you blink away, creatures might spread around to nearby areas to search for you.
  • When searching for you, some creatures may lit a lightsource (if they have one), even if they have darkvision.
  • Creatures can now set up traps when they're fleeing from you.
  • Some creatures may enter a berserk-state if wounded enough. A wardrummer drumming may also trigger this state. In the berserk-state creatures get combat bonuses and never flee.
  • Lots of other small AI tweaks.
• Challenge ratings for creatures.
  • When you see a creature type for the first time, its name is shown on top of it for a few game rounds.
  • The color of the name indicates its challenge rating, ranging from "harmless" (yellow) to "deadly" (red).
  • Examine-mode and fire-mode show the ratings of all seen creatures. Also shown in creature description in the right side panel.
  • A creature's rating is updated when its or your stats change.
  • Just remember that while there are quite a lot of calculations behind the rating, it still is just a rough estimate.
• New effect: Tracking. Available as ammunition, flasks and as a talent.
  • Tracking forms a mental link between the attacker and the target. The attacker knows exactly where the target is for the duration of the effect (the target is marked on the navi- and autopilot maps). The target also glows as if wielding a lightsource, making hiding in darkness impossible. Only one creature can be tracked at a time. The latest hit creature always becomes the target. The tracking link to a creature breaks if the attacker enters another dungeon level or Carillo.
  • There's also a talent ("Teleport to Tracked") and potion ("Potion of Stalking", needs a better name?) which teleports the tracker near the tracked creature.
  • Monsters can use tracking too. One might shoot you with a tracking arrow and know your exact location for the duration of the effect. And of course it will also inform its friends of your current whereabouts.
  • This effect might not be as usable or fun for the player as I envisioned it to be, but at least the monsters seem to like it a lot.
• Character sheet has some changes. Some new stats on the 1st page, 2nd page redesigned, now showing the weapon sets with stats. Equipment and talent lists now have tooltips.
• Weapon and talent speeds are hidden from the player. Action Cost and APR (actions per round) are used instead.
• Weapons now have APR (actions per round) and DPR (damage per round) calculations.
  • This was a UI nightmare since you can use some items one-handed, two-handed or dualwielded which changes the stats.
  • Attack and defense values include all current ability-, skill- and other modifiers. Separate values are calculated for melee / throw / shoot attacks and melee / ranged defense. Ranged defense is only used with shields.
  • Inventory item statistics for one-handed and versatile weapons are calculated with an (imaginary) off-hand shield in use. The actual statistics can differ when weapons are dualwielded or when a versatile one- handed weapon is used two-handed. Second character sheet page shows the actual in-use values.
• When you now blink, your companions are also teleported near you. Tweaked the algorithm behind blinking as well.
• The Health-bar and UI frame flash in green when you're poisoned.
• Autoattack target is now marked with two red triangles.
• Autoattack automatically swaps to the other weapon set if it has a melee weapon and the active weapon set does not, and there's a hostile creature next to you. This can be disabled from the settings.
• Attack marked -command (R) automatically swaps to the other weapon set if it has a shooting weapon and the active weapon set does not, and the nearest hostile creature is at least minimum distance away. Minimum distance can be adjusted from the settings.
• Throwable weapons are no longer thrown with the Attack marked -command (R) unless the weapon has the returning-property, so you no longer accidentally throw your weapon. You can make throw attacks with the Fire ranged -command (F). Why didn't I do it like this from the start?
• If you for some reason end up being unarmed, a warning text is displayed on the top of you character tile.
• Removed the extra 1.5 x speed duration for returning thrown items.
• Off-hand thrown attacks get 1/4 of positive Body-modifier added, full if the modifier is negative.
• Fixed various problems with the Multishot-talent:
  • You no longer shoot at creatures that are blocked by other creatures.
  • You shoot at creatures next to you if you have the Close Combat Ranged talent.
  • In gameplay, the talent is enabled when your current Ranged-skill is high enough for at least 2 targets, and there are at least 2 hostile targets that can be shot at (the lines of fire to them must to be clear).
• When a large creature hits a smaller opponent, it's now possible that the opponent is pushed backwards by the strength of the blow.
• You can bump into furniture that has a noted-indicator ("!") on them to "wake" up the creature (mimics, statue, etc.)
• Autoexplore tries to struggle free from a restraining map effect (slime / web).
• You can now try to escape a map cloud effect into the direction where your companion is standing. With (CTRL) + direction you can try the same with a hostile creature.
• The inventory screen is no longer opened when you bump empty containers.
• Empty barrels and barrels with only corpses or bones are automatically opened and marked as looted. Same with cauldrons.
• Changes to quickslots:
  • The "F1" slot is automatically reserved for the lantern even if you have it turned off when clearing the quickslots.
  • Trapkits can be quickslotted for easier use, but they will never be automatically quickslotted.
  • A quickslot is dimmed if there's no sense of using it at that moment. Disabled if you can not use it at that moment.
  • (CTRL) + (D) clears set quickslots in the quickslot manager, but preserves player set quickslots.
  • You can toggle allow/disallow quickslotting of a device/talent with (DEL) in the quickslot manager.
  • You can lock a slot to certain item, which keeps it reserved even if you use the last of its type.
  • Related new setting "Hide corpses and bones". Hide corpses and bones from the "items on ground" side panel. This has the benefit that the "items on ground" side panel won''t be displayed when there are just corpses and bones on the ground, so the quickslots stay visible.
  • Remember, you can set up quickslots from the quickslot manager (F12), but also by pressing a quickslot-key that isn't yet binded to anything. For example, if the "5" slot is free, press it, and directly choose what to bind to it.
• Some renovations in Carillo (the shop hub level):
  • Limited the amount of visits to Carillo per dungeon dungeon level. There's a chance that the teleporter is destroyed after you have visited Carillo 3 times.
  • The Tomb Raiders Guild has opened a shop in Carillo. Their prices are double to standard unless you have a guild membership card. No, you can't actually join the guild, but have to obtain a card somehow else.
  • The bouncer and the shopkeepers will tell you if they've added new items to their inventories. You can press (F10) when checking the shop inventory to filter only items that are new since your last visit.
  • Speech bubble from a friendly creature in Carillo no longer stops autopilot.
  • When browsing a shop inventory, the item description states how many of those items you already have in your inventory (devices only).
• Hiding (in darkness) near plants and fungi now give bonus to Stealth-checks. Each neighboring plant/fungus gives a +1 to Stealth. This is not shown anywhere, but is used in calculations. Mentioned in the skill description.
• The amount that "Health Surge" talent will heal is listed after its name in parentheses (in quickslots panel and talent list).
• Two new switch rooms: anchoring and withering.
• You can no longer use teleporters when you're anchored or when there's a level-wide anchor effect active.
• Sound effects revisited, again. Even after removing and replacing many, there are now over 4000 sounds effects. Main menu now has music. It can be volume controlled from the settings, disabled if you set the volume to 0.
• There's now a name for the currency used in the game, instead of just "coin". It's now called "zorbit", of course.
• New settings:
  • Closing doors by bumping at the wall tile right of them is now an option that you can disable from the settings (on by default).
  • Option to require (CTRL) + direction to be pressed to interact with furniture, instead of just bumping at them. Does not affect bumping at doors to open them. You might want to turn this setting on if you constantly keep accidentally bumping at map objects.
  • Option to pick up trapkits, on by default. Trapkits have no weight, but you may feel that they clutter the inventory, especially if you don't use them.
• Keybindings-menu can now be filtered with a keyword.
• Clairvoyance-talent didn't work when you used it from the talents-menu with a hotkey (happened in Tone's stream last year).
• Animal bones and corpses removed. I had an idea for them to rise as animal skeletons and zombies when animated, but don't have proper tiles for those.
• Life saving items (Amulet of Life Saving, Plot Armor, etc.) always save life even when you don't have any Stamina left. They also save you from death even if you're withered.
• Potion of Antidote cures poison, but now also gives immunity against poison for a duration.
• Potion of Extra Healing / Potion of Superior Healing give immunity against disease for a duration.
• New potion: Potion of Life. "This powerful potion restores 100 Health-points, cures disease and poison, and removes withering effect targeted against the drinker (map-wide withering effect is unaffected). The potion also grants regeneration and immunity to disease, poison and withering for the duration."
• Trapkits can now be set even if you see hostile creatures, as long as they don't see you. Trapkits can be quickslotted for easier use. Some new trapkits added.
• Summoning items (horn, figurines, etc.) have a longer duration.
• Small changes to the playable races. Odour listed in race descriptions (hostile creatures can track by scent).
• Talent progression changed. You now need Mind-ability of at least 18 to gain 1 talent per experience level.
• Lone Wolf -talent gives +1 to all abilities (was +2).
• New ASCII-mode setting: "ASCII wall / floor color adjustment". Random adjustment to wall / floor base color.
• Huge amount of tweaks here and there.
• Game balance has probably changed a lot, so the leaderboard has been reset.
• There's an external tool, "Zorbus Dungeon Generator", available at http://dungeon.zorbus.net. It's a random dungeon generator to create tabletop RPG -style maps. You can run it in step-mode to see how the algorithm creates the map.

http://www.zorbus.net

http://www.zorbus.net/tmp/level_loot_2.png

Release 48 (29-May-2021)

• Added navimap and map preview to the level loot screen. It now shows a path to the item. (thanks to Cadex Emu for the idea)
• New companion behavior: Regroup. When in this behavior, companions try to stay close to you, melee attack only nearby creatures, use ranged attacks or talents against distant creatures, and blink away only if surrounded. In the default follow-behavior, companions move around more, and when fleeing try to move to a nearby area or blink away.
• Related new setting: "Companion auto regroup-behavior", on by default. Companions will automatically enter regroup-behavior from follow-behavior when they need to flee, trying to move towards you. Does not affect animated, summoned or charmed companions.
• Related new setting: "Companion auto follow-behavior", on by default. Companions will automatically enter follow-behavior from regroup-behavior when in full Health, in at least half Stamina, and no hostile creatures have been seen for some time. This affects only companions that have automatically entered the regroup-behavior (see the setting above).
• Companion list is now shown also on top of the "items on ground" list in the right sidepanel (thanks to Cadex Emu for the idea). Valuable (sellable) items are now on top of the list.
• Added a new command: "(Toggle) mundane ground items in sidepanel" with default binding (CTRL) + (BACKSPACE). Toggles showing mundane (non-sellable) ground items in the sidepanel. If mundane items are not shown in the panel, they're listed in the log, ensuring that quickslots stay visible.
• Continuous resting won't start if you're poisoned.
• Summoning traps set by the player should now be more useful as the summoned creature now attacks also other creatures that hate the player instead of just the trap springer.
• Disabling your own traps is now always successful (and you get the trapkit back).
• Creature wiggle is now asynchronous by default, controlled by "Wiggle synchronous" in the settings. (thanks to Lagi for the idea)
• Hopefully at least reduced the low health / poisoned flashing frame flickering that happened when you used mouse / controller.
• Hopefully fixed a controller error. (thanks to Renan for reporting)
• Fixed controller sensitivity when entering side panel.
• Added a note to (F)ire-mode's help-text: "A friendly creature needs to be manually targeted". So if you want to make a shoot or reach attack against a friendly creature, you need to manually target it. Cycling targets does not select friendly creatures.
• Replaced Homepage-button with a Zorbupedia-button in the main menu.
• Zorbupedia talent list is sorted to boost/combat/spell/utility-talents.
• Added better explanation for (CTRL) + (TAB) to the help text in the inventory-list. The command changes the inventory list type: When looting stuff from the ground or from a container, use it to switch to your equipment & backpack, and vice versa. When exchanging items to a companion, use it to get to your or your companion's equipment & backpack (depending on which side is active). Also remember: (F11) to switch companion in inventory-lists. (CTRL) + (E) to enter exchange-mode from your equipment & backpack -list. You can enter exchange-mode with a controller by pressing right thumbstick in personal inventory.
• Several typos and errors in item/creature descriptions fixed. (thanks to Cadex Emu for reporting)

http://www.zorbus.net

Release 49 (05-Jun-2021)

• Added some post-processing to the field of view -algorithm for better corner wall exploration.
• Made some optimizations to autoexplore.
• Fixed a bug where some throwable weapons without reach (hand axe, dagger, etc.) still could be thrown with the (R)-command when distance was 2, even if not of returning-type.
• Distances to items in blocked areas are listed in red in level loot list. Blocked areas also drawn in red in the minimap of that screen.
• Autotargeting for ranged attacks and talents (the red and yellow corners around creatures) tries first to target a non-summoned creature.
• New setting: "Autoammo uses anchoring & withering", on by default. If this setting is enabled, autoammo uses anchoring and withering ammunition automatically. Anchoring is used against creatures that can blink away with a talent (usually spellcasters). Withering is used only against unique creatures.
• Companions now use anchoring and withering ammunition automatically. So you can now give anchoring ammo to companions who will then shoot them at those annoying blinking spellcasters.
• Companions won't go to blocked areas to pick up items.
• Creatures summoned from traps set by the player won't get angry at player's companions.
• Traps won't be created on containers that are automatically opened / peeked (empty barrels and cauldrons, or barrels and cauldrons with only bones or corpses in them).

http://www.zorbus.net

http://www.zorbus.net/graphics/rel50.jpg

Release 50 (25-Jun-2021)

• An alternate grid path for ranged targeting is now calculated and used if the first path is blocked. Also affects reach attacks and Charge-talent. Ranged attacks should now be symmetric, meaning that if creature A can target creature B, B can also target A. There are still some cases where you can see a creature but can't target it. Ranged attacks use Bresenham's line drawing routine to traverse grids, while the field of view algorithm does not.
• New command: Continuous autoexplore, default key (CTRL) + (E). Keeps exploring until a hostile creature is seen, something is detected, a trap is sprung, or until the whole dungeon level is explored. Can not be used when in low Health (controlled with "Health flash percentage threshold" from the settings).
• New command: Autopilot to next unlooted container, default key (CTRL) + (C). You can now autopilot to next unlooted container directly from the main game mode.
• Autopilot-screen shows the contents of peeked containers when the cursor is on them.
• Lidless / opened containers are automatically marked as peeked when an area is fully explored, unless the area has creatures that get gradually more hostile. Peeked means that you know the contents of the container.
• Hopefully fixed a bug where the autopilot-screen displayed wrong amount of unlooted containers. (thanks to Mkok for mentioning)
• Fixed a bug where encumbrance wasn't recalculated in all cases where items were picked up. (thanks to Nopenope for mentioning)
• Die Hard talent now heals the same amount as Health Surge. (thanks to Mkok for mentioning)
• Limited the amount of simultaneous similar sound effects when looting or dropping big amount of items, and in some other cases as well.

http://www.zorbus.net

Release 51 (24-Jul-2021)

• Not so much new stuff in this release, but had to make a full release after some structural changes to data files.
• Fixed a bug where alternate paths to target were not properly calculated at distance 2 (affected reach attacks among others).
• Resting does not start if creatures that get gradually hostile are seen.
• You can now drop items from your or your companion's inventory when exchanging items.
• Creatures with lightsources waiting in ambush no longer lit wall tiles until the ambush is sprung.
• Lots of small tweaks.

http://www.zorbus.net

http://www.zorbus.net/graphics/rel52_1.jpg

Release 52 (06-Sep-2021)

• Fixed a bug where animated skeletons would needlessly pick up several armors and shields. (thanks to Faeren for reporting)
• Level-wide anchor/wither-effects are removed when you go to another dungeon level / Carillo. (thanks to nopenope for reporting)
• Golems and clones are no longer counted as real recruits when maximum number of recruits based on Spirit-ability is determined. (thanks to nopenope for suggesting)
• Holy Burst talent is disabled in quickslots and talents list if there are no evil creatures seen. Same for the wand.
• Some devices, mostly wands, are disabled in quickslots and inventory if they can't be used (for example, a wand might affect seen hostiles, but is disabled if none is seen).
• Health bars under creatures are now framed with black, making them stand out more. (thanks to Namsan for suggesting)
• New setting: White Health bars under friendly creatures. If enabled, Health bars under friendly creatures are white instead of green. Might help to distinguish friendly creatures from hostile creatures if you are suffering from red-green color blindness. (thanks to Namsan for suggesting)
• Clicking left mouse button on a distant hostile creature no longer throws a throwable weapon unless it's of returning-type.
• Clicking left mouse button on a distant hostile creature now respects the "Attack marked auto swaps to shooting set" setting, meaning that if the setting is enabled, and passive weapon set has a shooting weapon, then weapon set is swapped.
• Fixed several characters in in-game books and help texts, that caused odd characters in some non-English Windows-versions. (thanks to Namsan for reporting)
• http://building.zorbus.net has a roguelike development related "book" in PDF-format called "Building Zorbus one brick at a time".

Big thanks to Maximum Break (Gidon) and Another Dying (Jay) for making YouTube let's play videos of the game!
Another Dying: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...6ZIbMb0XDG6xdg
Maximum Break: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...uc3wcGXT8vjHii

http://www.zorbus.net/graphics/rel53.jpg

Release 53 (19-Sep-2021)

• New talent: Expert Trapper. Normally you can set traps to nearby tiles only, but with this talent you can set traps traps on tiles up to distance 3. Setting a trap never fails and takes only half the time it would normally take to set. Traps set by you are harder to avoid, and possible damage or duration is increased by 50%. You will also gain a +4 bonus to Disable-checks when disabling traps.
• New talent: Expert Enchanter. Normally you can safely enchant an item with 3 enchantments, and 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. With this talent you can enchant items safely without any restrictions. Tieflings get this talent automatically.
• New item: Scroll of Disjunction. This scroll separates enchantments from the main-hand weapon of the active weapon set into separate enchantment scrolls. Even if the weapon has several plusses, only one Scroll of Enchant Weapon is created. Sentient weapons are not affected.
• New item: Elixir of Ability. Increases a random ability score. Only available in shops, restocked every now and then.
• Non-unique armor, shields, and weapons in shops are a bit cheaper now.
• Fixed a bug where companions would just drop a better item after you gave it to them through item exchange. Reminder: Companions won't change equipped items that are set by the player in companions' equipment lists. Ammunition is an exception.
• Trap tweaks. Fixed a bug where no dialog was opened when you walked on a known floor trap that was on a tile with an opened door. You can now safely walk on floor traps set by you (the dialog is still opened). Reminder: in some situations you may want to intentionally spring a known trap, for example Animate, Confusion, Dismiss, Summon, or Anchoring traps. If you spring your own Animate or Summon trap, then the created creatures will be friendly towards you, and attack creatures that are hostile towards you. Animated creatures without a master will eventually turn hostile against everyone.
• Fixed some grammar mistakes and typos.

http://www.zorbus.net

Release 54 (21-Sep-2021)

• Fixed a severe bug in character generation. (thanks to David Mortin for reporting)
• Scrolls of Disjunction are now generated only in shops. You're guaranteed to find 2 scrolls.
• Scroll of Disjunction now shows a preview of possible disjunction results (a list of scrolls that will be created).

Release 54 - Patch 1 (30-Sep-2021)

• Note: Your save files should work after the patch, but make a backup of the save folder before updating!
• Fixed a bug that prevented using stairs / teleporters. (thanks to Zero and Synth for reporting)

Release 54 - Patch 2 (10-Oct-2021)

• Fixed a bug where a creature was marked as caught in a web / slime even when escaped the map effect.
• Fixed a bug where a creature was marked as poisoned even when the effect had ended.
• Creatures are cured from poison and disease after using Die Hard or a life saving item.
• You can now displace creatures from a cloud map effect.
• You can now swap places with an animated or a summoned party member or a recruited golem from a harmful map effect.
• New character archetype: infernal (tiefling).